[0:00] Anybody else for public comments?

[0:03] I didn't just put the agenda right now.

[0:29] All right, all

[0:34] right. We sure appreciate everybody being here tonight. Thank you so much. It is six o'clock. So we'll

[0:42] Call this in to order and we'll have local

[0:45] Mayor Senna here

[0:46] Commissioner Smith here, Commissioner Mills here, Commissioner Fields here, Commissioner Caledon here, Commissioner Pennick here, Commissioner girth

[0:55] All right tonight. We're gonna switch it up a little bit. So we'll have the invocation by Commissioner Pennick and the pledge by Commissioner Fields

[1:01] We appreciate you

[1:03] Thank

[1:05] you, please bow

[1:08] By the God. We're so grateful to be before you to see me in Lord. I pray that you give us wisdom and guidance by the God

[1:13] to make decisions that's pleasing unto you and what's best for the people of

[1:18] Hobbes. Lord God, I pray that you watch over our community Lord, keep us safe.

[1:23] I pray that you watch over our first responders and our military men and

[1:27] women. Father, thank you for your gift on the cross that we may be forgiven of

[1:31] our sins. Father God, we love you. We praise your name and Jesus' name. Amen. I

[1:37] pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic

[1:43] for which he stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

[1:52] Thank you so much, commissioners, and now we'll have approval of the minutes if you've

[1:57] had a chance to look them over. We'll entertain a motion. Moved by Mayor Pro Tem, got that

[2:01] on. Second. Seconded by Commissioner Don Gurth. Voting

[2:17] is in progress. We're missing anyone.

[2:21] I think we got it very good it has past 7 to 0 tonight we do not have

[2:30] proclamations and awards of merit but we do have public comments public comments

[2:35] or citizens who wish to speak must sign the public comment registration form

[2:39] located in the commission chamber prior to the beginning of the meeting we keep

[2:44] it to three minutes per person and we have timers right up there we'll have

[2:47] Angelica Alvarado, and she wants to discuss parks, water use, and

[2:52] flock cameras.

[2:53] Thank you for being with us, Angelica.

[3:00] Hello, thank you for having me today.

[3:02] I have a few things that I want to talk about.

[3:05] The first one is, I think we should keep the park lights on till midnight.

[3:09] I was going to request on night, but I think midnight is probably better.

[3:14] Our use needs places to be young and active, leaving all the sports

[3:17] complexes lights on will be an outlet for all the community.

[3:20] older adults can go and walk on the trails. The teens have an outlet for all that

[3:25] pent up energy and families have somewhere outdoors to go bond. New York has

[3:30] left their park lights on all night and they have seen a drop in crime from the

[3:34] adolescence in their community. Children are always first in my book so let's

[3:39] start doing things that benefit our children and their future. Something as

[3:43] simple as leaving the park lights on longer can have a major impact on our

[3:46] children. We went to go play soccer at the soccerplex the other day and by the time the game was

[3:53] getting good the lights went off and everybody had to leave it was pitch dark out there and there

[3:58] was families kids a lot of people out there playing and we all had to leave. So that's when I thought

[4:03] these park lights need to be on longer you know so kids can go out there and play adults that you know

[4:09] work late if they want to go play basketball the lights are on for them baseball soccer. I think

[4:14] that would be a good thing for our community. The parks are there. Why not leave the lights on

[4:19] for everybody to use? My next one is floor cameras don't belong here. The Hood County Constable said

[4:27] that kind of permanent warrantless tracking doesn't belong in a free society. If we are truly a free

[4:33] society we should not be tracked or licensed plates should not be taken pictures of. I know that we

[4:38] all believe in limited government, but I don't like anyone in my business much less the government.

[4:43] I don't remember if there was a meeting even approving

[4:46] flock cameras here in Hobbes maybe I missed it but I think it

[4:49] should have been up to the public if they wanted to be

[4:52] surveillance in their own city.

[4:54] Here are a few examples that have,

[4:57] where flock cameras have been misused by policemen to track

[5:01] and harass ex-girlfriends and lovers,

[5:03] flock cameras are making errors that lead to individuals

[5:06] being held up at gunpoint,

[5:09] police chief used a flock system to search his ex-girlfriend

[5:12] and her new boyfriend over 200 times.

[5:15] These are all true stories that Y'all can look up.

[5:17] If you need used flock to track a woman he liked,

[5:21] deputy used a flock to track his current girlfriend,

[5:23] her mother and her father, just because he felt like it.

[5:27] Flock missed right a plate, which got a man held up at gunpoint.

[5:31] Sheriff stalked his wife hundreds of times

[5:33] with the flock cameras.

[5:35] Deputies used flock to watch over another deputy

[5:37] that he was having an affair with,

[5:40] flocked cameras,

[5:42] got grandparents and their granddaughters

[5:44] held up at gunpoint because of an error that it made.

[5:47] We're basically giving bad people access to devices

[5:50] that are being misused against women.

[5:53] We don't need to give this world new ways to abuse women,

[5:56] even if it is just tracking them through a camera.

[5:59] Let's cancel our contract with flock

[6:01] and let's take them all down.

[6:03] Let's show the people that you're actually working for

[6:05] the people, not for big brother.

[6:06] Okay. My last one is apologize if you want to finish up. Yes, I'm coming to talk about McDonald's. She missed using our water.

[6:15] If you happen to pass by McDonald's early in the morning hours, they are using water to clean their parking lots every morning every day for over an hour, almost two hours.

[6:26] Why are city residents put on water restrictions, but billion dollar corporations like McDonald's are able to use our city water every day for hours just to clean their greasy parking lot.

[6:36] There are a billion dollar company that can afford leaf blowers.

[6:39] I think that we should have McDonald's get leaf blowers to clean the parking lots instead

[6:43] of using our water every day.

[6:45] Thank you.

[6:46] Thank you so much.

[6:47] And if you'd like, if you want to leave your information, maybe with Ms. Julie in the back,

[6:51] and maybe staff can follow up with you on some of the items.

[6:54] Thank you, ma'am.

[6:56] Lorraine Villegas wants to visit about smart water meters.

[7:00] Thank you for being here, Lorraine.

[7:02] Ms. Villegas.

[7:06] Hello again.

[7:07] Hello.

[7:08] Just to pick up on what and how look I was talking about, about the smart waters and water usage,

[7:15] multi-million dollar companies, if not billion dollar companies using our water, but yet

[7:19] we're rationing the hard worker working class who pays taxes.

[7:25] And I know we already have smart water meters.

[7:28] Last time I came, I thought we didn't, and then I learned that we were just going to get

[7:32] more of them.

[7:33] And now I'm learning that we need more of them.

[7:35] So what's the goal and what are we, what are we doing with the smart meters and also?

[7:40] Well, I understand that smart meters are intended to act as a solution to monitor water use

[7:46] because it's critical and I know there's a lot of projects coming up such as decalination,

[7:50] SMRs, and a bunch of things that you guys are all advocating for. But sticking to the water,

[7:57] the majority of you guys were in office whenever this specific thing happened.

[8:02] And when the ranchers sold water rights, equating about 11.6 million barrels of fresh water

[8:14] annually.

[8:16] So, what are you guys going to do to prevent another water grab such as that?

[8:19] Are you going to work as diligently to prevent things such as that as you are pushing these

[8:24] things into our communities that we are funding?

[8:27] Are you guys listening to the community about anything?

[8:29] But because these are important conversations in regards to if you oppose them or support them

[8:35] I think the conversations need to be have they need to be had and I know I've heard

[8:41] a couple of you guys admit that you don't know really much about the technology I myself

[8:47] don't either but if there's something that you don't know look into it research learn talk

[8:52] to your community about what's being said don't just shake your head yes involve your

[8:56] had yes because the other commissioners are wobbling their head. Yes, we didn't elect

[8:59] you to be a bobblehead. We had to elect you to represent the people and your constituents,

[9:02] the hardworking. We work hard here and we pay a lot of taxes. So I just, I would like

[9:08] to see more engagement on how look it was talking about the flat cameras. Has there been

[9:11] any public hearing or meeting or town hall meeting the only time I, maybe I'm mistaken,

[9:16] the only time I've ever seen you guys hold a town hall meeting was whenever they wanted

[9:20] to have the 5G tower in Westminster. So do we have to live in Westminster to have more

[9:26] engagement for the public.

[9:29] Anyways, God bless you guys.

[9:30] Thank you.

[9:31] Thank you.

[9:32] Also, in regard to some of that, maybe you could, some of the details there.

[9:36] Maybe they could follow up with you if you leave your information with Ms. Julie also.

[9:40] Thank you so much.

[9:41] All right, consent agenda.

[9:42] The consent agenda is approved by a single motion.

[9:45] Any member of the commission may request an item to be transferred to the regular agenda

[9:48] from the consent agenda without discussion or vote will entertain a motion.

[9:53] Moved by Mayor Pro Tem, Joe Calderon, seconded by Commissioner Dwayne Pennick.

[10:02] His

[10:08] vote is in progress, and

[10:13] it has passed 7-0.

[10:15] Now for the discussion item, we'll have City Manager Manigomiz, Finance Director, Deb

[10:24] Corral, and Assistant City Manager Todd Randall for long-term financial sustainability options.

[10:31] So as we talk through this, this is a very important item if the commission will indulge

[10:37] all of us here.

[10:38] We'd like you to make your presentation.

[10:40] I'd like to say a few words and then me commissioner can chime in or any input or any questions

[10:46] along the way.

[10:47] Mr. Gomez.

[10:47] Good evening, mayor commissioner, staff and members of the public.

[10:51] I want to thank you for this opportunity.

[10:54] Tonight, we'd like to discuss something that affects every service the city provides not

[11:00] just today, but for many years into the future. And that discussion is long-term financial

[11:06] sustainability. I want to begin with an important point because it sets the tone for everything

[11:13] that follows. The City of Hobbes is not facing a financial crisis today. However, that didn't

[11:22] happen by accident. It's a result of decades of conservative

[11:27] budgeting, responsible financial management, strategic

[11:32] investments, and the hard work of many city commissions, city

[11:38] staff, community leaders, who have made sound financial

[11:42] decisions over the years. Those decisions have placed

[11:47] these harms and a strong position.

[11:50] The good financial management doesn't stop

[11:53] in maintaining today's budget.

[11:56] Good financial management means looking at 5, 10,

[12:00] and even 20 years into the future.

[12:03] It means identifying trends before they become problems

[12:08] and making thoughtful decisions when we have those choices.

[12:13] And that's exactly why we're having this discussion tonight,

[12:16] mayor and commission. Several years ago House Bill 6 changed the way

[12:20] growth receipt tax revenues are distributed throughout New Mexico. Although

[12:25] Hobbes continues to serve as the commercial, the retail, the employment and

[12:31] service center for South Eastern New Mexico, that legislation permanently

[12:36] changed a revenue stream that had historically helped fund municipal

[12:41] operations and infrastructure. Since then additional changes have occurred. In

[12:48] 2022 and 2023, the state reduced its portion of the Grocery seed tax,

[12:55] ignoring the total Grocery seed tax rate and knobs from 6.8125% to the

[13:02] rate of 6.56 to 5% benefiting the consumer. Today of every dollar grocery

[13:10] seed tax collected in Hobbes the state receives 4.875% while the city

[13:18] receives 1.4375%. What is the cost to our citizens? Out of a hundred dollar

[13:26] purchase the taxes $6.56. The state receives $3.65 of that $6.56 and the city receives $2.66.

[13:42] Another important fact is that the city's municipal gross receipts tax rate has remained

[13:48] essentially unchanged since 2000 and to except for the environmental grocery

[13:55] seat tax that was approved in 2004 that is dedicated slowly for the wastewater

[14:01] treatment plan debt that went into effect in January 1 of 2005. So let's think

[14:10] about everything that has changed in more than 22 years. Cost of increased across

[14:17] construction, equipment, public safety, technology, infrastructure, and staffing.

[14:24] Our residents now expect more services, advanced technology, and higher levels of

[14:31] customer service. Yet the city's recurring revenue structure has remained

[14:36] largely unchanged. Imagine your hourly rate 22 years ago. Now consider today's

[14:45] cost of living and adding responsibilities while being paid at that same hourly

[14:51] rate. What would your life look like for the city that this isn't an

[14:57] imagination. It's real.

[15:00] Goodie. And that's how we've operated for the last 22 years. When these changes, House Bill

[15:06] 6, inflation, expenditures outpacing revenue, first began affecting city finances, our response

[15:16] was not to seek additional revenue, it was first to focus on managing expenditures responsibly

[15:24] and improving operational efficiency.

[15:28] We asked ourselves an important question,

[15:31] what can we do better?

[15:33] We prioritize critical needs through advanced planning,

[15:37] eliminated and consolidated approximately 110 vacant positions

[15:43] through attrition and what we call organizational right sizing.

[15:49] Improve operational efficiencies through organizational changes

[15:53] and technology, deferred selected capital projects and equipment replacement, maintain

[16:00] healthy cash reserves and liquidity, aggressively pursued grants, strengthen partnerships, we

[16:08] looked at every opportunity to reduce costs while protecting services, and those efforts

[16:15] worked. They allowed us to maintain the financial stability while minimizing impacts on our

[16:23] residents. We believe that's exactly what responsible government should do before

[16:29] considering any additional revenue options. But there's also reality that we

[16:35] almost recognize efficiencies have limits. Grants are temporary. One-time funding

[16:42] eventually disappears and reserve balances are designed to provide financial

[16:49] stability during emergencies, not to permanently support recurring operating expenses.

[16:58] As Hobbes grows, so do the cost of maintaining that growth.

[17:03] Streets, they're going to need repair.

[17:06] Parks and facilities, we've got to upkeep them.

[17:08] We just heard constituents talk about that.

[17:11] Technology and equipment must be replaced and infrastructure requires continued investment.

[17:18] and these investments, they're not extraordinary expenses.

[17:23] They are simply the ongoing responsibilities of operating a growing community.

[17:29] Another important consideration is the role that Hobbes plays throughout

[17:33] Southeastern New Mexico. Although our resident population is approximately

[17:39] 50,000 people, available mobility and consumer activity data

[17:45] indicate that our daytime population routinely grows to approximately 75,000.

[17:52] Thousands of people come to Hobbes every day.

[17:55] They work, they shop, and they attend events here.

[17:59] They conduct business here, they dine in our restaurants,

[18:03] they visit our parks and facilities, they use our streets,

[18:07] benefit from our police officers, firefighters, emergency services,

[18:11] and our infrastructure.

[18:13] That regional activity is one of Hobbes' greatest strengths.

[18:18] It supports local businesses, creates jobs, and drives economic development.

[18:25] Our responsibility as staff is not to recommend a solution based on convenience.

[18:32] Our responsibility is to evaluate which options best position the city of Hobbes for long-term

[18:40] financial sustainability while maintaining the quality of services that our

[18:46] residents deserve and what our residents expect. So tonight's discussion really

[18:53] comes down to one question. Here's our long-term revenue structure line with

[18:58] the long-term responsibilities of a growing regional service center.

[19:06] That is the

[19:06] question before us. Now whether we have a crisis, now whether we have managed our

[19:11] finances responsibly because we have. The question is whether we should evaluate our financial

[19:18] structure, but we have options available to us. History tells us that the best organizations

[19:25] prepare before they are forced to react. And that's exactly Mayor Commission staff members

[19:32] of the public what responsible financial stewardship requires. We owe it to future generations

[19:41] to ensure that they inherit a city with strong public safety, well maintained infrastructure,

[19:48] healthy finances, vibrant community partnerships and the ability to continue growing. I appreciate

[19:56] you mayor the commissions will need us to engage in this conversation and at this time I'm going to ask

[20:03] city staff, Todd Randall or assistant city manager and dev corral finance director to share

[20:11] the numbers and the graphs that will help explain and justify what we're having this discussion tonight.

[20:17] Thank you mayor commission thank you man. Thank you mayor commission thank you for that introduction.

[20:23] I want to thank Deb, I want to thank Jan and the C-Mandor's Office for assistance putting

[20:28] us together.

[20:29] Financial sustainability and revenue options, so many touches, as far as HB6, revenue

[20:36] change.

[20:37] Our responsibility didn't and we did response.

[20:40] Many mentioned as far as the 110 positions eliminated and consolidated, changes to budgeted

[20:45] hours only as far as seasonal staffing, technology and operating efficiencies were implemented,

[20:51] And we have addressed as far as some fees for the core and the golf course recently.

[20:57] There has been deferred capital.

[20:59] And again, we always look for any kind of grants for our program capital expenditures.

[21:05] This next slide is a slide that EDC shared.

[21:08] And I particularly like it because it gives us a good background as far as the difference between pre-HB6 which mining,

[21:17] which is here in the red at the very top of those columns,

[21:19] was our biggest GRT contributor. You can also see everything to the left of this red line,

[21:27] the very ups and downs as far as fluctuation with the revenue. This is all illustrated in

[21:34] 2026 dollars. So if you look at after HB6, you can see that the red has significantly reduced

[21:42] and even reduced every year since HB6 because that changed as far as those oil and gas businesses

[21:48] inside sea limits where we would obtain the GRT from them being source-based as far as destination

[21:55] of the services. At today, retail is our number one. Even in a downturn, you can still see that

[22:01] retail dips and we just haven't seen a downturn at all of the gas to really be able to predict as far

[22:06] as what kind of revenue limitations we would have. The biggest thing to see here is that revenue has

[22:14] flatline compared to the windfall that we would have for large projects. If we

[22:19] go to 2014 and we had the same sort of economy, which we're very busy with

[22:25] oil and gas right now, then today's numbers that would be over 115 million.

[22:33] Now we're floating just above 60 million.

[22:39] So the AmeriCobb champion as far as going to

[22:44] to the legislature and trying to explain as far as impacts to Carlsbad and the City Hobbes.

[22:49] When the state analysts reviewed this, they didn't want to look at our revenue streams.

[22:54] They didn't want to talk about how much revenue we lost.

[22:56] They wanted to look at our economic engine, so that's how many dollars that have been spent

[23:00] per capita so that it can compare us to every other community in the state.

[23:04] So here in blue, at the top, is Carlsbad, and just below that, prior to HP6 FY 2019, is

[23:11] the City Hobbes.

[23:12] So, this green line is sea hops.

[23:15] This is only populations of over 7,000 because if you get some of these smaller populations

[23:19] it gets very skewed.

[23:21] For example, a elementary school's built in their community, there's just a huge influx.

[23:28] So, basically they said, hey, you're still number six in the state.

[23:31] And so, what they were trying to say was you still have a good economic engine.

[23:36] What they were getting at is we have one of the lowest year T's in the state in Mexico.

[23:40] So basically, you can fix your own problem.

[23:43] You have a good economic engine.

[23:46] Most communities at 6 would say that would be jealous of us.

[23:53] Again, no relief from the state.

[24:01] So, this next graph is looking at our gross receipts.

[24:05] These are actual gross receipts that we received.

[24:08] I was trying to figure out when we were putting this presentation together,

[24:13] what the trend in our growth has been since House Bill 6.

[24:16] I wanted to see if there was any uptick that was pretty consistent that I could use to forecast and what I found was we're all over the place.

[24:26] So, what this is showing you is if you look at 2019, that's the largest graph up, we received $66 million and it was a 31% increase from the prior year.

[24:38] And then in 2020, we received $64 million.

[24:42] was a negative 2%. Then we had 2021. We had a negative 32% where we received only $44 million in GRT.

[24:54] What this tells me is we're safe at our 30% reserve because that's the kind of swing that we see.

[25:02] And since House Bill 6, the last were pieces of that graph. I was looking for an upward trend because that's what happens

[25:11] to our revenue and our, to our expenditures, right?

[25:14] They increase every year, but we're not seeing that here.

[25:19] We're seeing 3%, 2%, 8%, 6%, so it's really hard to forecast.

[25:25] So we have to be conserved in our budgeting

[25:27] because we just don't know where we're going to land.

[25:33] So hops is in a crisis today, but return revenue must keep pace.

[25:38] So, debt kind of hit the state's mandatory reserves is 112 or 8.33% because the prior leadership, as said with the flux of income with oil and gas, we adopted a minimum of 30%.

[25:55] The FY27 plenary budget, we said at 35%, the FY27 final was actually 45%, and anything

[26:03] above the 30 gets reprogrammed as far as additional capital, because with the FY27 budget,

[26:09] we cut a significant capital, and we'll show that later in the slide.

[26:16] So when we talk about revenue for the city of Hobbes, there's multiple levers.

[26:19] gross receipts tax is probably our well is our broadest based as more of a

[26:25] regional effect lease-consistrated impact be for services such as the

[26:32] golf and the core that directly hits those people using those fees but

[26:38] historically we try to keep those things affordable because we may affect

[26:43] access and can't and obviously fees can't fund every essential service grants

[26:49] some partnerships. We've been partnering with the county. We've been seeking any kind of grants

[26:54] we have as far as our capital improvements. Very generous to our senators and representatives on

[26:59] capital outlay. Last few years we've gotten more than what we have in historically. A lot of those

[27:04] from the effects of HB6. Property tax is one of the most stable, but any kind of increase of property

[27:11] tax directly affects local business owners or individuals with their own homes. And then we have

[27:17] utility rates. And those are typically closest thing to business is our water and sewer enterprise

[27:23] fund. So the utility rates that we charge pay for all the services, pay for replacement of

[27:28] existing infrastructure. But typically we don't use those rates for growth infrastructure. When

[27:35] we're talking about new replacement of waste for our treatment plants or the expansion of it,

[27:41] that really was why the environmental tax was directed towards that. We did have to do a rate

[27:46] increase for that, but we also directed that environmental tax directly to that to help

[27:51] subsidize the ratepayers didn't have to take a burden on everything. For example, we

[27:56] need additional waterflowers, too, in fact, plus we need additional wells and well fields.

[28:01] The last one that we haven't really pursued but has been brought up by the Commission

[28:06] is potential and excise tax. That's potentially targeting a specific source, and then also

[28:12] so we would have to dedicate that to specific use.

[28:17] So diving into GRT only, or GRT, or general fund revenue, totally.

[28:25] GRT represents 76%, that's going to be this big blue.

[28:30] Property tax is about 5% or 4.3.

[28:34] When we talk about fees or ingesting fees,

[28:36] which includes franchise fees, is about 5.5.

[28:40] We do have some grants that are going to the journal fund for capital or for operations and the biggest one is funding from the county for the airline for the airline for the airline and then others are just small amounts as far as and PD purchase both proof vest the library and then we have other which includes donation to the animal adoption center.

[29:06] There are some miscellaneous fees and permits associated with that one, but you can see

[29:12] GRTUs are the biggest driver for the journal fund.

[29:14] We won't be talking about utility fund, are the rates, we're going to be sticking strictly

[29:18] with the journal fund.

[29:23] Turned over to that?

[29:27] So, what we're looking at here is our preliminary budget, so important to note that we are talking

[29:32] budget on this slide.

[29:33] So, we have a list of four years for you just to give you some sort of a trending of what

[29:39] But our revenue looks like this is for general fund only.

[29:44] So we have a column that gives you our total estimated revenues.

[29:49] And then we give you a column for transfer so that reduces our revenue because we're sending

[29:53] not money to other funds core golf cemetery.

[29:57] So then we have, in the next column,

[30:00] Are available general fund revenue. So this is net of the transfers. And the next one in red is your payroll and operating expense. Again, there's no capital in this budget. Just payroll and operating expense. And what we see here is that we're budgeting our revenue conservatively. We're budgeting 100% of the budgeted positions 100% of the operating needs expressed by the departments.

[30:25] and we're spending in 2023, 115% of our revenue.

[30:31] So that means we're spending savings.

[30:34] We're budgeted to spend savings.

[30:36] And you'll see that trend tighten up a little bit.

[30:39] In 2024, it was 116%, and then with a change in our budgeting practices

[30:44] and us consolidating positions and making things more efficient,

[30:49] you see our numbers come down a little to 103 and 107%.

[30:54] On the next slide, we're talking actuals.

[30:57] So this is actual, cash received, and actual operating expense.

[31:03] The paychecks for the employees, the paychecks for the light bills.

[31:07] So again, we have the same type of columns, total revenue, transfers to other funds,

[31:12] operating expense only, giving us an available general fund revenue.

[31:17] When we're looking at 2023 again, we had $67.2 million in revenue.

[31:23] so we came in higher than our budget and revenue, we came in lower than our budget in payroll

[31:29] and operating at 56 million, which means we only spent 83%. That's keeping in mind that that

[31:37] was before we were making all of our changes. You see that shrink a little bit in 2025, 2026,

[31:44] six were 82%. This will change as those vacancies are filled out.

[31:53] So when you're figuring payroll,

[31:55] are you figuring all what is budgeted for payroll?

[31:58] Are you figuring that based on the flowback as well?

[32:02] Are you?

[32:02] Is that's a good point because I think what Commissioner

[32:05] Penex leading to, if I can jump in with him,

[32:07] is that now that we're seeing what Chief Jones is doing

[32:11] in the police department, that flowback's going to disappear.

[32:14] here. Exactly. So we could be a lot closer to 100% if we're filling all those positions

[32:20] and paying all the extra salary. So that number is going to get higher.

[32:26] Point. And if I may mayor and commissioner Pinnick, our common practice and policies has

[32:31] been that we budget the number of staff that have been identified needed. So the previous

[32:38] this slide showed the budget and what percentage would be if they were all filled.

[32:44] Exactly.

[32:45] Thank you, ma'am.

[32:46] Good points.

[32:46] Thank you.

[32:47] That's a good point, Commissioner.

[32:50] So, Jert is the largest and broadest revenue generator.

[32:55] So, it's a broad tax base across taxable purchases and services.

[32:58] It has a regional spending impact as far as visitors, non-residents, contributing to the money that they spend.

[33:06] It's less contract concentrated, broader than property tax fees or utility increases, but there's still a public impact.

[33:15] So any kind of GRT increase, businesses will just pass that GRT through purchases.

[33:21] Want to note that there is no GRT on qualified groceries, vehicle fuel, and certain medical.

[33:27] That's something the state did several years back.

[33:30] And there used to be a hold harmless where we got to separate distribution of dollars to make us hold with that

[33:36] The state since then has dissolved that and phased it out and so we no longer get the hold harmless as far as for food and medical

[33:46] Medical and fear

[33:48] Yeah, I feel and because any time you start talking about GRT increase everybody's gonna go to those basic

[33:56] Commodities and just want to point that out as far as that's something the state did several years ago

[34:00] by removing tax on those.

[34:03] So when we look at General Fund, many mentioned it as far as this is breakdown of all the

[34:10] different funding sources, or the breakdown of the GRT.

[34:14] So at 6.56125, the state gets 3.65, the state actually shares 1.225, and that makes up

[34:22] part of the General Fund.

[34:23] And I should note this is that when they changed from location of business to destination, which is all outside C limits,

[34:34] 10 or 8 of our top 10 GRT producers were on gas.

[34:38] And the reason that the state would share that portion with us is because that business located inside C limits in our services and support as far as those people.

[34:47] So, that business still is inside sea limits.

[34:50] We just no longer get our local option or the state share, the state gained 30% by getting

[34:55] the key that portion of it for themselves.

[34:58] The other is the local option.

[35:00] The last time a local option was done by the city of Haas for general purposes.

[35:05] Madam Clerk was in the 90s?

[35:08] 93.

[35:09] 93.

[35:10] So the local option that's the previous commission that adopted is 1.22 or 1.25.

[35:18] This is also general fund and then many mentioned the infrastructure tax in 2001 dedicated

[35:25] to infrastructure and then the environmental tax at 0.0625 dedicated to utility debt and

[35:31] then the county still receives 0.25 whether inside or outside ceilings.

[35:36] That's kind of been a misnomer that people thought this county gained.

[35:41] They had .25 across the entire county.

[35:45] One thing they did gain was, I believe, a 1-16th environmental tax, but it's a small

[35:51] amount.

[35:51] So they've always kept the 1.25 with the tax change.

[35:54] Where, remind me where the lead of taxes and these buckets.

[35:58] So we adopted the lead of ordinance, and we took it to vote for retail.

[36:04] We never implemented the lead attacks, so we've only been using a general fund, which we can go to 10% of our

[36:13] general funds that we've

[36:15] cordoned off so far have really just come out of what otherwise would be general fund.

[36:21] Correct, correct. So that that point 2.5 is already available if we enacted that four

[36:29] leader and then in lieu of shift and money from the general fund today for that purpose that

[36:36] tax could be used for that. And that's above and above anything that we're talking here is

[36:41] first year correct.

[36:44] And one thing as far as any kind of leader tax and you probably saw in the

[36:49] paper as far as something the Tatum's looking at is that .25 leader that has to go to public vote.

[36:55] So that's my statute.

[36:57] I think it's important also that we let the public understand that when we lost the destination

[37:03] tax through all these city-based businesses and the welfare companies that are doing services

[37:08] outside city limits, they use all of our streets, all of our EMS services, our fire department,

[37:14] our police department, all the things that they're using within our city, they're not having

[37:20] to pay anything for. Now, and I personally think it's a

[37:24] travesty that the state, I feel like the state stole that

[37:28] money from the city of Hobbes. But I think it's important that

[37:31] they know that we've lost that funds. Those bad decisions.

[37:35] Those businesses still are in size limits.

[37:37] Right. That's actually right. Good points. Very good.

[37:41] So when we, we've talked about the journal fund, we've talked

[37:44] about payroll and operating. And what we haven't talked

[37:48] about it all is all those numbers previously didn't have any kind of capital

[37:52] improvements. So if we look at our ICIP for the which is a five-year plan there's

[37:57] 363 million of unfunded projects. And I'm not going to talk about all of them

[38:03] because the ICIP sometimes can turn into a wish list with a lot of added

[38:07] service, a lot of quality life improvements. So we're only going to talk about the

[38:11] basics which right now the goal has been to do about $10 million per year in

[38:16] roadway street improvements. This is just maintenance and talking with Sheila in the study that was

[38:22] done for our streets to actually make an improvement right now. We have a PCI which is pavement

[38:27] condition index of in the 50s to actually make on a scale of 1 to 100 to actually make improvements

[38:33] and get that into the 70s. We need a lot more reconstruction of pavement, not just maintenance.

[38:39] So estimated about 20 million dollars a year over the next 10 years. So that's a hundred million

[38:45] dollars for next five years. If we're looking at facilities and just maintain our facilities

[38:50] and talk about buildings, just to say at a fair condition, that's about $2 million or $10 million

[38:57] over the next five years, doesn't include adding any kind of new facility. I should mention

[39:02] as far as roadways, that doesn't include drainage improvement sidewalks, ADM improvements,

[39:06] new roadways, or even lane expansions. That's the maintained existing roadways we have.

[39:11] We've recently finalized a water and sewer master plan.

[39:15] This is all related to water and sewer and future growth infrastructure, which has estimated

[39:20] about $49 million over the next five years.

[39:23] Like I said, it includes two water towers, includes a new well-filled, new pumping station,

[39:29] some strategic sewer line replacements as far as up sizing in order to meet needs.

[39:35] One of the things that we're looking for the college lane project as far as what do we

[39:38] need to fully serve college lane with water and sewer. Don't want to do a roadway project

[39:42] just to tear it up to put utilities later. And then just for our fleet, Sheila provide

[39:47] this number as far as just to maintain and replace all of our existing fleet, this includes

[39:52] all lawnmores, kids, deers, large heavy vehicles and then just vehicles for staff. Again, this

[40:03] This doesn't include anything as far as quality life projects or expansion of any existing

[40:07] buildings.

[40:11] So when we look at as far as comparison on state-wide, Hobbes is one of three lowest when

[40:17] we talk about Miss Palais, Hobbes, Tatum, and Captain.

[40:21] So if we look on a state-wide comparison, we're at 6.5625, Albuquerque's at 7.625, Santa

[40:30] the phase or lost cruises of highest on this list at 8.39%.

[40:35] And just to give comparison, the state of Texas caps as far as what a Miss Paladin can

[40:41] do.

[40:41] And so both Midland and Lubbock are at the max at 8.25.

[40:46] When we look at just South East in Mexico, we're still one of the lowest with Roswell at

[40:52] the highest 8.2708, Carl's bad actually generates more GRT than the City of Hobbes with a smaller

[41:00] population. A lot of that has to do with with their GRT rate. And plus they're

[41:07] taking advantage of warehouse retail. I can't remember exactly that particular one

[41:13] where they they didn't have as much of a HP 6 impact as we did because you saw

[41:18] that our keys or crawls bag was still number one. And then when you look at Lee

[41:24] county, it ranges from Tatumahob's at 6.5625 to JAL, which is at 7.1875. So, what does

[41:36] a GRT increase look like? So, there's multiple increments. Here, we're looking at one-sixteenth

[41:42] of an increment. If you'll see the middle highlighted area that says max. The max commission

[41:49] Commission can do as far as without a public vote, is capping the local option at 2.05.

[41:56] So each increment is about 1.5 million.

[41:59] The max at current, at current grocery stores would do you want to repeat that, I think

[42:04] quite catch that.

[42:05] So the max that the Commission can do without a public vote is a 2.05% cap.

[42:15] So that would be an increase of 0.6125 for a GRT rate at 7.1750. That would generate

[42:24] $14.7 million per year, correct. So there's other incumbents but all these

[42:32] increments below would have to go to a public vote. So the max as far as with a

[42:37] local option is 7.6250. The max with a public vote would generate 25.5 million. So just looking

[42:47] at the max as far as without a public vote, that's going to have an impact of about 61 cents per

[42:53] hundred dollar purchase.

[42:56] And again, those increments can be done all at once or the commission can select as

[43:02] far as an increment that they would like to see.

[43:06] Todd, I have a question before we move on to the next slide.

[43:12] House Bill 6.

[43:12] So possibly how much did the state take from us?

[43:18] So what shows the best is going back to the chart.

[43:24] And so we had in 2014 just an enormous revenue.

[43:29] I mean, that was windfall that you can't even look at.

[43:32] So historically, Toby and Deb, I think, had stated that anywhere it's from 12 to $17 million

[43:38] a year.

[43:39] Did you go back to that last chart?

[43:41] Yes.

[43:47] So if the commission were to consider the max, that rate would be 7.1750 and would generate

[43:55] about $14.7 million.

[43:57] dollars.

[43:59] So with that the 61 the impact per $100 be a 61 cent increase. That's important.

[44:11] So today the consumer pays $6.56. So adding the 61 cents will now pay $7.17.

[44:23] And how much grocery seats tax every time someone goes to Sam's or Costco in Lubbock?

[44:30] Third charge 8.25 and whatever, or thank you, gas costs.

[44:34] There you go. Go on. What I was looking at was that I was just looking at some numbers.

[44:41] I was looking at it. And if I may mayor and commission feels when you pose the question regarding the effects of House Bill 6 and how

[44:48] much of state benefit. I attended a city manager, New Mexico City Manager,

[44:53] Association meeting, and they talked about how state policies have and can

[45:00] In you to have impact, negative impact on municipalities. In 2025, and they called it and categorize it as the death by a thousand cuts. In 2025, the cuts alone from the state to municipalities led to a hundred million dollars benefiting to the state out of local municipalities. And this is coming from the New Mexico municipal. What did they add when they reduced?

[45:29] So when they reduce, they did that.

[45:31] That is a nice headline for questions.

[45:33] Yeah, I think they increased.

[45:34] That is, as we communicated about the changes in 2022 and 2023 to the state's portion.

[45:43] Research also identifies that the cannabis tax had increased.

[45:48] Gasoline tax had increased and then the whole harmless was retracted.

[45:54] So again, there's been, you know, not only some benefit, if you will.

[46:00] As I mentioned to the consumer, there's been other effects and cuts that have benefited

[46:05] the state and affected municipalities.

[46:08] I've got the money somewhere else.

[46:09] Yes.

[46:11] What?

[46:11] The point.

[46:12] Thank you.

[46:13] Well, to that point, I think it's interesting this page 4 slide that you said the state

[46:22] financial analyst did.

[46:23] I mean, it's clear that there's, to me, it's almost like a mission to force municipalities

[46:32] to increase their burden on themselves because, I mean, if they're highlighting saying,

[46:39] hey, your rate is too low, it's like they want to carve out more for themselves and then

[46:46] leaves the municipalities in the situation we're in to say, okay, we've got to go from

[46:52] six and a half to seven something and then they still keep the same chump but then there's just more

[46:59] it's another layer of tax it's on you know everybody stay wide yeah it's it's no different when

[47:06] they did the whole thing. Even though they are kicking back some in grants but I mean I think you

[47:11] just don't like to play that game as you know this power because you can't as a player. We never know

[47:16] One of the mayor and Commissioner Smith in that same session with the New

[47:23] Mexico Municipal League they talked about tax effort and they utilized tax

[47:28] effort meaning what we is the community of municipality have asked of our

[47:35] constituents of our tax payer and they they compared Hobbes obviously the lowest

[47:42] gross receipt tax in the state compared to Red River, other municipalities, I mean

[47:49] obviously a different population, but they demonstrated that there is a lack in their

[47:56] opinion of tax effort by this community in the years past, and again, it's one of those

[48:05] things that when they identified the economic engine, they see that there's no question

[48:13] that per capita the available resources we had, especially under HP strikes, were significant.

[48:21] And we were blessed with that and had the ability to keep the rate we charged ourselves

[48:26] as we were less at, but the more that stuff that you take away from those communities,

[48:31] you're going to force them into these discussions we're having tonight.

[48:35] In the highlights, most communities, if you look at the chart, did have a positive impact

[48:41] with SB6.

[48:43] We're one of the few that there's a definitely a dip.

[48:47] Well, it's going to happen.

[48:48] I mean, when you're the number one producer in that pool of rounds, and you start distributing,

[48:55] just redistributing that, I mean, that's going to be the outcome, for sure.

[49:00] So you hit it as far as the state and what they've done in the past when they did the whole harmless on food and

[49:05] Medical and said hey, we're going to write you a check. We're going to every year. Don't worry about it.

[49:11] And then they ran into the problem. They said hey, we're going to phase this out, but we're going to offer all communities ability to

[49:19] increase GRT because we're taking away the whole harmless. So yeah, they're going to they're going to help.

[49:25] They're just going to make commissioners the bad make the bad decisions and unprofitable decisions.

[49:34] So regardless, some priority uses as far as we're looking at this both internally and comments

[49:44] from the public, purpose streets drainage, capital improvements, public safety, essential services,

[49:50] and also we threw in the growth infrastructure plus grant matches because a lot

[49:56] times what we've done when we were flush, we would go out and extend the water

[50:01] and sewers. With General Fund dollars, our strategic plan back then was to extend

[50:06] annexing gas. That's what we did on Crossbed Highway, that's what we did on some

[50:10] of the other strategic areas. And so we've been blessed to be able to do that with

[50:14] General Fund, rather than taxing the ratepayers for our water and sewers.

[50:21] So next

[50:22] Next steps for staff is direction determined whether staff should proceed.

[50:27] We need to identify a range if we're going to do any kind of increase.

[50:31] We also have to define the purpose.

[50:34] So it could be municipal purpose, would create the great flexibility.

[50:38] It could be dedicated as far as capital improvements or essential services and then bring back an

[50:44] ordinance for consideration.

[50:46] And we want to emphasize that hops is not in the crisis today, strong reserves allow the

[50:50] commission to act before choices narrow. And what that looks like if we were to enact

[50:56] such would be a July 1st would be the earliest could be as far as an effective date.

[51:04] There would be have to be a model ordinance reviewed with tax and rev. We would have to

[51:08] publish that ordinance and then commission would act and then send that to TRD. Is there

[51:15] any questions? If I may commission if you would indulge me for just a moment I just want

[51:20] to make a comment on this because I know this is an important conversation, this is a conversation

[51:25] so many commissioners, I mean all of you have had with your constituents for so many years

[51:29] and so as mayor I've been, I've now been in office for eight months and eight months

[51:36] is still early in a mayoral term but I believe we've accomplished a tremendous amount together

[51:40] and I want to thank our city commission, our city staff for the work they do every single

[51:45] day to make sure that Hobbs thrives. I was elected to represent the people this community

[51:50] to listen, to solve problems, to continue leading our city forward. And as you know, part

[51:55] of leadership is being willing to face difficult challenges before they become major problems.

[52:00] One of those challenges, as we've seen tonight, and as we've seen for many, many months

[52:05] and even years, one of those challenges is our finances. And I want to be clear, our city

[52:10] staff and our commission have done an excellent job managing the resources we have, the changes

[52:16] at the state level, as we've heard so often, specifically House Bill 6 have created

[52:21] a significant financial issue for our city. As leaders we have an obligation to respond

[52:27] not just for the people of Hobbes today but for the employers, for the employees who serve

[52:32] this community and for the generations of Hobbes residents will come after us. Now Hobbes

[52:37] is growing. We know that. We see it every day. Hobbes is growing. And at the same rate our

[52:42] need for better technology and city services is also growing. We have to make sure our first

[52:47] responders are well equipped to protect our citizens. We had a gentleman come to this podium

[52:52] just a few weeks ago and talk about that. That we need more firefighters or certified firefighters.

[52:57] Isn't that right? We have to make sure we have enough police officers and more and more coming.

[53:02] Now we have to make sure we have enough police officers and firefighters to keep our

[53:05] neighborhood safe. We have to make sure our roads are maintained and our drainage systems

[53:09] can meet the needs of our growing community. We have to continue investing in our infrastructure

[53:14] and maintaining the beautiful city that we're proud to call home. We have to make sure

[53:18] Hobbes remains a place where families want to live. Businesses want to invest and people

[53:23] want to build their future and that's why. This is why I believe we need an increase

[53:28] for grocery seatstacks that we vote on here. I see this as an investment in Hobbes and

[53:33] and investment in public safety,

[53:35] and investment in our infrastructure.

[53:37] Ultimately, I see this as an investment

[53:38] in the future of our community.

[53:40] We've accomplished a lot in the last eight months

[53:42] and even years before with all these commissioners

[53:44] putting in years of tireless work.

[53:47] I believe the best day of Hobbs,

[53:48] the best days of Hobbs are still ahead of us.

[53:51] And if we're willing to make the right decisions today,

[53:53] we can continue innovating and making our city

[53:55] stronger, safer, better maintained,

[53:58] and more prosperous than the one we inherited.

[54:00] I do believe we have responsibility to take care

[54:02] of Hobbes today and an obligation to build an even better Hobbes for tomorrow and that's

[54:06] why I support this investment.

[54:08] I know that together we can build a more vibrant, safe and prosperous community and that's

[54:13] my take on it gentlemen.

[54:15] Your thoughts?

[54:17] Probably shouldn't do that today or we'll all be in the state for isn't by late and open

[54:22] meeting stuff but I would suggest that the real I've been here eight years and the last

[54:29] five years we've been talking about HB6 and I'm honestly kind of over the HB6

[54:34] deal. We haven't educated the community on HB6 yet and those people don't

[54:38] care to be educated or they don't care enough about the community to listen to

[54:42] any of it. So I mean it really is it's HB6 is a thing and if you don't know

[54:49] about it you're not really interested in sitting government. We're just speaking

[54:53] to hear or so I was talking at some point. The other thing is this is my 50th year living

[55:00] in Hobbes and we've never been treated fair by state government so that's not going

[55:05] to change either and so I mean I've sitting in one and about being mistreated by people

[55:11] in Santa Fe is the same thing that I remember my dad talking about 1984 and that's not

[55:18] going to shame. So it becomes really where is Hobbes going are we? So this is really to me about

[55:24] are we a growing community who wants to continue expand, continue to add infrastructure, continue to add

[55:31] roads, get more better restaurants, stores, etc. Or do we all probably drive to Snyder, Texas?

[55:38] Are we a town like Snyder? Which you drive to the town and there's not hard leading cars. It doesn't

[55:43] It seemed like, and you see mostly abandoned empty buildings and those sort of things.

[55:48] That's the real, I mean, I don't have big fancy language, but that's the deal that we

[55:53] want to be snider for some of these other towns in Cino, New Mexico, when we dropped Albuquerque.

[56:01] That's the real choice, is it the in Cino direction or is it the direction that has been going

[56:07] since I've lived here, which is to grow the community and improve our lives,

[56:12] and to plan a quality of life.

[56:15] So that's the real decision that we should be talking about.

[56:19] Good. Any other thoughts, Commissioner?

[56:24] Yeah, I do not. Thank you.

[56:26] Todd, you mentioned, right now we're currently at, was 6.56,

[56:32] six, that's where we at, and if we were to, I'm just looking at the chart here, anything

[56:39] above that 7.17 gold before a vote.

[56:43] Correct.

[56:49] So I guess what I'm asking is how, as

[56:56] Commissioner Meals just said, we are designed to grow,

[57:01] and we are growing, but we need to find a common ground in here with this amount that we are

[57:08] looking at.

[57:10] something that is, I guess what I've said, nothing in terms of putting a bad date on

[57:16] it, but it's something that we can, in turn, heal and grow from it, so I'm sure you

[57:24] either staff are bringing back some numbers to us.

[57:27] Yes.

[57:28] And if we could, if you'd like commissioners, if the, if, if music commission would be willing,

[57:36] staff can look at this and they could present some numbers here. We could look and see what

[57:43] would be effective here and we could come back and massage it out and bring it back for

[57:51] publication, a recommendation and publication for an ordinance if that's okay with you, gentlemen.

[57:58] I have a couple of things if I'm married mayor.

[58:02] Please.

[58:04] What it's worth, I haven't verified this, but I wanted to see in 2004, because when we

[58:09] flipped through the chart where you said everything was adjusted for $20, $26, I did some quick

[58:16] math, I used my calculator, but with $40 million in $20, $26, that implied gross receipts

[58:27] tax, somewhere in the neighborhood of $15 million back, and that's using a 1.03 percent compounded for 20 years, which surprised me.

[58:40] Then in the same, in a deal I got here, it said in 2004, our local rate was 7.1875, which is 62 and a half basis points higher than it is today.

[58:56] So when you talk about the inflationary cost, you know, to me some of that is captured

[59:05] with the rising cost of the revenue that's the factor that's driving your tax that the

[59:11] numbers based on, but to give up 62 and a half basis points have what in, you know, are

[59:22] very good years was roughly, gosh, it's probably 15% on average in the HP 6 car route that we lost

[59:33] and we lowered our rate by 62 and a half basis points. That's tough.

[59:40] I can support this. My concern is going to be, like when we talk about the slide on

[59:47] And the budget to the slides where our operating and payroll is budgeted at 100, more than

[59:54] 100 percent.

[59:55] Right.

[59:58] any enterprise that concerns you.

[1:00:00] Listently, can't cover payroll and operating expenses with their core revenue is destined to fail. And I would like for staff to give us suggestions on what a meaningful number that that can be. 80%, 90% over time. We're just with the normal stuff you've got coming in.

[1:00:28] that we can plan our payroll and our operating costs around.

[1:00:35] And then to the extent that we've got excess that we hope to get from this increase in the grocery seat stacks,

[1:00:44] just kind of play that out over the next five to ten years.

[1:00:50] It's not going to be exact.

[1:00:51] Let's see how much of this projected, you know, I think it was,

[1:00:55] We had 343 ICIP and then there was 149 and then close to 200 million of identified,

[1:01:04] seriously need these things.

[1:01:07] So, you know, at a minimum, if we can take whatever projections we're going to use,

[1:01:14] and it's interesting that 7.1875, if you go back to the slide that allows us to get to the max,

[1:01:21] within 10 basis points of that, to get us back to 2004 levels.

[1:01:29] So what I personally would like to see is plug that number in.

[1:01:36] Say our goal is not to go over 90% of our GRT for the operating and personnel cost.

[1:01:47] And let's see how much of the roughly 300, well, 200 million that we've identified

[1:01:54] that we'll be able to maybe chew off in the next five to 10 years.

[1:02:01] And the only other suggestion I would have is that, I mean, we've held community work

[1:02:07] sessions in my mind for situations not as important as this is.

[1:02:12] and I would be fine having at least an hour if not more before our meeting when we discuss this to try to get I mean we need to hear what I mean this is going to affect everybody not just us and I think it's important for everybody that wants to be part of this come out and understand what's what's going on

[1:02:35] I mean, the reality is, in rate terms, we took a rate cut of 62.5 basis points.

[1:02:47] I think that's important to point out.

[1:02:49] I think that was a mistake.

[1:02:52] In hindsight, I think it was a mistake.

[1:02:54] And a lot of that came when the state cuts their portion.

[1:02:58] They just set us up to slam the slate or on, I guess.

[1:03:02] And I think we made the mistake of not keeping up with that.

[1:03:06] because it's very difficult to move it up. It's always easy to come down.

[1:03:12] Sure.

[1:03:13] So, that's my concern.

[1:03:15] Okay, man. Very good. Go ahead, Commissioner.

[1:03:19] I was not going to comment on this this evening.

[1:03:21] I've been given this a lot of thought.

[1:03:25] In a time when everything is so costly to the citizens of this city,

[1:03:31] I don't care if it's something as simple as eggs and bread or whatever it is, things

[1:03:38] are so expensive, I want to make sure that we exhaust every means necessary before we

[1:03:44] ask for more money from the public.

[1:03:46] I'm not a big advocate of raising taxes, never have been.

[1:03:50] I want to make sure that we have looked at this budget and gone through this budget.

[1:03:55] I still believe, and I have seen emails out on this, that there are areas we can cut this

[1:04:00] budget where I feel like we spend where we shouldn't spend that we could look at. I think

[1:04:05] there's areas that we can generate more funds for this city that I have brought up multiple times

[1:04:12] and not on point fingers or anything because I think there's a lot of great information today

[1:04:16] that was shared and I agree with 90% of it and I know that we're at a decision point in Hobbes

[1:04:26] So we have to make a decision.

[1:04:27] We don't want to get 5, 10 years down the road and be operating in the red with everything

[1:04:37] we do budget.

[1:04:38] I know a lot of things we budget that we don't actually spend, but we still put it in

[1:04:42] the budget.

[1:04:43] So a lot of stuff is showing higher than what we actually spend when you look at a budget.

[1:04:48] And that's with any business.

[1:04:50] I just want to, this is my personal opinion.

[1:04:53] I don't make decisions based on what any other commissioner appear to things.

[1:04:58] I listen to them and try to understand and reason and hear their wisdom because all of

[1:05:02] them have something to give from businessmen and life experience.

[1:05:07] I really, everyone's opinion along with my city manager and my assistant city manager

[1:05:11] and especially our finance department.

[1:05:14] I know you know better than anybody where we're setting on finances.

[1:05:18] But I do believe there's areas we can look at.

[1:05:20] And I just feel like this is not a decision we rush into because of this state.

[1:05:26] And I don't feel like we have rushed into it.

[1:05:28] Don't get me wrong, but I just feel like we should look at every avenue before we go

[1:05:32] to our constituents to raise taxes.

[1:05:36] I feel like this, this country, the state, the city, we are taxed $4 and $5 on every $4

[1:05:46] or $5 times on every dollar we make.

[1:05:47] They're saying like every time I'm doing something I'm paying taxes and I'm paying taxes on it again on another purchase

[1:05:53] It's just it's really overwhelming what the what government asked from people

[1:06:00] So I'm not an advocate of it

[1:06:02] But I'm also not ignorant to the fact because I operate several businesses, and I know you you can't operate in a red

[1:06:10] so that's basically my piece on it and

[1:06:13] And unlike what was said earlier, comments that were all bunch of bobble heads who just

[1:06:18] make decisions just based willy-nilly, it's not the case.

[1:06:21] Every decision I make for this commission, this city, I research and I look into, I don't

[1:06:26] make decisions based on just whatever the hell I feel like doing at the time.

[1:06:32] I do appreciate everybody's time, all the knowledge and all the professionalism that you guys

[1:06:38] do a fantastic job with our budget and I'm so impressed.

[1:06:42] that's my take on it. I know what I want to say. This is my fifth year on the

[1:06:49] commission and I'm one thing I do do I listen. I pay attention I understand

[1:06:56] exactly what the finance began to present the budget. I follow along and see

[1:07:03] just where the cuts need to be made I can see how no one wants to increase

[1:07:11] taxes but when you look at the overall picture and see exactly as the city

[1:07:18] manager has shared with us tonight in terms of the services that we provide

[1:07:24] within the city and how it's like that's anything if you spend spend spend you

[1:07:32] have to bring something back in. And I can see how

[1:07:38] increase may have is there's no way

[1:07:41] we have to increase it. We have to increase, but the amount that we don't have to increase

[1:07:46] is where we at. But I just want to say thank you, Deb, say the manager or y'all for putting

[1:07:56] your thoughts and all working to this and we're just looking forward to what you're going

[1:08:01] We can bring back to us and they will sit down and we can look at the best direction we need to go for the city.

[1:08:08] Very good. So I believe if anyone else has any more comments, these are good things and if we could, let's look at some numbers.

[1:08:19] They've even talked about a work session. We can do that and let's bring it back for publication.

[1:08:27] Thank you.

[1:08:28] Thank you so much.

[1:08:29] Good job.

[1:08:30] Thank you so much.

[1:08:31] All right.

[1:08:34] Next is Action Items Resolution number 7830, authorizing and approving submission of

[1:08:41] a completed application for financial assistance to the New Mexico Finance Authority Water

[1:08:46] Trust Board for fiscal year 2027, Anthony Henry Utilities Director.

[1:08:50] Thank you, Mayor.

[1:08:51] Commission.

[1:08:52] This resolution is going to authorize submission of grant applications for three separate projects.

[1:08:56] If I have the LMO, I kind of get some maps to show you the project.

[1:09:05] I need to zoom that in for sure.

[1:09:07] Thank you.

[1:09:09] There we go.

[1:09:11] So just as Todd briefly mentioned about some of the capital projects,

[1:09:14] this is highlighting one that we're going to apply for.

[1:09:17] It's about 7,900 feet of 16-inch waterline along the Seminole Highway on the west side

[1:09:22] from Sanger all the way to Bender.

[1:09:24] This is in preparation for over-planning a new water tower in the area.

[1:09:27] this is just kind of a overview. The tower won't be going there right now, but we want to prepare the Taylor Ranch property for future development, whatever direction the commission sees that going in the future.

[1:09:38] It's important to note that this is the first year the water trust board is offering these funding and it is 100% grant. There's no match.

[1:09:45] We are going to apply for this three separate projects. The second one is water wells here in the high up area.

[1:09:52] we're seeing the most growth in the north system there and so this will be

[1:09:55] design funds for engineering only for five new water well locations on the

[1:09:59] high or the hydro system up in the high up area. The final project is going to be

[1:10:04] here along Joe Harvey. With the trunk line F project we're talking about resurfacing

[1:10:09] Joe Harvey once we get there and so this small little 2,000 feet of sewer line we

[1:10:14] need to replace before of course to put that spot down so we don't tear it up

[1:10:17] afterwards. Total revenue if the all three grant projects get approved

[1:10:21] to be about $1.3 million. Like with this being the first year that the funding's offered,

[1:10:27] we're not quite sure if we'll get awarded all three or maybe just one, but is it exciting

[1:10:31] to see this 100% grant? With that, it's there for any questions.

[1:10:36] I get to see all my questions I've got is like when you put it that last sentence,

[1:10:41] it's considered me like when you've got two, they're right about the same price.

[1:10:45] When you put the third one on there, I just don't want to get the third one only.

[1:10:54] We get to list them in priority order and of course the water ones are going to be

[1:10:58] our priority system.

[1:10:59] Okay.

[1:11:00] And these applications are due on the 17th, so coming up here pretty quick.

[1:11:03] Very good.

[1:11:04] Any other questions or comments?

[1:11:06] We'll entertain a motion.

[1:11:08] Moved.

[1:11:08] Moved by Commissioner Mills.

[1:11:12] Seconded by Mayor Pro Tem.

[1:11:14] Got it on.

[1:11:24] What is in progress?

[1:11:28] We miss anyone?

[1:11:29] Yeah, I'm on the Commissioner Mills.

[1:11:31] I think I had

[1:11:36] too much inactivity.

[1:11:39] So that will help me out.

[1:11:40] Oh, okay.

[1:11:41] Can you, can you, Commissioner Mills?

[1:11:43] Voice vote.

[1:11:45] Very easy for you guys.

[1:11:46] Oh, we got, okay.

[1:11:47] There it is.

[1:11:47] Has passed 7-0.

[1:11:49] Mr. Henry, Anthony Henry will continue Utilities Director.

[1:11:53] Consideration approval to purchase various sized

[1:11:56] metron smart water meters with digital Verizon cellular registers from water

[1:12:01] meters of New Mexico. Through state pricing agreement 5-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-2-4-0-0-0-1-9.

[1:12:10] Wow, Mr. Henry, that's a lot of numbers there.

[1:12:12] Thank you, Mayor. Commission, this purchase is actually going to be the final

[1:12:15] purchase for a water meter upgrade project that's been going on since 2018.

[1:12:19] This, before you tonight, is about $572,780.

[1:12:24] We'll purchase about 790 water meters that range from three quarter inch all the way up to six inch.

[1:12:30] We are purchasing one inch meters.

[1:12:32] A couple years ago, we were only offering three quarters, but now we're offering one inch services as well.

[1:12:36] And this will give us a little bit of stock that we need to have on top.

[1:12:39] Mr. Henry, the lady, I guess she left already, was commenting on the water meters.

[1:12:44] Why do you need the water meters?

[1:12:47] So this is going to be our larger water meters commissioner Calderon. So that's going to be your hotels. The junior college has a big water meter.

[1:12:54] Everywhere that has a two inch irrigation meter. So we've kind of done the smaller ones. We've got about 15,800 meters in the system.

[1:13:02] So we're down to the last 750 about.

[1:13:04] So it's fine how we've done this in phases and that's part of the entire plan because I don't think everybody sees us buy more and more meters.

[1:13:13] Explain how it's a phase deal where we did one size and another size and so on and so forth.

[1:13:19] I guess we're just various commissionals when we started in 2018 it was a test project we did about a hundred meters.

[1:13:25] Then we were really limited on the scope and time we can replace meters in our system due to billing, right?

[1:13:31] We don't want to just change them all day every day because then we can't really track billing correctly

[1:13:35] So that's limited limits our scopes, which as well. It's really phased. So previously

[1:13:41] We had Neptune meters and census meters and most of them were one inch

[1:13:46] 3 1 1 1 and so we wanted to standardize that all to a 3 1 1 1 1. Since then we've noticed some residents

[1:13:52] Not happy with that smaller system. So we've we've gone to a 1 inch

[1:13:57] It's just taken about eight years now just because we have that limitation on

[1:14:01] on how we can install them so we haven't really start the smart meter program till 2024 and that's

[1:14:08] most of the technology that was spoken about previously was that water scope app that we offer now

[1:14:13] and how you can track your usage and detect water leaks and we can stop water theft a lot faster now it

[1:14:18] alerts our system so we're still that's a separate project from this one we call that our AMR

[1:14:23] change out. We still have quite a few AMRs to change out on these meters.

[1:14:28] I'd like to also add comments made earlier in the opening comments on the

[1:14:33] public. These smart meters are nothing that the city uses to control

[1:14:37] somebody's water uses as a as a as a insinuated. This is nothing that we this

[1:14:43] is strictly it cuts man hours it's we're moving up we're moving up all the

[1:14:48] times it's a meter that can be read from from one location. It's not something

[1:14:53] that we just decide we're going to put in one neighborhood or not the next

[1:14:57] neighborhood. This is upgrading our city.

[1:15:00] City's water meters, it was time to change them. They have better warranty. It's a better product. So we're just increasing to a better product to cut the workload of city staff, which also helps with our budget. And it definitely does not control somebody's water use. It does let us know like Anthony pointed out, very important. If we have like I got a, I got a letter from the water department saying I had a water leak and sure enough, I had a water leak out by my meter, which of course it was on my side. So I had to pay.

[1:15:29] for it but if not if not known that we we lose millions and millions of gallons of water that's a

[1:15:36] city loses that we built for it yeah we yeah I got it oh my gosh well with that many three thousand

[1:15:44] dollars with the one we had originally got the shopping center it was three thousand dollars with

[1:15:50] a water usage during that freeze and had we had a smart meter on that we were known so I think it's

[1:15:57] very important that we have these, and it's a blessing that this commission has a

[1:16:02] foresight to see that, to go with these new water meters, so thank you all for your

[1:16:07] work.

[1:16:08] Just to your point, Commissioner Pennick, what we look at at the utility department is how

[1:16:12] much water we're pumping out of the ground versus how much we're building for, and ideally

[1:16:15] we want those numbers to equal each other, and since 2018, we've replaced in these new

[1:16:20] accurate meters, that number has gotten closer and closer, so we're seeing improvements

[1:16:26] I'm going to go ahead, Mary, would you highlight the app that people can, they can see their

[1:16:31] water usage?

[1:16:32] Yes, sir.

[1:16:33] It's called WaterScope.

[1:16:34] There's a great presentation on the utility department website.

[1:16:37] If you'll call the water office Cindy, she's an expert at it.

[1:16:40] She'll get you set up.

[1:16:41] She'll kind of train you how to use it.

[1:16:42] Get alerts set on your phone.

[1:16:44] You can log into your computer or just get email alerts.

[1:16:47] It's fantastic for really dialing in your irrigation system or when you're not necessarily home

[1:16:53] all the time and see if you're toilets leaking or something like that.

[1:16:57] And I would suggest there is, that's not, I mean, I may not stupid, there's a little bit

[1:17:02] of a slippery slope problem here anytime you have digital things that reports and records

[1:17:07] data.

[1:17:08] You know what would be a good idea is that the city passed like some sort of a data usage

[1:17:13] policy or a privacy policy, because while we're the most honest, sweet, loving, caring individuals

[1:17:20] you could ever have run in a city, the guys that may be here in 15 years may not be that way.

[1:17:26] And they may be wanting to know what you're doing and why and what time of day you shower and all

[1:17:33] these things. And so what this commission could do that would be real smart to keep the people that

[1:17:39] follow us in line and thinking that the people who shouldn't be smiling people would be a privacy

[1:17:45] policy, which spells out exactly what we do with this data and what we don't. There's

[1:17:51] an apple for your orchard. We'll get that to our legal department. It worked for all

[1:18:00] yours. Right. We have a good committee, a good lawyer on our commission that can help.

[1:18:06] That's great. So we'll entertain a motion if we don't have any more questions or comments.

[1:18:12] I'll move to approve.

[1:18:13] Move to approve by Commissioner Smith, seconded by Commissioner Fields.

[1:18:17] Let's vote.

[1:18:21] Thank you.

[1:18:22] Mr. Henry.

[1:18:23] Great work.

[1:18:24] Thank you so much.

[1:18:25] And you have one more.

[1:18:27] You have two more.

[1:18:29] Oh.

[1:18:30] Yep.

[1:18:32] It was in progress.

[1:18:33] Are we missing anybody?

[1:18:34] Mr. Mills.

[1:18:36] Again.

[1:18:39] No.

[1:18:39] This thing doesn't work.

[1:18:41] I see everything.

[1:18:41] Why are you at it?

[1:18:42] It means she ran a policy for Chris on Agro.

[1:18:46] Like paying Nintendo in the 80s, and it's not responding to my controls.

[1:18:54] It's not a response, I see it's not even there.

[1:18:56] That's right, the tech mobile, y'all remember.

[1:18:58] Oh, Rosa.

[1:19:03] I have a lot of stuff.

[1:19:07] Here she comes.

[1:19:10] It's been a long time.

[1:19:11] It's been a long time.

[1:19:12] It's been a long time.

[1:19:13] There we go.

[1:19:14] There's our technological OEMS.

[1:19:15] We got it.

[1:19:16] We got it.

[1:19:17] We got it.

[1:19:18] Okay.

[1:19:19] Let's stay close.

[1:19:21] It has passed seven to zero, and so we are on item 13, consideration of approval to purchase

[1:19:27] replacement vehicles for the utilities department, Anthony Henry, last and final one, utilities

[1:19:32] director.

[1:19:33] Sir, American Nation, this is also to purchase replacement vehicles under state contract.

[1:19:38] this will be two separate vehicles for the total of $131, $801.50.

[1:19:44] Unit 1773 is a 2017 F250.

[1:19:48] I got a picture here of what we're looking at.

[1:19:49] I have the helmet.

[1:20:03] This is a supervisor vehicle and it's just really reached this operational limit.

[1:20:08] The next vehicle is a Unit 1639 back in July of last year.

[1:20:12] This vehicle was struck and totaled on Turner Street.

[1:20:16] This vehicle was used as primarily our heavy-duty vehicle, it's an F350.

[1:20:20] We carried our oxygen bottles, the settling bottles, generators,

[1:20:26] compressors, things like that on it.

[1:20:27] We had a crane on it, but we constantly were overloading it, and we haven't had suspension work done.

[1:20:31] We cracked a few rims on it overloading it, so we decided to operationally.

[1:20:35] We've looked at upgrading this vehicle to an F450, and it will be a gas engine.

[1:20:40] And we're going to remove the crane off, whether we're not going to put a crane back on it.

[1:20:45] That will serve us a little bit better.

[1:20:51] Would that extend for any questions?

[1:20:53] Any questions or comments?

[1:20:56] If not, we'll entertain a motion.

[1:20:57] So moved.

[1:20:58] Moved by Mayor Pro Tem.

[1:21:00] Got a little and seconded by Commissioner Girth.

[1:21:02] That's fine.

[1:21:08] OK, mine went through.

[1:21:12] Thank you, Anthony.

[1:21:13] Thank you, some less.

[1:21:14] It has passed 7-0.

[1:21:15] Resolution number 7831 authorizing the mayor

[1:21:18] to execute a memorandum of agreement with Lee County

[1:21:21] for a commercial airline subsidy for fiscal year 2027 Todd Randall Assistant City Manager.

[1:21:26] Basically, I'm signing this after everybody votes and gives their collective approval.

[1:21:31] Correct.

[1:21:32] And I'll speak to both of these are both related to the airline service.

[1:21:36] This first one is, and we've aren't approved the EDC contracts.

[1:21:39] The expenditures are already budgeted.

[1:21:41] This is for the 5050 share for the United Service with Lee County.

[1:21:45] The County share would be $2,720,982 for United.

[1:21:49] again that's already in the EDC contract both payments from the county and the city will be

[1:21:54] doing separately. The second resolution 7832 is for the JSX airline subsidy. This is primarily

[1:22:02] funded with a raise grant through the DOT at 2.25 million. Total estimate max subsidy is 2.8 million

[1:22:10] that leaves 275,000 for the city 275,000 for the county. One thing that's different about this one

[1:22:16] is the county would write us a lump sum check and their dollars would be first.

[1:22:20] So we would use the grant funding, there's a match, we would use the county's funding first.

[1:22:23] If there's any money left over, including ours, then we would keep those dollars.

[1:22:30] I have to answer any questions or comments.

[1:22:33] We'll entertain a motion.

[1:22:35] Move by Commissioner Garth, seconded by Commissioner Mills.

[1:22:40] let's vote.

[1:22:47] It was in progress.

[1:22:51] It has passed six to one. All right. And resolution number 7832

[1:22:59] authorizing the Mayor to execute a memorandum of agreement with Lee County for JSX airline

[1:23:04] subsidy for fiscal year 2027. Todd Randall, assistant city manager. And I actually already covered

[1:23:09] that one. That is a JSX one. That's sorry that you voted on the United. So the first one that was

[1:23:18] So again, I spoke to the JSX, that's the Section 1 Resolution 7832, and again, that's a grant mostly funded by a grant, 2.25 raised grant, 2.8 million dollars, maximum subsidy, and again, the county's dollars would be first for their share of $275,000, there will be first and including the grant.

[1:23:38] Thank you. Any questions or comments?

[1:23:40] Let's entertain a motion moved, moved by Commissioner Fields, seconded by Commissioner

[1:23:46] Girth.

[1:23:46] Let's vote.

[1:23:51] All right, vote is in progress.

[1:23:58] It has passed six to one.

[1:23:59] Thank you, Mr. Randall.

[1:24:00] We appreciate you.

[1:24:01] Thank you, Professor.

[1:24:02] I know this is a long day for you.

[1:24:03] And a long night.

[1:24:04] Thank you for your hard work.

[1:24:06] Item number 16, Resolution number 7833, approving a professional services agreement between

[1:24:13] the City of Hobbes and the Hobbes Municipal Schools regarding middle school athletic programs.

[1:24:17] Michael Hughes, Superintendent with the Parks and Recreation Department, thank you for being here.

[1:24:23] Mayor, Mr. Mayor and Commission, thank you for your time.

[1:24:28] Tonight is for your consideration of the middle school athletic program.

[1:24:32] It is going on 27 years, this partnership with the city and the schools, and it's in the amount of

[1:24:37] $75,000. It's a reciprocating program where we pay for the cost of coaches and for safety

[1:24:47] training. They also agree to pay $75 for upgrades to shared facilities like the high school

[1:24:54] tennis courts and also the Veterans Memorial Complex. So we're the high school plays softball

[1:25:00] and baseball. And this program, like I said, it's almost 27 years old. It has served a lot

[1:25:06] of youth community. And I have an email from the athletic director that I'd like to read real quick,

[1:25:15] much years on. We hope we can continue the partnership with the city. Sports have been thriving

[1:25:22] at the lower levels and grow every year. The parents and kids love how it gives them something to do

[1:25:29] and is also competitive for them. Please let us know if there's anything you can do from us.

[1:25:34] The volleyball numbers from this past year, there were 267 girls that participated in that

[1:25:40] program.

[1:25:41] The basketball program, which is boys and girls, had 250 kids.

[1:25:45] The football program had 310 kids as well.

[1:25:49] If you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer them at this time.

[1:25:53] Questions or comments?

[1:25:55] If not, we'll entertain a motion in a second.

[1:25:58] Move.

[1:25:58] Move by Mayor Pro Tem Calderón.

[1:26:00] Second.

[1:26:01] Seconded by Commissioner Girth.

[1:26:05] We appreciate you Mr. Hughes, you're a hard worker and I love how you care about the

[1:26:11] team members that serve under you, that serve under your leadership and how you care

[1:26:15] about young people.

[1:26:16] So thank you.

[1:26:17] It shows.

[1:26:18] Thank you.

[1:26:18] That has passed 7-0.

[1:26:20] Comments you buy.

[1:26:21] Thank you so much.

[1:26:23] Comments by City Commissioners and City Manager, Commissioner Smith.

[1:26:25] I'm good to know Mayor.

[1:26:26] Thank you.

[1:26:27] Commissioner Pinnick.

[1:26:30] I've got a lot on the table.

[1:26:31] I'm going to pass.

[1:26:33] All right.

[1:26:33] Mayor Proto and Calderon.

[1:26:34] Yeah, thank you for the railroad track and your

[1:26:38] Yes, can we get ready to talk

[1:26:44] about all the big things out there, right?

[1:26:49] Thank you anything else from your approach? All right, Commissioner Phil. Yeah, I just want to thank you

[1:26:53] I just want to say that you know I encourage those who may be watching us to or even those

[1:27:00] No, there are people who has no idea in terms of what really goes on

[1:27:08] But when you come to the meetings, you'll find out what's going on and what the city is

[1:27:14] doing.

[1:27:16] But for someone to just sit out there and think that we're just making decisions without

[1:27:22] thoroughly thinking about it, it's not fair.

[1:27:26] And so I just encourage those who are listening or those who come to our meetings, listen and

[1:27:33] They would understand exactly what we're doing here of making decisions for the City of

[1:27:39] Hobbes not an easy thing because we're making decisions as based on the citizens here

[1:27:45] in Hobbes and so for someone to assume this, that, or the other, that's not fair.

[1:27:54] Thank you.

[1:27:55] Thank you, sir.

[1:27:55] Commissioner Mills.

[1:27:56] I'd like to thank Chief Jones for a brand new two-sided decision making quarter that he

[1:28:01] gave us.

[1:28:02] Yes, which is what I lift, so thank you.

[1:28:06] Mr. McGurth?

[1:28:07] I'm good.

[1:28:08] All right.

[1:28:08] I want to thank all the staff members.

[1:28:10] You've been going through all the budget cuts and everything else for years.

[1:28:13] And so I want to thank you for your hard work.

[1:28:15] And I just want you to know the conversations we're having tonight, financially, they're

[1:28:19] hard conversations, no doubt.

[1:28:21] But I just want you to know we're listening.

[1:28:23] When you're speaking about what needs to be fixed in the city, when you're speaking

[1:28:26] about, you know, need for more firefighters and more police officers.

[1:28:30] We're hearing you.

[1:28:31] We're here and that's that's this conversation tonight and we appreciate the members of the press

[1:28:37] And he'd be in here on the new Sun and we just want the community just to look at what we're looking at

[1:28:41] To look at to look at the numbers

[1:28:42] We're looking at to look in what what we're doing and to see how we want to move forward

[1:28:47] And we just appreciate your indulgence tonight. Thank you. Thank you so much. Mr. Gomez. Thank you, Mayor Commission

[1:28:52] Just a couple of three slides one and just a reminder that our water conservation period is ending soon

[1:29:00] September 15th is the last day so I do appreciate all those that help conserve our

[1:29:07] Arizona's precious natural resource and thank you for our utilities

[1:29:11] department to supervise and facilitate that so again just a reminder and the

[1:29:17] second slide obviously you know 25 years ago this week I was a young acting

[1:29:25] fire chief, when 9-11 change our nation, change the fire service, you know, and a lot of confusion,

[1:29:36] a lot of just different shock just throughout, and I recall being at fire station one, but one of

[1:29:44] the things that we committed was to never forget, and I think that our nation has communicated that,

[1:29:50] and I want to thank each HFD, HPD, and our public safety community for continuing.

[1:30:00] To allow others that probably have no idea what occurred to never forget. So again, this Friday, September 11th, the 25th anniversary. The stair climb is at 9 a.m. at Watson Stadium. And then on a run at 8 a.m., which would be, could you put that back? Thank you. Again, and that would be, where's that chief at the?

[1:30:29] And Watson Stadium as well, okay.

[1:30:31] So again, two thousand seventy one steps, we obviously climb to remember.

[1:30:36] So thank you.

[1:30:38] Last slide is National Cleanup Month, and want to thank Evelyn and Nunez for her leadership,

[1:30:44] but just like anything else, we need volunteers.

[1:30:48] So three different dates and three different locations.

[1:30:52] This Tuesday, September 15th, trying to beat the heat, I guess.

[1:30:57] at City Park from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. and then again that following Tuesday September 22nd at

[1:31:05] McCadden's Park 4 to 5 p.m. and then Tuesday the 29th at Green Metal's Park. So again Evelyn thank

[1:31:13] you and I hope to see our citizens out there. Miss Evelyn maybe Miss Julie can help us too.

[1:31:19] Could you just send us emails, reminders of all of those things? That would be help so much.

[1:31:24] I don't invite. I speak for myself. I need a lot of reminders and sticky notes. Oh, yes,

[1:31:32] calendar invites for be great. Yes, calendar invites. All of the above sticky notes. Oh,

[1:31:37] yes, sir. Do you want to make one simple comment about the comment about less minister

[1:31:43] getting to have a town hall that was just want to make that clear? That was done by the

[1:31:47] people who live out there that asked to have a meeting concerning that 5G tower. If any

[1:31:53] citizen has an issue that's important to them. I don't care where you live. My

[1:31:58] phone number is public and please call me because I'm willing to listen to

[1:32:02] anything anybody has to say. And I don't care if it's my district or any of

[1:32:06] these gentlemen's district. I want to hear it if it's important to you. But we

[1:32:11] would more than willingly any time have a town hall with an issue that's

[1:32:17] important to you. So that that can be brought up if you can reach out to any of us and then it

[1:32:23] would be happy to hear, but that was brought that was actually put together by citizens that live in

[1:32:29] that community, not the city of Hobbes. Good point. When I used to tell Jack Andrews our good friend

[1:32:34] from back in the day, some of you may remember Jack Andrews, I sat down with him at Prey Rose Cafe

[1:32:38] and I said, Hey, here's my phone number. He said, Man, that three minutes is too short. I said,

[1:32:43] You know what? Here's my phone number. We'll meet for two hours. So you can sit with us anytime these good folks are up here

[1:32:49] They give their lives every day to serve the community and members of the public. Please contact us, man

[1:32:54] We want to sit and visit with you. So thank you so much. We'll entertain a motion to the journey

[1:32:59] Moved and second in the motion seconded by Commissioner Pinnick. All in favor

[1:33:04] Have a great evening

City Commission Meeting

Transcript