[0:05] Ready? All right. Good evening everyone.

[0:10] our computer clock just flipped over to six 30, so it's time to start

[0:16] this irregular, uh, city council meeting at city of meadows place.

[0:20] it is tuesday, march 26th, 2024, and we are starting at

[0:24] six 30. On the dot I, item a

[0:28] is a call to order. So this meeting is call to order, and it

[0:32] is, uh, we have a quorum. In fact, we have everyone here on council tonight,

[0:36] and I'm thrilled to see it. Uh, I'm gonna ask everybody to stand for the pledge

[0:41] of allegiance. Remain standing for the invocation, and the pledge

[0:45] tonight will be led by a yak member. That's youth

[0:49] action council member, uh, camden miller. And then jimmy hemp finnick

[0:53] will do the invocations. So please remain, gimme a second

[1:02] flag of the united states of america and in

[1:06] public, which one nation under

[1:10] god in liberty,

[1:20] all you are doing.

[1:24] thank for all of our volunteers, our first responders,

[1:30] everybody this time.

[1:37] and you

[1:41] ask, you go before us .

[1:56] all right, we're gonna move on to audit b. And I want remind by

[2:00] that these meetings are two, uh, here to, uh, take care of

[2:04] business for the city meadows place. And we're getting ready to take care of some

[2:08] business called an audit, which is something that we do every

[2:12] year. And, um, so presenting our audit, uh,

[2:17] is the representative from, um,

[2:22] da da, the auditor's report from belt

[2:26] harris and

[2:30] pat ic. Ic. All right, thank you.

[2:55] here we go. I always like to tell people that, uh, it's staff's job to do

[2:59] 10,000 things, right? All year long to stay in compliance with rules and regulations and everything

[3:03] that's required of them. And I get to come in and kind of nitpick at the end and send a bunch of

[3:07] emails. And, uh, I really appreciate anna maria and all the help, uh, that she's been in getting

[3:11] this in front of you. So instrumental, uh, thank you to her. Uh, so

[3:15] I'm gonna go through a couple of things in the book tonight, reference some page numbers, go over some high level information,

[3:19] and then I'll take any questions you all might have at the end. Uh, I'll start on page number

[3:24] one. Page number one is our independent auditor's report, otherwise

[3:28] known as an opinion letter. I am pleased to say we have issued an unmodified opinion

[3:32] on the city's financial statements. That is the highest level of assurance that we as

[3:36] independent auditors can give, that the city's financial statements are materially correct

[3:40] and that all of the required disclosures under the generally accepted accounting principles in the

[3:44] united states have been made. In other words, it's a clean opinion. That's what you want

[3:48] to hear. If you'll flip back with me to page number 15.

[3:54] page number 15 is our statement of net position, otherwise known as a balance sheet. This

[3:58] is a government-wide financial statement presented on a full accrual basis of accounting.

[4:02] all that means is that the long-term items of the city, such as any, uh, capital assets or long-term

[4:07] liabilities are presented on this financial statement here. I'll just point out that in total,

[4:11] between your governmental and business type activities, the city ended the year with $40 million

[4:16] in total assets, about $5.7 million in total liabilities,

[4:20] and overall ending net position of about $35.9 million.

[4:26] if we go back to page number 19, we'll see that same type of financial statement

[4:31] of balance sheet, however, this is presented on a modified accrual basis of

[4:35] accounting. So those long-term items are not included here. This is much more akin to

[4:39] the basis of accounting on which you would adopt your budget here. I'll just point out that the general

[4:43] fund, the main operating fund of the city ended the year with total assets of about 7.2 million.

[4:48] total liabilities of about 518,000, and an overall

[4:52] ending fund balance of about $6.4 million. And then if

[4:56] we go back to page number 23, we can see how we got there. This is

[5:00] our statement of revenues, expenditures, and changes in fund balance, otherwise known as an income

[5:04] statement, again, presented on that modified accrual basis of accounting. This should look

[5:08] very similar to what you would see on your budget

[5:12] here. Again, I'll just point out that the general fund, that main operating fund of the city ended, ended the

[5:16] year with total revenues of about 7.8 million. Total expenditures of about

[5:21] 7.6 million, leading to a slight increase in that general fund fund balance

[5:25] to leave you with that ending fund balance of $6.4 million.

[5:29] as a general indicator of financial health bond rating agencies and the like, typically look at

[5:33] that ending fund balance number and like to see at least three months worth of operating expenditures contained

[5:37] in that fund balance. So that 6.4 million represents almost 84% of your

[5:41] overall operating expenditures are about 10 months. So again, very, very healthy fund balance there.

[5:47] the last page I'll take you back to is page number 29. Uh,

[5:51] in fiscal year 2022, we made a change in our financial reporting to sort of separate

[5:55] out the utility activity and kind of present it on its own. Uh, so this is the first

[5:59] year where we kind of have this financial statement that's got this full year of activity presented.

[6:03] uh, as we, as we changed it last year, uh, overall we had good total operating

[6:08] revenues and expenses. A small operating loss in the utility fund ending, uh, net position of

[6:12] that utility fund increased slightly, uh, leaving you with about $8.6 million

[6:16] in net position. One thing I always like to point out on this statement, uh, to kinda make sure that

[6:21] our utility rates are in line with service and that we're, um, being sure that we're

[6:25] charging enough, uh, is to look at our total operating revenues in

[6:29] relation to our operating expenses. However, there's one key point here that, that ending,

[6:33] that last expense line item for depreciation is not a cash outflow,

[6:38] right? That's something that's charged every year. We're recognizing that expense for the use of our

[6:42] assets, but that's not truly a cash outflow. So if we take that $500,000

[6:46] in depreciation expense out, we end up at about 1.5 million in overall,

[6:51] uh, cash outflow or cash expenses to the utility fund. So obviously that represents

[6:55] really well in relation to the amount that we're charging or bringing in, in that utility fund.

[6:59] so again, all looks good there. With that, I can

[7:03] conclude my presentation and I'd love to take any questions you might have. Counsel,

[7:08] any questions? I

[7:12] have one. The, uh, you mentioned the operating reserve three month

[7:16] on the, uh, general fund side. What about on the utility side? What's, what's

[7:21] your guideline there and where are we there? So, um, the utility fund side typically

[7:25] is a, is a, a little bit different, uh, of a beast because again, in that respect, we're

[7:29] charging for some type of service that we're providing naturally. We're not necessarily

[7:33] in a for-profit business in order to generate a bunch of profit, but we wanna make sure that

[7:38] we're charging enough to recuperate all of the costs of the service that we're providing, right?

[7:42] and so, um, that, that ending net position is also

[7:46] a little different and that this is carried on a full accrual basis. So all of those long-term

[7:51] assets, things like your capital assets, any long-term liabilities associated with that is included in

[7:55] that number. So it's a little bit difficult to use that ending net position number in the same

[7:59] type of way you would look at your fund balance for the general fund. That's why I like to typically compare those

[8:03] operating revenues and expenditures as kind of how that looks on a year by year basis. That's

[8:07] what litmus test versus the yeah, but that just looks at operation. That

[8:11] doesn't look at setting aside a sinking fund doesn't set aside

[8:15] a sinking fund to repair or replace long-term assets.

[8:20] yeah, that would be, that would be a mechanic that ultimately city council can decide to

[8:24] do. And, and as you generate, if you generate continually operating revenues over

[8:28] expenditures and that net position continues to increase, that typically is an indicator

[8:32] that there may be some reserve out there to start setting aside towards those capital, which we're

[8:36] about to spend. So, yep, I have been informed.

[8:43] anyone else, counsel ann maria,

[8:48] questions, comments, or input?

[8:54] I just wanted to make satisfied with the .

[8:59] I wanna say I'm impressed with the presentation. David and rick understood it, and

[9:03] I'm impressed. All right. With that, we will take,

[9:08] and we will call, we will have a motion to accept the auditor's financial

[9:13] report for 2022. 2023. I move.

[9:17] motion. Motion by david. Second. Second by kurt. Thank you, kurt.

[9:22] all in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries unanimously.

[9:27] we have received the presentation.

[9:32] I do mean it. I appreciate your presentation. Um,

[9:36] yes, thank you. Alright, now we have reports, um,

[9:42] starting off with a police report. Um, our police chief,

[9:46] uh, gary stewart is, uh, down on

[9:50] the beach, uh, at

[9:55] a conference on how to become a better cop and

[9:59] how to become a better police chief. And there's folks all over. So

[10:03] he's going to school all day and stuck assistant

[10:07] chief ashton with the report. Yes. Thank

[10:11] you, mr. Mayor. Counsel, citizens, thank y'all for coming.

[10:16] we'll, in your packet, we'll start off with the spreadsheet that gives us our

[10:20] general numbers for the month number of reportable accidents. We had

[10:24] eight number of arrests. We had seven calls for service, which are

[10:28] any activity. 2,688. Number of

[10:32] reports taken for criminal offenses. 49

[10:36] citations issued 302 for 651 charges.

[10:41] citations issued for city ordinances violations. We had two warnings

[10:45] issued for traffic. 143 for 168

[10:50] charges, and then warnings issued for city ordinance violations. We had

[10:54] 11. Gave us a total activity count, 3,584.

[11:00] moving down to the next section, to give a little more detail, assaults. We

[11:04] had one burglary motor vehicles. We had four burglary

[11:08] businesses. We had two, uh, burglary of residence.

[11:13] we had zero. The city ordinance contacts. We had a total of

[11:17] 13 criminal mischief. We had zero fraud. We

[11:21] had two robberies, zero our property checks,

[11:25] which include the businesses, close patrol, house watch, and school checks.

[11:30] 2,399 thefts. We had three

[11:34] unauthorized use of motor vehicle. We had one. And the tlc

[11:39] program, we had 22 to pass, six to fail for a total of 28

[11:43] contacts. Uh, the city ordinance breakdown

[11:48] below that, uh, warnings issued

[11:52] that, uh, I think that first number is not correct for solicitors.

[11:57] we had a total of six contacts. Loud noise. We had three

[12:01] loose dog, we had two. Then the citations for city ordinances.

[12:05] we issued two for solicitors. There were no reportable accidents

[12:10] in the, uh, roundabouts or that immediate area.

[12:14] and the other accidents that were reported were throughout the city.

[12:18] there were no, uh, specific trends for the reporting period.

[12:24] moving on to the packet, I believe chief stewart,

[12:29] uh, flips to the flock section. So trying

[12:33] to follow his lead,

[12:37] we will go to page five. And

[12:42] for the flock hits, we had 79, which was up from the

[12:47] previous month. The breakdown is we had nine for stolen vehicles,

[12:52] 37 were for sex offenders. But as you can see there, that,

[12:56] uh, three of the vehicles were recorded eight times. Uh,

[13:00] it just means they passed through the city. Yes, sir. Several times.

[13:04] uh, stolen plate alerts. We had 14 gang su,

[13:09] excuse me, suspected terrorist. We had one missing person alerts. We

[13:13] had two, uh, outstanding warrants. We had nine

[13:17] protection orders. We had seven, uh, zero for other agency

[13:22] hot list and zero for violent persons. Uh,

[13:26] down below are, uh, uh, activity.

[13:30] the very first one, officer duran, received a flock hit, uh,

[13:34] kind of coincides with us discussing the flock as a

[13:38] stolen vehicle out of katy. It shows that, uh, the driver was

[13:42] arrested and transported to fort bend county jail.

[13:47] uh, going to the next page on page six is

[13:51] our arrest breakdown. So we have total of

[13:55] seven arrest. Two of those were juveniles, five were adults.

[14:00] to your right, you see the charge categories. Evading arrest two.

[14:05] theft was one warrant from another. Jurisdiction was one.

[14:09] the qumv was one. Criminal trespassed, evading

[14:13] one, and then evading with possession of a controlled

[14:17] substance was one.

[14:25] moving on to the additional

[14:30] notes on page eight,

[14:35] uh, mesa and the tennis court project

[14:39] is moving slowly, but it is moving that,

[14:43] uh, annamarie will be glad to hear that. We did finally receive our

[14:47] router from t-mobile that we are setting up to use

[14:52] for the back haul from the tennis courts to here where the access server's located.

[14:57] uh, wright technologies actually has that and started working on the

[15:01] setup with t-mobile and mesa for the,

[15:05] uh, technical specifications needed.

[15:10] excuse me. Moving down to the grants, the radio

[15:14] recorder has been installed that as of friday,

[15:18] this past friday. We consider that, uh, project to be complete,

[15:23] that it is operational, that the

[15:27] dispatchers and cid now have immediate access

[15:31] to, uh, the archives and seems to be working very well. So

[15:35] we're pleased with that. Uh, the dispatch

[15:39] console that, uh, jerry brownley and myself attended a

[15:44] zoom meeting last wednesday with

[15:48] the governing powers to confirm our,

[15:53] uh, radio selection. And our

[15:57] need was still there. I was quite happy that they just confirmed

[16:01] ours, that sugarland was on there asking for portable radios.

[16:06] and my question session was about a minute and a half. Theirs was

[16:10] about 20 that, uh, so I feel a

[16:14] bit relieved, but also feel optimistic because they did mention that this is our

[16:19] third submission for the same thing. And they were happy to see that

[16:23] we had moved to the avtec console. So I think maybe

[16:27] we've got everything, uh, in line this time.

[16:32] uh, the portable radio grant, of course, has been awarded.

[16:37] we have started receiving the accessories that come with the portable

[16:41] radios. Not sure of the actual delivery date for the,

[16:45] uh, portable radios. And then, uh, we're still working

[16:50] on, jerry is working on a couple of different funding sources, uh, for

[16:54] the in-car camera and body camera dilemma that we

[16:58] are in for this and is looking at maybe treating it

[17:02] as the radio console and splitting it between two different

[17:06] grant sources that, uh, I think the amount is,

[17:11] is kind of hindering us. Uh,

[17:16] the legal update training, uh, continues as you know, we're

[17:20] always excited when we can do in-house training, but also when we can partner

[17:24] with our neighbors, stafford sugarland, missouri city. And as

[17:28] you see there, we're still working with dps. I think they like

[17:33] coming to our training facility. And, uh, our hospitality,

[17:39] uh, liam, our evening shift, full-time

[17:43] dispatcher has accepted a position with stafford police department,

[17:47] but will remain on as a part-time

[17:51] dispatcher. So, and courtney, thank you very much

[17:56] for helping us to get it posted. And thank you, cameron, for our recruiting

[18:00] video. Uh, the camp out, I'm just gonna

[18:04] say as far as the pd goes, that it went well. I believe

[18:08] cole's excited to report on that. And that

[18:12] also we are completing our ieps, the incident

[18:16] action plans for some of our upcoming events, such as the kickoff,

[18:20] the summer and old town meadows. Uh, which is also

[18:25] for those of us that have been here a while known as the school carnival.

[18:29] and then lastly, uh, unfortunately yesterday we had

[18:33] an aggravated robbery at aldi. And aggravated means

[18:38] that a strong arm or weapon was used. In this

[18:42] case, it was a handgun that a young lady

[18:46] was coming out of aldi car pulls up, uh, gets

[18:50] out and tells her to give 'em their, her money or

[18:54] whatever she has on her. And she had just cashed

[18:58] her paycheck and had cash in her pocket. So that's,

[19:03] uh, very disappointing. As you know, aldi does not

[19:07] have, uh, any video surveillance, but the detectives

[19:11] were able to take the vehicle description and go back into the flock

[19:15] system and find a matching card that, uh,

[19:20] fits the timeframe as well. And they are trying

[19:24] to contact the owner to determine whether they're the suspect or if the car

[19:28] was stolen. Uh, as of four o'clock today, the, uh,

[19:32] detectives have not been able to contact the registered owner of the vehicle.

[19:38] and that concludes the, the report.

[19:45] all right. Uh, counsel, any questions, comments? So if,

[19:50] if she had just cashed her check, had she just come from the bank? Is this like a jugging

[19:54] type incident? That was our, uh, initial

[19:58] thought, but no, she had actually cashed the check the day

[20:02] before and was doing her shopping. Uh,

[20:07] and I take it that she was a cash type person.

[20:12] and then I have a question on page six,

[20:17] the business that declined prosecution. Mm-hmm.

[20:21] . Was there a reason given for that? Or do

[20:26] we need to have some discussions with a manager?

[20:30] to my knowledge, I, I did see that. And, uh,

[20:35] I think it was just the circumstance because we've not run into

[20:39] that with them. If you remember, about a week ago,

[20:43] we had the fellow that went in and took the, uh, laundry detergent

[20:47] and went outside and put it in his shopping cart. And as he was making his

[20:51] getaway, the officers were able to catch him pushing it down, uh,

[20:56] west airport towards the feeder road. And, uh, have, have no issues

[21:00] that when we've had a, we're able to catch a suspect. We've never

[21:04] had any pushback, but something for us to follow up

[21:08] on to make sure there wasn't, uh, an extenuating circumstance

[21:13] or a new manager, I'm assuming

[21:17] that is, uh, of concern to, uh, alderman staley.

[21:21] if, if we have businesses that don't or decline prosecution, they're

[21:26] inviting this type of activity into our city. Mm-hmm. , I feel the same

[21:30] way. And, and so I would appreciate a follow up on that. Definitely.

[21:35] uh, so, because it concerned me too. Well, if we go to

[21:39] all that time in trouble and they just go, well, nevermind,

[21:43] uh, they can move back to san francisco or something,

[21:47] we need to arrest them. I have a question. Um, so yes, the

[21:52] business that was mentioned, uh, and then you had mentioned aldi not having

[21:56] surveillance. It seems like there are several businesses that do not have some sort

[22:00] of a surveillance system in place. Is that,

[22:04] unfortunately that is correct. Is that, uh, as,

[22:08] as we, I know the chief has mentioned several times that video is our

[22:13] friend. Mm-hmm. And, uh, our residents more and more taking

[22:17] to that. But, uh, yes, we have a few

[22:21] businesses who have nothing when we bring it

[22:25] up to them. What is the, is it just the cost? They just don't care or

[22:31] curious? I it's usually a corporate decision. Yeah.

[22:35] and for some it's cost. And for some they don't want

[22:40] to be in the middle. I mean, there are some businesses that refuse to prosecute. There

[22:44] are some that will tell their employees, you do not attempt to stop anyone doing

[22:48] shoplifting, be fired for various reasons,

[22:52] you know, but, and I can understand not stopping them having an employees

[22:56] stop them, but just to have a camera, just to have it have surveillance.

[23:01] I just, well, if you take a look at a national chain mm-hmm. , look at how

[23:05] much it would equip one store, multiply that out,

[23:10] I think it would be probably prohibitive. And that is a corporate decision. Yeah.

[23:14] and so there's nothing that the city, um,

[23:18] can do to require it. Yes. We can strongly encourage it.

[23:23] and when we have talked to management at aldi,

[23:27] it was, they were polite and essentially as they

[23:32] said that we'll send it up the chain. And

[23:36] here we are years later. One,

[23:40] one thing I wanna throw out there, um, would it be,

[23:44] is is it possible to put a pole in the easement, put a camera on

[23:48] it, and it's one that we monitor, not necessarily monitor, but go back

[23:52] to, uh, I know there's been a lot of just smashing grabs on windows

[23:57] and, and all these parking lot. It's gotten a little more serious with this one yesterday.

[24:02] uh, is that a possibility? Uh, well, possibility

[24:07] is, yes. The, but we run into a couple of things with that.

[24:11] first of all, the placement and then what we're actually capturing, if we

[24:15] put one camera up, what are we focused on? And the detail.

[24:20] but then also the maintenance, uh, as we have on the agenda that flock

[24:24] cameras are coming up and with our city cameras that we

[24:28] currently have, you know, there's, uh, an annual maintenance

[24:32] for keeping the system up and going. But then also the update and upgrade cost,

[24:37] uh, you know, a couple of years. And we're cycling through cameras.

[24:41] so there's many things. I I think the chief and

[24:45] I have talked about this before, and I think one of the concerns

[24:50] though is if we're putting a camera up that's monitoring

[24:54] a private business, what do we run into with that as

[24:58] well? I mean, is that acceptable? Do we need their permission?

[25:03] uh, there's, uh, uh, a myriad of things to, to

[25:07] consider, but is it possible? Yes, it

[25:11] is. And then you'd mentioned that while we have cameras and they're in dispatch,

[25:16] that uh, and they routinely look at 'em, they're not camera

[25:20] monitors. Now, of course, with everything recording, 'cause that's

[25:24] what we get out of this is we're always able to go back and review

[25:28] video. I wonder if that would help, you know, be a deterrent. Even just

[25:33] someone pulls into the aldi parking lot, they see a camera looking over the parking

[25:37] lot. Maybe a sign that says you're being recorded. I, I don't

[25:41] know if, if we were talking about this, and this is jack's opinion,

[25:45] if we were talking about this 10 years ago, I'd say yes, but the

[25:49] today's bad guy, they expect it. They,

[25:54] it's no longer, it is kind of like the daytime burglary that

[25:58] no longer is that an obstacle to them that, uh,

[26:03] so, but yes, we would love to and love to work with

[26:07] aldi and go over, especially some of the new technology that we're learning about

[26:12] that, uh, to offer solutions. More than

[26:16] likely it would require permission from the, the property owner.

[26:20] um, otherwise you get into a probable cause in

[26:24] incidents, um, at the county, we are actually prohibited from using

[26:29] drones for investigation type purposes without a

[26:33] search warrant.

[26:37] well, I agree with that rule for the camp, for them, not for us.

[26:42] maybe this incident will help all the, uh, management change

[26:46] their mind. We'll see. Yeah. Jack, I have one thing

[26:51] I'd like to ask. And that is on, um, on the fraud.

[26:55] like, we had two incidents of fraud last month. And I just

[26:59] got the doing some research on, uh,

[27:04] a scam that's going on by folks

[27:10] upon praying mostly upon elderly people or folks that have had,

[27:15] uh, timeshares for a long time. And they go in and they talk to

[27:19] 'em and they come up with this big plan about how to get outta your timeshare

[27:23] since you're gonna cro in 10 years and you're gonna be a burden to your kids.

[27:27] why not get rid of it now type of thing. And, um,

[27:32] people getting cleaned for thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars.

[27:36] have you heard anything about that in this region?

[27:41] no, sir. Not that, but I hear the commercials on the am radio all the time

[27:45] about we get you out of that. And I'm making a note because I want to look into

[27:50] that and some of the research

[27:54] that I was looking at, and I'm, I'm not a huge researcher.

[27:58] I'm scamming skin, skin articles, scanning articles

[28:03] that, uh, some of these are tied to the drug cartels

[28:07] down in mexico. The, what's the w arena,

[28:13] cartel or whatever it is, um, are big into this.

[28:18] so that's a little scary in and of itself. So if you would

[28:22] kind of check into it. Yes, sir. And I'll get, give with me and if you ever

[28:26] need to and I'll throw you what I got. Okay. Okay. Because that might be a,

[28:31] a good newsletter article as well. Um, yeah. Alright.

[28:35] and anything else? Good

[28:40] questions, good comments, counsel, and great report, jack. Thank you very much. Yes sir.

[28:46] alright, item two, uh, parks and recreation.

[28:50] well, you already took care of part of parks and recreation, didn't you? Oh yeah, he

[28:54] did. He certainly did. Good evening council mayor. Um, this report

[28:59] will cover parks and rec activities, actually from

[29:03] december of 2023 to march of 24. Since I

[29:07] wasn't able to participate last month. Um, now we get a four month review.

[29:12] I'm also gonna do it a little bit out of, um, order tonight because we have

[29:16] some special guests in the audience and I'd like to get them up here and back home

[29:21] 'cause it's a school night. Um, so I'm gonna first discuss some of our

[29:25] upcoming events. And so our next events coming up will be concerts in

[29:29] the park. And those are friday nights in april. So april 5th,

[29:33] 12th, and 26th. And as you guys know, we've been doing these for many years

[29:37] now. We bring in a live band, food trucks, kids

[29:41] and families are out there playing cornhole and just relaxing and

[29:45] having a good time. Um, but on april 26th, that's

[29:50] gonna be a special one for us. And I'm gonna bring my ya kids up

[29:54] here to talk about what we're doing. Um, you guys can start making

[29:58] your way up here and carolyn as well. Um, and that

[30:02] night we are calling light the night. And if y'all recall, um, many

[30:06] years ago we did a light the night, um, where we have the,

[30:10] uh, chinese lanterns that participants would purchase and

[30:15] then they would light them and put 'em a float out on the lake. So I'm gonna let yak

[30:19] step, step up now and tell you about the event and why they're doing it and

[30:23] who's involved.

[30:27] hello council, I am carolyn whitlow. I'm the recreation coordinator

[30:31] for the parks department in the city. Um, part of my job is running,

[30:35] um, a bunch of the city programs. One of those programs is yak our

[30:40] youth action council. Um, our council currently

[30:44] holds 10 consistent high school students. Um, the goal

[30:48] is that it would promote leadership in them. Um, we have participated at

[30:52] every, I think every event this year, um,

[30:57] from the august start of the august school year until now. Um, our

[31:01] yacht kids have been been at every single one of them. Um, one of our yacht kids

[31:05] is charlotte, and then we have camden miller as well. Um,

[31:10] currently, um, we have decided to fundraise for

[31:14] make a wish. I know many of you have probably passed by the make-a-wish offices

[31:19] just up the street. Um, but they actually grant wishes throughout our area.

[31:23] there is a handful of wishes in fort bend county that, um,

[31:27] are needing to be granted. Um, there is one wish in particular that is

[31:31] the one that I, we got the closest one to meadows place.

[31:36] um, she's a 17-year-old girl named michelle who has

[31:40] lymphoma and her wish is to go to disney world. Um,

[31:44] so our yak council will be raising money. Um, and

[31:48] our first event, as colleen said, is on april 26th.

[31:52] so charlotte's gonna talk about it.

[31:58] hi. Um, you can bend that down, . Yeah.

[32:03] um, so our event will be on the last concert in the park, which is

[32:07] april 26th. Um, it will be from seven to 9:00 pm

[32:11] um, so we're gonna release lanterns into the lake, um,

[32:16] and families can write wishes, dreams, and encouraging notes on the lanterns

[32:20] before releasing them. Um, it'll be $5 per lantern.

[32:24] um, and then there will also be a silent auction with tons of fun items, um,

[32:28] for folks to bid on. Um, and if you feel led to donate

[32:33] more, there's a qr code, um, to an online donation link.

[32:37] um, and yeah, will be at every concert in the park. So come see us at

[32:41] those events. Okay.

[32:48] thank you. That is all we had. You didn't get to talk.

[32:52] he, he gave the pledge of allegiance. I have a question real quick, I

[32:56] just want to confirm. Now, yak,

[33:00] y'all have 10 members currently, is that correct?

[33:04] yes. Currently we have 10 consistent members. Um, our

[33:08] biggest event this year, we had 20 high schoolers at, and that was in

[33:12] february. For those who don't know are follow yak, that's phenomenal

[33:17] for city our sides. Congratulations on that. Thank you. I know y'all are

[33:21] excited and I also wanna make sure that I, that the yak

[33:26] in meadows place is still as a self-governing body.

[33:31] is that correct? Yes sir. It is. This year we, our goal

[33:35] was to, um, elect after the fall semester,

[33:39] but we had, didn't have enough attendees. Um, but now we have a consistent amount

[33:43] and most of our students are freshmen or sophomore. So they will be older

[33:47] and will be elected come the next school year. Outstanding.

[33:52] and that's, that's kind of place and, and things

[33:56] that build leaders and their leaders for this city. I'm real excited and I thank

[34:00] y'all very much. And if you have never been to

[34:05] the, uh, what is it called, uh, lantern light

[34:09] or light tonight out on that lake,

[34:14] it is beautiful. It truly is beautiful. And, uh, I,

[34:18] I can't tell you how excited I am. So thank y'all very much. Thank you.

[34:23] and council for the ya kids?

[34:27] nope. Just thank you very much. 'cause kurt says thanks. I'm agree.

[34:32] get your parts director back up there so she can take the eight here. .

[34:37] thank you. Thank

[34:41] you again, yak. And then also, I just wanna reiterate, um, cameron

[34:45] will be posting on social media and, and other, um, avenues

[34:50] the qr codes so that if individuals would like to make a donation anytime

[34:54] between now and, um, through june, I believe is it carolyn, through

[34:58] june, they can continue to make donations. Um, they could do that online. It

[35:03] directly links 'em to make-a-wish, uh, foundation for this in particular.

[35:07] um, wish. So we're looking forward to that. We'll also be doing the live auction

[35:12] on that night. Some of the items that we'll have will be stop signs, street

[35:16] signs from meadow's place. Um, and then I'm still working on

[35:20] a partnership through healthman ford for some sports memorabilia. So

[35:25] be sure to be there the 26th. Um, kurt, I know that we can count on

[35:29] you. Alright, so moving forward, um, the

[35:33] next event after that is our summer kickoff, and that's gonna be scheduled

[35:37] for june 7th this year. I know the calendars that

[35:41] we sent out, um, for city of meadows place, it had it

[35:45] for may 24th, but we realized that is graduation night for fort bend, isd.

[35:50] so we moved it, uh, to the following month, june 7th. Um,

[35:54] counsel, that's the night that we need you. We need your assistance

[35:58] to help flip burgers and, um, we'll bring in staff

[36:03] of obviously to clean up and help serve. But we need you guys there

[36:07] to, um, cook. So that's june 7th. If y'all want to

[36:11] email me and let me know who's available. I'll also send out a reminder email,

[36:15] um, for your help as well. So, event

[36:19] recap, this is going back to december, um, which is a

[36:23] weird thing for me to talk about as I'm planning for summer pool and,

[36:28] and hot weather. But christmas memories is, as you all know,

[36:32] was a big success. Um, that is an event that was funded

[36:36] by edc and our general fund. Um, we had many

[36:40] partners for that event that helped made it possible. Um, meadows

[36:45] elementary, choir meadows elementary, um,

[36:49] national honor society, virtue, tattoo meadows, marlins, and of course the

[36:53] yt kids were there to help run the event. Uh, we believe that

[36:57] that was our largest christmas event that we have had. Um,

[37:02] jack, I don't even remember the numbers. Um, it's been, it's been too

[37:06] many months, but 873 , I think it was even

[37:10] more than that. But we had quite a few. It was a great turnout, great weather.

[37:14] um, and again, so many departments come together to help support that

[37:18] and we really couldn't do it without, um, the, the help and support of everyone

[37:23] within the city. So, looking forward to this year's

[37:27] christmas memories, it's always bigger and better each year. So I'm not sure what we're gonna do.

[37:31] maybe we'll actually have it really snow, but we'll see.

[37:35] so moving forward, uh, we are

[37:40] got my notes outta order here.

[37:46] okay. And we had the family camp out this past saturday. Two of our council member

[37:50] families were there and slept in tents, so I appreciate you guys coming

[37:54] out and supporting. Uh, it was a good time. We had

[37:59] 155 participants on site. Um,

[38:03] pd obviously was there as well to help, um, keep us safe throughout

[38:07] the night. We had one of our staff members that spent the night on site.

[38:12] uh, we had a great time. There were 26 tents out on the field.

[38:17] not everyone who participates actually stays the night. Many families will come out for

[38:21] the whole day, experience the activities, have dinner, roast

[38:25] s'mores, watch a movie, and then walk home. And that's the other great

[38:29] advantage of, um, our small town, is that you can walk to an event

[38:34] and you can walk home and not have to fight traffic and parking spaces.

[38:38] um, so that's always a, a really neat thing. But we had a great time. Um, some

[38:42] of the new things that we brought in were ax throwing and the,

[38:47] um, rock climbing wall, and then the movie. Um, at night

[38:51] we, we showed a evening movie to try to help wind the kids down, get 'em ready for,

[38:56] uh, tents. Kurt, I heard you and some of the adults were a little loud

[39:00] and rowdy though, so next year you need to remember 10 o'clock

[39:04] is quiet time . There was a specific

[39:08] table over there I heard. No, but it was a great time.

[39:13] and, um, jack, again, if you can tell your officers thank you for their support and assistance

[39:17] at that event. Projects completed, uh, we

[39:21] completed the memorial program, council approved doing the

[39:25] bench and tree donation. Um, so thank you for that. Our new

[39:29] rental options for half day use, um, was approved by council

[39:33] as well. Our dorrance pender fence that was

[39:38] replaced last week, if you haven't seen it, looks great. Nice, sturdy and,

[39:42] uh, ready to go. Another 25, 30 years. We also

[39:46] laser graded and did fill work on both ball fields.

[39:50] um, that was supported by edc

[39:55] also, I meant to say that the fence replacement was also funding was provided

[39:59] by edc. We also worked on the ball fields, uh,

[40:03] with new improved irrigation. That was also funded by edc.

[40:07] and when I say new improved, this is specific to a ball field.

[40:11] there were some issues with the way that the irrigation was laid out. Um, it

[40:15] was overwatering and under watering in some areas, and then

[40:19] also creating some big ruts and divots in the infield. So

[40:24] our irrigator came out, he redesigned it, moved some things around,

[40:28] and, um, hopefully, uh, we haven't had any negative reports since that's

[40:32] occurred. So hopefully that that took care of the issue. We also stock

[40:37] the lake with 1200 trout, and that was provided

[40:41] by texas park 'cause of wildlife. It's a partnership. We pay for half, they

[40:45] pay for half. Um, so if we order 700 fish, we end

[40:49] up with 1400 fish. So it's a great program. Um, again,

[40:53] they brought them in this year. They did a little different, they brought it in in two batches,

[40:57] which is actually smart. They let the first batch come in, get acclimated.

[41:02] um, two weeks later they came with the second half and got those rea acclimated.

[41:07] and it also, um, lengthens the fishing season for the trout because we've

[41:11] got some pretty hardy fishermen that come out, um, especially after

[41:15] that first release. So this extends it a little bit longer, and we had nice cool

[41:19] weather to be able to maintain that.

[41:23] uh, we also inve, uh, investigated a self-service

[41:28] kayak rental kiosk. I had mentioned that to you guys that we'd be looking into

[41:32] that. And we have realized it's really not something that, um,

[41:37] we want to do here. It comes with a cost of $18,000

[41:41] just to put it in and then they share 50% of

[41:45] the profits. So that's not something that we really want to do.

[41:50] um, so we moved on, but I just wanted to update y'all because we were looking at that

[41:55] upcoming projects. Jack had already mentioned the tennis court, um, access conversion.

[42:00] so we are looking forward to that project being completed.

[42:04] uh, our pool reception desk, I had mentioned to you guys that we will have a new area

[42:09] as the pool season opens up, folks will come into a very professional

[42:13] looking, um, area to be able to get their wristbands,

[42:18] make purchases, ask questions, things of that nature. So we'll be installing that

[42:22] over the next three weeks. Turf

[42:26] installation in the sensory park that's gonna be going in this week.

[42:30] so by the end of the week, we should see some movement out there. That project

[42:34] was pushed a little bit, um, with all the rain that we've had. Um,

[42:38] so we're not their first project in line, but a few down

[42:43] seasonal landscaping now that we know we're past free season. Um,

[42:48] it is time now for us to replant in some of the areas that were hit by

[42:52] the freeze. Many of our plants are coming back on their own, which we're

[42:56] excited about that. It doesn't always look that beautiful at this point because

[43:00] they're so small and they still have to grow to maturity. But in other areas that

[43:04] are highly visible, uh, we will be putting in the, the larger

[43:08] plants as they come in. That's the other difficulty is

[43:12] getting 'em from the nursery because everyone's trying to get them. And the nurseries were

[43:16] hit too during the freeze. Uh, but you will see some of that going

[43:21] in over the next couple of weeks. Um, and then our last project we're

[43:25] working on at this moment is preparing the pool complex for summer. So we're doing

[43:29] extensive cleaning repairs, um, on the benches, the slides,

[43:33] the pool, the lights, the fans, um, the lifeguard chairs,

[43:37] um, on and on. So it's just getting it ready. So it'll be, um, good to go for

[43:42] the marlins when they start, which is in the end of april

[43:46] actually. Um, mayor's pointing that he has his, uh, marlin's

[43:50] tie on. Thank you mayor. Um, and then also the, then the pool season

[43:55] will begin, um, at the end of may. So may 24th,

[44:01] if that's a saturday. I don't have my calendar in front of me will be the first day that the pool opens.

[44:05] that's memorial weekend. So staffing,

[44:10] I wanted to update you guys a little bit about that. Um,

[44:14] we had six of our staff, which is all of our parks and rec staff,

[44:18] participate in the traps conference. That's texas rec and parks

[44:22] society. And this conference was down in galveston, um, during february.

[44:26] it is a statewide conference. Um, we all went,

[44:31] participated. Um, it was a three to four day conference,

[44:35] depending upon your education track, great time to

[44:39] network. Um, get up on our latest trends in the park and rec

[44:43] field, um, troubleshoot with other folks. One of our staff

[44:47] attended a specialized summer camp training while she was there. It was carolyn

[44:51] who was here earlier. And then our park staff specifically.

[44:55] um, they attended, it's called an equipment rodeo. It's actually

[45:00] kind of fun team building. And it's where the different parks departments

[45:05] utilize, um, some of their maintenance equipment that they're always on, whether it

[45:09] be tractors, um, weed whackers blowers, irrigation.

[45:13] and they do obstacle courses and events with them. And it's a competition between

[45:18] cities. So our staff had never seen that before. So they are geared

[45:22] up for next year. They're pretty excited. Um, they saw

[45:26] all of it and they, they said that already that they can do better. So we're gonna hold

[45:30] it to 'em. But it was a great time, um, and especially for my staff to

[45:34] go out and participate in a, an event like that to see the bigger

[45:38] picture, the connection across the board, what other cities are doing.

[45:42] um, and again, like I said, a lot of problem solving happens at these events.

[45:47] so thank you for letting us go. We all appreciate that, that, that y'all supported

[45:51] us in that effort. My last item is that we are currently

[45:55] hiring seasonal staff for the pool and summer camp. I do

[45:59] wanna let you know we are struggling with no low numbers of applicants.

[46:04] um, there is a, an action item tonight that we will be talking about here.

[46:09] and I'll, I'll discuss that in further detail and answer questions in regards to that.

[46:13] but I just want you to know that this is the season it closed march 22nd.

[46:18] by this time we already have more than what we need

[46:22] typically this year. We do not. We are way under what

[46:26] we need to run a standard program. So

[46:31] that's all I have. Are there any questions?

[46:43] I have one, colleen. Yes, sir. Um, where is the traps

[46:47] conference next year? Oh, good question. I'm not sure.

[46:52] tell me tomorrow. Just hope it's not dallas. I'm sorry, say that again.

[46:57] I said I'm, I tell me tomorrow and I just hope it's not dallas

[47:02] . Um, anyway,

[47:07] anything else? Nope. Thank you very much. Thank you

[47:12] carolyn. Thank you. And, um, I'm excited to seem like you're

[47:16] grow growing trap or growing the yak into a very

[47:20] viable organization. I'm gonna say thank you for that. Alright,

[47:24] next report is the monthly fire report,

[47:29] um, which I give

[47:34] and I can't find my little tad. Sorry. Uh, I know we had 40,

[47:38] yeah, here was, we had 40 engagements last, last month in

[47:43] the last reporting period. Uh, we were called out, uh,

[47:47] in numerous different ways. Um, some of the police matters,

[47:51] some rescue and ems. There was one of those,

[47:55] uh, one motor si or one motor vehicle accident with injuries that they,

[47:59] that they responded to. Uh, they had, uh, the fire

[48:04] department responded to 3m ms calls, um,

[48:08] and 25 medical assists with the ms crew.

[48:12] and a lot of those take place over at me, senior village and with the hamptons

[48:17] up there. Uh, so I'm glad that they are here to

[48:21] be, um, be a part of our, our

[48:25] city. And they're so close by, um, our fire marshal inspection.

[48:30] uh, our inspectors working with our building inspectors provide a valuable

[48:35] asset to city of meadows place. And I think we're in really good shape

[48:39] on that. And they work closely with our permits department, uh, as well.

[48:43] so I think we're in really, really good shape is from a fire department

[48:48] point of view. And that's all I got to say about that.

[48:52] seat administrators. You're up. Thanks, mayor. Uh,

[48:56] a few items for tonight. Uh, first I want to, uh, uh,

[49:01] point out, they're on the second row, uh, a familiar face. Angie hernandez,

[49:05] oh, I want to introduce her as our new code enforcement employee. Uh,

[49:10] angie is on the job now. Um, just a quick, uh,

[49:15] quick resume for angie. She has almost five years here at the city as our permit technician.

[49:20] uh, before that she worked for the city of pasadena for 13 years, uh,

[49:24] 12 of which she actually did code enforcement, um, in, in, in that town. And so

[49:28] we're happy to have her on board here. Um, she is right now doing a little bit

[49:32] of double duty on both desks, both permit tech and code enforcement until

[49:36] we can, uh, uh, plug in that position. In fact, we actually have, uh, I

[49:40] guess two interviews scheduled, uh, tomorrow, uh, for that job. So we're hoping for good

[49:44] results with that. Um, right now, you know, we're working with angie, um,

[49:49] reviewing that code book, um, getting a good understanding of our

[49:53] codes, uh, hitting the big ones first. Um, you know, understanding process.

[49:58] uh, there's a lot to code enforcement. Uh, everything from, you know, violations and

[50:02] citations to warrants and making sure that everything's in line because ultimately,

[50:06] um, you know, these types of cases can end up in municipal court. So documentation is key

[50:10] for these things. So there's a lot of orientation, a lot of training going on right now. Uh, we

[50:14] know there's a lot of high grass in town right now. Uh, many of those high grass cases

[50:19] have already had, uh, door tags or letters been sent out. Um,

[50:23] but we're starting to exercise those muscles on the big things, the obvious things, and then getting

[50:27] comfortable with that before we move on to some of the, uh, the other, uh, code

[50:31] enforcement issues that we have, uh, uh, that we pay attention to here in town.

[50:36] so we're glad to have angie on board. Um, the other thing I wanna mention is,

[50:40] um, not long ago on the 15th of this, uh, month, uh, we did

[50:44] some maintenance on our lift station. Uh, rod and public works brought a vacuum truck

[50:48] out there to help, uh, vacuum out the lift station. And one of the things that,

[50:53] uh, that we noticed is that we did have quite a buildup of grease.

[50:57] uh, and so it's a good opportunity. You may have noticed in the most recent newsletter,

[51:02] um, we put something out there, uh, called fog, which stands for flats,

[51:06] oils, and grease. Uh, we want to emphasize to the community, once again, it's

[51:10] very important that you don't, uh, uh, dump any, uh, grease oils

[51:14] down your drain. That does end up eventually in our wastewater treatment plant and in our lift station.

[51:19] and it does create problems, uh, for us in any community. Um,

[51:23] and so just wanna emphasize, um, you know, to be careful what you poured on

[51:27] that drain. Um, and what are, what are the effects of that?

[51:32] nothing lessen, lessens the ability to be effective and

[51:36] cost us money to clean and repair. Well, it certainly costs us, costs us money to, to,

[51:40] to degrease, so to speak, our facilities. Um, but,

[51:44] um, all that stuff is, is, uh, uh,

[51:48] is harmful to our, uh, to our equipment. Um,

[51:52] do we, so that's, that's the impact on our side.

[51:56] what we really need to tell the owners is that also impacts their

[52:01] store, their pipes and can clog their pipes and

[52:05] cost some pretty costly plumber co expenses.

[52:09] um, that'll probably get their more attention more than what it costs. The city.

[52:15] not a good thing. Um,

[52:20] I'm, I'm not gonna tell that story. Okay. Um, ,

[52:25] it's important. Um, the final thing I wanna mention

[52:30] tonight is that, uh, we are gonna be making some improvements out in front of city hall here pretty soon.

[52:34] one of the things that we need to get a handle on is, uh, when we do get a heavy rain right now,

[52:38] we have some water seepage, particularly through those front doors coming down, those, uh, coming down the

[52:42] brick wall. Uh, it interferes with our bulletin board. It also interferes with our doors and our

[52:46] new locking mechanism, uh, floors, sheet rock, et cetera. Uh,

[52:50] we're gonna be spending some money to putting in some new flashing out front in order to,

[52:54] um, to help mitigate that. Um, but that really speaks to a larger issue, which

[52:58] is obviously facilities, maintenance, maintenance. And I just wanna put on your radar,

[53:02] um, you know, from time to time, we need to look at these things. We're gonna be spending about $6,800

[53:07] on this fix. Uh, one of the things when we did that was we just got a quote to see

[53:11] what it would cost to go ahead and, and repair and maintain the, uh, the awning that

[53:15] portico out front with those kind of plexiglass bubbles. Um, those are

[53:19] beginning to show a lot of where they're probably original of the building. Um, we're

[53:23] not ready to tackle that expense yet, because that would be in front of you if we had to. Um,

[53:28] but, you know, the lobby, uh, something we're starting to kind of talk about is

[53:32] looking a little tired. Um, and so in the next few years, I, I expect that

[53:36] we're gonna talk to council about, uh, investing in some of the renovations and some of the maintenance

[53:40] of our facilities. And so this is just been a very small, uh,

[53:44] a part of it, but I think it, it represents making sure that we keep on top, on top

[53:49] of these things. Um, finally, I wanna remind counsel that a week

[53:53] from today, we have a joint public hearing scheduled for two specific use permits.

[53:57] so if we can put on the calendar, we're gonna post for that this week. Um, so

[54:01] just be reminded that a week from today, hopefully we'll see you here. Once again,

[54:06] that concludes my reports. It's a nightmare.

[54:23] moving on to my council or mayor council comments.

[54:27] now the time with the thing on.

[54:31] I wanna say thank you to everyone from meadows place who showed up tonight.

[54:36] I'm really, really pleased that you're here. And all those in meadow, texas that watch us

[54:40] are welcome to y'all too. Um,

[54:48] first mayor's comment I have is regarding business

[54:52] activity that may affect our future. Um, I just wanna

[54:56] say that there's a lot going on. People are looking at different things.

[55:00] uh, we've got potential activity on the corner of west airport

[55:05] and kirkwood at that pad site. Uh,

[55:09] supposedly the owner of the site, uh, has, um,

[55:14] has somebody he's working with to come in there and a couple

[55:18] more inside his center once

[55:22] they get sprinkler system and somes other stuff done, which they're working

[55:26] on, which, uh, angela will be working from start to finish on that

[55:30] one, huh. Um, but it's exciting,

[55:35] uh, because these types of businesses will bring life, bring activity

[55:39] into that center and maybe bring us a little bit of money, not a whole lot,

[55:43] but better than poking now with a hot stick.

[55:47] but, uh, I want to say that, uh, edc

[55:52] uh, has been working diligently to try to, uh, get

[55:56] business in here. And our, and one of the things we do is visit with

[56:00] our owners. And when we visit with our owners and we remind

[56:04] them that we want them to develop this property, 'cause many times they have

[56:08] properties elsewhere and they kind of forget about us a little bit.

[56:13] 'cause in case they didn't know, we're only one square mile here. Uh, so we,

[56:17] we do work with 'em to get 'em on. And we, I think that, I think that it's fine.

[56:21] uh, we're doing a fine job. And I think that we've got a backup plan to the

[56:26] 9.4 acres that's gonna be discussed at the next,

[56:30] uh, meeting at, uh, public, uh, planning, the public hearing.

[56:35] and I urge everybody to be here at that public hearing.

[56:40] if you want your voice heard, you need

[56:44] to be here. If you're not, please complain

[56:48] to somebody else. 'cause this is your chance to stand

[56:52] up and let this council be heard and they want

[56:56] you to come up and speak. So please do. Uh,

[57:01] my next comment is on, uh, may election and local

[57:05] activity. Um, I just wanna say that

[57:09] this is our city. We

[57:13] turned out a 26.9% of

[57:17] our registered voters last time. Unfortunately,

[57:22] what happens is when it's just a local election, sometimes we have

[57:26] a drop off in attendance or, and, and we, we can't have that. We

[57:30] really need you to step up and get out there, get your neighbors out there, encourage

[57:35] 'em to come out there. I encourage you to please attend any meet

[57:39] and greets that, uh, any of the mayoral, or

[57:43] I guess you could have one too, if you're running for council, even though you're unopposed.

[57:48] uh, hint, hint. Uh, but I intend, I urge

[57:52] you to in attend all of those type of functions. And

[57:56] if there's a, uh, function that gets together for, uh,

[58:00] uh, in a community, uh, driven

[58:05] type activity, uh, please at attend

[58:09] those. And I know right now we have one that is lined up by

[58:13] the, uh, fort bend chamber of commerce. They

[58:17] were asked to put one together and they have cameron, can you remind me that date?

[58:23] I believe it's the 10th. The 10th I believe. Okay. It's the 10th.

[58:27] uh, so put that on your calendars. Uh, please

[58:31] attend. You're gonna have an opportunity to visit with your, uh,

[58:35] visit with your candidates. And that's important 'cause they're gonna

[58:39] be representing you for the next two years and representing this city. So that's

[58:43] all I have to say. This is real important. Uh,

[58:49] it doesn't matter whether you're young or old, as long as you're registered

[58:53] to vote, please come out and vote.

[58:58] all right. And that it moves on to council comments.

[59:04] um, no significant updates this month, um,

[59:08] on the bike path. Um, we probably will have a

[59:13] contract change in front of us next week. As with

[59:17] the, uh, public hearings that we're gonna do, I've asked nick to probably put that on

[59:21] the agenda. If the engineer gets the proposal into us,

[59:26] think they work, uh, they, they should. Um,

[59:31] and then the, for dorrance, the interlocal agreement has been submitted

[59:35] to the county and hopefully that can work through the legal process

[59:39] fairly quickly.

[59:52] with that, we'll move on to the, uh, who keeps turning it off.

[59:56] . Um, we'll move on to item

[1:00:00] e, the regular agenda. Uh, this is discussion consideration

[1:00:05] of resolution 2 0 24 dash one zero,

[1:00:09] accepting the auditor's engagement letter from belt harrison,

[1:00:15] pik, whatever it is. Now we need to, uh,

[1:00:19] to engage these folks again, we need to

[1:00:24] pass resolution 2024 dash one zero. Do

[1:00:28] I have such a motion? If not,

[1:00:32] we're not gonna have an auditor.

[1:00:37] I will move to approve for the 2320.

[1:00:43] which, which year, which fight or which budget is this?

[1:00:47] 24. 25 through 26. Right.

[1:00:58] so it'll be the fiscal year 24 audit.

[1:01:02] correct. Okay.

[1:01:07] so I've had a motion. Second. Do I have a second? Second,

[1:01:11] I thank you very much. Now if we can get out and get on down

[1:01:16] the program. And all in favor? Aye. Aye.

[1:01:20] any opposed? None. Motion carries unanimously. Thank

[1:01:24] you, man. That's what was throwing me.

[1:01:29] okay. Um, item number two.

[1:01:34] uh, this is, um, I'm gonna ask kevin to stand up in case

[1:01:38] she anybody has any questions they can ask right there. Um,

[1:01:44] stepping up to the podium, uh, it's kevin atkinson,

[1:01:48] um, owner and seer and knowall

[1:01:52] for texas pride, who is, uh, our garbage carrier.

[1:01:57] um, as you look in your backup, uh, they recently

[1:02:01] sent some correspondence to the city, uh, talking about fuel

[1:02:05] benefit and trying to offset some problems that they're having

[1:02:09] with funding, uh, matching what's going on.

[1:02:13] um, so this, this is gonna be a discussion consideration regarding

[1:02:18] resolution 2 0 2 4 dash 11 authorized

[1:02:22] mayor to execute a contract amendment to the residential

[1:02:26] solid waste collection contract with texas pride disposal,

[1:02:31] implementing what they're calling a variable energy charge for fuel.

[1:02:36] and, uh, just to catch us up, we signed the, the last contract, what in 2022.

[1:02:42] so with that, basically they're asking for

[1:02:48] 1% up every time it pops over $3 25 cents

[1:02:52] a gallon. Uh, so we will see an increase. Kevin, do

[1:02:56] you have anything to say or anything you want to add or, yeah, ab absolutely.

[1:03:00] I appreciate it. Um, we've, uh, been out here since 2016.

[1:03:04] uh, texas pride has been in business since 2013. Um,

[1:03:09] really until this year we've had the benefit of very stable fuel. Um, from

[1:03:13] july of 2013 through december of 20, we averaged $2. Is

[1:03:17] that speaker on? Okay, you getting? Yes. Uh, we

[1:03:21] averaged $2 80 cents per gallon through that, uh, window.

[1:03:26] we hedged our fuel, uh, 21 through 23, and then coming into

[1:03:30] this year that hedge expired and just with where fuel's at, uh,

[1:03:34] not beneficial to renew a hedge. Um, and it's also not in a position that we had

[1:03:39] previously budgeted for or, or modeled for. And so with the,

[1:03:43] uh, proposal in front of you, we actually started this conversation. We had 1200

[1:03:48] contracts we had to go touch to get this in front of. Started with our hoas, uh,

[1:03:52] in september, uh, our muds in november, december, and then wrapping it

[1:03:56] up now with our, our cities um, the proposals you mentioned

[1:04:01] essentially for every, uh, 25 cents, that fuel is

[1:04:05] above $3 and 25 cents per gallon. Uh, it's a 1% adjustment.

[1:04:10] um, so using last month's data, uh, it was $3 and 79 cents.

[1:04:14] so it'd be the equivalent of 3%, I think for you guys. That's right. About 20 cents

[1:04:18] per, uh, percentage. So about 60 cents last month should be 2%

[1:04:22] based on where fuel's been this month. Um, but just trying to

[1:04:27] offset, uh, the fuel cost when it's, uh, elevated there.

[1:04:31] one thing we learned through the pandemic, uh, we don't like coming to our customers and asking for

[1:04:35] increases when things go crazy. So we felt that this was a transparent

[1:04:39] and, uh, I guess simple way to approach

[1:04:43] a fuel adjustment, um, on a go forward that, uh, assists

[1:04:47] us when fuel's elevated. Uh, and then obviously falls off when uh, it

[1:04:52] comes back down. Alright, counsel,

[1:04:56] I'm assuming everybody heard and understood that, kevin, you're too tall for a microphone,

[1:05:00] . Um, so our options are say yes,

[1:05:04] say no or say heck no. And rebid it.

[1:05:10] we can't, we, we can't rebid it. Mayor. Um, we, we we're in, we're in a three

[1:05:14] year agreement lockdown. We can't, we could cancel the contract.

[1:05:18] uh, well, there's some, yeah, I mean, there, I'm just putting it out there.

[1:05:22] we could, there, there has to be written notice. I understand. Yeah, I can write it. We're, we're

[1:05:27] in the check code and we're done. We're in a, okay, so

[1:05:31] do y'all have any, does council have any questions? If kevin wally's up here, so there's

[1:05:35] all this talk about percentages and, and whatnot.

[1:05:40] so if it, if it's a 1% cost, I think we're at,

[1:05:45] what, 18 something now a month per household? 1750.

[1:05:50] um, well, yeah, I thought we were at 18.

[1:05:55] um, so what's 1% mean? What's 2%

[1:05:59] mean? That's what, is that on the

[1:06:03] fuel cost or on the overall cost? Yeah, so, good, good question. So,

[1:06:07] uh, on the base cost for service, so if the base cost is that 18 and

[1:06:11] change, it's 1% on that it 18 and change.

[1:06:19] so 18 cents.

[1:06:26] okay. Because remember counsel, we're not, we're not gonna send out variable

[1:06:31] utility charges. No. So whatever this increase is, is

[1:06:35] gonna come out of what we're charging the residents

[1:06:40] and what, and some of that cost is put in there and we're tight anyway.

[1:06:45] we can, I mean, we can make adjustments as necessary, um, but ultimately the

[1:06:49] invoice comes in, but we're not gonna do it month one month up and down, not month to month. No.

[1:07:02] I've been basically satisfied with the service

[1:07:06] though, so I will go ahead and make the motion to approve.

[1:07:12] okay. We have a motion to approve.

[1:07:16] have a second. It sounds like the, the fee would end up being what,

[1:07:21] 270 bucks a month extra if it's roughly 1500

[1:07:25] homes? That's about right. Yeah. I mean, it's, it's not gonna break

[1:07:29] us. We've, we're charging enough in there to cover that.

[1:07:34] um, well a 1%, you know, if we start getting into the 3% number,

[1:07:39] then we're probably gonna have to sit down and look at the rates. But then

[1:07:43] the question will become, is this a a short term issue with with gas

[1:07:47] prices or a long term issue? Exactly. And I don't like it, but I'm

[1:07:51] gonna recommend that we do. And so we've got a motion a second. All in favor real quick.

[1:07:56] when is our contract up? It's a three year agreement that began in 2022.

[1:08:00] uh, 25 signed in june of 2022. So yeah,

[1:08:05] there is an option for an automatic three year renewal if we don't give 60 day notice.

[1:08:10] so it's sort of a, kind of, sort of an evergreen, but there's a 60 day, that's what we did

[1:08:14] last time. Fair? Okay. Yeah. Thank you. Okay, so we have a motion. Second.

[1:08:18] all in favor? Oh, david, the question I have, uh, how, how do we, uh,

[1:08:23] how is this gonna get communicated to the city? How, how will we see this on our bill and

[1:08:27] how do we track it? Yeah, absolutely. Uh, another great question. So it'll show up as a separate line item,

[1:08:31] uh, as that vec charge when it's applicable. Uh,

[1:08:35] we can, uh, as backups send you guys, uh, just a letter that

[1:08:39] says, hey, last month fuel was an average of $3 and 68 cents.

[1:08:44] uh, therefore it's 2%. Okay. Um, we're doing that for our utility district, so we can add that. Alright.

[1:08:48] as you guys say that last, thank you. Yep. And, and we would've to rely on our accounting

[1:08:52] department to kinda look that over. I feel pretty confident

[1:08:57] that she'll do it, . Okay. That was a

[1:09:01] good question, david. Thank you. Anybody else? Where was all in

[1:09:05] favor? Aye. Any opposed? Hearing none. That motion

[1:09:09] carries unanimously. We appreciate it. Thank you very much.

[1:09:13] as we come into an election, uh, cycle, we hope that this is not gonna be an issue for

[1:09:17] some time. So . Okay.

[1:09:25] moving on to what item three. Um,

[1:09:30] which is has to do with, uh,

[1:09:35] resolution 2024 dash 12 authorized mayor and city secretary

[1:09:39] to execute an interlocal cooperation contract with department

[1:09:43] of public safety for the state texas to failure to appear program.

[1:09:48] courtney, would you give us a brief overview of that and what this will do?

[1:09:52] yeah, so currently this, the city participates in this, this allows us

[1:09:56] to issue the failure to appear, put the hold on the driver's license.

[1:10:01] um, this is just cleaning up some language in the agreement due

[1:10:05] to changes in legislature. This is cleaning up legislative

[1:10:09] changes. Mm-hmm. , is that basically it? Yes. Okay.

[1:10:14] and I'll make a motion. We approve. Motion to approve by david. Second.

[1:10:19] second by tia. Any further discussion? All in favor,

[1:10:23] aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries unanimously

[1:10:28] and I'm assuming we'll take care of that. Okay. This is discussion

[1:10:32] item number four is discussion in consideration regarding

[1:10:37] resolution 2 0 2 4 dash one three ratifying

[1:10:42] the emergency repair of the wastewater treatment plant blower number three

[1:10:46] in the amount of $38,506. Counsel, you

[1:10:50] remember this came before you and we approved the expenditure

[1:10:55] and we heard, we heard about the expenditure. This is approving the expenditure,

[1:11:00] ratifying them.

[1:11:04] motion by rick second by kurt. Any

[1:11:08] further discussion? Nothing. Right, please. With,

[1:11:16] well, at least he woke up and smiled back there. That is true.

[1:11:21] okay.

[1:11:26] and I know he's looking forward to getting new

[1:11:30] blower mowers and control panels and that whole thing back there.

[1:11:35] um, item number five, this is a $7,500,

[1:11:41] is that correct? Oh, we

[1:11:45] didn't vote on this. 38,000. You're right rick. Uh, nothing is

[1:11:49] cheap, but we still need to vote on, I'm told, so. Okay.

[1:11:53] all in favor of the, uh, ratification on, on the

[1:11:57] 38,506. Aye, aye.

[1:12:01] any opposed? Motion carries unanimously, whoever said that. Thank

[1:12:05] you very much. Now we're move on to five,

[1:12:10] uh, which is a $7,500 budget amendment for flock

[1:12:14] camera, annual subscription and maintenance.

[1:12:19] uh, jack, would you step up and give us an

[1:12:23] overview? I think we've all got a handle on it, but just in case.

[1:12:27] yes sir. These are the three cameras that the city

[1:12:31] approved to finish our coverage of all of the entrances

[1:12:36] into the city. And we've just

[1:12:40] never actually funded the annual renewal

[1:12:45] of that. And that's where we're, we have a total of 11 cameras.

[1:12:50] the the other ones were on the grant, which is coming, uh, quickly

[1:12:54] to a close. So this, the, the council

[1:12:59] recommended three cameras in discussion with police department

[1:13:03] finish out basically the, the perimeter of the city. Yes, sir. That

[1:13:07] we have all access points covered with lot cameras. And this is the maintenance fee to

[1:13:11] cover 'em for the, for a year. Yes, sir.

[1:13:16] okay. Counsel, any questions? Well, I'll

[1:13:20] move to approve. Second. I have a motion by rick, second by

[1:13:24] david. Any, any discussion? I have a question. Is the,

[1:13:28] uh, is the money for one full year or is it just the remainder

[1:13:32] of the year? It, it's a full year. Okay. Oh,

[1:13:37] what a good question. So I don't remember where the three additional

[1:13:41] were. I believe it was the blair meadow entrance.

[1:13:46] blair we, blair meadow, ainsworth, and,

[1:13:50] uh, do at montecito. I mean, uh,

[1:13:54] montecito at dairy ashford. So I mean those,

[1:13:59] the rest of 'em we had grants for. We wanted to add those three

[1:14:03] because basically that's our houston border.

[1:14:08] um, and then obviously I think we're seeing

[1:14:12] the value for it based on the reports every month,

[1:14:16] the, um, stolen vehicles that we're chasing down and everything

[1:14:20] else. Well, a comment to that, and

[1:14:24] I may have not mentioned this earlier in talking about aldi, that we were

[1:14:28] able to use the flock system to develop a suspect

[1:14:33] in this. But it's also been entered into our hot list

[1:14:37] that if that vehicle comes into the city, we will get an alert. But also

[1:14:41] any of the other flock cameras that our neighbor have, they will be alerted to the vehicle

[1:14:46] and their area as well, along with the information that

[1:14:50] they're suspects in an aggravated robbery. So there's, it, it is quite

[1:14:54] deep the use of it. It's not just a stolen vehicle coming into the city,

[1:14:59] but we also have a lot of investigative and our neighbors are, you know, we

[1:15:03] all reach out to each other when we get flock information.

[1:15:09] question. Um, yeah. Is there opportunity for, uh, reestablishing

[1:15:13] ano another grant on these? Or is it a, was it a one once and done type?

[1:15:17] I know we have 10 under grant now five, originally five. We added total

[1:15:21] of 13 cameras. But can we get grants to renew? Jerry is looking into

[1:15:26] it, but I'm afraid with flock's popularity that, that

[1:15:30] has kind of hindered us. Uh, the funding source that he originally

[1:15:34] had, which we went to twice as not funding this project.

[1:15:39] but yes, we are constantly looking at doing that since we have had some

[1:15:43] success, they're, they're looking to expand

[1:15:47] their kingdom, not re-up the ones they have

[1:15:51] . So, heads up, uh, as the next budget cycle hits, uh, we're

[1:15:55] gonna have to talk about absorbing those maintenance costs into our fiscal year budget. Um,

[1:16:00] you know, if and when we, uh, probably fiscal year,

[1:16:04] they're not all, they're not all rolling off at the same time. So we'll have to talk about that for fiscal year 25.

[1:16:10] alright, so we have a motion and we had a second. All

[1:16:14] in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries unanimously.

[1:16:20] I don't. Thank you. Thank you jack. Thank you so much. And uh,

[1:16:24] I know I've seen your officers, kevin, take care. Um,

[1:16:30] I've seen your officers react, react some days where they hit that

[1:16:34] door running and I know it's 'cause they had a flock call and you know,

[1:16:38] and they just, I love it. So thank you. Uh, item

[1:16:42] number six and seven are kind of back to back.

[1:16:47] um, these are the meadows place. Uh, police department received

[1:16:51] a grant from the texas comptroller and uh,

[1:16:55] for $22,661 and 47 cents.

[1:17:01] and, um, then the next one they have $2,661

[1:17:05] and 47 cents where they're gonna spend it. Uh,

[1:17:09] so basically I'm looking for, uh, a motion to

[1:17:14] consider and pass ordinance number 2024 dash

[1:17:18] 17 amending the general fund revenue budget

[1:17:23] to the amount of 26 61 47 for police

[1:17:27] training motion

[1:17:31] by david second by kurt.

[1:17:35] any further discussion? All in favor, aye. Aye.

[1:17:39] any opposed? Motion carries unanimously.

[1:17:44] now we've got assistant chief ashton back there

[1:17:48] all excited about getting that 2,600 c $200 'cause he wants

[1:17:52] to spend it. Uh, item number seven is discussion and consideration of

[1:17:56] ordinance 2024 dash 18 amending the general fund

[1:18:00] budget for fiscal year ending september 30th, 2024.

[1:18:05] increasing line item 1 0 0 dash 0 5 5 4 2

[1:18:12] for grant funded training. 26 61 47.

[1:18:17] do I have a motion to, uh, pass ordinance 2024 dash

[1:18:21] 18 motion? Yes. T

[1:18:25] motion made the motion. Who made the second down over here somewhere.

[1:18:30] was kurt. Okay. Got a motion by tia. Kurt has

[1:18:34] second. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Motion

[1:18:38] carries unanimously. What was

[1:18:42] that already spent? Is that what the deal? Okay,

[1:18:48] item number eight. Um, you might as well head up

[1:18:53] ms. Parks director,

[1:18:59] um, this discussion in consideration regarding a pay increase for

[1:19:03] summer slash seasonal staff. Um,

[1:19:07] she touched base on it a little earlier saying that we don't

[1:19:11] quite have the staff we need and

[1:19:15] we're bind. Why don't you give us an overview, please, colleen?

[1:19:20] um, yes. As I stated earlier, at this point in the hiring season,

[1:19:24] we already historically have had more than

[1:19:29] we have needed, um, in regards to applicants for lifeguards

[1:19:33] and camp counselors. Um, this year we have, um,

[1:19:37] five lifeguard apps and we usually need 18 to 20.

[1:19:42] we have seven camp counselors and we usually need about 15.

[1:19:48] so we are behind, um, extremely. And some

[1:19:52] of the conversations that we've had with past, um, staff from

[1:19:56] last year, they have mentioned it's due to what we pay, that they can go

[1:20:00] somewhere else and and get more. Um, did you include in the packet for them

[1:20:04] to look at? Okay, so I gave you comparisons of the cities around

[1:20:08] us, the competitive salaries. If you see we are, um,

[1:20:13] for our lifeguards in particular, we're paying nine 50 an hour, um,

[1:20:18] which is well below, um, the average of 1275.

[1:20:23] uh, surrounding cities are paying anywhere from 11 up to

[1:20:28] I think $16 for a lifeguard. So

[1:20:32] we're trying to hit the sweet spot on that of 1275. So that'd be

[1:20:36] an increase of 5 cents. Um, same thing with the

[1:20:41] pool supervisor. We're paying $12 and 75 cents. The average is $20

[1:20:45] and 50 cents. Uh, so again, we are well below the

[1:20:49] average in the area. So we are hopeful to, um, increase

[1:20:53] their salaries. Again, this is for the summer, um, to entice,

[1:20:58] um, more employees to come and work for us again. Um, we do have

[1:21:02] an option and the option's not mentioned on here. The other option is if we

[1:21:06] don't increase the rates, we can reduce the number of our bather

[1:21:10] loads and the numbers of hours that we operate the pool. So that's the other option

[1:21:14] is that we can reduce our, our operating hours and days of the week and also

[1:21:19] control the numbers coming in. So instead of a hundred bather load, it

[1:21:23] might be anywhere from 25 to 50 based off how many lifeguards

[1:21:27] we actually have to be able to go out there and maintain the pool

[1:21:42] . So really

[1:21:47] on tonight's agenda item, really all we're asking is for permission to make

[1:21:51] these adjustments. This is gonna have to be followed up with a ba, a budget adjustment later on in

[1:21:55] a year. We don't wanna do this quite yet because we want some time to have a better idea of exactly

[1:21:59] what it's gonna be. I'd rather bring one ba to you guys as opposed, opposed to two. So

[1:22:03] we know this is obviously gonna have a budget impact, um, but there's

[1:22:07] a lot of factors that'll help us know exactly what to bring. So this is just asking permission, then

[1:22:11] it'll be followed up with a basically a check or a, an invoice to you guys, so

[1:22:15] to speak, an opportunity to spend to, to amend the budget. As someone

[1:22:20] who's at the pool a lot with my kids and, and, uh, with swim,

[1:22:24] et cetera, our lifeguards are awesome. Uh, we truly have the best of the

[1:22:28] best and, and I think we need to continue to recruit the best.

[1:22:32] and if we're not doing that, it's a no brainer to me.

[1:22:36] uh, we we've gotta I'd go with the recommendations you put

[1:22:40] on here. I like it. Are do

[1:22:44] we need a motion here? The form of motion? Yeah. So, uh, we have a motion to

[1:22:49] motion to, uh, adjust the lifeguard and pool supervisor

[1:22:53] to the suggested to the suggested increased, uh, per hour amount that

[1:22:57] you have here in the packet. Okay. We have a, we have a, a motion. Do I have a

[1:23:01] second? Second, second by to, yeah, I also had

[1:23:05] a comment. Um, I, I agree with you. Um, I think we need,

[1:23:09] um, we need staff and we need, um, as

[1:23:14] top level staff as possible. We saw that last summer. Yes. Obviously we had,

[1:23:18] um, we had a scare and your staff was there and trained and ready.

[1:23:22] um, and, and they were amazing. And this is a problem all over.

[1:23:27] I'm, I'm hearing different cities and, and areas they're having the same issues

[1:23:31] when it comes to lifeguards. Um, so yes, I completely

[1:23:35] think that we should do this. I support it. Thank you. And I, and I

[1:23:39] want to clarify, this is also for our camp counselor staff as well.

[1:23:44] um, but those we're not asking for funding for that because the registration

[1:23:48] fees for camp will offset the increase for the counselors.

[1:23:54] well I was, you know, somebody might say, geez, $10 to just

[1:23:58] sit at the pool and, and have fun. But we do put a lot of

[1:24:02] pressure on these kids and they're required to do a lot of training and

[1:24:06] that's gonna need to be recognized as tia said with, we had an event last year

[1:24:11] and if we wouldn't have had trained lifeguards, we could have lost a child on that.

[1:24:16] mm-hmm. . So, um, I don't think the community

[1:24:20] is gonna be very interested in having the pool open three days a week.

[1:24:24] so I think we're gonna need to make this adjustment. I would also

[1:24:28] like to add to that is

[1:24:32] lifeguards maintain most of that pool.

[1:24:37] they do. They check, check the chemicals, clean, clean the grounds, they cleaned the

[1:24:41] equipment. Mm-hmm. , they cleaned the bathrooms. I

[1:24:45] was so shocked when I found out my kid cleaned the bathroom every day

[1:24:49] and never seen him clean the bathroom at home. .

[1:24:54] but we are currently with red cross as our training agency

[1:24:58] who is the standard bearer in this industry.

[1:25:04] our city takes this seriously and that's why

[1:25:08] I tell you you're comfortable with them up there. You're comfortable

[1:25:12] with 'em up there. As someone who lost whose

[1:25:17] child turned blue and died and they brought 'em back because

[1:25:21] of their training, I'm comfortable with them up there and I'm

[1:25:25] thrilled to see pragmatic mind saying, hey,

[1:25:29] the pool is an important part of our community.

[1:25:34] you look up there some days that things packed and those are nothing but laughs and

[1:25:38] love going on at that pool. And I appreciate it a lot. So we have a motion,

[1:25:42] we have a second. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed?

[1:25:47] hearing none. Motion carries unanimously. Thank you council

[1:25:53] mayor. And you go back with rod and smile. . Okay.

[1:26:00] okay. Item, uh, what, where did I flipped it

[1:26:04] too far? Discussion and consideration regarding council

[1:26:09] comments and agenda items. I wanted to bring this up because

[1:26:14] we're getting ready to have a changeover pretty soon.

[1:26:18] and, um, we've been following a format that

[1:26:22] was handed to me 22 years ago as a member

[1:26:26] of council and about 17 years plus

[1:26:32] as mayor, where we

[1:26:37] sit down and we have council comments or mayor count comments, then

[1:26:41] council comments. But somebody actually read

[1:26:46] what was on the sheet and I, and said, hey, we can do

[1:26:50] all this other stuff. And I went, oh, I

[1:26:54] never read it. Well, let me say I read it 20 years ago, I'm sure

[1:26:58] if it was on here. But we're gonna have a,

[1:27:03] uh, a new program in place, come the next meeting

[1:27:07] or the meeting in may. And

[1:27:11] when you're sitting right here at this desk, there's a little bit of, um,

[1:27:17] anxiety of trying to get the meeting to run right? And when

[1:27:21] somebody talks in all of a sudden and it kinda interrupts, it throws you off.

[1:27:26] and I've taken a lot of pride in the way our meetings in meadows

[1:27:30] place have run and I've watched meetings in other cities

[1:27:35] and they fall short of the professionalism and the pride that I

[1:27:39] have in these meetings. So I'm asking to

[1:27:44] counsel, do y'all make sure we all get together, y'all all get together with the

[1:27:48] new mayor, whoever that may be, and come

[1:27:52] up with some sort of process on, on how

[1:27:56] this meeting goes. I'm gonna con, um,

[1:28:01] consider rec, uh, taking a recommendation, uh,

[1:28:05] or not I'm, it was a suggestion or just a comment by rick staley

[1:28:10] saying that the county judge before each

[1:28:15] meeting, before he starts in, says

[1:28:19] this comment that, are there any comments by commissioner's

[1:28:23] court, which could be easily turned around to, are

[1:28:27] there any comments by city council?

[1:28:31] and we could plug that in place to where it's a routine and I think,

[1:28:35] you know, whoever comes in here, it'll take three or four weeks to figure out.

[1:28:40] so after a couple of months it'll be a routine. But

[1:28:44] whatever that is going forward, I'm just gonna say, please remember you're

[1:28:48] gonna have a new mayor sitting here and, uh,

[1:28:54] maybe they're not used to being made fun of, uh, that type of thing. So,

[1:28:58] uh, that's what my comment is on that because

[1:29:03] it's gonna be very important for mayor and council

[1:29:08] to discuss and, and handle the mayor's comments, the

[1:29:12] council comments and all the agenda items together. And I'm looking

[1:29:16] forward to watching on the thing. 'cause I'm gonna have

[1:29:20] a comfy spot, uh, to watch these, uh, proceedings

[1:29:25] on and, uh, remind you that, uh, we are being watched.

[1:29:30] but more importantly, the decorum of these proceedings

[1:29:36] have always been outstanding. I want to commend

[1:29:40] this particular council. Um,

[1:29:46] it's probably the, the overall best that I've sat with and I've

[1:29:50] sat with some really good councils and, uh, there's one of 'em back, well,

[1:29:54] I don't count terry as one, but, uh, his friends david,

[1:29:58] uh, we've had some really strong counsels through, through the years.

[1:30:04] and even when there was strong disagreement, difference of

[1:30:08] opinion, questions, concerns,

[1:30:13] it was handled very professionally and

[1:30:17] there's never any, I guess, angst

[1:30:22] caused by those types of ugly comments or things that you hear

[1:30:27] all over fort bend county. And I just,

[1:30:31] I'm encouraging this council to continue that so

[1:30:35] we can continue to be proud of it. And that's what I have to say about that.

[1:30:40] and that should take us on to the next item,

[1:30:46] which would be consent agenda motion

[1:30:50] by rick. Second. By by david. That's

[1:30:55] quick. All in favor? Any opposed?

[1:30:59] motion carries unanimous. And my, my

[1:31:03] favorite part is for item g audience, uh, comments for items

[1:31:07] not on the agenda and uh, people get three

[1:31:11] minutes to come up here. Let me get my stopwatch going.

[1:31:20] please state your name and your address. Okay. Terry

[1:31:25] henley 1 2 2 0 3 austin drive. Um,

[1:31:30] this has to do with the uh, board meeting we had in, uh,

[1:31:34] february in austin, the tml on tml board of directors past president.

[1:31:39] and, uh, I got two or three comments here. Uh,

[1:31:44] number one is, uh, they've introduced a new financial

[1:31:49] services department. I don't know where this needs to go to courtney or to nick.

[1:31:53] uh, that, uh, helped small cities from a financial

[1:31:57] services standpoint and it looks like it's very good. So

[1:32:01] you have that available to you through tml now in

[1:32:06] addition to the legal services and that sort of stuff. So if you get in a

[1:32:10] bind from a financial statement standpoint, they can

[1:32:14] help you out. The lady is marty simpson

[1:32:18] and she's been involved in many public entities and putting budgets

[1:32:23] together and financial statements and all that stuff. So it's gonna be a

[1:32:27] good addition to tml. Uh, item

[1:32:31] two had to do with house bill 4 71. There's

[1:32:35] a lot of discussion on it from a legal standpoint. Has to do with

[1:32:40] mandatory requirements for sick leave that's now, uh, for police

[1:32:44] firefighters and ems municipal employees. And

[1:32:48] the way it's written, the employee can get paid

[1:32:52] for time off for being sick as well as being paid

[1:32:57] for, uh, under workman's comp. So it's a double dipping so to speak.

[1:33:01] and they could get up to 175% of their pay while they're

[1:33:05] off sick. Just something to keep in mind. In our particular case,

[1:33:10] it might, I don't know, affect the police department. I don't know. Yeah,

[1:33:14] yeah. , is that, is that what it is? Jack ?

[1:33:19] okay. Anyway, okay. That's just something to be aware of. Okay.

[1:33:24] item three is, uh, it's no longer called the tml building

[1:33:29] change of ownership. It's now called the texas municipal center.

[1:33:34] it's 100% owned by the tml risk pool

[1:33:38] and it has been 50% vacant for some number of

[1:33:42] years. And uh, we've had many discussions in

[1:33:46] the board and I've discussed it many times with the board of director and

[1:33:52] sir, 30 seconds. 30 seconds. Okay. But

[1:33:56] anyway, it's gonna be some many improvements on it and tml is gonna start holding a lot of their uh,

[1:34:01] uh, training sessions there. And the last item is atm l. It's

[1:34:05] called the texas health benefits pool. Not, not tml. Uh,

[1:34:09] they're in good shape, uh, financially, uh,

[1:34:13] it's looking good. Their member equity has increased six to $8 million

[1:34:18] and financially, I think if the trends continue through the

[1:34:22] rest of this year, you may see uh, stabilization

[1:34:26] of rates are maybe a little bit lower rate, which is good. Okay,

[1:34:31] so let's from that standpoint, let's see it

[1:34:35] and uh, I see it.

[1:35:05] chuck, did you have anything to say other than go

[1:35:09] cos all he needs to say

[1:35:13] congratulations on your win , that's best game of

[1:35:17] the tournament.

[1:35:30] uh, chuck mcclar in 1 1 9 4 7 brighton lane.

[1:35:34] there's a lot of parking spaces out front of the, uh,

[1:35:39] along the freeway and I heard something about,

[1:35:44] uh, somebody wants to rent some of those spaces to park

[1:35:50] rvs and cars and stuff there like a

[1:35:54] used car lot. Is that true or false? Chuck, are you talking about

[1:35:59] beside northern tool and equipment? Maybe. Oh, count long dorrance

[1:36:03] rather than, than the freeway. Hmm. It's a long dorrance rather

[1:36:08] than the freeway. And I would suggest to you and anybody else that's listening

[1:36:12] to be at the public hearing next week okay. And get all of your

[1:36:17] questions. This is what I wanted to hear is april 2nd at 6, 6 30.

[1:36:21] april, april 2nd at six 30. Get here early and get a seat and

[1:36:26] write your questions down. 'cause you usually have good ones. And this is at 2 36 36 30,

[1:36:31] okay. Okay. And chuck, this is something that we want the public

[1:36:36] to be here and asking those very same questions because

[1:36:40] I promise you there's a lot of confusion on what they may or may

[1:36:45] not do. And I'm one of those people that's confused, so I wanna see

[1:36:49] what they propose. Okay. Okay. And just anything else,

[1:36:53] just as a reminder to everyone watching, they

[1:36:57] have put in their application for a special use permit. They have paid

[1:37:01] their fee and by our process they get their hearing

[1:37:05] period. That does not mean that counsel is in favor of this, that p and

[1:37:09] z is in favor of this. They get to come, make their presentation

[1:37:14] and then p and z planning and zoning will make a recommendation to

[1:37:18] council and then council will make the final determination.

[1:37:23] so your, your input is important during that public hearing

[1:37:27] process. Um, and we do want to hear from you as what

[1:37:31] is appropriate for the city and what is not. So we'll have

[1:37:35] two public hearings that night. One is for the, the

[1:37:39] boat and rv storage as it's been proposed. The other one is

[1:37:43] for a vape store, I believe. Correct. Smoke shop. Smoke shop.

[1:37:48] and that one would go into one of the strip centers on west airport.

[1:37:52] so there are a couple pretty big, um,

[1:37:56] things to, for us to consider next week and, and

[1:38:01] I want to point out that councils in the past have

[1:38:05] worked hard to get zoning on these areas so that we can have

[1:38:09] these very type of public hearings. Don't

[1:38:13] let 'em down by not showing up.

[1:38:18] anything else chuck? That's what I need to know. And, uh, go cougs. Go

[1:38:22] cougs. Friday night. Well so far the, I still

[1:38:26] haven't recovered from sunday night so far. The u of h aggie

[1:38:30] game is the best game of the tournament. That was a blood band.

[1:38:35] . Alright, thank you chuck. That was tough. Anyone else like

[1:38:39] to step up? Yes. Kelly mills 1 2 1 2 3

[1:38:43] scottsdale, uh, I will, we will be working our, the

[1:38:47] snack shack during the first concert in the park. Mainly to give

[1:38:51] uh, provide food for the youth in our neighborhood. 'cause a lot of the parents

[1:38:56] have requested that we do corn dogs and hot dogs and stuff like

[1:39:00] that. So come out and support the snack shack.

[1:39:05] are you telling me come by supper over at the snack shack? Is that what you're doing?

[1:39:10] trucks. But the kids real food.

[1:39:14] corn dogs are real food. Okay, thank you kelly.

[1:39:19] so the, the, there, there is a benefit to the fundraising

[1:39:23] aspect of it. It stays in the city of meadows and benefits the

[1:39:27] baseball league, which offsets scholarships and fixing the field or

[1:39:32] whatever they do with that. Thank you very much for that announcement. Well thank you to colline

[1:39:36] for letting us try it for the first time. It's just simple food.

[1:39:40] I'm not doing the hamburgers, cheeseburgers or chicken sandwiches. Cheeseburgers, just hot

[1:39:44] dogs and corn. Dogs and snacks. Drinks. Make it a combo.

[1:39:48] alright, thank you. Anyone else?

[1:39:54] going once, going twice. Go cos

[1:39:58] item with that, unless there's any objections, this meeting is adjourned.

Mar 26, 2024 City Council Meeting

Agenda

Transcript