[0:02] Good evening. It is Tuesday, April 23rd, 2024. The time is 6 p.m.

[0:07] I will call this regular meeting of the Dickinson City Council to order.

[0:11] Item 1, call to order and certification of quorum.

[0:15] Mayor Skippworth?

[0:17] Here.

[0:17] Mayor Pro Tem Simpson, Jr.?

[0:20] President.

[0:21] Council Member Simpson?

[0:22] Here.

[0:23] Council Member Townsend?

[0:25] Here.

[0:25] Council Member Brantley?

[0:27] Here.

[0:28] Council Member Schick?

[0:29] Here.

[0:29] Council Member Linton?

[0:31] Here.

[0:31] We have a quorum.

[0:33] Thank you.

[0:34] We'll move on to item two, the invocation of the Pledge of Allegiance.

[0:37] Mayor Protin, would you please lead us?

[0:46] Let us pray.

[0:48] Oh Lord our God, how excellent is your name,

[0:50] from the rising of the sun to the going down of the same,

[0:52] your name is great and greatly to be praised.

[0:55] We thank you for every good and perfect gift that comes from above.

[0:58] We ask your blessing upon this meeting,

[1:01] upon the citizens of the city of Dickinson,

[1:04] this county, this state, and this great nation.

[1:37] Allow this to be an effective and efficient meeting and your name we pray

[1:41] All

[1:44] right. Next, we have proclamations and awards. This is the most proclamations that

[1:48] we have had since I have been the mayor. We have four proclamations this evening, so

[1:53] I'm going to take care of those now. I'll come up, and we're going to start. We're

[1:59] going to go with the order listed on the agenda. So we'll begin with the Strawberry

[2:03] Festival. So I'm going to head on up, and y'all are welcome to come up to the

[2:09] front if you want while I read it or wait or whatever you'd like to do if

[2:21] you'd

[2:22] like to.

[2:24] All right,

[2:28] you're good. Okay, glad you're here. All right, a proclamation.

[2:35] Whereas in the early 20th century the city of Dickinson with its fertile soils

[2:39] considered the garden of Galveston County and known for growing figs and

[2:43] strawberries became known as the strawberry capital of the world at the

[2:47] time and whereas the Holy Trinity Strawberry Festival, a beloved tradition that commenced

[2:53] in the year 1930, has flourished as a testament to the enduring spirit of community and celebration

[2:58] and whereas the Holy Trinity 91st Strawberry Festival, which will begin on April 27, 2024,

[3:05] is expected to be a vibrant renewal of the tradition and the spirit of innovation, offering

[3:10] a delightful fusion of old world charm and contemporary taste with the iconic strawberry

[3:15] shortcake serving as a delectable bridge between past and present.

[3:19] Now therefore, the Mayor and the City Council of the City of Dickinson, Texas, do hereby

[3:24] proclaim April 27, 2024 as Holy Trinity Strawberry Festival Day.

[3:29] In the City of Dickinson, I encourage all citizens to join in on the festivities.

[3:33] At witness thereof, I have herein too set my hand and caused the seal of Dickinson,

[3:37] Texas to be affixed the 23rd day of April, 2024.

[3:40] 24. If you please join me in congratulating them for all the work that they're doing.

[3:47] Who should I give this to? Okay. Thanks so much.

[3:51] Alright. Thank you. Thank you.

[3:54] Oh, if you want to do another bit, go for it.

[3:58] Okay. Alright.

[4:07] Appreciate it.

[4:08] Thank you. Alright, next up we have the proclamation concerning

[4:12] Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Do we have with some people

[4:16] here for that? Okay. Yeah. For the yes. If you want to come up to the front or not, it's up to you.

[4:24] Wherever you want to stand, sir. You're welcome. Okay. All right. A proclamation. Whereas sexual

[4:34] assault is a growing concern for our community, state, and nation, and needs to be noted and

[4:38] addressed. Sexual assault has no bias regarding gender, age, economic status, education,

[4:43] education, achievement, religion, sexual orientation, or social status.

[4:48] And whereas, during the month of April, the resource and crisis center of Galveston County

[4:54] will be intensifying efforts to promote public understanding of sexual violence and along

[4:58] with victims of sexual violence.

[5:00] The resource and crisis center of Galveston County will be emphasizing the need for

[5:04] citizen involvement in efforts to reduce sexual assault through public education and changing

[5:09] public attitudes.

[5:09] and whereas Dickinson's residents rely on the resource and crisis center of

[5:14] Galveston County programs to provide a range of essential services to assist

[5:18] victims of sexual assault and whereas Dickinson's residents join with all

[5:22] Americans in supporting victims of sexual assault and believe that a month

[5:25] long observance specifically focused on sexual assault in communities across the

[5:30] nation helps to reinforce the loud and clear message to abusers that

[5:33] sexual violence will not be tolerated now therefore now therefore we the

[5:39] Mayor and the City Council of the City of Dickinson, Texas, do hereby proclaim April

[5:42] as Sexual Assault Awareness Month in the City of Dickinson and call on all Dickinson

[5:47] citizens to support local efforts to prevent violence and assist victims of these crimes

[5:51] and finding the help and healing they need.

[5:53] And witness thereof, I have herein to set my hand and cause the seal of Dickinson,

[5:57] Texas to be affixed this 23rd day of April 2024.

[6:00] If you would please thank them for all of the work they're doing out in the

[6:02] community.

[6:11] All right.

[6:11] Next, we have a proclamation for Crime Victims Week.

[6:14] Do we have anyone here for that proclamation?

[6:19] It does not look like it.

[6:21] Okay.

[6:22] If you want to, but okay.

[6:25] All right.

[6:26] Chief Michael Barrison is going to come up.

[6:29] Okay.

[6:31] All right.

[6:32] A proclamation.

[6:33] Whereas surviving a crime can have myriad lasting effects on victims, including physical,

[6:38] psychological, social, and financial issues.

[6:40] and, whereas, countless survivors never tell anyone about what happened to them, and whereas,

[6:46] we must do everything we can to show survivors that hope, the belief that the future will

[6:50] be better, is not just tangible, but within their reach, and whereas, one goal of National

[6:56] Crime Victims' Rights Week encourages all people to ask themselves the question, how

[7:01] would you help a victim of a crime?

[7:03] Whereas, Resource and Crisis Center of Galveston County, Inc. is hereby dedicated to raising

[7:08] awareness of the options services and hope for crime survivors. Now therefore we the mayor and

[7:14] city council of the city of Dickinson Texas do hereby recognize the efforts of crime victims

[7:18] programs and proclaim April 21st to April 27th 2024 as crime victims week in the city of Dickinson

[7:24] and encourage all citizens to embrace compassion and support for all crime victims.

[7:29] And witness thereof I've herein to set my hand and cause the seal of Dickinson Texas

[7:33] is to be a fix this 23rd day of April, 2024.

[7:36] If you please join me in congratulating these folks

[7:38] for all the work that they're doing.

[7:43] So people, are you going to, okay.

[7:45] All right, thank you.

[7:47] Yes.

[7:47] Was that you as well?

[7:48] Yes.

[7:48] That's what I asked for, okay.

[7:50] Yeah, all right, there they are.

[7:52] I figured somebody was here for that.

[7:54] Okay, all right.

[7:56] You're welcome, you're welcome.

[7:58] All right, and then lastly

[7:59] for the National Library Week.

[8:01] I know we have a number of our library staff here,

[8:02] so yep, please come on up

[8:04] And we'll do this one.

[8:16] Okay.

[8:17] All right.

[8:19] Proclamation.

[8:20] Whereas National Library Week was first sponsored

[8:23] by the American Library Association in 1958

[8:26] as a national observance of libraries across the country

[8:29] and a time to celebrate the contributions

[8:31] of our nation's libraries, librarians and library staff,

[8:33] and to promote library use and support.

[8:35] And whereas Dickinson Public Library librarians

[8:38] and library staff are organizers and information experts

[8:41] who guide people to the best information resources, Dickinson Public Library librarians and library staff provide the expertise, services and guidance for patrons to access credible sources of information, and whereas Dickinson Public Library librarians and library staff offer more than books, they're committed to a shared goal to improve life and learning opportunities for all Dickinson residents at all stages of their literacy and learning journey from birth and early childhood to school age, to graduates who are ready for college and careers.

[9:11] year to civically engaged adults who are empowered by free access to information to make informed

[9:17] decisions for the betterment of the Dickinson community.

[9:20] And whereas Dickinson Public Library librarians and library staff play a critical role in

[9:25] the economic vitality of communities by providing internet and technology access, literacy

[9:29] skills and support for job seekers, small businesses and entrepreneurs.

[9:33] And whereas Dickinson Public Library librarians and library staff strive to develop and

[9:38] programs and collections that are as diverse as the community they serve and ensure equality

[9:44] of access for all, and whereas Dickinson Public Library librarians and library staff create

[9:49] a welcoming environment for all citizens of Dickinson to celebrate the joy of literacy,

[9:54] learning, creating, communicating, and cultural exchange, now therefore be resolved that

[9:59] I, Sean Skippworth, the Mayor of Dickinson, in celebration of the 66th year in National

[10:03] Library Week, has been celebrated.

[10:05] Do hereby recognize the Dickinson Public Library staff and their dedication to their

[10:08] jobs in the community that they serve. I encourage all residents to visit your library

[10:13] and honor the individuals who work in our library by engaging with your librarian and

[10:17] the staff who make your library possible. A witness hereof, I have herein to set my

[10:22] hand and cause the seal of Dickinson, Texas to be affixed this 23rd of April 2024.

[10:26] If you would please give them a hand for all the work that they're doing.

[10:34] Thank

[10:34] you. There you are. Okay. Thank you. All

[10:51] right. We'll move on to item four

[10:54] or announcements and presentations.

[10:57] Announcements concerning items of community interest.

[10:59] No action will be taken or discussed.

[11:01] Council member comments regarding items

[11:03] of community interest in accordance

[11:04] with Texas government code, section 551.0415.

[11:09] Item 4A, council comments.

[11:11] Mayor, would you allow me to go first?

[11:13] I was actually just about to say

[11:15] that we're not gonna have Fred go first

[11:16] because he gave me grief last time

[11:18] about always going first, so.

[11:20] Yeah, please.

[11:22] Tonight I'm gonna be using my council comments

[11:24] to facilitate an award, so I want to go ahead and get it out of the way and go first.

[11:27] Okay.

[11:27] Here we go.

[11:43] I can turn it around.

[11:45] Okay.

[11:45] Good evening, everybody.

[11:46] Like I said, tonight I'm going to be using my council comments to facilitate a student

[11:49] recognition.

[11:50] My name is Jenna Simpson.

[11:51] I'm the advisor to the Dickinson Youth Action Council.

[11:53] I'd also like to bring up Ms. Judith Oppenheim.

[11:56] She's a voter project chair for the League of Women Voters Bay Area.

[11:59] Finally, I'd like to call up our DEAC representatives, these children right here, who are going

[12:03] to help us hand out the awards.

[12:09] So, together, the Dickinson Youth Action Council and the League of Women Voters work together to bring civic awareness to students at Dickinson High School.

[12:15] The League of Women Voters works with Dickinson High School throughout the year to provide unbiased voting information to students who are curious about how to register to vote, what documents are needed, and what voting is actually like when you get there.

[12:26] City of Dickinson's 10-member Youth Advisory Group at Dickinson Youth Action Council, or DIAC, strives to build a culture of active citizenship within our local community through pillars of service learning, action civics, and youth-led advising.

[12:36] This year's DEAC participated in many projects to engage their peers and bring awareness.

[12:41] Through our wonderful partnership with the League of Women Voters, our organizations formed

[12:45] the very first I Voted sticker contest.

[12:48] Students were invited to draw their own unique I Voted sticker design that reflected voting

[12:52] patriotism Gator Nation or Dickinson.

[12:54] We had some outstanding entries come out of this year's Dickinson High School art

[12:58] classes.

[12:59] Thank you to the party chairs and Galveston County elections for supporting this project

[13:02] and thank you to all the artists who submitted an entry.

[13:04] The stickers will arrive this week and you'll be able to get one of the three winning stickers

[13:08] if you go to vote at one of the Dickinson voting locations, Dickinson Community Center

[13:12] or Dickinson City Hall in the upcoming elections in 2024.

[13:16] So you'll be able to get a special unique sticker that says I voted when you go to vote

[13:19] drawn by some of our very own students.

[13:21] I want to start off with this recognition by inviting our two high school art teachers

[13:25] up here.

[13:25] Without their help, we wouldn't have gotten this contest off the ground.

[13:27] They stressed to their students how important this was and how outstanding it would

[13:31] be to have their artwork featured in an election.

[13:35] The first recognition I want to give is to Ms. Jennifer

[13:38] Somerall of

[13:43] our Dickinson High School, our teachers.

[13:44] Thank you so much.

[13:45] And then Ms. Laura Scully.

[13:48] Thank you very much for getting your students involved in this.

[13:51] We had a lot of wonderful entries.

[13:52] And here's some of the entries right here.

[13:54] If you want to take a look at these,

[13:56] they work together in the art classes

[13:58] to come up with these different things.

[13:59] And then we took submissions.

[14:00] And then we had a lot of voting

[14:01] to determine who would be the winners.

[14:03] So tonight we're going to announce the winners.

[14:06] So, third place, third place winner was Isai De La Cruz, a sophomore from Dickinson High School.

[14:13] And there's our artwork up there.

[14:21] Second place was James Walker, a junior from Dickinson High School.

[14:33] And then first place was Samantha Sausato, class of 2024 senior at Dickinson High School.

[14:43] Thanks very much for participating. If you don't mind, we're going to take a couple of photos.

[15:57] We're going to hit us with a little more, but OK. All right. And next up, Councilman Townsend.

[16:06] Welcome everybody that's out tonight.

[16:09] I see there's a lot of tree limbs out. I know you've got your updates. You can let us know on that.

[16:16] But I also see that there's a bunch of green ones that's showing up. People need to know that we're trying to clean up the storm, not do your housekeeping today.

[16:31] That's it.

[16:32] OK. All right. Councilman Brantley.

[16:36] Good evening. Thanks for everybody's here in person. Everybody attending online.

[16:39] I don't have a lot of comments this morning this evening. Just wanted to thank everybody for being here. Thank you very much

[16:46] I thought it was the morning. So you definitely definitely don't all right councilman shake

[16:51] Thanks everybody for showing up just a brief overview two weeks ago. I attended a

[16:57] fireworks informational

[16:59] meeting and met with

[17:00] city staff and I

[17:03] Talked with councilwoman Simpson about it

[17:06] That's going to come up later today

[17:09] I also attended a basic weather radar Zoom call.

[17:15] Now you would think that that would be the most boring thing in the world,

[17:19] but I'm telling you an hour and a half later I was enthralled by this.

[17:23] Everything you never thought you needed to know about weather radar.

[17:28] Last Friday we attended the wine and roses gala.

[17:33] Very well attended. It was at the KC Hall.

[17:37] last Saturday we attended the citizens all patrol social media again very well

[17:44] attended just a reminder even though they were already here the strawberry

[17:49] festival is Saturday from 10 to 4 please come out there it is a great city event

[17:56] reminder that on May 4th Saturday we'll have our fourth annual bucketers on the

[18:04] bayou boat parade. Everybody come out and bring your little pirate with you.

[18:11] One last thing

[18:12] if we will keep our friends who emit in our prayers for a speedy recovery. Thank you.

[18:18] All right. Thank you. I'm Councilman Linton.

[18:25] Good evening everybody. I wanted to mention

[18:28] the storm that came through. I took some time off from work to drive around town

[18:33] just to view the damage and drove pretty much the entire city.

[18:39] So thanks again to my manager for allowing me the time off to go do that after the storm

[18:43] had hit.

[18:44] Also related to the storm, kudos to Derek Hunt, EMS director, emergency management coordinator

[18:49] for keeping us informed with the local weather and taking photos for national weather service

[18:53] for their post storm analysis.

[18:55] Also kudos to Public Works for all their hard work during and post storm.

[18:58] and also to reiterate public works is only picking up storm-related debris,

[19:05] specifically green debris, vegetative matter, not fences or appliances, building

[19:10] materials. Also they they did rent another grapple truck and as of the 18th

[19:19] they have collected 1,931 cubic yards of debris. Next the Hughes Road project

[19:28] meeting. I apologize for missing that. I had a project at work which continues. I could

[19:34] not make it. I went over the engineering documents. The only question that I really had was related

[19:41] to the rectangular drainage and liths geometry and their flow rates from inlet to outlet.

[19:46] I contacted Mr. Tarani and I'm supposed to talk with him probably next week when he

[19:52] gets a chance just to give me some specifics. I don't see any major issues. I just wanted

[19:56] to have a complete and full understanding of it.

[19:59] Bayou Animal Services Update.

[20:02] Nina Baker, director of Bayou Animal Services,

[20:05] wanted me to mention that it is springtime.

[20:07] Baby cats and wildlife, if you see anything,

[20:10] do not touch it, do not feed it.

[20:12] Contact the animal Bayou Animal Services and let them know

[20:16] and they'll put you in touch with a wildlife support

[20:19] specialist if necessary.

[20:21] Also, I'd like to mention that the last dog that I saw

[20:24] that I looked at last year when I was trying to adopt a dog and in fact the

[20:28] one that I was going to pick and somebody adopted it and then brought him

[20:31] back. Storm was adopted last week finally. So all the dogs I looked at are now

[20:36] adopted and my residual guilt has ended. Thank you all very much for being

[20:41] part of the solution and not the problem. I met with Yvonne Briscoe the

[20:45] senior planner for planning and zoning. We discussed GIS data

[20:48] specifically that is that which is available in the public domain. I've

[20:53] We used some of that in Google Maps to kind of help me visualize the various aspects of

[20:59] this job and with multiple public domain layers and they can be used in Google Earth.

[21:08] So I'm trying to clean up the file and then I have one of the layers which basically

[21:12] has notes about various projects going on in the city, drainage issues, crime stats,

[21:20] what have you.

[21:20] I think it will be a very useful tool for counsel in the future as soon as I clean that

[21:24] up.

[21:25] That is also on my wish list of AI to evaluate ordinances as well, Theo, so I've been a bit

[21:31] busy with the job that pays my bills, but I'll get that to you as soon as possible.

[21:36] Also I'm going to be meeting with Imai Lewis, with the Executive Director for Imai Lewis,

[21:42] Angelica Hanley.

[21:44] I'll be meeting with her tomorrow at lunch to discuss various issues, including some

[21:49] of the poverty that the city experiences.

[21:52] I'm also going to be meeting with TextDOT next week if everything stays to plan to discuss

[21:58] several issues.

[21:59] Market on the Bayou will be on the 27th of April from 9 to 2 at 2801 FM 517 Road East

[22:06] right across the street in the parking lot and I did not forget this time.

[22:11] So it is hosted the second and fourth Saturday of each month.

[22:15] Starbury Festival has been mentioned. Also the 40th annual American Legion Post 554

[22:20] Spring Barbecue Cook-Off fundraiser will take place this Saturday for 427 from 10

[22:26] to 5 and it'll be there on Highway 3 at that Legion Post and the last thing I

[22:31] wanted to mention was the conversation with Colin. Colin Coker, there he is in

[22:38] the back, president of the Dickinson Economic Development Corporation. He

[22:42] We had an open town hall over at Moray about two weeks ago.

[22:47] I went up there and I saw a couple of people that I usually stay offline as far as social

[22:54] media, but some of the people I know that have had issues in the past and haven't been

[22:59] too happy with the city were in there.

[23:03] When I saw them in there, I hesitated for a second, but then I just walked in.

[23:08] I'm glad I did.

[23:10] you know it's it was a very cathartic and healing moment for not just me but

[23:18] those people there because they saw that I am just a guy that is trying to help

[23:23] the city that's it I'm just Fred doing what I can actually I told them I was

[23:28] wondering what I could do to make $75 a month and still upset people at the

[23:33] same time I was on for city council that's what I'll do but they I had a

[23:38] a very good conversation with a lot of them, and it seemed that most of the issues were

[23:44] resolved with just accurate information. That's all these people need. They need to be listened

[23:49] to and given accurate information. And so I hope that that can help because it's been

[23:54] kind of contentious and volatile the last several months. I hope that things can improve

[24:00] and once again to those people out there that are still upset and that weren't at

[24:05] that meeting. My contact info was on the website, and so is the contact info of everybody up

[24:09] here, and I'm sure they would be more than happy to answer your questions as much as

[24:13] I would. That's all I had. And kudos to you, Collin.

[24:16] All right. Thank you. Councilman Simpson.

[24:22] Thank you, Mayor. Welcome, everybody. Glad

[24:26] to see you all here. Since the last council meeting I've attended, of course, we have

[24:34] the workshop on the Hughes Road project. Also conducted via committee with the

[24:42] mayor and councilman Brantley of interviews for people desirous of being

[24:46] on some of the city boards. Also attended the Wine and Roses celebration as well.

[24:54] Like I said well attended always a great time. I need to find out who makes the

[24:59] bacon-wrapped jalapeno poppers. That's a favorite of mine. Also spent a week in

[25:07] Round Rock for the TML Leadership Academy training. I got to go back in May to

[25:14] finish that training, but great information there. Also went to the

[25:18] Houston Galveston Area Council for our regular meetings. I attended the plans

[25:22] and projects committee meeting. I served on that committee and just a

[25:28] The general reminder that going forward, if we want federal funding for projects, particularly

[25:36] anything transportation related, the federal government has required that we get a letter

[25:44] saying our plan is consistent with the regional transportation plan for 2045.

[25:50] We had some spirit to discuss it around that at the board meeting.

[25:53] meeting. Vice chair of finance and had to chair that meeting because the chair was absent

[25:58] and then an board of directors meeting had to chair the finance portion of that meeting

[26:03] as well. Those are all my comments right now.

[26:06] Mayor. All right. Thank you. I'd like to welcome

[26:08] everybody this evening as well. It's good to see so many people here. The big thing

[26:14] I'd like to talk about really two things. One was of course the storm that we had

[26:17] a couple weeks back. I want to thank all of the staff, especially public works,

[26:22] the first responders, PD, EMS, the volunteer fire department for doing a really good job,

[26:28] but really all of the staff plays some role in something like that happens, and everybody's

[26:32] happened to help out and coordinate everything, so I really want to thank them for really dealing

[26:38] with this. We're dealing with it that happened very suddenly, very severely, and I think we're

[26:44] doing an admirable job out there. Please be patient. I know Theo will talk more about it

[26:47] in a moment, but we're going around picking stuff up. They're working as hard as they

[26:52] can as fast as they can, and they're going to get to you.

[26:55] So please keep that in mind, and know that they're busting it

[26:59] out there as best as they can.

[27:01] But I also like to say I also attended the Wine and Roses,

[27:06] and I had the honor of getting to cut the 200th anniversary

[27:09] cake with a sword that Mary Dunbaugh gave me, which

[27:13] was not what she told me when I got there.

[27:15] But we got through it OK.

[27:17] There were no injuries, no insurance claims were made.

[27:19] So it all worked out OK.

[27:21] Okay, but I appreciate everybody, the invite up to that event and getting to participate.

[27:26] With that, we'll move on to item 4B, the city manager update.

[27:31] So I will turn it over to our city manager, Theo Malonzo.

[27:34] Mayor, council, thank you so much.

[27:35] This is going to be a few minutes, but I wanted to start off, we have our audit firm here.

[27:40] We have a representative, Louis Breedlove, if you would be gracious enough to come on up.

[27:44] As you know, we are in the midst of our FY21 audit.

[27:50] And as promised, he was going to come in April to give us the status update and kind of give

[27:55] us the timeline as he sees it.

[27:58] So, Lewis, thank you for being here.

[28:02] Sorry.

[28:03] I'll turn this back around.

[28:11] Is that good?

[28:11] Sorry.

[28:13] Thank you for having me here, counsel.

[28:15] Yes.

[28:16] So last time I was here, I gave you all kind of a general outline for what our expectations

[28:22] were timeline-wise.

[28:23] I'm happy to say that we are on track for that timeline.

[28:27] Sarah and the rest of the finance team have been working very diligently to get us everything we need.

[28:34] We're very, very close at the moment at wrapping up the financial audit piece of the audit.

[28:40] A few items that we're discussing today are getting wrapped up.

[28:43] I anticipate those being wrapped up within the week.

[28:46] And then we are at the beginning stages of starting the single audit as well,

[28:50] getting all the data necessary for that piece of the audit.

[28:54] So...

[28:54] Lewis, can you explain a single audit, why we have to have one, and so forth, just for

[28:58] counsel to understand?

[28:59] Yes, sir.

[29:00] So the single audit is, any time may, currently, any time may, anyone spends $750,000 or more

[29:06] federal funds, it's not about when you receive it, it's all about when you spend

[29:10] it.

[29:11] When it's spent and meets that $750,000 mark, it triggers a single audit, which

[29:17] which is a detailed audit over those grant funds specifically.

[29:21] So there are specific federal guidelines on how those funds are supposed to be spent and

[29:26] so it is our job then to test to ensure that those guidelines were met and so it's very

[29:32] detailed audit over those funds specifically to ensure that all the proper, depending on

[29:40] which one it is, but there's various requirements for who you use, how it, with the process

[29:46] and spending those funds and all these various requirements on how you go about getting those

[29:52] vendors, which a lot of that does get captured in just the normal operations of the city,

[29:56] but there's additional requirements on top of that.

[29:58] So it's testing.

[30:00] Those specific funds and then those get the separate report that is included in the back

[30:05] of your report or often a separate report as well, and that gets uploaded to the federal

[30:11] audit clearinghouse, which is required once you meet that requirement of a single audit.

[30:18] So there are extra specific requirements for that. This just entails more time than on

[30:24] on top of the usual procedures performed on a general financial audit.

[30:30] So we are, as I mentioned at the beginning stages of that part of the audit and wrapping

[30:35] up that financial piece of the audit.

[30:38] In terms of just general timeline, so I had mentioned previously, last time I was here,

[30:44] the plan would be to have the 2021 audit to start at the end of March and get that

[30:50] done by the end of spring.

[30:52] We are on target for that.

[30:53] I anticipate being able to get that wrapped up within the month of probably mid to late

[31:02] May, which would probably be too late for the May meeting, but so that should be aligned.

[31:06] I know I think we have an audit committee or a finance committee that we'll have to meet

[31:09] with as well, so that would give us plenty of time to make that then June meeting.

[31:14] And then the plan would be to start off that 22 audit in June, and the goal for

[31:20] that one would be, and it would be a single audit associated with that as well, and the

[31:24] plan would be to have that done by the end of July. So that would hopefully be able to

[31:30] allow us to present in August and start in July, August for that 2023 fiscal year audit.

[31:39] And assuming everything goes according to plan there, I know that 2023 fiscal year

[31:42] is also that transition year from previous finance software. So there may be a slight

[31:48] right delay compared to the 22 audit in comparison, but should be able to get that done ideally

[31:55] by the end of, issued by the end of September and presented in October, which would then

[32:00] put its right on target to be able to start planning and performing the 2024 fiscal year

[32:06] audit. So we'll be right where we need to be for the current fiscal year we're in

[32:11] right now. So that is the goal based on how diligently the team here has been working

[32:20] for this audit, especially with it. We're asking a lot of questions. There's been a

[32:24] lot of cleanup on a few accounts. Sarah and her team have done a lot of digging, some

[32:31] accounts that have been sitting for a few years that have been cleaned up and dug

[32:37] into and so this audit will be has been has received a deep scrub to get it

[32:43] cleaned up and in good shape so so I want to assure council that you have a hard

[32:51] working team that's making it happen and so we're we're we're seeing the light

[32:56] at the end of the tunnel so thank

[33:01] you Lewis council I didn't while we had

[33:03] Lewis here if you had any questions or anything for him I want to open that

[33:08] I know we'll have this as an item later, but yeah, if you do have any questions, go ahead, Councilman.

[33:13] Yes, thanks for bringing this up.

[33:16] I'll turn the mic back on.

[33:18] I appreciate you doing this.

[33:20] I'd ask to, you know, hopefully help some people in the city with concerns to have this update done at every council meeting.

[33:29] Just give us a status on the audit.

[33:31] So I appreciate that.

[33:32] I'm glad we're still on schedule.

[33:34] And correct me if I'm wrong.

[33:36] But the process right now is related to the previous audit being inaccurate and so you have to have an accurate source

[33:42] To allow you to you know perform the current audit

[33:46] So is that correct? I mean that's a very high-level assessment. No, no

[33:51] We did not have an inaccurate order audit from 2020. Just want to be very clear that is not what's going on

[33:57] 2020 was issued

[33:59] 21

[34:01] was mid-audit, didn't get completed, we were engaged to come in, and we couldn't just pick

[34:06] up mid-audit for 21, we had to start fresh, and so we do a full complete audit at 21,

[34:12] but also because we were the new auditors, we did a lot of beginning balance procedures

[34:16] for 22 to ensure that we were comfortable with the material accuracy of your starting

[34:21] numbers for the fiscal year 2020 to 21.

[34:24] So maybe I phrased that incorrectly, but essentially you're trying to ensure that

[34:30] that the source information is accurate to allow you to perform the current audit and

[34:35] have an accurate result.

[34:36] Is that correct?

[34:37] Well, in the audit, we would be sure that the source details behind everything that we're

[34:41] testing is accurate.

[34:42] So I'm not sure if I'm fully getting your question or not, but...

[34:48] He's asking if you're having to, you know, some of your work was, since you hadn't

[34:53] done the audit for 20, you know, that you had to kind of validate and ensure

[34:58] that the ending balances of the FY20 audit were good so that you could begin the FY21 audit?

[35:06] That would be correct. Yes, we did. I'm sorry. That's what you were sorry.

[35:10] Yeah. Sorry. You said it was inaccurate. It may have been aware.

[35:15] But yeah, so 2020, we were doing beginning balance. We've done beginning balance procedures

[35:19] for 2020 to ensure we've all balance sheet items are accurately presented for 2020.

[35:26] So although there were, there was an audit issued for 2020 to ensure that we knew that

[35:33] the beginning balances were good and accurately going to be able to roll forward and set year

[35:37] under audit, we made sure that those were true and some of the beginning balances did

[35:44] require some adjustments, but not too, too many items.

[35:52] That's all I had.

[35:53] Mayor, have you had any trouble getting documentation from the staff?

[36:00] Not at all.

[36:02] There's definitely been some items requested that they've had to go into storage for and dig for,

[36:08] and maybe didn't have the answer for right away.

[36:11] With some of that, we are looking at 21, so there's some folks here that weren't here during that time period,

[36:16] so they're having to do a little bit of extra digging to get the support necessary, but

[36:21] everyone's been working as hard as possible to get it done, and so far we've not had an

[36:26] issue with obtaining support.

[36:28] Okay.

[36:29] Next question.

[36:31] And I know the report is not complete, but thus far have you seen any transactions

[36:37] that would lead you to believe funds were misappropriated, or any transactions that

[36:42] that would have led you to refer to a law enforcement agency thus far?

[36:47] No, sir.

[36:48] Okay.

[36:49] What about solvency?

[36:51] Is the city bankrupt or trending towards bankruptcy based on your findings thus far?

[36:57] No, sir.

[36:58] Okay.

[36:59] That's all.

[37:00] Great.

[37:01] Thank you.

[37:02] Are there any other questions at this point?

[37:03] All right.

[37:04] Theo, I'll turn it back over to you.

[37:06] No.

[37:06] Thank you very much, your Lewis.

[37:07] Appreciate you very much.

[37:09] I just want to take a moment and say that you guys have been great to work with.

[37:12] Brooks Watson has done an excellent job in picking up where our prior audit firm had left off

[37:19] of the FY21 audits. I do want to take a moment and thank you in front of council for the hard work

[37:23] y'all are doing to try to hurry up and pick up where things kind of got left off.

[37:29] We weren't supposed to be working together to FY22, but here we are in 21, so I got you.

[37:33] We're going to get it done. Thank you very much.

[37:35] Absolutely.

[37:39] I think that's it, Louisa. Thank you, sir. I appreciate you. Anything else before I let

[37:42] them go before I release them? All right. Your release, sir.

[37:45] All right. You do have my contact info, so feel free to reach out if you have any questions.

[37:49] I'm standing. Thank you, guys.

[37:51] All right. Nina Baker, come on up. We have some Bayou Animal Service staff update as

[37:59] as well as a certificate presentation as well.

[38:04] So we'll have that up next.

[38:23] Hello.

[38:24] I am Nina, Bayou Animal Services Shelter Manager.

[38:29] Good evening, everybody.

[38:32] I'm a little nervous.

[38:33] Sorry.

[38:34] OK.

[38:35] So in 2022, we were awarded this beautiful plaque

[38:38] because we were able to keep our live release rate 90% or above,

[38:45] and we were actually at 96% that year.

[38:48] As you can see with hard work and dedication,

[38:51] we held true to those numbers

[38:52] and had a live release rate of 96% last year as well.

[39:05] So this report of intakes and outcomes

[39:08] and much more available on our website.

[39:11] You just go to buyyouanimalservices.org.

[39:14] You click on the about tab and we provide our monthly data reports.

[39:19] So anytime you're curious as to how the shelter is doing, how many numbers we have, how many dogs we might have in the shelter at that time,

[39:27] it's going to show you everything that you want to know.

[39:33] So happy sales.

[39:35] This is a part of the shelter that most people know.

[39:38] You usually get to see the wonderful pictures along with short stories of animals being adopted,

[39:42] but there's a whole other side to animal control.

[39:45] and that's animal cruelty.

[39:50] So the following pictures are a little graphic. I

[39:52] didn't put the worst ones up trying to save everyone's soul but and these are

[39:57] pretty bad and all of these pictures were taken here in Dickinson. So animals

[40:02] being treated like trash, unloved, and malnourished. These are just a few of the

[40:08] hundreds of animals that come to buy you a need of help. Sometimes we're

[40:12] able to identify the owners and hold them responsible for not caring for

[40:15] the animals that depend on them.

[40:19] Because Dickinson Municipal Court has worked so hard to become a court of record and a

[40:23] close relationship with Dickinson Police Department, justice is closer than ever for

[40:28] these pets.

[40:31] I thought you might enjoy an after-rescued photo.

[40:34] This is Susan, Amina, and Kitty.

[40:38] These girls found justice, care, and love in Dickinson, thanks to this city's commitment

[40:42] to shine.

[40:45] One of the stories that you probably heard recently is the story of Lakota and Bruno.

[40:50] This father and son duo were found in a field staked out with no food, no water or shelter.

[40:57] They were emaciated, full of worms and depressed.

[41:00] Bruno also had an injured eye that hadn't been treated and it was infected.

[41:04] This was our first seizure case for horses and we knew we were going to need help because

[41:08] leaving them out there wasn't an option.

[41:11] Sergeant Jeremy Kahn of the Galveston County Constables Office was ready to assist us by

[41:16] helping us get a seizure warrant and to follow through with animal cruelty charges.

[41:21] Dickinson Public Works quickly showed up with a horse trailer and built living quarters

[41:25] for the horses on their property.

[41:28] Dickinson Feed generously donated the food and supplies we needed to care for these

[41:32] gentle boys.

[41:34] We were able to find a rescue that would cover all the medical costs and get them

[41:38] adopted, but they had no open fosters to take the boys in.

[41:42] For a couple of months, BAS and Public Works shared the responsibility of the boys.

[41:47] In January, we were expecting a hard freeze and were worried that the horses were still

[41:51] too thin to withstand the cold winter temperatures.

[41:57] We reached out to Dickinson Bayou Ranch for help.

[41:59] They provided two stalls to keep Lakota and Bruno safe and warm, and Holly cared

[42:03] for them every day.

[42:05] Day from Dickinson feed and the Crowder family coordinated the transport to the

[42:09] ranch.

[42:11] Just a few weeks ago Lakota and Bruno were taken in by Blue Bonnet equine

[42:15] rescue for training and adoption. This is a fantastic story of a community coming

[42:21] together to help animals in need. None of these people have ever asked for

[42:25] recognition or even a thank you. So tonight we would like to officially show

[42:30] our appreciation to everyone involved in saving these horses and many other

[42:34] animals that needed our help.

[42:53] Sergeant Jeremy Kahn, would you come up from please?

[43:21] Dickinson

[43:21] Bayou Ranch, Ms. Holly.

[43:45] Cameron. Cameron from Dickinson Feed and Supply.

[44:07] Ms. Gina Vega

[44:08] from Dickinson Municipal Court.

[44:36] Mr. Phillip from Dickinson Public Works.

[44:56] And last but

[44:57] It definitely is not least.

[44:58] Chief.

[45:00] From Dickinson Police Department.

[45:17] Thank you, everyone. Good night.

[45:31] Next up, I just wanted to go over a little bit about the tree pickup issue. First, I just want to say

[45:38] public works has done an outstanding job on their part, you know, really, you know, helping to clear

[45:44] roadways, working with the police department to ensure that, you know, if people were calling

[45:50] the administration line, that all of the calls were being handled, yes, we are kind of running

[46:00] into an issue council of people deciding that spring cleaning and pruning would be a great

[46:05] time of year to go ahead and get those trees trimmed.

[46:12] And so what we're trying to do, and actually we're probably about a few days away from

[46:16] public works that basically we're at a place where if we see that the, you know, the greenery

[46:24] is actually still very green, fresh cut, that public works will be actually taking note

[46:31] of that and letting the homeowner know that, you know, obviously it's been multiple weeks

[46:36] since said storm that, you know, we can visibly see that this is, you know, the

[46:42] leaves are fresh, they're not dried out by now and so we are going to be working on tightening

[46:46] that up and ending the tree pickup process. We had a budget line item for equipment to

[46:57] be rented in some events such as this, so we had ample funding in that line item to

[47:03] go ahead and get a grapple truck for a four-week rental to help out so we could

[47:09] We've run three crews simultaneously through the city.

[47:14] We are well above 2,000 cubic yards at this point.

[47:19] Do want to thank Novus Group as well who's been working with us in opening gates and

[47:24] things of nature.

[47:25] In fact, we're going to be working on some type of public-private agreement in the

[47:32] event of storms for gate access and things of that nature, so that should be coming

[47:38] into council in the coming months in preparation of hurricane season, just if, you know, it'd

[47:44] be good to be able to have access and work with them in a partnership when we're in need.

[47:49] So with that, I would turn it back over to you, Mayor.

[47:54] All right.

[47:55] Thank you.

[47:56] Moving on to item five, public comments.

[47:58] We don't have any general public comments for this evening.

[48:01] We have some for specific agenda items.

[48:03] So without moving on to the consent agenda.

[48:05] And the following items are considered routine by the City Council and will be enacted by

[48:11] one motion.

[48:11] There will not be a separate discussion on these items unless the Council member requests

[48:14] in which event the item will be removed from the consent agenda and discussed after the

[48:18] consent agenda.

[48:20] Okay.

[48:21] I was going to pull 6D.

[48:23] Anyway, the staff asked that we remove that one, but we'll pull all of them.

[48:27] Okay.

[48:27] So item 6A, a resolution of the City Council of the City of Dickinson, Texas, accepting

[48:32] the actions of the City of Dickinson Employee Benefits Trust to accept the offer for employee

[48:36] medical pharmacy dental and vision insurance from Blue Cross Blue Shield authorizing funding

[48:41] providing for the incorporation of preamble authorizing execution of the offer and renewals

[48:45] by the City Manager and providing an effective date. So moved. Second. Motion approved by

[48:51] Councilman Brantley. A second by Councilman Schick. Is there any discussion on this item?

[48:58] Write None.

[49:00] Well, take this to a vote.

[49:01] All those in favor say aye.

[49:03] Aye, opposed?

[49:05] Motion carries.

[49:06] All right, item 6B.

[49:08] Consideration impossible action to approve the minutes

[49:10] from City Council's regular meeting held on March 26, 2024.

[49:13] So moved.

[49:14] Move with one correction.

[49:16] Two.

[49:16] Two, vote.

[49:18] OK, what?

[49:19] What's your correction?

[49:21] My correction is on, it

[49:29] is a vote

[49:30] on

[49:34] item 9b the first vote listed it says it's failed at 4-2 but it was 3-3 okay and

[49:46] Councilman Townsend he had a correction well he could if you say he could add it

[49:50] to his motion yeah also under 6e it says that Linton made the first and the

[50:02] second. I think Brantley made the second on that item. Okay. And your other

[50:09] correction was what Councilor Simpson said? Or you said you had two?

[50:16] The other one?

[50:17] Was that the other one that you had? Yeah, that was one of them. Okay. All right, so my motion. Yeah, one he

[50:25] brought up. Okay. It's supposed actually it's supposed to be on like the first

[50:28] vote. Yeah, there'd be two votes. Instead of four it should be three and the two

[50:33] You should agree with Townsend, Shig, and Brantley.

[50:36] Correct.

[50:37] Okay, so you make the motion with those corrections.

[50:41] All right, there's a second.

[50:44] Second?

[50:44] All right, second by Councilman Brantley.

[50:46] Any further discussion?

[50:47] Hearing none, we'll take this to a vote.

[50:49] All those in favor, say aye.

[50:50] Aye.

[50:51] Opposed?

[50:52] Motion carries.

[50:53] Item 6C, a resolution of the city council

[50:55] of the city of Dickinson, Texas

[50:56] to select the proposal submitted by Utility Inc.

[50:59] In response to RFP 2401 for body

[51:02] slash in car slash interview camera systems as the best proposal and authorizing the city manager to execute any and all documents necessary

[51:08] To secure an agreement for such services where they motion on that item

[51:15] So lose there's a motion to prove by councilman schick. Is there a second?

[51:20] Second right second by councilman Brantley

[51:25] discussion

[51:28] Maybe not if we don't okay. Are there any

[51:34] We're going to present first but okay go ahead if you've got something that you want to basically

[51:39] It's a resolution give the city manager the opportunity to determine if we want to move forward with the utility

[51:44] And we'd like that to move to be the case

[51:46] Utility is one of the two vendors that responded to our RFP

[51:51] Our camera system that we're currently using watch guard is it end of life?

[51:56] In fact some of the equipment we're buying we're having to buy off eBay because it's not made anymore

[52:00] And we've had donations from another adjacent city of some of their equipment that they

[52:05] had in storage.

[52:05] It gave us to kind of keep us moving forward.

[52:08] So we need a new system.

[52:10] And this will cover the body cameras, the in-car systems, and two interview rooms.

[52:14] Basically the infrastructure we currently have now, except this will be new technology.

[52:19] The gentlemen officers are standing with me, almost all of them.

[52:22] And one IT representative or part of the committee that reviewed the scoring matrix for the two

[52:32] vendors that submitted proposals, and utility came out above the other vendor.

[52:40] They were actually very close.

[52:42] The median average was 95 for utility and 91 for axon, which is the other vendor.

[52:51] So, also, utility has unlimited storage where Exxon doesn't.

[52:58] So the long-range cost with utility is less than Exxon also, as well as the upfront cost

[53:07] is lower.

[53:08] So the initial year, as will be paid out over a five-year period, the initial year will

[53:13] use narcotic seizure funds to the tune of about $88,000 or so to get us up and running.

[53:19] that the subsequent years, the following four fiscal years, will make a budget

[53:24] request to cover that. So that'll be roughly about $50,000 per year. So

[53:29] $88,000 roughly to get us kicked off and then $50,000 for an additional four

[53:35] years to pay off the system. Any questions? Do you have any questions or

[53:39] comments on this item?

[53:42] You said you had two RFPs. We did. That was my

[53:47] question how many you had we had it out we had you know advertised for the length

[53:52] of time it's required by law and had several people send inquiries as it was

[53:58] posted but at the end we only received two oh

[54:04] councilman shake I'm sorry what

[54:05] are the other agencies in the area using which equipment are they use oh

[54:09] it's a variety Galveston PD's using this utility system a lot of people are

[54:16] using axon because axon used to be taser when the first body camera

[54:20] a push came out, that was one of the companies that would provide you a bunch of cameras

[54:24] for free and then of course the back end software, which that's all the expense, then you had

[54:30] to pay for that.

[54:31] So a lot of people went with that and stayed with it.

[54:34] So both these companies, we wouldn't have lost either way with either one of these companies,

[54:37] or both quality.

[54:39] And we have officers here that have experience with the Taser axon, and I actually had

[54:45] experience with the utility, but I actually stayed completely out of the committee part

[54:49] part of it, let these guys look at it and evaluate themselves, including RIT people.

[54:55] What do you think the lifespan of a camera is?

[54:59] Well, these things I know for sure will last five years.

[55:04] A lot of that has to do with the conditions in which they were used.

[55:07] The utility system basically is just like your phone, your phone is a computer with

[55:12] a phone app.

[55:13] Utility looks just like a cellular phone, it's basically a computer with a camera

[55:17] app that does a whole lot of other things with GPS and it's got an officer down warning system

[55:23] so if the camera goes horizontal it starts a 10 second countdown and then if the officer

[55:29] is still down, if that camera is still down, it will pinpoint within the size of a parking

[55:34] space where the officer is.

[55:36] So that's, I don't really want to use that ever, but that's certainly a nice part for

[55:42] this camera system.

[55:43] Okay, great.

[55:44] Thank you.

[55:45] Any other questions or comments?

[55:47] Oh, yeah.

[55:48] Councilman?

[55:49] Will this system replace everything we have altogether?

[55:53] Will there be any transition where we have two systems running at the same time?

[55:55] Should not.

[55:56] No, this is the entire total solution.

[55:59] And everything that we keep like record of, for example, videos and whatnot,

[56:03] how is the transition for that going to be held like a storage for all of that?

[56:06] Does that come with this software as well?

[56:08] It's unlimited storage with utility.

[56:11] Where's Mina at?

[56:13] I'm George.

[56:14] My IT folks say,

[56:15] Once you started talking to IT, that's why they were on the committee, but the one company

[56:23] offered, I think 10 terabytes, was that correct, Mina or George?

[56:28] And then you had to buy additional terabytes, so would you answer that?

[56:32] Hello.

[56:33] So yes, AXON, it was going to be five terabytes initially, and then we were going to have

[56:39] to purchase terabytes in bulk.

[56:42] So the next five would have been a couple of $18,000 and then if we were going to do an unlimited storage with them it would have been like close to $50,000 for only 33 body cameras.

[56:58] So the more body cameras you would add the more expensive it was going to be for the storage.

[57:04] Is that like a cloud storage or a hard storage?

[57:06] So the initial costs would have been a la carte and then the after that the

[57:15] unlimited after you hit a certain amount of storage it would have been for the

[57:21] five-year duration of the contract. Hey George just to answer two questions one

[57:30] One is, is this company going to, is this a cloud solution or is it going to be one

[57:40] that we have to maintain servers?

[57:42] So utilities?

[57:44] Yes.

[57:44] It's going to be cloud-based.

[57:45] Okay, cloud-based.

[57:47] Part two is to address the previous question.

[57:51] What is going to be the transition and data retention for our current camera system

[57:56] or do we have a transition plan for that?

[57:59] What are we going to be doing to maintain that, at least for the short term, obviously

[58:04] we have some things that will be active cases or even a certain data retention, are we going

[58:09] to be keeping that locally or is that going to be transitioned over to utility?

[58:13] No, so from what I understand, I think that we do have that storage separate.

[58:18] It's going to be totally separate system that we will still have access to.

[58:23] But we'll be saving that locally, correct?

[58:26] We're going to be keeping it on servers or is that going to be in a cloud-based system?

[58:31] The one we have now, that's a, I believe it's going to be, that's a question for my IT director.

[58:37] It's going to have to be local, just to answer the question for you.

[58:40] I was mostly trying to figure out what is going to happen to our existing records.

[58:42] Are they going to be merged into the new system or are they going to remain on a separate system?

[58:46] Oh, okay, yeah, it'll be separate.

[58:48] Do you have an answer?

[58:51] All right.

[58:52] So the current flood guard system, it's on-prem system.

[58:56] So I have no information if utility will move this information over, but we can keep the

[59:02] records since it's on-prem server, just in case if needed for any information.

[59:07] Yeah, it'll probably be a lot easier if we just keep them separate, usually whenever

[59:10] you start merging systems and start asking them to communicate with each other.

[59:13] That's usually how you get data loss.

[59:15] So we'll probably have to really look at if we're going to bring it into the

[59:17] utility system.

[59:18] Absolutely.

[59:19] Thank you.

[59:19] Yeah, for clarity, the utility system is unlimited storage.

[59:23] It's included with the system that George was talking about.

[59:26] That's the other vendor.

[59:28] They offered five terabytes up front,

[59:30] but then you had to buy additional.

[59:31] And we were running about 15 terabytes now.

[59:34] Yeah, 17 terabytes.

[59:35] 17 now.

[59:36] So that would have been an additional cost.

[59:40] It wasn't part of the RFP that we had to.

[59:42] The community actually dug into that a little deeper

[59:44] and was able to discover that.

[59:46] So the committee did a fantastic job, I think,

[59:48] evaluating these these two vendors. Appreciate it, thank you. Any other

[59:53] questions or comments? I have a question and it's more for you Theo, but

[1:00:01] I'm looking at this thing and the resolution to approve the RFP response, all that's in the packet is the RFP itself.

[1:00:14] There's no response, or it states in the resolution that city council, the evaluations attached here to this exhibit, having been reviewed by the city council city of Dickinson

[1:00:28] I don't see any of that.

[1:00:34] Are they attachments?

[1:00:36] Are you saying it's the resolution or the RFP itself?

[1:00:38] I'm going to it right now.

[1:00:39] The only thing attached is the RFP.

[1:00:44] There should be, like, six attachments.

[1:00:46] No, he's saying the resolutions there,

[1:00:50] but the stuff that the people submit it is not.

[1:00:54] It's just a call for the RFP,

[1:00:56] but not the actual responses to it.

[1:01:08] I hate to do that but you can do what you want but there's you know there's

[1:01:14] reason why we put an RFP committee together but yeah we'll get it back we'll

[1:01:18] get it back next month you can or not it depends I don't understand the

[1:01:25] problem you're asking us to approve something and that and what you're

[1:01:29] asking us to approve is not in the agenda there's

[1:01:40] a motion to table from

[1:01:41] Councilman Brantley we got motion on the floor or is Brantley taking back his

[1:01:46] second shit taking back his first so they get table will have precedence over

[1:01:50] motion the table is no motion the table is is perfectly acceptable there's a

[1:01:57] motion table of a councilor Brantley second my councilman shit all those

[1:02:02] in favor say aye.

[1:02:03] Aye.

[1:02:04] Opposed?

[1:02:05] Motion carries.

[1:02:07] All right.

[1:02:07] Item 6D was asked, staff asked.

[1:02:10] I'm sorry?

[1:02:11] Oh, item 6D was asked, was asked to pull that item because it is moot at this point.

[1:02:20] I think they're working on resolving the issue.

[1:02:23] The is poo?

[1:02:25] Yeah.

[1:02:25] And we don't need to take action on it.

[1:02:28] The issue's being resolved.

[1:02:29] You know, as if I can just real quick so this acreage here is just so you know is that this

[1:02:36] is going to be coming up as a donation because a property owner has had their property reclassified

[1:02:45] as a floodway which is going to severely restrict their ability to do anything with

[1:02:50] the property.

[1:02:52] And so this may be an opportunity for us to use that for future flood mitigation

[1:02:55] and detention.

[1:03:02] It's on the survey it has it's up on California so it's on the so there's a survey attached

[1:03:08] that should be about 4.7 acres on there and it's on California kind of it's near a mobile

[1:03:14] home park can we get a real good I guess we can just skip the item so there's no action

[1:03:21] on this nobody makes a motion there's there something legal that they need to clear up

[1:03:26] on the title.

[1:03:26] All right, I'm going to move on to items, to number seven, public hearings and action

[1:03:32] items from public hearings.

[1:03:33] Item 7A, conduct a public hearing concerning a request for a specific use permit for a church

[1:03:39] in a neighborhood commercial, neighborhood commercial zoning district for approximately

[1:03:41] .33 acres located at 5818 East FM 517, excuse me, legally described as abstract 36, WG banks

[1:03:50] We're as a block one replant, FKA Watts, 5-6-7, and eight block two tropical gardens.

[1:03:58] We will begin this public hearing at 7.04 p.m.

[1:04:02] Start with the staff presentation.

[1:04:04] Council, you've actually seen this previously.

[1:04:08] It actually came before you a couple of times before.

[1:04:10] They were approved for a specific use permit about two years ago.

[1:04:13] They were approved for a six-month extension about a year ago, and that has lapsed.

[1:04:19] And so now they are seeking approval for the specific use permit for the church again.

[1:04:24] They had site-a-plan approval through planning and zoning.

[1:04:27] If this gets approved, they'll have to go through that process as well.

[1:04:30] That's what staff has.

[1:04:32] All right.

[1:04:32] Thank you.

[1:04:32] Does the applicant have...

[1:04:34] Are they here?

[1:04:35] They want to say anything?

[1:04:36] Yeah.

[1:04:36] I think we had one person signed up.

[1:04:39] Is this...

[1:04:40] It doesn't have a name.

[1:04:41] It just says approval expiring.

[1:04:46] Okay.

[1:04:47] All right.

[1:04:48] All right.

[1:04:49] No applicant presentation.

[1:04:51] no rebuttal so we will adjourn the public hearing at 7.05 p.m. and move on to item 7B.

[1:05:01] Consideration and possible action to approve an ordinance on a specific use permit for a church in a

[1:05:05] neighborhood commercial zoning district for approximately plus or minus .33 acres located at

[1:05:09] 5818 East FM 517. Legally described as abstract 36 W.G. Banks Rez 8 block 1 replant FKA lots 5-6-7

[1:05:17] and eight block to tropical gardens approved by Councilman Brantley a

[1:05:23] second by Councilman Simpson is there any discussion is sorry mayor is this one

[1:05:29] of the ones where they got approval and then the hold up was them getting the

[1:05:34] state stuff in yes they were they did not get their text on approval until

[1:05:39] September and last year and that pushed everything back and these expired in

[1:05:43] December. Okay. So they get text dots approval? They do have a text dot driveway approval now.

[1:05:50] They don't have nothing in the way now other than they got to go through the process again.

[1:05:54] That's correct. Thank you.

[1:05:57] And the approval is for how long? The approval that you're

[1:06:02] granting for the specific use permit is for them to obtain permits within one year.

[1:06:07] Why do we need to do it a year? They've already done everything. Why can't we

[1:06:12] We put a limit on that of six months.

[1:06:15] You can if you want.

[1:06:16] Our code does say that the initial approvals for a year and then extensions are for six

[1:06:21] months.

[1:06:22] But you can set it at whatever you want to.

[1:06:28] Do they have a specific timeline?

[1:06:31] Do they need a year to do what they're doing?

[1:06:33] So no, right now they actually have permits in.

[1:06:36] They need to do revisions on their plans.

[1:06:37] They do not meet our current requirements, but they do have an application in and

[1:06:42] we're going under review with that waiting for a resubmission and they're pending this

[1:06:47] outcome for the resubmission currently.

[1:06:50] So just to be clear, maybe Yvonne or Theo or both can answer this question.

[1:06:54] So if I understand you correctly, you were telling Councilman Schick that the ordinance

[1:06:58] has an extension of six months, but is this a new, this is a whole new application

[1:07:02] so it would be a year, the default motion would be a year.

[1:07:05] Yeah, because you already did one extension, another extension is not allowed.

[1:07:08] I see.

[1:07:08] So you were doing the whole.

[1:07:09] I just bring that up just to understand what we what is on the table at present so the current motion would do it for a year

[1:07:14] I just want to be sure works

[1:07:19] We already approved this once

[1:07:22] Now they're having to go through because it doesn't meet the code. So why not meet the code the first time

[1:07:27] They're not going through it again because they did not meet the code

[1:07:30] They're going through it because they let it expire understand that but then you said they have to make some changes

[1:07:34] some because it doesn't meet her code their site plan so how did the site plan

[1:07:38] get approved last time did it meet her plan and something changed that it

[1:07:43] doesn't meet it now it was a general site plan that had two entrances that are

[1:07:48] not quite wide enough to meet fire code and so they were given a

[1:07:52] conditional approval on the site plan at that time okay thank you any other

[1:07:58] questions or comments? Hearing none, I'll take this to vote. All those in favor say

[1:08:03] aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. The staff has also asked that we pull item 7C. It is

[1:08:11] not ready to be discussed as of yet. So unless someone is going to take some action, I'm

[1:08:16] going to go past that one to item 7D. Item 7D, conduct a public hearing concerning

[1:08:24] prescribing that the notice be given of the time and place of the public hearing

[1:08:27] to be held for the future proposed adoption of the Unified Development Code in Associated

[1:08:31] Citywide Resoning, shall be by publication of said notice in a newspaper as provided

[1:08:35] by the Texas Local Government Code, Section 211.006A.

[1:08:40] We will begin this public hearing at 7.08 p.m.

[1:08:44] We'll start with the staff presentation.

[1:08:46] We've been working on the Unified Development Code for, I would say, two, two-and-a-half

[1:08:51] years now.

[1:08:51] we're reaching the point where we have released a draft of the code and then

[1:08:59] also a draft of the proposed zoning map. We're actually preparing to go ahead

[1:09:04] and release that to the public, probably, you know, by next week most likely, and

[1:09:09] we're basically looking at what it would take to do the rezoning of that

[1:09:14] citywide rezoning and adoption of the unified development code.

[1:09:18] All right, so we'll move on.

[1:09:22] We do have one public comment on this item with Mr. Garland Copeland.

[1:09:27] Okay, all right.

[1:09:29] We have no other comments for this item, so I will adjourn to public hearing at 7.09 p.m.

[1:09:35] We'll move on to item 7e, consideration and possible action concerning prescribing

[1:09:40] that the notice to be given of the time and place of the public hearing to be held

[1:09:44] for the future proposed adoption of the unified development code

[1:09:47] and associated city-wide rezoning shall be by publication of said notice in a

[1:09:51] newspaper as provided by Texas local government code section 211 point zero

[1:09:56] zero six eight second by Councilman Simpson any discussion

[1:10:04] I got a question so we're

[1:10:14] just setting this up for the public comments and

[1:10:18] everything for the new unified development code yeah to start the

[1:10:23] process we have to announce the public hearing. So I thought somewhere in here I've seen where they were talking about taking away the, they were changing it on the SUPs.

[1:10:35] Oh, you're talking about 7 and C, that was the item that they asked me to poll, yeah, to skip over. Yeah, this is just about the UDC.

[1:10:43] I'm looking at the right one. Right. Yeah. Oh, yeah.

[1:10:47] What kind of time frame are we looking at to do the public hearing?

[1:10:51] We're actually looking at an open house and two public hearings in May and then adoption in June.

[1:10:57] Okay.

[1:11:01] Okay.

[1:11:02] Any other questions or comments?

[1:11:04] Hearing none, we'll take this to a vote.

[1:11:06] All those in favor, say aye.

[1:11:08] Aye.

[1:11:09] Opposed?

[1:11:10] Motion carries.

[1:11:11] Item 8, ordinances.

[1:11:13] Item 8A, consideration and possible action to approve an ordinance of the city of Dickinson, Texas to amend Chapter 4,

[1:11:19] four animals of the City of Dickinson Code of Ordinances by amending Section 4-3 entitled

[1:11:24] definitions, repealing Section 4-14 entitled license and registration fees, retitling Division

[1:11:29] 2 of Article 2, amending Sections 4-41 entitled required and 4-42 entitled exceptions, repealing

[1:11:37] Sections 4-43 entitled proof of vaccination, 4-44 entitled ballot period, 4-45 entitled

[1:11:43] animals brought into the city and 4-4-6 entitled identification tags and a

[1:11:48] many section 4-6-7 entitled vicious animal registration required

[1:11:52] providing a repealer clause, a penalty clause and an effective date. Move to

[1:11:58] approve. It's a motion approved by Councilman Simpson. Is there a second? Second by

[1:12:02] Councilman Linton. Any discussion? If you didn't guess what this is, it's

[1:12:05] about dangerous animal registration. So is it for dangerous animal only or for

[1:12:12] For any animal, you've got to explain what you're doing, please.

[1:12:18] So the only reason why we changed the dangerous animal portion is because it included the licensing and registration.

[1:12:25] We're actually taking the licensing completely out of the ordinance because the licensing actually means when they would have to come to the shelter,

[1:12:31] do some paperwork, get a physical tag that they would hang on their collar.

[1:12:35] what we've changed is that we want it to be a mandatory microchip so one time

[1:12:40] once in a lifetime implant for a microchip and so as long as that

[1:12:44] microchip is registered then there are compliance. It's only for dangerous animals.

[1:12:49] No, for every. Somebody moves into town tomorrow with a non-dangerous animal. They

[1:12:54] don't have to have the microchip and all that stuff. They do and even a

[1:12:58] dangerous animal would every animal would need to be microchipped. With

[1:13:02] this change. Yes sir. So everybody in town has to get a microchip now? Yes sir.

[1:13:07] One year to do it. Yeah so first we're gonna be offering a whole a lot of free

[1:13:13] microchip events to kind of get everybody on board. The whole purpose for

[1:13:16] this, so we did the numbers for the last two years because our record

[1:13:22] keeping is outstanding these days and we were able to see that 40% of the

[1:13:27] animals that were brought into Dickinson were actually from people that

[1:13:30] don't live in Dickinson. Our current protocol requires us to take the animal in as long as

[1:13:36] the animal was found in Dickinson. But because we're on no kill shelter, people shelter shop.

[1:13:43] And so these dogs I'm sure are coming from all over the place to get to us. And so once

[1:13:49] we change that protocol, if a citizen's dog is picked up by someone that might be

[1:13:54] traveling through from Galveston or something, we're not going to take that dog in unless

[1:13:58] that person that found the dog is from Dickinson and they have a Dickinson driver's license

[1:14:02] or if that dog is microchipped and registered to a citizen of Dickinson.

[1:14:07] So

[1:14:10] let me ask a hypothetical question.

[1:14:12] Okay.

[1:14:13] All right.

[1:14:14] What would happen if you discovered somebody didn't have their dog?

[1:14:18] Like, their dog was lost and they were at the shelter and they end up seeing that

[1:14:22] they're there and they show up and we see that it wasn't microchipped?

[1:14:28] What would happen then?

[1:14:29] So once we're we don't actually plan on taking action writing tickets and

[1:14:36] things for about six months probably because I'd really like to we have a

[1:14:40] plan to put out flyers and do a lot of events we have the option to have

[1:14:45] completely free microchips right now because we have a good partnership with

[1:14:48] Finano so every time we put a microchip in and we register it they

[1:14:52] automatically send us a free microchip and so we'll be getting the word out

[1:14:56] there for I'm assuming six months is gonna do it I think I need

[1:15:00] I want to see the kind of turnout that we get from the events.

[1:15:02] How common is this in other cities, do we know?

[1:15:07] It's pretty common. I think the licensing portion of our ordinance is pretty outdated because even with a rabies tag, dogs lose those all the time.

[1:15:15] Yeah, people often don't do that.

[1:15:17] Cats don't even wear collars, so.

[1:15:19] Right, okay. Just curious. And offhand, what is the fine schedule for this?

[1:15:25] it's going to be the same as everything else and it's a $200 I think it's not

[1:15:31] more than 2,000 okay yeah the normal the birds yeah all right yeah so

[1:15:39] everybody's clear whether you move in the town or you already live here you got

[1:15:44] one year to get a chip microchip put in your animal yes there yeah cuz people

[1:15:54] lab-packed bags and horses. We've recently come into a lot of horse issues.

[1:16:00] I understand you and I didn't come if they got the microchip.

[1:16:04] Yes, sir. I ain't got no problem with that.

[1:16:09] About the curiosity, I know we have this free program in place.

[1:16:12] What does a microchip cost if it's not, if somebody had to pay for it?

[1:16:16] It would cost the shelter probably like $3 and on a normal day we would charge $15

[1:16:23] Just on a regular day, we've actually been giving free microchips this whole year so far just to try to get people on board and we've done a couple events, but if you guys approve tonight, we'll be hitting that hard and giving out a lot of them.

[1:16:39] I'll refer to the city of Dickinson.

[1:16:40] Go ahead.

[1:16:41] It counts one.

[1:16:43] I have a question about it.

[1:16:44] You mentioned that if you found an animal and it wasn't chipped and it didn't belong to anybody here, where did those animals go if they're not turned over to the animal shelters?

[1:16:52] They would go to the jurisdiction that the person's driver's license is in.

[1:16:55] Whoever found them, so if you found them and you live in wherever you send them over there.

[1:16:59] And so what if the person lives like kind of far away and how does the we absorb the cost for that

[1:17:03] or what happens for that? If the person that found that is visiting they live in like

[1:17:08] A. Lee for something like how are we going to get that animal over there?

[1:17:12] They would take them. We wouldn't even take the animal in.

[1:17:14] You have to take it with you. You can't leave it here.

[1:17:15] right okay thank you

[1:17:20] when you get an abandoned dog call or a dog loose so

[1:17:25] you're gonna go out there and you're gonna check to see if it's got a

[1:17:28] microchip in there yes sir we got to do that every single time and then what

[1:17:32] happens if you run across this dog and it has no microchip then we're gonna

[1:17:38] bring it to the shelter if it's animal control bringing a dog in animal

[1:17:41] control can still bring dogs in because I know that they found them in our

[1:17:44] jurisdiction. They most likely belong there. The problem that we're having is

[1:17:49] that the people that are they're not citizens of Dickinson so they maybe

[1:17:54] don't want to bring their animals to another shelter that is a high-kill

[1:17:57] shelter and so they're coming all the way here to drop their animals off. So

[1:18:01] this won't prevent people from dumping dogs in the city of Dickinson? No sir.

[1:18:06] I don't know anything that would honestly. Our cats or whatever it is.

[1:18:11] It's not going to stop it, but there's two numbers in our little reports that we do every

[1:18:16] month that we can certainly change.

[1:18:18] One of those numbers is intake, and that's about a 40% difference on intake would make

[1:18:25] the shelter a whole different place, because literally 40% of people, they weren't citizens.

[1:18:31] The other number that we can change is that return to owner number, and the microchip

[1:18:35] is the way to do that.

[1:18:41] After the year is up and you go through all of it, you find a stray dog and somebody comes in that says it's mine.

[1:18:49] Are you all going to chip the dog and charge them or are you going to give a fine on them or what?

[1:18:53] So this is going to, it's not only going to, we're not only going to be able to change the protocol of how we intake dogs,

[1:18:58] but also what happens to the actual animal when they come in.

[1:19:02] And so currently, we give them DHPP and Border Tele to protect them physically.

[1:19:06] But with this ordinance, we can actually hit them with a microchip just as soon as they

[1:19:10] go through the door.

[1:19:11] And so that part's already done.

[1:19:13] And then if no one comes to claim them, then we go through the whole process and get

[1:19:17] them adopted.

[1:19:18] Okay.

[1:19:19] Thank you.

[1:19:19] So could this potentially be a deal where, you know, I looked back to the scenario

[1:19:22] I brought up earlier, right, where you kind of say, well, on the one hand, there's

[1:19:25] a fine.

[1:19:25] On the other hand, we could just tip your dog for $3 instead.

[1:19:30] How does that sound?

[1:19:30] So I guess what I'm getting at is you know, you don't necessarily want to start

[1:19:34] I think there will be many good intentioned people who don't have their animal chip through no issue and

[1:19:39] I just and I'm not saying that I think y'all would I but people are listening to this and they may be saying my god

[1:19:44] We're gonna get fine $200 we don't ship our dog

[1:19:46] And I just kind of want to have it laid out there that I mean I guess if you want to pay $200 or you could just say

[1:19:52] Why don't we just ship your animal right right here exactly consider the matter close so for free. Yeah

[1:19:58] We'll do it for free.

[1:19:59] Got you.

[1:20:00] Okay.

[1:20:00] Good deal.

[1:20:01] Good deal.

[1:20:01] We would prefer that.

[1:20:03] Yeah.

[1:20:03] I kind of figured.

[1:20:04] I just wanted to say it out loud and let you say it.

[1:20:06] Appreciate that.

[1:20:07] Any other questions or comments?

[1:20:11] You may have answered this.

[1:20:12] What is our cost to chip an animal?

[1:20:17] Zero.

[1:20:18] So our relationship with Finano makes it to where every time we put a microchip

[1:20:22] in, whether that's a community's pet or a shelter pet, Finano automatically sends

[1:20:27] This is a brand new microchip for free.

[1:20:30] They make their money through the registration portion.

[1:20:33] So when people adopt the pet or take their pet home,

[1:20:36] you have to register that microchip.

[1:20:38] And that's how they make their money,

[1:20:40] mostly by ads for insurance and stuff like that.

[1:20:44] Is there a cost to register the chip?

[1:20:47] For some chips, there is.

[1:20:48] For fine animals, there's not.

[1:20:50] OK.

[1:20:52] And what if you have an animal that's already chipped?

[1:20:54] I

[1:20:57] mean one that was found no just say you double-chipped it on accident yeah

[1:21:04] so we scan when they when they get before they get in our vehicles we scan

[1:21:08] when they come through the door we scan when we weigh them we scan when we

[1:21:11] medicate them we scan when we spay neuter them it's a non-stop process

[1:21:15] because we've actually had a few dogs that the microchip does migrate and

[1:21:20] they would be down in the elbow and someone special happened to go along

[1:21:23] that time and check them so anytime before their microchip they're

[1:21:26] are always scanned thoroughly.

[1:21:31] Questions or comments?

[1:21:33] Yeah, it's basically an identification mechanism

[1:21:37] to allow you to minimize the amount of animals

[1:21:40] that you have to intake.

[1:21:42] So we're not full all the time.

[1:21:45] And so as far as the comment that was made earlier

[1:21:50] about the time, the implementation

[1:21:53] shall occur by the animal reaching six months of age

[1:21:55] or within 30 days after the animal was acquired or brought

[1:21:58] into the city which ever is later. The year that was mentioned that is when the

[1:22:04] actual, if approved, that this takes effect. Correct. I really, I don't want to

[1:22:10] change the rules in the middle of the game without letting every player know. So

[1:22:13] we're going to be super conscious about just letting everyone know as many

[1:22:17] people as we can get to listen.

[1:22:20] Any other questions or comments? All right.

[1:22:24] Hearing none, we'll take this to a vote and this is a one reading deal or is

[1:22:27] those two readings all

[1:22:31] right that's what I just wanted to clarify that okay it's

[1:22:37] very well we'll take the vote all those in favor say aye aye opposed motion that

[1:22:43] carries all right we'll move on to item 9a discussion and possible action to

[1:22:47] appoint members to the zoning board of adjustments BOA billing standards

[1:22:51] Commission BFC and planning and zoning Commission P&Z board of directors

[1:22:55] before we get to this item I would like to make a couple notes so we did

[1:23:00] use our we use the process of the committee process and so we had the kind of the subcommittee

[1:23:05] did the initial interviews with all of the people that are up for potential nomination.

[1:23:12] However, and we have asked them to be here tonight so I'm going to ask them to get up

[1:23:15] and speak and say something. However, we want to be sure that council does have ample

[1:23:19] time to go through everything look through the applications make sure. So it would

[1:23:23] be my intention to perhaps not vote this evening unless that is the stringent desire

[1:23:28] council that I would say let's let everybody speak do whatever and then

[1:23:32] we'll we'll do the appointments at a later date the next week. I'll make a

[1:23:36] motion to table it and then we can let them speak. Well before you tell I was going to say just let them speak and then we can we can do that if that

[1:23:44] works out and we do have Mr. Garland Copeland signed up for this item as well we'll

[1:23:52] give others the opportunity. In addition.

[1:24:01] Council.

[1:24:05] The agenda as written was very

[1:24:10] unclear about exactly what was going to take place tonight. I'm one of the

[1:24:15] members that has been on two of these the standards board and the standards

[1:24:23] Commissioner and the adjustment board.

[1:24:27] I've been listed as an alternate for the

[1:24:32] Board of Adjustment. Were your intent tonight to wrap the slate clean and bring

[1:24:39] in all new people or were you going to carry over past tonight some of the

[1:24:44] existing members of these bodies?

[1:24:50] I feel like that you would benefit from

[1:24:55] having a few carryover with some experience on this so that's the way

[1:25:02] the your agenda was written I didn't I couldn't tell what was gonna happen

[1:25:08] tonight so I can address a little bit of that since it's on the item so I've in

[1:25:13] a prior meeting we had we'd laid out our our position that we weren't going

[1:25:16] to remove anybody who's currently on there so if this is to fulfill more

[1:25:20] vacancies in the packet itself on the cover sheet it lists out more of

[1:25:23] rationale and talks about their vacancies and that the goal was to fill those

[1:25:27] vacancies. So no, that wasn't the intent, but I don't think we're going to take any

[1:25:31] any action tonight in any event. Well, the last comment would be as an alternate, I've

[1:25:38] got experience. I'd like to just be moved up to a voting member. Understood. All right.

[1:25:45] Thank you. Okay, so kind of what I'd like to do is give the the applicants

[1:25:51] against for the board's opportunity to get up and speak.

[1:25:55] So I'll just go in order.

[1:25:56] I know one had to leave.

[1:25:57] I saw that she was here and she had to go.

[1:25:59] But Alyssa Rodriguez, was she here or did she leave?

[1:26:03] She left.

[1:26:03] She left, okay, that's one of that.

[1:26:06] Oh, you're there, okay.

[1:26:07] I'm sorry, there's also another,

[1:26:09] there's a Jennifer Rodriguez, is the one that line, okay.

[1:26:15] Hello city council members.

[1:26:17] All right, so I've lived and grew up in Dickinson.

[1:26:22] And this would be a great opportunity to make Digginson liveable, as in when you were telling

[1:26:33] me about those apartments that were not liveable,

[1:26:45] this would be a great opportunity.

[1:26:48] Which board is she going for?

[1:26:51] Planning and zoning?

[1:26:53] Yes.

[1:26:54] And building standards?

[1:26:55] And building standards, yes.

[1:26:56] Yeah, several of them are for all, but a lot of people in the application checked multiple

[1:27:03] boards.

[1:27:06] Okay.

[1:27:07] Next, Collin?

[1:27:09] Collin?

[1:27:20] Howdy, Council.

[1:27:21] My name is Collin Haida.

[1:27:22] My partner and I, back in October, purchased a home over on the west side of Dickinson.

[1:27:28] I'm a two-time graduate of Texas A&M and aerospace engineering, and I've been here in the

[1:27:34] Houston area, working in space flight for about three years now, a little over.

[1:27:41] One of the reasons of why I decided to apply for boards and commissions is I think young

[1:27:46] people need to provide their perspective to the cities.

[1:27:50] And I think that what I would bring is really a passion to make the community better.

[1:27:59] and I'm ready to jump right in and I appreciate y'all's consideration. All right, thank you very much.

[1:28:05] And next we have David Floyd.

[1:28:15] I mean, you don't have to.

[1:28:16] But I will. I never pass up an opportunity. I'm David Floyd. I've been a resident of Dickinson for 30-something years now.

[1:28:26] I was on the Building Standards Commission for two or three years. I was chairman for two years.

[1:28:31] years. I think good people need to volunteer for these jobs. I noticed that you lost some

[1:28:36] good people on there. I don't know why, I don't have any idea. I'm in favor of zoning.

[1:28:41] I think it's a good thing. I'm in favor of the Building Standards Commission taking

[1:28:47] out these old buildings and getting rid of them and making clean land that can be used

[1:28:52] for something else. And I know the drill with it. I know the laws that go along

[1:28:58] with it. I've been through all the training and I just volunteered my time. Thank you.

[1:29:04] All right. Thank you. Next, Denise King. Oh, yes, ma'am.

[1:29:12] Oh, we're still going through.

[1:29:13] It's not in any order or anything. It's just I have a random order of people on the page.

[1:29:18] I will get to you. I will get to you. Hello, Mayor, City Manager, City Attorney,

[1:29:24] Council. My name is Denise King. I wasn't born here in Texas, but I got here as fast

[1:29:31] as I could as soon as I got out of the military. When I come from in Chicago, they don't tell

[1:29:36] you that there's eight months of summer here. The only time we see y'all is when there's

[1:29:42] a hurricane. So I think I would be good on the Building Standards Committee because

[1:29:49] He says, I come from Chicago, I've seen what is considered normal living conditions and what is not.

[1:30:02] All right, thank you very much. Next we have, Jennifer's not here, we have Kevin Lane.

[1:30:18] Good evening. I'm Kevin Lane. I'm a retired Air Force veteran, currently on Air Force civilian working at NASA.

[1:30:26] So I've been living in Dickinson for a couple, going on three years now, and so I'm volunteering my time

[1:30:32] and what basically a little expertise I got in pretty much anything to help the city where I can.

[1:30:38] And so you guys just please see where you want me

[1:30:41] and see what happens.

[1:30:44] Okay, thank you.

[1:30:46] And Nifip Rashid Shakur.

[1:30:54] Hello all.

[1:30:56] So these days I'm not working

[1:30:59] because I'm a stay home dad.

[1:31:02] So I have a lot of free time.

[1:31:04] I like to give back to the community

[1:31:06] and help people as much as I can.

[1:31:09] I recently did some volunteer work for IRS

[1:31:13] the tax preparation centers. Unfortunately that work was ended April 15th so I was

[1:31:20] looking for some more volunteer work around my house and I come across the

[1:31:25] city of Dickinson website. I saw these board of adjustments, board of zoning

[1:31:32] commission so I applied for these. My background I own a small business, own

[1:31:41] and managed it for about 15, 16 years in Texas City.

[1:31:46] So I have a lot of experience dealing with public.

[1:31:50] And I did some construction work also.

[1:31:53] So I thought I would be a good candidate for building

[1:31:58] standards or zoning commissions.

[1:32:03] Thank you.

[1:32:04] Thank you very much.

[1:32:05] And next, William Brown.

[1:32:12] It's good to see you all face to face.

[1:32:14] We just saw everybody electronically, so that goes for everybody, except David who showed up anyway.

[1:32:18] Yeah, I don't know about you guys, that camera doesn't do any of the justice.

[1:32:22] So I'm William Brown, so I've been lived in Dickinson roughly 10 years.

[1:32:26] I've volunteered with youth services like baseball, football for several, many years because I have a couple kids.

[1:32:34] And I want to give back to the community and have an input in that, in the community for them.

[1:32:40] because they are our future, not us.

[1:32:43] So I want to put something forward for them.

[1:32:46] I have different walks of life.

[1:32:48] I've had four different careers in my span of life.

[1:32:51] So I want to be able to put that knowledge to use

[1:32:56] and to be able to use my time to be able to,

[1:32:59] like I said, make something better for them.

[1:33:02] Thank you very much, sir.

[1:33:04] And now we have Danielle Smith.

[1:33:06] There you are.

[1:33:07] See, I did not forget you.

[1:33:08] Good

[1:33:14] evening Council. My name is Danielle Smith. I've been a resident for Dickinson for five years

[1:33:20] I'm deeply invested in the city's growth and improvement and I feel like I can offer a unique and diverse

[1:33:27] perspective when it comes to the choices and the choices that will go before the committee

[1:33:34] I

[1:33:35] Bear in mind that I will all my decisions that I make and will benefit all residents of Dickinson

[1:33:41] And I have a passion for enhancing our city in any way that I can.

[1:33:45] Thank you.

[1:33:46] Thank you very much ma'am.

[1:33:48] And Nick, we have Sarah Simena.

[1:33:52] Good to see you.

[1:33:55] I'm probably one of your newest residents.

[1:33:58] I actually closed escrow on my house at the end of 22.

[1:34:03] So I've been here just over a year and I really am involved.

[1:34:09] I was involved where I previously lived.

[1:34:12] And I have to say, I am in agreement with just about everybody else that's come up here.

[1:34:17] A passion to be part of the improvements, a passion to create an environment that grows

[1:34:23] with the families that move here and make this a place where people not only want to

[1:34:28] come and move, but want to stay and their kids want to come back to and improve and

[1:34:32] build.

[1:34:34] So, yeah, just to volunteer wherever you need me, I'm super happy.

[1:34:39] Thank you.

[1:34:40] Okay.

[1:34:40] Thank you.

[1:34:41] And we also have Stephanie Brown as our last one.

[1:34:44] So if I missed anyone after Stephanie, please speak up.

[1:34:50] Well, I'm prepared because I typed something up,

[1:34:53] but I do have a little bit to add.

[1:34:55] My name is Stephanie Brown and I reside on Casa Grande.

[1:34:58] I know I've met with several of you before.

[1:35:01] Tonight I did sign up to serve

[1:35:04] on Planning and Zoting Committee

[1:35:05] and so I'm asking for your consideration

[1:35:08] to be on the committee.

[1:35:10] I am a DeGreed Businesswoman

[1:35:11] who can bring personal experience as well as able to use my professional skills when representing

[1:35:16] the city have excellent communication skills which can bring an open dialogue. I have an

[1:35:23] understanding of master plans and their importance when building the community and I'm able to

[1:35:27] look at the difference of opinions and use decision making skills and the best interest

[1:35:32] of the city of Dickinson, its business owners and residents. And I'm like everybody else,

[1:35:37] I have a passion, I had a situation on my street, and it's kind of sparked me to want

[1:35:44] to be able to serve in a capacity and try to help bridge together and move the city forward.

[1:35:50] I know we have a new adoption that y'all are going to be making that y'all were talking

[1:35:53] about the unified co-development, so I'm interested to see how that plays out.

[1:35:58] But I hope you consider me, and I appreciate it.

[1:36:01] All right.

[1:36:01] Thank you very much, ma'am.

[1:36:02] And I and I that should be everyone unless I miss someone Jennifer

[1:36:12] Why not okay, I was gonna say you do not look like Jennifer

[1:36:17] I was just texting her because I saw her world walk out. She said she had to go to work

[1:36:24] My name is John O Valley. I'm a resident here in Galston

[1:36:29] I've known judgment for about for about a year and a half, but I know she's been involved in this community

[1:36:35] She grew up here. She's a volunteer firefighter with Dickinson Fire Department and she's also on the citizens on patrol.

[1:36:43] That's where I met her. And she likes to stay involved and she comes out to a lot of functions and she makes fire calls.

[1:36:51] But as I've known her, I've been trying to talk to her to get involved because she's 22, 23 years old.

[1:36:58] She's a young lady and we need to get more young people involved and so she has applied I believe for the

[1:37:05] Building Standards Commission

[1:37:07] But anyway, you know, I think that's all she was gonna say that she really wants to serve and get involved in her community

[1:37:14] Like all the young people in this town should be doing. Thank you

[1:37:18] And I would like to know in her you know to her credit she was here and everything

[1:37:21] You know these can just take a little bit longer some time

[1:37:24] So she she was absolutely here. So I'm really pleased that everybody showed up for this as well. So that is that is awesome

[1:37:32] So like I said, we want to be sure that everybody gets a chance to look over everything and so we're not gonna do anything tonight

[1:37:39] but we will let everybody know and

[1:37:41] It means a lot that y'all took the time to a to apply and then be to be here and speak and and all of that. So

[1:37:47] Anyway, yes

[1:37:49] Well, I would say we could just go past it. We don't have to take any action but

[1:37:55] up to y'all. We don't have to do anything. So, yeah. It will die for lack of a motion.

[1:38:02] So, okay. Now, items 9B through 9D should have been executive session items, so we'll

[1:38:07] do those in executive session, then we'll come out and take any action. So we'll

[1:38:12] go to item 9E, discussion regarding the prohibition of fireworks and possible options

[1:38:16] to revise. Now, there's no action item listed here, even though it's under 9,

[1:38:22] So, this is a discussion item, as I understand.

[1:38:25] Yes, just to kind of preface some of the conversation about the fireworks was, you know,

[1:38:31] Council Member Bill Schick has been, you know, kind of spearheading, kind of working on really trying to understand kind of what other municipalities are doing

[1:38:40] and kind of wanted us to kind of sit down and kind of figure out what's the next steps forward, you know,

[1:38:46] What's the pallet for eliminating the prohibition on fireworks and what would be, if so, what

[1:38:52] would be the steps for us to take to make that happen?

[1:38:59] So Bill, is there anything you want to add?

[1:39:00] I just want to be able to kind of open the invitation.

[1:39:03] We did have a meeting a couple of weeks ago and the committee members, we could

[1:39:08] not find anything that we were breaking any laws that would increase insurance rates

[1:39:14] and it's strictly a community decision and we have several ways to do it. We can

[1:39:22] repeal the the existing ordinance or we could put it in front of the voters in a

[1:39:29] referendum and let them decide how to do it. But we're just trying to get

[1:39:34] community input into this thing as to which way you think it would be best

[1:39:39] to go forward. Now I know as far as a vote I don't think we're allowed to do like a binding

[1:39:46] referendum but I do know in the last charter amendment we did add because I'm the one that

[1:39:51] brought it up but we added a non-binding so we could call a you could hypothetically

[1:39:56] call a non-binding vote at that point. So they did Brexit. But yeah anyway. Mayor.

[1:40:07] out of curiosity how many tickets do we write during the holidays that people

[1:40:16] want to let off fireworks I think we've only I think this past year I think we're

[1:40:21] maybe one and it was because the person when was when they were told to stop

[1:40:26] lighting fireworks stood right in front of the fire motion went ahead and let

[1:40:30] one right in her face yeah I did that ride along and that was the only one

[1:40:36] that I was aware of that night.

[1:40:37] Most of them were warnings.

[1:40:41] If we don't do, we don't really issue

[1:40:42] tickets unless it's that blatant.

[1:40:47] And I believe the judge enforced that to a maximum penalty.

[1:40:53] Councilman Townsend?

[1:40:54] One of the problems is if they're popping them

[1:40:57] and they see headlights, they're

[1:41:00] in the house before the headlights get to the driveway.

[1:41:03] There's none left but smoke and there's nobody out there.

[1:41:08] My neighborhood sounds like a war zone.

[1:41:11] My wife, she don't like it in me, I could care less.

[1:41:16] Actually, it in me.

[1:41:17] But the law passed because they were a hazard

[1:41:20] and they burned things down.

[1:41:22] Taught Timbers in 1978 burned down

[1:41:24] because they had a wood roof on it

[1:41:26] and a bottle rocket hit it.

[1:41:28] Burnt that whole building down.

[1:41:29] Fourth of July of 1978.

[1:41:32] That's where your laws come from, of course.

[1:41:35] Which Ingalls are outlawed now?

[1:41:38] But that's what we're talking about.

[1:41:40] And then just to kind of add on one of the biggest changes that makes it really hard

[1:41:46] to enforce as well to go along with Councilmember Townsend's sentiment is that they, you know,

[1:41:55] if you actually go on social media and you go to the different Facebook neighborhood pages,

[1:42:00] there's a real-time tally of where the patrol and fire marshal is at all times,

[1:42:06] depending on which. So if you actually have all the social media pages up of all the neighborhoods

[1:42:10] in Dickinson, I don't even have to know where my officers in Fire Marshal are because they'll

[1:42:15] tell me in a matter of in real time in minutes. So it's one of the big issues is once someone

[1:42:20] enters into that neighborhood, they're posting it. And so everyone hurries up and waits

[1:42:24] till they get the posting that that you know person has left, you know, the patrol.

[1:42:29] So I mean, we're you know, there are some things that sound good in the way the

[1:42:32] ordinance was written, but it's really hard to enforce because of, you know, changes in

[1:42:36] technology with whether it's the shingles changing or on the other hand, you know, the instant

[1:42:42] communication that exists now.

[1:42:46] So oh, go ahead, Councilor.

[1:42:48] It's been a real drain on our police department during these events.

[1:42:53] We we've been very fortunate that we haven't had a major event because all of our officers

[1:42:59] are chasing sound all over Dickinson. It's just practically unenforceable in this situation.

[1:43:09] The only way you're going to stop it is, you gotta got the ticket, he had it coming. I'm sorry.

[1:43:16] But they ask you to put it out and you light it in front of them, you deserve everything you get.

[1:43:21] I'm sorry. If you're that stupid, I'm too bad.

[1:43:26] But some of the sentiment I heard was if you write two or three $2,000 tickets,

[1:43:31] I don't get on Facebook and they'll quit popping.

[1:43:35] You may not stop at all, but if you write a few tickets and you make them pay the price.

[1:43:45] So I guess some of the reasons why I kind of opened the forum up was to kind of understand kind of what does council have, you know, because there are multiple routes to take one would be the non-binding referendum.

[1:43:56] them say for the November ballot. Another would be for us to engage our city attorney

[1:44:02] to put together an ordinance if you would like depending on how y'all want to do it.

[1:44:06] Just want to let you know there are multiple avenues to where to go from here or are you

[1:44:10] happy with the way things are. Obviously that's an option too but we just want to kind of

[1:44:14] understand what the pleasure of council is so that when we start engaging our resources

[1:44:19] we know what direction we're trying to drive it in.

[1:44:21] I would I'm somewhat dubious because there are a number of complaints about this that at least my sense and I could be wrong so maybe there would be a vote and I would be proven wrong that there's a large portion of the city population that does not want fireworks legalized within the city limits.

[1:44:41] But even if I didn't have that view, I would still, for me, I would want to see just get

[1:44:47] some like data together about, you know, I know we had that one ticket last year.

[1:44:53] How has it been other years?

[1:44:55] What was-

[1:45:00] We see that night, like, to collate some kind of data about this, what other cities have

[1:45:04] done, what has happened in these other cities. You know, that would be something I would want

[1:45:08] to see before we were to do anything, even a non-binding reference. That's just me.

[1:45:16] So I do have some call volume that we researched this year and last year. And within about

[1:45:22] a three, three-and-a-half hour period, we had 40 calls within a three-and-a-half

[1:45:27] hour period.

[1:45:30] There was one ticket given out last year and I believe one ticket

[1:45:34] given out the year before. Just out of curiosity so you know because obviously a

[1:45:39] late person here is a number 40 over say three to three and a half hours. What

[1:45:44] does what does 40 mean? Is that a high volume, low volume? So that's a pretty

[1:45:49] high volume. That's the average of 12 to 13 calls an hour.

[1:45:55] So you get 12 to

[1:45:56] 13 calls in one hour. You don't have enough people to address those calls.

[1:46:02] I understand. Okay.

[1:46:07] Are there any stats on the number of fires that were caused by the fireworks?

[1:46:11] We do not have those, no.

[1:46:14] I did reach out. I spoke to a councilman from Leek City and I know they are also,

[1:46:20] I don't know how far they are within theirs.

[1:46:23] They are discussing

[1:46:25] doing something with their fireworks as well.

[1:46:27] Did Santa Fe has, their farm marshal brought it up a few years ago?

[1:46:34] I thought it was very recently they brought it up.

[1:46:36] And they shot it down, but I did speak to some other farm marshals around our area and

[1:46:43] they're in agreeance.

[1:46:44] It's just, it's overwhelming and uncontrollable.

[1:46:47] I see.

[1:46:48] Okay.

[1:46:48] So that's kind of what we're good at.

[1:46:49] So from the staff level, at least from where you're sitting, you'd be more in

[1:46:53] favor of repeal in the ordinance than not.

[1:46:56] Yes sir.

[1:46:57] Okay, I don't want to put you on a spot like that,

[1:46:58] but you kind of said it, so I went ahead and did, okay.

[1:47:01] And that would be some of the conversations

[1:47:03] I'd like to be able to have,

[1:47:03] and not necessarily put people on the spot in public either,

[1:47:05] but maybe ask some staff myself,

[1:47:07] like, what do you think about this and all that?

[1:47:09] But I appreciate you saying that though,

[1:47:10] and giving your view.

[1:47:14] So, I mean, as far as where to go,

[1:47:16] I mean, I'd say what I'd like to see,

[1:47:18] but that doesn't mean that's what we have to do,

[1:47:20] but sure.

[1:47:22] If it's a non-binding referendum, I wouldn't do it in November, why waste the money?

[1:47:27] Do it in May when you've got your regular elections, and why spend money on an election that doesn't mean anything?

[1:47:36] Right, it's up to the pleasure of the council to do whatever it wants to do.

[1:47:40] And we would have a lot of time to make that decision anyway, so sure.

[1:47:45] And actually, the Charter provision that allows for that non-binding referendum does require that it be put on the same election as another city election.

[1:47:52] Okay, so it would have to be during the regular, okay.

[1:47:55] Yes, sir.

[1:47:56] November.

[1:47:57] No, it would have to be in May.

[1:48:00] That would be with one of our elections.

[1:48:03] If we'd be too late for May, would we not?

[1:48:06] No, no next May.

[1:48:07] No, it has to be next May.

[1:48:08] Oh, we were definitely too late for May.

[1:48:10] I was like, we're definitely too late for May.

[1:48:10] You have to do it when you have a regular city election.

[1:48:13] So it would have to be in May.

[1:48:15] Next.

[1:48:16] 2025.

[1:48:17] May after.

[1:48:19] Definitely.

[1:48:20] Maybe I'd say there's really not much to do with this exact moment given that timeline.

[1:48:25] If I understood right, League City is discussing it tonight.

[1:48:28] Yeah, that's what you said.

[1:48:29] I'm not sure.

[1:48:29] I don't know.

[1:48:32] I didn't want to give false information.

[1:48:34] I just spoke to a councilman in passing a couple of weeks ago and I told him that we were discussing it.

[1:48:39] and he said they were as well.

[1:48:41] I mean, we could pull an agenda and see what they're doing.

[1:48:43] Is there anything else on this for the moment?

[1:48:45] Like I said, I feel like we've got lots of time to.

[1:48:48] And we'll do some homework.

[1:48:49] We have some things we'll collate and get back to you guys.

[1:48:52] OK.

[1:48:53] All right.

[1:48:54] With that, we'll move on to item 11, executive session.

[1:48:59] Item 11A, consultation with attorney, section 551.071,

[1:49:02] Texas government code.

[1:49:04] Discussion with attorney regarding contemplated

[1:49:05] slash pending litigation and regarding matters

[1:49:07] protected by Attorney Client Privilege, we will adjourn into Executive Session at 7.49 p.m.

[1:49:18] We will reconvene from Executive Session at 9.30 p.m.

[1:49:22] And we'll move on to, so what we're going to do, Item 12A, are we just going to do the nine NEMs,

[1:49:29] do you hear me right?

[1:49:31] Yes, sir, go back to nine B, C, D.

[1:49:33] So we don't have anything actually under 12A, it's all going to be nine B, C, D, D.

[1:49:37] That's correct, yes sir.

[1:49:37] Okay, so we'll move on to item 9B.

[1:49:40] Consideration and possible action

[1:49:41] to approve a professional services agreement

[1:49:43] with Spencer and Fein LLP

[1:49:44] to represent the city of Dickinson.

[1:49:46] I move to approve the agreement

[1:49:48] to engage Spencer Fein LLP

[1:49:50] to represent the city of Dickinson

[1:49:51] and litigation as recommended by the city attorney.

[1:49:55] There's a motion by Councilman Simpson.

[1:49:57] Is there a second?

[1:49:59] All right, second by Councilwoman Simpson.

[1:50:02] Any discussion?

[1:50:04] Hearing none, we'll take this to vote.

[1:50:05] All those in favor say aye.

[1:50:08] opposed motion carries item 9c consideration and possible action to

[1:50:12] approve a professional services agreement with Lewis first post this guard and

[1:50:16] Smith LLP to represent the city of Dickinson the agreement to engage Lewis

[1:50:22] Briss boys biz guard and Smith LLP to represent the city of Dickinson and

[1:50:26] litigation as recommended by the city attorney motion made by councilman

[1:50:31] Simpson is our second second second by councilman Linton any discussion

[1:50:35] motion hearing none. We'll take this to a vote. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed.

[1:50:41] Motion carries. Item 90 consideration and possible action to declare the memorandum

[1:50:46] of understanding between the city of Dickinson and Creekside 2019 LLC terminated effective

[1:50:51] May 4th, 2024. I move to declare the memorandum of understanding between the city of Dickinson

[1:50:57] and Creekside 2019 LLC terminated effective May 24th.

[1:51:03] Alright, so the motion is to make the termination effective May 24th and not May 4th is listed

[1:51:08] in the agenda May 24th.

[1:51:10] Is there a second?

[1:51:15] Okay.

[1:51:16] There's a second by Councilman Brantley.

[1:51:18] Any discussion here?

[1:51:21] Very not.

[1:51:22] I take this to a vote.

[1:51:23] All those in favor say aye.

[1:51:24] Aye.

[1:51:25] Opposed?

[1:51:26] Motion carries.

[1:51:28] That'll move us to item 13, adjournments.

[1:51:30] Oh, move.

[1:51:31] Second.

[1:51:32] Most adjourned by Councilman Townsend, second by Councilman Simpson.

[1:51:35] All those in favor say aye.

[1:51:38] Motion carries.

[1:51:39] We are adjourned at 9.33 p.m.

Apr 23, 2024 City Council

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