[10:37] All right, we're opening the city council meeting. It's 6 PM Tuesday, June

[10:41] 2nd, 2026. Uh we do have a quorum and the invitation.

[10:50] All right, thank you. H

[10:59] Heavenly Father, thank you for this opportunity to gather in service to this

[11:03] community. Please grant us the wisdom to make decisions as we seek to do what's

[11:08] best for the city of Mount Pleasant. Uh

[11:14] please bless this council, our employees, our first responders, and the

[11:18] citizens of Mount Pleasant. In your name we pray. Amen.

[11:21] » Amen. Thank you.

[11:26] » To the flag of America to the republic.

[11:32] One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty, justice for all.

[11:43] All right, we're going into open session. Public comments. The city

[11:46] council welcomes citizen participation and comments at all council meetings.

[11:50] Citizens comments are limited to three minutes

[11:53] out of respect for everyone's time. Council is not permitted to respond to

[11:56] your comments. The Texas Open Meetings Act requires that the topics of

[12:00] discussion deliberation be posted on the agenda not less than three business days

[12:04] in advance of the council meetings. If your comments relate to the topic that

[12:08] is on the agenda, the council will discuss the topic on the agenda at that

[12:12] time that the topic is discussed and deliberated.

[12:20] My name is Kyle Moing. Um, Mount Vernon, Texas. Good evening, council. My name is

[12:25] Kyle Moring. I live in Mount Vernon, Texas. When public officials talk about

[12:29] integrity, the test is not the slogan. The test is the record. On December 3rd,

[12:33] 2025, I sat across from city manager Rob Vine. He told me, "My integrity is all I

[12:37] have. Once it's gone, it's gone." He said, "I'm not going to change my name

[12:40] to defendant." And he gave me his motto. Do the right thing at the right time for

[12:43] the right reasons. Those are the words. Here's the record. On the city's open

[12:47] gov transparency portal, over 600 social security number entries, at least 20

[12:51] distinct social security numbers, including at least one apparently

[12:54] associated with current city personnel, and about 35 sexual assault forensic

[12:58] exam payment records containing victim identifying personal information,

[13:02] including dates of birth and exam dates, one apparently involving a 13-year-old.

[13:06] In a in a records production, the city also released Schneider Schneider

[13:10] Electric banking information and customer level water meter and lead

[13:13] service line records with account data, addresses, GPS coordinates, meter

[13:17] readings, and work orders. And the city released a full unredacted Mount

[13:20] Pleasant Police Department report connected to an active federal case,

[13:23] including information concerning minors. On May 27th, 2026, the city certified to

[13:28] the state in a sworn no record certification that it had no responsive

[13:31] records showing investigation, remediation, or even contact with open

[13:34] gov. The only record it found was my email reporting what had happened to the

[13:38] city. Based on the city's p pattern, I anticipated this response, protect

[13:42] itself, minimize the problem, and shift the burden onto the person who reported

[13:46] it. That is why I had already taken it upon myself to notify open Gov,

[13:49] Schneider Electric, the US Department of Justice, the Texas Department of Public

[13:53] Safety, and other appropriate regulatory and oversight authorities. The city

[13:57] should have done that. It did not. When I notified this council about the

[14:00] unredacted police report, the response was not an apology. The city's outside

[14:04] attorney, Austin Beck, invoked Texas government code 552.352

[14:09] against me, a criminal statute carrying a possible fine and up to six months in

[14:12] jail. The city released the record. I reported it. Then the city pointed a

[14:16] criminal statue at the reporter. Tonight, the city's open gov financial

[14:19] transparency portal is still down, and the SharePoint link that the city

[14:22] provided for the records I paid to receive remains inaccessible. Thomas

[14:26] Payne warned, "A body of men holding themselves accountable to nobody ought

[14:29] not to be trust by trusted by anybody." That is the issue before you tonight,

[14:33] not personality, not politics, accountability. So again, I request that

[14:37] my formal ethics complaints be placed back before this council for a public

[14:40] vote. And again, I request an outside investigation and independent audit into

[14:44] the city's internal controls or the lack thereof. Those are the right things.

[14:48] This is the right time. Thank you.

[14:54] Does anybody have anything to say? All right, we're good. Let's go ahead

[15:00] and move on to uh item number one. Consider approval of May 19th, 2026

[15:06] meeting minutes. >> Get a motion.

[15:08] » I'll make a motion to approve the meeting minutes from May 19th, 2026.

[15:16] » I second. >> Madam Secretary, you get a vote, please.

[15:20] » Yes. >> I

[15:25] » I >> I.

[15:27] » All right. Motion passed unanimously. We move on to item number two. Discuss and

[15:32] consider adding one position to approve positions list by adding another water

[15:36] plant operator for the Lake Bob Sandland LBS water plant. And this is our utility

[15:41] director, Marshall. >> Good evening. So, tonight I was going to

[15:46] bring up um adding a new position. We were going to wait until budget to

[15:51] introduce this, but um I believe maybe a month or two about well, it's been more

[15:57] than that. Uh few councils ago, we discussed a filter project that we're

[16:02] going to move forward with. It's still in a process of being put together. So,

[16:07] uh it's not ready to go, but one of our filters at our plant has gone down. So

[16:13] we decided to try to move this up ahead because of our weekend. We shut down our

[16:19] LBS plant on the weekends because it just never was turned on or to in that

[16:24] process of doing it. But lo doing that when we turned it off, we lose 5 million

[16:29] gallons a day on the weekend for no reason. So with us losing that one

[16:35] filter, we al we're already losing 3 million gallons a day no matter what

[16:40] happens. So instead of us losing that amount on a weekend basis, especially

[16:44] during the summer, we decided we needed to go ahead and just move it ahead with

[16:49] this and ask permission creating this position. The benefits

[16:55] astound are are astounding that we never have done it. I mean, we lose 13 million

[17:02] gallons a year just because we turn it off. We have to flush everything every

[17:06] time we turn it off. So that's if we turn that around and sold that, that's a

[17:11] profit. And then the new LBS plant is actually more efficient than the old

[17:17] one. So it would lower the cost of us not having to run the older plant as

[17:23] much. We can lessen it on our chemicals and our energy. So it would it would

[17:28] balance itself out with with these. From what I remember, um, you were

[17:36] saying that we're basically going to be making money off of adding another

[17:38] position, right? >> Just the water loss alone would pay for

[17:43] two positions, but we only need >> That's what I was thinking. I was Okay.

[17:48] » Any discussion? >> And council, I would add too that this

[17:51] this is already budgeted for >> Yes. Yes. This would not change my

[17:55] budget whatsoever.

[17:59] » So, this will allow us to not have to shut that down ever again. We'll have it

[18:02] 247 >> 247

[18:05] until we decide we don't want it to be that way, but there's no reason for it

[18:08] not to be that way.

[18:12] » Um, what's going on with the filter? I know

[18:16] you said something about a filter project as well. I mean, obviously, we

[18:18] need disposition because no one's manning that that facility. Just

[18:22] curious. >> So, the the the filters we have on the

[18:25] the old plant from the 70s, we were going to upgrade to an air scour system.

[18:31] The base of it cracked a couple weeks ago. So now it has to be 100% rebuilt on

[18:37] at least one of the filters to even do the project. But we lost the whole

[18:41] filter itself because of >> No, that's fine. Just make sure we kind

[18:45] of touched on it then we talked about just folks paying attention to making

[18:49] sure we kind of heard >> the project actually hasn't come in

[18:51] front of the public. It was it was just discussed but it hasn't actually been

[18:56] finalized. >> I know. I'm just marrying the the

[18:58] position. Yeah, >> that's all. You're good. Thanks, sir.

[19:02] » And that is a project that will be funded by a bond and it's about to go

[19:05] out for RFB >> next month.

[19:07] » It should be just the filter breaking kind of put a little snag in it. So, we

[19:12] have to see what >> it forward a little bit.

[19:16] I talked to Rob about this last week and when you see what we can say and we

[19:23] always wondered when it was built well we didn't open it up 24 hours a day

[19:28] seven days a week just like the one here but anyway I was impressed with the

[19:32] numbers and I appreciate what you've done with it to show the the need for it

[19:37] and I'm I'm all >> Yes ma'am.

[19:41] » All right have a motion. I'll make a motion to approve adding another water

[19:45] plant operator to the approved position list. Second.

[19:49] » I second that motion. >> Madam Secretary, can you get a vote,

[19:51] please? >> I

[19:56] » I >> Yes.

[20:00] » I motion was unanimous. Let's go ahead and

[20:04] move on down to number three. hold a public hearing per the city unsafe

[20:08] building abatement code found in chapter 150 of the code of ordinances and to

[20:13] consider order 26-002 a declaration of dilapidated structure

[20:18] at 1007 west pan street within the city of Mount Pleasant Texas find it to be

[20:24] dilapidated and or deteriorated and damaged so as to require repair

[20:30] rehabilitation or demolition providing a time within which the owner should

[20:34] rehabilitate repair or demolish the structure and to consider ordering a

[20:39] city abatement and subsequent lean on dilapidated structure at uh 107 West

[20:46] Bonan Oakan Edition block 4 lot one and start Mr.

[20:53] Good evening, mayor, uh, council members. So, I got a couple substandard

[20:57] structures I want to bring before you tonight. Um, just to kind of let

[20:59] everybody know the process that we go through. It's, uh, dictated by our city

[21:03] ordinance, chapter 150, as well as state statute 214. Properties are identified

[21:08] by staff as unsafe, dilapidated, dangerous. Owners are notified. If we

[21:12] don't receive any kind of response from the not owners, then it does come before

[21:16] city council hearing. Um at this time then we do ask council to make a

[21:21] decision to either grant us permission to demolish the structure or agreed upon

[21:25] plan by the property owner and if it's not demolished in 30 days the city has

[21:29] the right to do so and we will recoup the money through a lean if the bill is

[21:32] not paid. And so the first two actually I just want to kind of bring to your

[21:37] attention. This is 1206 Rambo. I know Debbiey's really familiar with this

[21:40] property, but um we sent out notices to them kind of to go through the same

[21:44] process, but it actually transferred ownership and the new owner demolished

[21:47] it. So, that property is now gone. Um we also had another issue here at 111

[21:51] Hoverard actually police chief brought this one to me. They were having issue

[21:54] with vagrants and uh trespassers and that sort of thing. And uh we ended up

[21:58] send them a notice, they sold it and also to demolish that property. So, I

[22:02] just wanted to kind of bring those to your attention. Um as far as this goes,

[22:05] 107 West PCON um actually this morning. I just found out about 10:00 that the

[22:11] owner of the property sold the property um to a new owner. She came in and met

[22:16] with me this morning. Um they did pull a permit to put in new windows and they

[22:20] are going to rehabilitate the property. And so she's here if you want to talk to

[22:24] her as well as the existing uh uh the owner that was that had sold her the

[22:28] property. And so if you guys want to give it an extension or um order

[22:35] demolish, that's up to you. but she's here um to explain her situation.

[22:39] » All right. Any more discussion? >> We'll go ahead and open the hearing.

[23:02] » Hello, I'm Magna. I will be Sorry, I'm going to be her translator.

[23:07] » Uh, she's saying that she's only coming here alone cuz her husband is a truck

[23:11] driver. He couldn't come, but she's the one she's the new owner and she's going

[23:16] to be um starting to work on the house. >> Okay. And so, y'all are the one in the

[23:21] extension? >> Yes, we

[23:23] » All right. Any discussion? H >> how much time uh can can you ask her how

[23:29] much time is she planning to need to get it up to to standard?

[23:35] » [laughter]

[23:40] » What's the maximum amount y'all can give her?

[23:43] » What's the normal amount you'll give? >> Typically, so far we've given 90 days.

[23:46] » Do and that's to at least get the exterior up. Obviously, they can take

[23:49] longer, but to get the exterior cleaned up, new windows put in, roof if need be,

[23:52] and get it painted and and then they can work on the interior as as they have

[23:56] time. >> Yeah. And I just I think if if we see

[23:58] progress on all of that stuff, then everybody's going to be reasonable to

[24:03] Right.

[24:11] » So, is that is that possible for her to be able to get that much done?

[24:26] » She said she's going to do it in 90 days. She'll do it in 90 days.

[24:31] » Well, yeah, that's

[24:35] the interior. I She didn't speak English, so she probably didn't hear all

[24:38] that. >> Well, she was here with her and I

[24:54] » So, you you want to do 90 days and then have them come back after 90 days?

[24:59] » Just ask John and as long as she's working on it, you know, within a

[25:09] longer than 90 days. So, we would love to see it brought it's a beautiful house

[25:16] and so we would love to see it done right and so

[25:33] So I think report back to Mr. John.

[25:41] » Yeah. Thank you.

[26:00] All right. So, we'll go ahead and close the hearing and uh make a motion.

[26:06] I make a motion uh to extend um by 90 days uh for the new owner to

[26:15] make put work on 0007 West Pan Street. We would circle back in 90 days, see on

[26:21] progress. We get a second. >> A second. And I want to say um good luck

[26:26] and I can't wait to see new pictures. >> All right, Madam Secretary, can you get

[26:32] a vote, please? >> I

[26:37] » I >> Yes.

[26:40] » I modem. Uh the motion passed

[26:45] unanimously. We'll go ahead and move on to item number four. hold a public

[26:49] hearing for the city unsafe building abatement code found in chapter 150 of

[26:55] the code of ordinances and to consider order 26-003

[27:00] declaration of dilapidated structures at 702 circle drive within the city of

[27:05] Mount Pleasant, Texas finded dilapidated and/or deteriorated and damaged so as to

[27:09] require repair rehabilitation or del uh demolition providing a time within

[27:15] which the owner should rehabilitate, repair or dem demolish such structure

[27:19] and to consider ordering city abatement and subsequent lean of the dilapidated

[27:24] structure at 702 Circle Drive, Mineral Springs Edition,

[27:30] aka Red Springs block 15, lot 8. >> All right. On this particular property,

[27:36] um I don't know how long it's been vacant. One of our code officers,

[27:39] Daniel, has been here a long time. He says it's been vacant as long as he can

[27:41] remember. But I know they haven't had water service since 2022, and they're

[27:45] about 5 years behind on taxes. And so I sent out letters. It's in an estate. Um

[27:49] it was in um Wy Roy C. Junior or senior estate. Um I didn't get a response from

[27:55] anybody. Um but as you can see, the house is pretty much dilapidated. The

[27:58] windows are all busted out. That's how I got a picture of the uh interior of the

[28:01] house. Um but um I don't think it's worth saving or even possible to

[28:06] possibly save this one. So I'm asking the council allow us to demolish the

[28:10] house in 30 days if not done so by the property owner.

[28:13] » Any discussion? >> All right. Have you been in touch with

[28:17] the property owners? They know we're doing this or

[28:19] » No, nobody reached out to me. I It's in an estate and so I don't know if it was

[28:22] deceased and there's no next to kin. I mean, I tried to get a hold of I didn't

[28:26] see anybody. I went down to the uh tax roles. There's nobody on the tax roles

[28:29] and so I just it ended up going to the same address which obviously nobody's

[28:33] been there for a decade or so. >> All right. Thanks.

[28:36] » So with that, John is like does it take um a longer period of time for us to

[28:41] actually be able to move on that property?

[28:43] » No. If if you guys go ahead and issue the demo demo, I'll send the notice out

[28:46] today saying that you've issued the demo that they need to do it in 30 days. If

[28:49] they don't, then we'll go ahead and move forward in 30 days and get it cleaned

[28:52] up. All right. Anything else? Go ahead and close the

[28:58] hearing. I get a motion. I'll make a motion that we declare uh

[29:04] the structure at 702 circle substandard and order it to be demolished by the

[29:09] owner within 30 days and to authorize abatement by the city after that time

[29:14] according to procedures in the city ordinance and state.

[29:18] » Second. >> Madam secretary, can you get a vote,

[29:21] please? >> I

[29:25] I >> Yes.

[29:30] I >> motion passed unanimously. Let's go

[29:33] ahead and move on to item number five. Discuss and consider approving a

[29:36] government lease purchase agreement between the city of Mount Pleasant and

[29:39] American National Leasing Company for lease purchase of vehicles. And this is

[29:43] our police chief. >> Evening council, mayor, Mr. Vine. So,

[29:49] I'll introduce you to uh Eric Reid who is vice president with American National

[29:54] Leasing Company. We have been looking for several months

[29:57] now a way to improve our um fleet situation and an affordable option and

[30:04] we believe we have found a good good option for you. In your packet there is

[30:07] a copy of a brochure from American National Leasing as well as a a contract

[30:12] that we enter into upon purchase of vehicles. And that contract just as a

[30:16] side note can either be entered into for a particular vehicle or or multiple

[30:21] vehicles at once. So I'll let Mr. read give you a good brief rundown.

[30:27] » Good evening. Uh again, I'm with American National

[30:30] Leasing. We are based out of Witchaw Falls. Uh for right around 30 years, uh

[30:36] we have primarily dealt with governmental agencies. Um and so our

[30:41] primary focus is cities, counties, school districts, hospital districts,

[30:45] things of that nature. Um working with vehicles, heavy equipment. Uh so with

[30:50] cities we do public works, we do police, fire uh and then city vehicles as well

[30:56] as heavy equipment. Um our program is very very simple I would like to say. Um

[31:03] and so we don't have uh a lot of the uh allocart charges a lot of the different

[31:08] uh stipulations. And so with us it is what we call a lease purchase a

[31:12] governmental lease purchase. Um and so because of that the city is on the title

[31:18] from day one as the owner. Uh we are simply a lean holder. Um therefore there

[31:22] are no mileage restrictions. Uh there are no maintenance requirements. Um you

[31:28] you only have the dock fee and the interest is all that there is. Uh so at

[31:33] the end of the term we typically on a vehicle will do three, four or five

[31:36] years. Uh at the end of the term there's just a $1 buyout and then it's yours.

[31:41] It's an asset to the city. Uh it's something that you can keep for a few

[31:45] years especially if it's got low hours, low miles. Um, and then we can help you

[31:50] with an exit strategy to unload it if you wanted to trade it in uh down the

[31:54] road on something else. Uh, and I just made a couple of notes here. Um, some of

[31:59] the agencies that we work with in the area, uh, Mount Vernon ISD, Hopkins

[32:04] County, Cass County, uh, City of Pittsburgh, and City of Jefferson. And

[32:09] that's just right here in the local area. We help agencies across the state

[32:12] of Texas, like I say, have for 30 years. So, just wanted to come in and introduce

[32:17] myself to you. Um, again, in your packet, there is a brochure uh a blank

[32:22] contract so you have kind of how the verbiage and language uh is read and

[32:27] then also be able to answer any questions that you may have.

[32:32] » I have one. >> Go ahead. Just a couple tidbits real

[32:35] quick. So, um so in listening to Mr. Reid, a couple things. It's a leasing

[32:44] company, but it's really a purchase uh is what it is. It's a purchase with a

[32:48] we're about two points lower than our current lease program, that interest

[32:52] rate, and like he mentioned, uh that dock fee is $150, I think, um which

[32:57] covers the initial dock fee. Um the fees are much lower than we currently are

[33:00] under. Um as as he said, they can sell the car using their um I guess pool of

[33:07] resources, but we because we're the owners, we can also sell the car upon

[33:10] when we decide we're done with that. uh equipment or vehicle, I guess. Um and so

[33:17] um we did have Lee review the contract. Um there was one piece of language. She

[33:23] just had a question about they very quickly sent me a memo clarifying that

[33:27] the intent and um so she has been satisfied with with it. So

[33:33] » go ahead, Mr. >> Okay. You said at the end of five years

[33:36] there's a $1 buyout. >> Yes, sir.

[33:38] » That means $1 and it belongs to us. We pay you no more money. That's correct.

[33:42] » Yep. >> Yeah, we could do three, four, or five

[33:46] on vehicles. And also, it's important to note um if the city wanted to pay them

[33:51] off early, that is an option and there's no repayment early repayment penalty.

[33:55] So, uh you know, sometimes we'll have cities, especially if they're

[33:59] anticipating uh revenue from a project, um they can go ahead and do say a

[34:04] four-year deal uh and then year two go in and just pay it off. Um and so one

[34:09] other is in the contract um that you'll see. But um let's say that you don't

[34:15] have it in the budget right now, but you're needing a vehicle, needing

[34:18] equipment, you've added an officer, whatever the case may be. We can go

[34:22] ahead and get that vehicle in service, get it upfitted, and then the first our

[34:26] first payments are always 12 months to first. So, you have a year to get that

[34:30] first payment. >> Yeah. So, we're going to own more of our

[34:35] vehicles. And uh something Rob mentioned to me that I thought was really nice is

[34:38] we're actually going to be able to keep these vehicles around that with the low

[34:42] mileage, low hours or low use, we can we can move a department that you know

[34:46] aren't aren't critical response or anything like that. So we'll be able

[34:49] hopefully be able to keep some around for you know seven 10 years or whatever.

[34:53] » Rob, >> so I have a question.

[34:55] » Yes, ma'am. >> Um I'm assuming Mark is sitting behind.

[35:00] » Yeah. >> Okay. I can't see. I'm so sorry. I can't

[35:03] see. So my The question is because um I've been concerned about this fleet

[35:08] that we've had leased and so I'm not that person. So

[35:14] » So are you going to buy our lease agreement that I wasn't sure how

[35:20] » No. So those vehicles under that contract with the current lease program

[35:24] actually belong to the lease company. Um even if we pay them off, we continue to

[35:28] pay a management fee. Um and they eventually go back and they sell them at

[35:33] their through their dealership pool. We cannot sell them. They are not our

[35:37] vehicle. So, um we will make a plan to slowly back out.

[35:49] » I'll defer to Mr. >> If it pleases the council, but staff

[35:52] recommends that we do. >> Okay. Rob and Mark, what's your interest

[35:58] rate? >> 5.3.

[36:00] » 5.3. Have we shopped the interest rates? We went to our local banks and we tried

[36:04] to keep it local to see if we can get as good a deal.

[36:07] » So, they base their rates on um the current rates under the federal

[36:13] government. Um and I have not shoed local banks to see what those rates, but

[36:18] this program is a little bit different where they're uh we we we look for a

[36:23] line of they they grant us a line of credit to purchase vehicles and it's a

[36:28] program where we continue to do that. So they already have the contract written

[36:31] up that they do with government agencies. Okay.

[36:33] » And so it's kind of their specialty. Um and I can tell you that points lower

[36:38] than what we're currently paying. >> I'm not trying to to derail your

[36:42] project. I just >> just want to know.

[36:45] » One of the one of the things I'll bring up too, and you may just be about to

[36:48] mention it, Mr. Reed, correct me if I'm wrong, but there is a one-time

[36:52] opportunity to refinance. >> That's correct.

[36:54] » If the interest rate drops. >> Yeah. So, if the if the interest rate,

[36:57] let's say that you're in the middle of a five-year term, you do have a one-time

[37:01] option to refinance to a lower term. Uh, we do want to repric everything that we

[37:07] have with the city. Instead of doing one thing at a time, we do want to repric it

[37:11] across the board, but that's at no charge as well. Just the 15.

[37:15] » If we if we elect to use the one-year deferred, does that increase our

[37:18] interest rate? >> It doesn't change. In fact, most I would

[37:21] say 95% of the deals that we do, say if we we contract something in June, the

[37:26] first payment is due in June of next year. U you have the ability to put

[37:31] money down if you want to. It's not a requirement. Um for instance, on law

[37:36] enforcement, fire department, things that do require an upfit. Uh let's say a

[37:40] public works truck needs a bed uh or something like that, we we will allow

[37:45] all of the upfit uh into the deal. um crazy, but we've seen upfits be more

[37:51] than the vehicles. Yeah, it can happen. >> Um and so one other thing when we talk

[37:56] keeping things local, uh we obviously have a large uh fleet dealers that we a

[38:02] large amount of those that we work with, but we're happy to work with any dealer.

[38:06] So if you have a local dealership, you have a local upfitter, uh anybody that

[38:10] you want to work with, we're happy to do that. So

[38:12] » is this a tax exempt loan? >> It is. It is. Okay.

[38:18] Yeah. So, just looking at the contract, curious,

[38:23] is this going to be set up like a master service agreement and then you have

[38:26] multiple contracts underneath? I'm just I'm asking that because you're going to

[38:30] have multiple cars or >> we typically do and and chief referenced

[38:34] that I can go in and get more or less what we call pre-approval because we're

[38:37] owned by a bank. We're located in a bank.

[38:40] » Um >> we want to get preapproval before we

[38:43] move forward. Um, and so essentially what we did is kind of got a ballpark

[38:47] idea of the number of vehicles that we were looking at for the first wave and

[38:51] it was right around that 500 mark, a little lower. So I just went in and got

[38:56] a pre-approval for 500, but we can contract per vehicle. So, and typically

[39:03] it's it's obviously easier if we put multiple vehicles on a contract, but if

[39:07] one's totaled, >> something happens, you decide you want

[39:10] to sell one of those, >> then we just have to go in and get a

[39:14] payoff and divide it amongst the number of units that are remaining. So, I

[39:18] typically will get with the auditor uh or whoever I need to to make sure

[39:22] everybody's on the same page, but each VIN can have its own contract, and

[39:26] that's that's very easily done. Um, typically we will uh get the paperwork

[39:31] done on however many vehicles we're looking at at that time uh and then send

[39:35] it for docy sign whatever we need to do on that but it's not a big deal at all.

[39:40] We don't do like one master service agreement for for all of them. Um but

[39:44] like for instance if the chief was wanting three vehicles that were similar

[39:48] in price uh similar in vehicle we could put those three on one contract that

[39:53] that can >> Yeah. Yeah. I'm following you. I was

[39:55] just you kind of explained it out. I was like, "Well, if we're doing this long

[39:58] term, at some point it's going to, you know, which contract do we have car 12

[40:03] on?" You know, >> that's kind of where my head was at.

[40:05] » So, like I say, we do have some that want one contract per vehicle so they

[40:09] can reference that particular lease number

[40:12] » and and that >> I'm not getting in the weeds on that.

[40:14] I'll let I'll let Chief do do what he needs to do there. I just was curious on

[40:18] on the management side. Uh the other thing and you and it's really on us here

[40:25] um not y'all on the maintenance of these vehicles like we just going to go to the

[40:29] dealerships until because I know we have a maintenance department. So how are we

[40:32] managing that? >> So to see warranty

[40:34] » the way we kind of currently stuff is your your oil changes and stuff is all

[40:38] done in house. Any warranty work we take to the dealership while those vehicles

[40:41] are under warranty. after they're under warranty. Um, we have a couple mechanics

[40:46] and we and and they may repair some of it. Um, depending on their how busy they

[40:51] are and if they're comfortable with it or they may send it to a dealership as

[40:54] well for repairs after the warranty is up. But so a lot of it's done in house

[40:59] but not when they're under warranty. They usually send them out for warranty

[41:02] or repair. >> Yeah, that Yeah. So we're on the same

[41:04] page. Okay, cool. Thanks, Mark. >> Is our interest rate based on our bond

[41:09] rating? >> No, it is not. No, it's the same rate

[41:11] for all of our governmental agencies. >> Okay. Any more discussion,

[41:17] Chief? I appreciate the effort. >> All right. We had a motion.

[41:27] » I'll make a motion that we approve the leasing contract with American National

[41:31] Leasing Company. >> I second the motion. Madam Secretary,

[41:35] you vote, please. I

[41:41] » I >> I

[41:45] » Yes. >> All right. Motion passed unanimously.

[41:49] Move on to item number six. Discuss and consider an

[41:54] interlocal agreement for the city of Mount Pleasant to operate, maintain, and

[41:58] train for use of self-contained breathing apparatus bill station

[42:03] provided by Titus County, Texas. And this is going to be our attorney and our

[42:06] fire chief. Actually, mayor, I'll go ahead and jump in on

[42:12] this. Okay. There. Uh, we are going to ask that that council tables this

[42:18] particular item. And the reason being is that the agreement that is in our packet

[42:23] that is signed by the judge is a different agreement that we had sent to

[42:27] them. So, we're going to make sure that we have the correct agreement, send it

[42:30] back to the comm, ask them to approve it, send it back to us, and we will have

[42:34] this on the very next agenda item as quickly as we can. But it would be our

[42:39] recommendation table. >> You get a motion. I'll make a motion

[42:44] that we table the um SCBA fill station at this time.

[42:50] » I'll second that. Madam Secretary, we got a vote, please.

[42:55] » Yes. I

[43:00] » I >> I

[43:03] » All right. Motion passed unanimously. Let's go ahead and move on to item

[43:07] number seven. And this is the city manager report.

[43:09] » Mayor, council, uh just a few quick things. Uh budget meetings and

[43:13] preparation efforts continue as we move closer into the budget season. Uh if you

[43:17] notice, I might have a little bit more gray hair than I had last week. We are

[43:20] getting down into the weeds. I think one of the things I will acknowledge Chief

[43:25] and his efforts tonight and and Aaron also played a part in bringing that

[43:29] agreement with with with our the vehicles. We are changing things for the

[43:35] better as as we can. So, um I've sent to each of you department heads and council

[43:40] members a five-year horizon strategic planning survey. As soon as I get all

[43:45] those back, I will compile information and I'll be presenting that to you at an

[43:50] upcoming budget workshop. Um, a few of you and a few staff members over the

[43:54] weekend received some emails about a dog. Um, I just wanted to touch base on

[44:00] that. The information uh, information that is false travels very quickly. This

[44:04] information made it all the way to Norway. Uh, the email came back said

[44:08] that we had a dog in our shelter. No effort was taken to uh, rescue this dog

[44:13] or adopt the dog and was put down basically because that's the only option

[44:19] we gave and that's not accurate. staff, Dr. Chief. Um, the dog, a picture was

[44:24] posted on our Facebook page as was as we do with all of our animals. Uh, the dog

[44:29] was dog aggressive. It wasn't adopted. Rescue efforts or rescue efforts were

[44:35] made to be uh with rescue organizations once they learned the dog was dog

[44:39] aggressive, which means not play well with other dogs, they decided not to

[44:44] rescue the animal. So, unfortunately, because of the time that we did have

[44:49] that was staff did make every effort they could

[44:54] to adopt the dog. So, I just wanted to address that

[44:58] » false information with accurate information.

[45:00] » Rob, and the one thing you told me right before we came out here. Yeah. I just

[45:04] want to make sure that everybody understands where did they get the

[45:06] picture from? >> From our Facebook page.

[45:08] » Okay. Yeah, from the Facebook page. So, it was put out there and I'm

[45:13] we're we're looking into other things making sure that we're doing everything

[45:16] right. And it is. I mean, for Rob and for all of us, we're we're making sure

[45:21] we're doing the right things for the community and for the animals. So, we're

[45:25] some stuff and make sure everything's being done right.

[45:29] » Okay. No, you're fine. Uh, lastly, I would say congratulations to the Mount

[45:33] Pleasant Rodeo Association and to Prefforts. They had two very successful

[45:37] events this last weekend. The 62nd annual Mount Pleasant Rodeo and the

[45:41] Preffort Ranch Open. uh the economic impact that both of these events have on

[45:45] our community. And not only that, but it brings people here. Uh and then when

[45:50] they leave, they talk about how great we are, how how much Pleasant is uh

[45:54] welcoming to them. You see uh trucks, you see horse trailers everywhere for

[45:59] for a full week. Uh it's in both events. I was able to go to both some of both

[46:03] events. Really enjoyed it. But well, the city is already talking to the rodeo

[46:08] association about how we can help make the rodeo even better.

[46:13] Just wanted to say that those events event coordinators thank you for what

[46:18] you do >> and for the rodeo that 250th anniversary

[46:24] there is I believe there is something planned but it's not cool

[46:28] » that's all I have >> all right so council comments limited uh

[46:35] council actually we're moving uh we're moving the executive discussion

[46:42] Um the one thing we had in executive

[46:45] session, we're going to go ahead and move it out to the public meeting and

[46:49] that is uh discussion and actions on ethic

[46:53] complaint filed against Mayor Wesley line the second. So u basically I put

[47:00] this item in here because I wanted to make sure that there weren't you know

[47:03] what do I need to do? I know I divulged close session uh details felt like it

[47:10] was necessary and I'm ready to accept whatever

[47:15] whatever there is whatever repercussions are. So discussion.

[47:19] » I disagree, mayor. You did not break any ethics.

[47:25] Ethics was already broken. You went in and defended the truth.

[47:31] So I say we dropped it right now. Over and done with. You did nothing wrong.

[47:39] I wasn't here for for that meeting. So, but I'll just kind of refer to Lee uh

[47:44] based on the information and you I'm assuming we're part of that meeting. Uh

[47:50] you know, what does that look like from your perspective?

[47:54] » Uh council. So, two things. First, um the the mayor does have the right to

[48:00] have the discussion of the deliberation about this in uh open session, but the

[48:06] council has the right to have legal advice in close session. So he that

[48:12] piece is still available to you if you decide to exercise that. In terms of the

[48:18] uh provision that's an issue, um it would concern section 34.03C 03C

[48:26] which is uh disclose disclose information that could adversely affect

[48:30] the property, government or affairs of the city or directly or indirectly use

[48:35] any information gained by reason of his or her official position or employment

[48:40] for his or her her own personal gain or benefit or for the private interest of

[48:46] others. And so it's really for council to decide whether or not you believe

[48:51] that um the mayor's I believe we're talking about his uh his uh public post

[48:59] on Facebook. Is that correct? >> That's correct.

[49:02] » That's really for council to decide is whether or not you believe uh or you

[49:07] consider that that disclosure uh violated that section of the ethics

[49:12] ethics code. And it's so it's really for you to decide um how you see that.

[49:21] » Thank you.

[49:25] » I would like to say that um

[49:31] our mayor um did not divulge things from our executive meeting first.

[49:40] Um it h it seems like that was like it

[49:44] happened once and we did it again. So um according to our charter I'm

[49:52] looking at Miss Lee. There wasn't anything that we could do. We couldn't

[49:56] find, we couldn't do anything when we were finding um Miss U

[50:04] Melanie Knight Deoya uh that she had been um guilty.

[50:10] And so I'm kind of like Carl. It's like let's just drop it. Let's go on. There's

[50:16] not anything else that can be done. And I think as I look at my cohorts up here,

[50:22] let's just not let's just keep our mouth shut and not do it again and just try to

[50:28] try to live by the rules that they've given us to live by.

[50:34] I agree. But I want to thank Wesley Lion for standing up. You can only get kicked

[50:41] so many times before you want to fight back. But I will say what he did was uh

[50:50] it was understandable. He defended his council and he didn't speak the truth.

[50:55] And u as far as benefit, no one benefited from anything during all of

[51:01] that. The mayor certainly didn't benefit, but I admire anyone who will

[51:05] stand up and say, "Yep, I did it and here I am. You you deal with me." And I

[51:10] appreciate that very much. And as far as I'm concerned, I'm done with it.

[51:19] » All right. Is there a motion that we need to make?

[51:24] » I make a motion that we don't take any action.

[51:30] » Second.

[51:34] » A second. Madam Secretary, take a vote, please.

[51:40] » Yes. I

[51:43] » I >> So, because I wasn't here for any of

[51:47] this, I'm going to abstain from this vote. So, I just don't know.

[51:53] All right. It was 3 to one and motion passed.

[51:57] So, we don't have to go into executive session. And we do want to do the

[52:02] council comments, limited announcements of upcoming events, recent council

[52:05] member activities or requests to agenda items for upcoming meeting. Two minutes

[52:10] for council. I've got two comments. Uh neither one

[52:15] are going to be popular, I'm sure, but uh I would like us to uh I know

[52:21] we've talked about this for the last couple of years about charter

[52:24] amendments. I would like in the next uh maybe month or two that we make a

[52:29] decision, bring it before the council as to how we're going to do that, if we're

[52:33] going to uh have a group or whatever. But uh we do need to address that. And

[52:40] uh the second thing is um as Kelly and I have met with the finance people and

[52:45] we've met with directors and everybody else over the new budget. It's not going

[52:50] to be an easy sale one way or the other. It's going to be a difficult budget. But

[52:54] we did look at things and we asked questions about what the benefits are

[52:58] that we have here in the city that maybe not all the other cities have. And we

[53:03] talked about insurance, we talked about the benefits, we talked about TML, we've

[53:08] talked about everything. One thing that we didn't bring up that I would like to

[53:12] have the council and the manager and directors kind of chew on a little bit

[53:19] is possibly maybe looking at alternative ways of

[53:24] work if it's a I know that we've done it before. I know it was done when I was

[53:29] here. I know that one of the departments are doing it now is maybe a four and a

[53:34] half day work week or maybe moving hours around or rotating schedules so that it

[53:40] will be at least one incentive that we can use if if it's agreeable to

[53:46] everybody and uh I'm sure some people be happy about it but maybe not everybody

[53:51] but even if we give it a test run uh pull the facts from other cities just

[53:56] see if it's a viable solution to at least help in

[53:59] to help the employees and to help the city.

[54:04] It's >> a good idea. We used to have um summer

[54:07] summer hours at a couple of different companies that we would that I worked

[54:10] at. So, and basically that's what it was. I think half day Friday

[54:15] and then another one you actually would in the summertime you would work your

[54:19] extra hours through the week to make up for your time and then you would have

[54:22] every other Friday off. That was that I thought was pretty cool.

[54:28] » Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that's what we did. So, yeah, pretty good.

[54:34] All right. Anybody else? >> Yes. I would like to say um I said this

[54:38] before. We had a a budget workshop and uh because this is a light uh

[54:47] agenda, I wanted to say it from here. Two years ago, well, I'm

[54:53] fixing to start my sec my second term. So, two years ago when I got elected,

[54:58] uh, Jonathan and Carl and I, we had a mass exodus.

[55:04] And when we had this mass exodus, we found ourselves literally within the

[55:09] first two weeks of our term, missing five directors, no city manager, and um,

[55:16] we were looking at each other saying, "Okay, we're going to have to learn

[55:21] quick." And in the last two years or a year and

[55:26] a half, I've watched you guys step up. Um, most of you guys were uh working in

[55:34] other departments or maybe you were not in a director position and you were

[55:40] given that opportunity to step up

[55:44] and you guys knew as we knew the mess that it was in.

[55:51] And so when I see people that are willing and have the backbone to step

[55:56] into a situation that it's a mess, it is so admirable this day and age for

[56:04] people to say, "I can take that on." And I'm so proud of all of our directors for

[56:10] doing that. It has been hard for us as council people to take it on. And I know

[56:17] that it's been hard for you guys taking it on and learning as you go. So I know

[56:25] a lot of you when you stepped into these positions might not have had tenure.

[56:30] Y'all might not have had years and years of all this training and stuff. But what

[56:35] I'm seeing and I'm hearing is that you guys are getting the training. You guys

[56:40] are trying to step into those positions and be the best you can be. And because

[56:46] because we all went through it together two years ago.

[56:51] Now, y'all might not feel this way, but I really feel akin to you guys. And the

[56:55] reason I do is because we all pulled together.

[56:59] My team up here, I'll add Debbie. She came later. But I mean, it's been um

[57:07] it's been rocky and we've learned a lot. and knowing what you guys are doing and

[57:14] we've all done it together. I really think that Mount Pleasant has an amazing

[57:20] team. I think the citizens of Mount Pleasant are so so fortunate to have you

[57:26] guys here as part of family that we are. I think every one of you dig in and take

[57:32] care of each other. And I I'm serious. I just want to know you rock and um we are

[57:40] fortunate to have you and keep going and I look forward to the next two years

[57:44] working with you all.

[57:48] » All right. Uh well, looks like somebody did a lot of work uh putting this nice

[57:54] summer fun 2026 uh pamphlet together for the public library. So, if you don't

[57:59] know what's going on at our library, I would recommend you get one of these.

[58:03] Um, looks like there's a lot of fun planned uh for all ages. So, just great

[58:09] job. >> Thanks, Lupe. I was That's what I was

[58:12] going to say is that I hear a lot of stuff on Facebook that the kids don't

[58:15] have anything to do, don't anybody anywhere to go and this this is just

[58:19] it's just filled with stuff. So, as a community, I want to say thank you. It's

[58:25] awesome. >> All right, we have anything else?

[58:27] » And just to add, I did believe I read something in there about celebratory.

[58:31] Y'all are doing something trying to celebrate the 2000 or 250 year

[58:36] anniversary of America. You want to add to that because all I saw one line.

[58:41] » Um so we are partnering with D. So Daughters American Revolution. They're

[58:46] going to be doing a um a program for us about talking about the women in from

[58:53] Titus County or that have ties to Titus County with this chapter um for America

[58:58] 250. So, that's our and we're going to do a couple other little things, but

[59:02] that's going to be the highlight of what we're doing at the library for America

[59:05] 250. >> Hey, how's the the participation been

[59:08] with? >> Great. Uh, we had this past Saturday was

[59:11] our summer kickoff at Caldwell Park. So, we had Bubble Mania and we handed out

[59:16] over um 200 uh dilly bars from Dairy Queen. Um, and we had a great turnout.

[59:24] So, it it's been it kicked off well and we've been feeling it the rest of this

[59:28] week. So, >> great. That is awesome. Thank you.

[59:31] » Thank you. >> Anything else?

[59:34] » I have a shout out to the police department.

[59:39] » Yesterday evening, my wife had me going to a house she has listed to check some

[59:43] breaker boxes. It's a house that's been vacant for a year. Open the door, I go

[59:48] in, there's a window open in the house. I close the window going through the

[59:53] house. the breaker box. I come out the back to the patio and the window is

[59:59] open. Somebody's in that house, right? And

[1:00:02] I've been in houses before. I didn't spend money there and it's not pleasant.

[1:00:06] So, we called the police and we had Officer Palma, Burns, Vendia, and

[1:00:12] Marilyn. They came. They were very polite. They

[1:00:16] were very nice. They checked the house out. They were very professional. They

[1:00:20] even helped me find the breaker box. All right. So, a blanket was uh Officer

[1:00:28] Palma went and closed the door, the window,

[1:00:34] and we were in the kitchen and she saw the window coming up.

[1:00:39] So, we put it down. We all stood there and that window opened all by itself.

[1:00:44] Can't explain it, but anyway, I called the police over a ghost apparently last

[1:00:49] night and they they were great and and they were very helpful. So anyway, Mark,

[1:00:54] you got some great officers. >> Yeah, you do.

[1:01:00] » All right, boogeyman.

[1:01:05] » All right, I appreciate the light meeting. Thank

[1:01:09] y'all. We'll go ahead and adjourn 650.

City Council - Jun 02 2026

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