[0:04] Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. We
[0:06] will call our workshop session to order.
[0:09] It's 5:30, Monday, August the 24th,
[0:13] 2026. And uh
[0:16] first order of discussion is discussion
[0:19] and update regarding Central Texas Water
[0:21] Alliance meeting held on August the
[0:23] 12th,
[0:24] 2026. Mr. Steven Silver.
[0:28] >> Good evening, Mayor and Council. I just
[0:29] wanted to provide y'all with an update
[0:31] regarding the latest Central Texas Water
[0:32] Alliance meeting. They're currently in
[0:34] phase two strategic planning and
[0:35] assessment. Uh right now they're
[0:37] assessing all membership data. Everyone
[0:39] that's a member, including Leon passes,
[0:40] provided long-range planning to the
[0:42] water alliance. They're currently trying
[0:44] to determine where that fits in their
[0:46] goals and how to align everybody to be
[0:48] on the same page.
[0:50] Um they've also developed a number of
[0:51] strategic regional incentives.
[0:54] Uh incentive number one, they look to
[0:55] reserve a little over 66,000 acre feet
[0:58] per year from the Lake Whitney
[1:00] reallocation. Uh incentive initiative
[1:03] number two, they look to leverage unused
[1:05] water rights on Lake Belton for a an ASR
[1:07] project. We talked about this briefly.
[1:09] They're looking to scalp the lake
[1:11] when it's discharging, take that water,
[1:13] deep well inject it, keep it in Central
[1:14] Texas, essentially keeping it from run
[1:17] all the way to essentially keeping it
[1:18] from running all the way to the coast.
[1:20] Um initiative number three,
[1:23] uh evaluate and seek groundwater
[1:24] opportunities. Uh number four, they look
[1:26] to develop regional raw reclaimed water
[1:29] systems for industrial parks in Waco,
[1:30] Robinson, and McGregor.
[1:32] And then initiative number five is to
[1:34] conduct a feasibility study on
[1:35] acquisition of key water infrastructure.
[1:37] To put it shortly, they just look to buy
[1:39] any anything related to infrastructure
[1:41] that they possibly can if it benefits
[1:43] the long-term goal of the alliance. Um
[1:46] they did receive a report from the BRA,
[1:48] um the Bell house line, the raw water
[1:50] line uh connecting Lake Belton to
[1:52] Stillhouse is currently uh in its 60%
[1:54] engineering design.
[1:56] Uh they're still con- continuing
[1:58] easement acquisition and there is a
[1:59] small typo on the next one. They look to
[2:01] begin construction of that line in by
[2:04] end of year 2027 beginning of 2028. What
[2:07] this means for us is during the severe
[2:09] drought that we went to it went through
[2:10] in the previous years where Stillhouse
[2:12] was running
[2:13] almost on empty, um
[2:17] Lake Belton would continue to discharge
[2:18] into that uh possibly keeping it full. I
[2:21] don't know to what extent, I don't know
[2:22] where the discharge of Lake Belton is
[2:23] going to be in terms of depth, but
[2:25] they're just simply looking to connect uh Lake Belton to Stillhouse.
[2:30] And as you know, Stillhouse and
[2:31] Georgetown are already connected. So, it
[2:33] could potentially solve some surface
[2:35] water issues during drought conditions,
[2:37] which is of great news to Lampasas.
[2:40] Um the next section is relatively
[2:42] interesting. Uh Coryell Hydro Power uh
[2:45] reports that they were able to uh dig a
[2:47] test well somewhere in between cross
[2:49] country between Gatesville and McGregor.
[2:51] And what they determined was a series of
[2:55] well, tectonic fracture systems, if you
[2:57] will, um
[2:58] kind of hiding uh
[3:01] a raw untapped water source. Uh the
[3:03] water's roughly 16,000 ft deep and about
[3:06] 300°. So, they they look to the
[3:09] possibility of using geothermal power to
[3:11] actually treat the water in the long
[3:13] run. Um they pitched this to the Water
[3:15] Alliance. I don't see it taking traction
[3:18] cuz they're looking for a $5 million
[3:20] investment and that's pretty stiff pitch
[3:23] for not knowing exactly what the
[3:25] return's going to look like. They don't
[3:27] know how how much water's really there.
[3:29] They know that they know it's there,
[3:30] they know it's deep, they know it's hot,
[3:32] but in terms of capacity and how well it
[3:33] replenishes itself, it's a big unknown.
[3:35] So, for them to ask for a $5 million
[3:37] investment is well, it's a lot. So, um I
[3:40] don't know how that's going to play out,
[3:41] but uh if any more
[3:43] interesting information comes out of it,
[3:44] I'll let you guys know.
[3:46] Uh more importantly, they're reviewing
[3:47] full membership status versus affiliate
[3:49] status. So, they've got about
[3:51] approximately five uh board positions
[3:54] still left to fill.
[3:56] They've been on the hold of filling
[3:57] those positions for about 2 months now.
[3:59] And the reason they put them on hold is
[4:01] cuz they were trying to determine how to
[4:03] prioritize accepting these last
[4:05] remaining memberships cuz they've only
[4:06] got so many seats to fill and they've
[4:07] got more applicants than they do seats.
[4:10] Um when it comes down to it, they are
[4:12] trying to determine if we want to
[4:14] prioritize based on first come, first
[4:15] serve or if we want to give preference
[4:18] to water providers that are also
[4:20] wholesalers.
[4:22] Um
[4:23] in theory
[4:25] I believe they should keep doing it the
[4:27] way they in- initiated memberships in
[4:29] the beginning is it was first come,
[4:31] first serve. They didn't give preference
[4:33] to providers {slash} wholesalers. And
[4:35] mind you, had they given preference to
[4:37] wholesalers, Lampasas would not be in a
[4:38] membership status. Lampasas County
[4:40] wouldn't even be on the board because
[4:41] they're not a provider or a wholesaler.
[4:43] So, I I disagree with the logic and
[4:46] likely I will vote so. Um furthermore,
[4:50] the general manager approached me via
[4:52] email last week and wanted to know if
[4:54] the city of Lampasas would be interested
[4:56] in bumping down to an affiliate status
[4:58] versus a full membership status. Um I
[5:00] wanted to express that thought to you
[5:02] and tell you how much I disagree with
[5:04] it. Um
[5:06] it's not so much that we paid for a full
[5:08] membership.
[5:09] We When they opened the door, we got a
[5:11] seat at the table simply because it was
[5:14] recommended that we have a seat at the
[5:15] table to determine
[5:17] what resources were going to be brought
[5:19] to Central Texas and how we could
[5:20] benefit from them. So,
[5:22] if everyone's on board with it, I don't
[5:24] intend to vote in favor of Lampasas
[5:28] going to an affiliate position. It
[5:31] And by affiliate position, I mean a
[5:33] membership position with no voting
[5:34] rights. So, you're allowed to come to
[5:36] the table, you're allowed to speak, but
[5:38] really when it comes down to it, you're
[5:39] not allowed to vote. Um I think that
[5:41] would be a poor representation of the
[5:43] city of Lampasas to get a seat at the
[5:44] table yet not to vote. Um
[5:46] >> And with that, we're we're still
[5:48] required to pay a fee?
[5:50] >> Currently, membership fee and affiliate
[5:52] fees are the same. And membership fees
[5:54] will likely go up next year or affiliate
[5:57] fees will go down. But either way, there
[5:59] will be a a membership There will be a
[6:01] fee difference from membership to
[6:02] affiliate going into the next year. Um
[6:05] so, but either way, I would consider it unwise to bump down
[6:08] to an affiliate status.
[6:09] >> If they wanted, could they vote you down
[6:11] to affiliate or since we're one of the
[6:13] original
[6:15] >> Right now, we were simply asked if we'd
[6:16] be willing to. It's not coming to a
[6:17] vote. And I will respond to such that we
[6:19] are unwilling to. Um
[6:21] Furthermore, you know, I think
[6:24] in the upcoming years, as we as we if we
[6:27] stay a part of this,
[6:28] um
[6:29] year two, year three, we may strongly
[6:32] want to consider what our role here is
[6:33] going to be. Um do we want to continue
[6:35] being part of the alliance, finally? Um
[6:38] how does it benefit Lampasas? Um
[6:40] can we help in any way? Those are all
[6:43] great questions.
[6:45] Their focus right now predominantly
[6:47] seems to be on that I-35 corridor. It
[6:49] seems to be McLennan and Bell County.
[6:50] And rightfully so, it's heavily
[6:52] populated.
[6:53] I don't see the water alliance benefit
[6:56] to Lampasas or Lampasas County. I'm not
[6:59] seeing it to this day, but it's also
[7:00] still too early to tell. Um and when
[7:03] that opportunity comes around the
[7:04] corner, if and when there's a project
[7:06] that does benefit Lampasas,
[7:08] are we seriously going to contemplate
[7:10] investing large capital dollars
[7:13] and bringing another water resource to
[7:15] Central Texas when quite frankly, we've
[7:18] already secured ours? I ran some numbers
[7:20] this morning, and we have roughly 5,500
[7:22] acre-feet with the BRA. We're currently
[7:24] using on average
[7:26] almost 1,700 acre-feet a year. We're not
[7:29] using half of the capacity that we
[7:30] currently have. Granted, that capacity
[7:34] can go through drought stages, which
[7:35] hopefully the Bell House line would
[7:37] solve some of those issues.
[7:39] Um they're looking at doing doing
[7:40] aquifer storage and recovery, taking
[7:42] water from somewhere else, putting it
[7:43] here.
[7:44] We could do the same thing with Sulfur
[7:45] Creek if we really wanted to. We have
[7:47] 3,900 acre feet on Sulfur Creek. If we
[7:48] wanted to do an ASR project with that to
[7:50] keep it here in the drought months, we
[7:52] could also do that as well. So, my my
[7:53] point in relaying all this information
[7:55] over to you is I don't know that the
[7:57] Water Alliance is going to be the great
[7:59] big fix for the city of Lampasas. I
[8:01] think our predecessors that met and
[8:04] secured our water availability
[8:05] agreements with the BRA and secured
[8:07] these water rights with the state of
[8:08] Texas, I believe to some degree it's
[8:10] already been secured. Um there's no
[8:12] point in developing another resource. We
[8:14] just need to invest in what we have to
[8:16] get it to where we want to be for the
[8:17] next 20 to 30 years. But that being so,
[8:19] it may be unwise to separate ourselves
[8:21] from the alliance at this time. We may
[8:22] want to see how this is going to pan
[8:24] out. Um
[8:26] like uh
[8:27] membership
[8:29] dues are roughly only $5,000 a year
[8:31] right now. They may go up. Um
[8:34] you could look at that as a wise
[8:35] investment to see where it's headed, or
[8:37] you could look at that as a burden that
[8:39] we don't need to pay for anymore. Um
[8:42] it's really up to you guys. Um but uh my state on this is we we stay in a full
[8:47] membership status. We don't bump down to
[8:49] affiliate. I think it would be wise to
[8:50] hang on for the next at least one more
[8:52] year to see where it takes us. And
[8:55] at some point we're going to have to
[8:56] determine if we want to stay on it in
[8:58] the long term or give our seat to
[9:00] someone that is actually going to
[9:01] benefit from the Water Alliance.
[9:03] All good decisions to be had.
[9:04] >> Steven, what other entities or
[9:07] organizations are looking at um the
[9:10] affiliate status?
[9:11] >> Um I only know of one. They didn't they didn't uh relay them all off. I
[9:15] only know of one because well, I I know
[9:17] the company. So, the Central Texas Water
[9:19] Supply Corporation is one of the members
[9:20] knocking on the door.
[9:22] That is why I believe they're asking us
[9:24] to step down to an affiliate status is
[9:26] because our wholesaler
[9:28] is actually asking for a full
[9:29] membership.
[9:30] And
[9:32] if it was a traditional relationship, I
[9:34] would say that's not a bad decision to
[9:35] make if they're equally representing us.
[9:37] But as we all know, we're not entirely
[9:39] sure if the city of Texas is equally
[9:40] representing us. So, why would we want
[9:41] to step down
[9:43] at this time? Just my opinion.
[9:45] But then there's a there's a handful of
[9:47] others. I I don't know who they all are.
[9:49] Um
[9:51] Any other questions?
[9:56] Thank you.
[10:01] » Number three, discussion regarding the
[10:02] comprehensive fund balance policy.
[10:07] >> Good evening, Mayor and Council. Um you
[10:09] have on the agenda later this evening
[10:11] possible change to our fund balance
[10:14] policy. Our fund balance policy hasn't
[10:17] been updated since 2013.
[10:19] Um and there are a couple of items that
[10:21] I would like to propose to change.
[10:23] Currently, the policy is written that um
[10:27] we'll observe a 35% fund balance in the
[10:30] general fund, electric fund, and water
[10:33] fund. And anything in excess of the 35%
[10:37] will be made available for capital
[10:39] purchases. It's also written in such a
[10:42] way that the 35%
[10:44] number is applied to the most recently
[10:47] completed audited fiscal year. So, the
[10:50] reserves necessary for this year going
[10:53] into next budget year are based on our
[10:55] operating numbers from FY 25. So, we're
[10:59] running
[11:00] It's not necessarily applying that
[11:02] reserve balance to our current operating
[11:06] expenditures.
[11:07] Um so, I would like to update that to
[11:09] bring it to the current fiscal year or
[11:12] the next fiscal year when we're
[11:14] presenting um this sheet during budget.
[11:18] Additionally, I would like to propose
[11:19] that we look at changing the percentage,
[11:22] the 35%,
[11:24] to a number of operating days.
[11:27] Um
[11:27] you know, we have this reserve
[11:30] policy in case there were a major
[11:34] emergency within the city, the city
[11:36] could keep operating if there weren't
[11:37] any revenues coming into the city. The
[11:40] likelihood that that lasts for
[11:44] 4 plus months is is quite unlikely
[11:47] without us receiving some additional
[11:49] assistance. So, what I've proposed in
[11:51] this fund balance policy is 90 days for
[11:56] the general fund, 3 months of operating.
[12:02] 120 days for the electric fund.
[12:05] You could recommend higher, but as the
[12:07] city doesn't own its own substations,
[12:11] if we're not on the hook if one of those
[12:13] large transformers go out, so it's not
[12:15] as expensive to replace those. And then
[12:18] also 120 days in the water fund. So,
[12:21] it's not that far off percentage-wise
[12:23] other than in the general fund, it would
[12:25] drop from 35% to about 25%.
[12:29] Um, but it still maintains a consistent
[12:32] fund balance for operations in case of
[12:34] an emergency. Monica, if you could go to
[12:36] page 69 of the packet.
[12:39] Um, the existing policy is also written
[12:42] that in the order of reserves spent, you
[12:45] would spend your most restricted funds
[12:48] first and your least restricted funds
[12:51] last. And I think that's kind of
[12:53] counterintuitive because if you've
[12:54] restricted funds for a particular
[12:56] purpose, that means you've been saving
[12:58] up for that purpose. And you would think
[13:00] that you would spend the free available
[13:03] dollars before you would spend the more
[13:05] restricted funds. It also the policy the
[13:08] proposed policy implements
[13:11] mandatory reporting, so twice a year um,
[13:13] council would get an update on fund
[13:15] balance and fund balance projections.
[13:18] And it also establishes a timeline for
[13:21] if a fund is below the recommended fund
[13:24] balance, what steps are we taking within
[13:27] 2 years to get that funds to our reserve
[13:31] policy? So page 69 is basically
[13:37] our existing policy except I did apply
[13:39] 35%
[13:41] to the upcoming fiscal year rather than
[13:43] FY25
[13:45] to give you an apples-to-apples
[13:46] comparison. So with current reserves or
[13:50] fund balance, the general fund is
[13:53] currently at 31.26%
[13:56] or $519,000
[13:58] shy of that 35%
[14:01] reserve fund goal. You can scroll down a
[14:03] little bit, Monica.
[14:06] You'll see that the electric fund is at
[14:07] 51.19%
[14:09] with $2.12 million in excess above the
[14:12] 35%.
[14:14] And then the water fund is at 29.92%
[14:18] which is $277,000
[14:21] shy of the 35%
[14:23] fund balance requirement in our policy.
[14:26] If you scroll to the next page which is
[14:28] the proposed policy and you apply the
[14:30] number of days
[14:31] that I proposed versus the percentage
[14:34] method, you'll see that that flips the
[14:37] general fund
[14:38] to hold what we would have in reserves
[14:42] estimated at the end of FY27
[14:45] is 114 operating days. So $919,000
[14:50] excess in reserves in the general fund.
[14:53] The electric fund would be at 187 days,
[14:56] $2.4 million excess. And the water fund
[15:00] is still
[15:01] tracking a little low
[15:03] but about $110,000
[15:06] less than the 35%.
[15:09] I think what this might show you is
[15:12] we're here to be stewards of our
[15:14] taxpayer and our utility payers' money.
[15:17] And I understand being conservative and
[15:22] really building up a fund balance, but
[15:24] at some point there's a balance between
[15:27] being good stewards and not responsibly
[15:30] spending our taxpayers money when we
[15:32] have some funds that have so much excess
[15:36] in reserve. Whether you're looking at
[15:38] the 35%
[15:40] or the 120 days.
[15:43] So that's the basis of my
[15:45] recommendation for changes for the fund
[15:47] balance policy. Of course, it's
[15:50] certainly up for questions and and
[15:51] conversation.
[15:52] >> Does this play into financial auditing
[15:55] purposes at all or do they look at both
[15:59] when they're doing an outside audit?
[16:00] >> They'll look at our adopted policy.
[16:05] » It seems that this is a
[16:06] looking at number of days versus
[16:08] percentages a pretty common governmental
[16:12] standard.
[16:12] >> You'll find it both ways.
[16:15] >> I've run into number of days more often,
[16:18] I guess.
[16:18] >> Sure.
[16:24] » Any other questions?
[16:25] >> I'd be on board for it. Seem like the
[16:28] proper thing to do at this time in the
[16:30] world we're living in.
[16:32] I think that's a would be a good avenue
[16:34] for us.
[16:37] » I do
[16:38] kind of as a caveat to this, you know,
[16:41] at our last meeting I said that I
[16:43] wouldn't recommend decreasing our
[16:45] electric rate at this time, but I do
[16:47] think given this information that we're
[16:49] looking at now that we have room to do
[16:52] that.
[16:55] >> Appreciate your hard work
[16:56] >> Thank you.
[16:57] >> putting this together.
[16:58] And how how soon can we reduce the
[17:00] electric rate?
[17:01] >> We'll adopt it with our fee schedule to
[17:02] take effect October 1.
[17:04] >> Okay.
[17:05] >> Did you have a question?
[17:06] >> No, I was just going to make a comment.
[17:08] I'm in agreement that you know, we're
[17:09] stewards with our with taxpayers money
[17:12] and
[17:13] I don't think government should ever
[17:14] feel like they can spend
[17:16] our citizens money better than they can,
[17:18] so
[17:19] there's no reason to hold on to that
[17:21] much cash if we don't have to.
[17:24] >> If we have to if we go to the number of
[17:27] days
[17:28] is that an ongoing analysis and review
[17:31] of the finance department?
[17:32] >> So, we'll I'll do this twice a year.
[17:34] We'll do it in March when we're
[17:35] beginning our budgeting process
[17:37] internally, and then there will be one
[17:40] in your budget book that you receive
[17:43] later that summer. Okay. We'll report to
[17:45] you twice a year on
[17:47] fund balance.
[17:49] Okay.
[17:51] >> Now, this
[17:52] uh
[17:53] what's in excess can only be used for
[17:56] capital improvements, or how does that
[17:57] work?
[17:57] >> It is recommended that it's used for
[17:59] one-time capital improvements, and that
[18:01] is in the policy. Um
[18:04] obviously, if you're drawing down on
[18:07] fund balance to support the cost of
[18:10] recurring expenditures, so personnel,
[18:12] for example, those costs don't go away,
[18:15] but the reserves eventually will.
[18:17] >> Yeah.
[18:18] >> And so, it's recommended that it's used
[18:19] for capital projects rather than ongoing
[18:22] expenditures.
[18:23] >> So, water capital improvement projects
[18:26] can be included in that?
[18:27] >> Yes.
[18:28] >> Thank you.
[18:32] Anyone else?
[18:34] Thank you, Mr.
[18:41] Discussion regarding any item on record
[18:43] session for August 24th, 2026. No action
[18:47] to be taken during workshop session.
[18:50] >> I have an item I wanted to just mention.
[18:53] In the department reports
[18:55] uh that are in our packet
[18:57] there's a really incredible report from
[18:59] the library department uh from our
[19:02] library the kind of work that they've
[19:03] done with the staff, the director, and
[19:06] the board
[19:07] on improving and reaching out to our um
[19:10] citizens with different kinds of
[19:12] services and different kinds of programs
[19:14] to to be important to our people and our
[19:18] community. I just think that is
[19:20] something that's commendable and we have
[19:22] we don't often tell our people thank
[19:23] you. And I just like to hear that from
[19:27] all of us once in a while and and this
[19:29] is one of those times.
[19:34] » Anything else?
[19:38] Number five, discussion regarding any
[19:40] items not included on the regular
[19:42] session for August 24th, 2026 for
[19:45] consideration on the future agenda.
[19:47] No action can be taken by the city
[19:49] council.
[19:54] And there is none.
[19:56] And can I get a motion to adjourn
[19:57] workshop?
[19:58] >> So moved.
[19:59] >> Second.
[20:00] >> All in favor?
[20:01] >> Aye.
[20:03] >> And that will move us into our regular
[20:05] session. We'll call to order. All rise.
[20:18] Let us pray.
[20:19] Dear heavenly Father, we couldn't be
[20:20] more grateful to be in this great
[20:22] community of Lampasas tonight.
[20:24] In this great facility and most good
[20:26] people.
[20:27] We ask that you be with us, be with our
[20:29] council, be with our citizens. Help us
[20:31] to make some good decisions, exchange
[20:33] some good information.
[20:35] And until you can meet again, we ask
[20:36] that you be blessed and safe. And as
[20:38] always, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
[20:40] >> Amen.
[20:41] >> Do you all want me to pledge?
[20:44] >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the
[20:46] United States of America
[20:48] and to the republic for which it stands,
[20:51] one nation under God,
[20:53] indivisible, with liberty and justice
[20:56] for all.
[20:57] Honor the Texas flag.
[20:59] I pledge allegiance to the Texas flag,
[21:02] one state
[21:03] under God, one and indivisible.
[21:24] Tonight we have a a special group of
[21:26] folks here with us tonight.
[21:30] It uh
[21:32] it's a tough one for me and as well as
[21:34] it is for I I can't even imagine what Adrian has been through in the last
[21:41] several months with the loss of
[21:43] Adela and uh
[21:47] I felt like I wanted to say thank you,
[21:50] Adrian, to you and your team for what
[21:53] you had
[21:55] contributed to our community.
[21:58] Most importantly, what Adela
[22:01] has contributed
[22:03] into our community.
[22:06] Uh
[22:07] we probably don't know how many taxpayer
[22:11] or taxes that your group has paid into
[22:14] this city.
[22:16] And uh
[22:18] got uh
[22:19] Mr. Finney.
[22:21] He's got uh
[22:23] a couple of comments
[22:25] tonight.
[22:26] He's from our
[22:27] economic development director.
[22:32] » On behalf of the Economic Development
[22:34] Corporation, I along with the other
[22:36] members of the EDC would like to express
[22:38] our sincere appreciation for your
[22:40] continued commitment to Lenexa's
[22:42] economic growth.
[22:44] Your businesses have made a meaningful
[22:45] impact on our local economy and provided
[22:48] jobs for many people.
[22:50] We are grateful for your role in
[22:51] fostering a thriving business
[22:53] environment and for being an important
[22:55] member of our community.
[22:57] We would also like to extend our
[22:59] heartfelt condolences to you and your
[23:00] family for the loss of Adela.
[23:03] Thank you.
[23:07] » And this evening, I'm taking the
[23:08] opportunity offer
[23:11] the council and my personal heartfelt
[23:14] condolences
[23:15] to Adrian
[23:17] and his three children
[23:20] and his entire extended family
[23:24] and his team that's with him here
[23:26] tonight
[23:28] concerning the recent ultimate death
[23:31] of Adrian's wife, Adela Villa, and their
[23:35] 14-year-old son, Adrian Frias
[23:38] on February the 28th, March 1st
[23:42] when the car they were in was struck by
[23:44] another driver.
[23:46] As most people know in town, Adrian and
[23:50] Adela started working in the restaurant
[23:52] business in Lampasas many, many years
[23:54] ago.
[23:55] Over the years through extremely
[23:57] demanding work, they had become
[23:59] successful owners and operators of two
[24:03] very well-loved, busy restaurants in
[24:05] Lampasas
[24:07] Giovanni's and El Frias.
[24:10] For decades, Adrian and Adela have also
[24:13] been active citizens and participants in
[24:16] the Lampasas community
[24:18] as well as staying involved with their
[24:20] children's
[24:21] lives, education, activity
[24:25] including
[24:26] Adrian Jr.'s involvement in soccer.
[24:30] The Frias family are notable examples
[24:34] of the optimistic, industrious,
[24:36] enterprise spirit that has played a
[24:38] critical role
[24:40] in the ongoing economic growth of our
[24:42] community.
[24:44] We, the council, city staff, we want to
[24:48] express to you guys
[24:51] our heartfelt appreciation for the hard
[24:54] work and dedication to the success
[24:58] that Adrian and Adela
[25:01] and their families, including Adrian
[25:04] Jr., have given over the years to help
[25:06] build
[25:08] and feed the city.
[25:10] Only a few citizens have achieved the
[25:12] position of respect and high esteem
[25:15] that Adrian and Adela have in the city.
[25:19] Because of their business acumen,
[25:21] diligence, and extraordinary work ethic,
[25:26] Adela and Adrian Jr.'s absence will be
[25:28] felt in Lampasas
[25:31] forever.
[25:33] Finally,
[25:34] I personally want to thank
[25:37] to be sure Adrian knows that I
[25:39] personally stand behind him
[25:42] and mourn deeply with him now.
[25:46] And I think our council would express
[25:47] the same thing
[25:49] in the darkest of times.
[25:52] And I know
[25:54] God's with you guys.
[25:57] I've seen him work,
[25:59] and it's been miraculously
[26:02] that you guys are here today.
[26:04] And today, on behalf of the city
[26:08] and the city council,
[26:10] Adrian, I want you to come forth on a
[26:12] present to you the keys of the city.
[26:31] It's my pleasure.
[28:30] » Adrian, if you guys if you guys want to
[28:32] leave now or you can certainly or
[28:35] welcome to stay for the whole city
[28:37] council meeting. May get a little boring
[28:39] after that.
[28:44] Thank you guys. We love you.
[29:27] All right, that'll take us to our public
[29:28] hearing citizens comment. We have a
[29:31] 3-minute time limit.
[29:33] Citizens comment, any citizen who
[29:35] desires to address the city council on a
[29:37] matter not included on this agenda may
[29:39] do so at this time.
[29:41] For possible posting and discussion by
[29:43] city council
[29:45] on future agenda the city council may
[29:47] not deliberate
[29:49] on items presented up underneath this
[29:51] agenda item and we have none.
[29:58] 1.2 any citizen who desires to address
[30:01] the city council on a matter that is
[30:02] included on the agenda may do so at this
[30:04] time and we have none.
[30:08] Consent agenda discussion and possible
[30:10] action regarding the approval of minutes
[30:12] on the regular meeting held on August
[30:14] 10th, 2026.
[30:17] » I move to approve the consent agenda.
[30:19] >> Second.
[30:21] >> Any discussion?
[30:23] All in favor.
[30:24] >> Aye.
[30:25] >> Boards and department report.
[30:36] » Good evening Mayor and council.
[30:46] » I'm going to sit here.
[30:48] I can go by memory, but I don't think
[30:49] it'll work out well.
[30:52] There it
[30:55] a week.
[31:05] Stand by.
[31:09] Got it.
[31:10] All right.
[31:12] So, the department overview, uh we have
[31:14] a full-time staff of 15 personnel. 12 of
[31:17] those are operations, three of them
[31:19] administration.
[31:20] Um that's the fire chief, the assistant
[31:22] chief, and the fire marshal. Uh we have
[31:24] a part-time staff of seven. Those are
[31:26] utilized as needed uh when we have a
[31:28] vacancy, if somebody takes off vacation,
[31:30] calls in sick, we fill that seat with a
[31:33] part-timer if they're available.
[31:36] Um our shift schedules are 48/96. So,
[31:38] it's 48 on, 96 off.
[31:41] Uh on each shift, we have a captain, a
[31:43] driver, and two firefighters.
[31:45] Our facilities work we have one fire
[31:47] station that we share with the volunteer
[31:49] fire department, and then we have the
[31:50] administration office.
[31:52] Uh we run uh we have two engines, so
[31:55] 2023 and a 2011. We have one ladder
[31:58] truck, which is a 2001.
[32:00] We have a brush truck that's a 2004.
[32:02] Um my vehicle is a 2023.
[32:05] Um
[32:06] The assistant chief's vehicle is a 2012.
[32:08] Fire marshal's is a 2011.
[32:10] And then we have a support vehicle that
[32:12] we use to pull our little trailer
[32:14] around. It's a 2005.
[32:16] And then we also have a 2006 Polaris
[32:18] Ranger that we use
[32:21] for different
[32:23] things.
[32:26] So, our operations division, uh we cover
[32:28] fires, EMS, accidents, swift water
[32:31] rescue calls, and everything in between.
[32:34] Uh we also provide uh mutual aid
[32:36] assistance to Lampasas County Um all the
[32:39] way into Burnet County as well.
[32:45] Uh Fire Marshal's office, he's
[32:46] responsible for all annual fire
[32:48] inspections in the city, fire
[32:49] investigations in the city and in the
[32:51] county. We have an agreement with
[32:53] Lampasas County and also with the city
[32:55] of Lometa
[32:57] uh that he provides fire investigations
[32:59] for.
[33:00] Um
[33:01] he is in charge of all the public
[33:03] education programs, uh smoke detector
[33:05] install program,
[33:07] uh
[33:08] extinguisher classes throughout the
[33:09] city. We do a lot of them with assisted
[33:11] living and a lot of your
[33:13] elderly
[33:15] facilities. He does all the he schedules
[33:17] all those classes and he's also in
[33:19] charge of all the school fire safety
[33:21] programs.
[33:24] He does a lot.
[33:27] This year uh
[33:28] we're up we ran 1,798 calls. We're up
[33:31] 12.82% from last year. Of those calls uh
[33:36] EMS, rescue, motor vehicle collisions
[33:39] was 1,426.
[33:41] 372 of those were fire-related calls. Uh
[33:44] 331, which is 18.4% of those were
[33:48] overlapping, which meant we were on a
[33:51] call when we got called to another one.
[33:53] Uh some of those were even three calls
[33:55] back-to-back. Um
[33:59] uh
[34:00] Our city, we broke it into four
[34:02] geographic zones, uh northwest,
[34:05] southwest, northeast, and southeast.
[34:08] Uh
[34:09] you can see there the uh northwest is at 21%, southwest
[34:14] 24%,
[34:16] uh
[34:17] northeast. Our
[34:19] busiest uh
[34:20] parts of the city are in the southeast.
[34:23] Um we ran 48 calls in Lampasas County,
[34:25] which is about 2 and 1/2% and we ran
[34:28] three calls in Burnet County this year.
[34:32] Uh
[34:33] training and professional development
[34:34] this year we've
[34:36] had currently have six members enrolled
[34:38] in the aerial operator certification
[34:41] course. Uh
[34:43] The assistant chief attended year one of
[34:45] the Texas Fire Chiefs Academy. We uh had
[34:48] two members attend the Fire Marshals
[34:50] Conference. Uh we have four members that
[34:53] uh
[34:53] obtained swift water rescue technician
[34:56] certification in Tarrant Tarrant County
[34:58] College which almost brings our
[35:00] department up to 100% swift water
[35:02] certified.
[35:04] Uh we have one member that attended boat
[35:06] operations with the Texas Parks and
[35:07] Wildlife Division.
[35:09] And 100% of our department obtained
[35:11] wildland firefighting certifications
[35:13] this year.
[35:14] And one member just obtained his fire
[35:16] and life safety educator certification.
[35:19] Um in addition to that we've logged two
[35:21] over 2,030 additional training hours for
[35:24] all full-time personnel.
[35:27] This year we were able to replace a
[35:30] outdated SCBA fill station. We thank you
[35:32] very much for that. Uh
[35:34] I've got it on order. We were able to
[35:37] purchase a huge rescue raft to aid in
[35:39] swift water rescue incidents. Um the
[35:42] hydrant maintenance program is fully
[35:43] operational. What that is is we have
[35:46] touched We're at about 90% of the fire
[35:49] hydrants in the city have been touched
[35:50] by our guys this year. They've been
[35:52] flowed, they've been greased. Um a lot
[35:54] of them have been painted. Uh
[35:57] we ran out of paint but for next budget
[35:59] year we'll be right back on it but
[36:01] um that just assures us that those fire
[36:03] hydrants are going to work when we need
[36:05] them and it gives y'all peace of mind
[36:06] knowing that we've done it.
[36:08] Uh
[36:10] we were able to promote an assistant
[36:12] chief internally this year. Uh
[36:15] we
[36:16] started an automatic aid agreement with
[36:18] Lampasas Volunteer Fire Department which
[36:19] allows them as soon as we're toned to a
[36:22] house fire they automatically get toned
[36:23] so that we're not waiting
[36:25] for additional personnel. Um same goes
[36:28] for them. We We're going to send
[36:30] somebody to help them.
[36:33] And we've had two members this year
[36:34] achieve master firefighter
[36:35] certification.
[36:38] That is a picture of the Airfield
[36:40] station that
[36:41] y'all allowed us to purchase.
[36:43] Um
[36:44] hopefully it'll be in soon.
[36:46] And that is the rescue raft that we
[36:49] were able to obtain.
[36:53] Um some of the challenges that we're
[36:54] facing right now our overtime budget is pretty extensive because of our our
[37:00] minimum staffing.
[37:02] is four. Anytime
[37:04] somebody takes off, we have to fill that seat.
[37:09] We have state mandated laws that require
[37:10] us to have a certain amount of staffing.
[37:13] Um
[37:15] our apparatus
[37:16] our ladder truck is 25 years old, our
[37:18] brush truck is 22 years old, and they've
[37:21] reached their end of service life by
[37:22] national standards. We've also got two
[37:24] staff vehicles that are at the end of
[37:26] their service life.
[37:28] Uh facilities
[37:30] we have some station upgrades needed for
[37:32] growth and safety improvements. And then
[37:35] uh
[37:36] we have a continued need for specialized
[37:38] rescue and leadership training.
[37:41] Uh goals for '26 '27 uh
[37:44] again like last year I'd like to try and
[37:46] seek funding for a swift water rescue
[37:48] boat. Uh we were very fortunate this
[37:51] year we didn't have as many
[37:53] flood calls as we did the year prior.
[37:55] Um
[37:56] we're going to continue community risk
[37:58] reduction programs in schools and
[37:59] neighborhood. The fire marshal is doing
[38:01] a great job with that.
[38:03] Uh
[38:04] replace aging apparatus and upgrade
[38:06] firefighting equipment. Um
[38:08] that's kind of at the top of the list
[38:10] and
[38:11] extra expand training partnerships with
[38:14] surrounding departments. We're currently
[38:15] working on that where we can utilize
[38:17] some of the
[38:19] fire training facilities in our
[38:22] neighborhood
[38:24] at neighboring departments.
[38:28] That's it. Do you have any questions for
[38:29] me?
[38:33] » All right. One question on the swift
[38:35] water rescue boat. Uh
[38:37] SCAG or SCRA, do they offer any kind of
[38:39] grant, any assistance to help us obtain
[38:42] that?
[38:42] >> There are grants out there and we have
[38:44] applied for a couple of the grants and
[38:45] were unsuccessful.
[38:47] Uh
[38:49] boats aren't a top priority on a grant
[38:54] for a lot of grant people that that give
[38:56] the grants.
[38:56] >> Is there a life on a boat as well as far
[38:59] as a national standard that you know 10
[39:01] year, 15 year
[39:03] Yeah, or is it
[39:05] the the the bit the actual equipment as
[39:07] long as it's held up to standard?
[39:09] >> On a boat as long as it's held up to
[39:11] standards uh
[39:13] you know, they don't get used near as
[39:14] often as fire trucks.
[39:17] So, they tend to last a lot longer.
[39:20] >> Couple of things. Um you had mentioned
[39:23] overtime for staff. Is that
[39:26] Are you Are you saying that you need
[39:28] more people to kind of bring down the
[39:29] overtime or what is that?
[39:31] >> Yes. So, right now we have a minimum of
[39:34] four um that we have to keep. Uh state
[39:36] law requires us to have a two in two out
[39:38] rule, which means if two people's in a
[39:40] house, two people have to be outside.
[39:42] Um so
[39:44] uh
[39:46] in order to maintain that, we have to
[39:47] have full man staffing on the engine. Uh
[39:50] if somebody takes off vacation or calls
[39:52] in sick or is out on a an extended leave
[39:55] uh for injury, we try to fill that
[39:58] position with a part-timer.
[39:59] Um unfortunately, all those part-timers
[40:01] have full-time jobs somewhere else. They
[40:03] work at another fire department
[40:05] somewhere.
[40:06] And so, trying to get them to fill those slots is you know, we do our best,
[40:12] but if we can't, we have to fill it with
[40:14] a full-time
[40:15] uh personnel.
[40:17] >> Uh did we do that at one time as
[40:19] volunteer
[40:21] firefighters?
[40:23] >> So, since I've I've
[40:26] came on board here, um they were in the
[40:28] middle of a separation when I got here.
[40:30] Uh so, now there's two separate
[40:32] entities. So, we share the same house,
[40:35] but we're two separate entities.
[40:36] >> Okay.
[40:39] What did you spend last year in
[40:40] overtime?
[40:42] >> Last year was 170
[40:45] 2,000.
[40:46] And this year we're at 100
[40:49] We're at 180
[40:52] >> So, you're asking for
[40:55] saying that you need one additional
[40:57] person per shift. Is that what you're
[40:58] saying?
[40:59] >> Yes.
[40:59] >> What would that cost?
[41:02] >> Um base salary
[41:04] roughly 55,000 a year. That's a little
[41:07] high plus benefits. So, you're looking
[41:09] at 75,000 a year.
[41:12] Um times three plus you'll still have
[41:15] overtime.
[41:17] It's inherent in the schedule that they
[41:19] work. They'll they'll receive overtime
[41:21] hours for each
[41:22] >> You're still back up to 230, 240.
[41:24] >> Well, it'll decrease your actual
[41:27] overtime line item, but it'll increase
[41:29] your So, it's
[41:34] » Okay.
[41:34] >> I could probably reduce the overtime
[41:37] by about um with what we're on track
[41:40] this year, probably about 80,000.
[41:44] >> You'd reduce it by 80,000.
[41:45] >> I could probably come close to reducing
[41:47] it by 80,000.
[41:48] >> Three full-time positions
[41:49] >> Three.
[41:51] We have We have three shifts.
[41:54] >> Three full-time positions would reduce
[41:56] it by 80,000.
[41:57] >> About 80,000 of the overtime budget.
[41:59] >> But it will increase your personnel
[42:01] costs
[42:02] >> Overtime by 225.
[42:04] >> 225.
[42:08] » I have a question about the ladder
[42:10] truck. Because I know I have had it
[42:11] restored and then we decided to try to
[42:13] look at any ladder truck that was at the
[42:15] end of the ladder
[42:16] or
[42:16] >> We talked about it.
[42:18] It's It's been discussed.
[42:21] You know, 2 years ago.
[42:23] And then we actually specked one out.
[42:25] And got a price 2 a year and a half ago.
[42:28] It was 2. Right at 2.3. That same ladder
[42:32] truck, I just spoke with them last week.
[42:34] That same ladder truck is 2.7 now.
[42:40] » How really is a super ladder truck?
[42:42] >> 6 to 10 6 to 10% a year is what they
[42:45] typically go up.
[42:48] Um
[42:49] >> What
[42:50] If we got a new ladder truck, what would
[42:52] we do with the
[42:53] current ladder truck?
[42:55] >> My recommendation would be to keep that
[42:58] ladder truck as a reserve.
[43:01] Um it's paid for.
[43:03] Um keep it as a reserve. Uh it would
[43:06] lower our ISO rating by having a reserve
[43:08] ladder.
[43:09] Um
[43:10] and
[43:12] the engine that we currently have in
[43:13] reserve, the 2011,
[43:16] uh
[43:17] I cringe every time they drive it out of
[43:19] the station because something breaks on
[43:20] it.
[43:21] Um the ladder truck is more reliable
[43:23] than the 2011 engine we have, and we
[43:25] have to have a reserve. Um
[43:27] Our engine Our brand new engine was out
[43:30] of service for about a month and a half
[43:32] uh
[43:33] this year due to It went in for a PM.
[43:37] While it was in the shop, they messed it
[43:39] up. And they ended up having to send it
[43:41] to San Antonio to get it repaired on
[43:44] their dime. Um but it was a month and a
[43:46] half before we got it back. We were
[43:48] in the Luckily, the ladder truck was
[43:50] here. We had it. We were in the ladder
[43:52] truck for the majority of that month and a
[43:54] half.
[43:55] >> So, just out of curiosity, let's say
[43:58] you ended up having to sell the ladder
[44:00] truck. The old engine is like
[44:02] >> Mhm.
[44:03] >> Um and
[44:04] that same a happened. Would they have to
[44:06] provide some kind of a replacement
[44:08] vehicle while they're fixing it if they
[44:10] want to screw it up?
[44:11] >> No, they're not obligated to.
[44:15] Unfortunately, it's, you know,
[44:17] Now, there is a shop in Killeen that uh
[44:20] that does repairs, um which is Siddons
[44:23] Martin, which is who we sent the new
[44:25] ladder truck with because they had a
[44:27] shop in Killeen, a very uh
[44:31] impressive shop in Killeen.
[44:33] Um
[44:35] they do have a loaner program.
[44:37] But, currently, the
[44:39] we have a
[44:41] we bought our truck through Metro, and
[44:43] they do not have a loaner program.
[44:45] >> What what would be a good estimate and
[44:48] just I know it's hard to say
[44:51] uh the percentage of time that you use
[44:53] the ladder truck on on these calls here?
[44:56] >> So, good question. Um I would use it on
[44:59] every call, uh on every fire call if we
[45:02] could. We just don't have the personnel
[45:03] to do it. If I was able to hire an
[45:06] additional person per shift, that would
[45:09] be five per shift, I would put three on
[45:11] an engine and three on a ladder truck,
[45:13] which would guarantee that that ladder
[45:15] truck was going to show up to a house
[45:17] fire every time.
[45:20] Um right now, we're just running one
[45:22] engine out of that station. Uh
[45:24] if we get a house fire,
[45:26] we rely on personnel coming back
[45:30] to get the ladder truck to bring to the
[45:31] call.
[45:33] >> So, you currently have five on a shift?
[45:35] >> Four.
[45:37] >> What what Yeah, what if one How would you put three and three on
[45:41] >> I would put three and two.
[45:42] >> Okay.
[45:43] >> So, three on an engine, which would be
[45:44] the primary response because it's a
[45:46] smaller vehicle, less maintenance than
[45:49] the ladder truck. I would put two on the
[45:50] ladder truck, guaranteeing that ladder
[45:52] truck.
[45:53] And it also helps with the overlapping
[45:55] calls. If that engine is on a a call and
[45:58] they get toned out for another one, the
[46:00] ladder would respond imme- immediately.
[46:03] Right now
[46:04] we may or may not be able to respond
[46:06] depending on the call we're on.
[46:09] It would also a fifth person would also
[46:11] allow if somebody took off we wouldn't
[46:13] it wouldn't require overtime. We would
[46:15] try and get a part-timer to fill that
[46:17] position. If we couldn't then we would
[46:19] run with four.
[46:23] » And so the
[46:25] things that you were going through chief
[46:27] talking north of 3 million three and a
[46:29] half
[46:30] >> Something like that. Everything that you
[46:31] need. What's the steps to
[46:34] What's the most important? What's your
[46:36] plan on trying to
[46:38] fill these needs?
[46:41] » Good question.
[46:42] We need money.
[46:44] >> I get that but I mean what's the
[46:46] strategic plan to try to do that?
[46:48] >> I had the strategic plan on paper
[46:50] starting with the ladder truck.
[46:52] Um
[46:53] but that was for
[46:56] ordering it in 2025.
[46:58] Uh
[46:59] so we moved it to 2026 and now it will
[47:02] move to 2027 and it will keep moving
[47:04] out. Everything
[47:06] in front of it is going to continue to
[47:08] move out as well. But at some point
[47:12] the equipment is going to fail.
[47:13] >> Right.
[47:14] >> Um we have a brush truck that you know
[47:16] I'm willing now to switch the brush truck and the ladder truck because the brush
[47:22] truck is giving us such fits. We're piecing it together.
[47:26] >> How much does a brush truck
[47:28] >> About 350,000.
[47:30] >> It's a lot more cost.
[47:31] >> Substantially cheaper than a ladder
[47:33] truck.
[47:34] >> And used a lot more often with the fires
[47:37] that we
[47:37] >> With the staffing that we have currently
[47:39] yes ma'am. It it's used a lot more
[47:42] frequent than the ladder truck is.
[47:43] >> I may have missed it chief but for
[47:46] transparency how many structure fires in
[47:49] the city have we had this last year?
[47:51] >> I do not have that report in front of me
[47:53] but I can get it to you and I will email
[47:54] it to the council.
[48:01] Any other questions?
[48:04] » Thank you, Chief.
[48:05] >> Thank you all.
[48:16] » 3.2, upcoming special events meetings,
[48:18] possible discussion by council.
[48:21] August 25th, 2026
[48:23] at 5:30 we have our charter review
[48:26] committee.
[48:28] September the 3rd, 2026 at 6:00 p.m.
[48:30] planning and zoning.
[48:33] September the 14th, 2026 at 5:30
[48:37] will be back in the city hall chamber.
[48:40] Council.
[48:43] 4.1, discussion, possible action
[48:47] regarding the first reading of an
[48:48] ordinance amending Land Passes Code of
[48:50] Ordinances,
[48:51] ordinance number 17-62
[48:54] regarding
[48:56] zoning regulations pertaining to smoke
[48:58] and tobacco shops.
[49:00] >> Good evening, Mayor and Council. This
[49:01] item was discussed during workshop of
[49:03] the August 10th meeting to change the
[49:06] ordinance the existing ordinance from
[49:09] 300 ft to 1,000 ft.
[49:19] » I still think it's over policing by the
[49:22] government on private business, but
[49:27] That's just my thought.
[49:28] >> I agree with that. It's just an
[49:30] ineffective use of of local government.
[49:33] This is a parental control parental
[49:35] responsibility issue, and it's also
[49:38] inconsistent with other
[49:40] uh distances for the liquor store, for
[49:42] instance, that is at 300 ft. So, I'm I'm
[49:46] very much opposed to this change.
[49:48] >> And y'all know where I stand on it.
[49:50] I'm for it
[49:52] because
[49:55] for all the reasons that I've
[49:57] said and yes, I know you don't think
[49:58] it's a problem thing,
[50:00] but if you have any idea as to what a
[50:06] for lack of a better word, epidemic it
[50:08] is at the high school level,
[50:10] you know, maybe you'll feel different,
[50:12] but
[50:12] >> No, I don't because signage doesn't do
[50:14] it.
[50:18] » No, I mean, anything can finish you if
[50:20] they want to do. I mean, realistically,
[50:22] if you want to do something, you're
[50:23] going to you're going to find a way to
[50:24] do it.
[50:25] But, I just feel like
[50:28] I personally don't want to see that in
[50:31] our town that close to our schools.
[50:33] That's my own opinion.
[50:34] >> That's exactly what a
[50:36] overstepping of a government entity is
[50:38] doing. You're saying personally you just
[50:40] don't want to see that.
[50:41] >> Well, I feel like I feel like part of
[50:43] our responsibility as city councils is
[50:48] to take what the community believes that
[50:51] we want the city to be,
[50:53] and I don't think it's overstepping.
[50:55] Because I've had and it's not just me,
[50:57] I've had many people
[50:59] concerned about it. They don't want to see that that close
[51:03] to the school.
[51:03] >> Where are they?
[51:06] >> What do you mean, where are they?
[51:08] >> Right here. These people.
[51:10] I'm sitting right here.
[51:12] On the front row with the on his phone.
[51:15] >> Well, I believe that this is basically a
[51:18] misuse of local government
[51:21] function.
[51:22] It's a issue for children's parents.
[51:25] It's an issue for uh
[51:28] those who might be addicted to some
[51:31] substance.
[51:32] The
[51:33] generally, the smoke shop ordinance
[51:36] talks about more than just vaping.
[51:40] It is much more broad-based, and it's an
[51:42] over This is just an overreach. It's
[51:44] just not necessary, and it's really not
[51:46] effective.
[51:48] >> Should we get rid of the 300 ft?
[51:53] » I mean, I don't think it really
[51:55] I don't think like restricting
[51:56] advertising on there really does much
[51:59] either way, but you know, it's the third
[52:01] time that it's come up.
[52:05] I just don't know why we keep on talking
[52:06] about it.
[52:07] I mean, 300 ft is fine, but
[52:11] >> It's really
[52:11] >> Well, that's where it's that's cuz it
[52:12] was approved before
[52:15] this council. Like literally right
[52:17] before this council.
[52:19] And then we have a different council
[52:20] that's brought back up.
[52:22] >> I was just curious if 300 ft is over
[52:24] stepping.
[52:27] >> I mean, cuz just as a example,
[52:32] we had a shop in town right next to
[52:34] Storms
[52:36] put up signs.
[52:38] How soon did everybody
[52:40] get a text, phone call saying,
[52:44] "I thought we weren't doing this."
[52:47] >> They're all city
[52:48] >> Right. So,
[52:50] if you're looking for a reason not to,
[52:52] that's the reason.
[52:55] At least with me. I had several people
[52:57] text and say, "No, we already have them
[52:59] in town."
[53:00] That's another point.
[53:02] We already have them in here.
[53:04] So, it's just a personal preference.
[53:06] Either you want to encourage more smoke
[53:09] shops,
[53:10] and as you know, Eric, and as you know,
[53:13] not everything they sell out of there is
[53:14] legal.
[53:16] They're waiting for the law to catch up,
[53:19] so it's proprietary illegal, but until
[53:22] that happens, they're going to continue
[53:24] selling them. And they don't care who
[53:26] they sell it to.
[53:27] >> But, I guess the uh
[53:29] the spirit and the intent behind that
[53:31] kind of ordinance would be to keep it
[53:33] out of hands of like kids. Is that what
[53:34] we're saying?
[53:35] >> I don't like marijuana would be a store
[53:37] of the law, but we know people who have
[53:40] >> What are we talking about? I mean, I'm
[53:42] simply asking is this about kids like
[53:44] Councilwoman McKinney's talking about
[53:46] not having in the high school or is it
[53:47] trying to regulate morality for adults?
[53:49] >> I don't I'm not regulating morality. I'm
[53:50] saying access to illegal substances.
[53:54] >> But I mean, you know,
[53:54] >> Alcohol's legal.
[53:56] >> The question is whether this is the
[53:57] right way to attack that issue.
[53:59] And the I don't think this is.
[54:01] >> I just don't think it's a matter of
[54:02] encouraging versus attack.
[54:05] Like we're encouraging versus attack.
[54:07] Everyone has their opinion. We've gone
[54:09] back and forth. So, we can vote and then
[54:12] just move on and then we'll be set. So,
[54:15] it's however everybody votes and then we
[54:18] can just live with it and move on.
[54:19] That's how I look. I mean, I didn't
[54:21] >> And and that was part of that was part
[54:23] of my issue with it is because before
[54:26] Officer Patrick
[54:27] for Councilwoman Walsh came on,
[54:30] it was passed and then Councilwoman
[54:32] Walsh came along and it was swung the
[54:33] other way and it was denied. So, it just
[54:36] >> They didn't put it on the agenda.
[54:37] >> I just didn't feel like we had a chance
[54:39] to put it on.
[54:40] Which is why I wanted to bring this back
[54:42] and make sure that we knew what
[54:44] the council felt
[54:46] was best.
[54:47] >> I don't know how I got back on that
[54:48] second time. I got on council. I didn't
[54:50] ask for it to be on there. I just was
[54:52] here.
[54:53] But also, I think Chief Cummings had
[54:55] never been a few times that the PD has
[54:57] stepped in when there's been issues with
[54:58] local shops if there was a question of
[55:00] if there was illegal substances being
[55:02] sold out of there where local PD went in
[55:04] to to make sure that shops were in
[55:06] compliance.
[55:07] >> Sure, a few times over the half of the
[55:09] year time
[55:11] good in compliance or something.
[55:13] We asked for information and concern. I
[55:15] mean, the law has changed up and down
[55:17] over the last three or four months using
[55:18] synthetic marijuana.
[55:19] But in coordination with the county
[55:21] attorney's office, we talked to the shop
[55:22] owners where we actually made the
[55:23] purchases there. You take all this into
[55:26] the lab.
[55:26] Uh
[55:27] you can come back and see if there's
[55:28] anything there.
[55:29] It used to be done and not be done. We
[55:31] always coordinated with the county
[55:32] attorney's office.
[55:34] >> Yes, sir. Uh
[55:36] and that's more in line with the duties
[55:38] of law enforcement though is is
[55:40] regulating the laws of the state of
[55:41] Texas, right?
[55:45] » I mean I get both of y'all's sides on
[55:47] this. I'm trying to figure out
[55:49] what I think, but
[55:51] >> It'd be different if there was no no
[55:53] smoke shops.
[55:54] >> overstepping. Is 300 ft overstepping it?
[55:57] Do we need to do away with that as well?
[55:59] >> So, what does it What does it say
[56:00] statewide?
[56:02] >> Uh statewide is for signage only and
[56:05] it's 1,000 ft within a school.
[56:07] >> I mean I guess going along with my
[56:09] mentality then it'd be
[56:11] 300 be too much too, but this is going
[56:13] back to an ex-smoker. I think vapes are
[56:15] real lame, too. I just
[56:18] I mean I'm just looking at it as being I
[56:21] just don't like the government meddling
[56:22] with private business. I mean that's it. I'm against Clearly I don't
[56:26] want kids having that.
[56:27] >> Well, yeah, and that's part of the
[56:28] problem, too, is because the the vapes
[56:31] that they get hold of
[56:32] are felony level vapes.
[56:35] And so, advertising it, making it more
[56:38] um
[56:39] socially acceptable
[56:41] to a kid's head,
[56:43] that's where That's where I'm at.
[56:44] >> But they're not I don't know if if signs
[56:46] in town are doing that as much as like
[56:48] these things. The advertising is
[56:51] >> Well, it's kind of both. I mean it
[56:53] >> How does that relate to the distance of
[56:55] a building to another building?
[56:56] >> to the distance of the building? It's
[56:58] like kids could just walk right by and
[56:59] see it and drive by it every single
[57:02] solitary vape
[57:02] >> Well, we also have uh liquor stores that
[57:06] have uh advertising that is
[57:09] available. So, it's And that one is
[57:11] truly huge.
[57:12] >> But the liquor But the kids aren't
[57:15] Liquor is not as much of an issue at a
[57:18] high school campus as
[57:20] >> What?
[57:20] >> the vapes.
[57:21] >> What are you talking about?
[57:22] >> Not as much. It is, but not as much.
[57:25] They're not doing it. It's just They're
[57:27] not
[57:28] >> I don't know. I've been in high school
[57:29] for since almost been it
[57:31] Like
[57:33] And I mean and also like again like
[57:35] signage in town
[57:36] compared to what's online and the phones
[57:39] and on TV like it's
[57:41] I don't know.
[57:42] I'm just curious.
[57:43] >> agree with it. I just very much against the government
[57:47] stepping in private business.
[57:49] >> Is this only for smoke shops because
[57:54] gas stations sell
[57:55] these things as well, I mean, right?
[57:59] >> It's a specific percentage of sales that
[58:01] are spent on vapes specifically.
[58:04] >> Okay.
[58:05] >> Or tobacco.
[58:06] >> I mean, you go into Casey's and get that
[58:08] two for $6 slices, but you see ads for
[58:11] vapes as soon as you walk in.
[58:13] >> It's a percentage of the total sales.
[58:15] >> But still not we're still not getting
[58:16] rid of vapes within the even within the
[58:18] 300 ft rule.
[58:25] » I guess I'd Ed would like to see us call
[58:27] the question.
[58:29] >> I
[58:30] don't How would a vape shop advertise?
[58:32] What kind of signage would they be
[58:33] allowed to put up?
[58:35] They can't say vape or anything in their
[58:38] >> Right.
[58:38] >> name.
[58:39] >> He says it it relates to you know, it
[58:43] limits cartoon characters that would
[58:45] target kids. Like you have to be very restrictive with your
[58:49] >> of like hobbies and stuff.
[58:51] >> Right.
[58:53] >> So certain characters
[58:54] >> Yeah, they they're not allowed to use
[58:56] signage that would be appealing to
[58:58] children.
[58:59] within 1,000 ft of a school.
[59:01] >> But it could say such and such vape
[59:03] shop.
[59:04] Okay.
[59:11] » All right.
[59:13] Do we get a motion one way or the other
[59:14] this for the last time?
[59:17] >> All right, for just for the last time to
[59:19] get it get it done.
[59:20] I I would like to consider a motion to
[59:23] approve
[59:24] the 1,000 ft.
[59:25] >> Second.
[59:29] » All right. in favor?
[59:31] >> Aye.
[59:37] >> Nay.
[59:44] >> Thank you.
[59:59] » All right.
[1:00:00] 4.2 discussion and possible action to
[1:00:03] declare unusual city-owned IT equipment
[1:00:07] as surplus
[1:00:08] and allow staff to dispose of as state
[1:00:11] law allows.
[1:00:13] >> Mayor and city council, staff is
[1:00:15] requesting the approval to dispose of
[1:00:17] city-owned unusable IT equipment that
[1:00:19] was used at various departments. Equip-
[1:00:22] equipment includes desktop PCs,
[1:00:24] monitors, switches, laptops, wireless
[1:00:26] access points, toner, um UPS battery
[1:00:30] backups, uh tablets, cell phones, air
[1:00:33] cards, um and printers.
[1:00:35] The IT equipment that staff is
[1:00:36] requesting to dispose of is either
[1:00:38] end-of-life, no longer supported,
[1:00:40] broken, or has been replaced. Staff has
[1:00:43] removed all the parts that could serve a
[1:00:45] purpose to the city off of the equipment
[1:00:48] and the serial numbers of the equipment
[1:00:49] to be to be disposed of will be kept for
[1:00:52] uh record retention. And additionally,
[1:00:55] all hard drives have been removed or
[1:00:56] wiped containing city data.
[1:00:59] Uh staff is just requesting a motion to
[1:01:02] declare unusable IT equipment as surplus
[1:01:04] and allow staff to dispose of as state
[1:01:07] law allows.
[1:01:08] >> So moved.
[1:01:09] >> Second.
[1:01:12] » Any discussion?
[1:01:14] All in favor?
[1:01:15] >> Aye.
[1:01:17] >> Thank you.
[1:01:19] >> 4.3, discussion and possible action on a
[1:01:21] 5-year sponsorship agreement for
[1:01:23] beverage rights between the city of
[1:01:25] Lampasas and Coca-Cola.
[1:01:31] » Good evening, Mayor, Mayor pro Mayor pro
[1:01:33] tem and council. Sorry for that noise.
[1:01:36] Um you have before you a beverage
[1:01:38] agreement between the city of Lampasas
[1:01:40] and Coca-Cola. Uh as you know, Coca-Cola
[1:01:44] is an international company. Uh for this
[1:01:46] contract specifically, we are going to
[1:01:48] be dealing out of the Dallas office for
[1:01:51] this contract. They have multiple
[1:01:52] offices throughout the country. Um
[1:01:54] and Dallas is going to be the closest
[1:01:56] one to us, so this will be who
[1:01:58] specifically we go under contract with,
[1:02:00] but we will receive all the rights and
[1:02:01] benefits of any
[1:02:03] uh national partner. With this, um there
[1:02:06] is a hard There's it's difficult to put
[1:02:08] a dollar amount on this contract because
[1:02:10] there's a lot of commission-based and
[1:02:12] rebate-based uh monies that could come
[1:02:16] to the city.
[1:02:17] Um but we are also going to have
[1:02:19] guaranteed monies from day one of this
[1:02:22] contract. Um
[1:02:24] with this contract, we will receive at
[1:02:26] minimum
[1:02:29] $12,000 per calendar year.
[1:02:32] Uh that will be through merchandise.
[1:02:35] Um
[1:02:36] that merchandise could be umbrellas, it
[1:02:37] could be picnic tables, it could be menu
[1:02:39] boards. Uh any number of uh maybe
[1:02:42] digital TVs to show menus at concession
[1:02:45] stands, for example.
[1:02:47] Um
[1:02:48] and then $8,000 of those dollars per
[1:02:50] year will be loose funds for us to use
[1:02:52] whatever we would like.
[1:02:54] But then, on top of that, they are going
[1:02:56] to provide both drink coolers, which are
[1:02:58] the sliding glass coolers that you may
[1:03:01] see at the golf course or at the pool,
[1:03:05] as well as about a dozen vending
[1:03:07] machines for the city at no cost. The
[1:03:09] Coca-Cola will own those vending
[1:03:11] machines,
[1:03:13] um and they will give them to us for the
[1:03:15] length of our contract uh to sell their
[1:03:18] merchandise out of, and that does not
[1:03:20] uh factor into that uh merchandise money
[1:03:23] that we will receive each year.
[1:03:26] With that as well, any vending
[1:03:28] uh sales, we're going to receive from
[1:03:31] drink number one a 15% commission off of
[1:03:34] each one of those drinks.
[1:03:35] Uh if you go to the appendices in the
[1:03:37] very back of the contract, it's going to
[1:03:39] show you the drink breakdown,
[1:03:41] uh the purchase the cost that they will
[1:03:43] be put in the vending machine at,
[1:03:45] and the 15% uh commission on each one of
[1:03:48] those.
[1:03:50] Additionally, in your contract, you're
[1:03:52] going to see
[1:03:54] drink sales uh that we purchase for the
[1:03:58] city for redistribution or to consume as
[1:04:01] city staff ourselves.
[1:04:02] Uh the biggest one is going to be uh we
[1:04:05] will receive a $5 rebate on every single
[1:04:08] case of water,
[1:04:10] soda, or there are a couple other
[1:04:12] different beverage items in that $5 per
[1:04:14] case rebate.
[1:04:16] As well as there's another threshold of
[1:04:18] $2 rebates per case.
[1:04:21] We also have an incentive on here for
[1:04:25] case large quantity case thresholds at
[1:04:28] $2,000, and then an additional $5,000 if
[1:04:31] we do hit those thresholds.
[1:04:34] One of the good things about this
[1:04:35] contract is that we are not going to be
[1:04:38] paying for any signage out of
[1:04:41] our pocket because there is no signage
[1:04:44] that will be going on baseball fields,
[1:04:46] soccer fields, uh aquatic facilities.
[1:04:49] It's strictly going to be based off of
[1:04:50] those vending machines, those coolers,
[1:04:52] and mini boards. So, they're going to be
[1:04:53] the three main products we receive.
[1:04:56] Um
[1:04:57] if you have any questions, I think that
[1:04:58] pretty much covers all of the the
[1:05:01] financials of it.
[1:05:03] >> Did y'all So, on this, who negotiated
[1:05:06] this? Did y'all just go to Coca-Cola or
[1:05:08] you Is this coming through that company in
[1:05:11] Iowa?
[1:05:12] >> It's This is a Sports Solutions
[1:05:13] contract.
[1:05:14] >> Sports Solutions contract, what
[1:05:16] percentage did they get or is there a
[1:05:17] tax?
[1:05:18] >> Anytime we receive a check
[1:05:22] from Coca-Cola, we are going to within
[1:05:24] 30 days give 25% of that to
[1:05:28] um
[1:05:29] Sports Solutions.
[1:05:30] >> And then what how does that work with
[1:05:34] the um
[1:05:35] Little League what they what they
[1:05:38] do they get concession stands and
[1:05:39] they're taking your stocking and
[1:05:41] selling? Are they Are they only using
[1:05:43] Coca-Cola products?
[1:05:45] >> Yes, they will be able to receive them
[1:05:47] from us at cost that we receive them
[1:05:49] though, which is significantly below
[1:05:51] market value.
[1:05:54] >> Are they Are they going to talk to the
[1:05:55] different I mean
[1:05:57] they agree with that?
[1:05:58] >> LCYLA was present at the Parks Board
[1:06:00] meeting. Their representative was the
[1:06:02] other night and they're in agreement
[1:06:03] with this.
[1:06:05] >> What are the locations?
[1:06:07] >> Um there are if you are on the very
[1:06:10] first page of the contract, um section F
[1:06:12] is going to list off all the physical
[1:06:14] addresses, but it is going to include
[1:06:17] all the sports complexes, both pools,
[1:06:20] um
[1:06:22] the golf courses on here, W and Burke
[1:06:25] Park.
[1:06:26] >> Did the golf course or did
[1:06:28] they sign a contract
[1:06:30] last year or something or somebody?
[1:06:32] >> They have a distribution agreement with
[1:06:33] Pepsi, but that can be
[1:06:36] negated
[1:06:37] >> Okay.
[1:06:38] >> for this purpose.
[1:06:40] >> I mean sure
[1:06:40] we got Pepsi in here at the golf course.
[1:06:42] >> No, it's a it's a Pepsi
[1:06:44] >> So I remember they already had a
[1:06:45] contract with Pepsi in there.
[1:06:46] >> They We had to sign a contract with
[1:06:48] Pepsi for them to deliver products to
[1:06:50] the golf course.
[1:06:51] >> Okay.
[1:06:52] And how does this this is kind of
[1:06:54] far-fetched and reaching, but
[1:06:55] it's a question.
[1:06:57] We had a little water problem.
[1:07:00] And we got water from Red Cross or State
[1:07:04] of Texas and it was great value. It was
[1:07:07] whatever they could bring us.
[1:07:09] >> This is for the
[1:07:17] Not an not an emergency.
[1:07:19] This is not going to affect that either
[1:07:21] because
[1:07:26] This is not going to affect that. This
[1:07:27] is more based towards what we are
[1:07:30] selling our customers.
[1:07:32] >> We give that water away, that emergency
[1:07:34] water.
[1:07:40] » Yes.
[1:07:45] And I and the county included Tony
[1:07:47] Water.
[1:07:48] >> not make a difference, but these two
[1:07:51] distributors have competed over several
[1:07:53] months to get to this point that we're
[1:07:55] at.
[1:07:55] >> Yes, and so back to Councilwoman
[1:07:57] Keeney's point, this has a been a
[1:08:00] Sportsman's Solutions contract and we've
[1:08:02] had Coca-Cola and Pepsi both on site and
[1:08:04] they have
[1:08:05] >> competitively bid this back and forth
[1:08:08] >> multiple months. Um if you do look at
[1:08:11] point number two on the very first page,
[1:08:13] this negotiation started on April the
[1:08:15] 1st and so um
[1:08:17] I did forget to omit the original date
[1:08:19] on this beverage agreement of April 1st,
[1:08:21] 2026. That will just move to the date
[1:08:23] that we execute the contract.
[1:08:26] >> So um
[1:08:28] just to
[1:08:29] make sure I understand the numbers here.
[1:08:31] Annually, we get $8,000 in cash, $4,000
[1:08:36] in merchandise, whatever that may be,
[1:08:39] and then 60 cents per $4 purchase, but
[1:08:43] we pay 15 cents of that out to
[1:08:46] Sportsman's Solutions.
[1:08:47] >> Correct. Also, for every case of water
[1:08:49] that we purchase, for example, the fire
[1:08:51] department, the police department,
[1:08:53] um public works, they tend to order
[1:08:56] their drinks by the their water by the
[1:08:59] pallet for their for their guys out in
[1:09:02] the field and so we would receive $5
[1:09:04] back on every single one of those cases
[1:09:06] on that pallet as well.
[1:09:09] >> Okay.
[1:09:10] >> Even if the city is consuming that
[1:09:12] instead of reselling it.
[1:09:15] >> Okay, so
[1:09:17] in that situation
[1:09:19] that department would have to buy from
[1:09:21] Coca-Cola.
[1:09:23] >> Correct, but it's going to be at a
[1:09:25] below market cost from what we're even
[1:09:28] purchasing from Walmart or Sam's Club
[1:09:29] right now because we're receiving it as
[1:09:31] a essentially as a vendor to resell it
[1:09:34] at the market value. And those numbers
[1:09:36] are in one of the appendices in the
[1:09:37] contract as well.
[1:09:41] » On exhibit A and B, it's not a dumb
[1:09:43] question, but when you're looking at the
[1:09:44] product list, what what is this PET
[1:09:46] stand for?
[1:09:49] » I didn't hear. What did you say?
[1:09:51] >> PET on the exhibits. What does it stand
[1:09:53] for?
[1:09:53] >> Hit.
[1:09:55] >> What does it stand for though?
[1:09:57] >> That is an excellent question.
[1:10:00] >> All right, and another question.
[1:10:02] >> a it's a bottle, not a can.
[1:10:04] >> Okay.
[1:10:04] >> It's a it's a plastic bottle.
[1:10:05] >> Okay, so the
[1:10:08] So is that right that bottle of water is
[1:10:10] three bucks in the in the vending
[1:10:12] machine?
[1:10:12] >> That's going to be from vending.
[1:10:13] >> From what?
[1:10:14] >> From vending. We don't have to if we're
[1:10:16] at the aquatics facility, we don't have
[1:10:18] to sell it at $3, but they they service
[1:10:22] those vending machines. We don't service
[1:10:24] those and so they will set the cost on
[1:10:27] those and that's set out uh on that
[1:10:30] exhibit A year one through two
[1:10:33] three and four year five.
[1:10:34] >> And so in five years, a bottle of water
[1:10:36] costs $3.50?
[1:10:38] >> Inflation, I mean.
[1:10:40] >> That's brutal.
[1:10:41] Spring water.
[1:10:42] >> And also the swimming pools, the Johanna
[1:10:45] Springs and Hancock are
[1:10:47] the Hancock Springs is listed, but not
[1:10:50] Hancock.
[1:10:51] >> Um
[1:10:52] the issue with one of the sliding glass
[1:10:56] door
[1:10:59] machines at Han Hancock is the
[1:11:03] concession stand is way too small. You
[1:11:05] can barely sit two people in there right
[1:11:07] now and it's really cramped. And so
[1:11:10] they're going to put a vending machine
[1:11:12] on the external of the building there.
[1:11:15] Um but there will not be one of the
[1:11:16] sliding glass coolers there because
[1:11:18] there's physically not enough space.
[1:11:20] >> And that space this house would be the
[1:11:22] same inside?
[1:11:23] >> Correct.
[1:11:25] >> Everywhere they want to put a vending
[1:11:26] machine and there's not currently
[1:11:28] electricity, who's responsible?
[1:11:31] >> We have We went around with the company
[1:11:33] and everywhere that we want to put a
[1:11:35] vending machine there's electricity
[1:11:37] except for one location um and this is
[1:11:40] the 580 Sports Complex where we want to
[1:11:42] put the vending machine and there is a
[1:11:44] uh spot we can take electricity from
[1:11:47] just like from a floodlight like 2 ft
[1:11:49] above where the machine would be.
[1:11:51] >> So it would only work when the lights
[1:11:53] are on?
[1:11:55] >> No,
[1:11:56] it would work all the time.
[1:11:57] >> I'm serious.
[1:11:58] >> It would work all the time.
[1:12:00] >> But if if it's city contract and I know
[1:12:03] this is probably already been answered
[1:12:05] um
[1:12:06] and we have a event and a lot of people
[1:12:09] donate things to the fire department.
[1:12:11] They donate Gatorade.
[1:12:13] They donate pallets. Is Coke going to
[1:12:15] have an issue with us drinking
[1:12:18] you know, they're we're supposed to be
[1:12:19] under Coca-Cola and some citizen
[1:12:22] donates?
[1:12:23] >> The The issue would become if we turned
[1:12:25] around and tried to sell that
[1:12:26] merchandise that was not Coca-Cola.
[1:12:28] >> Okay.
[1:12:29] >> Um if they donate again
[1:12:32] Gatorade instead of Powerade that that's
[1:12:35] not it doesn't apply here. It's like it
[1:12:38] would be the same if I took Gatorade
[1:12:39] into my office and drink it instead of
[1:12:42] drinking Powerade in my office.
[1:12:45] >> It's only Powerade now.
[1:12:47] >> Body Armor.
[1:12:48] >> It's only Powerade.
[1:12:49] >> And Body Armor.
[1:12:50] >> Do we
[1:12:51] uh
[1:12:52] Do we get to this stuff on the ISD
[1:12:54] property?
[1:12:55] Like the stadium.
[1:12:57] >> The ISD is not in this. No, sir.
[1:13:00] >> And what
[1:13:02] This wasn't like naming rights for 580
[1:13:05] or anything like that. It's just them
[1:13:07] being It's basically having the products
[1:13:08] around town at all the
[1:13:09] >> Correct. They don't want their name on
[1:13:11] anything other than the product they're
[1:13:13] selling or vending up above.
[1:13:15] >> So, that's still out there.
[1:13:17] >> Correct. Um
[1:13:19] Just to kind of like put it out there, has been some interest in the
[1:13:22] rodeo arena, but that's a little bit
[1:13:25] more down the line. You know, it has
[1:13:26] nothing to do with specifically this
[1:13:29] contract.
[1:13:36] » All right. Do we get a motion?
[1:13:44] » I make a motion to approve this
[1:13:46] sponsorship agreement between the city
[1:13:47] of the one passes Coca-Cola
[1:13:50] for a base plus commission-based
[1:13:52] contract for 5 years.
[1:13:54] >> Second.
[1:13:55] Any other discussion? All in favor?
[1:13:58] >> Aye.
[1:13:59] >> Thank you.
[1:14:04] » 4.4 discussion possible action for
[1:14:06] approving a resolution to amend the
[1:14:08] city's comprehensive fund
[1:14:10] balance policy.
[1:14:12] >> Mayor and council, as reviewed during
[1:14:14] workshop, our fund balance policy was
[1:14:16] last updated in 2013 after adoption in
[1:14:19] 2011.
[1:14:21] Um we're recommending to modify the
[1:14:22] reserve balances from a percentage
[1:14:24] applied to the most recently complete
[1:14:26] audited fiscal year to a number of days
[1:14:28] applied to operating expenditures of the
[1:14:30] current fiscal year.
[1:14:32] Modifying the order of spending
[1:14:33] resources from
[1:14:35] spending restricted fund balance first
[1:14:37] to using the least restricted categories
[1:14:39] of funds first. Creating a monitoring
[1:14:42] and reporting requirement and creating a
[1:14:45] replenishment time frame.
[1:14:47] >> So, moved.
[1:14:48] >> Second.
[1:14:49] >> Any discussion?
[1:14:51] All in favor?
[1:14:52] >> I.
[1:14:55] » And we'll get a motion to adjourn into
[1:14:57] executive session. Oh, I'm sorry.
[1:15:04] I am so sorry.
[1:15:07] Come right on up, Ms. Melissa.
[1:15:12] » Good evening, Mayor and Council. Thank
[1:15:14] you for having me back. The purposes of
[1:15:15] my
[1:15:17] time here this evening, I came to
[1:15:19] present my fiscal report fiscal budget
[1:15:22] for 26-27,
[1:15:24] but I would like to go back just a
[1:15:26] second and talk about the last time I
[1:15:29] was here, which was for my Q3 report. I
[1:15:31] had mentioned to you that we would have
[1:15:33] all of our Lampasas promotion budget
[1:15:36] allocated. And when I come for my Q4
[1:15:39] report
[1:15:40] in a couple months,
[1:15:42] I will have a proposal. It's actually not a
[1:15:46] proposal. It's actually the the
[1:15:48] marketing campaign for the marketing funds that I agreed to use
[1:15:55] by the end of this fiscal year. So,
[1:15:57] which will be October or September 30th.
[1:15:59] So, that is not in your packet this
[1:16:01] evening, but I would like to make a
[1:16:03] statement at the end of it and just read
[1:16:06] that to you understanding where we're
[1:16:08] headed as far as tourism in Lampasas.
[1:16:11] So, the key takeaway for my marketing
[1:16:13] campaign that will actually go on
[1:16:17] through 2027, however, it started back
[1:16:21] in August, is tourism marketing isn't
[1:16:23] about convincing people to visit
[1:16:24] Lampasas. It's about making sure
[1:16:26] Lampasas can be considered when
[1:16:28] travelers are deciding where to go.
[1:16:30] By strategically investing hot funds
[1:16:32] into a long-term digital tourism
[1:16:33] initiative, Visit Lampasas is building
[1:16:36] sustainable marketing assets that will
[1:16:38] promote the community, support local
[1:16:39] businesses, strengthen tourism, and
[1:16:42] contribute to economic growth for years
[1:16:44] to come.
[1:16:45] One investment creates marketing content
[1:16:47] that can continue promoting Lampasas for
[1:16:49] years. That can That can continue
[1:16:51] promoting Lampasas for years. I state
[1:16:53] that because
[1:16:55] it has been put upon me to actually
[1:16:57] expand our digital marketing presence
[1:17:00] through the Lampasas promotion line
[1:17:02] item. And I do truly believe that we are
[1:17:05] doing that. We are working very closely
[1:17:07] with the city, very closely with the
[1:17:09] EDC. I was at the EDC meeting last week
[1:17:12] and it came up that we need to do a
[1:17:15] better job at marketing Lampasas as far
[1:17:17] as holiday promotions. Hunting is a
[1:17:19] given, spring host kind of a given. We
[1:17:22] are looking at doing a little bit more
[1:17:24] marketing of our venues and actually
[1:17:26] events that bring in different um
[1:17:29] bridal events and
[1:17:32] family reunions and things of that
[1:17:33] nature. We have several different venues
[1:17:36] that are popping up all around the city
[1:17:38] and the county
[1:17:39] that would bring in sales tax for retail
[1:17:43] and dining and then also for lodging, of
[1:17:46] course, the hotel motel tax. So, stay
[1:17:49] tuned. We've got a lot coming up. I'm
[1:17:52] working with a lot of different
[1:17:53] resources to ensure that we are actually
[1:17:57] expanding our footprint properly with
[1:17:59] this new marketing campaign. We actually
[1:18:03] are on several different platforms
[1:18:06] including Google, Google Maps, Apple
[1:18:08] Maps, Bing, Bing Maps, Yelp, Trip
[1:18:11] Advisor, and additional online
[1:18:12] directories and tourism platforms
[1:18:14] including YouTube.
[1:18:16] We have created three 48-second
[1:18:18] commercials and then also one two and a
[1:18:20] half-minute commercial and those are
[1:18:23] already running and we will be
[1:18:25] rebranding to do a Visit Lampasas um
[1:18:29] brand instead of the Lampasas County
[1:18:32] Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center
[1:18:33] brand.
[1:18:34] So, Um, going back to my budget,
[1:18:37] if you will notice on there my budget is
[1:18:39] actually down 1722
[1:18:42] for the year or for this coming year.
[1:18:45] That is in a couple of different areas,
[1:18:47] but I will open the floor up to any
[1:18:49] questions based on the evaluation that I
[1:18:51] provided
[1:18:53] for this budget.
[1:18:56] » It's tough
[1:18:58] that you don't have a breakdown about
[1:19:01] this marketing and promotional expenses
[1:19:04] and more information about it. A lot of
[1:19:06] the
[1:19:08] platforms you just talked about like
[1:19:10] search engines and whatnot.
[1:19:12] Are you on there?
[1:19:14] >> No, we're not.
[1:19:15] >> How?
[1:19:17] >> We're not because we do not we have not
[1:19:19] tied into doing search engine
[1:19:21] optimization.
[1:19:23] We have not allowed our Visit Lake
[1:19:27] Charles brand to be marketed on all of
[1:19:31] those platforms and
[1:19:32] >> you mean you haven't allowed? We've
[1:19:34] allocated money for it.
[1:19:35] >> we haven't had the content. I apologize.
[1:19:37] We haven't had the content created. Now
[1:19:39] we do have the content with those videos
[1:19:42] to be able to
[1:19:44] get that search engine optimization on
[1:19:46] all those different platforms.
[1:19:47] >> You don't need
[1:19:49] two videos to get SEO movement.
[1:19:53] I mean you're saying you couldn't get
[1:19:55] any SEO movement because you didn't have
[1:19:56] two videos?
[1:19:58] >> No, I mean you have to purchase you have
[1:20:01] to purchase with marketing companies to
[1:20:02] get SEO.
[1:20:03] >> for a business for a number of years
[1:20:05] now.
[1:20:06] I I just don't know why this is we're
[1:20:08] just now talking about this in 2026.
[1:20:12] Like there's not a breakdown of how
[1:20:14] money's being spent for tourism marketing and promotional
[1:20:17] expenses and your first statement and
[1:20:18] second statement were the same thing.
[1:20:20] >> So,
[1:20:22] I do have a breakdown that's written
[1:20:24] down. I've got printed maps, I've got
[1:20:26] brochures, I've got tourtexas.com,
[1:20:29] I've got newspaper digital newspaper
[1:20:31] ads, I've got this AMP marketing um
[1:20:35] campaign that we're doing, visitors
[1:20:37] guides,
[1:20:39] YouTube
[1:20:41] uh YouTube
[1:20:42] placement
[1:20:44] um
[1:20:45] >> How much is spent on 101 Fun Things to
[1:20:47] Do, Texas Highways, Texas Events, or
[1:20:49] Hill Country Trail?
[1:20:50] >> Well, it depends. I mean, sometimes we
[1:20:52] do those, sometimes we don't. Those are
[1:20:54] >> Which ones are done this past year?
[1:20:55] >> I'm sorry.
[1:20:56] >> Which ones were done this past year?
[1:20:58] >> Um this past year, we've done visitors
[1:21:01] guides in other multiple communities.
[1:21:05] We've done
[1:21:06] >> So, none of those were
[1:21:08] >> Let me get to the
[1:21:10] ones that you asked about.
[1:21:17] Where Okay, the 101 Fun Things, the
[1:21:18] Texas Highways, we've done that.
[1:21:21] Um the Hill Country Trail, we've done
[1:21:22] that.
[1:21:23] >> What was in those and how much was that?
[1:21:25] Do you know?
[1:21:25] >> They're just ads. So, they're just
[1:21:27] tourism ads that we do. It's a placement
[1:21:29] ad. It's a tourism ad. It's usually a
[1:21:31] quarter page ad.
[1:21:32] >> Monthly? Was it in one issue?
[1:21:34] >> Most of them are quarterly.
[1:21:36] >> Quarterly?
[1:21:36] >> So, some of them are monthly. They're
[1:21:38] extremely expensive. Print is extremely
[1:21:41] expensive. That's why we didn't
[1:21:43] I mean, you're talking thousands of
[1:21:44] dollars.
[1:21:47] >> It's just It's just
[1:21:48] >> for one little ad for almost sometimes
[1:21:50] just a business business card size ad
[1:21:53] >> Which
[1:21:53] >> in these publications that don't have
[1:21:55] much distribution.
[1:21:56] >> So, is it business card or half page or
[1:21:58] quarter page?
[1:22:00] Cuz you're saying most
[1:22:01] >> on what you buy.
[1:22:02] >> I don't know what you buy cuz I'm just
[1:22:04] looking at what you're saying.
[1:22:06] >> I've not had to provide that. I can go
[1:22:08] back and I can provide that.
[1:22:10] >> I mean, I'm not trying to be to be mean
[1:22:11] or anything. It's just if you're if
[1:22:13] you're asking
[1:22:13] >> show you the breakdown.
[1:22:15] Yeah.
[1:22:16] I can show you what we spent
[1:22:19] for this past year.
[1:22:21] >> Cuz you start when you started out with,
[1:22:22] I know we don't have this now, but this
[1:22:24] is what I'm asking for my budget for
[1:22:26] next year.
[1:22:27] But I'm going to get back to you on what we're doing.
[1:22:29] >> No, I've started it, but it'll be the
[1:22:33] AMP agreement will be paid out before
[1:22:35] the end of this fiscal year to use up
[1:22:37] that Lampasas Promotions budget that you
[1:22:39] asked me to use.
[1:22:41] But it will go into it's an annual
[1:22:42] contract. So that will go into the new
[1:22:45] year.
[1:22:45] >> I mean you you're saying it like that
[1:22:46] I've asked you to use or we've asked you
[1:22:48] to use. You asked for the money as part
[1:22:49] of your budget, so it's it's of course
[1:22:51] we're asking you to use it for that cuz
[1:22:53] if not then we don't need to budget
[1:22:54] that.
[1:22:55] >> Sure. I understand.
[1:22:58] >> And again, I'm not trying to be rude. I
[1:22:59] just
[1:23:00] I'm just trying to
[1:23:01] >> I've ne- and I give the breakdown, I
[1:23:03] give the receipts for what I've spent in
[1:23:05] my quarterly reports and those come
[1:23:07] every quarter. So those reimbursements
[1:23:10] and those receipts are in that those
[1:23:11] packets.
[1:23:12] >> Okay.
[1:23:13] >> They're not in this budget packet. But
[1:23:15] they can be.
[1:23:15] >> I need to go back and look at all four
[1:23:16] of those and I just will not make a
[1:23:18] decision today about about your budget.
[1:23:20] >> Got it.
[1:23:21] >> Well, I'm going to
[1:23:23] update the ask to change the budget to
[1:23:25] the amount of the visitor center budget
[1:23:27] for 2017.
[1:23:29] >> Second.
[1:23:32] >> Any other discussion?
[1:23:35] All in favor?
[1:23:36] >> Aye.
[1:23:41] >> Nay.
[1:23:44] >> Thank you.
[1:23:56] » Now we can get a motion to move into
[1:23:59] executive session.
[1:24:00] >> So moved.
[1:24:02] >> Second.
[1:24:07] » You want to read that, Kaylee?
[1:24:09] >> Yes.
[1:24:10] >> That's a lot of words.
[1:24:18] » The city council of the city of
[1:24:20] Lampasas, Texas will meet in closed
[1:24:21] executive session pursuant to Texas
[1:24:23] Government Code Chapter 551 as follows.
[1:24:26] Section 551.074,
[1:24:29] personnel matters, to discuss city
[1:24:31] manager and city attorney.
[1:24:33] Section 551.087,
[1:24:36] economic development, to discuss project
[1:24:38] heavy loads.
[1:24:39] Section 551.086,
[1:24:42] relating to the authority of public
[1:24:43] power utility governing bodies to
[1:24:45] deliberate regarding competitive
[1:24:47] matters.
[1:24:48] Section 551.072,
[1:24:51] deliberation regarding real property, to
[1:24:53] discuss land acquisition.
[1:24:56] We can adjourn.
[1:25:00] » All right. We'll
[1:25:01] adjourn to executive session.
[1:25:08] » All right.
[1:25:09] Back to
[1:25:11] our regular session. We've got a
[1:25:14] item.
[1:25:17] A motion?
[1:25:18] to adjourn the session.
[1:25:21] >> Uh motion to authorize staff to
[1:25:23] negotiate the purchase of land for the
[1:25:26] entry point improvement project
[1:25:28] uh of 580 East and 190 East.
[1:25:32] >> Second.
[1:25:34] >> Any discussion? All in favor?
[1:25:37] >> Aye.
[1:25:40] » Motion to adjourn.
[1:25:41] >> Second.
[1:25:42] >> All in favor?
[1:25:43] >> Aye.