[0:04] Notice of the regular meeting of the city of santo city commission. It's, uh, june

[0:08] 18, and, um, ruth, can we have roll call,

[0:12] please? Yes, sir. Mayor ricardo gura. Present

[0:17] mayor pro. Pedro garvan, present. Commissioner tom goodman,

[0:21] present. Commissioner debra morales, present. Commissioner joe navarro

[0:25] present. Thank you. Okay. I'd like to call this meeting to order. We do

[0:29] have a quorum. The time is, uh, 5 31

[0:33] and, uh, item two and three, we're gonna have the pledge of allegiance to us flag

[0:37] and a texas flag. And please remain stand for the invocation.

[0:46] I allegiance to the flag of the united states america and

[0:51] to the republic for stands, one nation under god in

[0:55] this israel liberty kingdom justice, all under

[0:59] the texas flag, I pledge allegiance to the texas

[1:03] one saint under god. One.

[1:12] let us pray. Dear heavenly father, we

[1:16] humbly come before you today asking for your divine intervention with our

[1:20] weather. You're the creator of the heavens and the earth, and we trust in

[1:24] your power to influence the elements. Please bless us with favorable weather

[1:29] so that we may experience your goodness and grace. May your will

[1:33] be done, and may our days be filled with the beauty of your creation.

[1:37] in jesus' name we pray. Amen.

[1:42] thank you, mr. Pao.

[1:52] okay. Can make the announcements, mr. Sure.

[2:02] do you wanna read them? Oh,

[2:06] um, the national fitness campaign partnership?

[2:13] yes. Okay. We

[2:17] at, that's a presentation. Yes. Presentation.

[2:22] yeah. There's, there's several other announcements. Just we'll get through those quickly. Do

[2:26] you wanna do those? Yeah. Wednesday,

[2:30] june 19th city offices will be closed in observance of, uh, juneteenth

[2:35] bill. Another nice day off go, guys.

[2:40] uh, another announce movies at the plaza will not take place this friday.

[2:44] I wonder why june 21st, 2024. Do the rain

[2:48] in the forecast this week. The city hopes to resume the event on friday,

[2:52] january 28th. If the weather permits. Stay tuned for more information

[2:56] details on our city, social media and website@santo.com,

[3:00] city of santo.com. Okay. Commissioner, do you have any other,

[3:04] any other announcements? No. Well, I do.

[3:09] um, I know tomorrow the, uh, the city's, uh,

[3:13] the city will be closed, uh, for the observance of june juneteenth. And, uh, but we

[3:17] do have, due to the weather that's coming, uh, please, we

[3:21] ask the public please if, um, we don't know what, what's to what

[3:25] extent is coming to us. But, uh, I do hear that, uh, there's a lot of rain coming

[3:29] in. Um, if you do not need to be on the roads, please stay

[3:34] home. Okay. I hope that, that y'all prepared, you know, at

[3:38] least for food, gas or anything, uh, for any emergencies. But, uh,

[3:43] I do know that the, the, the city will have, uh, public works

[3:47] will be have a skeleton crew for anything that, uh, you know, um,

[3:52] down trees or anything that will, will try so we can help out the, the publics. So,

[3:56] but please, if you don't need to be out there, please stay home and, uh, makes

[4:00] our job a little bit more easier that, uh, you know, we don't have to be out there,

[4:05] you know, trying to bring, but if we do, we will. But, uh, you

[4:09] know, at least the emergencies, uh, just please be in the, uh,

[4:13] be wise. Um, like the, the saying, the slogan

[4:17] is, uh, turn around, don't drown. Uh, we do need to go through,

[4:21] uh, low line areas. We do have floods, certain areas, and,

[4:25] uh, please again. So just be mindful of what you're doing. Okay.

[4:30] so, uh, as far as that, that's what I got. What's

[4:34] that? National fitness campaign partnership. Okay. That's

[4:38] gonna be for, that's presentation right now. Okay.

[4:42] ms. Ms. Garza. Hi, good evening.

[4:46] deanna garza. Um, I'm here on behalf of the national fitness

[4:50] campaign. We're looking to hopefully partner with them. They're one of the largest,

[4:54] uh, private public partnerships in the nation.

[4:59] and, um, they actually have, uh,

[5:03] given out over a million dollars in grants to more than 40 municipalities

[5:08] throughout texas. And so their central theme is

[5:12] outdoor fitness, and they provide this lovely outdoor fitness

[5:17] facility, and, uh, we'd like to partner with them. So this video that y'all are

[5:21] gonna see tonight is, um, kind of the kickoff to that.

[5:25] and, um, all they currently need at the moment is leadership support.

[5:30] so, yep,

[5:36] we're changing the way america thinks about this. From college

[5:40] campuses to city parks and trails. We're bringing free fitness everywhere, and we're

[5:44] just getting started. Hi, I'm mitch, founder of the national

[5:48] fitness campaign. National fitness campaign was founded in 1979

[5:53] when we opened the first fitness, so redesigned for the 21st century,

[5:57] but fitness court is the world's best outdoor gym. Our seven movement seven

[6:02] minute system allows you to use your own body weight to get the perfect work in

[6:06] easier, hard, it will work for you. Our goal is to build healthy

[6:10] communities by making outdoor fitness and essential part of people's lives,

[6:14] so that each day is better than the last. Now, more than ever before,

[6:19] it is vital that we move fitness outdoors to remain safe and

[6:23] healthy and strong. Michiganders, uh, we, as

[6:27] soon as we can, we go outside, which is one of the reasons why the fitness world was section attraction

[6:31] to us. What impressed us most was their basic philosophy

[6:36] that they wanna provide world class fitness for freedom.

[6:41] truly anyone can use, no matter what your age is, no matter what

[6:45] your physical fitness level is, no matter what your skills are, it is very

[6:49] adaptable. Thousands of certified ambassadors

[6:54] will be trained to deliver classes and challenges and clinics. As part of

[6:58] our national fitness campaign, new programs are bringing students outdoors

[7:02] across america. The fitness court mobile app is your gateway to

[7:06] enroll in these programs. Simply scan the new digital wall with your

[7:10] phone to access a library of free workouts designed to optimize

[7:15] your experience on the fitness court, learn the moves and take

[7:19] challenges as we dig deep to create impact for our partners across

[7:23] america. This year, we are thrilled to introduce fitness

[7:27] court. Public arts cities have the opportunity to select

[7:31] a local artist to design their fitness code using the power of the arts

[7:35] and fitness outdoors. In iconic public spaces, we're

[7:39] proud to have helped cities of all sizes raise millions of dollars from

[7:43] respected sponsors to support free fitness. Wherever fitness

[7:47] is a priority, you can find a fitness tool. We're partnering with

[7:52] large cities using urban movement data to map the best

[7:56] locations for healthy infrastructure. We're bringing fitness courts to within

[8:00] 10 minutes of population centers everywhere they provide these

[8:04] wraparound services that from a city's perspective, that's what

[8:08] you want. In a partner like this, you want it to come presented to you on a silver

[8:12] platter with a bow tie around it. They're one of the best partners, I think, that

[8:17] I personally have ever worked with. We serve, uh, almost 1.2 million members

[8:21] across michigan. And this partnership really is an opportunity

[8:25] for us to bring scalable free health and wellness

[8:29] opportunities for our community. So I would actually invite cities and organizations

[8:33] big and small to explore the opportunity to invest in fitness courts. To be very

[8:38] honest with you, the feedback from different municipalities and different communities has been very positive.

[8:42] we're committed to raise $150 million

[8:47] to bring the campaign to 1000 cities and schools building the

[8:51] largest fitness movement in the world. Join us, let's

[8:55] make world class fitness group three.

[9:08] so, like I said, this is beyond again, um, all they're asking right now

[9:13] is, uh, leadership buy-in leadership support. And after that, they have,

[9:17] uh, grant funding out there for, uh, they're a single unit

[9:21] or multi-units throughout cities. So yeah, that's

[9:26] national fitness campaign. Where do we sign up? ? I'll let them know. We have a

[9:30] meeting, uh, believe later this week to discuss, uh,

[9:35] y'all's reaction to the national fitness campaign and what

[9:39] our next steps are, and they'll release the grant application to us. So

[9:43] thank you naa. Um, a da,

[9:48] is there any something that we could spawn off of this for a da

[9:52] as well? I would like to see something like that implemented. Yes. This is actually a

[9:56] da compliant, any, they can use any of the stations

[10:00] on this.

[10:05] thank you. Thank you. Thanks. Your

[10:09] thank you commission. Any other comment on, uh, public

[10:13] interest? None. Okay. Public comments,

[10:18] ruth?

[10:24] yes, sir. We have, uh, mr. Connor pace,

[10:42] connor pace, um, representing a royal metal building components inc.

[10:46] here in san benito. Um, good afternoon, honorable mayor

[10:51] city commission. Thank you for letting me speak here today. My name is connor pace,

[10:55] and as I said, on behalf of my family's company, world metal buildings,

[11:00] uh, which has proudly operated in san benito for over 30 years,

[11:05] it is with a sense of urgency and concern that I bring to your attention, the

[11:09] severely neglected and deteriorating state of the roads surrounding our city's

[11:14] industrial park, particularly amistad drive and falcon boulevard,

[11:18] also known as uex drive. If you have not driven on

[11:22] these roads recently, I urge you to go experience, experience these

[11:27] deteriorating roads firsthand. These roads are riddled with hundreds of potholes,

[11:32] posing significant hazards to vehicles, belonging to our employees,

[11:36] customers, and the heavy duty tractor trailers. Essential for the business operations in

[11:40] the area the effective businesses include, but are

[11:44] not limited to. Royal metal lamar lamar, outdoor advertising,

[11:49] mccoy's building supplies, gilman auto group, gulf coast sign

[11:53] company, lawrence and manufacturing age box and reef industries.

[11:58] the businesses I just mentioned provide a substantial amount of the overall tax revenue

[12:02] for the city of san benito. Moreover, falcon boulevard, also

[12:06] known as u tex drive, is also home to the san san benito isd

[12:10] barn. So, which means our school buses are subjected to the same damaging

[12:15] conditions on a daily basis. The deteriorating state of these roads has

[12:19] persisted over 15 years, which during this time, only temporary

[12:24] asphalt patches have have been applied, and these patches are in

[12:28] insufficient lasting a few weeks due to the heavy traffic that's

[12:32] taking a toll on the roads on a daily base basis due to the large and heavy

[12:36] semi trucks and buses. So this issue does not,

[12:40] not only causes repeated and costly vehicle damage, but also debtors po

[12:44] potential customers from visiting our businesses. We receive

[12:49] complaints on the, about the road conditions on a daily basis, and it's hard to do

[12:53] business with somebody who walks in the door already in a bad mood.

[12:57] given the critical nature of this situation, I strongly suggest

[13:01] and recommend that omnia drive and falcon boulevard be repaved with concrete.

[13:06] considering the volume and weight of the traffic in this area, a concrete repaving

[13:10] is more durable and the long-term solution, the roads need

[13:15] to be stripped down to the base and completely redone to ensure that they can withstand the

[13:19] heavy usage without rapid deterioration, the

[13:23] neglect of these roads has reached a point where minor repairs are no longer viable.

[13:29] attached to my comments are pictures of a few of these potholes along amta drive.

[13:34] I found one today that would measure three and a half feet wide. Imagine what that would do to your

[13:38] car or truck. Our local businesses need your support

[13:42] and fixing these roads for the long term to ensure that we can continue to

[13:46] be the backbone of our city's economy. Thank you. Thank you. Thank

[13:50] you, . Thank you,

[13:55] ruth. Mr. Mike travis, mr. Travis,

[14:12] good evening one and all the lord's blessings upon you. Um, as

[14:16] always, we'll jump into it because we're limited on time.

[14:21] um, first of all, a couple shout outs. A couple of shout outs

[14:25] here. Uh, first for the library, thank you for the library, the san diego public

[14:29] library. It is an oasis in

[14:33] the heart of our fabulous aka city here. Uh,

[14:38] I go there frequently and I just wanna thank you. Let's, uh, keep supporting

[14:42] that and as always, for public works and, uh,

[14:46] for, uh, keeping us neat and, uh, patched up

[14:50] over there on russell lane and the other, the other, uh, cleaning out the drains.

[14:55] uh, I've, I've noticed that around. Thank you very much. And also, always the

[14:59] police department for keeping us safe and quiet

[15:03] in our fabulous city of san benito and also

[15:07] for parks department. I guess they're the ones responsible

[15:11] for the outdoor exercise stations

[15:16] that we have already. Uh, some of which

[15:20] I use on a fairly regular basis when I drive by there on stinger street, I

[15:24] wanna jump out and do, try to do a pull up. Maybe I'll get there one day,

[15:28] but try it. Uh, so thank you for that. Um,

[15:33] I agree with the previous comments on the indu industrial,

[15:37] uh, amistad drive area over there. Um,

[15:41] remodeling, city hall. New topic. I know I'm jumping around. Um,

[15:47] mr. Mayor, mr. Mayor proam, uh, referencing back

[15:51] to the previous meeting, I believe it was, there was some discussion about, uh, flooring

[15:55] for the, the city hall, which is formerly the post office.

[16:00] um, I just wanna say, mr. Mayor, I understand your concerns

[16:04] and frustrations about making it inconvenient to do stuff. All remodeling

[16:08] projects are that way. Mayor pro tem,

[16:13] I thank you and appreciate you for saying we wanna

[16:17] do a good job. I mean, I won't rehash everything, but I appreciate that we want

[16:21] to use our, we wanna be good stewards of our funds, and we wanna do it

[16:25] well, and that's a place that people are gonna see. I would like for it to look nice

[16:29] also. So I don't know what happened on that, but I, I appreciate that, uh, at the

[16:33] last meeting, uh, comprehensive plan. I don't know where that's going on there,

[16:38] but I would respectfully submit that, uh, the city,

[16:42] city governments have a lot of latitude and leeway about how growth

[16:46] takes place. And so on our side of town over

[16:50] there, uh, I would just appreciate that we do that, uh,

[16:54] intentionally and, uh, respectfully and a orderly kinda way, and not

[16:58] haphazardly as some areas in town seem to, uh, um,

[17:04] have developed over the years. Um, thank you so much for

[17:08] spending, uh, time to listen to me and have a bless ea blessed evening.

[17:12] thank you. Thank you, mr. Charles. Thank you. Mike travis, 1695 russell lane.

[17:16] I'm sorry, I think I forgot that. Thank you, sir. Thank you. Thank you.

[17:21] that's it, sir. Um,

[17:26] okay. I do have some, uh, I got this one.

[17:30] uh, we got the also for, uh, ms. Jessica gonzalez? No,

[17:34] no, that's for c that's for the cpg

[17:38] public hearing, not right now. Okay, hold on. But for the, um,

[17:43] library agenda item, not yet.

[17:50] so these, these public comments will be a little bit later when we do a-c-d-b-g hearing. Okay. Sorry

[17:54] judge, this will

[17:58] be later. Okay. So public comments, I'm sorry.

[18:03] okay. That's it. That's it. Public comment,

[18:08] right. Okay, ma'am. Uh, we have presentations,

[18:12] uh, fiscal year 22, 20, 22, 23, city

[18:16] of san benito to slu enta program report.

[18:22] good evening. Good evening, everyone. My name is amanda ve. I am here on behalf of the

[18:26] ut health houston school of public health in brownsville. Um, we

[18:30] are here to present to you your 2023 annual report. Really just to

[18:35] congratulate you for all the work that you've supported over the years. The city of san

[18:39] benito has been a partner with the ut health houston school of public health for

[18:43] about a decade now, over a decade. And, um, through the

[18:47] work of let gomez and your leadership, you've really been able to accomplish

[18:52] a huge part of, um, the successes

[18:56] that we talk about throughout the valley. And so, I believe you've

[19:01] received a digital copy of this. I just wanna go through this really quick with you.

[19:05] san benito is one of 10 partner municipalities in county precincts

[19:09] that we, um, subcontract to implement community health programming

[19:13] throughout the valley. Um, through our program, elements of environmental infrastructure

[19:17] change, mass media, social support, health screenings, education

[19:22] and policy, you've been able to provide, um,

[19:26] services that address increased fruit and vegetable intake and physical activity

[19:31] in your community policy and environmental infrastructure change, chronic disease

[19:35] prevention and control, as well as serving, um, populations that don't

[19:39] normally get these kind of services. So thank you so much for your continued

[19:43] support for that. Um, in fiscal year 2023,

[19:48] the program produced over 52 television segments. So these are

[19:52] segments that come on weekly on televisa, where, um,

[19:56] role models from your community have been featured, as well as other people, um,

[20:01] other, other communities throughout the region. There are healthy cooking segments

[20:05] on these, um, on tv. And, um, we're just really

[20:09] grateful that we can continue to highlight the, the great things that are happening in your city.

[20:13] um, there have been over 187 total class series

[20:18] initiated per week here in san benito, um,

[20:22] 468 social media posts. So that's another way to engage

[20:26] the community that we know people pay attention to with positive, um, health

[20:30] messaging and an average of 193 weekly classes.

[20:34] so those are huge accomplishments for a city of your size. And, um, we

[20:39] hear about all the great things that letti has been able to do with her participants

[20:43] all the time. Um, some major percentage points I

[20:47] wanna bring up with y'all that are, are really good points to be proud of. 59.4%

[20:53] of participants who have enrolled in the que the program improved their fruit

[20:57] and vegetable intake. Um, that's an average increase of 1.33 portions

[21:02] per day of fruit and vegetables. And so when we talk about how do we prevent

[21:06] a lot of the chronic diseases that we see in our peer population, we see

[21:10] san bonita really committing to those improvements here, right? 63.8%

[21:15] of people improved their physical activity with an average increase of 80.6

[21:20] minutes per week. That's over an hour, more of moving

[21:24] per week thanks to the program that you offer your community. Um, 72.6%

[21:29] of people decrease their blood pressure and 25.5%

[21:33] changed from hypertensive to normal. That is huge. We

[21:37] know that blood pressure is a silent killer in people. We can't always see those

[21:42] symptoms. And in our ability to monitor these participants and watch

[21:46] their blood pressure decrease, um, that's an incredible win for your community.

[21:50] so, thank you again. Um, if you look to the nature-based

[21:54] programming, obviously you have the resource of the haven trail available to you and your community,

[21:59] and we are really excited to continue to build upon, um, the progress

[22:03] that you're, you, you have in your nature activities. I was really excited

[22:07] to see that y'all are considering a fitness court. We do have fitness courts and other

[22:11] communities that we work with that are activated consistently with people

[22:15] attending boot camps and strength and conditioning classes, um, at those

[22:19] locations. So excited to see that's a possibility here.

[22:23] and towards the end, you can see our, um, various collaborations with

[22:27] our, uh, healthy cooking classes, the collaborative action board,

[22:32] the cara car trails network, as well as our diabetes prevention program. So,

[22:36] again, I just wanna thank you. It's a privilege to continue working with y'all,

[22:40] and please reach out to us if you have any questions. We look forward to seeing you again in

[22:44] the new fiscal year. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you.

[22:55] going to, uh, public hearing mayor. Yes. That's our public hearing

[22:59] to solicit public comments on the community development block grant, cdbg program.

[23:11] yeah, why don't you intro? Okay.

[23:17] good evening again, mayor commissioners. Um, so this public hearing

[23:21] is for the 20 24, 20 25 cdbg,

[23:25] uh, funding. And, uh, we are expected to receive approximately

[23:29] $342,208. And

[23:34] a portion of that will, uh, go to eligible activities, including public

[23:38] facilities, infrastructure improvements, public services, code enforcement,

[23:43] uh, accessibility enhancements, economic development, housing, and emergency

[23:47] shelters, so things of that nature. Um, so the cdbg,

[23:51] uh, department is accepting applications from both public and private nonprofit organizations

[23:56] till four 30 on friday, july 1st. And I will be releasing

[24:00] that after this meeting. So just, I was waiting, uh, had

[24:05] approval and, um, he kicked it back to us. So now we're, we're

[24:09] good to go. So I'll be sending that out. We have, uh, some

[24:13] residents and citizens here that would like to voice where the cpg funds

[24:17] should be going towards, so thank you.

[24:24] okay. Open

[24:28] up the public hearing. Mm-hmm, . Okay. The time is, uh,

[24:32] 5 55. We're opening it up.

[24:37] anybody wants to come in for, um, on this cbg?

[24:43] let's about what we have. Uh, lemme see. I

[24:47] got the,

[24:52] so we'll just take 'em at random here. Um,

[24:56] we have forest walker with the santo food pantry.

[25:01] I know some of 'em. Yeah. Ma we'll go with who registered first, and

[25:05] then if there's any extras, we'll take yeah, five

[25:09] registered. So we can only take one, one per

[25:14] per organization or for per request. So if there's several speaking on the

[25:18] two or three parties speaking about the food pantry, we'll take one. Consolidated comment.

[25:22] I alright. Yes. Great. Good. They're just here

[25:27] for support. Great. Ready? Okay. Thank you. Thank you very much for having

[25:31] me, mayor. Commissioners, I just wanna speak a little bit about the pantry because

[25:36] it's such a important entity and for our community.

[25:40] uh, the pantry is a 5 0 1 c3. We serve approximately

[25:45] 6,200 people a month.

[25:49] we spend four to three to $4,000 of a month, which

[25:53] equals to about, you know, $50,000 a year. And

[25:57] that's very hard on us because we are all volunteers. We have

[26:02] zero income. The pantry has been here 45 years

[26:06] in this community, and never have we had an income

[26:10] ever. We depend on people walking through the front door, giving us a dollar,

[26:14] $5, $10. But we've made it.

[26:19] um, we serve san benito, rio hondo, los fresnos,

[26:23] brownsville, uh, all the little towns in between. It gets very,

[26:28] very hard on the pantry this time of year. The winter texans

[26:32] are very good supporters, but once they leave, we

[26:36] suffer. And we are getting more and more clients

[26:40] every month. And it's, it's just a good thing for this community

[26:45] to keep going. Um, I've invited people before

[26:49] I invite all of you, everyone in this room, come by and

[26:53] see what we do. Uh, see the clients drive by on a wednesday, drive

[26:58] by on a friday. Uh, it's, it's very crazy.

[27:02] uh, so we're just kind of, uh, putting the word out and please

[27:07] consider us. And I thank you all very much for having us.

[27:11] thank you. Thank you. Thank you for

[27:18] secondly, we'll take, um, ms. Jessica gonzalez speaking

[27:22] on behalf of the friends of the santo public library,

[27:26] miss judge jessica gonzalez. Yes, .

[27:36] good evening mayor and commissioners. My name is jessica gonzalez and I am a member of the friends

[27:40] of the santo public library. The friends have has been in existence

[27:44] for over 20 years. We meet once a month. Uh, we have over 30

[27:49] active members. We are a 5 0 1 c3 nonprofit

[27:53] organization. The purpose of the friends of the public library is

[27:57] to focus public attention on our library facilities and needs, and to

[28:01] encourage donation, gifts, endowments and requests to the library,

[28:06] and to raise funds for the enhancement of library resources and services, helping

[28:10] to enrich the lives of our local community. The texas state library and archives

[28:15] commission estimates that we serve as san benito and surrounding communities,

[28:19] a population around 33,646 patrons.

[28:24] we service as patrons of all ages. We have programs that include children and

[28:28] adults, the children. We have easter egg extravaganza

[28:32] event that I've seen some of you or most of you have attended. We

[28:36] have a summer reading program for the entire month of june.

[28:41] and I just passed out this little calendar here where we have had the

[28:45] santo and the fire police department come and give presentations. Uh, we have local

[28:49] authors that come over and read to the kids. We have

[28:53] a low dance party. We've had, we, we had a carnival scheduled for

[28:58] thursday, but we that got canceled. We've had jurassic park, the rgv,

[29:02] um, dinosaur experience. The kids have a lot of fun. And so a lot of this,

[29:06] you know, does cost money. So we, we assist the library with those, um,

[29:11] expenses. We also have toddler story time every wednesday.

[29:15] uh, it varies as far as how many kids we get on those days. Sometimes we

[29:19] get two, sometimes we get seven, um, kids. We have a back to

[29:23] school supply giveaway. We have school tours for children and

[29:27] adults. We have arts and crafts every thursday. We have astronomy every

[29:32] second tuesday of the month. We have free coffee and juices and pastries every friday.

[29:36] it's open to the public. We also provide outreach giveaways

[29:41] for the adults. We have ged classes, um, that's been going on for about

[29:45] 10 years. We also have, uh, one of our volunteers that does a one-to-one tutoring.

[29:50] we have esl classes every wednesday. We have about 10 to 15 attendees.

[29:54] we have a citizenship class every tuesday. We have about 12

[29:59] attendees. We also have computer classes. We have about 10. And,

[30:03] uh, those we have on tuesdays and thursdays. And we also

[30:07] have donated the little friend, uh, the little li free libraries

[30:12] where you leave a book and take a book. And those are located at the haven

[30:16] park, along at the, um, the cultural arts

[30:20] museum. As a nonprofit, we would like to be considered for the

[30:24] cdbg funds. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, judge.

[30:28] thank you. Last one is gonna be, uh, from the

[30:32] junto of ms. Patricia avila, uh, texas

[30:37] junto music hall of fame museum.

[30:45] good evening. Patricia avila, executive director of the texas junto music

[30:49] hall of fame in miss yo, located on 4 0 2 west robertson street here in

[30:54] santo. As as the director, I am reaching out to

[30:58] express some interest in the cbdg, uh, grant funding. Uh,

[31:02] we have been in existence since 2017 with a 5 0 1 3

[31:07] c uh, nonprofit status. Uh, we have had, uh,

[31:11] we have been open, we open our doors at the new location back in february, 2023.

[31:16] we were open thursday, fridays and salaries. And since then, uh, our

[31:21] recording, uh, 2022 to 2023,

[31:25] we had over 1,200 visitors come visit our museum.

[31:29] and they're either, uh, coming to visit as a destination, uh,

[31:33] visit, or they come to learn more about the regional music that started right here in

[31:37] santo, texas at the, the birthplace of junta music here in santo.

[31:42] uh, we are seeking the funds for possible enrichment of programming,

[31:46] marketing efforts in-house projects, and potentially establishing

[31:50] a music academy to encourage the youth and also

[31:54] our assist of rito to continue the music of junta music, the

[31:59] bajo players and the accordionist. We get a lot of visitors that are interested. Even

[32:03] our winter texans are interested because they are very tied to the german,

[32:07] um, the german culture. So they, they know what their accordance

[32:11] sounds like. They wanna hear our music and they wanna learn our music that was established here

[32:16] in the south texas. So I would appreciate it, um, if y'all consider

[32:20] it for the cbg, uh, funding and also any workshops that are, would

[32:24] be available. We are welcome to. We would love to join y'all.

[32:29] he's my brother, joe. Thank you.

[32:34] um, this is, uh, I'm not sure if this is a time to speak on, if this is for item number

[32:38] five. Uh, we're, um, my name is joe avila with the junto

[32:42] music hall of fame museum. And, uh, item number five relates to,

[32:46] uh, a, a venue for music, I guess at the old airport.

[32:52] uh, the junto music hall of fame museum fully endorses

[32:56] the plans to build a permanent stage at the city of san diego fairgrounds. This construction

[33:00] project has the potential to boost the city's economy by drawing bigger musical acts

[33:04] and providing a venue for, for performances by the junto music

[33:08] museum. Additionally, the stage could help meet the comal community's demand

[33:12] for more family friendly events. We firmly believe that

[33:16] the introduction of the stage could make a meaningful impact on the city and its

[33:21] residents, and we wholeheartedly support this endeavor. Thank you. Good. Thank you. Thank you,

[33:25] sir. Thank you, sir. Thank you. Appreciate it. I believe that's

[33:29] it. I got one more. Salvation army. Salvation honor. Oh,

[33:33] salvation army. Okay. Um, actually we were the first one that signed out. Oh, you

[33:37] were? Okay. Uh, I missed that

[33:41] one.

[33:48] that's fine. Come on, come up. Welcome your organization and

[33:52] who's gonna be speaking on behalf of the organization. Okay. Uh, the salvation army

[33:56] and salvation army is located in arlington, but they are part of the

[34:00] community. They're part of, um, cameron county and willesee county.

[34:04] they're just located there. Uh, they've been in existence for many, many years. Uh, I am the president

[34:09] of the salvation army board at this time. I've been on their board for

[34:13] many years. Uh, we have jessica, I was gonna say there's three of us from san benito.

[34:17] when I first got on that board, there was only one representative. I wanted to let you know

[34:21] the things that we actually provide, uh, at large and also

[34:25] for the city of san beto. But we've done here. We have a food pantry also.

[34:30] and, uh, we do give food to all kinds of people. I, anna

[34:34] yiannis works at the food pantry. She's retired, so she gets to do a lot more of that than some

[34:38] of us. We assist with prescriptions. There's a lot of people that don't have insurance.

[34:43] they have prescriptions that they need to get billed. And we also help them with monies for prescriptions.

[34:47] uh, rental assistance if people are getting evicted, utilities, if they're struggling

[34:52] with their utilities. And we get the, we have them apply twice a a

[34:56] week. So where there available for that. We also have a thrift store that's

[35:00] located on jackson street. That is, yes, it is a store, but it is also

[35:04] is sourced for us. There was a fire in some apartments here in san benito,

[35:09] I wanna say, about a month and a half ago. And somebody was talking to me about it and said, man, one of my employees

[35:14] lost his everything. They have no clothes, they have nothing. I said, tell

[35:18] 'em to go to the salvation army. We, we've clothed all the, the family with

[35:22] five sets of clothes. We got them beds, we have, uh, we got

[35:26] them other furniture so that they could get started again. And we do this all the time. And a lot

[35:30] of times people say, oh, that's harlingen. No, that was, that happened here in san benito.

[35:35] and I just want y'all to know that it exists so that you can refer people to us.

[35:39] um, more importantly, what we've done in san benito for the, um,

[35:43] the, uh, housing authority that they have palmville for the elderly. We gave a hundred

[35:47] fans to help with, to help the people with the heat. We've done that.

[35:51] we've given some, uh, air conditioning units. Uh, let's see what else. We,

[35:56] oh, we have another program that we work with the school district for socks, shoes,

[36:00] mainly shoes. There's a lot of kids that don't wanna go to school 'cause their parents can't afford shoes

[36:04] and they're embarrassed. And we gave over a hundred pairs of shoes in the city of

[36:08] san benito to students. Uh, we, we work with the school district. They give us

[36:13] referrals. We gave him socks, shoes, and a little towel. And so we just wanted

[36:17] you to know that we would like to be considered, uh, maybe in a small way,

[36:21] but include us because we do serve this community. And with three of us

[36:25] on, on that board, we make sure that san benita was served. So we thank you for

[36:29] your attention and your time. Thank you. Thank you. Thank

[36:33] you. Thank you. Thank you for participating in the angel tree. The city,

[36:37] I think did, did this year. Yes. Last year. This past year. Yes. So thank you. The school

[36:41] district, the city of walmart. And I believe we, I think we're gonna

[36:45] start with the police station this year. So thank you so very much. Thank you. I,

[36:49] I'm sorry judge. How many of these organizations are you involved in? ?

[36:56] I think it's easier to say which one. She's not not involved. Yeah. Okay.

[37:00] make it quicker. Thank you for your great service. Thank you. Thank you, judge. Have

[37:04] someone else. We have somebody else.

[37:08] okay. Okay. Organization. And, uh, state your name,

[37:12] organization please. Okay. Yes. My name's lacey amris and I'm with

[37:16] casa of cameron and willesee counties. What was

[37:20] your name again? I'm sorry? Lacey amris. Lacey.

[37:25] oh, good evening, mayor and city commissioners. Um, thank you for the opportunity

[37:29] to come before you this evening. Casa cameron and will county

[37:33] is a nonprofit organization in your community. Casa has

[37:37] applied for funding this current physical year, 2024, and was awarded

[37:42] funding to provide services to children in the child welfare system.

[37:47] we are currently waiting for grant documents to be sent so we can provide

[37:51] all the required documents to the city of san benito. Our agency has a history

[37:55] of being in compliance with all requests and timely submissions.

[38:00] our hope is that the city of san benito will continue to support the service we provide

[38:04] to the children of san benito. So far this year, we have served a

[38:08] total of 47 children. Outcomes included three children

[38:13] reunified with their parents. Seven children were granted custody

[38:17] to a relative. Six were adopted and one youth aged out of foster

[38:21] care. The funding provided from the city of san benito is

[38:26] to fund a portion of the volunteer supervisor assigned to san

[38:30] benito cases. This staff supports, guides all of the

[38:34] work completed by community volunteers appointed to represent

[38:38] children during this time in care. Thank you for the funding we have

[38:42] received over the years. We hope to continue to work with the city of san benito

[38:46] and serve the most vulnerable population. Thank you for your time and consideration.

[38:51] thank you. Thank you, ma'am. Came a okay.

[38:56] anybody else? Did we miss anybody? Anybody

[39:00] else? None. No. Okay. I'll bring up

[39:05] what's

[39:18] mike. Travis, 1695 russell lane. Uh, I do not represent

[39:22] anyone. I am a concerned citizen. Um, but I would just like

[39:26] to comment here. Uh, I'm glad to see, uh, the

[39:31] city administration is working on getting grants and,

[39:35] um, of all the organizations

[39:40] that I heard, uh, I would say I vote for

[39:44] spreading it out, all of them. And also, I would just say, as, uh,

[39:48] already said, the library is my oasis. So

[39:53] I'm all about whatever supports the library. And casa

[39:57] uh, my my deceased wife was very involved with that. So I have firsthand,

[40:02] well secondhand, you know, experience and stuff dealing with that.

[40:06] 'cause she was very involved with that. So, again, uh,

[40:11] repeating myself. I'm glad to see that the, um, city is,

[40:15] uh, getting grants. Uh, I hope and pray that we can get more grants,

[40:19] put my tax dollars at work and, uh, to just be good

[40:24] stewards and use funds wisely. Thank you.

[40:28] yes, thank you. Thank you.

[40:32] nobody else? Okay, that

[40:37] time is, uh, six 11. We're closing the hearing.

[40:41] okay, mayor, commissioners, we go on to, um,

[40:45] consent. All items from one to

[40:50] 14 to 14 are listed as consent. Um,

[40:54] we can vote on all of 'em unless you'd like to remove some to discuss, like

[40:58] pull item five. Okay. Okay. I got item five.

[41:03] anything else be five, six and seven? Um,

[41:07] five, six and seven. Okey doke. Pull eight 11.

[41:13] okay. 5, 6, 7, 8, 8, 8.

[41:19] and is it another one? Commissioner? 11. 11. Okay.

[41:23] okay. So item 5, 6, 7, 11, 8, and

[41:28] 11. Okay. 8, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 11. That

[41:32] right? Okay. So I have a motion for that. Uh, then

[41:36] I have a motion to approve the remaining items, which would be 1, 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 12,

[41:44] and 13. 14. I'm gonna pull nine out.

[41:48] pull nine. All right. I'll amend my motion to pass co consent

[41:52] items. 1, 2, 3, 4, 10, 10, 10, 3, 4, 12, 13, 14, 12, 13,

[42:02] and 14. Do I have a second? Second. Second by commissioner morales.

[42:06] all in favor? Aye. Aye. Any nays? Motion passes to pass. Uh,

[42:11] 1, 2, 3, 4, 10, 12, 13, 14.

[42:15] now I'll take it one at a time. Number five. Sure. Number five. Okay. Consideration,

[42:19] possible action. Approve a proposal for professional services, carpi knock entertainment,

[42:24] and, uh, associates for the san benito outdoor music venue feasibility study

[42:28] in the amount of $15,000. Thank you. Uh,

[42:32] fred, I tell you, this is a, a great, great idea and we've talked

[42:36] about it a little bit and I think it's a terrific idea, uh, that we start looking

[42:41] at this. Uh, I just was concerned about the,

[42:45] uh, the bid here to produce kind of a, an interim feasibility.

[42:49] I see that kind of what that is. And just wonder what their qualifications were for

[42:54] doing that. Because I believe that the, uh,

[42:59] I, I don't want to get started on this and, and kind of see that perhaps there's a lot more that

[43:03] we could be doing with it. I, I just wanna make sure that we, we, we see

[43:07] what we're doing completely when we go into this. Absolutely. Does that make sense? So I absolutely, I

[43:11] just didn't know the qualifications of these people. Just wanted to look at maybe the scope of

[43:16] the work a little bit more. Uh, and, and just kind of, I mean, I'm, I'm happy to go forward.

[43:20] I think it's a great thing to do. Sure. I just want to be able to, uh,

[43:24] make sure that we go at it the right way and look at it. 'cause I saw, you know, I saw,

[43:29] you know, environmental impact. I didn't see any economic impact study kind of information in there as well, which

[43:33] was always something else that becomes important to me. That's, that's part of the feasibility study.

[43:37] I mean, we, we want to, we wanna look at, at, uh,

[43:42] I mean, I think the economic development side of it is gonna take care of itself. I mean, it's

[43:46] a little hard to predict, but I will tell you this, the team that, that that's,

[43:51] that we're, that we're gonna work with here, uh, has a wealth of experience

[43:55] not only actually doing promotions and concerts, but also has a,

[43:59] a an engineering and and professional component. That's actually gonna

[44:03] be the, the driving force behind the, the, the, the numbers behind this.

[44:08] the actual structure, the actual, uh, feasibility of it. Not,

[44:12] not just on what it's gonna take to make it successful, but

[44:16] also to keep it viable. Make sure it doesn't flood, make sure we have the proper,

[44:20] uh, electrical service, things like that. And then something that's gonna be, uh,

[44:24] I just want to get halfway through there and start to see, okay, well the demand is way bigger

[44:28] and so maybe we should start be doing a, a whole lot more, or we have too much to begin

[44:33] with. I mean, I, I don't know what, what that is. And all of that's all expensive

[44:37] feasibility stuff. I realize that. Sure. But I, I just, uh,

[44:41] uh, I just wanna make sure we go in it with eyes wide open and we understand what the potential is as

[44:45] well as that. 'cause you know, how many, how many times, how many weekends a year can we use this? Or how

[44:49] many times during the year can we used, you know, and, and, and I, you know, I, I don't

[44:53] know that kind of stuff, but let's, you know, what kind of assistance

[44:58] is it gonna take from the city in order to support, to support the venue, to

[45:02] make sure that it is booked up and done? I mean, there's just a lot of questions in my mind that

[45:06] still, uh, I, I don't wanna jump too hard, too fast. And so,

[45:10] but, but I, I do want to get into it. I think it's absolutely great. But we, there

[45:14] are just a lot of other things. And, and I, again, my basic question was I didn't know the qualifications of

[45:18] the individuals performing the, the analysis at the sure. I mean, uh, we've

[45:22] got representatives here. I mean, if you have any questions, we can call 'em up.

[45:26] uh, but a again, rest assured that this is a work in progress.

[45:31] what we wanted to do was get started, uh, when we had our, when we had our,

[45:35] um, our workshop on strategic planning and what

[45:39] we wanted to go forward. I took the takeaway that I, that I got from that

[45:43] meeting was, this was low hanging fruit. And it's something that

[45:47] not only sits with our cultural heritage, our musical heritage, but it's just

[45:51] a great opportunity on a lot of different levels. I've shared this with some of the

[45:56] other folks that are interested in this type of, uh, venue.

[46:00] for example, the junto museum. I shared it with those folks and, uh, I heard

[46:04] their support. Well, and, and you know, and I appreciate that. But there's bigger and better

[46:08] here. Uh, we just wanted to get started. Obviously we can do a workshop. There's

[46:13] a lot of things that we can do to customize this to make it fit, uh,

[46:17] and answer any questions you may have. Well, and, and I would like to be involved. I mean, I do have

[46:21] some experience with, not with the event promotions by any means, but, but, uh,

[46:25] I, I, I just want to see that we don't do this, that we do this the right

[46:29] way. For sure. That's, that's my biggest concern. And I just, you know, we gotta start

[46:34] spending money. That's great. I wanna make sure we're asking the right questions. I'm not the brightest light bulb in the back, but

[46:38] that we're seeing the right things that we can potentially become. I

[46:42] think this can be huge. I really do. I agree with it. Mm-hmm. . But I don't want to go starting

[46:46] too soon too little for something that could actually be a lot bigger, a

[46:50] lot faster in the long run. So, sure. So I, it's a

[46:54] great thing. It's a great concept. I support you a hundred percent, fred. I just want to be careful in how we

[46:58] go at this. No, we will. And I appreciate your comments and I think, uh,

[47:03] from the staff standpoint, you know, just looking at this, we, I've done

[47:07] this before. It was an indoor venue. Uh, we did it in my previous, my

[47:11] previous post, and I'm gonna tell you right now, we were doing events, uh, pretty much

[47:15] every month. Uh, it was a little, it was a smaller venue, uh,

[47:20] but it, it hit a niche that a lot of, a lot of places in the upper valley

[47:24] couldn't meet. And, uh, so I do have a little experience with this,

[47:28] and I do know that the outdoor venue, the fact that we would be the

[47:32] only ones that would have something like this, probably, you know, south of houston,

[47:36] uh, would put us in a really, really great position,

[47:41] uh, to not only attract other, other, other business, uh,

[47:45] some of these ancillary secondary and tertiary type stuff that, that kind of goes

[47:49] along with this. Uh, and it's just a, this is where that discussion goes. And finding

[47:53] that niche and making sure we're in that niche is part of what that, you know, we're looking for, for that study

[47:57] to produce. Because then it goes to the edc and we, we attract hotels, we attract other

[48:01] things with what we're doing at the same time, because it needs to come along

[48:05] together. And so it just all has to be properly

[48:09] structured so that we can done it. I just didn't want to, you know, throw up against the wall and see what sticks.

[48:14] 'cause I think we can do a lot better than that. Sure. I,

[48:18] I see some, I see the guys back there smiling. So I'm, I'm, do you guys have any comments about

[48:22] that? Agree, . Okay.

[48:26] thank you. Commissioners. I've kind of, yeah, I'm

[48:30] with goodman, like, uh, commissioner goodman, you know, how do we start this process?

[48:35] I don't, I don't think any of us are in the music venue business, but

[48:40] I, the way I pictured the, the fairgrounds and I first started when we first started

[48:44] out, you know, it didn't have the carnival, and now it does. And it had a two or three

[48:48] day carnival, and then it turned in or a day carnival, and then it turned into a two week carnival.

[48:53] so it is growing. And the way I see it is kind of like mercedes, when you would go to the mercedes

[48:57] restock show and you'd get stuck in the mud. I don't want that to happen

[49:01] out here. We're gonna catch a very bad weather event

[49:06] for this type hog water event sooner or later. I don't want that to happen.

[49:11] um, do we have the proper parking situation? Do we have the enhancements

[49:15] as far as like permanent restrooms, a permanent

[49:20] structure, renting out that stage is like 25 grand, 15 to

[49:24] 25 grand every time. If we're doing that three times a year, that 75 grand should we just

[49:28] build our own stage? That's, that's part of the program. So, so

[49:32] making more of a permanent venue and then allowing other people to rent it from us.

[49:37] I think it's a, it's, I think it's viable. I mean, we've proven it already,

[49:41] so I don't, to me it's like understanding feasibility.

[49:45] it's been feasible for the past few years. So what else am I looking for?

[49:49] well, you're looking for, you are looking for some of the things you mentioned,

[49:54] uh, feasibility. We know it, we know that people will come. We've

[49:58] already proven that you're absolutely correct. But I think the real,

[50:02] the real, uh, the real

[50:06] plus is how can we make it sustainable and viable? So

[50:11] to your point, parking, uh, all weather parking, uh,

[50:15] power source, a permanent stage, uh, the, uh,

[50:19] actual superstructure of the, the stage to be, uh, built correctly,

[50:23] windstorm rated, um, there, you know, the possibility

[50:28] of permanent bathrooms, rv hookups, things like that. I mean, we've got

[50:32] a great opportunity there. And what we'd like to do is phase it. I want to

[50:36] get in as, as, as efficiently and cost effectively

[50:40] as we can, and then grow it from there. Whether that includes some public private partnerships,

[50:45] some sponsorships. Uh, I know we've got a, a more robust packet

[50:49] that we can share with y'all. But what I would say is allow me

[50:53] to get this, you know, approved tonight so we could put together, uh,

[50:58] you know, a workshop session with you so we can brief you on what the vision is

[51:02] and where this thing could go either, you know, short term, midterm, and long

[51:06] term. Uh, but the key is to get these things started as soon as possible.

[51:10] there's some stuff working with junto museum. Uh, I know they had some, some

[51:14] really good dialogue with the state. Um, and they want to come

[51:18] down. They want to, they want to do a big musical event that they held. They

[51:22] hold somewhere else. They wanna do it here next year. Uh, so these are kind

[51:26] of things that, uh, really, really prove up what we're doing here.

[51:31] and this is before they even knew what we were actually up to. Uh, so

[51:35] this just kind of really seals it for us. Uh, and again,

[51:39] like I said, we've got the heritage, we've got the, the musical history.

[51:43] uh, and we really need to play this up. I think, uh, the economic development

[51:48] spinoff and multipliers on this are almost hard

[51:52] to measure at this point, because again, you start talking about, you know,

[51:56] what it can draw in retail, uh, hotel motel, things like that.

[52:01] um, it's, it's, it's a, it's a lot

[52:05] to gauge. It is. And that's why we need to be strategic about it. Absolutely.

[52:09] yeah. What are the phases, I guess, workshop be important to see what phases we want

[52:13] to see? Absolutely. I don't think mercedes livestock show is built and

[52:18] one day it was every time you went there was a new structure, a new parking lot. Mm-hmm. . And

[52:22] you just kind of kept growing. Yeah, no, we've got, we've got, uh, these guys have a good team and

[52:26] I feel real confident that they could put something together for us that would make a lot of sense.

[52:30] uh, not only, um, to mr. Travis's

[52:34] point, you know, not only letting us or allowing us to be good stewards of our, of our

[52:39] taxpayer money, but we have a limited amount of, of, of revenue available.

[52:43] and this is a perfect opportunity to increase our return on our investment,

[52:47] uh, that we don't usually get. This is not, this is not normal city

[52:52] function. We can't, can't get a big roi on street paving or,

[52:56] uh, you know, wastewater, plant expansions or things like that. Those

[53:00] are kind of, even, even parks for example, that's just a cost center. This is an

[53:04] opportunity to really, uh, multiply our return on our investment.

[53:09] and, um, you know, I I would recommend that we move forward on it. And again,

[53:13] I wanna be totally transparent with the council and, uh, and of course

[53:17] some of the stakeholders like the junta museum and some of these other folks, we'd love to get

[53:21] 'em involved. Okay. Motion to approve. I

[53:25] got a motion by commissioner equipment. Do I have a second? Second. Second. By commissioner morale.

[53:29] all in favor? Aye. Aye. Any nays? Motion passes. Thank

[53:33] you, mayor. Commissioners. Item number six, consideration of possible action of approve of contract

[53:37] with ox entertainment to provide production services for the 2024

[53:42] aka fest. Uh, mayor commissioners, this is the same company that

[53:46] provided the stage and production for, uh, hog wattle. Uh,

[53:50] we, uh, did go out for bids. I mean, we did get some bids, car's

[53:55] stage, uh, and production is actually, um, a step above everything else

[53:59] that we got. Nobody else included video screens and,

[54:03] uh, as, as a, as an addition to the, uh, the actual production.

[54:08] and it's, and it's, uh, and how it sits. So it is a

[54:12] little bit more than the other folks, but they bring a lot more to the table. Um,

[54:16] and that's, that's basically why we're recommending approval.

[54:20] and we ran it through staff actually. Okay. Can answer any questions?

[54:26] I have a question. Yes, sir. How did, um,

[54:30] we've used them for hog wattle. Yes, sir. How did that help the staff?

[54:35] um, is nikki's back here. So I'd like to ask,

[54:39] how did the, how did this help the turnaround for staff

[54:43] as far as like it's plug and play, was it less work for the staff?

[54:47] did we, the staff still have to be involved? Was it beneficial?

[54:53] your honor commission is nikki serrano, parks and recreation, special plastic honor planner for

[54:57] the record. Um, staff doesn't, when we hire these

[55:01] dance for these organizations for production, we don't

[55:05] actually get involved. You know, like we don't do any of the actual, like, building of

[55:10] it. So, you know, so it does take that off of, off of our hands.

[55:16] okay. And as I see the three other quotes, in your opinion,

[55:20] in your professional opinion, what is, what do you see the difference between these

[55:24] three? Um, as far as, uh, there's

[55:28] price, right? There's a price difference, right? Of course. Um, but I don't know anything about

[55:33] amage and, mm-hmm. , whatever a yamaha is.

[55:37] no, it's probably a bike or a speaker, a cord. I don't know what that is, but

[55:41] you know, in your opinion, I mean, I could, I, I just want to know,

[55:46] what would you think as far as quality and sound? Right? As mr. Sanaz did mention,

[55:50] it is, um, a large or stage, and it does include

[55:54] three screens. Um, as far as sound, I really wouldn't

[55:58] be able to say, like you said, you know, amp one versus amp v, what exactly

[56:02] is a little bit, uh, better than, than what it is? Unless you know, we are actually

[56:06] out there and, um, I know I did see some of you guys out at hog waddle

[56:10] and this last hog wallet, hog water, it is going to be that same production.

[56:15] so that's the type of quality that we expect. Yeah, that was pretty big. Mm-hmm,

[56:19] , the people next door are not gonna sleep , they know

[56:23] what to expect. They're gonna wait for the fireworks. So it's okay. Everybody's gonna be up partying. Well,

[56:28] hopefully our city manager will be a big kid again. So

[56:32] I don't know any of stephanie oz's songs, but I'm learning them. Okay. Anyway. Are,

[56:36] are you thinking about the same concept like we did last time, sitting down in front of the stage with tabled?

[56:42] no, this is a different, uh, you want, right? Yeah. We won't be selling

[56:46] any kind. Any vip, the vip areas that we do have. It is

[56:50] our special access and it is reserved for sponsors and, um,

[56:54] designated officials or any kind of dignitaries. So,

[56:58] you know, if you'd like to get that front row, we do have sponsorship packages available

[57:02] for any is the dance floor this time? Yes, we do a dance floor. Everybody's

[57:06] asking, but last time nobody was dancing. There's no over the dance floor part, right? No,

[57:10] no, no. Definitely. So we do have the stage out in the parking lot and it does provide us

[57:14] that perfect opportunity to have a dance floor. And this event kind

[57:19] of is a little bit of mix with different genres and of course, with every

[57:23] event we do like to promote the cultural heritage here in san benito. So we do have like

[57:27] a mix of the hanno and junto, and it's a perfect stage for that

[57:31] perfect, you know, floor for that, that opportunity for them to come out,

[57:35] enjoy the show, and, you know, have some space to dance.

[57:40] I didn't see any issues with hog water. I think the sound quality was good.

[57:47] I don't know how everyone else feels. I mean, there's a price difference, but

[57:52] who are the groups anyway, that's, do we have the group or that

[57:56] one different? The next, the next one, yeah. Yes. The next okay. Yeah. Cell phone.

[58:01] I'm sorry. That's okay. I know everybody's anxiously waiting.

[58:05] gimme the streets and, um, equipment. I'm okay with it.

[58:09] is this gonna have a shade structure over the stage? It does come with a roof, yes. Yeah.

[58:14] know it's been pretty hot previous years. Yeah. Absolutely. Okay. Any other

[58:18] questions? Commissioners? Mayor six. Motion. Motion. I

[58:22] got a motion by commissioner navarro, second by commissioner morales. All in favor? Aye.

[58:26] aye. Any nas? Motion passes. Item number six. Thank you, mayor commers.

[58:31] item number seven is consideration possible action to ratify the live performance agreements

[58:35] with jamming joe productions and alba for performances

[58:40] at 2024, aka fest. Nikki mayor and commissioners.

[58:44] thank serano again for the record. Thank you. The agreements before you were approved last week to allow

[58:48] staff sus to secure the acts and deposits for the bands. Both

[58:52] bands have roots in san benito and they have met the budget constraints as

[58:56] well as the criteria that we look for in these events

[59:01] that promote the music in san benito. Staff recommends approval and I'm

[59:05] available to answer any questions. Okay. Commissioners, any questions

[59:13] just before me? I think

[59:17] this one is the, um, jamming joe and

[59:27] no. Are these the headliners? No, they are the opening bands.

[59:31] one of them is the supporting act, which comes on right before the, the main act.

[59:35] and then, um, the, one of the openers,

[59:39] we don't have a agreement yet with the headliner. Yes, sir. That was approved.

[59:45] what are we it was, it was approved, um, a while back, a few weeks back. Yes, sir. That

[59:49] was my confusion. So that was the production

[59:54] manager, but we approved, we don't have a headliner name yet,

[1:00:00] right? It is under the, um, it is under their

[1:00:04] like company, but we do have the headliner secured.

[1:00:09] okay. We haven't disclosed yet though. No. Oh, okay.

[1:00:13] . Um, it's a big sick ring.

[1:00:17] oh, nikki. Okay. Okay. So just legal reasons and whatnot. Oh,

[1:00:21] okay. Okay. Enough set . Yeah. Okay. That's fine.

[1:00:25] but we will, we should be able to provide that information. Um, once, you know,

[1:00:29] we approve the others, we can get rolling with, you know, the promoting and the,

[1:00:33] and announcing. Okay. Okay.

[1:00:39] so far, adam, seven. Any other questions? None. Okay.

[1:00:43] do I have a motion for item number seven? Motion? You have a motion by commissioner morales.

[1:00:47] second. Second. Second by commissioner navarro. All in favor?

[1:00:52] aye. Aye. Any nays? Motion passes. Thank you.

[1:00:57] I wanna make just a comment. You know, I, for me personally,

[1:01:02] I don't really care who plays, but I think the community really has a lot

[1:01:06] to say about who they want to play. So I never seen this done, but

[1:01:10] why don't we just like, throw it out there, you know, what do you all, what genre do

[1:01:14] you wanna see? Mm-hmm. . And just throw it's an opinion, right. And people, you're gonna get some crazy

[1:01:18] comments. No, absolutely. I don't care. People comment wrong all the time,

[1:01:23] but just give 'em an opportunity to voice their opinion. Whether, whether it's good or bad.

[1:01:28] I do. Mr. Faa can handle it. Bill. I, I do. You know, we do.

[1:01:32] um, like we've mentioned before, we do have an information booth out at the events and do

[1:01:36] have a survey. Yeah. But that does allow people to, you know, just like here we have public hearings.

[1:01:40] people don't come, we have town halls. Some people come, but on facebook you're

[1:01:45] gonna have a million people comment and you're gonna have someone from canada commenting. But we can do definitely

[1:01:49] is link the survey to the facebook, to the facebook, you go

[1:01:53] page and like, if you were at the event, there you go. You're coming to the event. Make it easier, more

[1:01:57] accessible, I don't know. Put it on the water utility bill. Scan this qr code for,

[1:02:01] to put your opinion. And we do have a qr code. We have made it a little bit easier for people to

[1:02:05] take that survey. Mm-hmm. . We have staff that walks around with the

[1:02:09] qr code encouraging people to take the survey. Um, it's in english,

[1:02:14] it's in spanish. Okay. So, you know, we are working on that and that's definitely something that we can look

[1:02:18] forward to, you know. Yeah. Maybe po posting it on our social media media because these, these events are really for

[1:02:22] them. Yeah, absolutely. So it's what they, what they want to listen to. Mm-hmm.

[1:02:26] maybe just collaborating with the conjunto museum. They have an elida

[1:02:30] they maybe have a feel for. Actually I would like to connect, give, um, the texas

[1:02:35] junto music hall of fame and museum a shout out because they are sponsoring

[1:02:39] one of our bands. Oh, awesome. So we will be promoting them through, through that

[1:02:43] sponsorship of the band. Good. Oh, very nice. I appreciate it. Great collaboration. Thank you. Mm-hmm. Absolutely.

[1:02:48] any other questions? Okay. We did okay. I'm sorry. No

[1:02:52] worries. You threw everything out. I had to say thank, thank you guys. Thank you, nikki, for

[1:02:56] what you're doing. Go ahead. Okay. Item number eight, consideration

[1:03:00] possible action to allow mayor to sign an agreement between the city of san manto

[1:03:04] and smart comm for the san manto police department's internet service.

[1:03:09] good evening, mayor. Mayor proam, commissioners for the record. Police chief monte perria.

[1:03:13] this item, uh, this request is a change, uh, data service with internet service from,

[1:03:17] uh, spectrum to, uh, smart com. Uh, looking at it, it's,

[1:03:21] uh, it's a little, it's a lot cheaper. Save over $22,000 in five years.

[1:03:26] um, before I came here, ran the speed tests on spectrum. What we have now,

[1:03:30] our download speed is 41.63. Our upload speed is 49.05.

[1:03:35] smart com is offering a hundred mega, uh, a hundred by a hundred.

[1:03:39] so a hundred, uh, download, a hundred upload. Um, we had

[1:03:43] done this in the, uh, I think last year. I was working with jason to kind of switch it over.

[1:03:47] 'cause our c just wanted us to have our own internet dedicated, uh, e ethernet

[1:03:52] line to the pd. And we didn't have that. So we were working with them, but we just couldn't

[1:03:56] figure out if spectrum was under contract or, uh, month to

[1:04:00] month. And we found out they're month to month. So, uh, I'm just, uh, requesting to, uh,

[1:04:04] change it over. I have joe avaz here from smart com. You guys have any question. Also have, uh, richie from it

[1:04:08] who can answer anything, uh, you need as far as, uh, when it comes to the internet service

[1:04:12] and stuff like that. Okay. What, uh, types of systems,

[1:04:17] um, I mean, it's great. Uh, obviously it's less expensive, so I'm all for it already.

[1:04:22] but the, um, what kind of systems are essential for you to have that kind of

[1:04:26] better speed? As far as it is, uh, like our c system that runs our n-c-I-c-t-c-I-c,

[1:04:30] our any, all of our internet connection, uh, we run our, our mobile data stuff

[1:04:35] runs off of a t-mobile, uh, network. Uh, but as far as when we log in,

[1:04:39] we log in through our vpn into the system. But everything in the internet there at, at the pd

[1:04:43] is, uh, is pretty much, uh, essential that things

[1:04:47] we need. Yeah. Reliability's not an issue with

[1:04:51] them. Uh, they already have service. We already have service, actually phone services with them. So

[1:04:55] what I'm being told is that all they gotta do is flip a switch and we're connected to internet with 'em. Uh,

[1:05:00] he did provide me a list of cities that are already using them. I didn't include it in there. I apologize. I got that

[1:05:04] a little bit after the agenda was, was you, um, but you have,

[1:05:08] you have city of mcallen, they have telephone, internet, access service, city of paren,

[1:05:12] telephone, internet data service in far brownsville, palmview. And so they have some type

[1:05:17] of service with them. So, uh, they are pretty, they're a well-established, uh, company.

[1:05:22] okay. This is just an internet plan. Recently

[1:05:26] I've been seeing, um, gigabit fiber and vtx expanding,

[1:05:30] especially, um, harlingen. I've seen cameron county

[1:05:34] did a feasibility study, reliability study on

[1:05:39] internet services. I'm just wondering

[1:05:43] if there, the, if the, if there's other, there was other players here that could have taken

[1:05:47] part, but have you already been working on it? It looks like you're saving money. Hunger a hundred megabytes

[1:05:51] per second sounds pretty good. Uh, smart com, like I said, is

[1:05:56] already in our building. So it's, they don't easier connect anything. They're already in a building. They're

[1:06:00] providing our phone services. So it's just a switch. And they're on, we're up and running with them.

[1:06:04] it's via cable.

[1:06:10] it's actually, they're, they're fiber. Okay. Fiber from point

[1:06:14] to point. And we actually been in business for over 30 years. Close,

[1:06:19] close to the microphone please. We've been in business for 30 years now

[1:06:23] in, based in macal. And we actually built our own fiber and we maintained

[1:06:27] all the network ourselves. So, uh, yeah, you mentioned the

[1:06:31] gigabit, these new, new people that are in town. We've been, actually been, been doing the

[1:06:35] school districts here to 2021, I believe. So we

[1:06:39] actually have, I launched a residential side now. It's called austin fiber optics.

[1:06:44] and, uh, our, our commercial side is smart on telephone, internet.

[1:06:48] but, uh, we actually started doing it because of digital divide. Everybody's talking about,

[1:06:53] we actually started doing, uh, residential services now. We did, uh, services

[1:06:57] that got handled, uh, progressive. Most of the little towns along the

[1:07:01] military highway, nobody else was servicing. So we actually have done that. But now

[1:07:05] you got, you got other companies coming in. They're all basically

[1:07:09] after the same customer. I looked up your company and

[1:07:13] it shows you closed on the weekend. No, actually we are closed on the weekends,

[1:07:18] but we actually have 24 hour, uh, answering services. And

[1:07:22] we actually, our commercial accounts are all monitored. We actually monitor all our, uh,

[1:07:26] we have our own network monitoring, so we're actually proactive to any outages

[1:07:31] as opposed to reactive. So a lot of times when we see an outage, we actually

[1:07:35] try to find out are they doing maintenance. So we don't dispatch a tech for,

[1:07:39] for no reason. We'll actually call the the local place first.

[1:07:43] but, but we're open. They see monday through friday, eight to five.

[1:07:47] but we do have a 24 hour . Okay.

[1:07:52] thank you. Chief. Uh, do you have a backup plan? Um,

[1:07:56] I mean, I know my office on the island, I rely heavily on internet as well. And I have a

[1:08:00] backup systems in place. Do you have a backup system? We, we do not. As far as

[1:08:04] the internet goes down, we have to contact them. But like I said, we could still run our stuff,

[1:08:09] uh, our, our mobile stuff. 'cause we have the t-mobile. If everything goes down, well

[1:08:13] then, I mean that's, you're on wireless, you're on, it's a bigger problem.

[1:08:20] well, usually we actually have a, uh, our whole little data

[1:08:24] center set up in, in, in mc. We actually have a, uh, what they call, uh,

[1:08:28] cos in different cities. And then we actually have built our own ring. So in case

[1:08:32] there's a fiber attack, we actually reroute the traffic. So you have minimal

[1:08:36] outage. And we recommend, and I believe you do have a generator on site,

[1:08:41] so there's a power outage. As long as they've got power, we, we have power. It should

[1:08:45] go out. Try to cover that. Your

[1:08:49] name for the record, please. Oh, joe var. Thank you.

[1:08:54] well, chief, I remember last budget cycle. I asked you to

[1:08:58] look into some of these services to make some budget cuts, sir. And here you came back

[1:09:02] and said, if you want more money for your department, you're gonna have to find it, sir.

[1:09:06] and you found a little bit of it. So I recommend the rest of the department start doing that as well.

[1:09:11] 'cause the mayor and our, I don't know if he was gonna let me cut the taxes, but

[1:09:16] a tax rate, that's a different topic, different agenda item. But thank

[1:09:20] you for finding the cost savings and thank you to the newly acquired it

[1:09:24] department for finding those tax savings. So already paying for themselves.

[1:09:28] so appreciate it. Okay. Okay. Any other questions? Do

[1:09:32] I have a motion? I have a motion. I got a motion by commissioner navarro. Second. Second.

[1:09:37] second by commissioner morales. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Aye. Any nays? Motion passes.

[1:09:41] thank you. Don't worry chief, I'm gonna raise sales tax ,

[1:09:46] nobody, nobody's accounting for that. Item number nine, consideration possible action

[1:09:50] approved payment to gdj engineering for drainage water and sewer system

[1:09:55] survey and gis dashboard development for $43,348

[1:09:59] and 42 cents. I pulled this one out, I just wanted to make clear.

[1:10:03] this is a, a payment of what we already approved, right? That is correct. Um,

[1:10:08] I kind of just want an update from joanna or whoever can provide an update where they're at. Is

[1:10:12] this for stanger? No, no. This, this is, no, this is for the gi is packet for

[1:10:16] your gi is so they're about 60% complete with the map

[1:10:21] on, I don't know if you can see it within in your packet. Uh, and

[1:10:25] usually put their, uh, invoice in there and it's very

[1:10:29] detailed. So it breaks down ev the amount that we initially

[1:10:34] approved the previous payment, and then the completion

[1:10:38] rate for the total project and the remaining balance. And then if you look on the

[1:10:42] side, it tells you, um, each

[1:10:46] I task and how much of that they've completed. So right now,

[1:10:51] um, a lot of the tasks are not very complete, but it's because

[1:10:55] they're working on actually being out there and serving and picking

[1:10:59] up all the, on the location. So they're about to see exactly thing

[1:11:03] of that. Are you comfortable with the quality of the work?

[1:11:08] so, so, so far this company actually, um, we have no

[1:11:12] issues with them ever. Um, I haven't, we haven't seen the

[1:11:16] data yet 'cause they're still collecting it. So the next step would

[1:11:21] be to actually see what they present to us. But honestly, we've never had an issue with

[1:11:25] this. Okay. Excited to see what the end result looks

[1:11:29] like. Yes. Okay. Any other

[1:11:33] questions, commissioners? None. Do I have a motion? Motion?

[1:11:37] mayor? I got a motion by mayor galvan. Second. Second. Second by commissioner

[1:11:41] mor. Um, navarro, I'm sorry. Commissioner navarro. All in favor?

[1:11:45] aye. Aye. Aye. Any nays? Motion passes. Thank you. Thank you. Item

[1:11:49] levin. Consideration possible action to approve the purchase of road materials for the

[1:11:54] ooky park parking lot repaving project in the amount of $175,631.

[1:12:00] object. I'll talk you later. Good evening

[1:12:04] again, deanna for the record. And, um, I'm requesting the approval

[1:12:09] of the purchase road material necessary for a 50 be

[1:12:13] lot caving project. The total amount needed for this purchase

[1:12:17] is $175,631, which includes a 10%

[1:12:22] contingency to accommodate for unperceived um, expenses.

[1:12:26] these materials will be procured through our existing 12 month open

[1:12:30] contact with materials incorporated, which is managed by

[1:12:34] public works. And the funding for this project will be allocated

[1:12:39] from bond 44, which is linked to the general obligation refunding

[1:12:43] bond issued in 2012. Currently, the bond hold 44 holds

[1:12:47] ba a balance of $244,118

[1:12:52] and 56 cents. Uh, it's specifically designed for product improvements

[1:12:56] and other public purposes. Um, but the student investment is crucial in

[1:13:00] maintaining and enhancing student carts infrastructure to ensure, you know,

[1:13:04] safe and accessible facilities for our community members, including the four eight

[1:13:08] girls club. And it's in dire need of repair. And it's, right now it's

[1:13:12] a lot cheaper to repair than to completely replace.

[1:13:16] and so recommend because

[1:13:21] questions? No, we talking, uh, we're talking only the parking lot. Every,

[1:13:25] are we talking about all of all the road surrounding all parking lot, even the soccer,

[1:13:29] several parking lot. Yeah. Yes. There's several parking lots. Mm-hmm. That are gonna be three.

[1:13:34] okay. So, okay. I just wanna say this is a long time overdue. Yes.

[1:13:39] um, miss deana, thank you so much for putting this together. This was probably the most complete procurement

[1:13:43] packet I've ever seen. And they tell me I don't need all the information, but

[1:13:47] there I see it and there's pages and pages of it. I like to know

[1:13:51] how the process works. I mean, I even know who was there during the bid time opening.

[1:13:55] this is just fantastic. Um, it's coming in cheaper than

[1:13:59] I had anticipated because it's in house work, right? Correct. Yeah. Public

[1:14:04] works has the machinery and the staff that are so gonna be helping us,

[1:14:08] will be working for another month. He said for the record

[1:14:13] to help out with the project. Um, I, I just can't say

[1:14:17] thank you enough. I think everybody, this is way, way, way overdue.

[1:14:21] yes. Um, I agree. It's fantastic. Can't wait to see

[1:14:25] what it looks like. So many people are gonna benefit from this.

[1:14:30] now we're gonna put some, uh, parking signs, you know, the, the

[1:14:35] lines and everything and everything. Okay.

[1:14:39] strobe lights and everything. . Maybe, maybe, maybe, uh, you know,

[1:14:44] maybe, maybe some lights. Not strobe. Okay.

[1:14:48] they already strobe on their own. Mayor . Yeah. Move. Okay,

[1:14:52] well, we'll do some solar stuff out. Something. Any other questions? Could be reserves.

[1:14:56] none. Do I have a motion? Motion? You got a motion by comm morale

[1:15:00] second by the mayor . All in favor? Aye. Aye. Any nays? Motion

[1:15:05] passes. Thank you. Your okay.

[1:15:09] rick, any other thing? No, sir. That's it, mayor. Just everybody just

[1:15:13] want to please be safe. Uh, we will be close tomorrow as the mayor said. Uh,

[1:15:18] but we will have not only, uh, public work standby, but we will have park standby

[1:15:22] crews available, uh, you know, in case something assist the police

[1:15:26] and the fire department's, road closures, you know, down trees, things like that.

[1:15:30] we're hoping we won't get there, but, uh, but we're ready. And, and just so everybody knows,

[1:15:34] our mayor's on standby too. 'cause he's up early in the morning and he'll go and assess

[1:15:38] the issues. Yep. So , we wanna keep our mayors safe, so let's stay all

[1:15:43] home. . Yeah. Well, I love being out there. It's, I love being out there to

[1:15:47] the public. So, uh, yeah, as soon as it hits, um, don't

[1:15:51] come on me, just be near. But, uh, as soon as I can, there's a chance I'll be

[1:15:55] out there. I'll be looking also in, uh, uh, assessing what's going on. So,

[1:15:59] uh, I'll do my best to keep everybody, you know, at the, at

[1:16:03] the park. But, uh, please public, if you don't need to be out there, please

[1:16:07] stay home. And, uh, we shall all, you know, a safe, you

[1:16:11] know, uh, night day that's coming. But, um,

[1:16:15] again, I would just wanna take everybody that's, that's gonna be, you

[1:16:19] know, helping out with the, with the city. Mm-hmm. , you know, just workers.

[1:16:24] please be safe. Yeah, we need the rain, but we want everybody to be safe. Yes. We need

[1:16:28] the rain. Honestly, we need it, uh, for reservoirs,

[1:16:32] but it's gonna come with the cost. People don't know about the drought situation. Just go look at the

[1:16:36] saka. I don't tell you. Yeah. So I went kayaking the

[1:16:40] other day. It was six inches deep and that's where we get our water from. So

[1:16:46] that's coming. Fred, come on, . Okay. Uh, as

[1:16:50] far as I know, uh, 6 48 and we're adjourned.

Jun 18, 2024 Commission Meetings

Agenda

Transcript