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For the clock to turn. Today is thursday, june 4th, 2026, and the time is now 6 p.m. And this

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is the briefing workshop of the leander city council. City secretary crabtree, will you

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please call roll. Council member. Steven chang. Council member michael herrera here.

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council member tony blair, present. Council member. Annette sponseller. Council

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member. Andrew nadine here. Mayor pro tem becky ross here. Mayor nicole thompson present

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council is all present and quorum is present in the city council is eligible to do

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business. We'll move to item three, which is convened into executive session at 6:01 p.m.

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pursuant to one section 551.071 texas government code and rule 1.05 texas disciplinary rules

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of professional conduct to consult with legal counsel regarding proposed settlement

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of cause number 24-0818-c369. Denucci constructors, llc versus city of leander in the

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368th judicial district court, williamson county, texas and two. Section 551.071 texas

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government code and section 1.05 texas disciplinary rules of professional conduct to

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consult with legal counsel regarding agreements regarding brushy creek regional utility

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authority and facilities expansion projects, and litigation and agreements

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related to the brushy creek regional wastewater treatment plant and three section 551.071

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and section 551.072 texas government code and section 1.05 texas disciplinary rules

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of professional conduct, to consult with legal counsel regarding the acquisition of properties for public purposes and an option agreement for acquisition of real property,

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and for section 551.071 texas government code and section 1.05 texas disciplinary rules

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of professional conduct and section 551.072 to consult with legal counsel regarding a lease

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agreement for city

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all right. The time is 655. And as we did not finish our deliberation in executive

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session, and it's on our agenda for later this evening, we are going to just adjourn our

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briefing workshop at 6:55 p.m. And our regular meeting wil

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alle time is now 701 and today is thursday, june 4th, 2026. And

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this is the regular meeting of the leander city council. Councilwoman tony blair will

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provide our invocation tonight. Please remain standing following the invocation for

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the pledge of allegiance. Dear heavenly father, we thank you so much for lord, allowing us

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to gather together today, this evening. Father, we just ask that as we go through and make

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important decisions for the betterment of our city. Lord, that you guide us and lead us

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to make those in a directive way. God that will benefit all the citizens here in the city

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of leander. God, thank you for this opportunity. We don't take it lightly. That you've given

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us an opportunity to lead. So please do guide us through our decision making, and we thank

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you for the opportunity. We give you praise and honor. In jesus name. Amen. Amen. Pledge

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allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it

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stands. One nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Honor the

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texas flag. I pledge allegiance to thee. Texas. One state under god, one and indivisible. Yes.

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thank you, councilwoman blair, for that prayer. And I know all of you have noticed how

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illuminated we are in here. We have we're getting ready for america. 250 and we have

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decorations that have been put up not just in city hall, but all over the city. So we turn

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down the lights just so y'all could get the impact of the 250 that's on the wall. It is

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absolutely beautiful. And we're very thankful to all our city staff that have worked diligently to put all of this together on our city's behalf. So thank you all for that. And

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thank you for being patient while we have the lights now. All right. City secretary

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crabtree, will you please call roll. Council member steven chang, council member michael

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herrera here. Council member tony blair, present council member. Annette sponseller,

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council member. Andrew nadine here. Mayor pro tem becky ross here. Mayor nicole thompson

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present quorum is present and the city council is eligible to do business. I want to say

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thank you to everyone that's attending tonight's meeting. We extend a special, heartfelt

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welcome to all of our active and retired military, our educators, our current and

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former elected officials, and all of our public safety professionals that are in the

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audience. Thank you so much for your commitment and for your service to leander and our

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entire community. Welcome to this meeting tonight. Item six is our nonagenda public

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comments. For items that are on the agenda, I will call on folks speakers. I'm sorry.

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prior to the discussion of the agenda item and during the public hearing, individuals

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that have submitted comments via the website will only have their positions read into the

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record. Any written comments have already been shared with council and will be made a part of the official record. We don't have anybody signed up tonight for public comments, so

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we will move to item seven, which is our staff reports, and we have an update on america

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250 celebration activities with the executive director of parks and recreation and community

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service, ashley boyle. Welcome. Good evening, mayor, council and assistant city manager. It

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is my pleasure to be here tonight to give you an update on our initiative for the 250

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program. The clicker. And joining me this evening are members of our amazing team

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that have helped with this initiative. This isn't everybody, but some of the folks that could be here tonight that we do want to recognize. Okay, okay. As part

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of the america 250 celebration, we're excited to offer a dynamic lineup of events that

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bring our community together in meaningful ways, from our nation's celebration and

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liberty fest to special library programs, veteran focused events, themed activities on

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our golf course, we're creating opportunities for residents of all ages to connect, learn and

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celebrate this historic milestone. Okay, so nation celebration will be the first

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item we'll cover. This will be held the weekend before liberty fest at lakewood park. This

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free event will feature live music, food trucks, family friendly fun zone, a pause in

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stripes pet parade, and a variety of field day games. We'll have live music presented

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in a casual backyard atmosphere. We're not bringing in a big stage. It's going to be more of

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a backyard, smaller atmosphere. For that, we'll also offer a freedom fun glow run five k in

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the evening to close out the night. We'll show independence day movie. We'll have a free

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shuttle service from ralph's high school that will help support parking and accessibility. And we do anticipate that this event will be smaller in nature in

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attendance. It's not. We're not looking for it to be a liberty fest type event. We're looking

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for maybe a couple of hundred people to 1000 to attend. And we are working with public

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safety for traffic control and security as well. So part of the celebration, we have a

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variety of field games all themed to highlight the patriotic spirit of the

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celebration. We have our paws and stripes pet parade. This event invites families to bring

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their pets, any pet that they have dogs, cats, parrots, birds, whatever, whatever you have, if

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you want to be involved, it'll be held at nation celebration at 7:00 pm. Participation is

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free, but we are asking for people to pre-register, so we have an idea of who's going to

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be there. It'll be patriotic costume contest with awards for the most creative and festive looks. Just a fun family activity. How do people pre-register? So we have a link

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online on the parks and rec website or on the city, on the city's website, under parks and

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recreation, under america. 250 there's a link and there's also a link on our facebook page. It

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is on facebook. Okay. Thank you. You're welcome. Next is our freedom fun glow run five k. So

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at nightfall we'll launch this five k using the trail system at lakewood park. The route

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will be illuminated with glow lights and themed features to create a high energy experience

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for our participants. We will also have our lanterns. We have 250 of them that we will circle

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around the great lawn. Participants are encouraged to register, but it also. Again,

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this one's free as well. In the first 500 participants will receive a commemorative medal

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and another fun experience for the event. So we're inviting people to dress up, dress in

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glow gear, you know, just be all sorts of patriotic festive. On to our liberty fest event.

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so this is our showcase event held on july 3rd. To kick off liberty fest, we will have a

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celebrate america to 50 bike and pedestrian parade. This is not a vehicular parade. This is

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a bike and pedestrian parade. It'll take place on the morning of july 3rd on municipal drive

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from camacho down to old town area and back to camacho. Parking will be at camacho

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elementary school, and it's a little less than a mile of of route, so it's not too far. So

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this one, we're encouraging folks to dress up, be patriotic. We'll hand out awards again.

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it's free. We're asking people to pre-register just so we have an idea of how many people will

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be there. And so we're looking forward to this event. Liberty fest friday, july 3rd, starting

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at 6:00 at devine lake park. This will include live music vendors, food trucks, food zone

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or fun zone giveaways, fireworks, and also a drone show this year that we're very

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excited to present. Parking will be available at glenn high school in danielson middle

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school, with free shuttle rides to and from the event. That kind of gives a map of the

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parking. And here is a map of the route from the schools to the park and back. And of

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course, we do have public safety involved in public works involved for for this event. We

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do have some activity going on at the senior activity center. Wednesday, june 10th will

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recognize national ballpoint pen day by inviting participants. We're getting

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creative in this program. Don't you love it? To write letters to local veterans and active

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duty service members using ballpoint pens in honor of the day? This activity provides a

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meaningful way for seniors to connect with and show appreciation for those who serve. Then, on wednesday, the 17th will host a horse and the american revolution. This

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program features a historical presentation from local historian admiral cat howell,

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highlighting the role early texans played in shaping events during the american revolution.

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okay. And we also are highlighting our hometown heroes, military heroes. This

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program is open to all active duty service members and veterans who have a connection to leander. Eligibility includes individuals who currently live in leander, have

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previously lived here or lived here at some time in their life. When they entered or separated

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from the military service. They can submit applications online on our website, and we've already rolled out this program. It's on our website, and we do have them featured on our

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facebook page as well. We will be hosting a veterans reception on thursday, july 2nd prior to

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the council meeting, and we have invited the veterans to attend this. We will have food,

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refreshments, they will receive a commemorative coin and they will also be invited to be

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present at the council meeting for the proclamation. Our library is also offering a

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series of america 250 themed programs for all ages. Highlights include a two week

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honoring our heroes, letters to veterans, activity themed programs for teens, adults and

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children's, and a patriotic nailed it competition for teens on july 7th. These programs

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provide fun, educational and creative ways for the community to engage with america. 250.

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and there's more. The golf course. We're offering a really cool experience that I know

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larry is very excited about as well. It's a global tournament, so it'll be held in the evening

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at the golf course. It'll be open to the public, we'll have live music and it'll be a nine

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hole global event creating a fun night time event. So if y'all have never played golf

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ball at night on a golf course, it's quite it's quite fun. So again, this one is free to the

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public restaurant will be open for food and drinks and we are lighting the building out there

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as well in our in red, white and blue lighting. And then on june 29th, we'll host our

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annual independence open tournament. Okay, enhancements. We have a variety enhancements

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such as community giveaways that we're doing. We're, we're gonna be giving away flags, wristbands, commemorative coins. We have our america 250 event shirts that we have provided to

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all of our city staff. In addition, we will be selling these for $15. We'll be selling

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them at our parks office, the pool, the activity center, senior activity center, and we

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you can buy it pre order them online. And then we will have a lantern trail that I mentioned

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earlier with 250 lanterns, both nation celebration and liberty fest as a memorable and

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symbolic atmosphere. Where's the lantern trail? It will go in lakewood park for nation

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celebration around the great lawn. Thank you. You're welcome. And then we'll move it to

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divine lake for for liberty fest. Thank you. And of course, we had jerseys made for our

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council to showcase leander's support for the america 250 celebration. This these photos

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came out really well and we really appreciate your support in showing the community that

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the city of leander is very supportive of this initiative. Some city wide decorations. So

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we have enhanced several city facilities and event sites with 250 themed decor and lighting,

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the city hall and pat bryson have lights on the building red, white and blue, and they are

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already on so you will get to see them if you haven't seen them already tonight, after you

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leave the meeting, we have wrapped some of the trees. Some of the trees at lakewood park

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and divine lake park have been wrapped in lights, and our gateway monuments will have patriotic elements. And additionally, as the mayor mentioned earlier, we have this

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beautiful 250 sign that our parks and recreation team built and the folks that built it are

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standing behind me. Yes, we'd like to. I will tell y'all, when I walked in here yesterday,

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I said, oh my goodness, when when we were talking about adding more elements, this is

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nothing of what I imagined that it would be. The level of detail and intent that went

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into not all the decorations, the decorations, but actually handcrafting this to fit our

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area and to fit our wall. It's amazing. It's outstanding. And thank you gentlemen, for

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working, putting your hands to do that. We really appreciate it. It is beautiful work and it

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took my breath away. When I walked in, I was like, oh my goodness, I didn't, I didn't

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expect it to be so grand and so beautiful. So thank you all for doing that. We really

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appreciate you. One, doing it and taking the time to be here tonight to be recognized by us.

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so thank you, thank you, thank you. Okay, so our 250 sign will be here in the council chambers.

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it'll be moved to nation celebration for that evening. Then it'll be moved back to the

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chambers for that week for the council meeting. And then it'll be moved to divine lake park

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for liberty fest. So we're going to have it at a variety of places, and we do anticipate

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it being kind of a photo op and a talking point for people. And I'm almost done. I'm just

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really excited. We have a whole bunch of activities going on. All right. We also have custom

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banners that we will be putting up, hopefully next week in old town and northline. And these

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are the ones that we actually designed and had made. So we'll be displaying those. And our

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250 community community mosaic mural that is an initiative of lpac. They are kicking this off

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at old town festival on saturday, and we have 250 tiles that are four inch by four inch

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that are kind of the paint by numbers that the community is invited to come paint them to

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make the 250 local mural, and it'll be displayed at the senior activity center. And

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that's all I have. I'm happy to answer any questions you may have. Well, executive director

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boyle, your team to the gentleman that made this beautiful 250 sign for us,

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eduardo rodriguez, jesse babcock, did I say that right? I did babiak babiak almost.

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okay. And austin coleman, thank you all so much for what you did and your work. We really

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appreciate it. But thank you to you for organizing and your leadership with this. When I

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was shown all of this, I was like, oh my goodness, this is really an opportunity for our

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entire community to find a way to get involved, from veterans to seniors to children, to

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other students, to folks that are have been here once before and maybe not here. We just

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appreciate it's clearly well thought out, well organized, and thank you for taking the

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time to do that because I know y'all are busy and have a lot, so I really appreciate it and

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I'm sure council does. Thank you all. Absolutely. We have a fantastic team. Yeah, it's been

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great. Council do y'all have I'll start with no place one. Place two. I just want to say

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this is very exciting. I remember the 200th anniversary of the country when I was 12,

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and all I remember of that about that is fireworks. And the olympics were at the same

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year and all that and, and all that. But I would say if I was a 12 year old, this would be a

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very memorable event that I would probably remember a lot of different details of it. So

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I really appreciate what you've done here and your team. Thank you. Yes. Yes, please. Three

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I'm sorry. No worries. I know I echo the same sentiments. I mean, I think that what's

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really great is that this is an opportunity for our entire community, our entire nation to

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come together. And so it's really nice to have these multiple activities that really

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connect us as a community. So thank you so much for putting a lot of thought into it and how

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we can be creative and paint, and all the fun activities and things that we can do to

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highlight how amazing it is to be a part of this country. So thank you, thank you. Please.

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five you said a pretty high bar, so I'm not going to be around for 300, but I this is it

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really is phenomenal. And it does show a, a diligence and a care that is that is, you know,

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frankly, you don't see it that often. And it's really nice that you guys are getting the

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accolades. And, you know, we will plan to and ensure that the appropriate accreditation

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is given in any conversation because this is a really, really big undertaking. I too,

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remember the bicentennial. I was a little bit younger than my counterpart, but this is

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this is really it. It really is very, very cool. I mean, these opportunities obviously only

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come every 50 years, but it's nice that we are doing something that is, again,

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leveling up to this degree. It truly is appreciated and noted. So thank you for your efforts.

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thank you. Please sit. I'm not sure what else I can add to all that, but this everything that

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y'all done, this is all extra on top of a really, really hectic schedule that y'all

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already take care of. So it's just, it's just amazing. I mean, when I walked in here, I was

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like, oh my gosh, this is the best thing ever. And everything you all do, I'm actually sad.

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I'm going to miss it, but no, thank you. Thank you to the team. I just this is a

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wonderful community project and I appreciate all the work that everybody's done. Thank you.

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well, thank you again. I don't know how we could say it any better. And I know sometimes

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thank you. You're tired of hearing that. But really, this is breathtaking. And I do fully

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understand how much work has been put into this. All the attention to detail. We've been

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seeing, the honoring of the veterans online, that and it's a lot of detail. So it's not

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just thank you for your service. It's going into a lot of detail about their history and the

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work that they've done. So thank you all for doing that. It's hugely important, and I'm

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just excited that our whole community has an opportunity to participate in this in america.

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250 so thank you. Thank you for doing that. Thank you, mayor and council, for your support.

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and again, I want to really emphasize it's a team effort. We have an incredible team that

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are working so hard on this and just so proud of everybody and thankful for all of the support

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that we're showing. It shows. Thank you. All right. All right. We are moving in our agenda to

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our consent agenda. Council will consider consent items eight through 14. This is an

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action item. Motion to approve. Second all right. We have a motion and a second. All those

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in favor. All right. Motion carries. And now we'll move to our public hearing which is

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item 15. We'll conduct a public hearing regarding special use case z-26-0210. To consider

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action on a special use permit to allow for an in-home daycare with up to 12 children on one

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parcel of land 0.2 acres, plus or minus in size, as stated on the posted agenda. Executive

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director of development services robin griffin. Welcome. Good evening. This is a public

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hearing for a special use permit request for the property located at 1202 drake cove.

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this property is currently zoned for residential use and the way our ordinance is

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structured, they're only allowed to have five children as part of an in-home daycare. In this case, they are operating with more than five children and have made

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alterations to the house to convert the garage to support the children. This item is

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subject to a code enforcement case, and that's why we're here today to try to help bring them

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into compliance. The special use permit is a method of allowing people to make changes

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that are contrary to the base zoning, so they're able to ask for a special request from the

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council for a different a different use. So she is requesting in the packet for 12

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children. She has updated us that she's changing her request to to ten children. As part of

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this consideration, staff is asking for the council to consider the other impacts on

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the area. We did have concerns about parking and the location of the play area. This request

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did go before the planning and zoning commission and during the meeting, the commission

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heard from a lot of neighbors and in the end, they decided to take no action and send it to

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the council for consideration. While we worked through amendments to the ordinance

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itself. So we do have an item coming up on a future agenda where we're going to consider

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changes to the composite zoning ordinance. So with that, I'll be glad to answer any questions

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after the public hearing. And do you want to make a presentation? And the applicant

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would like to make a presentation as well. Okay. Thank you. Yeah. Welcome. How

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are you? Good. You may have to pull your mic down a little bit. There you go. Good evening,

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mayor thompson and city council. My name is shanti pereira and I have been a resident since 2007.

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since moving here, I have been a provider of affordable child care for hundreds of families.

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from 2008 to 2013, I ran a home based daycare that expanded to a standalone facility called

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young minds on baghdad road that served 115 children. After some personal reflection, I

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realized my passion lies with a smaller setting and started dewdrops montessori out of my

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home in 2022. I have experience in successful small based daycare and a large scale model

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and understand the different needs and requirements set by the state of texas. I am here

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before you today to ask for a special permit that allows for ten students at dew drops, a

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number that remains within the capacity authorized by my texas state license. Dew drops is

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open from 8 a.m. To 5 p.m. Daily and is based out of my home on draco. I currently have

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ten enrolled students, ages 3 to 5. Parent drop off and pick up, are on a staggered schedule,

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and are on site for less than five minutes. The recent approval of six children

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matches the description of registered childcare home. I currently hold a license to a

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licensed child care home. My current childcare has been a licensed child care home with

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the state of texas since 2022, and meets all the guidelines set by the state entity. This

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license allows for up to 12 children. It also includes stricter safety and operational

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minimum standards, including completing specific pre-application courses, annual

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training and holding pediatric cpr and first aid certifications, and having a

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designated outdoor play space. Sb 599 passed into law in may 2025 by the texas legislature.

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this requires local ordinances to be in compliance with state guidelines. It establishes

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regulatory uniformity for group daycare, homes and family homes across texas by limiting the

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authority of local subdivisions to impose health and safety requirements that exceed those

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set by the state. I invite you to come and visit my home facility. You can see my setup

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and observe the staggered drop off and pick up time to prevent street congestion, and view my

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daily schedule that has students indoors for most of the day. If you have any

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questions about daycare. I'm happy to answer them. And I also have a copy of my

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childcare schedule. If you would like to have a look at it. Thank you. Thank you for your

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your comments. We have a public hearing that will open up and then afterwards we'll be

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council discussion. If they have additional questions, we'll call you back. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Our public hearing is now open. And I'll call on speakers with

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submitted cards and others that have submitted cards but did not want to speak. I will read

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their positions into the record. So for item 15, we have angela noel. Angela is against this

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particular item and the position will just be added to the record. Next I'll call up

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wayne noel. And you'll have three minutes. Good evening mayor, city council. My name is

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wayne noel. I reside on 1204 drake cove in immediate proximity to 1202 drake cove.

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I'm hereby respectfully opposed to this request. This property is located with a single family

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residential zoning district, and the proposal used is not consistent with that intent or

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purpose of the designation. Under standard zoning principles, any request for

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rezoning, special use permit or variance must meet specific criteria. This, including

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compatibility with surrounding uses, protection of public health and safety, and

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preservation of neighborhood character. This request does not meet those standards. First,

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compatibility a higher intensity use such as a daycare operation where recurring drop

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offs and pick ups is fundamentally inconsistency. With a low density residential

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cul de sac, the scale and frequency of activity introduce a commercial pattern into a

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noncommercial area. Secondly, traffic and safety cul de sacs are designed for limited local

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traffic, not continuous circulation from nonresidents. Increased vehicle stops during

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peak hours create congestion, restrict maneuverability, and raise legitimate concerns

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regarding pedestrian safety and emergency access. These are material land use impacts that

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must be considered. Thirdly, the precedent and zoning integrity approved this request

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would effectively erode the purpose of the existing zoning classification and set a

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precedent for similar encroachments. Zoning is intended to provide

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predictability and stability for property owners, granting exceptions that conflict with

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established use undermines that framework. I would also note that hardship were applicable

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to a variance, must be unique to that property itself, and not self-created. The

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circumstances here do not appear to meet that threshold. This is not a personal matter.

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it's about consistent application of zoning standards and protecting the rights and

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expectations of surrounding homeowners who relied on those standards when purchasing their

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homes. Once this line is crossed, it can't be uncrossed and our neighborhood will never

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be the same. For these reasons, I respectfully request that you deny this application and

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uphold the existing zoning in order to protect the safety, character, and integrity of our

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neighborhood. Thank you for your time and consideration. Thank you. Next, I have melissa

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ivey. You can come forward, state your name, address, and you'll have three minutes.

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thank you. Good evening, mayor and council members. My name is melissa ivey and I reside at

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1808 burr parkway in leander. I'm a local business owner and a former educator of 30 years

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experience, including 19 years with leander isd. I'm here tonight in support of ashanti

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pereira and dewdrops montessori preschool. I have known ashanti since before she opened her

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daycare. She brings over 25 years of experience of childhood education and

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montessori instruction, and together we have 55 years of experience. While shanti's

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qualifications are impressive, I'm here to speak about the larger issue the growing need

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for quality child care in leander. In 2019, I became a foster parent to my nieces

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children who. During that time I struggled to find childcare for them and even school age

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programs had waiting lists. Since then, leander has continued to grow, and so has

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the demand for child care, and families need a safe, reliable and nurturing environment there

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for their children so their parents can work, support households and contribute to

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our local community. We. When parents cannot find dependable childcare, it can affect their

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ability to remain in workforce, reduce work hours, accept new employment and quality. Child

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care not only benefits children and families, but also supports local businesses, strengthens

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workforce and contributes to the tax base that we need to fund essential city services. I

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understand that there are concerns about the traffic, but ashanti has taken steps to

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minimize that impact by staggering the drop off and pick up times and encouraging

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parents to use her driveway. The traffic from this small home based preschool is minimal

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and spreads throughout the spreads throughout the day. In reality, many neighborhoods see

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more traffic from delivery service vehicles amazon, fedex, ups, instacart, ubers. It was

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designed to serve local families while being. She was designed it to be a good

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neighbor. This request is not for a large commercial operation. It is simply to

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allow enough enrollment to make it financially feasible for ashanti to hire an assistant.

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having an assistant means that more supervision, more individualized attention, and

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stronger learning environment for every child. It also allows the program to maintain an

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exceptional ratio of 1 to 5. Without sufficient enrollment, it becomes difficult to

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maintain both the high quality and high care and the affordable tuition that she now

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provides as an educator, a foster parent, a community member, I know firsthand how

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important quality childcare provides, like ashanti's are to children and working families,

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and I respectfully ask for you to support this request. And the impact on the neighborhood

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is minimal. But the benefit to the children, the families and our children and our community

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is significant. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Next, we have gaye glick. If you come

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forward, state your name, your address, and you'll have three minutes. Thank you. Mayor

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council. My name is gay glick. I live at 914 mallard 912 mallard lake tyrrell. Excuse me.

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and I'm a neighbor of ashanti. And ashanti has lived in this community for almost 18 years,

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as of at least almost 20 other homeowners. Because we love our community. It's very small. We

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have our area is only four streets. They're on a cul de sac. I was on a board. I was on

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the board of directors for four years. I approved her request during right after covid, and

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there has not been one complaint by any homeowner regarding parking or anything,

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except for the neighbor next door that has filed the original complaint against her.

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and even that homeowner has a complaint against her, with her fence, with the city, which is

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in process at the moment. So it's not a this is not a tit for tat. This is just if you're

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going to do one thing, you got to do it for. All right. So I would hope that y'all would

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support us auntie, in this. It's not like it's going to be a lifelong commitment for a

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license. She may only need it for a few years, but it's not a life like a lifetime commitment.

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so I wish you would consider her. Thank you, thank you. And last speaker I have is ashanti.

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oh, okay. Well, I know you spoke earlier, but I was like, well, maybe she wants to come

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back in. She has three more minutes. Okay. Thank you. So the public hearing is now

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closed and we will discuss and consider action regarding special use case z-26-0210 as

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described above. Council. Please place to. Yes, I have a question for. For robin, it's

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more about the timing of what we're looking at. You know, because we're looking at this

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actively as what our policy is related to these types of type of businesses or homes and

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everything. And so can you kind of lay out a little bit about what that looks like for that?

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yeah. So we have an amendment to the composite zoning ordinance, and that's scheduled for the june 18th city council meeting. It was already reviewed by the planning and

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zoning commission. Okay. And how would that impact like what the working this is this is

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separate. So you can approve a special use permit that gives alternative standards to the

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ordinance. Okay, okay. That's my last question. Okay. I do have one question and it might

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be for assistant to the city manager. Kent, seriously about there was a mention about the

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bill that passed this year, and I know that you guys went up to senator royce west and

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discussed, since they are the ones that originated that bill. Can you talk a little bit about

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their feedback about how they wrote the bill and what they intended with that bill? Yeah.

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so senate bill 1555, when that was passed last legislative session that was focused on the

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health and human code section for that. And so when this was brought up, we were looking at

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pieces of that health and human services code, and whether or not that also applies to zoning.

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and so when we met with the bill author, the senator's staff confirmed that that bill

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does not apply to any zoning regulations and things like that, which is why we've been

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working with robin and her team to find some sort of solution to help kind of navigate through that. Yep. Thank you. Please. Three. I think I had this is for miss miss griffin.

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I think I had some of the similar questions. I know that, you know, we were trying to set

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precedents around the ordinance in itself. And so, you know, I, I wanted to get some

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clarification on when that would be back before council in that presentation, before

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council, would there be a delineation of options that would be available? And can you

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speak a little bit about that? Yeah. So we were presenting a an ordinance amendment that is

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kind of in line with what we discussed in the the workshops with the ordinance amendment.

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the council has the ability to choose to do different, different things. But we were

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proposing the six children by right with no special permits or anything. And you could go

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up to 12 for after school care. And if you you did that, you would have to do certain things

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like accommodate parking and make sure the playground area isn't too close to the

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neighboring properties. Okay. And I think I lost my train of thought there. So, so in terms

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of, of options that are available, you know, I, I kind of went back and forth on this.

388
00:40:28,178 --> 00:40:28,178
I, if you know, since this is a special use permit, you know, I think that maybe we should

389
00:40:37,511 --> 00:40:37,511
consider having a final decision on the actual ordinance because we do want to

390
00:40:41,778 --> 00:40:41,778
set long term precedents and not necessarily have something that is not in compliance with

391
00:40:47,544 --> 00:40:47,544
future decision. Was there any reason why maybe that wasn't this particular agenda item

392
00:40:55,478 --> 00:40:55,478
wasn't tabled before we could get to that? The applicant has the right to make a zoning

393
00:41:01,578 --> 00:41:01,578
request at any time, and her request came in before our ordinance was ready. The

394
00:41:06,544 --> 00:41:06,544
council does have the option to table the action to the next meeting, if you wanted to, to

395
00:41:10,811 --> 00:41:10,811
wait and consider them both together. Okay. And then I had one quick question for the

396
00:41:17,044 --> 00:41:17,044
applicant. And that the. But, miss mrs. Shanti pereira, I know that you made a change

397
00:41:31,811 --> 00:41:31,811
from ten students to or ten children to I'm sorry, 12 to children to ten. Can you talk

398
00:41:39,044 --> 00:41:39,044
to us a little bit about about why you made that adjustment? So do I have my license for 12.

399
00:41:45,811 --> 00:41:45,811
I only use it when I. So I have I need to have my income. And when I have kids graduating, if

400
00:41:54,078 --> 00:41:54,078
there is one day or something overlapping when a child leaves on a monday and another sorry,

401
00:42:00,178 --> 00:42:00,178
monday and another child wants to join the previous friday, then I enrolled. But otherwise

402
00:42:05,611 --> 00:42:05,611
I like to. My passion is to teach the children, so I only take what I can handle and I

403
00:42:12,178 --> 00:42:12,178
really like the number 12, so I never. It's very rarely do I have 12. Okay. And I know that

404
00:42:19,644 --> 00:42:19,644
there was some some commentary a little earlier about you did receive approval from the hoa.

405
00:42:25,811 --> 00:42:25,811
is that correct to operate when, when I first moved, there was no hoa. And I think this hoa

406
00:42:35,844 --> 00:42:35,844
came into effect somewhere in 2013. I did get in touch with a lawyer and he did some research

407
00:42:43,811 --> 00:42:43,811
and I don't know the terms of it, but it looks like hoa is not legit. And he asked, I

408
00:42:51,144 --> 00:42:51,144
think it was in january or february for the hoa to get back with some information he's

409
00:42:56,044 --> 00:42:56,044
asking, and they never got back. So I don't think, as far as I know, I don't have to worry

410
00:43:02,778 --> 00:43:02,778
about an hoa. Okay, so there was not any formal approval by the hoa I did get when I. So

411
00:43:09,778 --> 00:43:09,778
first there was nothing because when we bought the house, right when I moved from los angeles,

412
00:43:14,378 --> 00:43:14,378
that was the main reason. My youngest, who is now in the military, was just two years.

413
00:43:20,111 --> 00:43:20,111
and I wanted to put my experience and stay home with him. So that was the only

414
00:43:25,478 --> 00:43:25,478
reason I bought that home. They told me that I can there was some kind of an issue. It was

415
00:43:31,611 --> 00:43:31,611
like the board probably wasn't established at that time. Yes. Okay. Okay. Well, so and I

416
00:43:38,611 --> 00:43:38,611
wanted to tell something about the after school, six kids that's going to bring a lot of

417
00:43:43,444 --> 00:43:43,444
traffic because after school kids, the school bus will come. And the program I have is

418
00:43:50,411 --> 00:43:50,411
minimum traffic. If you have six. And also I am. How are the parents going to work? Because

419
00:43:57,911 --> 00:43:57,911
all my parents are full time. They all have full time jobs and that's why they can't do

420
00:44:04,044 --> 00:44:04,044
find childcare. That is 8 to 5. Okay. I mean, I do have staggered pick ups, so some are

421
00:44:10,978 --> 00:44:10,978
1230 then 3:00, 334, 435 only in the mornings, especially on mondays, sometimes do I have

422
00:44:21,578 --> 00:44:21,578
staggered every like at least three, but still they don't block because my driveway is

423
00:44:26,178 --> 00:44:26,178
there and it's just drop and go. There is no traffic compared to all the other. I love all my

424
00:44:33,344 --> 00:44:33,344
neighbors, but there is so much traffic more than mine because I am a single mom and I. It's

425
00:44:37,944 --> 00:44:37,944
just me alone at home. And I have one more question for. Thank you so much. Yes, I have

426
00:44:44,644 --> 00:44:44,644
one more question for miss griffin. Can you just let let me know what when what date the.

427
00:44:55,044 --> 00:44:55,044
the original ordinance was put into place. Do you have that 2005 is when we adopted the

428
00:44:59,478 --> 00:44:59,478
composite zoning ordinance. It may have had provisions prior to that, but that's the

429
00:45:04,511 --> 00:45:04,511
ordinance I'm the most familiar with. Okay. And I can provide clarification on the hoa.

430
00:45:09,778 --> 00:45:09,778
according to their plot, it was created in 2013, but the land wasn't platted until 2015. Okay,

431
00:45:16,178 --> 00:45:16,178
that was post 2015. All right. Thank you so much. So so I think that's that's all the

432
00:45:22,878 --> 00:45:22,878
questions I have. I just will reiterate, I do believe that maybe we consider as a council

433
00:45:29,078 --> 00:45:29,078
making a decision after we have set policy or precedents in place on the ordinance before

434
00:45:36,544 --> 00:45:36,544
make a decision on this particular agenda item. Thank you. Please. Five do you have

435
00:45:41,578 --> 00:45:41,578
anything? No additional comments I agree with councilman blair. Play. Six I

436
00:45:52,411 --> 00:45:52,411
struggle with this because I think it's a very emotional decision. And my kiddos a long

437
00:45:56,811 --> 00:45:56,811
time ago also did an in-home daycare and it was fantastic. Mama dee was amazing. But the

438
00:46:03,311 --> 00:46:03,311
other side of it is the precedent. It does set. And, and because there's an ongoing

439
00:46:09,011 --> 00:46:09,011
code enforcement case also, it makes it very difficult for me from a safety perspective to

440
00:46:14,944 --> 00:46:14,944
approve something that we haven't gotten through the safety aspect of it. So I'm,

441
00:46:20,078 --> 00:46:20,078
I'm very conflicted here, but I don't have any questions. Gotcha. I think in-home daycare

442
00:46:28,078 --> 00:46:28,078
is needed. It's important. My kids as well, all went to in-home daycare at some point

443
00:46:33,211 --> 00:46:33,211
in their life, some in texas, some in other states. And you know that that is a huge

444
00:46:40,578 --> 00:46:40,578
importance. But what we're here to determine is about this ordinance that we have coming

445
00:46:46,311 --> 00:46:46,311
before us. Planning and zoning did approve a change to the ordinance at their meeting last

446
00:46:52,078 --> 00:46:52,078
week, and they did table decision on this particular sup until ordinance change was made,

447
00:47:02,178 --> 00:47:02,178
because they knew it was coming down the line. So I'm going to make a recommendation as a

448
00:47:07,144 --> 00:47:07,144
council that we remand this back to planning and zoning for their review. Based on the

449
00:47:13,011 --> 00:47:13,011
ordinance change that they said they needed to review before they could make a decision on

450
00:47:18,044 --> 00:47:18,044
this sup, and then once they have a chance to review it now, in light of the full ordinance

451
00:47:24,111 --> 00:47:24,111
that they've approved last week, then it will come back to council and we can review that

452
00:47:29,944 --> 00:47:29,944
and we will have reviewed the ordinance at that point. We want to be clear that we're not

453
00:47:35,244 --> 00:47:35,244
taking things out of steps, that we're not being inconsistent with our processes.

454
00:47:39,978 --> 00:47:39,978
and I heard that comment from a commissioner before, that we need to be consistent with how

455
00:47:45,711 --> 00:47:45,711
we're approving things. And that process really is that the ordinance change happened. And

456
00:47:51,511 --> 00:47:51,511
then we review this particular item. It makes no sense for us to make a decision on this,

457
00:47:57,211 --> 00:47:57,211
knowing that there was an ordinance change that was approved by planning and zoning

458
00:48:01,578 --> 00:48:01,578
that's coming to us. We really need to be consistent, is my thought process. So that is the

459
00:48:07,944 --> 00:48:07,944
recommendation that I would make to council. Yeah, that's my motion. I'm sorry. I'll

460
00:48:14,511 --> 00:48:14,511
second that. So I have a motion and a second on that. Is that okay? The way that stated. Yes,

461
00:48:25,344 --> 00:48:25,344
ma'am. Okay. We have a motion and a second. All those in favor? All right. That passes

462
00:48:31,744 --> 00:48:31,744
unanimously. Thank you. All right. We will move to item 16, conduct a public hearing for

463
00:48:39,511 --> 00:48:39,511
the purpose of receiving public comment on an ordinance approving a letter of agreement

464
00:48:43,978 --> 00:48:43,978
with pinellas electric cooperative, psc to grant an extension to the franchise

465
00:48:48,678 --> 00:48:48,678
approved by ordinance number 19-032-00, which grants psc certain powers, licenses right

466
00:48:55,944 --> 00:48:55,944
of way, privileges and franchise to construct, maintain, operate and use a

467
00:49:01,611 --> 00:49:01,611
transmission and distribution system in the city of leander to provide electric utility

468
00:49:06,711 --> 00:49:06,711
service. Provide direction to city staff on an ordinance approving a letter of agreement

469
00:49:11,511 --> 00:49:11,511
with psc as described above, and schedule a formal action for the regular city council

470
00:49:16,811 --> 00:49:16,811
meeting on july 2nd, 2026. Assistant to the city manager no. Assistant city manager. I'm

471
00:49:23,044 --> 00:49:23,044
sorry, edwin ravel. This one is yours. Thank you. Mayor and council, as the mayor has has

472
00:49:29,811 --> 00:49:29,811
stated, this item is an agreement that will allow us an opportunity to continue our

473
00:49:36,644 --> 00:49:36,644
conversations and negotiation with psc as it relates to the franchise agreement. The

474
00:49:41,644 --> 00:49:41,644
existing agreement is a seven year agreement that is due to expire this month, and this if

475
00:49:50,244 --> 00:49:50,244
at the appropriate time, when this is ready for approval or consideration by the council,

476
00:49:56,044 --> 00:49:56,044
this will give an opportunity, if granted, to give us up to 12 months to finalize the new

477
00:50:03,578 --> 00:50:03,578
franchise agreement. And while that's going on with this would do was would allow us to extend

478
00:50:09,544 --> 00:50:09,544
the existing agreement under the current terms until we have the new agreement in place. All

479
00:50:16,978 --> 00:50:16,978
right. Well, this is a public hearing and it is open, but we didn't have any speakers sign

480
00:50:23,344 --> 00:50:23,344
up for this particular item. So the public hearing is now closed. And this is an action

481
00:50:29,544 --> 00:50:29,544
item for council. Do you have comments. You can make comments if you have. Go ahead. Yeah I

482
00:50:35,344 --> 00:50:35,344
just have a comment. So so as we're I know that we're not talking about what the contents

483
00:50:40,278 --> 00:50:40,278
of the what we're going to work on in the extension, but, you know, kind of reviewing the

484
00:50:44,411 --> 00:50:48,344
contract and everything or the franchise agreement, I hope you guys are looking at some ways that we can work with pattern to, to, to, to get some type of way that we can prioritize what

485
00:50:54,511 --> 00:50:54,511
we want them to do or something in the agreement. I'm not sure if that's in there. When I read

486
00:50:59,511 --> 00:50:59,511
through it, I really didn't, I, I pretty much they're going to do everything in the order they

487
00:51:03,678 --> 00:51:03,678
want and how they want. I would like to see it if we can work that in, if that's something

488
00:51:08,744 --> 00:51:08,744
common in other cities where they're doing that. And so that's just my one thing that I

489
00:51:13,411 --> 00:51:13,411
saw on there that I think would be very good for us. And then also, if there's something we

490
00:51:17,778 --> 00:51:17,778
could do to. Not regulate, but to make ensure that certain customers are able to get

491
00:51:24,211 --> 00:51:24,211
reliable energy from may possibly have priority customers within the franchise

492
00:51:29,978 --> 00:51:29,978
agreement. That's just my $0.02. Okay. Yeah, I think what we're doing today is just extending

493
00:51:37,011 --> 00:51:37,011
the contract so they have time to negotiate all of those points. But thank you for

494
00:51:41,111 --> 00:51:41,111
adding those points. But that's what we're doing tonight is just extending the contract as

495
00:51:45,811 --> 00:51:45,811
is and as it's already set up so that they continue to operate and then they have time

496
00:51:52,644 --> 00:51:52,644
to negotiate something more, right? Yes, yes. We'll have time. Your point is well taken.

497
00:51:59,111 --> 00:51:59,111
we did receive the initial recommendation from them, and there are opportunities for us

498
00:52:06,344 --> 00:52:06,344
to prioritize it more, more so such that this balance. All right. Please. Three anything?

499
00:52:13,944 --> 00:52:13,944
no. I think that you clearly stated this is just giving us an opportunity to make the

500
00:52:18,944 --> 00:52:18,944
negotiations that are required for the city. So I'm good with it. Please. Five I am I'm just

501
00:52:24,678 --> 00:52:24,678
curious and just for clarification, knowing that this contract or this agreement

502
00:52:30,844 --> 00:52:30,844
was coming to term, why didn't we not do this earlier? It seems we could have done that

503
00:52:38,444 --> 00:52:38,444
previously and not run into this extension. Is there a specific reason that that

504
00:52:43,111 --> 00:52:46,878
happened? Is it something contractually just I want to understand that a little bit better. Sure. So so the process started in october of 2025 is when, when the process really

505
00:52:56,011 --> 00:52:56,011
started. At that point, the typical staff members that were responsible were not in place

506
00:53:05,511 --> 00:53:05,511
at that time. And so we had staff changes. We we did some departmental changes about what

507
00:53:12,144 --> 00:53:12,144
department would be responsible for shepherding this agreement. So we've had some conversations

508
00:53:19,444 --> 00:53:19,444
since october. But the, the, the more intense conversations didn't really start until a

509
00:53:24,878 --> 00:53:24,878
month ago. So, so there are some things on our side that we just had to, to make sure that

510
00:53:30,211 --> 00:53:30,211
we were, we had in order and in place. Okay. Thank you. Thank you for that clarification. And

511
00:53:35,044 --> 00:53:35,044
obviously, that would have mitigated our ability to even address this. Yeah. So I fully

512
00:53:41,378 --> 00:53:41,378
support this particular extension to allow for that. Thank you. Please, I'll make a

513
00:53:51,478 --> 00:53:51,478
motion. I'd like to make a motion to table all formal action on this item to the

514
00:53:58,011 --> 00:53:58,011
regular city council meeting on july 2nd, 2026. I will second that. I do have one. Can you

515
00:54:18,478 --> 00:54:18,478
share why you want to table to july 2nd? Okay. Thank you. I was like, what are we doing? I

516
00:54:28,544 --> 00:54:28,544
missed that line. I was like, what? We're we're in a position that we can move to approve

517
00:54:34,878 --> 00:54:34,878
this. Okay. Yeah, yeah, sorry, I was just saying that motion. Okay. Okay. Got it, got it, got

518
00:54:43,711 --> 00:54:43,711
it to approve it. Yes. Yeah. Yes we are, because they're going to be two readings of

519
00:54:50,544 --> 00:54:50,544
this action. So I will move that we approve the extension as indicated in the document

520
00:54:56,878 --> 00:54:56,878
presented to us this evening and recommended by staff. I'll second. All right. We have a

521
00:55:01,944 --> 00:55:01,944
motion. And second, all those in favor. All right. That passes. Thank you mayor. Yes,

522
00:55:07,111 --> 00:55:07,111
please. There was just one thing that I did fail to say. I think that is important. Okay.

523
00:55:11,778 --> 00:55:11,778
peck is in agreement with this. Yes they are. Thank you. All right. We'll move to our

524
00:55:30,844 --> 00:55:30,844
regular agenda item 17. Discuss and consider action on a resolution authorizing

525
00:55:35,511 --> 00:55:35,511
submission of staffing for adequate fire and emergency response safer grant through

526
00:55:39,978 --> 00:55:39,978
the united states department of homeland security and federal emergency management agency,

527
00:55:44,844 --> 00:55:44,844
fema to fund the hiring of 15 new firefighter positions providing for the cost sharing,

528
00:55:50,444 --> 00:55:50,444
if awarded, of 25% of the actual cost in the first and second year and 65% in the

529
00:55:56,778 --> 00:55:56,778
third year of the grant, and authorize city manager to execute any and all necessary

530
00:56:01,378 --> 00:56:01,378
documents. Fire department division chief tony angelino. I know I messed it up. I'm sorry.

531
00:56:10,044 --> 00:56:10,044
correct me. I'm trying to do my phonetic spelling. We'll see if I say it right. Okay. Thank you

532
00:56:17,344 --> 00:56:17,344
for being gracious. Of course. Good evening, mayor and council. My name is tony anguiano. I am

533
00:56:22,044 --> 00:56:22,044
a division chief with the fire department. Thank you for the opportunity to speak about this

534
00:56:26,644 --> 00:56:26,644
item. As shown in the executive summary, we are requesting authorization to submit a safer

535
00:56:31,344 --> 00:56:31,344
grant application to the support of hiring 15 positions for the staffing of fire

536
00:56:35,978 --> 00:56:35,978
station six in the north east area of the city. Based on historical data, this proposed

537
00:56:41,744 --> 00:56:41,744
unit would have responded to approximately 300 emergencies within that area in the last

538
00:56:46,778 --> 00:56:46,778
year. In addition to responding to an additional 250 emergencies that occurred in

539
00:56:51,711 --> 00:56:51,711
the adjacent areas. The safer grant program is designed specifically to help fire

540
00:56:56,878 --> 00:56:56,878
departments increase operational staffing to meet national safety standards. If

541
00:57:02,644 --> 00:57:02,644
awarded, the grant would cover 75% of the firefighters first year salary for the first two

542
00:57:08,078 --> 00:57:08,078
years and a 35% for the third year. The city would be responsible for covering the

543
00:57:13,411 --> 00:57:13,411
remaining personnel costs. Tonight's requested action simply authorize authorizes the

544
00:57:19,144 --> 00:57:19,144
submission of the safer grant application and empowers the city manager to execute any

545
00:57:23,478 --> 00:57:23,478
required documents and, if awarded, this grant would provide substantial federal

546
00:57:28,144 --> 00:57:32,144
support for increasing our frontline staffing and improving our overall community protection. I'm happy to answer any questions council may have. Thank you. Any questions?

547
00:57:36,544 --> 00:57:36,544
council. Okay, sir. Yes. So thank you so much, lieutenant, for coming out and speaking. I

548
00:57:47,011 --> 00:57:47,011
did have a chance to speak with, and I'm going to try the name chief chief billy w, chief

549
00:57:53,044 --> 00:57:53,044
watson houser and and also broadmoor, president broadmoor, regarding this particular grant.

550
00:58:02,911 --> 00:58:02,911
and so they did talk to me or speak to me a little bit about kind of the northeast quadrant

551
00:58:09,011 --> 00:58:09,011
of our city and how it needs that support. Can you just go into a little bit more detail

552
00:58:13,811 --> 00:58:13,811
of why it's really important for us to secure this amount of firefighters in that area? Yes,

553
00:58:19,044 --> 00:58:19,044
ma'am. So hiring 15 firefighters would be the first step and up staffing for fire,

554
00:58:23,611 --> 00:58:23,611
fire, fire station six, fire station six is projected to be in the northeast section of the

555
00:58:28,911 --> 00:58:28,911
area of the city, which currently is valued at $3.7 billion, that are unprotected

556
00:58:34,778 --> 00:58:34,778
assets and about 12,000 residents in the immediate area. So having the staffing and the

557
00:58:40,578 --> 00:58:40,578
building there would give us that opportunity to better provide service. Our first

558
00:58:45,578 --> 00:58:45,578
arriving engine is station four, and that is more than the recommended time from nfpa

559
00:58:53,144 --> 00:58:53,144
standards. Awesome. I definitely know that they were in alignment with this is the

560
00:58:57,878 --> 00:58:57,878
right step for fire station six. So we're we're looking forward to hopefully securing the grant

561
00:59:03,578 --> 00:59:03,578
funding for that. I did have one question, I believe, for mr. Williams regarding the

562
00:59:10,411 --> 00:59:10,411
budget and just just getting some clarification for the citizens. So in this particular

563
00:59:17,178 --> 00:59:17,178
grant, it does talk about the first first two years being 25% cost allocation covered by the

564
00:59:25,644 --> 00:59:25,644
city, that going to 65% salary for those firefighters. And then after that, we would, we

565
00:59:32,544 --> 00:59:32,544
would recover full, full cost. From a budget perspective, do you feel that if we are granted

566
00:59:39,378 --> 00:59:39,378
the or awarded this grant, we would be able to support three years and beyond with the city?

567
00:59:48,278 --> 00:59:48,278
yes. Council member, I'm very confident that based on our revenue projections over the

568
00:59:53,311 --> 00:59:53,311
next several years, the city of leander will be able to support the 25% going forward. Okay,

569
00:59:59,311 --> 00:59:59,311
wonderful. That was my only question for you. Thank you so much, mr. Williams. So, yeah,

570
01:00:03,411 --> 01:00:03,411
I'm definitely in support of this, and it's in alignment with the trajectory that the

571
01:00:07,978 --> 01:00:07,978
fire department wants to make. So thank you. Thank you. Any other comments, please? Five. I

572
01:00:16,278 --> 01:00:16,278
did have a lot of questions with regards to the way that the safer parameters are

573
01:00:23,144 --> 01:00:23,144
defined, just to ensure that all of the specific needs and wants are correctly delineated

574
01:00:30,611 --> 01:00:30,611
in the way that we're approaching this particular grant. Submission, because it

575
01:00:37,011 --> 01:00:37,011
hasn't been approved. Right. And, you know, all of those questions were to, to my

576
01:00:42,611 --> 01:00:42,611
satisfaction, answered. So I think the city has done a very, very good job of finding an

577
01:00:48,644 --> 01:00:48,644
alternative way to help fund these types of expansions that are very definitively needed

578
01:00:55,278 --> 01:00:55,278
for the city's long term security. And, and the future, obviously, of our staffing and

579
01:01:03,211 --> 01:01:03,211
our and our additional fire stations that we are planning in the future. However, with

580
01:01:08,844 --> 01:01:08,844
that said, I do want to point out that the immigration enforcement conditions that

581
01:01:15,711 --> 01:01:15,711
exist in the dhs standard terms framework were affirmatively applied to this particular loan

582
01:01:23,344 --> 01:01:23,344
or this particular grant. They are not a hypothetical. They are in there. They are

583
01:01:28,611 --> 01:01:28,611
currently blocked by permanent injunction. But that appeal is is expected. So this means if

584
01:01:35,178 --> 01:01:35,178
we accept this safer award, when if we were to be granted that award, because this is

585
01:01:41,978 --> 01:01:41,978
just the application. Again, I want to stress that it's just the application. But if we were

586
01:01:47,111 --> 01:01:47,111
to accept the award, we do so under terms that exclude those immigration conditions now. But

587
01:01:54,611 --> 01:01:54,611
a legal landscape could shift during the period of this particular grant. That's a

588
01:02:00,744 --> 01:02:00,744
meaningful risk worth flagging in this briefing, and it is important to note that as a

589
01:02:10,878 --> 01:02:10,878
city with both fire department staffing needs and a long term look at the preservation of

590
01:02:19,411 --> 01:02:19,411
operational and policy independence on public safety matters, I feel it's important

591
01:02:24,744 --> 01:02:24,744
to make that statement. I'm not opposed to us applying for the loan, but we do need to be

592
01:02:32,511 --> 01:02:32,511
cognizant of what that could potentially grant us were we given that grant. And when we

593
01:02:38,711 --> 01:02:38,711
have to address those issues upon the acceptance of that grant, I just want to make sure

594
01:02:44,144 --> 01:02:44,144
that that's read into the record so that if this council is not the council that is

595
01:02:48,244 --> 01:02:48,244
doing that, that there will be an opportunity to address those concerns. And I thank you very,

596
01:02:52,978 --> 01:02:52,978
very much. I appreciate what you guys are doing. Like I said, all of my other questions were

597
01:02:57,344 --> 01:02:57,344
answered. I think it's a great way to do this. I just think there's some conditions on this

598
01:03:02,044 --> 01:03:02,044
particular grant now that are that are troublesome. Yes, sir. That is a that is accurate. And

599
01:03:06,644 --> 01:03:06,644
thank you for pointing that out. We would have to agree to all the terms and conditions. As

600
01:03:10,911 --> 01:03:10,911
with all federal grants. All right. Thank you for your point. Place five please. Six.

601
01:03:16,078 --> 01:03:16,078
anything? All right. I'll make a motion to approve. I just wanted to say I'm sorry. I

602
01:03:20,944 --> 01:03:20,944
thought. Okay, I made a motion. We have a second by council member blair, and then we have

603
01:03:26,278 --> 01:03:26,278
a little more discussion by please. Two. Yeah. Well, two things here. So one would be,

604
01:03:30,744 --> 01:03:30,744
you know, you know, we had this discussion before about public safety and about enforcing the

605
01:03:35,778 --> 01:03:35,778
laws of this country. And I think that's it's a valid thing. And it's something we take an

606
01:03:41,178 --> 01:03:41,178
oath when we take this position that we're going to we're going to honor the constitution of

607
01:03:45,444 --> 01:03:45,444
the united states of america. And if we want to take money from the federal government,

608
01:03:49,511 --> 01:03:49,511
then we need to abide by their terms. I don't see a problem with us following the rules of

609
01:03:54,244 --> 01:03:54,244
our elected people and the laws of this country. With that said, I did want to just if the grant

610
01:04:00,711 --> 01:04:00,711
if we did not get the grant, how would we go about prepping to to step into this

611
01:04:06,644 --> 01:04:06,644
opportunity that we're or this this requirement that we're going to have in order to build

612
01:04:11,144 --> 01:04:11,144
this station and fund it? Because I know it's not you just go out and hire 15 random

613
01:04:16,211 --> 01:04:16,211
guys and throw them in a truck and tell them to go have fun. Right? It's, this is a very

614
01:04:21,611 --> 01:04:21,611
detailed profession. And can you talk to that a little bit? Yep. So if the grant is not

615
01:04:27,444 --> 01:04:27,444
awarded or we are not approved to submit for the application of the grant, we would try

616
01:04:31,578 --> 01:04:31,578
again at the following cycle for a grant application, or we would phase it in a hiring

617
01:04:36,278 --> 01:04:36,278
process over the next three budget cycles. Requesting fire firefighter five firefighter

618
01:04:41,344 --> 01:04:41,344
positions over the next three budget cycles. Is that good? Okay, we have a motion and a

619
01:04:48,611 --> 01:04:48,611
second. All those in favor? All right. Motion carries. Thank you. Thank you very much. And

620
01:04:56,578 --> 01:04:56,578
now we'll move to item 18. Discussing consider action on casting the city's votes on the

621
01:05:01,878 --> 01:05:01,878
ballot relating to pinellas electric cooperative, inc. 2026 board of directors election and

622
01:05:08,311 --> 01:05:08,311
authorize the city secretary to cast the city's votes as determined by the city council

623
01:05:12,744 --> 01:05:12,744
chief financial officer. Otis williams. Welcome. Good evening, mayor and council. Tonight,

624
01:05:17,878 --> 01:05:17,878
we're going to consider agenda item number 18. In regards to the 2026 board of director

625
01:05:25,311 --> 01:05:25,311
election for the permanent electric cooperative. So really the purpose of this, the city

626
01:05:30,244 --> 01:05:30,244
has been called to participate in the district two election, which directly covers the city

627
01:05:35,444 --> 01:05:35,444
of leander. We have two candidates on the ballot. The first person is alexis grimes.

628
01:05:43,278 --> 01:05:43,278
the other person is carlos saint james. Directors are elected to this board to serve

629
01:05:48,578 --> 01:05:48,578
three three year term because the city of leander has two pet accounts, one being our primary

630
01:05:55,911 --> 01:05:55,911
accounts for utilities at our city facilities. And number two, our streetlights that that

631
01:06:02,711 --> 01:06:02,711
allows us to hold two votes in this election. Now, there are three options that council can

632
01:06:08,411 --> 01:06:08,411
consider. Number to meet the deadline for june 12th. Number one, vote for one candidate,

633
01:06:15,711 --> 01:06:15,711
which means to cast both the city's votes for either of the candidates. Number two, a split

634
01:06:22,511 --> 01:06:22,511
vote cast one vote for each candidate, and then the third one is to abstain. Choose not

635
01:06:28,778 --> 01:06:28,778
to vote in this election. Staff recommendation is to recommend the city council to authorize

636
01:06:36,011 --> 01:06:36,011
the city secretary to cast the ballots according to your direction tonight. At this

637
01:06:42,278 --> 01:06:42,278
point, I will open up the floor to council for discussion and consideration. I think we have

638
01:06:48,711 --> 01:06:48,711
somebody signed up to speak, so we'll have carlos saint james come forward, state your name,

639
01:06:53,078 --> 01:06:53,078
address and you'll have three minutes. Good evening, carlos saint james. I live on artesian

640
01:07:02,878 --> 01:07:02,878
springs, just outside of lakewood park in leander. He's absolutely correct. Actually,

641
01:07:10,278 --> 01:07:14,211
it's part of district two, which covers all of leander, parts of liberty hill and parts of cedar park, but essentially all of all of leander. This is an important election because

642
01:07:20,111 --> 01:07:20,111
the industry I work in, the industry is expected that electricity prices are going to

643
01:07:24,978 --> 01:07:24,978
rise over the next 3 to 5 years, at least 30%. So it behooves all of us as members of the

644
01:07:30,578 --> 01:07:30,578
co-op and as just as residents, to find as creative ways as possible to keep our utility

645
01:07:35,344 --> 01:07:35,344
bills as low as possible, or to keep them from rising as much as they're they seem to be

646
01:07:40,178 --> 01:07:40,178
destined to rise. I'm pleading the case here for myself. I've been in town in leander for

647
01:07:44,244 --> 01:07:48,178
about six years. I've been very active in the community parks and recreation committee economic development. I've been on a few other things. I've created a couple of nonprofits,

648
01:07:52,711 --> 01:07:52,711
the leander foundation, which is very active in the community, keeps leander beautiful, and

649
01:07:56,878 --> 01:08:00,378
I'm also helping nurture part of a group that's helping nurture another institution called friends of the leander library. So I think my credentials as a as a good

650
01:08:06,178 --> 01:08:06,178
resident are well established. You, I think all more or less know me on the professional

651
01:08:10,711 --> 01:08:10,711
side, which is perhaps more important. I've been working in this power sector for the last

652
01:08:14,911 --> 01:08:14,911
20 plus years, mostly for variations of engineering firms that provide different services

653
01:08:20,178 --> 01:08:20,178
to the electric sector, mostly firms that are building either natural power plants or wind

654
01:08:26,978 --> 01:08:26,978
farms, or solar power plants, or in most recent years, batteries storage, which is

655
01:08:32,911 --> 01:08:32,911
kind of the way the industry is going. In that sense, I would make the case that it's

656
01:08:38,578 --> 01:08:38,578
important that we choose someone who actually knows the industry to represent this,

657
01:08:42,844 --> 01:08:42,844
given all the change that's going on. As I consider myself a subject matter expert on this

658
01:08:47,078 --> 01:08:47,078
and on the issue that was just recently discussed, the issue of blackouts is increasingly

659
01:08:52,511 --> 01:08:52,511
important. Texas is the state that has more blackouts than any other state and by by a

660
01:08:56,844 --> 01:08:56,844
large margin. Now, fortunately, pedernales within the state of texas has among the least

661
01:09:01,911 --> 01:09:01,911
number of blackouts. But the fact is, the grid overall, the electric grid is under

662
01:09:06,544 --> 01:09:10,478
increasing pressure. So these things are going to be coming up more and more and more blackouts, the pressure of rising rates. Et cetera. And leander has a number, a lot of

663
01:09:16,011 --> 01:09:16,011
people that are on fixed incomes. And so I think it behooves us to have someone in

664
01:09:20,144 --> 01:09:20,144
that role who actually can fight as passionately as as necessary and with the

665
01:09:25,611 --> 01:09:25,611
knowledge to help keep those rates from rising as much as they seem to be destined to. So

666
01:09:30,611 --> 01:09:30,611
thank you, thank you. All right. Council, this is yeah, it's a council action item. Any

667
01:09:40,011 --> 01:09:40,011
comments or questions before we move? Nope. Okay. Well, I recommend as a nonpartisan

668
01:09:49,378 --> 01:09:49,378
board and the city and thus representing all of leander that we split the vote since we

669
01:09:54,144 --> 01:09:54,144
have two votes and we have two candidates on the ballot. And that would be my recommendation

670
01:09:58,411 --> 01:09:58,411
to council for us to do that. I agree with that. Anybody disagree or want to make a

671
01:10:05,544 --> 01:10:05,544
different. All right. Well, that is my motion. Unless you want me to say it differently.

672
01:10:13,478 --> 01:10:13,478
okay. So I have a motion on the floor and we have a second. All those in favor? All right.

673
01:10:21,044 --> 01:10:21,044
carries. Thank you. All right. We are moving to item 19. Discussing consider appointment

674
01:10:29,711 --> 01:10:29,711
of council director and citizen director to the board of directors of the brushy creek

675
01:10:34,511 --> 01:10:34,511
regional utility authority. Bcra for terms that are set to expire on june 30th, 2026.

676
01:10:40,911 --> 01:10:40,911
executive director of public works gina ellison. Welcome. Good evening. As you mentioned,

677
01:10:45,744 --> 01:10:45,744
this item is to discuss and consider appointment of two positions to the bcri board.

678
01:10:52,344 --> 01:10:52,344
these positions are set to expire currently the end of this month. The new position or

679
01:10:58,144 --> 01:10:58,144
the new term would be two years. The bylaws state that the council director can be the

680
01:11:06,811 --> 01:11:06,811
mayor or a council member, while the citizen director can be either of those. In addition

681
01:11:11,078 --> 01:11:11,078
to a citizen of leander, the. This is a one time resetting of the. I think there's just

682
01:11:18,978 --> 01:11:18,978
different phases and people coming in and out. So this is a one time reset so that all the

683
01:11:23,311 --> 01:11:23,311
terms expire for the entire board every two years at this time. Currently, mayor thompson

684
01:11:28,411 --> 01:11:28,411
serves as our council director, and then we have richard shoffner as our citizen

685
01:11:35,211 --> 01:11:35,211
director. City staff recommends that the city council select two positions for this

686
01:11:40,611 --> 01:11:40,611
appointment. Thank you. I did speak with our city manager and with our general manager for

687
01:11:50,644 --> 01:11:50,644
bcra, and we many of you know, if you've watched any of our meetings about water, we have

688
01:11:56,144 --> 01:11:56,144
some really big projects that are in the works, and they all recommend staying the course

689
01:12:01,111 --> 01:12:01,111
with the board members that we currently have, just because it would be a lot to try to bring

690
01:12:06,978 --> 01:12:06,978
somebody new on and educate them on everything that's going on in bc right now. So that is

691
01:12:13,344 --> 01:12:13,344
feedback that we did get from city manager's office and the general manager of bc. Are you

692
01:12:19,378 --> 01:12:19,378
a. Great council? Do y'all have any additional clarification? We have confirmed with mr.

693
01:12:25,978 --> 01:12:25,978
shaffner. He does. We shall be reappointed. Thank you. And okay. And we did confirm with

694
01:12:32,411 --> 01:12:32,411
mr. Shaffner that he would like to be reappointed. Thank you for clarifying that. Yes. Thank

695
01:12:37,911 --> 01:12:37,911
you. All right. Council, this action item. I just want to say I think it's good to have

696
01:12:45,878 --> 01:12:45,878
continuity. I mean, we're at the tail end of our big projects and the mayor's been

697
01:12:50,111 --> 01:12:50,111
there through the through the process. And it'd be good to have the same team. And it's

698
01:12:54,644 --> 01:12:54,644
good to hear mr. Shaffner wants to continue and he's been great on there. He has an engineering

699
01:12:59,844 --> 01:12:59,844
background. And so many of you know, when our previous citizen director, jason anderson,

700
01:13:05,278 --> 01:13:05,278
passed away, he also was an engineer. And so this was a good selection for us to be

701
01:13:10,944 --> 01:13:10,944
able to have another engineer serve in that role. And after talking with the general

702
01:13:15,378 --> 01:13:15,378
manager about all the expertise that he brings to the board, that was an important part of

703
01:13:20,544 --> 01:13:20,544
it. So thank you. I would like to make a motion that we approve, mayor thompson, to be

704
01:13:26,478 --> 01:13:26,478
the city council director for the bcra and that we maintain mr. Shaffner, for citizen

705
01:13:36,844 --> 01:13:36,844
director, I'd like to second that, but I do have one point that I want some clarification

706
01:13:42,744 --> 01:13:42,744
on by this reappointment. At what time will the general. Everybody have to be

707
01:13:54,144 --> 01:13:54,144
reappointed at that point? It really, truly is a whole new, potentially a whole new group.

708
01:13:58,878 --> 01:13:58,878
sure. So this would reset june 30th. So they would start july 1st. And then so it would be

709
01:14:05,011 --> 01:14:05,011
june 30th, 2028 would be the next reappointment. So this would be another two year term.

710
01:14:11,211 --> 01:14:11,211
it's not it's not a small period. And then everybody this would be two years and then

711
01:14:15,811 --> 01:14:15,811
everybody's everybody starts july 1st and then it's a two year term. And then they would

712
01:14:20,644 --> 01:14:20,644
be perfect. That's that's clarification. And I second the motion. So we have a motion.

713
01:14:25,678 --> 01:14:25,678
and a second I will say, when I first started in 21, my term ended july 31st and then I

714
01:14:32,778 --> 01:14:32,778
started august 1st was my term. So everybody's been kind of on different time frames, but the

715
01:14:39,211 --> 01:14:39,211
board did an update to the bylaws last year, and that's why this all cropped up for us

716
01:14:44,344 --> 01:14:44,344
to change our terms. So, and I believe almost everybody on the board has been there a fairly

717
01:14:51,044 --> 01:14:51,044
good amount of time. There's usually only turnover if an elected official loses their

718
01:14:56,811 --> 01:14:56,811
seat or if somebody just decides they they can't commit to the time anymore. Yes. Yeah.

719
01:15:02,978 --> 01:15:02,978
all right. We have a motion and a second. All those in favor? All right. Motion carries.

720
01:15:08,011 --> 01:15:08,011
thank you. All right. We have made it to item 20. Council member closing comments. I will

721
01:15:14,578 --> 01:15:14,578
start with place six. Good night. Place five. If you will afford me a moment. Do you want

722
01:15:23,511 --> 01:15:23,511
me to come back? I can come back. That's fine. You can come back. Okay. Place three. I'm

723
01:15:29,911 --> 01:15:29,911
looking forward to being with everyone. Old town festival this weekend. And love the idea

724
01:15:36,111 --> 01:15:36,111
of us commemorating just a lot of the festivities around the greatness of our nation. And I

725
01:15:41,978 --> 01:15:41,978
hope you have a wonderful night and god bless. Please to want to encourage everybody to go to

726
01:15:47,278 --> 01:15:47,278
the old town festival. It's a great event. I also, you know, we have a very exciting month

727
01:15:52,478 --> 01:15:52,478
and a half coming up. I mean, because we have juneteenth right after that, and then we

728
01:15:56,511 --> 01:15:56,511
have the national celebration, and then we have 4th of july or the 250th. It's a. And then we

729
01:16:02,644 --> 01:16:02,644
have all those other events. So it's going to be a very busy city, and it's very exciting

730
01:16:06,878 --> 01:16:10,678
seeing all the different locations that are being used and how we're utilizing all our facilities. And I just want to thank the city staff and everything for all the events,

731
01:16:14,778 --> 01:16:14,778
the chamber and and the lpac for putting this stuff together. Thank you. Thank you. Back to

732
01:16:19,944 --> 01:16:19,944
place five. Thank you, mayor, for the courtesy. I did want to touch on did some reading this

733
01:16:27,144 --> 01:16:27,144
week, typically looking at mental health issues. And there's a very clear indication

734
01:16:33,944 --> 01:16:33,944
that mental health in the united states remains a critical issue. One barrier

735
01:16:38,944 --> 01:16:38,944
that we can do something about is stigma. And studies show reducing stigma increases

736
01:16:45,511 --> 01:16:45,511
access to care. And one place you can do this is your local leander library offerings are

737
01:16:52,078 --> 01:16:52,078
typically free. Recurring community programs that create social connections for isolated

738
01:16:57,411 --> 01:16:57,411
populations, including parents of young children and seniors. I want to remind folks mental

739
01:17:02,111 --> 01:17:02,111
health is important, and I encourage you to try. Programs such as the adult writing and

740
01:17:06,411 --> 01:17:06,411
journaling club scheduled on june 17th from 6 to 7:30 p.m. This is a supportive, quiet

741
01:17:12,944 --> 01:17:12,944
space for mental decompression. A quick reminder that the leander library launched the

742
01:17:18,444 --> 01:17:18,444
summer reading program as well on june 1st. That will continue through july 31st. So with that,

743
01:17:26,278 --> 01:17:26,278
our history fact for today is kind of a twofer. On june 4th, in 1992, elvis presley's

744
01:17:33,078 --> 01:17:37,078
ex-wife priscilla presley, stood at graceland to officially announce the results of an unprecedented public poll. The united states postal service had distributed over

745
01:17:43,211 --> 01:17:43,211
1.2 million ballots, asking americans to choose between young elvis and old elvis.

746
01:17:48,944 --> 01:17:48,944
young elvis won. It was designed by mark stutzman in a landslide, and following those

747
01:17:56,178 --> 01:17:56,178
june 4th results, the finished 29 cent stamp $0.29. Folks. Back in 1992. It was officially

748
01:18:05,544 --> 01:18:05,544
released to the public and to mark what have been what would have been elvis's 58th birthday.

749
01:18:12,011 --> 01:18:12,011
and that stamp went on to be the top selling commemorative stamp of all time. So sticking

750
01:18:19,144 --> 01:18:19,144
with the rock and roll theme on this exact day in 56, elvis's breakthrough track heartbreak

751
01:18:25,044 --> 01:18:25,044
hotel was the number one song in america, and it was a rare trifecta because it was number

752
01:18:30,211 --> 01:18:30,211
one on billboard's pop, country and r&b charts. So there you go. A little bit of elvis for a few

753
01:18:37,178 --> 01:18:37,178
friends who have been asking me for elvis stuff, and they're not even here tonight. Anyway,

754
01:18:41,211 --> 01:18:41,211
thank you all very much. Y'all have a good night. Take care of your mental health. Appreciate

755
01:18:45,411 --> 01:18:45,411
the courtesy. All right. Thank you. Council. And tonight we got dinner from southerns pizza

756
01:18:49,544 --> 01:18:49,544
right here in leander. It was delicious. So make sure when you're in leander that you shop

757
01:18:54,878 --> 01:18:54,878
local and support our small businesses that are here. And also a reminder for our old

758
01:19:01,211 --> 01:19:01,211
town festival this weekend. It is rain or shine, so regardless of if it rains, the event will

759
01:19:06,411 --> 01:19:06,411
go on. So make sure you come prepared if you think you might get caught in some showers. And

760
01:19:11,778 --> 01:19:11,778
we are grateful to our chamber for all they do to support our city and our small businesses

761
01:19:16,078 --> 01:19:16,078
in the area. And we're excited for the old town festival this weekend. Well, as we did not

762
01:19:21,178 --> 01:19:21,178
finish our executive session, we will convene back into executive session at 8:18 p.m.

763
01:19:29,111 --> 01:19:29,111
do I need to go through all of this again? Okay. All right. I thought I might skip it, but no.

764
01:19:36,178 --> 01:19:36,178
pursuant to one section 551.071 texas government code and rule 1.05 texas disciplinary rules

765
01:19:43,878 --> 01:19:47,844
of professional conduct to consult with legal counsel regarding proposed settlement of cause number 24-0818-c369. Denucci constructors, llc versus city of leander and the

766
01:19:57,444 --> 01:19:57,444
368th judicial district court, williamson county, texas and two. Section 551.071 texas

767
01:20:04,244 --> 01:20:04,244
government code and section 1.05 texas disciplinary rules of professional conduct to

768
01:20:09,611 --> 01:20:09,611
consult with legal counsel regarding agreements regarding brushy creek regional utility

769
01:20:14,278 --> 01:20:18,111
authority and facilities, expansion projects, and litigation agreements related to the brushy creek regional wastewater treatment plant and three section 551.071 and

770
01:20:24,544 --> 01:20:24,544
section 551.072 texas government code. Section 1.05 texas disciplinary rules of

771
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professional conduct to consult with legal counsel regarding the acquisition of properties

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for public purposes and an option agreement for acquisition of real property,

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and for section 551.071 texas government code and section 1.05 texas disciplinary rules

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of professional conduct, section 551.072 to consult with legal counsel regarding lease

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agreement for time is 831 and we are reconvening into open session to take action as

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deemed appropriate in the city council's discretion regarding one cause. Number 24-0818c369

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denucci constructors, llc versus city of leander and the 368th judicial district court,

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williamson county, texas mayor pro tem, do you have a motion? No action two agreements

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regarding brushy creek regional utility authority and facilities expansion projects

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and litigation agreements related to the brushy creek regional wastewater treatment plant. Mayor pro tem, do you have a motion? No. Action three acquisition of properties for

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public purpose and an option agreement for acquisition of real property. Mayor pro tem, do you have a motion? No action and for lease agreement for city operations. Mayor pro tem,

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do you have a motion? No action. All right. And we are