[0:00] [music]
[0:06] friends, it's about 6:30.
[0:08] started, so if you can all
[0:10] [cough]
[0:13] will be led to scene by Pastor.
[0:18] Thank you for joining.
[0:21] Let's pray.
[0:23] Father, we thank you for this time.
Thank you, God, for
[0:26] uh just this day to to gather.
[0:29] We pray for uh your will to be done.
We pray for unity,
[0:32] we pray for peace, we pray for um uh
you to be glorified through our
[0:35] conversations and through uh what is
accomplished today.
[0:41] We we trust that you uh are with us
and we pray for your presence.
[0:46] And we ask these things in Christ's
name.
[0:47] Amen.
[0:48] [applause]
[0:50] face the flag.
[0:51] I pledge allegiance to the flag
[0:53] of the United States of America
[0:55] and to the Republic for which it
stands,
[0:58] one nation, under God, indivisible,
[1:01] with liberty and justice for all.
[1:05] [rustling]
[1:10] All right. We're going to start off
[1:12] uh with a really awesome opportunity
tonight for recognition
proclamations.
[1:17] for um Item A is the American
Planning Association. Texas chapter
planning
[1:22] uh awards.
[1:27] We just wanted to let council know
and the audience know that
[1:31] we just received uh a very
prestigious award from the American
Planning
[1:36] Association through its Texas
chapter.
[1:40] And basically they went back and
looked at our comprehensive plan
[1:44] and they looked at our community for
how we uh went about planning
[1:49] and how we went about implementing
this plan.
[1:51] And so this year we were the only uh
ones in Texas.
[1:54] Sometimes they allow up to two gold
awards for the comprehensive plan,
[1:59] but we are the only uh gold level
award uh given for the Argadine
[2:04] Gainesville 2040 comprehensive plan.
[2:08] And then they also gave us the only
gold best uh community award
[2:12] for the entire state of Texas.
[2:15] So we are very excited about this.
[2:17] This was based around how much uh
involvement we did with the public.
[2:23] So this is not a staff or council,
[2:25] this is a true community award.
[2:29] It's to thank, I mean, staff had a
lot to do with it, council had a lot
to
[2:33] do with it, but our people showed up.
[2:36] And that was unprecedented.
[2:37] At our first meeting they said, we
expect to have 25 people from the
[2:41] public here, so go ahead and put 50
chairs out.
[2:45] Once we end up having over 200 chairs
pulled out because how many
[2:49] people showed up, and that was a very
pleasant surprise.
[2:52] We really did market it, we really
did ask for people's input.
[2:56] And so that was very uh it was it was
a very heartwarming with that.
[3:01] Then we had a very high participation
rate with our survey.
[3:07] And so because we did all that and we
talked with individual uh different
[3:11] types of groups of people that were
in the community to see how the
[3:15] comprehensive plan would impact them.
[3:18] They liked all that different input
and having different groups from the
[3:22] community, like the parks board and
the special committee for the
[3:26] comprehensive plan alone,
[3:29] give input on it and the P and Z give
input on it.
[3:31] So with all that along with council
and the public,
[3:35] they they thought we went down the
the right avenue, plus they really
[3:38] liked that we did all the planning at
one time.
[3:42] I was talking to a city manager this
summer at at a conference.
[3:47] And he says, you just completed all
three of those plans
[3:49] in the last year and a half,
[3:51] I said, yes, sir.
[3:52] He goes, man, usually it's only one
at a time.
[3:56] And I said, yes, sir, uh it was it
was a lot of work,
[3:59] but I think it was well worth it.
[4:01] and this community stood tall during
this event.
[4:05] So, thank you for all the staff,
thank you to council and
[4:08] most of all thank you to the public
for this.
[4:12] Yeah, I think uh we first want to
thank the citizens
[4:14] for your part in participating.
[4:17] Because without you, this plan
wouldn't have come to fruition.
[4:20] Your voice was important in this.
[4:21] This wasn't our plan, this was your
plan.
[4:24] Um, I do want to thank staff for all
the hard work that you did uh by
[4:28] advertising it, getting out there and
helping people understand, um,
[4:31] what what the plans would when they
come to fruition, what that means to
us.
[4:35] And then also I want to thank this
council for supporting this effort
[4:38] because uh without you uh approving
the budget and and having a vision
[4:42] for our community, we wouldn't have
uh been able to uh finish these
plans.
[4:46] So, uh of course now the hard work is
to come and make them all come
[4:49] to fruition and still just being a a
plan on piece of paper.
[4:52] So, thanks everyone for for uh um
this hard work and uh well,
[4:56] I'm really impressed that we got uh
acknowledged.
[5:00] for all that, so.
[5:01] Yep.
[5:02] [applause]
[5:08] All right. uh, was that was that all
for the reports, Barry?
[5:12] Okay. Uh, recognition.
[5:14] Now we'll go to reports. Uh, Metal of
Honor Boulevard presentation by
Kimmelly Horn.
[5:19] Come forward.
[5:23] All right. Well, good evening, Mayor,
Council. Thank y'all for having me.
[5:26] Uh for the few new members. Uh my
name is Colton Harmes.
[5:29] I'm with Kimley Horn. Uh I'm the
design engineer on this project.
[5:33] Also have Brandon Bishop, a partner
of mine with Kimley Horn.
[5:35] just standing in the back there.
[5:36] If you ask me any too hard questions,
I'll look back to him.
[5:40] Um, you may remember I was up here
back in April kicking off this
project.
[5:44] That's when y'all approved our design
contract to get started.
[5:47] Um since then, we met with the Parks
board and some city staff to go over
[5:51] some ideas for the project, get some
feedback.
[5:53] What I'm here to do tonight is to go
over all of that information that we
talked
[5:56] about with the Parks board.
[5:58] And basically show you the update,
show you where we're at now.
[6:02] So I'm going to try to take what was
about an hour and a half of content
[6:04] with the Parks board, condense that
into about 10 minutes tonight.
[6:07] So I'm going to be moving fast,
[6:09] but of course if there's any
questions, uh, please feel free to
ask.
[6:11] Diana, you're running the slides.
Okay, great.
[6:14] Um, so quick agenda, run through just
some quick project information.
[6:16] Uh, a lot of this will be repeat from
the last time I was up here, but
[6:19] want to make sure that we're on the
same page.
[6:22] Um, talk through some street and
sidewalk options, the landscape,
[6:24] pedestrian and way finding signage.
[6:27] Uh, elimination and then leave some
time for your Q&A at the end.
[6:31] So, wanted to start with the planning
efforts and very applicable with what
[6:34] the update Barry just gave us.
[6:36] Um, so now I can tell you you're
award-winning comprehensive plan
here.
[6:40] Uh, and so a lot of effort that went
into this.
[6:43] And what we need to be thinking of is
this is the first implementation of
[6:45] that plan.
[6:46] Um, like Mayor said, this is taking
it from just a plan on a sheet of
paper,
[6:49] we're turning this into a real life
project.
[6:52] Um, so very excited to be a part of
that.
[6:54] Um, it's not only the the downtown
comprehensive plan though.
[6:58] It's the Summp, which I helped to
create back in 2020, the street and
[7:01] utility maintenance program.
[7:02] It's the water and wastewater master
plan.
[7:04] So we're checking a lot of needs off
at the same time.
[7:07] So, Diana, if you go to the next
slide.
[7:09] This is just the bare bones of this
street.
[7:11] I'll get into the funner stuff here
in a second, but
[7:14] the bare bones is there's still a
major storm drain underneath the
[7:16] the street that needs to be updated.
[7:19] There's a major sewer line, it's a
24-inch sewer line that takes
[7:21] it down to the treatment plant.
[7:23] There's a water line. We're going to
include a piece of Cobson Street.
[7:26] It's the last remaining block all the
way from here to 82 that hasn't
[7:28] already been reconstructed.
[7:31] As well as Medal of Honor Street
itself.
[7:33] We're also going to be adding
sidewalk of course.
[7:35] So, again, wanted to just really
reiterate, we're checking off a lot
[7:37] of needs with this project. It's not
just the aesthetics,
[7:40] That's the part that's going to be
flashy that people are going to see.
[7:43] Um, but the the true base of the
project is really addressing a lot
[7:46] of community needs.
[7:49] And most of what you're paying for is
going to be buried.
[7:53] Right. Yeah. Yeah. Underground the
utilities for sure.
[7:57] Okay.
[7:59] Um, so again, this comes straight
from the Guiding Gainville. These are
all
[8:02] um specific goals that I feel this
project is directly
[8:04] contributing to.
[8:07] So you'll see throughout my slides
tonight, there'll be down at the
bottom,
[8:10] um, little footnotes of these.
[8:13] So as I'm talking about things, think
about directly from the
[8:15] comprehensive plan, what we're trying
to accomplish.
[8:19] Okay.
[8:20] So one of those goals, invest in a
downtown promenade.
[8:23] And so that is again part of this
project is really phase one of
[8:25] a full connectivity promenade.
[8:29] That would run from the zoo and
Leonard Park all the way to Kiwana's
Park.
[8:34] Um, and so you see the green path
there, that is currently still viewed
[8:36] as the primary route.
[8:39] Uh, but we're keeping our options
open for the secondary route going
[8:41] down the Con Street instead.
[8:43] Um, and so you see our piece of Medal
of Honor there, again, this is one
[8:46] small piece of the much larger grain
scheme here.
[8:50] But the decisions that are being
made, what we talked about with the
Parks
[8:52] board and what we're hoping to get
approved to move forward on with
[8:55] tonight, is setting the stage for
that entire promenade.
[8:58] So think of when we talk lighting,
when we talk benches, signage, it
[9:01] yes, it'll be applied here, it's
going to be applied everywhere
ultimately.
[9:06] Okay.
[9:09] Okay, so again, I'm giving you all
the content that we talked about with
the
[9:12] Parks board, but I'm going to breeze
through it cuz no need to rehash
[9:14] everything. So, for example, here,
the actual street section.
[9:17] So we talked through three different
street sections, pros and cons of
each,
[9:20] we got a lot of really good feedback,
landed on option one, staying the
[9:23] preferred option.
[9:25] So with option one here, it'll be
11-foot lanes, one lane in each
[9:28] direction, currently Meadow Honors
two lanes.
[9:31] Um, but we'll be reducing the actual
street footprint to make room for the
[9:34] sidewalk, the landscaping, uh, the
true essence and need of Medal of
Honor
[9:37] Boulevard.
[9:41] Um, so you'll have a 10-foot shared
use trail on one side of the road,
[9:43] still a 5-foot sidewalk on the other
and dedicated parking on both sides.
[9:48] So you'll have fully dedicated and
marked parking for any of your major
[9:51] events.
[9:54] Um, option two was considered, uh
it'd be a slight cost savings, but
you would
[9:56] lose about 20 parking
[9:59] spot and ultimately we'd determined
that the parking was more valuable.
[10:05] Um for the pavement options, we
talked through just doing
[10:08] standard concrete pavement, a stamped
concrete pavement,
[10:10] utilizing brick pavers like what you
have throughout other parts
[10:13] of downtown.
[10:15] Uh ultimately, we decided to use
concrete paving with some stamped
[10:18] concrete accents.
[10:20] So you'll see through some of the
other images as I progress forward,
[10:23] some of the crosswalks and other
accent features of Metal of Honor
[10:26] would have the stamped concrete.
[10:28] Uh down below the two images there
are depicting what we call bulbouts.
[10:32] Um and so rather than a standard
intersection, you actually pave
[10:35] a little bit extra into a little bit
of a bulb shape.
[10:38] Uh that helps add some pedestrian
safety, a spot for them to
[10:41] stand and wait before crossing the
street,
[10:43] Also protects the on-street parking
from any cars that were turning,
[10:47] gives them a physical barrier.
[10:48] Um so a lot of good uses there, also
adds to the aesthetics.
[10:54] Okay, landscaping.
[10:55] I'll be the first to admit, I'm not a
landscaper.
[10:56] At Parksport, I had one of my
professional landscapers with me,
[10:59] so I'm going to try to talk through
some of their pieces here.
[11:02] Um really the gist of it is, we're
using all natural and native
plantings.
[11:06] Um we're not trying to force in
anything.
[11:08] Um it's all things that are uh set to
thrive in this area.
[11:12] Um so you see the list of trees and
shrubs there.
[11:15] Um and so whenever I go through the
images, you'll see some larger
[11:19] tree images, some smaller, this is
kind of the list that we'll be
picking from.
[11:24] Um everything will be locally
sourced.
[11:26] Even some of the materials we have um
talked with staff on how
[11:29] we can utilize some reclaimed brick
pavers from elsewhere in
[11:32] the street and work them into the
aesthetics of Metal of Honor here.
[11:37] Okay. So we talked through two
concepts, this one, concept A was
[11:41] the ultimately preferred option.
[11:42] Um some highlights here is it really
relies on again that those brick
features.
[11:47] So the the bricks that you see
outside of the street around the
[11:51] existing monument there at Weaver, um
those will all be those
[11:55] reclaimed bricks that I was talking
about before.
[11:58] Um so it's a very natural kind of
curvilinear feel to it.
[12:01] As opposed to if you go forward
actually two slides Diana.
[12:05] One more. I'll come back to this one.
[12:07] As opposed to, sorry, one more.
[12:09] Yep. Concept B here is a much more
like straight line defined.
[12:13] A little bit more of a modern feel.
[12:14] Ultimately um working with the Parks
Board to determine that this
[12:17] wasn't the best fit for Metal of
Honor.
[12:18] But again, wanted to show you
everything that we had talked
through.
[12:21] So now back one Diana, yep.
[12:23] Um so this is just kind of a zoom in
on some of those features.
[12:26] Again with the reclaimed brick.
[12:27] Um a lot of those native plantings.
[12:30] Um some seating areas around the the
monument. Really make it a nice spot
[12:35] to if you are walking along the
ultimate promenade here, this is
[12:38] a good place to stop and rest, learn
about the history that the monuments
can offer.
[12:43] Okay. Forward a couple, one more.
Perfect.
[12:47] Um so now I'm going to get into some
seating options.
[12:49] Um wanted to show this as here's all
the different types of benches
[12:52] we could find in the immediate area
of this downtown promenade.
[12:56] Um I know a lot of these are for
different areas, in front of
[12:59] Parksburg Bank or in front of the
library.
[13:01] Um the goal of this is to have one
nice consistent branding.
[13:04] Throughout the entire promenade.
[13:05] So I wanted to really show that
[13:08] this isn't the goal, we want to have
something kind of singular and
consistent.
[13:11] So next slide.
[13:12] talked through a lot of bench
options.
[13:14] Um ultimately landed on just kind of
the standard there at the top left.
[13:18] Um these are similar to benches that
were just recently purchased
[13:21] and installed in the Clones Park.
[13:23] So matching that would again help
align with the nice consistent theme.
[13:28] Um next couple of slides are just
some other options that we had talked
through.
[13:31] If you wanted to get a little more
artistic, some options there.
[13:34] And then next slide.
[13:36] Um so we have options to customize
benches.
[13:38] Um there was some interest here, not
necessarily for the entire promenade.
[13:43] but in select locations, we could do
such as this, a metal of honor
[13:46] theme bench um again in select areas.
[13:49] Uh these are obviously going to be
more expensive than the standard
[13:52] so rather than applying them
everywhere and driving up the costs,
[13:54] being a little more selective with
them.
[13:58] Um now getting into the signage.
[14:00] Um we spent a lot of time here with
the Parks Board, so again,
[14:03] I'm going to breeze through this
pretty quickly.
[14:05] Um here were the original options
that we provided at Parksport,
[14:08] we really wanted to work in the brick
aesthetic, trying to match
[14:12] what is currently installed at the
Farmers market.
[14:13] Again, trying to generate a nice
consistent branding.
[14:16] Uh once we got to the cost of these,
we determined that that's
[14:19] probably a little cost prohibitive.
[14:21] especially those two on the top left,
those are very large, I mean,
[14:25] you can kind of see the two-scale
person there.
[14:27] These would be like 10-foot plus
tall, be pretty expensive.
[14:30] Um so if you go next slide Diana.
[14:32] Here are some options that we feel
kind of capture the same idea,
[14:35] only much more affordable.
[14:36] So rather than full brick columns,
give them, you know, a little
[14:39] simpler brick accents there at the
bottom.
[14:42] Um the the wood pillar shown there
could be wood, could be metal, you
[14:45] know, we'll we'll still work through
the aesthetics on exactly what the
branding looks like,
[14:48] But again, a much more affordable
option here.
[14:51] Um another big takeaway from the
Parks meeting was you see the little
[14:55] logos on the bottom of the signs
there.
[14:58] will have across the top will be
[15:00] nice consistent city of Gainsville
[15:02] branding, but on the bottom gives you
[15:03] the opportunity to have um sub area
[15:05] branding.
[15:06] So when you're in the metal of honor
[15:07] area, you could have metal of honor
[15:09] themed logos.
[15:10] When you're in the downtown area,
[15:11] you have downtown themed logos,
[15:12] at the zoo, at the colonists park,
[15:13] etc.
[15:14] And that can be consistently used
[15:16] across all sorts of media for the
[15:17] city
[15:18] for your online maps for event
[15:19] planning, for your street side
[15:21] signage.
[15:22] Um again, offer a very nice
[15:23] consistent brand
[15:25] um that looks good, is functional,
[15:26] um and is pretty cost-effective.
[15:32] Uh for the wayfinding map itself,
[15:34] um the bottom two are kind of the
[15:36] preferred options, the the light mode
[15:38] versus dark mode.
[15:40] Um the idea here is that wherever
[15:42] you are and wherever you're seeing
these
[15:43] within the street,
[15:45] um we're highlighting where you could
[15:47] reach within those red circles are
just
[15:48] a 5-minute walk.
[15:49] So you may think, oh, I'm at Metal
[15:51] of Honor Park, it's too far
[15:52] to get anywhere. I'm just gonna get
my car and drive.
[15:54] Actually, look, you can get to our
[15:56] downtown, you can get to the zoo all
[15:57] within a nice easy 5-minute walk.
[15:59] So really highlighting the
walkability
[16:01] and accessibility of the city.
[16:04] Um could also use this as a
[16:05] sponsorship opportunity, have
businesses
[16:07] pay to get on the map.
[16:09] Um again, nice way to highlight
[16:10] different uh amenities and businesses
[16:12] throughout the community.
[16:15] Okay, getting into lighting, we've
[16:18] showed really two proposed lighting
[16:19] and then one the candlestick style
there
[16:21] on the far right is the existing
style.
[16:23] Um we got a lot of feedback that
[16:24] that is not the preferred style.
[16:26] Um it adds a lot of light pollution,
[16:28] which I'll show in a second, but
[16:29] it's also quite a maintenance concern
[16:31] that I've heard from staff.
[16:33] Um so we really considered the first
two
[16:35] with the middle one there being the
[16:36] selected option.
[16:38] Um so Diana, if you can kind of
[16:39] click through.
[16:40] So what you see on the right there is
[16:42] the light shed of each of these
lights.
[16:44] So with the downward facing style
[16:46] versus the candlestick style,
[16:47] it's much more concentrated light
shed
[16:49] into the area that we're actually
[16:50] trying to illuminate,
[16:51] rather than with the candlestick,
[16:53] it's kind of a 360 lighting backwards
[16:54] into businesses or apartments,
lighting
[16:56] up, etc.
[16:58] This really um refines it into the
[16:59] area that we care to light.
[17:01] Uh go to next side, Diana.
[17:03] So here's the one that we landed on.
[17:05] You'll notice it's a slightly smaller
[17:06] light shed than the one before, that
[17:08] was viewed as a positive.
[17:10] Um these are also the most
cost-effective of the three.
[17:13] And then last side will be the
candlestick style here.
[17:16] And so you see how much more it lit
[17:18] backwards again into parking lots,
[17:19] into apartments once we get further
[17:21] into the main street area.
[17:25] Uh last thing I'll talk about here
[17:27] is utility undergrounding.
[17:28] So there's um currently overhead
[17:30] electric and communication lines
[17:32] running um all along Metal of Honor
[17:33] and the future main street,
[17:35] um so it is one of the goals of the
[17:37] comprehensive plan to take those
[17:38] underground.
[17:39] Um obviously that'd provide a much
[17:41] more clean aesthetic, a lot more room
[17:43] on the surface level for pedestrian
[17:44] amenities.
[17:46] So here's an example of a project
[17:47] that we did actually in Keller where
we took those utilities underground.
[17:50] Again, had room for the lighting.
[17:53] Um it is a significant cost,
[17:55] um which if you had, I don't know,
[17:57] bear, did you provide cost?
[18:00] So you'll you'll see the line item
[18:01] in there um it becomes significant.
[18:03] Uh but again, it provides a lot of
[18:06] aesthetic and open space value.
[18:08] Um also wanted to highlight on this
[18:09] picture here, you'll notice the the
[18:11] string lighting that connects from
[18:13] uh pole to pole.
[18:15] So that was something that Parks
Board
[18:17] mentioned would be um a nice
[18:18] feature to have is the ability
[18:19] to have that,
[18:21] um or be able to plug in, say, your
[18:23] your Christmas rees that you hang
[18:24] or the garland that you wrap around
it.
[18:27] Um so you'll you'll see on these
lights
[18:29] on the picture that there's outlets
at
[18:30] the top level.
[18:31] So that is priced into these. It is
[18:33] an added feature, so it is more
[18:34] expensive than um the same option
[18:37] without that.
[18:38] Um but again, just wanted to
highlight
[18:40] that, that that was something that
came straight from the Parks Board.
[18:42] So these poles are all of them.
[18:43] All all the light poles. Yes, sir.
[18:46] It it's sort of like we do with
[18:48] we having uh the Reeves that we wrap
[18:49] around the Garland and then we have
the
[18:52] lights that go up and down the
lights.
[18:54] Unless you have these plugins, you
can't have that.
[18:59] So if that's a feature you want,
[19:00] it's already priced in here.
[19:02] If it's something that you want to
cut,
[19:04] we can cut that.
[19:08] Okay, and I think last slide is
[19:13] So, first time I was here was we were
[19:15] collecting feedback, we were starting
[19:17] to do the renderings, we were
starting
[19:19] to do the parks board.
[19:20] A lot of that's been done, starting
[19:21] to cross things off the list, which
is exciting.
[19:23] Um obviously here tonight to get your
[19:25] feedback and um ultimately approval.
[19:27] And that way we were able to start
[19:29] moving forward with actual design.
[19:30] Right now everything is only
[19:31] conceptual, it's only on the
rendering level.
[19:33] Um but as soon as we get your
blessing,
[19:35] we'll be moving forward with actual
[19:36] engineering design and getting ready
[19:38] to take it to true construction.
[19:42] I would like to point out on the
cost,
[19:45] Um one of the things we were looking
[19:47] really closely at was the bio swells.
[19:51] That's $145,000 for a bio swell.
[19:54] One of the questions I've asked the
engineer
[19:57] Uh, with this one,
[20:02] uh, if we didn't have the bio sale,
would we have to increase the size of
the drainage?
[20:06] 'Cause this helps a little bit with
with drainage. The answer was no.
[20:11] Uh, will this reduce
[20:14] in a sort of a big enough manner to
really show that it reduced flooding
[20:20] if we were going to have flooding?
[20:22] 'Cause, you know, in the past we've
had flooding right there near Taco
Bell
[20:27] and and McDonald's on this road.
[20:28] And the answer was no, nothing
significant.
[20:32] And hence it's a very, it's very
pretty.
[20:38] We're going to have other
landscaping, but that's a possible uh
cut right there.
[20:41] So we could take that out and it
would take some of the the
landscaping out in that area,
[20:47] but that would be a $145,000 savings.
[20:51] Right now this is right out uh $4
million for construction, so that'd
bring it up a little under that.
[20:57] One of the big things as well is the
over uh to remove the overhead
electric underground,
[21:03] which was uh a big thing for the
comprehensive plan for two reasons.
[21:07] One is the aesthetics, but two is the
uh
[21:11] with all the ice storms and with
everything happening and wind storms
and stuff,
[21:15] this makes it more uh durable.
[21:18] And in fact, one of the things we're
looking at in subdivision regulations
if we need more and more underground
utilities
[21:24] uh to prevent the issues
[21:27] with tree limbs, wind storms, uh and
different weather events that could
affect power lines.
[21:33] But that's $510,000.
[21:36] So, if you didn't do that, that would
be a savings as well.
[21:41] Tonight, I don't expect y'all to have
to make a decision.
[21:44] I wanted I did not want this to be
rushed. I wanted y'all to be able to
look at it, think about it,
[21:50] take the budget home, look at it,
think about it.
[21:53] and then either at the first or
second uh or at the second meeting in
September, first one in October,
[22:01] maybe bring this back and see if
y'all want at that time to give us
instructions
[22:06] to to uh tell the engineers what we'd
like to see.
[22:12] Will the sidewalk be connected to the
sidewalk be connected to the sidewalk
that we're doing right now, that $4.5
million one?
[22:18] That's coming from the high school
out, are we going to make sure that
that's connected to this promenade?
[22:24] I believe that one connects into the
I-35 piece, it's already there,
right?
[22:28] And so we will be connecting from
Medal of Honor along Culberson to
I-35.
[22:32] Okay. Okay. Yes, we will be
connected.
[22:35] Just want to make sure that was on
there.
[22:37] Yeah, we will not stop start this
like on Medal of Honor, and on,
[22:41] it will actually start on that
interstate sidewalk.
[22:46] Sure. Yeah, yeah.
[22:48] I just want to make sure that was all
tied in because make it all walkable.
[22:52] What's the alternative to the
underground?
[22:55] Like with the existing stuff to stay
there?
[22:57] Or would you go back with new?
[23:00] No, so it would just stay right where
it would just stay right where it is
and stay on the same poles that it
is.
[23:05] Um and yeah, it really wouldn't
impact our design in any other way.
[23:08] It's far far enough outside what
y'all are planning.
[23:13] Any other questions? All right.
[23:17] Thank you. Appreciate you coming up
here.
[23:21] All right. Uh, next item on the
agenda is citizen comments. Uh,
Martin Phillips.
[23:28] Uh,
[23:30] You have five minutes.
[23:37] Good evening. Um, last year
[23:40] I witnessed a child about eight years
old, um, almost get hit by a truck
[23:47] in front of my house.
[23:48] Uh, he was out there
trick-or-treating.
[23:50] And I'm telling you that to remind
you that Halloween's coming again,
[23:53] and children will once again be
walking Gainsville streets in the
dark.
[23:58] Tonight, I'm asking you to direct
staff
[24:02] to develop a plan for temporarily
closing streets in the historic
district where most trick-or-treating
takes place,
[24:09] including a parking plan that allows
people to park and walk and to bring
that plan back to council for action.
[24:16] This is not a hypothetical concern.
It's a safety problem we know exists.
[24:20] It exists every year, and near misses
happen likely every year.
[24:26] Gainsville describes itself as a
family-oriented community,
[24:29] and guiding Gainsville 2040
emphasizes walkability, connectivity,
public spaces and quality of life.
[24:37] Our actions should reflect that
identity.
[24:40] Last year, I proposed closing Deton
Street during Halloween with a
parking plan so people could park and
walk.
[24:47] Only the parking plan ever happened,
even though it was meant to support
and not replace the street closure.
[24:53] For at least that one child, that
almost wasn't good enough.
[24:57] I've been told an organization must
sponsor the closure and assume
liability.
[25:03] But Halloween's gonna happen whether
an organization sponsors it or not.
[25:07] The question is not who created
Halloween,
[25:10] the question is who is responsible
for making streets
[25:14] safer for the children we know will
be there.
[25:16] This council recently approved more
than $750,000 for a study
[25:21] and design towards an approximate $5
million pedestrian promenade
[25:24] over several blocks of the city.
[25:28] kind of opportune for me that you
just discussed that.
[25:32] That creates an important contrast.
[25:35] We're willing to invest millions of
dollars in pedestrian-friendly
[25:39] streets in the future,
[25:41] yet hesitate to temporarily close
streets for one evening
[25:44] when we know children are walking
them in the dark.
[25:47] I'm not asking you to spend money
tonight.
[25:49] I'm asking you to direct staff to
find a solution and bring it
[25:52] back to the council.
[25:54] Last year we were told there wasn't
time.
[25:56] This year there is.
[25:58] Last year every department in the
city signed off on closures.
[26:02] and we've had a year to plan since
then.
[26:05] Our newly adopted comprehensive plan
emphasizes walkability,
[26:09] connectivity, public spaces and
quality of life.
[26:12] the value of the comprehensive plan
[26:15] is using it to make decisions.
[26:19] This council has the right to do
nothing.
[26:22] But if you do, you're choosing not to
act on the concerns of 350
[26:25] people who signed a petition last
year.
[26:28] And hundreds more you represent
[26:30] who are going to sign one this year.
[26:33] So I'll leave you with one question.
[26:36] Who's gonna stand up and advocate for
these kids?
[26:40] Is it you, Tommy?
[26:44] Maybe Gary, is it you? Blair.
[26:47] I've seen you in my neighborhood,
[26:50] trick-or-treating with your kids.
[26:51] Maybe it'll be you.
[26:54] We've seen what the streets in the
historic district look like
[26:58] during trick-or-treating.
[27:01] It's chaos, and this year it's going
to be on Saturday.
[27:04] It's going to be even more chaotic.
[27:07] Who's going to do it?
[27:11] Which one of you is going to insist
[27:14] we're going to protect kids?
[27:16] If Gainesville truly is
family-oriented community
[27:18] we say it is,
[27:19] our actions need to reflect that.
[27:22] You need to reflect that.
[27:24] Tonight, I'm asking you to direct
[27:27] staff to address this issue,
[27:28] find solutions and return with a
[27:30] plan for council approval.
[27:33] approval. Because Halloween is going
to happen.
[27:36] The children are going to be there
and we know the streets aren't safe.
[27:40] Thank you.
[27:42] [applause]
[27:46] All right. Item seven, consent
agenda.
[27:49] approved the minutes from the August
18th, 2026 City Council meeting.
[27:54] Um...
[27:58] Then item B is consideration of
action on resolution City
[28:01] Council approving sale of alcohol
[28:03] at Civic Center for Zuboli
[28:05] and C is consideration of an action
resolution
[28:09] in the City Council of the City of
Gainesville, Texas
[28:11] authorizing the sale of alcohol
during Country Nites to be held at
Gainesville
[28:16] Farmers Market on September 26th.
[28:17] And item D is consideration of an
action on resolution
[28:20] of the City Council of the City of
Gainesville, Texas approving the
proposed
[28:23] Cook County appraisal district FY
2026-27 budget.
[28:27] Any questions or comments about any
of those?
[28:30] If not, entertain a motion.
[28:32] I make a motion to approve.
[28:34] I have a motion to approve. I'll
second. Second.
[28:36] All those in favor signify by saying
aye. Aye. Aye.
[28:39] All those opposed same sign.
[28:40] Motion passes unanimously.
[28:43] Item E, uh, eight
[28:44] action items, uh,
[28:47] A is a public hearing on an ordinance
granting a special
[28:50] use permit to operate a short-term
rental
[28:52] located at the original donation GB
edition block two, block one,
[28:55] pit 1270, commonly known as 115 West
California and located
[28:59] in the commercial zoning district
within the city limits of Gainsville,
Cook County, Texas
[29:04] providing for an effective date
containing a
[29:07] severability clause and making an
open meeting finding.
[29:10] We will open the public hearing at
6:58.
[29:12] Hey, Mike, why are you up here before
Allen?
[29:15] Well, I'd like to say it's due to to
importance level
[29:18] but really he hasn't figured out he
hasn't he hasn't figured out
[29:21] how far an ice cream cone goes with
the city secretary, so.
[29:24] I I see you. Yeah.
[29:26] Well, yeah. Makes sense.
[29:27] I have explained it to him several
times, but he just
[29:30] He's not getting it, okay.
[29:32] Sorry, Allen.
[29:34] Maybe one day.
[29:37] Uh, good evening, Mayor and Council.
This uh this short-term
[29:39] rental we've looked at it,
[29:40] meets all of our requirements.
[29:42] B&Z uh approved it
[29:44] and we asked for approval, staff
approved staff staff approval.
[29:47] staff for approval.
[29:48] All right. Thank you, Mike.
Appreciate it.
[29:52] Uh is there anyone here that would
like to speak on behalf or?
[29:57] or have a comment about this.
[30:02] Seeing no, uh, movement I would
entertain closing, uh,
[30:05] a motion to close the public hearing.
[30:07] I'll make a motion to close.
[30:08] I'll second. I have a motion to close
at 6:59.
[30:10] All those in favor signify by saying,
'Aye'. Aye.
[30:13] All those opposed, same sign.
[30:15] Motion passes unanimously.
[30:17] All right, N B, public hearing on
ordinance granting
[30:19] a special use permit to operate a
short-term rental
[30:22] located in the, uh, Lindsey Addition,
Block 31, Lot 5 and 6.
[30:25] Uh, PID 19671, commonly known as 507
South Lindsey
[30:28] and located in the single family
zoning district
[30:31] within the city limits of Gainesville
[30:33] Cook County, Texas, providing for an
effective date,
[30:36] containing a severability clause and
making an open meeting finding.
[30:38] We will open the public hearing at
6:59 p.m.
[30:43] Same thing on this one.
[30:44] We've looked at it. We've come up
with their parking.
[30:46] They meet all of our requirements.
[30:48] Uh, planning and zoning approved it.
[30:50] And staff recommends approval as well
on this one.
[30:53] Thank you, Mike.
[30:55] Any comments to be made about this
short-term rental application?
[30:59] This is a public hearing, so.
[31:03] All right. Seeing no motion or
movement in the audience,
[31:05] I would entertain a motion to close
the public hearing
[31:07] at 7:00 p.m.
[31:09] I'll make a motion to close.
[31:10] Second.
[31:12] All those in favor signify by saying,
'Aye'. Aye.
[31:15] All those opposed, same sign.
[31:17] Motion passes unanimously.
[31:18] Item C, consideration of an action on
a resolution
[31:20] City Council of City of Gainesville,
Texas, approving
[31:22] a final plat of the Hahn Addition,
Block 11, Lot 7 and 8,
[31:25] commonly known as 613 Bird,
[31:27] Gainesville, Cook County, Texas and
also located in the Hahn Addition.
[31:33] Uh, Block 11, Lot 1 and 2, commonly
known as 423 Hancock,
[31:36] Gainesville, Cook County, Texas
including the corner of Culbertson
[31:39] Street, Gainesville, Cook County,
Texas.
[31:43] Okay, this is a, the reason why this
plat is before you.
[31:46] It's a plat with a variance.
[31:47] Um, this plat, we've looked at it.
Uh, it meets all the criteria
[31:50] of a plat with a variance.
[31:52] This prop, this, these locate, this
location was originally set up
[31:54] for single family homes back when it
was set up. So,
[31:58] So, now we're moving into the
direction the city wants to go
[32:01] with more commercial in that general
area.
[32:04] Um, this, the, the, the real hardship
here that we looked at,
[32:08] there's a couple of different ones,
[32:09] but the real hardship that matters
here
[32:11] is this property is unique because it
is bordered by three streets.
[32:14] Which really inhibits the ability to
develop this property.
[32:18] We have a really nice project, wanted
to go in here,
[32:20] uh, and this is the first step is
getting this done.
[32:22] It will allow this to happen, meets
all the
[32:24] all fire codes, safety codes,
everything such as that.
[32:28] So after looking at this and planning
and zoning approving it,
[32:31] staff recommends approval on this.
[32:34] Okay.
[32:35] Any questions?
[32:40] I'd entertain motion.
[32:41] I'll make a motion to approve.
[32:43] I have a motion to approve.
[32:44] I'll second.
[32:45] Second, all those in favor signify by
saying, 'Aye'. Aye.
[32:48] All those opposed, same sign.
[32:50] Motion passes unanimously.
[32:52] Thank you.
[32:53] Thank you all. Amy, Cliff, Meredith
and Isaac.
[32:56] Let me know when your, your ball
games are.
[33:00] Thank you all for coming tonight.
[33:02] Congratulations.
[33:05] Item D, consideration of an action on
an ordinance granting
[33:07] a special use permit to operate a
short-term rental
[33:09] located at the Lindsey Addition,
Block 31, Lot 5, uh,
[33:12] PID 19671, commonly known as 507
South Lindsey
[33:16] and located in the single family
zoning district
[33:18] within the city limits of
Gainesville, Cook County, Texas,
[33:21] providing for an effective date,
containing a severability clause
[33:23] and making an open meeting finding.
[33:26] I just read that.
[33:29] Uh, are there any questions about
this, uh, SUP?
[33:35] If there's not, I'd entertain a
motion to suspend the charter.
[33:39] I'll make a motion to suspend the
charter.
[33:40] I have a motion.
[33:41] I'll second.
[33:42] Second, all those in favor signify by
saying, 'Aye'. Aye.
[33:45] All those opposed, same sign.
[33:47] Motion passes unanimously.
[33:49] I'd entertain a motion.
[33:51] I'll make a motion to approve.
[33:53] I have a motion to approve.
[33:54] I'll second.
[33:55] Second, all those in favor signify by
saying, 'Aye'. Aye.
[33:58] All those opposed, same sign.
[34:00] Motion passes unanimously.
[34:01] Congratulations.
[34:04] Item E, consideration of an action on
an ordinance granting
[34:06] a special use permit to operate a
short-term rental
[34:08] located at the Original Donation
Addition, Block 2, Lot 1, PID 1270,
[34:11] commonly known as 115 West California
[34:14] and located in the commercial zoning
district within the city
[34:17] limits of Gainesville, Cook County,
Texas
[34:18] Texas, providing for an effective
date, containing
[34:21] a severability clause and making an
open meeting finding.
[34:25] Are there any questions or
discussions around this SUP?
[34:29] If not, I'd entertain a motion to
suspend the charter.
[34:32] I'll make a motion to suspend.
[34:34] I have a motion.
[34:35] Second.
[34:36] Second, all those in favor signify by
saying, 'Aye'. Aye.
[34:38] All those opposed, same sign.
[34:40] Motion passes unanimously.
[34:42] I'd entertain motion.
[34:43] I'll make a motion to approve.
[34:44] I have a motion to approve.
[34:45] I'll second.
[34:46] Second, all those in favor signify by
saying, 'Aye'. Aye.
[34:49] All those opposed, same sign.
[34:51] Motion passes unanimously.
[34:53] Congratulations.
[34:55] item of discussion on hotel occupancy
tax funding.
[35:06] Okay, on this, what staff is looking
for, what we're looking
[35:11] for is to just tell us how much that
you want to fund in each of
[35:15] these categories. We don't need to
know what you want specifically
[35:20] funded in this, but right now
tonight, it's just what's the amount
so we could get that in the final
draft of the budget.
[35:27] And so, I don't know if y'all want to
[35:30] specifically go through each of these
specifically, or y'all want to talk
about it and generally,
[35:35] or if you want to start at the top of
the list y'all have
[35:38] and tell me if you want it funded and
how much or not and what council
feels.
[35:45] I I'm open to any way y'all want to
go through this.
[35:52] We can all kind of share our uh
overarching thoughts and then uh dig
into specifics if we need to.
[36:00] I'll let somebody else go first.
[36:01] [laughter]
[36:04] Listen to it.
[36:06] I think it might be easier if we just
go from the top.
[36:08] Just start at the top, just if we
[36:10] how we go about it.
[36:13] Like the blues and tattoos.
[36:14] Uh I would say fully fund it.
[36:19] You know, we don't have to vote if
y'all just sort of tell me,
[36:21] this isn't really a vote, it's just
so because y'all vote on it when it's
in the uh the uh budget.
[36:29] I I would like to say that there's a
lot of advertising dollars in every
request this year.
[36:34] And is there a way for any kind of
collaboration
[36:37] or any kind of partnerships to help
each other
[36:40] instead of spending so much money on
[36:45] individual
[36:48] I mean, it's I don't know.
[36:50] bulk advertising.
[36:51] I I agree with Tommy 100% on this.
[36:54] Yeah, I just one of the things
[36:57] I also almost every was asking us to
fund their own separate,
[37:00] you know, Right.
[37:01] web page or app or what else
[37:02] And I'd really like to see for the
city to give direction
[37:06] and putting it all together
[37:08] so you could go to one spot to find
out what's going on.
[37:10] One of the things uh Janice and I've
always had an issue with is
[37:13] a lot of the organizations will put a
fundraiser or event
[37:17] and then you got two or three things
on the exact same night
[37:20] because nobody communicated.
[37:21] So we need some type of switchboard
or way to coordinate uh
[37:24] a lot of events in town.
[37:27] And provide for some of the smaller
groups to be able to
[37:30] put their stuff out there.
[37:32] Exactly.
[37:33] I call it like a clearing house, is
what I call it.
[37:35] Because there is economies of scale
in advertising,
[37:38] it's in everything you do.
[37:41] So if if we can negotiate a bulk
advertising agreement,
[37:46] it it may be even multi-year, I don't
know.
[37:48] So that everyone benefits from this,
[37:53] but I see it as best used dollars and
return on investment.
[37:58] And so, I want the highest return on
investment that we can get
[38:00] for these funds is the way I looked
at it.
[38:03] And I I just think, I think we can
improve on the way
[38:06] we've been approaching it.
[38:09] One of the things that we as staff
because we heard y'all talking
[38:13] about this during different meetings,
[38:15] and we have a budget in here for
around a a $125,000
[38:19] roughly.
[38:23] for advertising.
[38:26] Of that, 65,000 of that is for try to
get a bulk rate on
[38:31] maybe go out and a couple different
networks to get bulk
[38:36] multi-media advertising.
[38:40] So that could be used or that could
be cut to allow these other
[38:43] organizations to do some of their
own,
[38:46] or we could mix it and have them uh
the keep the 65,000 in there
[38:51] and try to get them to help these
other organizations.
[38:56] with that.
[38:58] And of course, like I said, there's a
overall about $125,000
[39:02] coming through the city for trying to
advertise for outside
[39:05] getting people in.
[39:09] So we could use that as a
collaborative that 125 and
[39:13] reduce some of these others, or
[39:15] reduce at least the $65,000 that
we're looking at to get
[39:19] a bulk rate of that 125 uh
[39:23] and that gives a little allows a
little bit more funding for these
[39:29] other organizations. So any way y'all
want to do that.
[39:34] Going on what Gary was saying, the
electronic billboard was a
[39:37] pretty big ticket item in there. It
is.
[39:40] Couldn't we like I don't know if it'd
be sublet or just utilize
[39:43] the city purchasing a large amount of
the electronic billboard
[39:47] and then allowing the subordinate
groups that they because they're
[39:51] not going to get it all get it all
year long.
[39:55] during their event we could let them
[39:57] use the electronic billboard at that
time.
[40:01] So, what I would like to add to that.
[40:04] Because I've gone through this,
[40:05] I've spent a lot of time on it.
[40:07] So, I I struggle with even funding a
billboard.
[40:11] And here's why.
[40:13] For one thing, it's $265,000 is what
it is.
[40:16] And I would tell you last year, I
actually advocated
[40:18] supporting a billboard.
[40:21] But after doing some research and
having discussed this
[40:24] discussions with staff.
[40:26] I know that there are different ways
to approach it
[40:30] where we could actually utilize these
funds or
[40:33] keep us under because I'm because I
want to go off
[40:35] on something else here that ties back
to this.
[40:39] Is I believe in leverage.
[40:42] So, what one billboard on Interstate
35 does for me
[40:45] is one billboard.
[40:47] For $265,000 basically.
[40:51] I would rather spend 100 grand or
$200 grand and know
[40:55] I can put billboards in the
Metroplex, get on
[40:58] billboards in the Metroplex, Oklahoma
City
[41:02] Because the goal is to draw people to
the city of Gainesville.
[41:06] What I get when it's sitting on 35 is
someone flying
[41:09] down 35 hoping and praying they stop
and come back.
[41:13] So, I think there's a better way to
approach this in my opinion.
[41:19] So with that, can I carry on this
little bit, Tommy?
[41:21] Yeah.
[41:22] [laughter]
[41:24] Well, I'm just You got the mic. I
know, but
[41:25] I just want to be sure I wasn't
screwing up things.
[41:28] No, you're not. You're not.
[41:29] So this is something that I want to I
just want to throw out
[41:31] food for consideration.
[41:34] So we have requests this year for
I'll just call it a million eight.
[41:39] Now, you can say that we have total
of avail available,
[41:42] approximately a million.
[41:44] and I'm rounded numbers is what I'm
doing.
[41:46] Okay.
[41:47] So I know from my experience on the
council and those others
[41:49] who've been here, we know that our
average revenue for
[41:52] each fund hot fund is a million
dollars a year.
[41:57] So if we come in and we distribute
and say we're going to give
[42:01] everybody all of this, we just
committed to a
[42:03] million eight this year.
[42:05] And now our any reserve is gone.
[42:08] So next year when we just have a
million dollars,
[42:12] all these people in this room are not
going to be happy with us
[42:15] because we're only going to have a
million dollars to distribute,
[42:18] which means we're going to come in
and start cutting things.
[42:20] I don't like that approach. I'm
telling you.
[42:23] I just don't.
[42:24] So when I go through and add up
approve funds for 26,
[42:28] I came up with I'll call it a million
dollars. I'll round it.
[42:32] So there's our million bucks right
there.
[42:35] Already spent if we just give every
organization that got
[42:38] funds last year, we spent a million
dollars.
[42:42] So then my point of view is, now we
should go look at all
[42:45] the new request, and we also have to
make it determined,
[42:51] are we willing to spend that rest of
that $900,000
[42:54] and make that I'm going to tell you I
don't support that.
[42:58] Because I don't want to be the bad
guy up here next year
[43:01] telling ABC organization, we're
cutting your monies
[43:04] in half. They're not going to like me
very much.
[43:07] So I think we have to go through and
we have to prioritize,
[43:11] I believe, in all the new request,
how how much and
[43:15] how far we're willing to go into
reserves.
[43:19] because and having a discussion with
Barry,
[43:23] we talked about in the in the in the
the reserves or the
[43:27] overage is an accumulation of years
of where all the
[43:31] money was distributed.
[43:34] And and so I said, well, what what
can the money be used for?
[43:37] Well, obviously tourism only.
[43:40] But if we have a large item request
come in or something
[43:42] we really need to do, let's say all
of a sudden we decide we want
[43:46] to do a billboard.
[43:47] You know what? We have the money to
go down there and do the
[43:50] billboard and not check for it.
[43:52] That's Gary's thought process.
[43:54] Yeah.
[43:55] Tell me what you, whatever you want
to tell me.
[43:58] [laughter]
[44:01] I agree with Councilman Sutton that
we shouldn't dip into
[44:05] the reserves too aggressively.
[44:08] It'd be nice to have a cushion, you
know, call it
[44:12] 400,000 or 800,000, you know,
something in the
[44:14] middle there.
[44:17] we we can kind of decide on that. But
I'd like to
[44:18] have a little bit of cushion there.
[44:20] I do not want to overcommit us to
where we cannot honor the
[44:23] or at least, you know, do the same
next year as we did this year.
[44:31] I I'd be more I I would prefer to
give a little bit to as
[44:35] many people as possible and instead
of saying this
[44:38] person gets everything and this one
gets nothing.
[44:41] assuming they meet the requirements
and everything.
[44:44] Uh, I'd I'd rather come in under
their requested amount
[44:48] and give them nothing at all.
[44:51] And uh
[44:53] I will
[44:56] [cough]
[44:58] A couple quick things, I- I think.
[45:01] The easy one I think is this
billboard. I'm going to tell you,
[45:06] This was a request from another group
that says, hey,
[45:09] we could put us and advertise
ourselves up here.
[45:10] And I said, well, that's really not
the greatest idea I don't think.
[45:13] just to have one organization have
the whole billboard and us pay for
that
[45:16] and nobody else gets to use it.
[45:18] So then it was like, okay, the whole
city could use it.
[45:21] And that I think was really that
group's intent, but they had that
idea.
[45:25] I think ultimately it's for
everybody, but it came from one
specific group.
[45:30] It came in about $180,000.
[45:34] to get sort of, yeah, last year. Last
year.
[45:37] And well, that's what they requested.
[45:38] But when I got to researching it, is
everything said
[45:41] you don't want a $180,000 billboard.
[45:44] At minimum you wanted a $245,000
billboard.
[45:49] I started meeting with a group that
owns several billboards in
Gainesville
[45:53] and several throughout the Metroplex.
[45:59] And they are actually talking to me
about possibly wanting to put digital
billboards
[46:03] out on the same area we were looking
to do it.
[46:09] But instead of them paying us for
that lease space in cash, they would
pay us
[46:15] via advertising on all the billboards
in Gainesville and plus some of them
[46:19] they had down in the Metroplex.
[46:23] And so something like this what I was
looking at with that is, okay, we
have
[46:28] $0 up front, we have a few square
footage of land being used that
wouldn't be used
[46:33] for anything otherwise.
[46:37] Or we would have our own sign up
there.
[46:39] When that sign breaks, we have to fix
it, we have to pay for electricity,
and we
[46:42] have to pay for an annual cell
service on it.
[46:46] Where if we did it this other way, it
would be we get X amount of
advertising per year
[46:50] for as long as that sign's there.
[46:56] And so I think that's a quick
$245,000 cut out of the budget.
[47:01] One thing I would request is leave a
20 there, uh because we were looking
at
[47:05] starting to add, um,
[47:09] wayfinding signs starting out off of
the interstate and coming off and and
we had
[47:13] groups asking said, hey, we want this
down on the interstate.
[47:17] Well, I-35 will not technically in
that area be out of construction to
at least
[47:21] February 2027.
[47:25] So we can't put anything there to
February 2027, which means it's out
of the budget
[47:29] here. So that's just sort of a hold
over from last year.
[47:33] So that was one thing I think we
could make a very easily $245,000
cut.
[47:39] Exactly.
[47:45] I guess just in general on the
billboard. Do we know like the
effectiveness,
[47:48] or impact, reach,
[47:51] influence of like billboards versus
social media
[47:54] content?
[47:55] Like what what's the difference?
What's the reach difference? I know
we have some statistics, but
[48:02] That would be a Pauline, if she had
that, I don't know if
[48:04] I don't know if she hasn't
researched. Do you have that off the
top of your head or would you need to
look into it?
[48:09] Sorry, Susan Cohens was asking me a
question about billboards.
[48:12] Billboards compared to social media.
[48:14] the effectiveness and influence
[48:15] depends on where we're at because um
if we are in the Metroplex we can get
tens of
[48:19] thousands a month.
[48:23] Um,
[48:24] and it just depends on how we, yeah.
[48:26] I can get you some some data but it
just really depends on how we target
the
[48:29] social media stuff.
[48:31] And a lot of the little department uh
itemizations had some social media
[48:35] advertising line items in there. So
we would be ticking both boxes.
[48:42] Can I make a comment on that?
[48:44] I don't think it's um appropriate to
talk about social media versus
something
[48:48] like a billboard.
[48:50] because you have to balance both the
traditional media with the social
media
[48:54] and new media, it's a balance between
them.
[49:00] So that is something that I just
wanted to put out there.
[49:03] I don't think all eggs in one basket.
[49:04] I don't want to ping these
organizations down to billboards.
[49:07] And so like, I don't know where the
line is on we're talking about
getting rid of,
[49:10] you know, the advertising and all
these line items for these
organizations,
[49:13] but I just didn't want it to be on a
billboard only. And so,
[49:17] Yeah, I I don't think that's what he
said.
[49:19] I I I don't think it was clarified.
[49:21] [laughter]
[49:22] Oh, oh, with this, we're, we are
talking about specifically building
one billboard.
[49:27] What, I know, earlier you were
talking about getting rid of
advertisement
[49:30] because there're so many on here.
[49:32] So I just want to make sure we
weren't like just want to clarity
around it.
[49:35] That's all. Oh, okay.
[49:40] We were looking to try and aggregate
so that we're not funding 10
organizations
[49:43] to do billboard advertising if we can
put it together in the pot.
[49:49] Like I'd really like that idea of us
being able to get billboard
[49:53] very coverage all over the place for
the use of our space right here.
[49:57] And we just be a lease, I guess, a
ground lease for whatever sign goes.
[50:00] Mhm.
[50:02] I like that idea.
[50:03] I I think all we're really saying is
let's manage the redundancy.
[50:07] Yes.
[50:08] That's all I'm saying.
[50:11] Well here's another quick thing. Uh
on butter Butterfield.
[50:15] We go from um and this is building
maintenance.
[50:18] It's not what we give to Butterfield.
This is the account
[50:20] that the city uses to maintain our
required for maintenance
[50:23] on the Butterfield.
[50:26] Like we're responsible for the roof,
the windows,
[50:28] and the elevator just to make it
really quick.
[50:32] And a few years ago, we redid the
elevator.
[50:35] It's a couple hundred thousand
dollars.
[50:38] Right now, we're going from 20 to to
about 44,000.
[50:43] And the reason for that, that would
replace all the rest of the windows.
[50:48] We can either do that or do what
we've been doing.
[50:51] Let a window fall.
[50:54] Then we put up a piece of plywood,
whenever somebody tells us it's
fallen,
[50:58] and then we go and we try to find
somebody and we place,
[51:03] usually it's cheaper because of the
cost just to have them
[51:06] come up here with the equipment.
[51:09] It's a lot cheaper to do three to
four windows than just one.
[51:14] So we do our best as like I guess
those three right there get replaced,
[51:17] you know, including that broken one.
[51:21] Or do we just go and replace them all
at the same time.
[51:25] And wouldn't have that on the budget
for next year
[51:27] because they've been replaced.
[51:28] Well, for next year, that's what I'm
asking for is an extra
[51:32] about $24,000.
[51:34] Do y'all want to do that or do y'all
want us to wait for them
[51:37] to fall?
[51:40] My opinion there, I did think about,
okay, what if we broke
[51:43] what was it 27, 30?
[51:45] what would it be to replace the
remainder?
[51:47] About 28 windows.
[51:48] 36 36, okay.
[51:49] I was thinking, okay, what if we
broke that into two years
[51:51] instead of one?
[51:53] Uh uh as kind of a compromise,
[51:55] but if, you know, we're trying to
trim hundreds of thousands of
dollars,
[51:59] I don't I see that as a really
important expenditure and it it's
[52:03] you know, only trimming you know, 15
uh $18,000.
[52:08] Um so it would you know,
[52:10] I I'd be open for how practical it
would be to it would it be
[52:13] worth the savings,
[52:15] the small savings to break it into
two years or uh would
[52:18] we just want to go ahead and get it
[52:20] get it done now since we got the
money?
[52:26] I I'll give you a real life example
on that one.
[52:29] So my church is across the street.
[52:31] And so I I see that all the time.
[52:34] And and and Barry can tell you
exactly what I did.
[52:37] So I came up here one day and I said,
there's a window
[52:40] on the south side of Butterfield
stage at the top half is missing.
[52:46] Now this was going on during all of
the rainy season. Right.
[52:50] And I said, here's the problem we're
going to have.
[52:53] And they did go put a piece of
plywood over it after we talked.
[52:56] I said, here's the problem you're
going to have.
[52:57] That's water is going in that
building.
[52:59] Do you know what the mold remediation
can cost this city?
[53:04] And so I totally support, let's get
them done.
[53:07] [laughter]
[53:12] And then for the rest of the dark
green items on yours
[53:16] that would affect the general fund if
we don't do that.
[53:19] so can everybody agree to those?
[53:22] [sigh]
[53:26] I do.
[53:27] Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.
[53:31] Yes. Okay.
[53:37] I would like to get other council
members' opinion on the uh
[53:41] Great American Bash. Uh I
[53:44] I'm just going to kind of lay out my
entire thought process
[53:48] and then I'd love to have it open
discussion about it.
[53:52] Uh I I totally thought uh I attended
last year and I thought it was
phenomenal
[53:56] and I uh I I would love to continue
seeing things like that.
[54:00] But uh if we were lacking in this is
a really, really good
[54:04] problem to have, right?
[54:06] because this community the the the
staff and the organizations in this
[54:09] town do a great job
[54:11] in putting on a lot of uh really uh
amazing events.
[54:15] And so if we were lacking in the uh
things to do, uh things
[54:18] for citizens to do department,
[54:21] uh then I I'd be all for it,
[54:24] but we we are uh flush if you will on
things to do on the weekend, you
know.
[54:29] Uh half these proposals were for
festivals and and uh
[54:32] and things like that.
[54:35] So, it makes sense to to do it for
the uh 250th uh anniversary.
[54:41] Uh there's if there was no one else
around that did stuff like that
[54:46] and, you know, we could kind of uh be
the be the beacon
[54:49] that has the 4th of July thing.
[54:52] Uh, yeah, I feel it's kind of a
saturated
[54:56] uh thing. There's several other areas
around here that do it.
[54:59] Uh, every little community, Casburg
has a great show and stuff, you know.
[55:03] Uh, they're all all fighting for when
to do it and
[55:07] and uh, it's I I feel like it's not a
department we're lacking in.
[55:13] Uh, it's nice that you know, it's
great for the 250th anniversary to
[55:18] uh foot the bill for a great thing
for uh the city.
[55:22] Now, if I saw him black and white
that it was a revenue generator,
[55:26] I'll shut up.
[55:27] But uh, you know, I just like to
bring that to discussion.
[55:33] Uh, I'd also like to point out on
page 64.
[55:37] Uh, on that Texas two-step on that
[55:41] they give a very specific example
that says 'fireworks anyone,' this
[55:45] does not qualify for hot funds.
[55:49] And so I would like to point that
out.
[55:54] And so that's up to y'all if y'all
want to
[55:57] find some of the other items that
were included in that,
[56:01] but like the firework portion and
doing all that is not
[56:04] would not be something that we could
fund.
[56:09] with hot taxes and that's why last
year this was not
[56:12] funded through hot tax.
[56:13] It was funded through just regular
funding.
[56:22] I thought it was a really great
event.
[56:24] Uh, my grandkid really loved it.
[56:25] Uh, there it was cram packed full.
[56:28] What was it like over 7,000, am I get
that number right?
[56:31] It was like 4,100.
[56:33] It felt like 7,000 because it was
completely full.
[56:36] And it was more than they were
anticipating, right?
[56:38] Much more. Great turnout.
[56:41] Uh, I wouldn't be able to put a
number on it, but I mean all the
vendors
[56:44] sold a whole bunch.
[56:46] and uh, I thought there were people
really having a great time.
[56:50] I thought it really did do a big
bonus for the city of Gainsville.
[56:54] If we can't find the fireworks that
way, uh,
[56:56] whatever we could find would be
great.
[57:03] Did the vendors have a good response
to that?
[57:06] Uh, everybody sold out. We actually
had some food trucks that had to
refund
[57:09] money because they ran out of food.
[57:13] Um, so if we were to do it again, we
would at least double the food come
out.
[57:17] and we have a lot of ideas.
[57:20] Um, since you asked me the question,
I will say that there's no
[57:22] fireworks in that budget.
[57:24] We're not, there's not going to be
any fireworks.
[57:27] Yeah, there's not in this.
[57:29] We would not be paying for fireworks.
[57:32] Well, and it wasn't just retail
sales.
[57:34] Uh, our brother's house is that am I
[57:36] Yeah, we partner with Cook County
United Way and so we had
[57:40] um, volunteers from throughout Cook
County
[57:44] to support uh the whole event.
[57:48] So my brother's house helped with
parking.
[57:52] Um, we had folks helping with the
kids zone, uh,
[57:56] helping vendors in and out.
[57:59] Um, at the end of the day, we'll do
whatever uh council wants
[58:04] staff is at your mercy.
[58:07] [laughter]
[58:10] So is that something y'all want or
not?
[58:13] Do we know if like would Saffron be
open to us being there every year?
[58:16] Do we, is there a space required?
[58:19] Would we have other venues to do
that?
[58:22] They had no issue with us being
there.
[58:28] But we only had to be there this year
because of the fireworks.
[58:32] Uh, I don't understand the question.
[58:35] Well, we had to we had to find a
place we could go and have a
[58:38] firework show.
[58:40] Are we going to have fireworks if we
do this one?
[58:43] Well, if you budget for this event,
[58:48] we would ask some we would solicit
[58:50] Solicit for donations for or
sponsorships for fireworks.
[58:54] you know, make sure that the hot
money was going towards appropriate
things,
[58:57] but the fireworks paid for by
somebody else.
[58:59] And weren't local citizens ponying up
quite a bit?
[59:05] You know, there were a significant
amount of donations to go with it.
[59:09] There were good sponsorships.
[59:11] Yes, we I about 30,000, 25, 30,000
from
[59:15] um, across the community
[59:19] between the different vendors um we
had
[59:22] great partnerships with um in kind
donations from
[59:26] uh Walmart, Tractor Supply, GAF, our
great partners.
[59:31] We um Saffron obviously helped us
with their location.
[59:35] We we had a whole uh stream of
individuals who came in and
[59:38] really supported this event.
[59:41] So without their partnership, we
would not be able to do this event
[59:44] one way or another, no matter what
council decides.
[59:47] We are going to need the community to
be a part of this event.
[59:53] I'm kind of thinking, you know,
everyone got all excited for 250, you
know.
[59:57] will as many people be excited to
write the check for 251, you know?
[1:00:01] Uh.
[1:00:03] It's just the perpetual commitment
that, uh, I'm kind of worried about.
[1:00:11] If since we're not lacking in other
awesome stuff to do on the weekends.
[1:00:15] You know what I'm saying?
[1:00:18] So I have a question for point of
clarification. Sure.
[1:00:22] I'm not going to read this, but
[1:00:24] when I read something here, it's
stated confidential. Okay. So
[1:00:29] I'm not going to read it. I'm going
to read it. I'm going to I'm going to
do a quick summary without divulging.
[1:00:35] So and you can go read the hot funds
two prong content test.
[1:00:42] Anywhere. You can look it up on the
website.
[1:00:45] And
[1:00:47] my interpretation is that
[1:00:50] there's a difference between
attracting tourist
[1:00:55] and generating hotel activity.
[1:00:57] So my question is, that's a
[1:01:00] that's a one night event out there
with the
[1:01:03] the for this year with the the finale
being the big fireworks.
[1:01:09] Yes, there were great turnout.
[1:01:10] I was out there, okay?
[1:01:12] How many heads did that put in our
hotels?
[1:01:16] And I that's where I'm really
struggling.
[1:01:19] Because I don't think it did.
[1:01:21] I think it was a one night activity.
[1:01:23] And it was locals in the surrounding
area.
[1:01:27] So I questioned it on that mirror
too.
[1:01:29] I'm not saying it's a bad thing. I'm
not trying to say that.
[1:01:33] Because I was there. I supported it.
[1:01:34] So I asked my wife, does it really
[1:01:35] I'm just saying does it really does
it really qualify?
[1:01:37] If if we had gone to it and when our
kids were little, she would have
[1:01:42] insisted I got a hotel because they
would have been hot and ready to go
to bed.
[1:01:46] On the flip side to that, I was at a
convention in Waco this summer,
[1:01:49] And there was a card when we checked
into our convention
[1:01:53] that each person was handed
[1:01:55] and we were supposed to fill out
[1:01:57] what hotel we were staying at, how
many people,
[1:01:59] how many days, and what was the name
of the event,
[1:02:03] and each of those cards went to the
city so they had hardcore data.
[1:02:07] And I would hardly recommend we
institute that here.
[1:02:10] I absolutely agree.
[1:02:11] Yeah, the these uh groups that say
they bring people in,
[1:02:15] Right.
[1:02:16] They're going to have a registration
process.
[1:02:18] You hand it to them at registration.
[1:02:20] and we could also have some of the
hotels, so they
[1:02:22] they could, you know, it's part of
their check-in.
[1:02:24] Why are you here?
[1:02:26] Our guests came in to hear the band.
[1:02:29] Just just I mean, I know we only have
four rooms, but our guests
[1:02:32] came in to hear the band because
[1:02:34] when they posted the band on
Facebook, my phone started ringing.
[1:02:40] Wow.
[1:02:40] So, just FYI.
[1:02:42] Thank you.
[1:02:49] So is the Birthday Bash a yes or no?
[1:02:52] I'm neutral.
[1:02:54] [laughter]
[1:02:56] I I will go with the majority.
[1:03:00] I mean, is it all all or nothing on
these things?
[1:03:03] I mean, I feel like we're going to
have to
[1:03:06] It's not an all or nothing.
[1:03:07] That's some dollars from a lot of
people.
[1:03:09] It's not.
[1:03:10] I mean, we're never going to get to
the
[1:03:11] I know.
[1:03:12] to the number if we look at this as
an all or nothing.
[1:03:16] Um, going down the line item of all
the actions,
[1:03:21] there are a lot of them that don't
qualify.
[1:03:23] Absolutely, they don't.
[1:03:24] They like, you know, if you put
undetermined,
[1:03:27] How can we fund undetermined?
[1:03:29] Unassigned. Unassigned.
[1:03:30] Unassigned is an X, I'm sorry.
[1:03:31] Yeah.
[1:03:32] I I agree.
[1:03:35] So I I mean, I don't think we want to
go through every line item
[1:03:37] and all the information.
[1:03:39] No.
[1:03:40] I'd rather talk. will be here all
night.
[1:03:41] I'd rather talk big dollar.
[1:03:43] Big dollar amounts, yep.
[1:03:44] And what we're staying and if we come
to a reasonable
[1:03:46] dollar amount on something,
[1:03:49] Um, we's just kind of go at it that
way.
[1:03:51] I don't think we can go through.
[1:03:55] Okay. Let's look at our tourism
division budget for just advertising
[1:03:59] thing right under the Great American
Birthday Bash.
[1:04:04] So we have basically $160,000 there.
[1:04:07] We told you about 65 was for bolt,
the rest of it's for advertising
[1:04:11] the city to try to attract tourism
through there.
[1:04:14] What's the visitor center
blueprinting?
[1:04:17] Uh, that's something
[1:04:19] I cut out.
[1:04:20] That's a wish.
[1:04:21] I I cut that out of the general fund
and I said that's something
[1:04:23] I will just suggest cutting out here.
[1:04:26] Okay. Yeah.
[1:04:28] Uh.
[1:04:29] It's way premature. Yes.
[1:04:30] Yes.
[1:04:31] Gotcha.
[1:04:32] Okay.
[1:04:32] I'm good now.
[1:04:33] Yep.
[1:04:35] Uh, but the for the 160,000,
[1:04:41] 65 of it was bolt, most of the rest
of it is for
[1:04:44] for other advertising throughout the
city.
[1:04:48] So are we using the Nickstar and 101
media media?
[1:04:51] Is that already something that the
city's that the city's funding for?
[1:04:54] No.
[1:04:56] This.
[1:04:57] as we were asked to see if we could
get some bulk stuff put together.
[1:05:00] Okay. That's what we did.
[1:05:02] And so we were asked to do this.
[1:05:06] Do not feel you're going to hurt
staff's feelings if you cut
[1:05:10] this, if you cut the bulk or you cut
some of the others.
[1:05:13] The other, you know,
[1:05:16] this year,
[1:05:19] based upon a comprehensive plan
[1:05:21] it says we're supposed to start
coordinating with these different
[1:05:24] groups for downtown advertising.
[1:05:27] There's multiple ways to do that.
[1:05:30] We could cut some of their funds back
and have them come through
[1:05:33] here or this year cut the 65 back and
us do the others and then
[1:05:36] us start coordinating and seeing if
once we work together, we can
[1:05:41] come up with a plan throughout the
year to do that. Or
[1:05:45] and I know I think that visit widget
is sort of one of the first
[1:05:49] things for coordinating that.
[1:05:51] I love this idea.
[1:05:52] Uh, that helps people plan their
weekends here and we can put
[1:05:57] things in there and coordinate with
everybody plus AI can go out and
[1:06:01] find different things for people and
build that for them.
[1:06:05] That's something was I'm guessing one
of our first ideas on how to
[1:06:08] start coordinating.
[1:06:09] The visit widget?
[1:06:11] Yeah, I did the tour of Laurel,
Mississippi using this today just
[1:06:14] to to test it out.
[1:06:15] And it's a really a one-stop shopping
for everything, for
[1:06:20] somebody to plan a trip here from
restaurants to hotels, to activities.
[1:06:24] It's all map driven, it's app-based,
web-based. I mean,
[1:06:29] I would approve this. The visit
widget.
[1:06:33] And that was something that does
start us coordinating there.
[1:06:37] And so that if you're for it, we can
get that checked off if we're
[1:06:41] general agreement.
[1:06:43] So you're saying that's a starting
point for the other stuff?
[1:06:46] That is a starting point to start to
coordinate.
[1:06:49] And getting things all focused. Now,
[1:06:55] One of the biggest requests on this
is that $160,000 for the
[1:07:01] advertising.
[1:07:03] What do y'all want to do with it?
Because we can trim it. And I don't
[1:07:07] think staff will be upset if we trim
the bulk this year and try to then
[1:07:11] get with people to see how we could
bulk it next year?
[1:07:15] And that might give people some
understanding that we're just not
[1:07:19] trying to take all the money
internally
[1:07:21] and try to control what their
organizations are doing.
[1:07:24] Exactly. And so that might be a good
[1:07:27] $65,000 to cut and then let us
coordinate and then if we can
actually
[1:07:32] say, oh, you use this, we use that
too. Oh, you use this type, we do
too.
[1:07:37] Let's go see if we can hire the same
person and get bulk and maybe we can
[1:07:41] get discount next year and we can
allocate you so much after what we
do.
[1:07:45] Would that work? I will support that.
[1:07:48] So you're talking eliminating
one-on-one media, Nextstar, and the
Visitor Center
[1:07:52] blueprinting off of that.
[1:07:55] I'm just basically saying $100.
[1:07:58] Yes, I'm ta I'm talking take about
$65,000 off of that
[1:08:02] $158,000.
[1:08:05] Totaled up in the other when that. So
he's talking 15 in the 50.
[1:08:09] Yeah, the 15 and the 50 is 65.
[1:08:12] And also the 32 five.
[1:08:13] And then we want the 32 five removed.
[1:08:15] That's the visitor center.
[1:08:17] Yes, yes. Yeah, we're not.
[1:08:20] So where does this leave the digital,
the billboard?
[1:08:24] Well, I think most people have told
me the digital billboard is to mark
[1:08:28] that off and put $20,000.
[1:08:30] Sir, I mean like the bulk advertising
in billboards across DFW, Oklahoma
[1:08:34] City, Cook County.
[1:08:36] You need to do more research on that.
[1:08:38] That that's two separate things.
[1:08:43] That's what we would start working
with people on to see if we can get
[1:08:47] some bulk group multimedia stuff.
[1:08:50] Once we start working with them hand
in hand on what they're doing, what
[1:08:53] we're doing, especially now that
we're going to start coordinating
[1:08:56] using this visit widget,
[1:08:58] so we can see what people are doing
because it picks up and we're trying
[1:09:02] to pick up everything they're doing
sort of like you said,
[1:09:05] when people have multi events on the
same night.
[1:09:07] That's not necessarily bad if they're
sort of totally different type of
event.
[1:09:11] We're times. Oh, yes, our times
[1:09:13] or but it's a good thing if we have a
depot day one day and the next day
[1:09:19] there's something big and all of a
sudden we're really saying now this
[1:09:24] is a weekend or here's your depot day
and hey, the next day you can go
visit
[1:09:29] three or four wineries within a few
hours and then still be back home by
[1:09:34] the next evening early enough to go
to go to work, you know, come in on
Saturday,
[1:09:39] go visit a few wineries Sunday, go
back to Dallas on Sunday night and
[1:09:45] then be able to go home.
[1:09:47] So those are the type of things that
that would be trying to organize.
[1:09:51] So we make take out the 32 five, we
take out the 32 five, we take out the
65 and then that's a pretty
[1:09:56] big cut.
[1:09:57] That's a pretty big cut.
[1:09:58] And and that's a big cut from our own
[1:10:02] of the city's
[1:10:03] request.
[1:10:04] Yes.
[1:10:06] Well, and part of that ask was trying
to work in what council wanted
[1:10:09] and see how we could do this.
[1:10:11] But we sort of thought that visit
widget would be the first step
[1:10:14] towards coordination.
[1:10:15] Yeah.
[1:10:16] I I think that makes sense.
[1:10:18] And you know, one thing that's
positive that might could come out of
the
[1:10:20] the leveraging, the bulk at some
point and the coordination
[1:10:24] is that the our small organizations,
you know, they they they want
[1:10:27] they needed ten to do advertising.
[1:10:30] When we leverage, they may get
$14,000
[1:10:32] worth of value.
[1:10:34] So it's beneficial for them too.
[1:10:37] Lynette, on what you were speaking
of, I was kind of shocked
[1:10:40] that some of the increases were
requested.
[1:10:43] Yes.
[1:10:43] Doul funds.
[1:10:44] Right.
[1:10:45] I don't know about y'all's home
budget, I don't get to
[1:10:48] do a 50% increase in budget.
[1:10:51] Right.
[1:10:52] And for like the first in the blues
and tattoos, their 20, 26
[1:10:55] actual cost of their event was 38,
well, $39,000.
[1:10:59] Right.
[1:11:00] was the was the actual cost of that
event.
[1:11:02] And so they've bumped their request
of $46, over $46,000.
[1:11:08] And if I remember correctly, I think
most of that was in number of
[1:11:12] of uh entertainers.
[1:11:15] Yeah, I think that was was his his
presentation that they wanted to
[1:11:18] increase the number of bands, but
[1:11:21] They have $14,000 in advertising.
[1:11:23] Yeah.
[1:11:27] And I do appreciate the events that
are trying to by increasing
[1:11:30] the budget trying to make it a
two-day event and encourage people to
[1:11:34] to stay locally.
[1:11:37] Right.
[1:11:37] I'm not saying, you know, I sign off
on everything completely,
[1:11:40] but I I do appreciate it if that's
the reasoning for
[1:11:44] some of the budget increase.
[1:11:46] But in the ones that gave us actual
hard numbers, the truck
organizations,
[1:11:48] you sent seven pages of zip codes.
They gave great.
[1:11:53] Wow.
[1:11:54] Right.
[1:11:55] data on there.
[1:11:56] Yeah. They Whoever put your data
together, did great job.
[1:11:59] And I will tell you, I appreciate
there's a couple of organizations in
here
[1:12:03] that this this get makes me have a
lot of respect for these people.
[1:12:06] Instead of bumping it up, hoping
maybe we'll get somewhere,
[1:12:08] they reduce their numbers.
[1:12:10] Yeah.
[1:12:11] That impressed me.
[1:12:12] Sure.
[1:12:13] And if they increase it, at least we
would see why it's increased.
[1:12:19] Especially if it's drawing people
into our city.
[1:12:26] Uh.
[1:12:27] So where are we at?
[1:12:29] Not sure.
[1:12:30] The boys and tattoos, where do you
all want to do, I want to do the the
same
[1:12:34] as last year, do you want to do the
increase? It's about $10,000
difference.
[1:12:39] I think in order to not dip too
heavily into the reserves, uh,
[1:12:42] it would be difficult to
[1:12:44] to increase that too drastically.
[1:12:49] have increased what we did last year
too drastically.
[1:12:52] I'd say give them what they got last
year.
[1:12:54] Yeah, I was going to say, personally,
I'd give him the same money.
[1:12:57] The Greek.
[1:12:59] How about Butterfield stage?
[1:13:02] I was kind of
[1:13:05] the direct, what was it, a direct
mail?
[1:13:08] The direct mailing I want to talk
about.
[1:13:09] Go ahead, Mike.
[1:13:11] Well, I was just going to say,
[1:13:12] Because we're we're headed in the
same direction.
[1:13:14] Uh, we had the expert in the room,
but when I had marketing in college
like
[1:13:17] 30 years ago, you got a
[1:13:18] three to 4% return on direct mail.
[1:13:23] It was a very low return on direct
mail.
[1:13:24] It's it's the highest cost exposure,
right?
[1:13:27] And when I get direct mail at the
house, I don't even look at it.
[1:13:30] I used to always talk to
[1:13:31] That's what a Gary does too.
[1:13:33] I think there's value in direct mail.
[1:13:35] Um, I think
[1:13:40] Barry's advice and awarding
[1:13:42] uh money for advertising to an
organization
[1:13:46] would be better than awarding money
for a specific thing,
[1:13:51] and then staff can work with the
organizations to make sure that the
[1:13:54] money is used efficiently.
[1:13:58] Because I do think there's value in
direct mail, but I also think that
[1:14:01] $20,000 for direct mail is a lot.
[1:14:04] It's
[1:14:05] It is.
[1:14:05] Yes.
[1:14:06] It's a lot.
[1:14:07] We could do direct mail and also
other things
[1:14:10] and I think Butterfield is very
willing to collaborate
[1:14:14] to make sure the dollar is stretched.
[1:14:17] I think that that was their vision
because that's what they're familiar
with,
[1:14:22] and I respect that tremendously,
[1:14:25] and I also think that they're willing
to collaborate on how we can make
[1:14:27] the dollar stretch further.
[1:14:31] I I would go back to what Barry
advises to not nitpick the details
[1:14:36] to really look at the vision of
[1:14:38] how much money do you want to give
the organizations
[1:14:41] and then direct staff to proceed
accordingly with the best
[1:14:46] vision for how to use that money.
[1:14:51] Okay.
[1:14:52] So where are we going with this?
[1:14:54] I want to reduce the amount.
[1:14:55] Do you want to give them $25,000?
[1:14:57] Total.
[1:15:01] So we go 17 3 plus a bit 3ish
thousand more for that.
[1:15:06] Is that what you're saying?
[1:15:08] Oh well. Cuz they were asking 20.
[1:15:10] They got 20 last year.
[1:15:12] They're asking 37 for this year.
[1:15:13] 37 for this year. Oh I'm looking for.
[1:15:16] I'm on the wrong line then.
[1:15:17] They got 15 last year so we could
[1:15:20] Or we could go do 20.
[1:15:22] I'm 20 or 25?
[1:15:25] You're good with 20? I'm good with
20.
[1:15:27] I am. Okay.
[1:15:31] And this is separate from the
[1:15:34] Okay, cuz the maintenance is a green
item. Okay.
[1:15:37] City book, okay.
[1:15:39] That's in the green.
[1:15:41] Got you. That's a C. Got you. Okay.
[1:15:43] I was looking for the wrong line.
[1:15:44] That goes for as we're supposed to
maintain
[1:15:47] sort of exterior.
[1:15:49] We got a lot of lines here.
[1:15:52] Okay. So now, the Classic Truck
Nationals.
[1:15:56] That's one of the main ones.
[1:16:00] I guess we are going to go with 20
for them.
[1:16:03] Well, that's the movement. They're
focused on the movement.
[1:16:08] They do put heads in beds.
[1:16:09] They do, they do that.
[1:16:13] And they're working towards a two-day
program.
[1:16:16] Right. Right.
[1:16:22] I've just, like I said earlier, to
me, they proved that they
[1:16:24] are bringing people from all over,
you know.
[1:16:28] I agree with that. I agree.
[1:16:31] In the past, when somebody makes a
new initial proposal,
[1:16:36] kind of where do they start at? Do
they start at 10,000?
[1:16:39] 50,000? Just like that.
[1:16:41] It's not. It's only been the last few
years that we've
[1:16:44] been getting a lot of new
[1:16:46] new request. New request.
[1:16:48] Because just, I'm going to just tell
you truth.
[1:16:51] Until recently, we weren't getting
that much
[1:16:53] Right. Hotel occupancy tax.
[1:16:55] It was just a little bit more than
was covering the Civic
[1:16:58] Center and a couple other things, and
back then we didn't
[1:17:01] even have a tourist division or
communication division.
[1:17:05] So Tommy will remember last time I
was on council, we didn't
[1:17:09] have to have a discussion with this,
just
[1:17:11] Right. Barry was saying cuz there
wasn't that much.
[1:17:14] And we didn't have that many people
asking.
[1:17:15] Right. So like, you know,
[1:17:18] a lot of these are kind of some
similar. Depot Day's
[1:17:21] got the car show, you've got the
Truck Festival, you've got
[1:17:23] Blues and Tattoos.
[1:17:25] Uh, you know, uh, I would like to,
uh, for the
[1:17:32] citizenry to get as much love
[1:17:33] as city affiliated festivals.
[1:17:36] You know, kind of equally distribute
amongst, you know,
[1:17:40] I don't want to completely fund all
the city stuff
[1:17:43] but then the people on the pavement
putting on their own
[1:17:46] festival don't get any love in, you
know.
[1:17:48] Uh, so I'd like to definitely
strongly consider.
[1:17:52] And their project cost is $52,000.
[1:17:55] So they're not asking for 50.
[1:17:57] I would, I actually, I would give
this amount.
[1:18:00] I was thinking we I would too.
[1:18:02] And, and part of that thinking is I
like the fact they have
[1:18:06] a vision and they're headed towards a
two-day program.
[1:18:08] Right.
[1:18:09] And if Blues and Tattoos gets over
30, then I think
[1:18:11] we could give the Truck Nationals 20.
[1:18:15] Just round it off to 20.
[1:18:17] They only ask for 50.
[1:18:18] Well, I wouldn't give more than they
asked for.
[1:18:20] No, I'd just give them what they
asked.
[1:18:21] That's what I was asking.
[1:18:23] I'm sorry, not me.
[1:18:24] [laughter]
[1:18:29] Okay. Okay.
[1:18:30] So that seems like a check off.
[1:18:33] Uh, how about the Cook County Arts
Council?
[1:18:37] That was the one I had the unassigned
[1:18:40] So, so check out the unassigned.
[1:18:42] for a lot of advertising.
[1:18:44] We've got some unassigned funds as
well.
[1:18:48] I don't legally think we can do that.
[1:18:50] No, I wouldn't think so.
[1:18:52] Okay, so five gets shaved off there
just from the
[1:18:55] unassigned. From the get-go.
[1:18:56] Yeah, that's what I did in my
spreadsheet.
[1:19:06] So they're increasing, they used to
get 10, now it moved up
[1:19:10] to 25. So that's a $15,000 increase.
[1:19:14] If you take the five off, now they're
[1:19:16] they're at a 10,000. They're doubling
from one year to the next.
[1:19:19] Is any representative from the Arts
Council here tonight?
[1:19:23] I'd like to know what kind of
feedback they get from
[1:19:27] since a lot of that's advertising,
you know, what it
[1:19:30] I guess if we increased from 10 to 15
to cover
[1:19:33] more advertising, you know, how much
they benefited from that.
[1:19:38] That would be a worthy investment.
[1:19:41] I don't see that being a lot of
people staying overnight for
[1:19:46] Most of it's not. No. Most of it's
not.
[1:19:49] So I'd go for what they got last
year.
[1:19:51] I would go for the 10. I would agree.
[1:19:53] Yeah. With that. I'm good with
keeping it where it's at.
[1:19:56] Okay.
[1:19:57] Uh, Cook County.
[1:19:59] fair association.
[1:20:00] That one's not allowed, right? Is
that?
[1:20:02] Uh the the majority of it the is
maintenance equipment,
[1:20:05] $23,000.
[1:20:07] Although we would be able to do like
we can do a scissor lift
[1:20:10] for the Civic Center.
[1:20:13] because Civic Centers and their
maintenance and operation are
[1:20:16] all legal.
[1:20:17] But there's nothing in the statute
about uh of a
[1:20:21] an arena or a fair barn or anything
like that.
[1:20:27] Or maintenance equipment for that.
[1:20:28] So that would not be allowed.
[1:20:32] I would love to support this
phenomenal endeavor, you know,
[1:20:35] it's all parents given their time and
uh I totally understand uh
[1:20:39] about the maintenance equipment
thing.
[1:20:42] but I I'd love to uh
[1:20:44] And to talk this is Hedsen but yeah,
she had a great list of
[1:20:47] evidence in her presentation.
[1:20:49] So I'd like to support them
partially.
[1:20:52] I will tell you that the county
commissioners give this
[1:20:55] organization a lot of money.
[1:20:57] And I'm basing this off because I
only got the spreadsheet last
[1:20:59] year. Yeah.
[1:21:01] It was a lot of money. Yeah.
[1:21:04] I'm assuming, I'm making an
assumption that they probably
[1:21:06] would do the same thing again this
year.
[1:21:07] So there this is not the only money
they're getting.
[1:21:09] I can tell you right now. Yeah.
[1:21:12] Do you think they're coming to us for
money because they're not
[1:21:14] getting it there?
[1:21:16] Well, I know, I know the
commissioners operate on a
[1:21:19] on a very strict tight budget.
[1:21:22] because I listened to them.
[1:21:23] And uh
[1:21:27] I know it's been heavily supported in
the past
[1:21:29] by the commissioners.
[1:21:30] I do know that much.
[1:21:34] And uh Dakota, I think, you know,
it's probably not a coincidence
[1:21:38] that as our uh remaining uh funds
have continued to increase,
[1:21:42] we started seeing more and more
people uh uh putting in
[1:21:45] applications and and increasing their
um their requests.
[1:21:50] Uh you know, so uh
[1:21:53] that word's probably getting, you
know, may gotten around, hey,
[1:21:55] they've got money to spend. Yeah.
[1:21:58] people less money.
[1:22:00] But at what point is that what we're
supposed to be doing?
[1:22:03] It is. It is.
[1:22:04] I I hope next year it's $2 million
what you distribute.
[1:22:08] Me too. No, me too.
[1:22:09] I'm serious. because that means it's
working. Exactly.
[1:22:11] I'm not opposed to dipping into the
reserves by no means.
[1:22:14] If it's a worthy cause, I'm I'm not
opposed to dipping into the
[1:22:16] reserves, I just don't want to
exhaust it. Yeah, exactly.
[1:22:20] So with the Fair Association, if we
remove the unassigned and the
[1:22:22] equipment,
[1:22:24] and keep everything else we're $8200.
[1:22:26] 8200 is what I got. Okay. That's what
I have.
[1:22:29] We good with that? Yep.
[1:22:30] Cool.
[1:22:33] Okay, Cook Karen to society, Morton
Museum and Santa Fe
[1:22:36] Depot.
[1:22:39] We gave them 80 last year and they
reduced it to 63 this year.
[1:22:42] So give them what they requested.
[1:22:44] What's the event expenses?
[1:22:46] What is that? The event expenses for
$30,000.
[1:22:51] What is that? That's that's almost
like an assigned to me.
[1:22:54] That's kind of what I was thinking.
[1:22:56] Yeah. Say that again. It's almost
like
[1:22:58] you haven't given us enough
information to make a decision.
[1:23:01] I got you. Okay.
[1:23:04] That's That's an expe $30,000 event
expense is what it says.
[1:23:08] Yeah, that's what it says.
[1:23:09] I'm not sure exactly what Reese had
on, she not get a breakdown
[1:23:12] on that.
[1:23:14] No. Just as an expense.
[1:23:15] just gave a lump sum number.
[1:23:18] Well, and I'm sure because we do have
multiple events, it's not
[1:23:20] one event.
[1:23:22] Starting in January, we have our
speak easy, um
[1:23:26] then we go into bread and butter, we
also have
[1:23:28] the Barbie Girls lunch, which
[1:23:30] we're looking on wanting to
convention.
[1:23:31] to turn into a two-day event where we
have speakers that
[1:23:34] actually come in, I'm going to the
one out in Santa Fe, New
[1:23:36] Mexico.
[1:23:38] So that'll put heads in beds.
[1:23:39] Um of course we have um our Christmas
events, PJ's and
[1:23:43] pancakes, we've got our festival of
trees and then we've got the
[1:23:47] historical home tour. Okay, that
makes sense.
[1:23:50] So it's not just for one event. It
covers all of our events for
[1:23:52] the entire year.
[1:23:54] Yeah, and those I went to that speak
easy event this year.
[1:23:57] That was a good that was really good.
really fun of it.
[1:23:59] It was filled out for our Barbie girl
luncheon at the depot.
[1:24:02] Oh cool.
[1:24:03] And a couple of the ladies that came,
um they're Barbie heads
[1:24:06] and they have such a huge following
especially with the
[1:24:09] the railroad and so
[1:24:11] they invited me to go to Mexico to
this two-day convention out
[1:24:13] there.
[1:24:15] So I'm going this November.
[1:24:16] So I can really glean from them and
learn and then bring that
[1:24:19] back here because we have such a
great historical Santa Fe
[1:24:22] Depot here. Right.
[1:24:25] Okay. Now, now you explain that, that
makes sense to me. I'm good.
[1:24:28] I'm going to ask Barry to clarify
something for the group
[1:24:31] that I I know the answer because I
ask it.
[1:24:35] So Barry, if if we if say we budget,
we got we we allocate
[1:24:40] 50 grand for an organization.
[1:24:43] Those expenses are all reviewed for
compliance and let's say it
[1:24:47] comes in and there's only 40,000 that
are truly compliant.
[1:24:53] Well, that other 10 is not spent,
correct?
[1:24:56] That is correct. They have to turn
in.
[1:24:58] receipts and we have to verify what
they uh did with those funds,
[1:25:03] and if it doesn't qualify, it doesn't
qualify.
[1:25:06] We and we have turned down expenses.
[1:25:10] Okay. So, with that statement,
[1:25:12] artifact storage and preservation,
will that be?
[1:25:15] Yep. Totally, that's that's one
that's that's one that's a one of the
things that they 100% allow,
[1:25:20] and that is because of it's for
historic preservation.
[1:25:24] But it's only for 15% of the total
budget.
[1:25:28] So if we get them to if some of their
funding they show and turn in
receipts for
[1:25:33] advertising, that has no limit.
[1:25:38] And hence, when if they do that, then
there's no limit on the
[1:29:08] I'm good on that program.
[1:29:10] It's nice to see a reduction.
[1:29:11] Well, it's also I thank you for being
here to tell us why your requests
are.
[1:29:17] Makes sense.
[1:29:18] We have to have the reduction.
[1:29:18] Yep. I'm excited. I'm good with going
with
[1:29:20] what they're proposing.
[1:29:21] Okay, how about Downtown Gainesville
Alliance?
[1:29:25] Basically, this organization set up
and they're advertising
[1:29:29] downtown,
[1:29:30] they hit individual businesses, but
it's really about getting
[1:29:33] people in our downtown.
[1:29:34] and showing our I guess lifestyle or
quality of life
[1:29:36] downtown.
[1:29:59] And this uh the funding
[1:30:02] that was received for last year had
positive feedback.
[1:30:09] Like the assuming that this is mostly
uh the same as last year,
[1:30:15] the advertising worked.
[1:30:24] Helena?
[1:30:26] As in whether or not that their money
spent is working.
[1:30:29] I mean,
[1:30:31] How you doing?
[1:30:32] I mean, it. It looks like it's
working.
[1:30:33] So, but yeah, I mean, if you look at
their Margarita crawl for example,
[1:30:37] they had a significant portion of
outside of the 50-mile radius,
[1:30:40] and that's kind of what we've
established internally that that's
gonna be the policy
[1:30:43] for hot funding advertising.
[1:30:45] There were people everywhere on that
day.
[1:30:47] Exactly.
[1:30:48] And and they do a really good job of
just maintaining a constant presence
[1:30:51] and collaborating with everybody.
[1:30:53] They have their own website.
[1:30:54] I guess the purpose of my question
[1:30:57] We were still
[1:30:57] with I'm totally cool with approving
the same requested as last year,
[1:31:03] was it all successful enough to
justify an increase?
[1:31:06] That's the basis of my question.
[1:31:09] I would say that um, if I recall
correctly, they did itemize
[1:31:14] their justifications.
[1:31:17] And so, based on their track record,
I would
[1:31:24] Is most of the increase in the social
media campaign, the the largest item
[1:31:28] or is it just kind of divvied out?
[1:31:30] Or all
[1:31:31] I believe there was some decorations
and things for their events to kind
of make
[1:31:34] the the aesthetics downtown kinda
[1:31:37] boosted it up so that when people do
come visit, it's more
[1:31:43] So what about an increase of uh
$5,000 council members, uh
[1:31:48] going from 25 to 30?
[1:31:52] So if we're asking people to tighten
their belts, they can tighten
[1:31:54] their belts a little bit too on the
request.
[1:31:57] I'm good with that. I'm good with 30
myself.
[1:32:00] Anybody against that? Nope.
[1:32:02] Okay.
[1:32:03] Uh, then we have uh, the zoo, this is
a program that helps people sign up
for
[1:32:10] conference registration.
[1:32:15] We do this at least every other year.
[1:32:18] The Wova app? Yep.
[1:32:19] And personally,
[1:32:22] We've done it for 10 plus years
without it, we can do it without it.
[1:32:28] Or we do it, make it a little easier.
[1:32:31] My thing is, if we do this, we need
to really start using this to try to
help
[1:32:36] different people when they do have
conferences and stuff and let them
[1:32:39] at least within the city because
[1:32:41] we're looking at having, believe it
or not, we have water and sewer
[1:32:44] workshops all the time.
[1:32:47] And uh we have guys,
[1:32:49] Sounds awesome.
[1:32:50] Yeah.
[1:32:51] We have guys that are they are
actually trainers that uh people they
they have
[1:32:56] their licenses to train.
[1:32:58] And then we allow them to use the
Civic Center for free and then our
guys come
[1:33:02] in with people from all over the
state and go to these classes. So,
[1:33:07] If you do it, I think we ought to
share it, if not, it is something we
could live
[1:33:10] without, but it would like make life
easier on staff.
[1:33:14] Is it possible to use this widget for
that purpose?
[1:33:18] No. This is a sign up for a
conference.
[1:33:21] This is, what am I doing this
weekend? I want to go to Gainesville
[1:33:27] and I want to stay at this hotel,
[1:33:31] what can I do when I'm there?
[1:33:33] When I'm there.
[1:33:34] And then it goes out and finds
everything and it also goes out to
internet
[1:33:38] and everything and tries to do that.
[1:33:41] But this is signing up for a
conference.
[1:33:44] Which by the way, is a specific thing
written out that we can do.
[1:33:49] Uh, this signing up for conferences,
registration for conferences.
[1:33:54] Miss Susan seemed excited about it,
it's a small enough expenditure, I
support that.
[1:33:58] I do too.
[1:33:59] Yep.
[1:34:00] And you're telling me it's mutually
beneficial, that's phenomenal.
[1:34:03] It is.
[1:34:06] Next.
[1:34:07] Next is Frank Buck Zoo Auxiliary
Society and this is putting up some
[1:34:12] artwork for like pictures and uh
doing things of that sort with
[1:34:18] landscaping, benches, things where
people can get photographs with us.
[1:34:23] They've spent a lot of money doing
improvements there, right, Lunette?
[1:34:26] Uh, recently?
[1:34:28] Yes. Yes.
[1:34:29] We've we've done a lot of
improvements there.
[1:34:32] This would help improve those those
enhancements, right?
[1:34:35] This is
[1:34:36] Yeah.
[1:34:37] It would be uh the area that we're
speaking of is directly across from
[1:34:41] the um Flamingo area.
[1:34:45] Yes.
[1:34:46] And uh more so the there's an aviary
where the two cans are.
[1:34:54] And that area is kind of been a
butterfly or pollinator garden.
[1:35:00] so it would just enhance it with some
carvings of
[1:35:03] uh animals and that sort of thing so
that
[1:35:07] people have a good place to get their
picture made. Yeah.
[1:35:10] And that markets us.
[1:35:12] Because those get put on Facebook and
everybody wants their
[1:35:15] kid to be recognized. So.
[1:35:20] I I can tell you there's some stuff
on here that do not qualify.
[1:35:23] Okay.
[1:35:24] Uh,
[1:35:25] you cannot do landscaping, labor,
planting, the bench, uh the
installation of donor plex.
[1:35:30] You can't do benches.
[1:35:32] Even if it falls within the
guidelines of the guide and gain tool
benches?
[1:35:39] The guide and gain has nothing to do
with the state.
[1:35:42] So where are they supposed to sit to
get their pictures?
[1:35:44] Uh, but you can do artwork, you can
do uh as long as that
[1:35:48] donor displays are the things like
from Frank Buck and it's
[1:35:51] historic type things, you can do
that.
[1:35:53] But you cannot do the plaques, you
cannot do the benches and
[1:35:56] you cannot do the landscaping.
[1:35:59] So what's that apply?
[1:35:59] When we move the historic plaques,
Barry?
[1:36:03] 7500.
[1:36:04] If they're in there historically
since the beginning of the zoo, they
may not be moved.
[1:36:08] Yeah, if they could just stay.
[1:36:09] in the
[1:36:10] Said he couldn't.
[1:36:13] Historic preservation, you'd have to
really look at that are they really
historic.
[1:36:17] And so
[1:36:18] I'm just what that. Okay.
[1:36:21] And I don't want to speak for other
council members but I'd
[1:36:24] absolutely want to uh support the
zoological society.
[1:36:27] in one way, so uh Mrs. Pedigrew and
uh
[1:36:30] I believe the staff with the city
would be glad to sit down
[1:36:34] with you and and really discuss in
detail how the city would be
[1:36:37] able to support you in one way or
another.
[1:36:38] I prefer that.
[1:36:39] And we make sure. Because the zoo
brings in a lot of people.
[1:36:42] 100.
[1:36:43] bus loads, you know.
[1:36:45] So I think it would be a great thing
for us to do as well.
[1:36:50] It's just work the specifics.
[1:36:52] Yes, specifics.
[1:36:53] Yeah.
[1:36:54] We'll do a meeting and see how we
can.
[1:36:57] So is the number 7,500 on that?
[1:37:00] So I uh get it to 8,500.
[1:37:02] No, 8,000.
[1:37:04] Could we approve 8,500?
[1:37:05] We'd have to take those off if they,
those two don't meet the require.
[1:37:09] If they don't meet the criteria.
[1:37:09] we can uh subtract it and then we can
maybe work something out.
[1:37:13] Could we approve a $10,000 uh
[1:37:15] Right now from what they have here,
9,000 because
[1:37:17] the carved wooden creatures and the
uh prep for
[1:37:21] donor displays.
[1:37:25] Let's approve 10,000.
[1:37:26] Just call it up to 10,000.
[1:37:28] Yes.
[1:37:29] And whatever qualifies and then
whatever we can turn
[1:37:31] a valid out of it, we approved.
[1:37:32] Yep. Okay.
[1:37:37] Okay, we have Chamber asking for
Depot days and summer sounds that's
brand new.
[1:37:46] Does this not normally fall within
the organizational
[1:37:49] number, the 106,000?
[1:37:53] I mean, how is this normally
advertised?
[1:37:56] This is new.
[1:37:57] Because we've been
[1:37:59] I don't know.
[1:38:04] I mean, those are very successful.
[1:38:06] Yeah.
[1:38:08] Uh is this gonna have them help
enhance those?
[1:38:11] Is that what this is request is?
[1:38:14] And those were phenomenal
spreadsheets she or uh
[1:38:17] presentation she provided.
[1:38:19] Yeah, I guess that that's my only
question is
[1:38:23] Depot days been going on for forever.
[1:38:26] Forever.
[1:38:30] Do we know where they got the
funding, I mean
[1:38:33] those are both current events. Where
are they getting
[1:38:35] the funding for this year's Depot Day
already?
[1:38:40] Yeah.
[1:38:41] Uh
[1:38:42] I I
[1:38:43] I'll speak to one of them.
[1:38:44] Unless you don't say you don't hear
me.
[1:38:48] Okay.
[1:38:49] So I'm gonna tell you just what I
know for a fact, that what was said
to me.
[1:38:53] So I met with Matt Carlson on last
Friday.
[1:38:57] And this subject came up because I we
got to
[1:38:59] talking about hot funds a little bit.
[1:39:01] And he told me that the EDC has
formally funded this to
[1:39:05] summer sounds program.
[1:39:09] And there's evidently been a decision
made to change that process.
[1:39:14] I'm not on that board, I have no
clue.
[1:39:17] And I know our mayor sets in.
[1:39:19] But anyway, and so I think that's how
it showed up on our list.
[1:39:26] Summer sounds, Tommy.
[1:39:27] It wasn't completely, wasn't it also
private donations also?
[1:39:30] Oh yeah, that
[1:39:31] I mean there's donations too.
[1:39:33] Right. A lot of sponsorships.
[1:39:39] But you're saying you're saying Matt
said that they're not gonna support
it?
[1:39:42] That's what he said to me.
[1:39:43] So,
[1:39:44] Cuz I said something about it
[1:39:45] I haven't heard that.
[1:39:46] I said something about it being on
the list.
[1:39:47] Yeah.
[1:39:48] And so I just took him at face value,
that's what he said to me.
[1:39:51] Of course, yeah, yeah.
[1:39:52] I mean, I believe me, I trust Matt.
He's a good guy.
[1:39:55] No, I don't know.
[1:39:56] And so that cuz I was trying to
figure out why, how did
[1:39:58] this appear on here all of a sudden.
[1:40:01] the city not been doing this.
[1:40:03] Well obviously not, or it wouldn't
be. No, you know.
[1:40:07] advertising.
[1:40:08] I think it's a great program. Yeah.
[1:40:10] I kind of I keep defaulting back to
heads and beds.
[1:40:15] Right. Okay.
[1:40:16] I think they're great tourist
programs. Yep.
[1:40:18] But how do we measure because I look
again,
[1:40:21] I look at return on the our
investment. Sure.
[1:40:25] And so how do we how do we measure
back to what Mike said earlier that
[1:40:30] there are people from out of town
coming and spending the night
[1:40:33] to come to that Summer House program.
[1:40:35] I believe there probably some are. Oh
yeah, I do too.
[1:40:38] But what is the value to that?
[1:40:39] Okay, here's a reach. Okay.
[1:40:42] In today's computers.
[1:40:44] Is it possible like Depot Day
specific, these are specific days?
[1:40:49] Can we see occupancy/taxes paid on
that day more than the prior weekend?
[1:40:56] You follow what I'm saying? If
there's a 20% increase in occupancy
only
[1:40:59] on the Depot Day, the weekend before
and after,
[1:41:01] we're at a certain rate.
[1:41:04] Because they collect it and pay it to
the state.
[1:41:05] I don't think we can see that.
[1:41:06] No, we can't see that. We can't see
that.
[1:41:08] But what you what you can see is
Place AI, and I think they have
[1:41:12] Place AI.
[1:41:15] And you know, a lot of this, these
items are starting to
[1:41:17] catch up with these organizations
[1:41:20] as far as the technology to actually
do that.
[1:41:23] And we're starting to catch up where
the organizations and the
[1:41:26] technology together are.
[1:41:29] And I don't know if they have that
Maybe next year.
[1:41:32] items now, but maybe next year for
some of their stuff.
[1:41:35] And I think that's what we are hoping
to get more and more into
[1:41:39] using Place AI and different
[1:41:42] technology that shows
[1:41:45] people are staying or people are not
staying.
[1:41:49] You know, coming and going to these
events.
[1:41:53] That's three for shows.
[1:41:56] So when they have to pay for talent,
and if they're losing funding from
the
[1:42:02] EDC, then that's not a big ass.
[1:42:03] It's not a big ass. I agree.
[1:42:06] Uh, let's go. With both of them?
Yeah.
[1:42:08] And and how about the uh 106 that
they've been getting for years?
[1:42:12] I'm taking it that's all.
[1:42:14] It's the same thing they got last
year.
[1:42:15] Yep. Yep. Boom.
[1:42:16] Okay. Okay.
[1:42:18] Uh, the neighborhood 5K walk.
[1:42:20] Love it. Yeah.
[1:42:24] The mobile app, this mobile app was
created. It's about to be
[1:42:26] released. They started getting
funding for it this year.
[1:42:30] Uh, they've got the app, it's almost
ready or for debut.
[1:42:34] And this is the continuation cost
because you do have to continue to
[1:42:38] pay costs for a lot of that.
[1:42:40] And then this is actually for four
years. This is not just one year.
[1:42:43] This covers four years of Oh, really?
of the website and all that stuff.
[1:42:47] I'm all for it. Yep.
[1:42:49] And basically, this is in the uh
Guiding Gainsville specifically,
[1:42:52] they said we need to get this.
[1:42:54] Cool. Thank you.
[1:42:56] Uh, Metal of Honor Host City program.
[1:42:59] Uh, for I wanted to understand they
lost a major sponsor.
[1:43:03] And so they've been able to handle
stuff on the outside without this
[1:43:06] because they've been had a larger
sponsor.
[1:43:09] Is this your airfare? And then this
would come in for this.
[1:43:12] I can tell you this organization does
cuz they guarantee blocks of
[1:43:15] rooms and they rent blocks of rooms.
[1:43:16] I'm good with the 75,000.
[1:43:19] Actually 90. Isn't it? Oh, it's
[1:43:23] On the application, it's 75, but on
here, it's 90.
[1:43:28] 90 to typo. I may just be a typo
combined.
[1:43:31] No, it's 90.
[1:43:32] So what is the number?
[1:43:33] Yeah, what do you what do you want?
What's the real number?
[1:43:36] 75 and 20 26 is requested amount
equal 90.
[1:43:40] Cuz I don't
[1:43:42] Does that what the money is that what
is that what those lines add up to?
[1:43:45] Yeah, Jamie went back and added it
out.
[1:43:47] So it is 90, okay. It's a typo on my
part.
[1:43:50] And even if this weren't a perpetual
thing, I'd be okay with it,
[1:43:54] but uh with this being the American
Airlines deal
[1:43:57] that was um explained to us, you
know.
[1:44:01] they could get a new sponsor next
year.
[1:44:03] American Airlines can get back in the
game so
[1:44:05] I'll tell you this, we're still
working on getting a sponsor them
[1:44:08] back. And then we won't need the
money.
[1:44:11] Okay.
[1:44:13] Up to 90.
[1:44:14] Up to 90, yes. Yeah.
[1:44:16] But we will have to provide receipts
so keep that in mind.
[1:44:19] My opinion is this is our community.
[1:44:22] If we don't support this, shame on
us.
[1:44:25] And if there's anything on this list
that does put heads in beds,
[1:44:28] it's this thing.
[1:44:30] Yes. Absolutely.
[1:44:31] Okay. Thank you.
[1:44:32] Okay. they don't even have to serve
alcohol.
[1:44:35] Wine Association, uh, the the
festival, the Wine Festival.
[1:44:40] They've asked for 6,000 more. $6,000.
[1:44:44] That's that's been a successful. It's
been a successful program.
[1:44:48] Our city is the gateway to the wine
trail.
[1:44:50] I think this is part of our identity
and something that we're trying to
grow.
[1:44:53] Right.
[1:44:54] And then it's the same, same for the
wine trail. Yep.
[1:44:58] And then uh, Lang
[1:45:00] caster manor.
[1:45:03] And with that, I believe there is
some legal questions about that that
our attorney had some concerns.
[1:45:09] Right.
[1:45:10] That it's more supporting of a
private business even though it does
advertise it does that.
[1:45:14] And then there's also
[1:45:15] We love you.
[1:45:16] I know.
[1:45:17] And then there's also concerns that.
[1:45:19] Then every single hotel in town would
come and say you need to pay for all
of our advertising.
[1:45:28] So, is is is this a rebuild of your
website?
[1:45:32] Okay.
[1:45:34] My answer is no.
[1:45:36] Yes.
[1:45:37] I can't agree to the
[1:45:39] Because of the legal issue.
[1:45:40] Yeah, the legal part.
[1:45:42] Yeah, because we have to do it for
all of them.
[1:45:44] Yeah.
[1:45:45] Sorry.
[1:45:46] No, I understand.
[1:45:48] So
[1:45:49] It's not personal.
[1:45:50] But thanks. Thank you for taking a
stab at it though.
[1:45:53] We got to try, right?
[1:45:55] So we
[1:45:56] I'm the only one in the room that
pays in.
[1:45:58] So,
[1:45:59] So everyone
[1:46:00] [laughter] I I opinion.
[1:46:02] Everyone on council is once
[1:46:04] I've a short term memory.
[1:46:05] Everyone on council supports the
increase for the GWCF.
[1:46:10] We did.
[1:46:11] Yes, we did.
[1:46:13] Barry, are you keeping a running
total?
[1:46:15] Yeah, I
[1:46:16] No.
[1:46:17] I'm asking too much.
[1:46:18] I don't have a running total. I just
wrote down what they have and then
I'm going to go back and I'm going to
put it in the budget.
[1:46:24] Did we did we come to a conclusion on
the Gainsville Grand American
birthday bash?
[1:46:29] Oh, yeah.
[1:46:30] No.
[1:46:31] I don't think we did.
[1:46:33] Sorry.
[1:46:34] So based upon include fireworks.
[1:46:37] Figure you gave does not include
fireworks.
[1:46:39] Correct. It's 53,500.
[1:46:42] Yeah.
[1:46:43] So we need a we need sponsors and or
alternative funding.
[1:46:47] Correct.
[1:46:49] But staff, while we will miss the
event, if you do decide not to fund
it, we also will understand.
[1:46:55] Yeah.
[1:46:56] So, you know, no hard feeling.
[1:46:57] I'm just wondering if we made enough
cuts to
[1:46:59] That's what I want to know.
[1:47:00] Allow it.
[1:47:01] Yeah.
[1:47:03] Can you get a subtotal tomorrow and
let us know or email it out?
[1:47:07] Yeah, this is all still discussion.
[1:47:10] Yeah, this is discussion. This is
this is discussion. This is this is
so I can just generally have an idea
what to put in the budget. The vote's
going to come at the next meeting.
[1:47:16] Okay.
[1:47:17] It would be very helpful to know
what's the balance left in the
account.
[1:47:20] Right.
[1:47:21] And and this is not personal against
staff, but, you know, that's a big
expense.
[1:47:25] Oh, no.
[1:47:26] So we
[1:47:27] It's a lot of work. I can tell you
there's a lot of people will be happy
if it does
[1:47:32] [laughter] that one right there.
[1:47:34] the mastermind behind it.
[1:47:37] It was it was phenomenal. Y'all did
an outstanding job.
[1:47:39] outstanding job.
[1:47:40] So for staff and everybody that's
taking it out, thank you for going
through through that exercise with
us.
[1:47:45] We want to do what's right for
Gainsville and our partners, so.
[1:47:49] All right.
[1:47:50] Uh, can we can can we move on?
[1:47:52] Yes.
[1:47:53] Okay.
[1:47:53] Item G consideration action on a
resolution authorizing the city
manager to sign a change order number
two with ESCO incorporated for the
BNSF utility relocation project.
[1:48:05] Man, if you need that loan to buy
some ice cream, caller.
[1:48:08] [laughter]
[1:48:10] Right now it doesn't seem like a bad
idea.
[1:48:12] But I would have I would have bought
two ice creams.
[1:48:14] [laughter]
[1:48:16] I'm holding strong to the extortion.
[1:48:18] [laughter]
[1:48:19] But I'm here tonight to request hot
phones for this project.
[1:48:22] [laughter]
[1:48:25] And if you want to hear the way, if
you want to hear the way, if you want
to hear the way I can get this one
back to tourism, I've got it all
figured out.
[1:48:29] [laughter]
[1:48:30] Are you renting a hotel tonight?
[1:48:32] No.
[1:48:32] I'm already capped out.
[1:48:34] Um,
[1:48:35] The work crews are going to stay in
hotels, right?
[1:48:37] Right.
[1:48:38] There you go.
[1:48:39] And this is a it's underneath BNSF,
which which uh the Hartland flyer
runs on, which we obviously know
drives tourism and and so that's the
stretch, but.
[1:48:46] Wow.
[1:48:47] He's had a lot of time to think about
this.
[1:48:48] A little bit.
[1:48:49] Okay.
[1:48:50] All jokes aside.
[1:48:51] This is change order number two for
ESCO for the BNSF utility relocations
and during the bore up on 1202, we
run into what we believe is just a
pile of BNSF debris that was buried,
who knows when. I have no idea.
[1:49:05] We can't bore through it.
[1:49:06] So we have to pull out. We've lost
our casing, essentially we have to we
have to go deeper and try to get
underneath it.
[1:49:12] Um.
[1:49:13] So this is a change order for uh a
little over $51,000.
[1:49:17] Staff has reviewed this, engineers
have reviewed it.
[1:49:20] We all recommend approval.
[1:49:21] And I would appreciate your
consideration tonight and happy to
answer any questions.
[1:49:26] Thank you, sir.
[1:49:27] Any questions?
[1:49:30] All right, entertain a motion.
[1:49:31] I'll make a motion to approve.
[1:49:32] Motion to approve.
[1:49:33] I'll second it.
[1:49:34] Second.
[1:49:35] All those in favor signify by saying
I.
[1:49:39] All those opposed same sign.
[1:49:40] Motion passed unanimously.
[1:49:42] Thanks, Alan.
[1:49:43] Thank you.
[1:49:44] All right. It is 8:18.
[1:49:47] Uh, we are going to go into executive
session under Government Code,
Chapter 551 to discuss economic
development.
[1:50:05] [crowd]
[1:50:19] [chatter] Hey hey Tommy, got me and
my partner here.
[1:50:24] [crowd]
[1:50:26] All right, it's 8:37 p.m. We come out
of executive session
[1:50:30] with no action to be taken. Uh,
meeting adjourned.
[1:50:33] Thank you.