[0:04] GOOD AFTERNOON. WELCOME THIS EVENING. TODAY IS AUGUST 18TH, 2026. IT'S 6 P.M. WE'LL GO AHEAD AND GET OUR REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING IN SESSION. IF EVERYBODY WILL, PLEASE RISE FOR THE OPENING PRAYER AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG OF THE UNITED STATES IN THE STATE OF TEXAS BY COUNCIL MEMBER WESTBROOK. GOOD EVENING EVERYONE. HEAVENLY FATHER, WE THANK YOU FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO SERVE OUR COMMUNITY AND FOR THE TRUST AND THE TRUST PLACED IN EACH PERSON GATHERED HERE AS WE ENTER THIS ELECTION SEASON. REMIND US THAT PUBLIC SERVICE IS GREATER THAN ANY CAMPAIGN, ANY CANDIDATE, OR ANY POLITICAL DIFFERENCE. GRANT US WISDOM IN OUR DECISIONS, PATIENCE IN OUR DISAGREEMENTS, AND HUMILITY IN OUR WORDS. HELP US TO DEBATE IDEAS WITHOUT DIMINISHING PEOPLE TO LISTEN BEFORE WE RESPOND, AND TO CONDUCT OURSELVES WITH CIVILITY, RESPECT, AND INTEGRITY. MAY WE REMEMBER THAT EVEN WHEN WE DISAGREE, WE REMAIN NEIGHBORS, COLLEAGUES, AND MEMBERS OF ONE COMMUNITY. GUIDE THIS COUNCIL TONIGHT SO THAT OUR ACTIONS REFLECT FAIRNESS, GOOD JUDGMENT, AND A SINCERE COMMITMENT TO THOSE WE SERVE. AMEN. AMEN. I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND TO THE REPUBLIC FOR WHICH IT STANDS. ONE NATION UNDER GOD, INDIVISIBLE, WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL. HONOR THE TEXAS FLAG. I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THEE. TEXAS. ONE STATE UNDER GOD, ONE AND INDIVISIBLE. THANK YOU. COUNCIL MEMBER WESTBROOK. WE'RE GOING TO GO AHEAD AND MOVE ON TO CITY EVENTS, ANNOUNCEMENTS OF UPCOMING CITY EVENTS BY MISS OR DEPUTY CITY MANAGER BRIAN JAMES. THANK YOU MAYOR. JUST TO LET FOLKS KNOW THIS SUNDAY, AUGUST 23RD PARKS DEPARTMENT IS DOING THE OWL PROWL. THAT'S 8:30 P.M. TO 9:30 P.M. AT CRESCENT BEND NATURE PARK, 12 805 WEST SCHAFER ROAD. ALL AGES. WE HAVE A SPECIAL CALLED BUDGET WORKSHOP FOR CITY COUNCIL A WEEK FROM TONIGHT, TUESDAY, AUGUST 25TH. THAT'LL START AT 530 HALF HOUR EARLY AND NORMAL HERE IN COUNCIL CHAMBERS. ALSO THAT SAME MORNING, THOUGH, EARLIER IN THE DAY ON AUGUST 25TH 9 A.M. WILL BE THE GENERAL ELECTION CANDIDATE INFORMATION MEETING WITH THE BALLOT PLACE DRAWING. AND THEN OUR NEXT REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING IS SEPTEMBER 1ST, 6 P.M. BACK HERE AT COUNCIL CHAMBERS. THANK YOU FOR THOSE ANNOUNCEMENTS. MOVING ON TO ANNOUNCEMENTS AND RECOGNITION BY THE CITY OR CITY MANAGER, STEVE WILLIAMS. THANK YOU MAYOR. I'VE GOT A FEW TONIGHT. SO THE PUBLIC AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT IS. THEY ARE EXCITED TO BE FINALISTS FOR NOT ONE, BUT TWO SAVVY AWARDS. AND THIS IS BY THE CITY, COUNTY COMMUNICATIONS AND MARKETING ASSOCIATION. SO THIS RECOGNITION SHINES A SPOTLIGHT ON THEIR FANTASTIC WORK FOR THE LET'S TALK TRASH CAMPAIGN AND THE NOW YOU KNOW SHIRTS PROGRAM. AND AS THEY GEAR UP FOR THE THREE CMA ANNUAL CONFERENCE IN SEPTEMBER, THE TEAM IS BUZZING WITH EXCITEMENT TO SEE HOW THEY FARE IN THIS NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT. SO CHEERS TO THEIR CREATIVITY AND THEIR HARD WORK. ALSO, WE HAD SOME PROMOTIONS. WE HAD ASTRID JAIME THAT WAS FROM THE POLICE DEPARTMENT, PROMOTED FROM PUBLIC SAFETY COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER TO PUBLIC SAFETY COMMUNICATIONS SUPERVISOR. WE HAD BRANDON CASE PROMOTED FROM POLICE CADET TO OFFICER AND MARK MCELROY, PROMOTED FROM CADET TO OFFICER. AND JACQUELYN ZAVALA WAS PROMOTED FROM POLICE CADET TO POLICE OFFICER, AND MIRANDA MIRANDA CHAVEZ, PROMOTED FROM UTILITY BILLING SPECIALIST TO CODE ENFORCEMENT OFFICER. ALSO, I WANT TO SAY KUDOS TO JOHN NOWAK AND EVERYBODY WHO HAD A HAND, THE PUBLIC AFFAIRS TEAM, AGAIN, FOR PUTTING TOGETHER THE RIBBON CUTTING AND OLD SHIRTS. AND IF YOU'RE NOT AWARE, THE AREA THAT'S AT THE NEIGHBORHOOD THAT'S SOUTH OF 78 OFF OF MAIN STREET, CHURCH STREET, OR SOME MAJOR, IS A MAJOR CROSS STREET IN THERE. WE HAD A RIBBON CUTTING BECAUSE THAT PROJECT IS COMING TO COMPLETION, AND THE CITY HAS GONE IN AND REDONE ALL THE WATER, ALL THE SEWER AND THE ROADS. IT LOOKS FANTASTIC. WE EVEN HAD SOME FOLKS FROM THE NEIGHBORHOOD COME OUT FOR THE RIBBON CUTTING. AND THEN LASTLY, I DO WANT TO MENTION, I THINK BRIAN DIDN'T MENTION THIS, BUT WE DO HAVE A SPECIAL BUDGET MEETING NEXT TUESDAY AT 530, A SPECIAL BUDGET WORKSHOP RIGHT HERE IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBERS. AND THAT'S IT.
[5:04] THANK YOU. OKAY. THANK YOU FOR THOSE ANNOUNCEMENTS. I HAVE NO ANNOUNCEMENTS OR RECOGNITION. SO WE'RE GOING TO GO AHEAD AND MOVE ON TO HEARING OF RESIDENTS. THIS TIME IS SET ASIDE FOR ANY PERSON WHO WISHES TO ADDRESS THE CITY COUNCIL. EACH PERSON SHOULD FILL OUT THE SPEAKER'S REGISTER PRIOR TO THE MEETING. PRESENTATION SHOULD BE LIMITED TO NO MORE THAN THREE MINUTES. ALL REMARKS SHOULD BE ADDRESSED TO THE COUNCIL AS A BODY AND NOT TO ANY INDIVIDUAL MEMBER THEREOF. ANY PERSON MAKING PERSONAL, IMPERTINENT OR SLANDEROUS REMARKS WHILE ADDRESSING THE COUNCIL MAY BE REQUESTED TO LEAVE THE MEETING. ALL HANDOUTS AND OR USB DEVICES MUST BE SUBMITTED TO THE CITY SECRETARY NO LATER THAN NOON ON THE MONDAY PRECEDING THE MEETING. HANDOUTS WILL BE PROVIDED TO EACH COUNCIL MEMBER PRIOR TO THE START OF THE MEETING BY THE CITY SECRETARY. ALL USB DEVICES WILL BE VETTED BY THE CITY STAFF TO ENSURE CITY PROPERTY IS PROTECTED FROM MALWARE. AND FIRST UP TO SPEAK IS MICHAEL EPPERSON. OH, MICHELLE EPPERSON. OH THAT'S GOOD. THAT SOUNDS GOOD TO ME. AS YOU COME UP, IF YOU'LL PLEASE JUST STATE YOUR NAME AND YOUR ADDRESS FOR THE RECORD, PLEASE. HELLO, EVERYONE, I'M MICHAEL EPPERSON. MY ADDRESS IS 10308IVJ CHURCH, TEXAS, 78154. MAY I BEGIN? ALL RIGHT. WELL. HELLO AGAIN. I'M MICHAEL EPPERSON. I'M IN THE RESERVE AT CHURCH HOME OWNERS ASSOCIATION. I AM THE RESERVE AT CHURCH HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT. THE RESERVE WAS ESTABLISHED IN 2013. I HAVE LIVED IN THE RESERVE AT CHURCH SINCE 2014. I ALSO, I AM ACCOMPANIED BY RESERVE AT CHURCH HOMEOWNERS. THE Q MART C STORE IN TRUCK STOP IS SCHEDULED TO BE BUILT ON NORTH GRAYTOWN AND I-10. THE BUILDING PROCESS START TIME WAS JUNE 1ST, 2026 AND THE END TIME IS JUNE 1ST, 2027, ACCORDING TO THE TEXAS CONSTRUCTION. PRECONSTRUCTION HAS STARTED AND IT IS AT 15%. IF THE CONSTRUCTION CANNOT BE TERMINATED, I AM ASKING THE CITY COUNCIL TO TO SUPPORT OUR COMMUNITY BY PROTECTING THE HOMEOWNERS AND THE VALUE OF OUR COMMUNITY BY DOING THE FOLLOWING. ONE. OVERALL, THE RESERVE ASSERTS, HAS NOT HAD ISSUES WITH CRIME. WE HAVE HAD THREE KNOWN THEFTS SINCE 2014. THE RESERVE AT SCHERTZ IS NOT A GATED COMMUNITY AND WE ARE LESS THAN A MILE FROM I-10. WHEN THE CONSTRUCTION BEGINS, SEND LAW ENFORCEMENT PATROL CARS THROUGH THE NEIGHBORHOOD AND INCREASED PATROLS. WHEN THE TRUCK STOP OPENS. ALSO, CHILD SAFETY IS A FACTOR. NUMBER TWO UPGRADE GRAYTOWN ROAD AND RESTRICT 18 WHEELERS FROM TRAVELING DOWN GRAYTOWN ROAD. SINCE THE OPENING OF I-10 UNDERPASS AND ON GRAYTOWN ROAD, TRAFFIC HAS GREATLY INCREASED AND WILL CONTINUE TO INCREASE. GRAYTOWN ROAD WAS NOT IN GREAT CONDITION WHEN I MOVED INTO THE NEIGHBORHOOD AND THE CONDITION HAS WORSENED WITHIN THE LAST TWO WEEKS. A LARGE POTHOLE ON GREYTOWN AND IVY MANOR WAS RECENTLY FILLED. POTHOLES ARE CONTINUOUSLY CREATED. RESTRICTING 18 WHEELERS FROM TRAVELING DOWN GREYTOWN WILL HELP REDUCE POTHOLES AND THE DETERIORATION OF STONE WALLS THAT ARE A PART OF OUR COMMUNITY. AND IT'S THE FENCE LINE OF SOME OF OUR HOMEOWNERS YARDS. CONSTANT VIBRATIONS FROM 18 WHEELERS WILL CAUSE CRACKS THAT THE COMMUNITY WILL HAVE TO PAY AND TO REPLACE AND REPAIR. PROTECT OUR COMMUNITY FROM NOISE AND LIGHT POLLUTION. THERE IS LAND BETWEEN OUR COMMUNITY AND THE TRUCK STOP, BUT THE LAND DOESN'T HAVE TREES. OKAY, MAY I FINISH? LASTLY, I'M ASKING YOU WHAT MEASURES HAVE BEEN, HAVE BEEN AND WILL BE PUT IN PLACE TO PROTECT OUR HOMEOWNERS AND THE VALUE OF OUR COMMUNITY. THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME. THANK YOU. NEXT UP, WE HAVE MAGGIE TITTERINGTON WITH THE CHURCH CHAMBER, SELMA AND CHAMBER AS WELL. BRIAN JAMES, GOOD EVENING, MAYOR. COUNCIL.
[10:07] WE SEEM TO HAVE CANDIDATES RUNNING FOR OFFICE. I SEE THAT WE HAVE SIX TOTAL. AND SO THE CHAMBER IS ONCE AGAIN GOING TO HOST A MEET THE CANDIDATES. IT WILL BE OCTOBER 7TH. AND THE ONLY THING WE'RE TRYING TO FIGURE OUT IS WHETHER WE'RE GOING TO MAKE IT 6 TO 7 OR 630 TO 730. WE'RE GOING TO MEET AS A STAFF AND GET THAT FINALIZED TOMORROW, BUT IT WILL BE AT THE CIVIC CENTER, AND WE'LL BE SENDING OUT AN INVITATION TO ALL THOSE THAT ARE RUNNING AND THOSE RUNNING AGAINST THE INCUMBENTS. SECOND I RECEIVED NOTICE TEX-DOT HAD A RELEASE THAT THEY WERE AWARDED $755 MILLION FOR THE RAIL GRADE SEPARATION PROJECTS, WHICH IN PARTICULAR THAT IS ADDRESSING THE 3009 FLYOVER. I KNOW THIS HAS COME UP MANY TIMES IN MEETINGS AND STUFF, AND SO NOW THAT THEY HAVE BEEN AWARDED AND IT'S SPECIFICALLY STATED THE 3009. MY BUSINESSES DO HAVE SOME CONCERNS ABOUT THAT. IN PARTICULAR, THE CLOSING OFF OF 3009 THAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN. THAT IS BEING ASKED BY UNION PACIFIC TO GET RID OF THAT, BECAUSE THAT'S WHY THE FLYOVER IS GOING TO GO FOR SAFETY ISSUES. BUT NOW THAT TEX-DOT HAS SECURED THIS FUNDING, I KNOW THERE'S GOING TO BE QUESTIONS FROM THE BUSINESSES IS WHAT KIND OF A TIMELINE ARE WE LOOKING AT? IS THERE GOING TO BE PUBLIC, YOU KNOW, MEETINGS HERE WITH THE CITY OF SHIRTS AND STUFF ABOUT THEIR CONCERNS? I KNOW THEY HAD BROUGHT SOME UP ABOUT THE VISIBILITY, THE DEAD END. WHAT ABOUT THE BUSINESSES ACROSS 3009 LIKE TY CHEF AND BOUGIE BOWL. HOW IS THAT GOING TO AFFECT THEIR BUSINESSES? AND THERE HAD BEEN SOME SUGGESTIONS FROM PREVIOUS COUNCIL MEMBERS AS WELL OF WELL, MAYBE WE CAN, YOU KNOW, SET ASIDE FUNDING TO HELP THEM IF THEY WANT TO MOVE AND STUFF. SO WE KNOW THIS IS ALL NEW. THIS JUST HAPPENED FRIDAY. I DO KNOW FREDDIE WITH CHRISTIAN BROTHERS IS HERE AS WELL, BUT I'M JUST LOOKING TO SEE WHAT WE CAN DO AS A CHAMBER TO OPEN UP DIALOG. HELPFUL DIALOG BETWEEN TEXDOT AND THE BUSINESSES. MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE LETTING THEM ALL KNOW, REGARDLESS OF IF THEY'RE MEMBERS OR NOT. BUT JUST MAKE SURE THAT THERE'S A GOOD POSITIVE DIALOG BECAUSE IT LOOKS LIKE THIS IS GOING TO HAPPEN NOW. AND SO WE JUST WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHAT IS THE TIME FRAME? WHAT IS THE TIME OF PREPARATION? WHAT ARE SOME THINGS THAT THE BUSINESSES CAN BRING FORTH AND, AND DISCUSS WITH THE CITY OF SCHERTZ ABOUT WHAT THEY'RE REALLY CONCERNED ABOUT, HOW THIS IS GOING TO AFFECT THEIR BUSINESSES, OR WHAT ARE THEY GOING TO NEED TO DO. SO JUST ANYTHING THAT WE CAN DO TO HELP FACILITATE THESE CONVERSATIONS AND MAKE THIS A HELPFUL TRANSITION AND KIND OF BUILD A TIMELINE OF WHAT THIS IS GOING TO LOOK LIKE. WE WOULD LOVE TO HELP. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. NEXT UP WE HAVE DANA ELDRIDGE. DANA ELDRIDGE, 2628 GALLANT FOX DRIVE, SCHERTZ, TEXAS, 78108. LAST WEEK I CAME TO A MEETING HERE IN THE, IN THE CHAMBERS. I JUST WANTED TO PASS ON THAT. I THOUGHT OUR CITY MANAGER, MR. WILLIAMS, AND HIS STAFF DID A REMARKABLE JOB OF PRESENTING THAT BUDGET. THAT LOOKED LIKE A NASTY THING IN THOSE BIG BINDERS. I DIDN'T GET A LOOK AT THAT. BUT YOU GUYS ALL GOT ONE ON TOP OF YOU. HAD TO LOOK THROUGH. I THOUGHT IT WAS WELL PRESENTED. I JUST WANTED TO GET UP AND LET HIM KNOW AND LET THE LET THE MAYOR KNOW THAT I THOUGHT THE STAFF DID A GOOD JOB IN PUTTING THAT TOGETHER. I'M GLAD TO SEE THAT OLD WIEDERSTEIN IS GOING TO HAVE A STUDY DONE ON IT. I DON'T KNOW THAT THE STUDY WILL DO MUCH GOOD, BUT FINALLY, AFTER HAVING LIVED OUT THERE FOR 20 YEARS, AND EVERY TIME I LOOK AT THE BUDGET, IT SAYS ALL IT'S GOING TO BE 24, 25. IT'LL GET DONE. OH, NOW IT'S GOING TO BE 27 OR 28, AND THIS YEAR IT'S 30 OR 31. SO IT KEEPS GETTING PUSHED BACK. BUT AT LEAST THEY'RE GOING TO DO A STUDY ON IT. SO JUST A BIG ATTABOY FOR FOR MR. WILLIAMS AND HIS STAFF. SO THANK YOU. THANK YOU. AND THAT WILL END. HEARING OF THE RESIDENTS. SO WE'RE GOING TO GO AHEAD AND MOVE ON TO THE CONSENT AGENDA. THE CONSENT AGENDA IS CONSIDERED SELF-EXPLANATORY AND WILL BE ENACTED BY THE COUNCIL WITH ONE MOTION. THERE WILL BE NO SEPARATE DISCUSSION ON THESE ITEMS UNLESS THEY ARE REMOVED FROM THE CONSENT AGENDA UPON THE REQUEST OF THE MAYOR OR COUNCIL MEMBER AT THIS TIME. DO I HAVE ANY CONSENT AGENDA ITEMS THAT ANY COUNCIL MEMBER WOULD LIKE TO HAVE REMOVED FROM THE CONSENT AGENDA? GOOD EVENING MAYOR. CAN WE HAVE ITEM FOUR, RESOLUTION 26, R ZERO 90 AND ALSO ITEM FIVE,
[15:05] RESOLUTION 26, R 091 REMOVED. OKAY. WE'LL REMOVE CONSENT AGENDA ITEM FOUR, RESOLUTION 26-R-090 AND RESOLUTION 26-R-091, WHICH IS ITEM FIVE FROM THE CONSENT AGENDA. BEING THE ONLY ITEMS REMOVED FROM THE CONSENT AGENDA. CAN I GET A MOTION TO APPROVE ITEMS ONE, TWO, THREE AND SIX. MOTION. SECOND. OKAY, I HAVE A MOTION MADE BY COUNCIL MEMBER WESTBROOK. I HAVE A SECOND BY MAYOR PRO TEM WATSON. CAN I GET EVERYBODY TO CAST THEIR VOTES, PLEASE? CAN I GET THE VOTES PUBLISHED? MOTION PASSES. SEVEN YAYS. NO NAYS. WITH THAT SAID, WE'LL MOVE ON TO DISCUSSION AND ACTION ITEMS, AND WE'LL GO AHEAD AND START WITH ITEM FOUR, RESOLUTION 26-R-090, APPROVING THE SSLGC FISCAL YEAR 2026 2027 ANNUAL BUDGET AND OTHER MATTERS IN CONNECTION THEREWITH. WE ALL HAVE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS LARRY BUSH SPEAK ON ON THAT BEHALF. GOOD EVENING, MAYOR AND COUNCIL. ALSO WITH US PHILIP WITH HIS ASSISTANT GENERAL MANAGER FOR LGC. IF YOU HAVE ANY SPECIFIC QUESTIONS NOT SURE WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING FOR. YES. I'VE YOU KNOW, IN REVIEW OF THE, THE DOCUMENTS PROVIDED, YOU KNOW, I JUST HAD SOME, YOU KNOW, SOME QUESTIONS AND JUST, YOU KNOW, TRYING TO GET AN IDEA OF YOU KNOW, SOME OF THE MAIN PROJECTS THAT ARE COMING UP WITH SS. LGC IF, IF WE COULD AS JUST A NOT JUST LET US, YOU KNOW, THE JUST BE MORE TRANSPARENT AND KIND OF GIVE THE, YOU KNOW RESIDENTS AN IDEA OF WHAT IS PROJECTED HERE IN THE FUTURE WITH THE SS. LGC, IF THAT MAKES SENSE. YES, SIR. YEAH. DO YOU HAVE THE BUDGET HERE? LOOKS LIKE THERE WAS SOME INCREASES. I THINK KIND OF THE BIGGEST THING IS KIND OF THE FIVE YEAR CIP. TALK TO THE PROJECTS. YES, SIR. DOCTOR. SORRY. DOCTOR SHERIDAN THE THE MAJOR PROJECTS THAT WE HAVE COMING UP, THE, THE BIGGEST ONE IS A PARALLEL PIPELINE TWO MAJOR SECTIONS THAT ARE GOING TO BE PARALLELING OUR 36 INCH WATER PIPELINES FROM AROUND THE GUADALUPE AND GONZALES WATER TREATMENT PLANTS UP TO THE BOOSTER PUMP STATION THAT IS LOCATED SOUTHWEST OF SEGUIN. AND CURRENT ESTIMATES ARE THAT ABOUT $41 MILLION IS THE ENGINEERING OPC ON THE ON THAT PROJECT. IN ADDITION, WE HAVE A, YOU KNOW, A COUPLE OTHER PROJECTS. AND I'M SORRY IF YOU GUYS WERE NOT GIVEN THE, THE INFORMATION ON THAT. I DON'T HAVE THAT DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF ME. BUT THAT IS THE THE BIGGEST ONE THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT COMING UP IN THE NEAR FUTURE. I CAN CHIME IN ON THAT, PHILIP. SO COUNCIL, IF YOU LOOK AT PAGE TWO OF THE BUDGET FOR SSL, GC THAT'S ATTACHED TO THE RESOLUTION, THE END OF THE ATTACHMENT MIDWAY DOWN PAGE TWO IS. COUNCILMAN. SHERIDAN ASKS THEY HAVE THE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS PROJECT. SO AND THAT'S ISSUANCE OF REVENUE BONDS. SO THE FIRST ON THE LIST IS EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS PLAN IMPLEMENTATION IN THE AMOUNT OF $2 MILLION. AGAIN, THESE FUNDS ARE GOING TO BE USED FOR THE PURCHASE AND INSTALLATION OF EMERGENCY GENERATORS FOR THE WATER TREATMENT PLANTS, BOOSTER PUMP STATION AND POINTS OF DELIVERY. AND AGAIN, THAT HELPS IF THEY HAVE A FAILURE IN SOME OF THE SYSTEM TO HAVE THAT WATER CONTINUE TO PUMP AND OPERATE GOING FORWARD. THE NEXT ITEM THAT PHILIP DID MENTION IS THE CAUI 42 INCH IN THE ELM CREEK 36 INCH PIPELINE PROJECTS. THE TOTAL COST THERE IS $41 MILLION. THOSE FUNDS ARE USED FOR THE CONSTRUCTION AND INSPECTION OF THOSE PROJECTS. SO AGAIN, THAT'S PART OF THE PARALLEL PIPELINE PROJECT. AND AGAIN, THEY'LL SUPPLEMENT THAT MONEY WITH IMPACT FEES THAT ARE THAT ARE PAID AS WELL TO OFFSET SOME OF THAT $2.8 MILLION FOR THE GONZALEZ WELL IMPROVEMENT PROJECT. AGAIN, THESE FUNDS ARE USED FOR THE REHABILITATION OF ONE WELL, INCLUDING THE UPSIZING OF PUMPS AND MOTORS, AS WELL AS THE REPLACEMENT OF THE SCADA COMPONENTS, THE MONITORING COMPUTER SYSTEM FOR THAT. THE, THE PROJECT SCHEDULE INCLUDES IMPROVING ONE WELL PER YEAR IN THE GONZALEZ WELL FIELD.
[20:03] THE NEXT ITEM IS THE PRESSURE FILTER REHAB PROJECT. THAT'S $1.5 MILLION. AGAIN, THE FUNDS ARE USED FOR THE PAINTING OF S, S, L, G, C S PRESSURE FILTERS AND THE REPLACEMENT OF FILTER MEDIA AND VALVES. AND THEN 1.1 MILLION FOR THE GONZALEZ WATER TREATMENT PLANT TO SURGE TANK 2.5 MILLION TO UPGRADE THE SOME OF THE INFRASTRUCTURE IN SEGUIN, AND THEN THE PROJECTS GENERALLY AFTER THAT ARE FAIRLY SMALL. THE LARGEST OF THOSE. THE REMAINING ONES ARE $1 MILLION FOR EXISTING WELL FIELD ENTRANCES AND ROAD IMPROVEMENTS. BUT THEN AGAIN, THERE ARE ABOUT $1 MILLION OF OTHERS WATER TRANSMISSION, MAIN IMPROVEMENTS, PUMP MOTORS, VALVE ACTUATOR, ELECTRICAL IMPROVEMENTS, EXISTING WELL, FIELD FENCING, AS I MENTIONED, AND THEN PIPELINE CONDITION ASSESSMENT AS, AS WELL, OR SOME OF THE, THE BIG PROJECTS THAT ARE, ARE LISTED ON THE CIP. ONE OF THE ITEMS YOU HAD MENTIONED, BUT SOME OF THE SIGNIFICANT AREAS OF INCREASES ARE THE WATER LEASES FOR GUADALUPE COUNTY. IT'S DUE TYPICALLY FOR THOSE LEASES, THE PAYMENTS INCREASE OVER TIME AS IS TYPICAL. SO THAT GOES UP ABOUT 13% AGAIN GOES UP ABOUT 8% FOR THE GONZALES COUNTY LEASES. AND THEN THE GONZALES UNDERGROUND WATER DISTRICT DOUBLED THE FEES TO EXPORT WATER. SO THAT DOUBLED, OBVIOUSLY, IT'S ABOUT 115,000. AND THEN CHEMICAL COST JUST EITHER RISING OR MORE CHEMICALS NEEDED WENT UP 2.8% ELECTRICAL COSTS UNDER JAMES HAS TALKED ABOUT THAT THE CITY'S ELECTRICAL COSTS GOING UP. SAME THING FOR SSLGC, ABOUT A 5% INCREASE, 125,000. AND THEN GENERAL SALARIES GOING UP AS WELL FOR THE, THE FOLKS THAT WORK AT SSLGC AGAIN, THE BULK OF THE EMPLOYEES TECHNICALLY ARE CITY OF SEGUIN EMPLOYEES. PHILIP AND ANDREW TECHNICALLY ARE CITY OF SCHERTZ EMPLOYEES, BUT THAT COVERS THEM. THOSE ARE THE MAJOR ITEMS WITH REGARD TO COST INCREASES AND THE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS. BUT WE CAN GO INTO AS MUCH DETAIL ON THE REST OF IT IF YOU WOULD LIKE. YEAH. NO, I'M SORRY, I GOT I GOT A LITTLE COLD THAT I'M FIGHTING. BUT YEAH, I NOTICED THAT THE OPERATING COST HERE WAS SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED. AND THEN ALSO THE REVENUE DIDN'T LOOK SO COMFORTABLE IN THAT SENSE. SO I, I GUESS MY QUESTION IS WITH SSL, DO YOU GUYS FEEL CONFIDENT THAT THAT THE REVENUE THAT YOU'LL SEE WILL CONTINUE IN REGARDS TO LIKE, I KNOW THAT YOU GUYS ARE SELLING WATER OFF THE SALTS AND SOME OTHER TIER TWO AREAS ARE THOSE CONTRACTS, YOU KNOW, ARE, ARE SIGNIFICANTLY HEALTHY TO ENOUGH TO WHERE, YOU KNOW, YOU DON'T SEE ANY FUTURE DECLINES OR PROBLEMS WITH THOSE TYPE OF CONTRACTS. SO FAR, AS YOU'VE MENTIONED, WE ARE SELLING MORE WATER TO SOURCE. CURRENTLY WE ARE DOING ANNUALLY 2000 ACRE FEET TO THEM, AND THEY'RE TAKING EVERY DROP WE CAN GIVE THEM. WE'RE ACTUALLY MORE CONSTRAINED BY PHYSICALLY WHAT WE THE WATER THAT WE CAN SEND THROUGH THE PIPE AT THE MOMENT. SO SOURCE IS ALWAYS WILLING TO BE A PRESSURE RELIEF VALVE. PARDON THE PUN, TO TO TAKE AS MUCH AS WE CAN GIVE THEM. SO I DON'T FORESEE ANY ISSUES WITH THAT CONTRACT WITH US NOT HAVING A POTENTIAL BUYER OF THE WATER. OKAY. I'M GOOD. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? HAVING NONE, CAN I GET A MOTION TO APPROVE RESOLUTION 26-R-090? SO MOVED. SECOND. OKAY. I BELIEVE WE HAVE A MOTION MADE BY COUNCIL MEMBER SHERIDAN AND SECOND BY MAYOR PRO TEM WATSON DAVIS. OH. OH, SORRY. CORRECTION, WE HAVE A MOTION MADE BY COUNCIL MEMBER DAVIS, SECONDED BY MAYOR PRO TEM WATSON. CAN I GET EVERYBODY TO CAST THEIR VOTES, PLEASE? CAN I GET THE VOTES PUBLISHED? HAVING SEVEN YEAS. NO NAYS. MOTION PASSES. THANK YOU. NOW, MOVING ON TO RESOLUTION 26-R-091. APPROVING THE SSLGC FISCAL YEAR 2026 2027 WATER RATES AND OTHER MATTERS IN CONNECTION THEREWITH. DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS LARRY RUSH. YEAH. SO AGAIN, THERE IS A THERE'S A PLANNED INCREASE THIS YEAR TO 1.78. IT WAS 1.675 PER THOUSAND LAST YEAR. THAT'S ALL IN THE O AND M SIDE, SOME OF WHICH WAS FOR THE REASONS THAT WERE MENTIONED ON THE BUDGET.
[25:07] YEAH, I PULLED THAT ONE OUT BECAUSE IT WAS PRESENT ON THE PREVIOUS ONE. SO I'M GOOD. SO I MAKE A MOTION TO. FOR RESOLUTION 26 R 091 SECOND. OKAY, I GOT A MOTION BY COUNCIL MEMBER SHERIDAN, SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER WESTBROOK TO APPROVE RESOLUTION 26-R-091. CAN I GET EVERYBODY TO CAST THEIR VOTES, PLEASE? CAN I GET THE VOTES PUBLISHED? HAVING SEVEN YEAS, NO NAYS. MOTION PASSES. THANK YOU ALL VERY MUCH. MOVING ON TO DISCUSSION AND ACTION ITEMS. RESOLUTION 26-R-076. ESTABLISHING A LEGISLATIVE PLATFORM AND PRIORITIES FOR THE 90TH LEGISLATIVE SESSION AND THE. IN TEXAS, WE HAVE. DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS CRYSTAL HAYNES. GOOD EVENING, MAYOR AND COUNCIL. MY NAME IS CRYSTAL HAYNES AND I'M THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS FOR THE CITY OF SCHERTZ. SO THE ITEM BEFORE YOU TONIGHT IS A RESOLUTION ADOPTING THE CITY OF SCHERTZ LEGISLATIVE AGENDA FOR THE UPCOMING 90TH TEXAS LEGISLATIVE SESSION, WHICH BEGINS IN JANUARY. THE PURPOSE OF THIS AGENDA IS REALLY JUST TO GIVE US CLEAR DIRECTION GOING INTO SESSION, AND IT IDENTIFIES SOME ISSUES THAT ARE MOST IMPORTANT TO US HERE IN SCHERTZ. THIS GIVES STAFF A GUIDE TO FOLLOW AS WE'RE SPEAKING WITH OUR LEGISLATORS AND TRACKING BILLS THROUGHOUT THE SESSION. SO THIS IS OUR SECOND TIME BRINGING A LEGISLATIVE AGENDA TOWARDS YOU. AND WE'RE PROPOSING IT TONIGHT. AND FROM LAST YEAR. IT HASN'T HAD ANY CHANGES SINCE LAST YEAR. SO I'M JUST GOING TO BRIEFLY TOUCH ON IT. SO OUR TOP PRIORITY CONTINUES TO BE THE FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY AND REVENUE PROTECTION SECTION. SO AS YOU ALL KNOW THE BIGGEST SHORT SPECIFIC ISSUE HERE IS THE DISABLED VETERANS HOMESTEAD EXEMPTION. SO I DO WANT TO BE CLEAR, WE'RE NOT LOOKING TO CHANGE OR TAKE AWAY THIS EXEMPTION IN ANY WAY. SURE IT SUPPORTS THIS PROGRAM, BUT BECAUSE WE HAVE SUCH A LARGE NUMBER OF QUALIFYING HOMES IN THE COMMUNITY, IT HAS A DISPROPORTIONATE FINANCIAL IMPACT ON THE CITY COMPARED TO MOST OTHER TEXAS CITIES. SO THIS YEAR ALONE, THE ESTIMATED REVENUE LOSS TO THE CITY IS ABOUT $6.3 MILLION. AND WHEN YOU COMPARE THIS TO OTHER CITIES, THAT'S WHEN YOU CAN REALLY SEE HOW UNIQUE OUR SITUATION IS. THE AVERAGE CITY IN TEXAS LOSES ABOUT 2% OF ITS TOTAL ASSESSABLE VALUE. AND HERE IN SCHERTZ, WE'RE AT 21%. SO ANOTHER WAY TO PUT THAT $6.3 MILLION IN REVENUE LOSS. ANOTHER WAY TO LOOK AT IT IS IT'S ABOUT 11.3 CENTS ON OUR TAX RATE. SO IT'S A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF REVENUE TO FOR ONE COMMUNITY TO ABSORB. AND THAT'S WHY IT'S ONE OF OUR BIGGEST PRIORITIES GOING INTO SESSION. WE WANT TO BE ADVOCATING FOR MORE DEDICATED STATE FUNDING TO HELP OFFSET THOSE LOSSES WHILE CONTINUING TO SUPPORT THE EXEMPTION FOR DISABLED VETERANS. JUST THE OTHER THINGS ON THE AGENDA. SO WE HAVE INFRASTRUCTURE AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT. SO AS YOU KNOW, AS SCHERTZ CONTINUES TO GROW, WE'RE LOOKING FOR OPPORTUNITIES TO BRING MORE STATE FUNDING AND RESOURCES BACK TO OUR COMMUNITY FOR THINGS LIKE TRANSPORTATION, PARKS AND TRAILS, INFRASTRUCTURE, THINGS LIKE THAT. WE HAVE LOCAL CONTROL AND GOVERNANCE. SO REALLY IT'S ABOUT KEEPING LOCAL DECISIONS LOCAL. WE WANT OUR LOCALLY ELECTED OFFICIALS TO CONTINUE TO HAVE THE ABILITY TO MAKE DECISIONS BASED ON WHAT'S BEST FOR SCHERTZ. SO THAT INCLUDES THINGS LIKE ZONING AND DENSITY. ANYTHING IN OUR ETJ, ANYTHING ABOUT PERMITTING OR INSPECTIONS, WE'LL PROBABLY SEE. THERE'S USUALLY A LARGE NUMBER OF BILLS FILED THAT TOUCH ON THESE AREAS. SO WE WANT TO LOOK OUT FOR THOSE. ECONOMIC GROWTH AND BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT. SO WE'RE FOCUSED ON PROTECTING THE TOOLS CITIES HAVE AVAILABLE TO ATTRACT AND RETAIN BUSINESS. SO WE WANT TO BE WATCHING FOR ANY LEGISLATION THAT WOULD TAKE AWAY OR LIMIT THOSE TOOLS. AND THEN FINALLY THE FIFTH AREA IS ADVOCACY AND MUNICIPAL REPRESENTATION. SO THAT'S ABOUT PROTECTING THE ABILITY OF ORGANIZATIONS LIKE THE TEXAS MUNICIPAL LEAGUE OR TML TO ADVOCATE ON BEHALF OF CITIES. SO TML, WE'RE VERY, VERY GRATEFUL FOR THEM. THEY HAVE AN ENTIRE TEAM DEDICATED TO LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS. LAST YEAR, THERE WERE MORE THAN 8700 BILLS FILED, AND ABOUT 2000 OF THEM WERE TRACKED BY TML. THERE WAS ABOUT 2000 OF THEM TRACKED WITH TML BECAUSE THEY WOULD IMPACT CITIES IN SOME WAY. SO WE'RE VERY GRATEFUL FOR THEM. AND WE WANT THEM TO CONTINUE TO BE ABLE TO ADVOCATE ON BEHALF OF US. SO OVERALL, THIS AGENDA IS JUST OUR ROADMAP GOING INTO THE LEGISLATIVE SESSION. AS STEVE MENTIONED LAST WEEK DURING THE BUDGET RETREAT, WE'LL BE DOING OUR DUE DILIGENCE AND MEETING WITH OUR STATE REPS. LEADING UP TO SESSION. TML WILL ALSO BE HOSTING THEIR LEGISLATIVE SUMMIT NEXT WEEK, AND THERE WILL BE SURE REPRESENTATION AS STEVE WILL BE IN ATTENDANCE AS TCMA PRESIDENT. SO THAT'S THE LEGISLATIVE AGENDA FOR 2027. SO STAFF RECOMMENDS THE APPROVAL OF THIS RESOLUTION TO FORMALLY ADOPT THE 2027 LEGISLATIVE AGENDA AND ALLOW STAFF AND CITY
[30:03] OFFICIALS TO ADVOCATE FOR THESE PRIORITIES THROUGHOUT THE SESSION. SO I'M HAPPY TO TAKE ANY COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS. ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS BY ANY COUNCIL MEMBER? YOU HAVE A QUESTION. GO AHEAD, COUNCILMAN GUERRERO. YOU MENTIONED A LOT OF A LOT OF INFORMATION, BUT WHAT ARE THE TOP TWO VITAL PROJECTS THAT WE ARE TARGETING FOR ADDITIONAL STATE RESOURCES? SO I THINK OUR BIGGEST ONE, AND STEVE COULD PROBABLY TOUCH ON THIS A LITTLE BIT MORE, BUT THE DHS IMPACT THAT IT HAS ON OUR COMMUNITY IS PRETTY BIG, AND THAT'S ONE THAT WE'LL BE ADVOCATING FOR HEAVILY. AND I KNOW Y'ALL, I WASN'T HERE LAST SESSION. IT'S MY FIRST ONE. SO BUT I KNOW Y'ALL DID A GOOD JOB AT TRYING TO ADVOCATE FOR THAT AS WELL. WE DID SEE SOME CHANGE AT THE STATE LEVEL. NOT EXACTLY CHANGE THAT WAS NECESSARILY HELPFUL TO US, BUT MORE MORE CITIES WERE ABLE TO APPLY FOR THIS SO MORE PEOPLE ARE ABLE TO GET THE FUNDING, BUT THE FUNDING STILL ISN'T THERE. SO CITIES ARE ONLY GETTING ABOUT 12% OF WHAT THEY OF WHAT THEY REQUEST. WHAT'S THE SECOND? PROBABLY INFRASTRUCTURE AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, WHICH IS ALSO ON OUR AGENDA. SO WE LIKE TO CONTINUE TO RECEIVE STATE FUNDING FOR THINGS LIKE PARKS AND TRAILS OR ANY INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT. I MEAN, THEY'RE ALL REALLY IMPORTANT. LOCAL GOVERNMENT GOVERNANCE AND CONTROL IS ALSO REALLY IMPORTANT. YOU KNOW, WE WANT OUR LOCAL DECISIONS TO STAY LOCAL AT THE LOCAL LEVEL. WE WANT YOU ALL TO BE ABLE TO MAKE THE DECISIONS THAT BEST REPRESENT SHIRTS ALSO. HOW CLOSELY DOES THIS AGENDA ALIGN WITH THE TML CORE PRIORITIES? YEAH. SO TML DOES A GREAT JOB. WITH ALL CITIES, KIND OF THEY LISTEN TO US AND ASK US WHAT WE'RE DOING. SO THIS RESOLUTION HERE IS ACTUALLY A REALLY GOOD TOOL FOR US TO HAVE, BECAUSE WE CAN THEN SEND THIS TO TML AND THEY CAN ADD IT TO THEIR TOP PRIORITIES, WHAT THEY NEED TO LOOK OUT FOR. AND I KNOW AS A RESULT OF LAST YEAR, STEVE WAS ABLE TO GET THE DHS KIND OF IN THEIR EYES AND THEY WERE ABLE TO ADVOCATE FOR IT AS WELL. SO THAT WAS VERY HELPFUL. SO IF I COULD ADD A LITTLE BIT TO THAT GOOD ANSWER. THE THE LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES FROM TML ARE DEVELOPED THROUGH THE PROCESS THAT WE'RE GOING TO BE GOING THROUGH NEXT WEEK. SO WE HAVE A MUNICIPAL POLICY SUMMIT, WHICH TML IS MADE UP OF, I THINK 12 OR 1300 MEMBER CITIES. ALL OF THOSE CITIES ELECT A BOARD, AND THAT BOARD HAS INPUT, BUT EACH INDIVIDUAL CITY HAS THE OPPORTUNITY TO SUBMIT THINGS THAT THEY WANT TO BE CONSIDERED BY THE AT THE MUNICIPAL POLICY SUMMIT, AS WELL AS BY THE BOARD EVENTUALLY TO BE ADOPTED IN THE OVERALL PLATFORM. SO THE PLATFORM THAT TML DEVELOPS COMES FROM US. IT COMES FROM THE CITIES THEMSELVES, THE MEMBER CITIES. AND ONE ITEM THAT CRYSTAL MENTIONED THAT WE'RE WE'VE BEEN SUCCESSFUL IN GETTING IN THE LAST LEGISLATIVE SESSION WAS TO FULLY FUND THE DHS PROGRAM, AND THAT THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE WERE ABLE TO RETAIN THIS TIME AS WELL. SO IT'S BEING PROPOSED TO BE PART OF THAT POLICY PLATFORM AGAIN, AND LIKELY IT WILL BE INCLUDED AS WELL. SO IT'S SOMETHING THAT'S VERY IMPORTANT TO US AS A COMMUNITY, AS WELL AS 14, 15 OTHER COMMUNITIES AROUND THE STATE. AND SO IT'S GOOD THAT WE HAVE A STATEWIDE ORGANIZATION SUPPORTING OUR OUR EFFORTS TO GET THAT FUNDED BECAUSE IT DOESN'T IMPACT MOST OTHER CITIES LIKE IT DOES US. SO WE'RE GLAD TO HAVE THAT IN THERE. GLAD TO BE PART OF THE PROCESS. THANK YOU. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? I DON'T HAVE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS. CAN I GET A MOTION? I MOTION TO APPROVE RESOLUTION 26 R 076 SECOND. OKAY. I HAVE A MOTION BY COUNCIL MEMBER DIETZ SECONDED BY MAYOR PRO TEM WATSON. CAN I GET EVERYBODY TO CAST THE VOTES, PLEASE? CAN I GET THE VOTES PUBLISHED? HAVING SEVEN YEARS, NO NAYS. MOTION PASSES. ALL RIGHT, MOVING ON TO ITEM EIGHT. ORDINANCE 26-M-025. AMEND THE CITY OF SCHERTZ CODE OF ORDINANCE AND CERTAIN OTHER ORDINANCES BY AMENDING AND ESTABLISHING FEES FOR CERTAIN LICENSE PERMITS AND OTHER SERVICES. WE HAVE OUR FINANCE DIRECTOR, MR. JAMES WALTERS. GOOD EVENING, MAYOR AND COUNCIL. MY NAME IS JAMES WALTERS. I'M THE FINANCE DIRECTOR HERE FOR THE CITY OF SCHERTZ. TODAY I WANT TO DISCUSS THE SCHEDULE OF FEE CHANGES, SOME OF WHICH WERE MENTIONED LAST WEEK AT THE BUDGET RETREAT. I'LL GO FOR A LITTLE BIT MORE INFORMATION ON OTHER ITEMS THAT WE ARE PROPOSING UNDER THE CITY SECRETARY. WE'RE GOING TO FULLY MIMIC THE STATE REQUIREMENTS AND STATE ITEMS FOR THE LICENSES ON MIXED BEVERAGE AND ALCOHOL
[35:02] LICENSES. THESE WERE INCLUDED AS A SORT OF A QUICK REFERENCE. SO THEY'RE ALWAYS SET BY THE STATE. WE'RE NOT REALLY SET BY US. SO WE'RE REQUIRED TO KIND OF FOLLOW THEIR THEIR OUTLINE. HOWEVER, WE ORIGINALLY KIND OF PUT EVERYTHING IN THERE BASED ON WHAT WE HAD IN THE CITY. SO HEY, THIS IS THE KIND OF STORES WE HAVE IN THE CITY. SO THESE ARE THE FEES THAT THEY WOULD EXPECT TO BE CHARGED. SO NOW INSTEAD WE'RE GOING TO KIND OF REMOVE OUR ABRIDGED VERSION AND JUST LIST THE STATE REQUIREMENTS DIRECTLY. SO THAT'S ALL THAT IS. SO THIS ISN'T LOOKS LIKE WE'RE ADDING A BUNCH OF ITEMS, ADDING A BUNCH OF FEES. THIS IS NOT ADDING. THESE ARE ALWAYS MEANT TO BE CHARGED. THESE ARE ALWAYS SET BY THE STATE. WE'RE JUST GOING TO PUT THEM HERE FOR A NICE QUICK REFERENCE FOR FOLKS. SO THEY DON'T HAVE TO LOOK AT OURS. AND THEN THEY COME IN FOR LIKE, OH WAIT, I DIDN'T KNOW THAT. OH, IT WAS ON THE STATE. YOU HAD TO GO LOOK FOR A SECOND LOCATION. IT'S LIKE, NO, GO AHEAD AND PUT EVERYTHING IN ONE SPOT. AGAIN, JUST JUST TO MAKE IT NICE AND EASY. AND THERE'S A COUPLE OF FEES AND WE PUT IN OUR FEE SCHEDULE THAT WE DON'T HAVE DIRECT CONTROL OVER, BUT WE WANT TO INCLUDE IT ANYWAY. SO IF EVERYONE'S LOOKING AT THE FEES THAT WE CHARGE AGAIN, THEY WON'T BE SURPRISED LATER WHEN WE HIT THEM WITH ANOTHER FEE MANDATED BY THE STATE. IT'S LIKE, OH, YOU DIDN'T PUT IT IN THERE. IT'S LIKE, WELL, THE STATE KIND OF HANDLES THAT. SO WE DON'T WANT TO DO A RUN AROUND. SO WE'RE JUST GOING TO PUT EVERYTHING, EVERYTHING IN HERE ON THE LIBRARY SIDE. SO LOST AND DAMAGED MATERIALS TECHNOLOGY IS KIND OF A NEW SECTION. SO THE HOT SPOTS, THE LAPTOP UNITS, BAGS, CHARGERS, VIDEO GAMES. YOU CAN CHECK OUT VIDEO GAMES FROM OUR LIBRARY. WE'RE GOING TO ADD THAT, HEY, IF ANYTHING'S LOST OR DAMAGED MATERIALS, WE'RE EXPECTING THAT TO BE FULLY REPLACED. AND SO WE'RE GOING TO CHARGE YOU THE ACTUAL CHARGE FOR THAT ITEM. I DON'T KNOW, THE TODDLER TOTE BAG WILL BE DISCONTINUED AND REMOVED FROM THE FEE SCHEDULE AS AN OFFERING UNDER THE EVENT FACILITIES, UNDER THE TWO COMMUNITY CENTERS, WE'RE GOING TO CHANGE UP. BASICALLY, THE BIG CHANGE HERE IS KIND OF THE DATES BEFORE YOU CAN SEE WE HAD SUNDAY THROUGH THURSDAY, AND THEN FRIDAY AND SATURDAY WERE THE TWO BIG ONES. WE'RE GOING TO GO BACK TO THE MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY RATE AND THEN A SATURDAY SUNDAY RATE. THOSE ARE THE BIG CHANGES. THEY'RE NOT EXPECTED TO SEE A OVERALL BIG CHANGE OR IMPACT ON THE CUSTOMERS. WE'RE JUST TRYING TO TARGET THE BUSIEST DAYS WITH THE MOST DEMAND. I'M ALSO GOING TO REMOVE THE DAMAGE DEPOSIT AND GO JUST FOR BACK BILLING FOR DAMAGES. WE ARE GOING TO START RENTING OUT THE COMMUNITY CENTER CONFERENCE ROOM RIGHT OVER HERE AT 1400 SCHERTZ PARKWAY. THAT DOES INCLUDE THE TV AND AV ACCESS. SO THERE'S GOING TO REMOVE SOME OTHER CHARGES RELATED TO THE MICROPHONE, PROJECTOR AND THAT SORT OF THING. AND THOSE ARE THE RATES FOR HALF DAY AND FULL DAY RENTALS INCLUDES EVERY DAY. SO ANY DAY OF THE WEEK IS THE SAME CHARGE OUT OF THE PARKS. NOW THAT WE HAVE MORE FULL CONTROL OF THE SENIOR CENTER, WE'RE GOING TO BE ABLE TO RENT THAT OUT, RENT THAT OUT ON DAYS THE SENIORS AREN'T USING IT TO MAXIMIZE USE OF THE SPACE AND BRING A LITTLE EXTRA REVENUE IN. SO THESE ARE THE COMPARABLE RATES THAT WE'VE SEEN IN OTHER AREAS FOR LIKE SPACES. AND WE'LL SEE HOW THAT GOES. WE'LL MONITOR THE USES OF THOSE AVAILABLE DAYS AND SEE HOW MUCH INTEREST WE GET, AND WE'LL ADJUST THE FEES ACCORDINGLY GOING FORWARD. ANIMAL ADOPTION SERVICES WE CAN ACTUALLY REDUCE THE DOG AND CAT ADOPTION FEE BY $10 EACH, HELP GENERATE SOME ADDITIONAL INTEREST IN ADOPTING THOSE DOGS AND CATS. NEIGHBORHOOD SERVICES WE MENTIONED THIS ONE PREVIOUSLY. THE MOBILE VENDOR REGISTRATION EXPIRED JULY 1ST, SO WE ARE NO LONGER TO DO THAT, WHICH THE STATE WILL TAKE OVER LICENSING FOR MOBILE VENDORS, ACCORDING WITH THE HOUSE BILL 2844. SO AGAIN, WE'RE MOVING THAT OFFER OFFERING FROM THE CITY OF SCHERTZ, AS WELL AS REMOVING THE FEES FROM THE FEE SCHEDULE. UNDER MS, WE MENTIONED THIS DURING THE BUDGET RETREAT. WE'RE INCREASING $50 FOR RESPONSE SERVICES. THAT'S THE ACTUAL TRANSPORT. AND THEN STANDBYS WHEN SOMEONE ASKS US, HEY, CAN YOU JUST PARK MY AMBULANCE AT OUR, IN OUR EVENT OR MAYBE NOT AN AMBULANCE? MAYBE THAT'S TOO MUCH. CAN YOU JUST HAVE SOME FOLKS AROUND WITH MAYBE A GATOR OR OTHER SMALL MOBILE DEVICE OR MOBILE VEHICLE? MOVING THAT $25. WE MENTIONED THIS WAS THE OTHER ONE, THE SEWER RATES GOING UP 8%, PRIMARILY TIED TO THE KMA SOUTH TREATMENT PLANT EXPANSION THAT THE CCMA IS GOING OUT FOR DEBT IS FEBRUARY, ABOUT 75 MILLION TO COVER ITS PORTION OF THAT. THIS IS HOW IT GOES ALL THE WAY THROUGH. SO WE HAVE THE BASE FEE. THEN WE HAVE A PER THOUSAND GALLONS FEE. SO WE HAVE THE CITY LINE MAINTENANCE FEE PER THOUSAND. THAT'S THE THAT'S THE STUFF THAT GOES TO THE CITY OF SCHERTZ. THE CITY OF SCHERTZ GETS THE BASE FEE AND THE PER THOUSAND THE LINE MAINTENANCE. AND THERE'S ANOTHER PER THOUSAND FEE, THE 546 THAT GOES ACTUALLY TO CCMA. SO THAT'S THE PORTION THAT GOES TO CCMA. WHEN YOU COMBINE THESE TWO, THIS IS WHAT THE TOTAL CHARGES PER THOUSAND 557 AND 1337. IF YOU HAVE MORE THAN 12,000 GALLONS. YOU SEE ON THE BUSINESS SIDE SLIGHTLY HIGHER THAN THE RESIDENTIAL BASED ON THE NUMBER OF
[40:08] LOUISE. BUT THE PER THOUSAND GALLONS ARE THE SAME AND WE HAVE THE YMCA PER THOUSAND GALLON CHARGE. UNDER THE GARBAGE COLLECTION FEES, THESE GO UP 3.8%. AS A CONTRACTUALLY OBLIGATED INCREASE. WE ARE INCLUDING IT IN THE FEE SCHEDULE FOR ADOPTION FOR FOR CLARIFICATION INFORMATION PURPOSES, PER THE CONTRACT WITH OUR NEW WASTE PROVIDER, THEY CAN GO UP TO A CERTAIN CPI NUMBER THAT I'VE INCLUDED IN THE PACKET. THAT'S WHERE THEY GOT THEIR 3.8% TO COVER THEIR COSTS. AND SO THIS WOULD BE THE IMPACT ON THE AVERAGE HOME GOING TO 1920 22, 1993. THAT'S $0.73 PER MONTH. YOU CAN SEE ALL THE IMPACTS ON THE CONTAINER SIZE AS WELL. ACROSS THE BOARD. AND WE'LL LOOK AT THE THE WATER SIDE ALSO PROPOSED TO GO UP THE, THE 8% LEVEL IN ANTICIPATION OF ADDITIONAL CAPITAL PROJECTS COMING UP AS WELL AS WE FOLLOWING THE CCMA OR SORRY, THE SOGC FEES AND BUDGET. SO IT'S A COMBINATION OF THE PARALLEL PIPELINE THAT WE'RE DOING AS WELL AS WE HAVE A LOT OF OTHER PROJECTS IN THE PIPELINE COMING UP OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF YEARS ON THE CIP THAT YOU CAN SEE THERE. AND THEN THE COMMERCIAL SIDE. AND THOSE ARE ALL THE FEE CHANGES LISTED IN THE FEE SCHEDULE FOR TONIGHT UNDER THE BUDGET WORKSHOP. WE ALSO MENTIONED WE'RE LOOKING TO INCREASE THE DRAINAGE FEE PER THE FIVE YEAR MODEL THAT WE WE HAD DONE AND PRESENTED TO COUNCIL LAST YEAR. DO THE TIMING ON THAT ONE, UNLIKE ALL THE OTHER FEES, WE HAVE TO POST A NOTICE IN THE PAPER BEFORE WE CAN MAKE ANY CHANGES TO THE DRAINAGE FEE AND WAIT 30 DAYS SINCE THE POSTING IN THE NEWSPAPER BEFORE WE CAN ACTUALLY HOLD AND ADOPT AND CHANGE THOSE FEES. SO WE'RE CURRENTLY TARGETING OCTOBER 6TH TO RETURN TO YOU FOR CONSIDERATION OF THE DRAINAGE FEES. SO BASED ON THE BUDGET DISCUSSION GOES. IF ANYTHING CHANGES THERE, OBVIOUSLY WE'LL CHANGE THE PLANS FOR UPDATING THE FEE ON OCTOBER 6TH. IF THERE ARE ANY QUESTIONS EITHER MYSELF OR SOME OF THE OTHER DEPARTMENT HEADS CAN COME FORWARD AND TALK ABOUT THEIR PROPOSED CHANGES. ANY. COUNCIL MEMBER. HAVE ANY QUESTIONS? HAVING NONE. CAN I GET A MOTION? SO MOVED. SECOND. SECOND. OKAY, WE HAVE A MOTION MADE BY COUNCIL MEMBER DAVIS, SECOND BY MAYOR PRO TEM WATSON. CAN I GET EVERYBODY TO CAST THE VOTES, PLEASE? CAN I GET THE VOTES PUBLISHED? HAVING SEVEN YEAS, NO NAYS. MOTION PASSES. THANK YOU. ALL RIGHT, MOVING ON TO ITEM TEN. ACCEPTING THE CITY OF SCHERTZ COMPREHENSIVE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIC PLAN. WE HAVE OUR INTERIM DIRECTOR OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, AMY MADISON. DID I MISS NINE? OH, OKAY. TAKE THAT BACK. HANG ON. RESOLUTION. SO ITEM NINE. RESOLUTION 098 RESOLUTION RESOLUTION. ACCEPTING THE STATE DEFINED TAX RATES AND SETTING THE PRELIMINARY. THE PRELIMINARY 2026 TAX RATE. WE HAVE OUR FINANCE DIRECTOR, MR. JAMES WALTERS. SORRY ABOUT THAT FIRST. SLIDE. DID YOU PUT THE THOSE. OKAY. SO I JUST WANTED TO MAKE A COUPLE OF COMMENTS BEFORE WE GOT STARTED. AND JAMES IS ACTUALLY GOING TO GO OVER SOME OF THE BUDGET INFORMATION THAT WE HAVE. AND ACTUALLY, IF YOU'LL ROLL BACK UP ONE, THIS IS THE TIMELINE OF EVENTS THAT HAPPENS IN OUR BUDGET DEVELOPMENT AND ADOPTION PROCESS. LIKE WE TALKED ABOUT LAST TUESDAY, WE ARE HERE AND ON THE 18TH, AND WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE BUDGET AND THE CIP KIND OF MORE OF AN OVERVIEW LOOK OF IT AND ANSWERING ANY QUESTIONS THAT YOU MIGHT HAVE. LAST TUESDAY, WE HAD OUR BUDGET WORKSHOP, AND WE WENT INTO A LOT OF DEPTH ABOUT THE BUDGET AND THE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM. THIS IS OUR SECOND OPPORTUNITY TO TALK ABOUT BOTH OF THOSE. AND I JUST WANTED TO ALSO POINT OUT THAT WE HAVE A SPECIAL MEETING. I KNOW I MENTIONED IT BEFORE, BUT WE HAVE A SPECIAL MEETING NEXT TUESDAY AT 530 TO GO OVER THE BUDGET AND CIP AGAIN. AND THEN THE ACTUAL ADOPTION WON'T BE UNTIL SEPTEMBER 1ST. AND ALSO TONIGHT, WELL, JAMES WILL GET INTO THIS. WE'RE GOING TO ASK YOU TO SET THE THE ACCEPT THE STATE CALCULATED RATES AS WELL AS SET THE MAXIMUM TAX RATE.
[45:04] SO IF YOU WANT TO CLICK THE NEXT ONE. AND JUST A REMINDER ABOUT OUR BUDGET PRIORITIES. THESE ARE AMENDED A LITTLE BIT. AND THEN THE OTHER ONE. YES. THESE ARE THE ONES THAT WE'VE AMENDED FROM THE ONES THAT WERE ORIGINALLY ADOPTED IN 22. SO FOR THE PUBLIC AND THOSE WHO WEREN'T AROUND LAST WEEK, THE. THIS IS THE FOCUS OF WHEN WE'VE DEVELOPED THE BUDGET, WE WE KEEP THIS IN MIND BECAUSE WHAT HAS DONE IS WE'VE BROUGHT IN, WE'VE BROUGHT OUR BUDGET PRIORITIES INTO ALIGNMENT WITH OUR STRATEGIC PLAN THAT WAS ADOPTED IN SUMMER OF 2024, AND YOU CAN SEE THEM LISTED THERE. MAINTAINING ESSENTIAL SERVICES, INVESTING IN EMPLOYEES, PROTECT INFRASTRUCTURE, PRESERVE FINANCIAL STABILITY AND STRATEGIC USE OF ONE TIME REVENUE. AND THAT LAST ONE IS ADDED BECAUSE WE HAVE SUCH A LARGE FUND BALANCE IN THE GENERAL FUND, THAT WE HAVE A PLAN THAT'S BEEN LAID OUT IN DETAIL THAT JAMES WILL TALK ABOUT HERE IN A MINUTE. AND IN TERMS OF HOW WE USE THAT ONE TIME REVENUE, WHICH IS NOW FUND BALANCE FOR THE CITY OF SCHERTZ. OH, AND LAST ONE REMINDER, JUST THE PHILOSOPHY THAT WE USE IN PUTTING THIS TOGETHER IS THAT WE WANT TO MAINTAIN A STRUCTURALLY BALANCED BUDGET. AND IN DOING THAT, WE LOOK AT IT THROUGH THE LENS OF RECURRING REVENUE SUPPORT, RECURRING EXPENSES, AND YOU CAN SEE EXAMPLES OF RECURRING REVENUES THERE AND THEN EXAMPLES OF RECURRING EXPENSES. SO AS WE HAVE DISCUSSIONS ABOUT THE BUDGET, JUST BEAR THAT IN MIND. SO IF WE REMOVE OR ADD A RECURRING REVENUE, WE EITHER WANT TO REMOVE OR ADD AN ONGOING RECURRING EXPENSE. AND LIKEWISE WITH THE ONE TIME REVENUES, WE WANT TO USE THOSE. IT'S LIKE YOU HAVE THIS EXTRA FUND BALANCE THAT WE HAVE NOW FROM SALES TAX THAT WE GOT OVER THE LAST 18 MONTHS, OR WE HAVE BOND PROCEEDS, YOU'RE GOING TO SPEND THOSE ON ONE TIME PROJECTS OR ONE TIME EXPENDITURES. SO JUST FRAMING THE DISCUSSION AS WE GO THROUGH THIS AND BEAR THAT IN MIND. SO GO AHEAD, JAMES. THIS IS A DISCUSSION ON THE TAX RATES AND HOW THE PRELIMINARY MAXIMUM RATE CAME ABOUT. SO THE I DO NEED TO TOUCH ON THE GENERAL FUND AND THE INS FUND THAT FRAMES UP THE STAFF'S PROPOSAL ON THE BUDGET BASED ON THE PROPOSED TAX RATE. SO ON THE GENERAL FUND, WHY IT'S IMPORTANT. THE PROPERTY TAXES MAKE UP 41% OF THE OVERALL GENERAL FUND REVENUE STRUCTURE. SO THE PROPERTY TAX DISCUSSION IS A VERY IMPORTANT DISCUSSION TO HAVE EVERY YEAR. IT'S KIND OF FRAMES UP THE SETTING OF THE PRELIMINARY TAX RATE HERE IN A MOMENT. ONE OTHER AS WE MENTIONED, THE SALES TAXES PAST COUPLE OF YEARS HAS BEEN UNCOMMONLY HIGH. AGAIN, FOR THOSE THAT ARE JUST TUNING IN OR HAVEN'T HEARD THIS FROM US YET WE HAVE BEEN VERY, VERY FORTUNATE AND RECEIVED A VERY HIGH SALES TAX AMOUNT THAT WE'VE TALKED TO THOSE INVOLVED AND THERE'S GOING TO BE FALLING BACK OFF, BACK DOWN TO NORMAL. THIS IS NOT, SADLY, A TREND THAT WILL CONTINUE ON FOR YEARS TO COME. SO THE CITY IS LEFT WITH KIND OF A ONE TIME ADDITIONAL POT OF MONEY GOING FORWARD FOR CONSIDERATION. SO THIS IS WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE AS FAR AS THE PROPOSED BUDGET. YOU CAN SEE WE HAVE A HIGH FUND BALANCE AND HIGH REVENUE SOURCE ON THE 2526 YEAR. THAT'S THIS CURRENT YEAR AND THE PROPOSED BUDGET. YOU SEE THE EXPENSES GO WAY UP AND THE FUND BALANCE GO WAY DOWN. THAT'S US PROPOSING TO USE SOME OF THOSE FUNDS THAT WE'VE BUILT UP OVER THE PAST COUPLE OF YEARS AND THE ADDITIONAL SALES TAXES. ON THE GENERAL FUND, HOW IT LOOKS LIKE IN THE GENERAL FUND, WHERE THOSE DOLLARS ARE, THE VAST MAJORITY OF ALL OF THAT GOES INTO THE TRANSFERS SECTION. SOME OTHER ONES POP INTO THE CAPITAL OUTLAY, BUT THE TRANSFERS ARE GOING TO TRANSFER OUT ALL TO THE BULK OF THAT ADDITIONAL ONE TIME INTO OUR CAPITAL PROJECTS FUND, AS WELL AS A PROPOSED VEHICLE AND EQUIPMENT REPLACEMENT FUND TO GENERATE LONG TERM BENEFITS FOR THE CITY. SO HOW THAT KIND OF BREAKS DOWN THAT TRANSFER $10 MILLION FOR SPAM, WHICH IS THE STREETS PRESERVATION AND MAINTENANCE PROGRAM. SO THAT WILL GO DIRECTLY TO ENHANCE STREETS THAT ARE STARTING TO FALL APART. THEY'RE NOT IN COMPLETE DISREPAIR YET, BUT PUTTING SOME MONEY TOWARDS THEM NOW WILL GREATLY INCREASE THEIR USEFUL LIFE AND PREVENT US FROM DOING A MUCH MORE COSTLY REPAIR HERE IN THE NEAR FUTURE. THE VERVE IS THE VEHICLE AND EQUIPMENT REPLACEMENT FUND, WHICH I MENTIONED THAT WILL GO TO SET UP A REVOLVING FUND, WHICH WILL ALLOW THE CITY TO CONTINUE TO REPLACE ALL VEHICLES AND EQUIPMENT IN THE CITY IN THE GENERAL FUND WITHOUT NEEDING TO WORRY ABOUT INDIVIDUAL FUNDING FOR A GIVEN YEAR OR GOING OUT AND PRODUCING DEBT TO, TO, TO PURCHASE THOSE AND REPLACE THOSE NECESSARY PUBLIC SAFETY ITEMS. WE HAVE $4 MILLION IN THE GENERAL FUND, WHICH IS WHICH IS RELATED TO THIS ON SORT OF A ONE TIME PURCHASE TO ENHANCE SERVICE OFFERINGS FOR THE CITY. NONE OF THAT'S REOCCURRING. IT'S ALL MEANT TO BE A ONE TIME PURCHASE THAT WILL ALLOW THE CITY TO OPERATE MORE EFFECTIVELY. WE HAVE $2 MILLION GOING INTO THE INS FUND TO KIND OF
[50:03] BUMP UP THE FUND BALANCE THERE AND REIMBURSE THE INS FUND FROM THE LOSSES WE RECEIVED IN THE DHS, AS WE TALKED ABOUT THAT IN THE PREVIOUS ITEM. IT'S A BIG DEAL FOR THE CITY. ONE OF THE THINGS THAT ARE IN THERE IS THE REFUNDS. SO THE STATE HAS SAID NOT ONLY CAN YOU GET THIS EXEMPTION GOING FORWARD, BUT ONCE YOU GET IT, WE CAN ACTUALLY MAKE IT RETROACTIVE. SO THEN YOU'LL GET BACK ALL THE PROPERTY TAXES THAT YOU PAID. AND SO THAT GENERAL FUND IS ABLE TO PROVIDE SOME OTHER REVENUE, LIKE SALES TAXES, KIND OF BOOST THAT. HOWEVER, THE INS FUND, THEY'RE ONLY FUNDED THROUGH PROPERTY TAXES. SO THERE'S A BIG UNEXPECTED REFUND OF PROPERTY TAXES THAT LOWERS THE AMOUNT AVAILABLE IN THE INS FUNDS. SO WE'RE GOING TO TAKE SOME OF THOSE SALES TAXES AND BOOST THE FUNDS, JUST LIKE THE GENERAL FUND WAS BOOSTED. AND THEN WE HAVE $5 MILLION KIND OF SIT IN THE RESERVES TO USE AS NEEDED AS IT COMES UP. CASH IS KING, AS THEY SAY. AND SO AS PROJECTS COME IN OVER BUDGET OR COME UP, OTHER PRIORITIES COME UP, WE'LL HAVE A LITTLE BIT OF FLEXIBILITY TO TAKE ACTION BASED ON THE SITUATION. SO WHY THIS RECOMMENDATION TO THE CITY COUNCIL OVER USE OF THAT FUND BALANCE? IT'S ONE TIME MONEY WHICH WE USE FOR ONE TIME INVESTMENTS OR BUY LASTING VALUE ADDRESSES MULTIPLE PRIORITIES. SO IT'S NOT JUST GOING INTO ONE POT AND BEING DONE AND IT POLLUTES THE STREETS. EQUIPMENT SHRINKS AS RESERVES. HELPS UPDATE SOME BUILDINGS WITH FAILING ROOFS AND OLD FLOORING. SAVES MONEY OVER TIME. INVESTING IN MAINTENANCE AND REPLACEMENTS TODAY HELP AVOID MORE EXPENSIVE REPAIRS. I MENTIONED ABOUT THE SPAM, AS WELL AS BEING ABLE TO REPLACE OUR BIG EXPENSIVE FIRE TRUCKS, LET'S SAY, AS AN EXAMPLE, WHEN THEY'RE DUE, HELPS US PROVIDE SORT OF A SAFETY NET TO MAKE SURE THOSE VEHICLES CAN GET TO AN EMERGENCY IN A TIMELY MANNER WITHOUT BEING BROKEN DOWN AND NEED REPAIRS, OR THEN BORROWING A BUNCH OF MONEY LATER FOR AND PAYING SOME INTEREST ON THOSE WHICH ARE JUST GENERALLY A DAY TO DAY KIND OF OPERATING EXPENSE. AND IT BENEFITS THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY AND IT PROTECTS THE CITY'S FUTURE. MAINTAINING RESERVES HAS A FINANCIAL FLEXIBILITY, PREPARES THE CITY FOR ECONOMIC UNCERTAINTY. SO IF SOMETHING HAPPENS IN THE FUTURE, WE CAN PULL FROM THAT EXTRA 5 MILLION WE HAVE SITTING THERE, AS WELL AS IF WE'VE SEEN A LOT OF PROJECTS AND PROPOSALS COME IN MUCH HIGHER THAN WE'VE ANTICIPATED. SO I GIVE SOME FLEXIBILITY THERE TO NOT DELAY PROJECTS IF THEY CONTINUE TO BE GROW FASTER THAN OUR ANTICIPATED PROPOSALS. SORRY. SO I DID TALK ABOUT THIS ONE. TREE PRESERVATION. MAINTENANCE. THAT'S $10 MILLION. IT WOULD REPLACE THE 650,000 WE HAVE FOR THE NEXT FIVE YEARS, AND GIVE $2 MILLION PER YEAR TO KIND OF SPEND THAT DOWN OVER TIME. IT ACCELERATES A LOT OF THE PROJECTS THAT WE HAVE IN THE MAINTENANCE AND REHABILITATION AND HELP EXTEND THE LIFE OF INFRASTRUCTURE, REDUCE FUTURE COSTS. SO AGAIN, AS I MENTIONED, IT'S A LOT LESS EXPENSIVE TO DO THE PRESERVATION AND MAINTENANCE TYPES, WHICH IS THE SLURRY REDOING THE SURFACING AS OPPOSED TO LETTING THAT DEGRADE SO MUCH. IT AFFECTS THE BASE. WE HAVE TO GO IN AND DIG UP THE WHOLE ROAD AND THEN REBUILD IT FROM SCRATCH. THE VEHICLE REPLACEMENT REPLACEMENT FUND, I DID TALK ABOUT THIS. I WON'T SPEND A WHOLE LOT OF TIME ON THAT ONE. THAT'S THE 11 MILLION THAT WE PROPOSED TO GO IN THERE. ONE TIME CAPITAL IS THE $4 MILLION FOR THE GENERAL FUND. I TOUCHED ON A COUPLE OF THESE SENIOR CENTER LOBBY RENOVATIONS, CANCER PREVENTION EQUIPMENT AND BUILDING ENHANCEMENTS AT FIRE STATION ONE AND TWO. PUBLIC SAFETY EQUIPMENT REPLACEMENTS. RECREATION CENTER ROOF REPLACEMENT AND THE LIBRARY. BOTH OF THOSE ARE OVER TEN YEARS OLD. THE DEBT SERVICE I MENTIONED ON THAT $2 MILLION WOULD GO THERE TO BOOST UP SOME OF THE REFUNDS THAT WE'VE SEEN HIT THE INS FUND, WHICH DIDN'T HAVE SALES TAX, TO HELP BOOST THAT ONE BACK UP. AND THEN AGAIN, $5 MILLION CURRENTLY PROPOSED TO KEEP US FLEXIBLE IN CASE SOMETHING COMES UP IN THE NEAR FUTURE THAT WE WOULD NEED TO BE ABLE TO REACT QUICKLY TO. SO THE OTHER PART OF THAT IS THE INS FUND. I MENTIONED THAT A LITTLE BIT. SO WE'RE PROPOSING THE INS RATE AT 16, 18, 1681. AND BASED ON THAT. SO WE KNOW THAT THE FUNDING ISN'T COMING IN AS CONSISTENT AS IT HAS BEEN, ESPECIALLY DUE TO THE REFUNDS RELATED TO DVS. SO WE CAN'T COUNT ON THAT SAME LEVEL OF REOCCURRING REVENUE THAT WE HAVE BEEN. SO WE WENT BACK AND LOOKED AT OUR DEBT ISSUANCE SCHEDULE UPCOMING. WE'VE RETUNED IT AND ACTUALLY REMOVED THE DEBT ISSUANCE FOR 2627 THAT WAS ORIGINALLY PROPOSED. AND WE BELIEVE THAT THIS IS THE AMOUNTS THAT WE COULD ISSUE EVERY YEAR AND KEEP THAT SAME. 1681 SO THAT'S THE PLAN, IS TO KIND OF KEEP THAT FLAT, AND THESE ARE THE AMOUNTS WE'D BE ABLE TO ISSUE AND PUT TOWARDS OUR CAPITAL PROJECT. AND THIS DOES NOT FUND ALL OF IT. SO WE HAVE SOME THAT WE LIKE TO DO IN THE NEXT TEN YEARS THAT WE WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO GET TO, BUT THIS IS WHAT WE CAN AFFORD. AND SO THE, THE MORE DETAILED BREAKDOWN ON THAT IS ON THE CIP PLAN THAT'S BEEN PROPOSED. AND THIS IS WHAT WOULD LOOK LIKE BASED ON THOSE ISSUANCES. SO THIS IS OUR CURRENT LEVEL OF ANNUAL DEBT PAYMENTS. AND AS WE ISSUE BONDS, YOU SEE ALL TACKED, I TACK THOSE ON EACH DIFFERENT COLOR. AND SO AS THE RISING AMOUNT GOES OVER TIME, AS THE CITY CONTINUES TO GROW, WE HAVE THE ADDITIONAL CAPACITY AS WELL AS WHEN OUR CURRENT PAYMENTS START TO DROP.
[55:09] THAT ALSO ALLOWS US TO ISSUE ADDITIONAL MORE TO KEEP THAT PAYMENT ROUGHLY THE SAME AS WELL. SO THAT'S WHERE THOSE FUNDS COME FROM. IN ANTICIPATION OF HOW MUCH WE THINK WE CAN COLLECT JUST AS THE CITY GROWS, AS WELL AS WHEN THE DEBT FALLS OFF. HOW MUCH CAN WE ISSUE WITH THE ULTIMATE GOAL OF KEEPING THAT RATE RELATIVELY FLAT? BUT THEN I'LL TALK ABOUT THE TAX RATE. SO THOSE ARE THE TWO FUNDS THAT ARE AFFECTED SPECIFICALLY BY THE TAX RATES. AND SO WE'VE HAD A TAXABLE VALUE HISTORY. SO FROM 2017 WE'VE SEEN NICE GROWTH WITH THE EXPEDITED GROWTH IN 2223. HOWEVER SINCE THEN WE'VE KIND OF LEVELED OFF EVEN WITH NEW DEVELOPMENT. SO WE STARTED SEEING PROPERTY VALUES START TO DECREASE AS WELL AS THE EXEMPTIONS START TO INCREASE. AND THOSE TWO FACTORS HAVE STARTED TO OVERTAKE NEW DEVELOPMENT. SO WHAT'S THAT LOOK LIKE? IF YOU DON'T LIKE BAR CHARTS YOU CAN LOOK AT A NICE TABLE WITH NUMBERS. SO 20 2025 TAXABLE VALUE WAS JUST ABOUT $5.5 BILLION. THAT WAS LAST YEAR'S NUMBER. THE NUMBERS THIS YEAR THAT WE'RE MAKING OUR DECISIONS ON THOSE SAME PROPERTIES ARE NOW 5.4 $5.4 BILLION. SO WE DROPPED ABOUT $88 MILLION IN EXISTING VALUE. AND IN 2026, WE ALSO ADDED NEW DEVELOPMENT ANNEXATIONS. SO THESE ARE NEW BUILDINGS, NEW CONSTRUCTION, NEW LAND THAT'S BEEN ADDED, ONLY $600,000 OF NEW LAND. SO THERE WAS A WHOLE LOT OF ANNEXATIONS. WE ADDED 227 MILLION TO BRING THE TOTAL TAXABLE VALUE OF $5.6 BILLION. SO OVERALL, $139 MILLION OR SO INCREASE. BUT THOSE PROPERTIES IS EXISTING PROPERTIES ARE STARTING OR CONTINUING TO DECREASE FOR THE SECOND YEAR IN A ROW. FOR THE CITY OF SCHERTZ PROPOSES, WE HAVE THE NO NEW REVENUE RATE, WHICH THE STATE STATUTE SAYS THAT THIS RATE THE CITY WILL RAISE THE SAME AMOUNT OF PROPERTY TAX DOLLARS OFF PROPERTY IN BOTH YEARS. SO WITH THE TAX RATE OF 15 OR SORRY OF 5296, THE STATE SAYS YOU ADOPT THIS RATE, YOU'LL GET THE SAME AMOUNT OF PROPERTY TAXES RAISED AS YOU THOUGHT YOU WERE GONNA GET LAST YEAR, AND THEN PLUS NEW DEVELOPMENT ON TOP OF IT. SO THERE IS A REVENUE GROWTH WITH THAT, BUT IT'S RELATED TO NEW DEVELOPMENT. WE HAVE THE VOTER APPROVAL RATE, WHICH IS THE HIGHEST RATE COUNCIL CAN ADOPT WITHOUT GOING TO THE VOTERS. SO IF COUNCIL WANTED TO, YOU COULD VOTE TO RAISE THE TAX RATE HIGHER THAN THAT NUMBER. IT WOULD JUST GO TO THE VOTERS THIS NOVEMBER TO RATIFY THAT DECISION. I PUT ON THERE THE CURRENT RATE AS WELL. SO THE NO NEW REVENUE RATE, THE ESTIMATED TAX BILL WILL BE $7,732. AND THAT IS WITH THE INS RATE AND THE OR THE INS FUND AND THE GENERAL FUND THAT I JUST TALKED ABOUT, THAT'S WHAT THE PROPOSED BUDGET IS CURRENTLY BALANCED AT. GIVE YOU A FRAME OF REFERENCE. THE CURRENT RATE IS 0.5118. THE ESTIMATED TAX BILL WOULD DROP TO $1,674, OR WOULD BE A DECREASE OF ABOUT $58 ANNUALLY. AND IF YOU WENT TO THE FULL AMOUNT, THIS WOULD BE THE FULL AMOUNT. THIS COUNCIL HAS THE ABILITY TO SOLELY AFFECT THE CITIZENS. THAT $93 IS ABOUT $8.12 A MONTH ON THE AVERAGE ESCROW. TO KIND OF GIVE YOU A FRAME OF REFERENCE, WHAT THAT WOULD DO MONTHLY TO THE AVERAGE, THE AVERAGE HOME IN THE CITY OF SHIRTS AND THE AVERAGE HOME VALUE IS 327,000. THE TAXABLE VALUE AVERAGED 327,000. SO THOSE THAT ACTUALLY PAY THE TAXES. AND ANOTHER FRAME OF REFERENCE, ONE PENNY ON THAT RATE. WE TALK ABOUT PENNIES AND ALL THAT. THAT'S ABOUT $560,000 OF ADDITIONAL REVENUE, OR $32 ON THE AVERAGE HOME, WHICH WOULD BE ABOUT JUST UNDER $2 A MONTH. KIND OF A HISTORY OF THE TAX RATES GOING BACK TO 2020. SO SINCE ACTUALLY ABOUT 2016, I THEN GO BACK THAT FAR. WE THE CITY OF SHIRTS HAS BEEN BETWEEN $0.48 AND 52, 96 IS THE PROPOSED TO GO. SO WE'VE BEEN IN THAT FOUR CENT RANGE FOR ABOUT TEN YEARS NOW. THE INS RATE STAYS AS OPPOSED TO STAY AT THE 1680 81. WELL, THE OH, THAT'S THE MONEY THAT GOES INTO THE GENERAL FUND. SIDE MAINTENANCE AND OPERATIONS IS WHAT THAT STANDS FOR. WE GO FROM 3437 TO 36, 5015. SO BEFORE YOU TONIGHT IS A RESOLUTION. FIRST, JUST ACCEPTING THE RATES THAT THE STATE FORCES US TO CALCULATE. THOSE ARE STANDARD CALCULATIONS. EVERY CITY AND AND OTHER TAXING JURISDICTIONS HAVE TO FOLLOW THE STATE MANDATED FORMULAS. AND THE SECOND ONE IS STAFF IS REQUESTING COUNCIL SET THE PRELIMINARY MAXIMUM TAX RATE. NOW YOU CAN ALWAYS ADOPT A FINAL RATE LOWER THAN THAT MAXIMUM, BUT YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO ADOPT A RATE HIGHER THAN THAT WITHOUT REPOSTING A NOTICE AND HOLDING ANOTHER PUBLIC HEARING. WHICH CREATES PROBABLY CALLS, SPECIAL MEETINGS IF WE WANT TO DO THAT.
[1:00:03] SO WE'RE ASKING COUNCIL TONIGHT, IS THAT THE MAXIMUM, THE HIGHEST RATE YOU'LL BE WILLING TO ACCEPT OR WILLING TO DISCUSS OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF WEEKS SO WE CAN GET THE NOTICES OUT. ULTIMATELY YOU CAN AGAIN ADOPT A RATE LOWER THAN THAT. BUT THAT'S WHAT THE DISCUSSION IS HERE TONIGHT. MAYOR, CAN I JUST ADD ONE THING? AND JUST, JUST TO REEMPHASIZE WHAT JAMES JUST SAID. SO THE PROPOSED BUDGET INCLUDES THE NO NEW REVENUE RATE. IF YOU BELIEVE THAT YOU MAY EVEN CONSIDER SOME NUMBER HIGHER THAN THAT. GO AHEAD AND SET THAT AS YOUR MAXIMUM RATE. OTHERWISE YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO CONSIDER IT. I DON'T I DON'T EVEN KNOW LEGALLY IF WE COULD HAVE ENOUGH TIME TO SQUEEZE IT IN WITH THE ADVERTISING AND HEARINGS, IT WOULD BE REALLY TIGHT TONIGHT. BUT IF THE APPETITE IS IF THERE'S NO APPETITE TO DO THAT, GO AHEAD AND ADOPT THE NO NEW REVENUE RATE AND DISCUSS FROM THERE. BUT JUST TO THROW THAT OUT AS A CAVEAT, IF YOU BELIEVE THAT THERE MAY BE DISCUSSION TO GO ABOVE THE NO NEW REVENUE RATE, SET IT HIGHER, AND THEN WHEN YOU ACTUALLY ADOPT, YOU CAN ADOPT IT LOWER. CAN YOU PUT SLIDE 24 BACK UP, PLEASE? THERE YOU GO. THANK YOU. SO AS YOU'RE LOOKING TO SET THE TAX RATE THIS IS KIND OF WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT. SO IF WE SET THE TAX RATE AT THE CURRENT RATE, KNOW THAT WE WILL BRING IN LESS MONEY THAN WHAT WE BROUGHT IN THIS FISCAL YEAR. AND SO IF WE'RE LOOKING TO TRY AND MAINTAIN WHAT WE HAVE, AND THEN WE NEED TO LOOK AT THE NO NEW REVENUE, NO NEW REVENUE PROPOSED RATE, WHICH IS A 0.5296 JUST TO BRING IN THE SAME MONEY. AND SO THE VOTER APPROVAL RATE IS 0.55993. IF WE SET IT AT THAT DOES NOT MEAN THAT WE HAVE TO ADOPT THAT. WHEN WE WHEN WE GO TO ADOPT THE RATE, WE CAN SET IT MUCH LOWER THAN THAT. SO WE JUST CANNOT GO ONCE WE GO DOWN OR ONCE WE SET IT, WE CAN'T GO UP PAST IT. SO ANYWAY, SO I'LL ENTERTAIN QUESTIONS. SO AT THIS TIME WE HAVE A COUNCIL MEMBER, MACALUSO. YES. JUST TO CLARIFY, I THINK THE NO NEW REVENUE WOULD BE ON EXISTING PROPERTIES. IT WOULDN'T BE ON ANYTHING NEW. SO IF WE WERE TO SET IT AT THAT, IT WOULDN'T NECESSARILY BE THE SAME AMOUNT OF REVENUE. I THINK WE'D STILL HAVE HIGHER REVENUE BECAUSE WE HAVE NEW PROPERTIES. BUT SET ACCEPTING THE NO NEW REVENUE RATE THAT DOESN'T PREVENT US FROM GOING BELOW THAT. POTENTIALLY CORRECT. CORRECT. ONLY HIGHER. YEAH, THAT WAS I JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE BECAUSE I KNOW WE WERE DISCUSSING THE MAXIMUM AND JUST, YOU KNOW, UNDERSTANDING WHAT THE NO NEW REVENUE RATE IS. BUT I THINK THAT'S ONE THING, YOU KNOW, IT'S A LITTLE BIT OF LINGUISTICS THAT THE STATE USES BECAUSE THEY MAKE YOU THINK THAT THERE'S NO INCREASE. BUT FOR SOME PEOPLE THERE IS SOME OTHERS THERE MIGHT NOT BE. BUT ULTIMATELY ON THE SAME PROPERTIES, IT'S THE SAME SAME REVENUE THAT WE HAD ON THE BOOKS, BUT IT DOES NOT INCLUDE ANYTHING NEW THAT WE'VE HAD ADDED. SO I JUST WANTED TO CLARIFY THAT. OKAY. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? HAVING NO QUESTIONS, DO I HAVE A MOTION TO ADOPT THE TAX RATE? I MEAN NOT NOT ADOPT. I'M SORRY. I THINK SET THE TAX RATE. I'LL MAKE A MOTION TO SET THE MAXIMUM TAX RATE. SO IS THAT THE 0.5593. YEAH. TO THE UP TO THE VOTER APPROVAL RATE. DO I HAVE A SECOND. WELL SINCE SINCE IT'S EARLY IN THE IN THE PROCESS. AND AGAIN, WE CAN CERTAINLY COME DOWN AND I THINK WE DO HAVE A NEED TO COME DOWN. I'LL GO AHEAD AND SECOND THE MOTION. OKAY. HAVING HAVING A MOTION MADE BY COUNCIL MEMBER PAUL MACALUSO AND SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER MARK DAVIS. CAN I GET EVERYBODY TO CAST THE VOTES, PLEASE? CAN I GET THE VOTES PUBLISHED? HAVING SIX YEAS. ONE. NAY. MOTION PASSES. SO, TO CLARIFY, THAT WAS MOTION TO SET THE PRELIMINARY MAXIMUM AT THE. NO NEW START THE VOTER APPROVAL 5593. THAT'S CORRECT. SO I'LL MAKE SURE I GET THE RIGHT NOTICES FOR THE PAPER OUT. SO OKAY. THERE YOU GO. OKAY, NOW MOVING ON TO ITEM
[1:05:01] TEN. ACCEPTING THE CITY OF SCHERTZ COMPREHENSIVE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIC PLAN. WE HAVE OUR INTERIM DIRECTOR OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, AMY MADISON. THANK YOU MAYOR, CITY COUNCIL AND CITY MANAGER STEVE WILLIAMS. IT'S MY HONOR TO BE HERE THIS EVENING. I'M REAL EXCITED. WE'VE BEEN WORKING ON A PROJECT, THIS ACCEPTANCE BY THE CITY COUNCIL FOR SOME TIME BACK LAST, WELL, WINTER, I GUESS NOVEMBER, DECEMBER OF TEXAS HAS WON. WE STARTED SOLICITING PROPOSALS FOR A STRATEGIC PLAN. WE RECEIVED 17 SO IT WAS VERY COMPETITIVE. AND FOLLOWING THAT ACTION, WE DID SELECT A CANDIDATE CANDIDATE AND INTERVIEWED AND SELECTED TIPS STRATEGIES TO DO OUR STRATEGIC PLAN. IS THIS THE RIGHT PRESENTATION ON THE SCREEN RIGHT NOW. NO, I DON'T HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THAT? I DIDN'T DO THAT. I DON'T DO THAT. LET ME SEE IF I CAN GET THIS OFF AND I'LL GET THE OTHER ONE UP. I WAS GOING TO LET AMY. I THINK THEY'RE FIXING IT HERE. I'VE GOT. OH, I GOT IT. AND THEN I DIDN'T THINK YOU COULD SEE ANYTHING BUT THAT. SO THAT'S WHY I WASN'T. OKAY. THEY'RE DOWN ALL THE WAY AT THE BOTTOM. TEENY ONE AT THE TOP. THERE WE GO. ALL RIGHT, I DID IT. I'M SO EXCITED. OKAY. THANK YOU AGAIN FOR YOUR PATIENCE. WE ARE HERE THIS EVENING. I AM REPRESENTING THE CITY OF SCHERTZ ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT BOARD, REQUESTING ACCEPTANCE OF THE COMPREHENSIVE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIC PLAN. AGAIN, WE SELECTED TIP STRATEGIES TO BE OUR CONSULTANT FOR THIS PROJECT. IT'S NOT THEIR FIRST TIME TO BE HERE. THEY HAVE BEEN HERE PREVIOUSLY DOING STUDIES FOR US IN THE PAST. THIS WAS AN EXCITING COMMUNITY PROCESS AND IT INVOLVED SO MANY PEOPLE. OVER 70 PEOPLE PARTICIPATED IN ONE WAY OR ANOTHER. WE HAD WE STARTED WITH INTERVIEWS AND INTERVIEWED CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS. WE INTERVIEWED ALL THE SHIRTS, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT BOARD FOLKS, AND THEN FROM THERE WE INTERVIEWED STAFF MEMBERS AND REACHED OUT TO STAKEHOLDERS, PARTNERS IN OUR COMMUNITY AND OUTSIDE OUR COMMUNITY. WE TALKED TO DEVELOPERS, REAL ESTATE FOLKS. WE DID A LOT OF RESEARCH AS A PART OF THIS, BUT ONE OF THE CORE PIECES WAS TO SELECT AN ADVISORY COMMITTEE TO BE THERE AND COME BACK AND REVIEW ALL THE FINDINGS, ALL THE INFORMATION WE WERE HEARING. AND THIS EVENING, ALTHOUGH WE INVITED ALL 20 OF THEM, I THINK WE MAY HAVE ONE REPRESENTATIVE THIS EVENING IN MAGGIE TITTERINGTON. SO WE APPRECIATE YOU BEING HERE TONIGHT. THIS GROUP SPENT PROBABLY 30 HOURS OF WORK IN REVIEWING AND PARTICIPATING IN THE MEETINGS THAT THEY HAD, AND LISTENING AND GIVING OPINION AND OVER OVERSEEING SOME OF THE CONVERSATIONS OF WHAT HAD BEEN HEARD AND WHAT HAD HAPPENED. SO WE'RE REALLY, REALLY EXCITED BECAUSE EVERY COMMUNITY NEEDS A STRATEGIC PLAN IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT. IT'S OUR ROADMAP FOR THE FUTURE. AND SO I'M I'M HAPPY TO PRESENT NOW TOM STEELMAN, WHO IS CEO OF TIPS STRATEGIES. HE HAS OVER HIS COMPANY STARTED IN 1995. AND THEN THEY HAVE DONE 6600 ENGAGEMENTS DEALT WITH 425 CLIENTS IN THAT TIME FRAME, 44 STATES, SEVEN COUNTRIES. AND THEY HAVE ALSO BEEN A REALLY, REALLY CLOSE PARTNER FOR THE STATE OF TEXAS. AND THEY'VE DONE A LOT OF GOOD WORK IN OUR STATE. THEY UNDERSTAND HOW WE ARE WHO WE ARE IN TEXAS. SO WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, I'M GOING TO LET HIM SHARE THE PLAN WITH YOU, TOM. THANK YOU. AMY. I NEED TO TAKE YOU WITH ME WHEREVER I GO. IT'S A IT'S A REAL PLEASURE PRIVILEGE TO BE WORKING WITH SCHERTZ AGAIN. I DID HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO DO A PLAN STRATEGY PLAN BACK IN 2006 AND ANOTHER IN 2010. AND TO COME BACK, YOU KNOW, A FEW YEARS LATER AND SEEING ALL THE THINGS THAT HAVE BEEN DONE. I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE ANY CREDIT FOR IT, BUT A LOT OF THINGS THAT WE RECOMMENDED SEEING THEM ON THE GROUND, IT'S REALLY FEELS GOOD TO BE BACK. BUT YOU KNOW, WE'RE IN AN ENVIRONMENT THAT'S, THAT'S CHANGED A LOT, ESPECIALLY OVER THE LAST FIVE YEARS WITH THE PANDEMIC AND OTHERS. AND SO I THINK IT WAS A GOOD, GOOD IDEA TO COME BACK AND SAY, HEY, YOU KNOW, WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? AND SO WE WERE HAPPY TO BE A PART OF THAT. YOU'LL NOTICE THAT ON THE LIST I HAD ALEXIS ANGELO, I WANT TO SHOUT OUT TO HER. TODAY WAS HER ONE YEAR OLD'S FIRST BIRTHDAY.
[1:10:06] AND SO I GAVE HER THE GAVE HER THE NIGHT OFF. BUT IF YOU HAVE REALLY HARD QUESTIONS, I'LL I'LL PHONE ONE IN. JUST KIDDING. BUT ONCE AGAIN WORKING WITH THE CITY OF SHIRTS AND THE EDC AND THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE AND HAVING OPPORTUNITIES TO VISIT WITH ALL OF YOU, WE GOT A LOT OF GREAT INPUT AND YOU'LL SEE THAT IN THE PLAN. SO WE'VE BEEN AT IT, I GUESS WE'RE IN OUR SEVENTH MONTH AND HAVE DONE A LOT OF WORK. AS AMY MENTIONED, WE'VE DONE A LOT OF RESEARCH. WE DID A LOT OF STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT, BUT ALSO KIND OF LOOKED AT WHAT WAS HAPPENING IN THE REGION AND BEST PRACTICES FROM OTHER PROJECTS WE'VE WORKED ON AND, AND AROUND THE COUNTRY. AS AMY MENTIONED, WE WERE FORTUNATE TO MEET WITH THE MAJORITY OF THE COUNCIL AND GET INPUT NOT ONLY FROM THE COUNCIL MEMBERS, BUT KIND OF ON BEHALF OF THEIR CONSTITUENTS. WE HEARD A LOT ABOUT THE THINGS THAT PEOPLE THEY SERVED WERE INTERESTED IN. SO I FELT LIKE THAT WAS A, THAT THAT WORKED OUT REALLY WELL FOR US. THERE'S ALSO AN ENTIRE DATA SET OF ANALYSIS THAT'S ASSOCIATED WITH THIS PROJECT. AND SO IF YOU GUYS ARE INTERESTED IT'S IN THE FORMAT OF A VISUALIZATION TOOL CALLED TABLEAU, AND IT ALLOWS YOU TO GO IN AND YOU CAN ACTUALLY PLAY WITH IT YOURSELF AND DO SOME ANALYSIS ON YOUR OWN. BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, IT SERVED TO KIND OF BE THE BACKBONE FOR THE STRATEGIES THAT WE WERE RECOMMENDING AND ALSO WILL BE A TOOL FOR THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT TEAM TO USE WHEN THEY'RE WORKING WITH A COMPANY THAT NEEDS DATA ON WORKFORCE OR THE ECONOMY. THEY CAN PROVIDE THAT DATA TO THEM. SO THE FRAMEWORK FOR THE PLAN INCLUDED THREE PRIMARY GOALS. THE FIRST ONE YOU PROBABLY RECOGNIZE IF YOU'VE BEEN AROUND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, IT'S IT'S AT THE CORE BUSINESS ATTRACTION BUSINESS RETENTION AND DEVELOPMENT. AND AS YOU HEARD FROM THE FINANCE DIRECTOR, YOU KNOW, A LOT OF THINGS REQUIRE YOU GUYS TO HAVE A MORE DIVERSIFIED TAX BASE. IF YOU WANT TO OFFSET PROPERTY TAXES FOR HOMEOWNERS, THERE'S GOT TO BE OTHER SOURCES TO SUPPORT THAT. AND SALES TAX AND PROPERTY TAX ARE REALLY THE TWO BIGGEST SOURCES FOR THAT. AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IS ALL ABOUT HELPING MAINTAIN THAT SORT OF SUSTAINABLE TAX TAX BASE. WE ALSO ARE RECOMMENDING THAT WORKFORCE BE CONSIDERED IN THE FUTURE AS A ROLE FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT. BECAUSE RIGHT NOW, IF YOU TALK TO JUST ABOUT ANY EMPLOYER AND ASK THEM, WHAT'S ONE OF YOUR BIGGEST CHALLENGES? IT'S FINDING SKILLED WORKERS AND BEING ABLE TO HOLD ON TO THOSE SKILLED WORKERS. THERE'S A LOT OF FORCES THAT ARE AT PLAY RIGHT NOW DEMOGRAPHICALLY THAT SUPPORT, YOU KNOW, A CONTINUED GAP IN FINDING GOOD WORKERS. AND SO WE THINK THAT MAKES SENSE. AND THEN THE THING THAT I THINK WE WE LISTEN TO WHEN WE TALK TO THE DIFFERENT GROUPS WAS MAKING SURE BECAUSE THIS FITS WITHIN THE CITY'S MISSION IS MAKING SURE THAT THIS REMAINS A QUALITY PLACE TO LIVE, TO SHOP, BE EDUCATED AND, AND TO WORK. SO WE'VE GOT THREE MAJOR, MAJOR GOALS. AND UNDER EACH ONE OF THESE GOALS, THERE ARE SPECIFIC STRATEGIES. AND I HAVE A LOT OF SLIDES. BUT IN THE INTEREST OF YOUR TIME, AND I KNOW YOU'VE YOU'VE RECEIVED SOME MATERIAL BEFORE, I'M GOING TO HIT THIS SLIDE, AND THEN I'M GOING TO SHOW YOU THE OTHER SLIDES AND PICK OUT SPECIFIC PROJECTS THAT I THINK YOU MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN IF YOU GUYS ARE OKAY WITH THAT. AND IF IF I'M ON A PACE THAT YOU FEEL LIKE I'M GOING TOO FAST OR SLOW, JUST LET ME KNOW. LET ME KNOW. BUT YOU KNOW, AT THE CORE OF, OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT IS BUSINESS RETENTION. IF YOU'RE NOT TAKING CARE OF YOUR EXISTING BUSINESSES AND LISTENING TO THEM, YOU'RE REALLY NOT DOING ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT BECAUSE THAT'S WHERE THE MAJORITY OF THE JOBS AND TAX BASE ARE RIGHT NOW. AND MAKING SURE YOU'RE TAKING CARE OF THEM IN ORDER TO GIVE THEM OPPORTUNITIES TO EXPAND IS AT THE CORE. THESE ARE THE PEOPLE THAT TELL THEIR FRIENDS THEY'RE ON A BUSINESS TRIP. YOU KNOW, THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT WHAT'S IT LIKE TO DO BUSINESS IN SHIRTS. AND AS A CONSEQUENCE, YOU'VE GOT TO MAKE THAT YOUR PRIORITY. NUMBER TWO IS MAKING SURE THAT YOU ARE TARGETING NEW INDUSTRY TO COME IN HERE, FILL UP THE REAL ESTATE THAT'S HERE AND POTENTIALLY, YOU KNOW, INCREASE YOUR TAX BASE BY HAVING ADDITIONAL SITES FOR THOSE BUSINESSES. SMALL BUSINESS IS IS CRITICAL. SO STRATEGY NUMBER THREE UNDER UNDER BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT IS SUPPORTING SMALL BUSINESS. AND YOU'VE GOT GREAT PARTNERS HERE WITH THE CHAMBER. WE'LL CALL OUT THE CHAMBER OTHERS THAT SUPPORT SMALL BUSINESS RIGHT NOW. AND HAVING THE CITY, YOU KNOW, HAVE A CLOSE PARTNERSHIP WITH YOUR WITH OTHERS IN THE COMMUNITY JUST TO SUPPORT SMALL BUSINESS SITE DEVELOPMENT.
[1:15:09] RIGHT NOW, FORTUNATELY, SHIRTS HAS GREAT REAL ESTATE PRODUCT. THAT'S ONE OF THE THINGS THAT GIVES YOU A HUGE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE RIGHT NOW, BUT YOU NEED TO BE THINKING ABOUT, OKAY, WHERE ARE THE NEXT GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES? ARE THEY ON I-10 OR ARE THEY, YOU KNOW, AN EXPANSION OF AN EXISTING PARK? YOU JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE IN ORDER TO BE COMPETITIVE, YOU CONTINUE TO LOOK AT SITES WITH ME SO FAR. TALENT AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT. SO ALIGNING SUPPLY WITH DEMAND IS ONE OF THE HARDEST THINGS TO DO IN THE WORKFORCE SPACE RIGHT NOW IN THE COMMUNITIES WHO CONTINUE TO WORK ON THAT SO THAT THEY CAN PRESENT TO THEIR EXISTING EMPLOYERS AND THOSE THAT MIGHT BE LOOKING, HEY, WE HAVE A GREAT RELATIONSHIP WITH OUR SCHOOL DISTRICT THROUGH THE CTE PROGRAMS. WE HAVE A GREAT RELATIONSHIP WITH ALAMO COLLEGE OR OTHERS THAT ARE PROVIDING THE PIPELINE. IT MAKES SENSE, AT A MINIMUM, TO BE THE RESOURCE. SO IF YOU'VE GOT BUSINESSES THAT NEED HELP, YOU KNOW YOU DO THAT RIGHT NOW, EVERYWHERE I GO, BUSINESSES TALK ABOUT, YOU KNOW, I CAN'T GET YOUNG PEOPLE INTERESTED IN MANUFACTURING OR I CAN'T GET THEM INTERESTED IN THE TRADES OR I CAN'T GET THEM INTERESTED IN A PARTICULAR FIELD. AND SO THERE'S AN OPPORTUNITY TO KIND OF RAISE THE RAISE THE FLAG AND SAY, LOOK, THERE ARE GOOD JOBS IN TRANSPORTATION. THERE ARE GOOD JOBS IN MANUFACTURING, THERE ARE GOOD JOBS IN THE TRADE SO THAT YOU CAN INCREASE THAT PIPELINE FOR THAT. WE THINK THAT'S A BIG PART OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IS MAKING SURE THAT, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE KNOW THAT THESE ARE THESE ARE GOOD JOBS AND THEY HAVE BENEFITS AND PLAYING A PART IN THAT. AND THEN I THINK, YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE BIGGEST THINGS THAT CHURCH HAS GOING FOR IT IS ITS QUALITY OF PLACE. AND SO IT'S NOT THAT DIFFICULT TO CONVINCE SOMEONE THAT, YEAH, THIS IS A GREAT PLACE TO LIVE. ACCESS TO SCHOOLS. YOU CAN WORK IN SAN ANTONIO, YOU CAN WORK HERE. WE'VE GOT GREAT RESTAURANTS. BUT ALWAYS THINKING ABOUT, OKAY, IF WE'RE OUT MARKETING, ARE WE ACTUALLY NOT JUST MARKETING TO COMPANIES, BUT WE'RE MARKETING TO THE PEOPLE THAT WE WANT TO MOVE HERE TO HELP FILL THE JOBS THAT ARE OUT HERE? SO THE LAST GOAL AREA, QUALITY OF PLACE YOU KNOW, RETAIL SERVES A COUPLE OF PURPOSES HERE. ONE OF THEM IS IT'S IT'S AN AMENITY. YOU KNOW, HAVING THE RIGHT RETAIL TO SUPPORT THE CITIZENS HERE. YOU KNOW, THE RESIDENTS THAT ARE HERE IS A IS A STRATEGY IN AND OF ITSELF. BUT JUST AS IMPORTANT IS IT'S A REVENUE STREAM. YOU KNOW, SALES TAX GENERATES THAT REVENUE. SO HAVING THE INFRASTRUCTURE IN PLACE THAT WILL SUPPORT NEW RETAIL HERE MAKES A LOT OF SENSE. WE'VE WORKED WITH A LOT OF COMMUNITIES WHERE THAT SORT OF HAVING A COMMUNITY DESTINATION. THERE ARE PLACES LIKE THE DOMAIN IN AUSTIN, THERE'S PLACES LIKE THE PEARL DISTRICT IN SAN ANTONIO. DO YOU HAVE, YOU KNOW, A DESTINATION IN THE COMMUNITY? I KNOW YOU COMPETE WITH YOUR NEIGHBOR IN CIBOLO. PEOPLE WILL KIND OF LEAVE AND GO TO THEIR DOWNTOWN. DOES IT MAKE SENSE TO KIND OF IMPROVE THE PRODUCT THAT YOU HAVE HERE? YOU'VE GOT A MAIN STREET THAT YOU CAN UP THE GAME THERE. ARE THERE OTHER SITES IN THE COMMUNITY WHERE YOU WANT TO DO SOMETHING SIMILAR? YOU KNOW, YOU WANT TO CREATE A DESTINATION AND WE'RE NOT RECOMMENDING THAT, YOU KNOW, THE CITY IS THE DRIVER ON THAT. IT'S USUALLY A PARTNERSHIP WITH A DEVELOPER OR OTHERS WHO KIND OF BRING THE RETAILER TO YOU AND DOING THE THINGS THAT YOU DO BEST, WHICH ARE INFRASTRUCTURE AND PLANNING AND MAKING SURE THAT THE SITE WORKS FOR THEM. AND THEN THE LAST ONE WE HEARD FROM ANOTHER NUMBER OF COUNCIL MEMBERS AND OTHERS, IT'S LIKE, WE LOVE TO BE OUTDOORS, WE LIKE OUTDOOR RECREATION. AND THAT KIND OF FITS IN WITH THAT TALENT ATTRACTION AND TALENT RETENTION. IT'S JUST MAKING SURE THAT YOU CONTINUE TO INVEST IN THE OUTDOORS. I'M A BIG MOUNTAIN BIKER AND I'M READY FOR THE THE LONG TRAIL THAT IS GOING TO GO FROM AUSTIN BARTON SPRINGS ALL THE WAY DOWN TO, I CAN'T REMEMBER THE NAME OF THE SPRINGS IN SAN ANTONIO, BUT, YOU KNOW, AN HAS POTENTIAL, YOU KNOW. CAN YOU LINK TO IT? CAN YOU TIE INTO THAT? THERE ARE OPPORTUNITIES THERE. I THINK MAKES SENSE. SO I'M GOING TO PAUSE FOR JUST A MOMENT AND DO A CHECK. I LIKE THE PACE IS GOOD. WE'RE ALL RIGHT HERE BECAUSE THE THE REMAINING SLIDES THAT I HAVE EACH ONE OF THOSE GOAL AREAS HAD 3 OR 4 DIFFERENT STRATEGIES. SO 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, AND 1.4 ARE ALL THE DIFFERENT STRATEGIES.
[1:20:02] BUT WHAT WE'RE GIVING TO THE TEAM GOES BELOW THAT. AND SO WE'RE GOING TO ACTUALLY FILL OUT THE ACTIONS THAT WE HAVE PROVIDED THE ACTIONS TO SUPPORT EACH ONE OF THESE. SO WHEN THE TEAM BRINGS IN NEW STAFF, THE TEAM WANTS TO TALK ABOUT WHAT WE'RE UP TO. THEY BASICALLY HAVE ALL OF THE THINGS THAT WE'RE GOING TO BE WORKING ON AS PART OF THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT EFFORTS, AND THAT'S ACTUALLY GOING TO BE DELIVERED IN AN IMPLEMENTATION MATRIX. AND I'LL TALK ABOUT THAT HERE IN A MINUTE. BUT I'VE GOT, YOU KNOW, FOR EACH ONE OF THESE, I'VE GOT, YOU KNOW, DETAILED RECOMMENDATIONS. WE HAVE DETAILED RECOMMENDATIONS ON THE ACTUAL COMPANIES THAT YOU WANT TO PURSUE AND THE INDUSTRIES THAT THEY'RE IN FROM ADVANCED MANUFACTURING. AND A LOT OF THESE TARGETS THAT WE'RE RECOMMENDING ARE REALLY REGIONAL TARGETS. THEY'RE NOT JUST FOR SHIRTS. YOU HAVE PARTICULAR ADVANTAGES HERE WITH BUILDINGS THAT YOU HAVE TO OFFER, BUT YOU'RE IN THE ORBIT OF THE GREATER SAN ANTONIO AND EVEN THE AUSTIN SAN ANTONIO CORRIDOR. IT'S A LOT OF THESE ARE BECAUSE THERE ARE EXPANSIONS IN DEFENSE. THEY'RE EXPANSIONS IN DATA CENTERS. THEY'RE EXPANSIONS WITH HEB AND OTHERS THAT ARE LOOKING FOR NEW SORT OF FOOD PROCESSING. THERE'S THERE'S EXPANSIONS AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR SUPPLY CHAIN THAT COULD LOCATE HERE IN THE CITY. AND SO WE AND WE, WE HAVE AN ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON EACH ONE OF THESE TARGETS. AND SORT OF THE RATIONALE. AND IF THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT GROUP IS GOING TO BE MARKETING TO THESE COMPANIES, WE ACTUALLY HAVE INFORMATION ON, HERE'S HOW YOU SHOULD MARKET TO THEM. HERE'S THE ADVANTAGES THAT ARE OFFERED HERE, BOTH IN SHIRTS AND THE REGION AND HOW YOU SHOULD CARRY THAT OUT. SO IT'S VERY IT'S VERY DETAILED. SO AS I MENTIONED, EACH ONE OF THOSE STRATEGIES HAS, YOU KNOW, SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS THAT WE'RE MAKING ABOUT HOW THEY CARRY IT OUT. ONE POINT, 1.1 AND THIS IS WHERE I'M GOING TO, I'M NOT GOING TO GO THROUGH ALL OF THESE. SO I'M JUST GOING TO TOUCH ON A FEW OF THEM HERE IF THAT'S OKAY. SO SO THE FIRST ONE, THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATION SINCE WE MADE THIS RECOMMENDATION, YOU KNOW, 15 YEARS AGO, DOES THIS. SO IT'S NOT LIKE A NEW IDEA THAT THEY DO. THEY VISIT WITH EXISTING BUSINESSES. WE'RE JUST SAYING, HEY, LEVEL UP THERE. THEY'VE GOT A SOFTWARE PROGRAM. THEY'VE GOT A REALLY GOOD RELATIONSHIPS WITH MANY, BUT WE FEEL LIKE THERE'S ALWAYS ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT. PRIORITIZING YOUR TARGET INDUSTRIES. I WILL SAY THE RECOMMENDATION IS THAT THESE ARE PRIORITIES FOR MARKETING AND FOR ATTRACTING. IT DOESN'T MEAN THAT IF A COMPANY WHO DOESN'T FIT INTO THE ACTUAL, YOU KNOW, TARGET INDUSTRY ISN'T SUPPORTED IN THE COMMUNITY, YOU KNOW, THERE ARE THERE ARE THERE ARE COMPANIES THAT ARE STILL VERY MUCH WORTHY OF THAT. I'M GOING TO SKIP TO THE SECOND ONE. TARGETED MARKETING. I THINK THE COMMUNITY HAS DONE A GOOD JOB OVER THE YEARS IN MARKETING, AND MY EXPERIENCE RIGHT NOW IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IS YOU WANT TO BE OUT, YOU WANT TO BE IN THE RIGHT PLACES, YOU WANT TO BE AT THE RIGHT TRADE SHOWS. BUT MUCH OF IT IS A RELATIONSHIP BUSINESS, AND THE CITY AND THE STAFF HAVING A RELATIONSHIP WITH THE RIGHT DEVELOPERS AND THOSE WHO ARE GOING TO BRING PROJECTS TO YOU. AND WITH THE GREATER SAN ANTONIO, GREATER SAC, THAT'S THE PRIMARY MARKETING ARM FOR THIS REGION. JUST HAVING THOSE PARTNERSHIPS. OR AN INVESTMENT. WE'RE SEEING A LOT OF ACTIVITY IN THAT AREA. SOME OF THE MANUFACTURING HAS SLOWED DOWN A LITTLE BIT IN TEXAS, ALTHOUGH WE HAVE, YOU KNOW, ANNOUNCEMENTS OF OF NEW INVESTMENTS DOWN IN BROWNSVILLE. WE'VE GOT NEW WHAT DO YOU CALL IT? SORRY. SHIPS THAT ARE UNMANNED SHIPS PROJECT THAT'S COMING OUT OF AUSTIN. THERE'S ADDITIONAL DATA CENTERS THAT ARE BEING ANNOUNCED EVERY DAY ACROSS THE STATE. AND ONE OF THE THINGS THAT'S HAPPENING AS A RESULT OF THAT IS IT'S SLOWING DOWN SOME OF THE MANUFACTURING BECAUSE MANUFACTURING IS HAVING TO COMPETE FOR THAT SAME POWER? AND I KNOW THERE'S LEGISLATION AND THERE'S THINGS THAT ARE GOING ON AT THE STATE RIGHT NOW TO KIND OF SLOW THAT DOWN. BUT FOR THOSE OF US IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, THEY'RE ACCUSTOMED TO GOING TO THESE KIND OF PROJECTS. YOU KNOW, SOME OF THAT STUFF HAS SLOWED DOWN, BUT. SHOULD I KEEP GOING HERE? AMY, YOU GUYS ARE STILL GOOD WITH THIS LEVEL OF DETAIL BECAUSE RIGHT. SITE DEVELOPMENT, I MENTIONED THAT EARLIER. I'M GOING TO GO TO 1.4.3 BECAUSE I THINK YOU GUYS ARE WELL ON TRACK WITH INFRASTRUCTURE
[1:25:02] AND POTENTIAL SITES, BUT IDENTIFYING FUTURE SITES. I THINK THAT'S SOMETHING YOU GUYS DID 15 YEARS AGO. I THINK YOU DID THAT ACTUALLY BEFORE WE DID THE ORIGINAL PLAN, THERE WAS THE FORESIGHT IN THE COMMUNITY TO SAY, HEY, THIS IS A GROWING AREA. IF WE DON'T GET OUT NOW AND MAKE SURE THAT WE SECURE SITES OR SUPPORT SITES, OR GET THE INFRASTRUCTURES TO THE SITES. WE'RE NOT GOING TO PICK THINGS UP. AND SO IN A WAY, WE ARE BENEFITING NOW FROM DECISIONS THAT WERE MADE 20, 25 YEARS AGO ABOUT SITES. AND SO YOU HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY NOW TO MAKE SURE IF THERE ARE SITES ON TEN OR THERE ARE OTHER PLACES THAT YOU NEED TO BE LOOKING, NOW IS THE TIME TO DO IT. THE SECOND GOAL AREA ON WORKFORCE, I'M GOING TO PULL OUT A COUPLE OF THINGS. I THINK THE APPRENTICESHIPS AND INTERNSHIPS RIGHT NOW ARE CRITICAL FOR EXISTING BUSINESSES. IF THEY'RE TRYING TO BUILD THEIR PIPELINE. THAT'S IN SORT OF 2.2.2. I THINK THE VETERAN COMMUNITY THAT'S HERE, THERE ARE OPPORTUNITIES TO BE CLOSER TO THOSE THAT ARE SEPARATING FROM SERVICE AND MAKE SURE THAT THEY KNOW THAT THEIR OPPORTUNITIES AND SHIRTS TO SUPPORT EXISTING BUSINESSES. BUT THIS WHOLE STRATEGY IS AROUND, OR THIS WHOLE GOAL AREA IS REALLY IN ORDER FOR SHIRTS TO BE COMPETITIVE. YOU NEED, YOU KNOW, THEY NEED TO KNOW WHO TO GO TO, WHERE THE OPPORTUNITIES FOR KIND OF FILLING AN EMPLOYER'S NEEDS. AND IT'S, IT'S TYPICALLY LED BY A REGIONAL GROUP. AND SO WE'VE LISTED ITEMS THAT WE'RE MAKING, YOU KNOW, WE'RE GOING TO PUT INTO THE PLAN. BUT SOME OF THESE ITEMS ARE PROBABLY NOT GOING TO HAPPEN FOR THE FIRST YEAR, MAYBE EVEN THE SECOND YEAR. BUT WE FEEL LIKE THEY NEED TO BE HERE BECAUSE THIS IS THE DIRECTION THAT CHURCH IS GOING TO NEED TO GO TO BE ABLE TO SUPPORT WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT. AND I'M GOING TO, I'M GOING TO GO AHEAD AND MOVE TO THE, THE QUALITY OF LIFE OR SORRY, THE QUALITY OF PLACE, GOAL AREA. AS I MENTIONED, RETAIL DEVELOPMENT, COMMUNITY DESTINATIONS AND COMMUNITY AMENITIES. ON THE RETAIL SIDE, PUSHING YOUR RELATIONSHIPS WITH DEVELOPERS LOOKING AT COMMERCIAL CORRIDORS AND PROVIDING THE INFRASTRUCTURE FOR THAT. AS I MENTIONED, MAIN STREET REDEVELOPMENT. I THINK THAT'S CRITICAL BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, WHEN SOMEBODY COMES TO THE COMMUNITY, WHERE, WHERE IS THE HEART OF THAT COMMUNITY? IS IT ON MAIN STREET? IS IT CURRENTLY AT CITY HALL? YOU KNOW, WHERE IS THAT? WHERE IS THAT CENTER? AND THEN ON THE COMMUNITY AMENITIES CONTINUING TO PUSH ON WALKABLE PUBLIC SPACES AND PARK CENTER AND RETAIL DEVELOPMENT. I THINK THE THE ROLE FOR THE EDC BEING A TYPE B, YOU KNOW, YOU HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO SUPPORT PROJECTS THAT ARE MORE QUALITY OF PLACE RELATED. AND SO I THINK THAT, YOU KNOW, IT'S AN APPROPRIATE ROLE. DOES IT HAVE A DIRECT IMPACT ON ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT? IT'S MORE OF AN INDIRECT IMPACT, BUT STILL A VERY APPROPRIATE ROLE. AND SO I'M I'M OKAY. WRAPPING IT UP HERE AND LETTING YOU GUYS ASK QUESTIONS IF YOU'VE GOT QUESTIONS. AND IF I NEED TO GO BACK TO ANY OF THESE ITEMS, I'M HAPPY TO, OR BRING AMY UP HERE TO, TO TALK ABOUT OR ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS. BUT AS I MENTIONED, ONCE THE PLAN IS APPROVED, WE WILL TAKE ALL OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS AND PUT THEM INTO WHAT WE CALL AN IMPLEMENTATION MATRIX, WHICH WILL BECOME ESSENTIALLY LIKE A WORK PLAN THAT THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT TEAM CAN USE TO MONITOR AND KIND OF BRING BACK TO YOU AND SAY, HEY, HERE'S WHAT WE'VE DONE, HERE'S OUR PROGRESS, HERE'S WHAT'S WORKING, HERE'S WHAT'S NOT. WE NEED TO MAKE ADJUSTMENTS TO IT. SO WITH THAT, I WILL OPEN IT UP FOR ANY QUESTIONS YOU MIGHT HAVE. ANY QUESTIONS FROM ANY COUNCIL MEMBERS ON THE COMPREHENSIVE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIC PLAN. COUNCILMAN GUERRERO. WHAT IS THE ESTIMATED COST TO EXECUTE A THREE YEAR PLAN LIKE THIS? YEAH, THE I HAVE NOT CALCULATED THE BUDGET FOR THAT. I'M HAPPY TO WORK WITH THE STAFF IF YOU WANT TO GET A NUMBER. OKAY. AND WHAT ABOUT HOW WOULD THIS PLAN AFFECT OUR CURRENT BUSINESSES AND INDUSTRY PARKS? WELL, I THINK THE THE NUMBER ONE RECOMMENDATION I THINK IS SUPPORTING THE EXISTING BUSINESSES. AND SO THE IDEA THAT, YOU KNOW, YOU'LL BE CALLING ON THOSE BUSINESSES AND MAKING SURE THAT THEIR NEEDS ARE BEING MET WILL HAVE AN IMPACT ON THEIR SUCCESS.
[1:30:01] AND I THINK THE, THE BUSINESS PARKS THAT ARE CURRENTLY HERE, YOU KNOW, THE TARGET INDUSTRY PART OF IT IS OBVIOUSLY GOING TO HELP BRING NEW BUSINESS INTO THOSE PARKS INTO THE BUILDINGS THAT EXIST RIGHT NOW. IT'S MORE OF A CAPITALIZING, ASSISTING GOING FORWARD WITH THESE WITH THE CURRENT BUSINESSES. YEAH, ACTUALLY STARTING WITH THE EXISTING BUSINESSES. BUT, YOU KNOW, IT'S NOT AN EITHER OR. YOU KNOW, IT'S JUST I THINK IN THE PAST, MANY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT GROUPS FOCUS PRIMARILY ON BUSINESS ATTRACTION. BUT CHURCH HAS DONE A GOOD JOB OF SUPPORTING THEIR EXISTING BUSINESSES. BUT I THINK, YOU KNOW, THERE'S ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT THERE. THANK YOU. COUNCIL MEMBER WESTBROOK. YES, SIR. SO YOUR. YOUR SWOT ANALYSIS. DO YOU HAVE THAT IN FRONT OF YOU. I DON'T THINK YOU SHOWED IT ON YOUR SLIDES. I DID NOT HAVE IT IN THE SLIDE. I'VE GOT THE ONE THAT'S IN THE IN THE FULL DOCUMENT. I THINK IT'S TOWARDS THE BACK. PAGE 20 OF 23. RIGHT. YES. SO I KNOW YOU. YOU WERE PUT AN EMPHASIS ON MARKETING, BUT UP UNTIL THE WEAKNESSES AND ALSO STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES ARE INTERNAL AND I'M. IF MY MEMORY SERVES ME CORRECT, OPPORTUNITIES AND THREATS ARE EXTERNAL, BUT THE INTERNAL. IT SAYS LACKING A BRAND STORY. BUT YOU EMPHASIZED MARKETING. HOW DO YOU MARKET IF INTERNALLY WE DON'T HAVE A BRAND. YOU KNOW WHAT I'M SAYING? SO WHAT ARE WE MARKETING I-35? WHAT ARE WE FROM YOUR STANDPOINT? HOW WOULD YOU SUMMARIZE IF YOU HAD TO MARKET CITY OF SCHERTZ? YOU HAD TO GIVE AN ELEVATOR PITCH. HOW WOULD YOU WHAT WOULD YOU SAY? YEAH. SO WE ARE PROVIDING A SORT OF A MARKETING FRAMEWORK FOR THE TEAM TO KIND OF BUILD ON THEIR. BUT THE THINGS THAT I HAVE, YOU KNOW, I WOULD LEAD WITH BEING PART OF THIS SORT OF AUSTIN, SAN ANTONIO MEGAREGION IN OTHER WORDS, YOU'RE KIND OF AT THE HEART OF IT. I MEAN, YOU'RE A LITTLE CLOSER TO SAN ANTONIO, BUT THAT THAT'S ONE. I THINK THE REAL ESTATE THAT YOU CURRENTLY HAVE YOU KNOW, WE DID SOME ANALYSIS OF ALL THE NEW REAL ESTATE THAT'S COME ONLINE IN THE GREATER SAN ANTONIO AREA. AND LAST YEAR, HALF OF THE NEW REAL ESTATE THAT CAME ONLINE FOR THE ENTIRE REGION WAS, YOU KNOW, TERMS LIKE THE CORE FIVE. AND, AND I KNOW YOU'VE STILL GOT PARK 35. THAT'S A LITTLE BIT OLDER, BUT YOU GUYS, YOU KNOW, WHEN, WHEN GREATER SAN ANTONIO IS MARKETING RIGHT NOW AND HAS A COMPANY COME IN, SCHERTZ IS AT THE TOP OF THE LIST BECAUSE YOU HAVE SORT OF REAL ESTATE. I THINK THE, YOU KNOW, BEING AT I-10 AND I-35, IT'S A NO BRAINER IN TERMS OF HOW YOU'RE MARKETING YOURSELF. THAT'S GREAT FOR LOGISTICS, BUT OTHER COMPANIES, YOU KNOW, SEE IT AS A, AS AN ADVANTAGE TO BE ABLE TO JUST MOVE THEIR PRODUCTS IN AND OUT. AND I'VE GOT, YOU KNOW, YOUR SORT OF QUALITY OF PLACE THE VETERAN LABOR POOL, THERE'S A NUMBER OF THINGS THAT. AND AS I MENTIONED TO YOU, WE EACH. WE ACTUALLY TOOK EACH OF THE TARGET INDUSTRIES AND KIND OF SPECIFICALLY WENT IN THERE. I THINK WE'RE I'LL LET YOU CONTINUE. NO, SIR. NO, THAT WAS A GOOD ANSWER. IT WAS YEAH, I CAN. IT'S A GOOD ANSWER. BUT IN THE REPORT IT WAS I THINK WE HAVE A HIGHER UNEMPLOYMENT FOR EVERYBODY EXCEPT FOR LIKE, I GUESS ONE OTHER PERSON IN OUR REGION. AND I DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S DUE TO THE TO THE VETERANS WE HAVE OR NOT. I DIDN'T I COULDN'T UNDERSTAND THAT. IS THAT WHY? BUT IF YOU HAVE HIGHER UNEMPLOYMENT, THEN YOU HAVE A RELIANCE ON RETAIL. AND THEN WE HAVE AN ECONOMIC DOWNTURN SOMETIME IN THE FUTURE. YOU CAN SORT OF SEE HOW. I DON'T THINK THAT'S GOING TO PRODUCE A PRETTY GOOD RESULT. IF YOU HAVE HIGH ALREADY HIGH UNEMPLOYMENT AND A RELIANCE ON, ON WAREHOUSING AND RETAIL. YEAH. YEAH. AND I MEAN, YOU'RE THE EMPHASIS ON THE TARGETING IS, YOU KNOW, INTENTIONALLY WEIGHTED TOWARD, YOU KNOW, PRIMARY JOBS AND MANUFACTURING AND HIGHER END. AND WE ALSO HAVE KIND OF OFFICE BECAUSE YOU'VE GOT A HIGHLY EDUCATED POPULATION HERE THAT LEAVES AND GOES INTO SAN ANTONIO. AND COULD THERE BE OPTIONS WITH SOME OF THOSE INDIVIDUALS TO SAY, HEY, IF WE HAVE OFFICE OPPORTUNITIES HERE, WHETHER IT'S HEALTH CARE RELATED OR IT'S ENGINEERING RELATED YOU KNOW, SOMEBODY TO PUT THEIR OFFICE HERE AND KEEP PEOPLE HERE. YEAH. YES. BUT YOUR REPORT SAID WE SHOULDN'T BE RELYING ON PROFESSIONAL SERVICES. THIS IS NOT ACTUALLY SPOKE AGAINST PROFESSIONAL SERVICES IN THE CITY OF SCHERTZ. YEAH. IT WAS REFERRING TO. IT WAS AFTER PAGE 13 ENGAGEMENT PROCESS. NO NO NO. ANYWAY I DON'T I DON'T THINK IT WAS, YOU KNOW, VERY COMPLIMENTARY OF THE INTENT BECAUSE WE WE ACTUALLY HAVE SORT OF IT AND
[1:35:04] PROFESSIONAL SERVICES LISTED AS ONE OF THE TARGETS. SO IF WE CONTRADICTED THAT SOMEWHERE, IT DEFINITELY WASN'T JUST FINISHED. BUT THAT'S ALRIGHT. INTENTIONAL. YES, SIR. NO PROBLEM AT ALL. BUT I THOUGHT IT WAS GOOD. I THOUGHT IT WAS A GOOD REPORT. DON'T GET ME WRONG, I, I APPRECIATE IT BECAUSE I KNOW I'VE HAD THE DISCUSSION ABOUT HOW DO WE DESCRIBE SHIRTS? WHAT IS SHIRTS? YOU KNOW, WHAT'S OUR BRAND? AND I'VE GOTTEN DIFFERENT ANSWERS FROM IF I ASKED TEN PEOPLE, I PROBABLY GOT 12 ANSWERS. SO YEAH, I DO APPRECIATE IT. YEAH. AND WE ACTUALLY HEARD THAT IN A COUPLE OF THE SESSIONS THAT WE HAD THAT IT WOULD BE GREAT IF WE WERE KNOWN FOR SOMETHING IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT. YOU LIKE IN THE BROKERAGE WORLD, YOU ARE KNOWN FOR HAVING GREAT SITES IN A CITY THAT SUPPORTS NEW INDUSTRY. AND SO THAT THAT BRAND IS THERE. BUT FOR THE INDIVIDUAL THAT WANTS TO SAY, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE THE DESTINATION BARBECUE PLACE HERE, AND THAT'S KIND OF WHAT WE'RE KNOWN FOR. I THINK IT WAS MORE THE COMMENT CAME MORE OUT OF THE RETAIL SIDE OR WE'RE NOT. YOU KNOW, AUSTIN IS USED TO BE KNOWN FOR SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST OR, YOU KNOW, SOME MUSIC DESTINATION. AND SO THAT WAS SOMEWHAT OF A BRAND AND THAT THERE REALLY WASN'T SOMETHING YOU COULD PUT YOUR FINGER ON FOR SHIRTS AND SAY, WELL, SHIRTS IS THE HOME OF X AND, YOU KNOW, MAYBE IT'S NOT SOMETHING YOU WORRY TOO MUCH ABOUT, BUT MAYBE I MISSED IT. NO, NO, I DO APPRECIATE IT. THE ONE SLOT THAT YOU HAD TALKING ABOUT DEFENSE INDUSTRY EV TOLLS, I KNOW PORTIS IS BUILDING A VERTIPORT THERE, AND I GUESS THEY'RE GOING TO HAVE A FLIGHT OF A ROUTE, A FLIGHT ROUTE ALL THE WAY TO AUSTIN. I DON'T KNOW IF IT'S IF WE'RE IN THERE, BUT I DO APPRECIATE THE CREATIVITY AND AND CONSIDERATION, AT LEAST FOR EV TOLLS AND DEFENSE INDUSTRY. SO THANK YOU, I APPRECIATE IT. THANK YOU. AND ON THE TARGETS, WE DID SPEND A LOT OF TIME WITH BOTH THE THE EDC BOARD AND THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE OF GETTING FEEDBACK, BECAUSE WE HAD ONE MEMBER WHO HAD. OF THE MANUFACTURING ASSOCIATION, AND WE HAD SEVERAL OTHERS WHO HAD A LOT OF KNOWLEDGE OF WHERE SPECIFIC. SO THANKS TO THEM. OKAY. COUNCIL MEMBER SHERIDAN, DID YOU HAVE SOMETHING? I DID, BUT COUNCIL MEMBER WESTBROOK GOT MY QUESTIONS, SO I'M GOOD. OKAY. COUNCIL MEMBER GUERRERO. YEAH, I HAVE ONE MORE QUESTION. FROM THE FEEDBACK THAT YOU WERE THAT YOU RECEIVED, WAS THERE ANY CONCERNS THAT CAME UP? TRAFFIC. TRAFFIC. YEAH. THERE WERE CONCERNS OF BUSINESSES THAT WERE, YOU KNOW LOCATED ON I-35 AND WITH FLY AWAY CONCERNS ABOUT, YOU KNOW, IS THAT GOING TO IMPACT MY, MY RETAIL? THERE'S ALWAYS A CONCERN ABOUT, YOU KNOW, WORKFORCE AND BUT THAT'S THAT'S EVERYWHERE I GO RIGHT NOW IN THE COUNTRY. THANK YOU. COUNCIL MEMBER MACALUSO. TWO QUESTIONS. I NOTICED WHEN YOU LISTED SOME OF THE INDUSTRIES AND SOME OF THE BIGGER EMPLOYERS, DO YOU SEE TESLA HAVING AN IMPACT ON OUR AREA? I DIDN'T SEE IT LISTED AS AS ONE OF THE LARGER EMPLOYERS, BUT I WOULD THINK THAT SOME OF THEIR SUPPLIERS MIGHT BE LOOKING IN THIS VICINITY. IS THAT SOMETHING? YEAH. I MEAN, TESLA RIGHT NOW WITH THEIR, YOU KNOW, AUSTIN PRESENCE AND YOU HAVE, YOU KNOW, 130 THAT GOES RIGHT BY THEIR BIGGEST, THEIR FABRICATION. BUT NOW THEY'RE ANNOUNCING, SORRY, OTHER PROJECTS THAT COULD ALSO IMPACT HERE IN CENTRAL TEXAS RIGHT NOW OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS. I'M VERY BULLISH FOR NOT JUST TESLA BUT THE OTHER INVESTMENTS THAT ARE BEING MADE. YEAH. MY OTHER QUESTION WAS, IN YOUR OPINION, DOES IT APPEAR THAT WE'RE PROPERLY LEVERAGING THE EDUCATION COMMUNITY TO PROVIDE THE EMPLOYEES FOR THE EMPLOYERS IN OUR AREA? I KNOW THAT THERE THERE IS A STRONG RELATIONSHIP WITH THE SCHOOL DISTRICT THAT CAME TO OUR MEETING. AND I, I THINK PART OF THE SINCE I DO, I LEAD OUR WORKFORCE PRACTICE. AND SO I'M A LITTLE BIT BIASED, BUT RIGHT NOW, I KNOW A LOT OF THE DISTRICTS, WHEN THEY'RE ASKED TO ALIGN THEIR PROGRAMS WITH WHERE THE DEMAND IS, WE'RE KIND OF STUCK BECAUSE THEY HAVE SORT OF DIFFERENT PROGRAMS THAT THEY CAN SUPPORT, ESPECIALLY IN THE TRADES THAT THEY CAN GET FUNDING FOR AND FIT WITHIN THE STATE'S SORT OF CATEGORIZATION OF WHAT YOU CAN DO. AND SO THERE'S A LOT OF TECHNICAL SKILLS THAT AREN'T BEING MET, YOU KNOW, BECAUSE THEY DON'T IT'S HARD FOR THEM TO DO IT. BUT THE BIGGER ISSUE THAT THEY FACE RIGHT NOW IS JUST STUDENTS GOING INTO THE PROGRAMS THAT ARE IN DEMAND. WHAT ABOUT FROM THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE LEVEL. I KNOW ALAMO COLLEGE. I DON'T KNOW ON SOME OF THE OTHER COLLEGES, BUT ALAMO COLLEGE SEEMS TO GET PRETTY DECENT RATINGS IN TERMS OF PROVIDING
[1:40:06] SKILLED LABOR. BUT I, YOU KNOW, I CAN'T SPEAK TO, TO SPECIFICS. I DIDN'T HEAR ANYTHING NEGATIVE FROM ANY OF THE EMPLOYERS WHEN WE TALKED TO THEM AND THEIR EXPERIENCE WITH THEM. BUT. PLEASE DO. WE'VE BEEN WORKING WITH ALAMO COMMUNITY COLLEGE. THEY JUST ANNOUNCED THE ALAMO INSTITUTE. IT'S A TECHNICAL INSTITUTE, BUT WHAT THEY'RE DOING IS THEY'RE TAKING SKILL DEVELOPMENT DOLLARS THAT ARE AVAILABLE FOR THE TEXAS WORKFORCE. AND THOSE DOLLARS THEN ARE USED TO FUND ALL THE TRAINING FOR EMPLOYERS IN THE AREA. THEY'VE THEY'VE BEEN ABLE TO GET SIGNIFICANT PARTICIPATION FROM THE EMPLOYERS. AND THOSE CHECKS GO IN. THEN WHAT HAPPENS IS THEY GO OUT AND TRAIN THAT FORCE THE WAY IT'S NEEDED. SO THERE'S THIS REAL BIG COLLABORATION THAT'S STARTING NOW AND IT JUST RECENTLY ANNOUNCED, BUT WE'RE ALREADY WORKING WITH ONE NEW COMPANY THAT IS ARRIVING HERE FROM THE UK PLASTIC INJECTION MOLDING COMPANY THAT IS GOING TO BE GOING THROUGH THAT SAME PROGRAM TO TRY TO POPULATE THEIR STAFFING. SO WE ARE WORKING VERY CLOSELY WITH THEM. AND YOU MAY REMEMBER SAMMY MORRELL, SHE USED TO BE OUR CHAIR OF THE CDC BOARD, AND SHE'S THE ONE THAT'S REALLY MASTERMINDING THIS AND, AND ASSISTING WITH SOME OF OUR COMPANIES IN OUR BACKYARD. SO THAT'S A NEW DEVELOPMENT OVER THE PAST SIX MONTHS. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? IF THERE ARE NO OTHER QUESTIONS DO I HAVE A MOTION TO ACCEPT THE CITY OF SCHERTZ COMPREHENSIVE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIC PLAN. I'LL MAKE A MOTION TO ACCEPT THE SHORTS. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT. STRATEGIC. NO. SECOND. I'LL SECOND. OKAY. I BELIEVE I GOT A MOTION BY COUNCIL MEMBER WESTBROOK SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER SHERIDAN. SO CAN I GET EVERYBODY TO CAST THEIR VOTES, PLEASE? CAN I GET THE VOTES PUBLISHED? HAVING SEVEN YEAS, NO NAYS. MOTION PASSES. THANK YOU SIR. ALRIGHT, MOVING ON TO ITEM 11. COUNCIL LIAISON ASSIGNMENT FOR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE. WE HAVE DEPUTY CITY SECRETARY CHERI KEARNEY. GOOD EVENING, MAYOR. COUNCIL, MR. WILLIAMS. AND TONIGHT I'M BRINGING FORTH THE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE LIAISON POSITION. AND THIS WAS NOT INCLUDED PREVIOUSLY BECAUSE PRIOR TO. LET ME START OVER. THE COMMITTEE IS NEEDED PRIOR TO THE COUNCIL LIAISON ASSIGNMENTS REVIEW THAT WILL OCCUR FOLLOWING THE NOVEMBER 3RD GENERAL ELECTION CANVASING BECAUSE THERE IS A MEETING PLANNED FOR THIS FALL. SO ONE OF THE IMPORTANT FUNCTIONS OF CC IS ADVISING THE POLITICAL SUBDIVISION WHEN UPDATES OR REVISIONS TO THE LAND USE ASSUMPTIONS, CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS, PLAN OR IMPACT FEES ARE NEEDED. SO WITH THE PASSAGE OF SENATE BILL 1883, CHANGES TO CSS MEMBERSHIP REQUIREMENTS, WHICH INCLUDED THE PROHIBITION OF CITY EMPLOYEES OR OFFICIALS OF THE POLITICAL SUBDIVISION. IT TOOK EFFECT ON SEPTEMBER 1ST OF 2025, AND PRIOR TO THOSE CHANGES, THE CC COMMITTEE INCLUDED MANY OF THE PNC MEMBERS, WHICH ARE. WHICH ALLOWED THE CITY COUNCIL LIAISON ASSIGNED TO BNZ TO ALSO SERVE THAT FUNCTION FOR CSC. UNDER THE STATUTE THE REVISED STATUTE MEMBERS OF THE PNC MAY NO LONGER SERVE ON THE CSC. BECAUSE THEY ARE CONSIDERED POLITICAL OR CONSIDERED OFFICIALS OF THE POLITICAL SUBDIVISION. SO A SEPARATE COUNCIL LIAISON ASSIGNMENT FOR CEAC IS NECESSARY. SO THE REASON THAT IT IS NECESSARY IS TO FACILITATE THE COMMUNICATION RELATED TO THE IMPACT FEES THAT THEY'LL BE DISCUSSING COMING UP IN THE FALL. SO I DON'T HAVE ANYBODY CURRENTLY ON THAT COMMITTEE, LIKE WE SAID BEFORE, IT WAS HANDLED BY PNC. SO I'M LOOKING TO SEE WHO MIGHT BE ABLE TO TAKE THAT ON AS A LIAISON. THEY ONLY MEET ON AN AS NEEDED BASIS. AND AGAIN THEY DO PLAN TO MEET SOMETIME THIS FALL. WHAT TIME WHAT TIME ARE THEIR MEETINGS? RYAN. WE DON'T. AGAIN, SINCE THE CHANGE, WE HAVEN'T TYPICALLY. WE USED TO MEET RIGHT BEFORE PNC RIGHT AT THE BEGINNING OF PNC MEETINGS. MY ASSUMPTION IS MOST FOLKS WORK. WE'D PROBABLY DO A 6:00 MEETING YOU KNOW, BASED ON AVAILABILITY TEND TO BE WEDNESDAY NIGHTS TEND TO WORK WELL OR
[1:45:02] TUESDAY NIGHTS, BUT WE HAVEN'T SET THAT YET, SO WE'RE FLEXIBLE. OKAY. I VOLUNTEER FOR IT. YEAH. YOU VOLUNTEER FOR IT. DO WE HAVE ANY ANYBODY ELSE WANT TO VOLUNTEER FOR IT? WE HAVE COUNCIL MEMBER MACALUSO THAT'S WILLING TO VOLUNTEER TO BE ASSIGNED FOR THE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE. YES, I WILL VOLUNTEER AS WELL AS AN ALTERNATE. DO YOU NEED AN ALTERNATE OR DO YOU JUST NEED A PRIMARY? SO SO THAT'S UP TO COUNCIL REALLY? I MEAN, AGAIN, THE KEY I SEE IS, IS A LITTLE BIT UNUSUAL, RIGHT? AND TYPICALLY THE WAY IT WORKS GIVE A LITTLE MORE EXPLANATION IS THEY NORMALLY WILL MEET TWICE A YEAR TO RECEIVE A REPORT FROM STAFF, BASICALLY SAYING, HERE'S HOW MUCH WE'VE COLLECTED IN IMPACT FEES, HERE'S HOW MUCH WE'VE SPENT IN IMPACT FEES AND WHAT THAT'S BEEN ON. AND THEN THAT REPORT COMES UP TO COUNCIL. COUNCIL RECEIVES A COPY OF IT. THE OTHER THING THAT WE DO AND THIS IS WHAT'S KICKING OFF LATER THIS FALL, IS WHEN WE DO AN UPDATE OF THE IMPACT FEES. THEY REVIEW THE STUDY THAT GOES WITH IT. THERE'S A STUDY THAT'S DONE. THERE'S SOME ASSUMPTIONS THAT MADE THEY PROVIDE INPUT AND FEEDBACK ON THAT. AND THEN ONE OF THE THINGS REALLY THAT THEY DO KIND OF THE BIG THING, IF YOU WILL, IS THEY START THAT POLICY DISCUSSION, RIGHT? IT'S A MATTER OF WHERE DO WE WANT TO SET THE FEE RELATIVE TO WHERE WE COULD SET IT AND WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS OF THAT? WE ALSO HAVE TRADITIONALLY GONE TO EDC BOARD WALK THEM THROUGH IT AND GOT SOME FEEDBACK. BECAUSE P AND Z IS NOT NECESSARILY INVOLVED ANYMORE. WE PROBABLY DO THE SAME THING WITH THEM. SO SO THAT TO SAY, ALWAYS HAPPY TO HAVE A COUNCIL PERSON, ALWAYS HAPPY TO HAVE AN ALTERNATE. AGAIN, THE THING WE KIND OF RUN INTO THIS IS THE ITEMS THAT THEY WILL CONSIDER WILL EVENTUALLY HIT CITY COUNCIL. AND SO WE HAVE TO AVOID TOO MANY PEOPLE ON COUNCIL HAVING CONVERSATIONS ABOUT CIC THINGS TO AVOID OPEN MEETINGS ISSUE, BUT WE'RE CERTAINLY FINE WITH WITH AN ALTERNATE. HAPPY TO HAPPY TO HAVE THAT YES. COUNCIL MEMBER. WESTBROOK YES. MAYOR. IF IT'S IF IT'S UP TO COUNCIL I RECOMMEND WE ALL GO AHEAD WITH A PRIMARY AND ALTERNATE THE PRIMARY BEING A COUNCIL MEMBER, PAUL MACALUSO AND THEN THE ALTERNATE BEING COUNCIL MEMBER WATSON. AND LEAVE IT AT THAT. I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW HOW THIS WILL AFFECT IN DECEMBER. WELL, WE PLANNED IN DECEMBER TO HAVE THE, THE NEW ROUND ROBIN, NEW ROUND ROBIN CALL IT. AND YOU ALL HAVE A CHANCE TO DECIDE IF YOU WANT TO GIVE UP ANY OF THE ASSIGNMENTS. IF WE HAVE ANY NEW COUNCIL MEMBERS AFTER THE ELECTION, THEN THEY WOULD HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO CHOOSE AS WELL. THANK YOU. I SECOND IT. OKAY. WELL, IT LOOKS LIKE WE HAVE A MOTION MADE BY COUNCIL MEMBER WESTBROOK SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER GUERRERO. CAN I GET EVERYBODY TO CAST THEIR VOTES FOR ONE? ONE SECOND, PLEASE GO AHEAD. MICHELLE WOULD REALLY LIKE TO HAVE THAT LIAISON, SO I'LL I'LL BYPASS AND LET HER TAKE IT. SO WE'LL JUST DO A PRIMARY, NOT AN ALTERNATE. OKAY. SO CAN I GET YOU TO RESCIND YOUR MOTION AND RECAST IT? I RESCIND MY PREVIOUS MOTION. I MAKE A MOTION TO HAVE A PRIMARY ONLY FROM THE CITY COUNCIL. AND THAT PERSON BEING COUNCIL MEMBER MICHELLE WATSON. I'LL SECOND IT. OKAY. WE HAVE A MOTION MADE BY COUNCIL MEMBER. WESTBROOK. AND WE HAVE A SECOND BY COUNCIL MEMBER GUERRERO. CAN I GET EVERYBODY TO CAST THEIR VOTES FOR COUNCIL MEMBER OR MAYOR PRO TEM WATSON? STAND CORRECTED. MAYOR PRO TEM WATSON TO BE THE LIAISON FOR THE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE. CAN I GET THE VOTES, PLEASE? OKAY. HAVING SEVEN YEAS, NO NAYS. MOTION PASSES. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. ALRIGHT, MOVING ON TO PUBLIC PUBLIC HEARINGS, ITEM 12. WE HAVE RESOLUTION 26-R-093. CONDUCT A PUBLIC HEARING AND CONSIDER RESOLUTION ACCEPTING A PETITION FOR VOLUNTARY ANNEXATION OF APPROXIMATELY OF APPROXIMATELY APPROXIMATELY 10.7 ACRES OF LAND LOCATED APPROXIMATELY 900FT NORTHWEST OF INTERSECTION OF FM 482 AND SWAB ROAD. MORE SPECIFICALLY KNOWN AS COMAL COUNTY PROPERTY IDENTIFICATION NUMBER 56613. COMAL COUNTY, TEXAS. WE HAVE SENIOR PLANNER DAISY MARQUEZ. GOOD EVENING, COUNCIL MAYOR MR. WILLIAMS RESOLUTION 26 R 93. ACCEPTING A PETITION OF VOLUNTARY ANNEXATION FOR 10.7 ACRES OF LAND IN COMAL COUNTY. DAISY MARQUEZ, SENIOR PLANNER. SO THIS PROPERTY MAY LOOK FAMILIAR. IT WAS PURCHASED BY THE CITY IN 2023 FOR THE DRY CREEK NATURE PARK, AND IS CURRENTLY OUT OUTSIDE OF CITY LIMITS IN COMAL COUNTY,
[1:50:09] ETJ. SO THIS IS MR. WILLIAMS PETITION FOR VOLUNTARY ANNEXATION OF THIS PARK PROPERTY. AND AGAIN, THIS APPROVAL RESOLUTION DOES NOT ANNEX THE SUBJECT PROPERTY. IT JUST ALLOWS CITY COUNCIL TO ANNEX THE PROPERTY BY ORDINANCE IN THE FUTURE. AND THEN THE ANNEXATION THE ANNEXATION AND THAT ORDINANCE ACCOMPANYING THAT AND THE ZONE CHANGE ORDINANCE ARE TENTATIVELY SCHEDULED FOR THE SEPTEMBER 15TH CITY COUNCIL MEETING. AND AGAIN, THIS ZONE CHANGE APPLICATION IS SCHEDULED FOR THE SEPTEMBER 2ND, 2026 PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION MEETING, AND WE ARE PROPOSING PUBLIC USE DISTRICT FOR THE SUBJECT. PROPERTY AND STAFF RECOMMENDS APPROVAL OF THIS RESOLUTION 26 R 93 SO WE CAN START THE ANNEXATION PROCESS. THANK YOU. OKAY, SO AT THIS TIME, I WILL OPEN UP THE PUBLIC HEARING OF RESIDENTS ON ITEM 12 AT 751. DO WE HAVE ANYBODY WISHING TO COME UP TO SPEAK ON ITEM 12, RESOLUTION 26-R-093? GOING ONCE. GOING TWICE. CLOSE AT 751. NOBODY SPEAKING ON THAT ITEM. CAN I GET A MOTION TO PASS RESOLUTION 26-R-093? OH, YOU HAVE A QUESTION. GO AHEAD. I HAD A QUESTION, DAISY. WHAT SPECIFIC ZONING CLASSIFICATION WILL STAFF BE RECOMMENDING FOR THIS PROPERTY? PUBLIC USE DISTRICT, SIR. IT'S IT'S PART OF THE PARKS MASTER PLAN. SO IT ALLOWS PARKS AND THINGS OF THAT NATURE. BUT SPECIFICALLY THIS PROPERTY IS ALREADY DESIGNATED FOR THE DRY CREEK NATURE PARK. AND IF YOU LOOK IN THE PARKS MASTER PLAN, WE ALREADY HAVE A CONCEPTUAL PLAN FOR THAT PARK. THAT'S A NATURAL TRAIL. THANK YOU. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? DO I HAVE A MOTION? SO MOVED. SECOND. ALL RIGHT. WE HAVE A MOTION MADE BY COUNCIL MEMBER PAUL MACALUSO OR COUNCIL MEMBER MARK DAVIS, AND SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER SHERIDAN. CAN I GET EVERYBODY TO CAST THEIR VOTES, THE PLACE. CAN I GET THE VOTES PUBLISHED? HAVING SEVEN YEAS, NO NAYS. ITEM PASSES. THANK YOU. ALL RIGHT, MOVING ON TO ITEM 13 IN THE PUBLIC HEARINGS. RESOLUTION 26-R-094. CONDUCT A PUBLIC HEARING AND CONSIDER A RESOLUTION ACCEPTING A PETITION FOR VOLUNTARY ANNEXATION OF APPROXIMATELY 0.19 ACRES OF LAND KNOWN AS 12235 AZTEC. WAY MORE SPECIFICALLY KNOWN AS A PORTION OF BEXAR COUNTY PROPERTY IDENTIFICATION NUMBER 308309, BEXAR COUNTY, TEXAS. WE HAVE SENIOR PLANNER DAISY MARQUEZ. GOOD EVENING ONCE AGAIN, COUNCIL MAYOR MR. WILLIAMS RESOLUTION 26 R 94, ACCEPTING A PETITION FOR VOLUNTARY ANNEXATION OF 0.19 ACRES IN BEXAR COUNTY. DAISY MARQUEZ, SENIOR PLANNER. SO THIS PROPERTY MIGHT LOOK A LITTLE MORE FAMILIAR. IT'S LOCATED ALONG AZTEC WAY. IT WAS RECENTLY PURCHASED BY THE CITY IN 2026. BUT ABOUT 0.19 ACRES OF IT IS ACTUALLY WITHIN THE BEXAR COUNTY ETJ. SO THIS PROPOSED VOLUNTARY ANNEXATION IS TO BRING THAT PORTION OF IT WITHIN CITY LIMITS. AND AGAIN, HERE'S MR. WILLIAMS'S PETITION FOR VOLUNTARY ANNEXATION. AND AGAIN, THIS DOES NOT ANNEX THE SUBJECT PROPERTY. IT ALLOWS US TO START THE ANNEXATION PROCESS SO THAT IT CAN BE ANNEXED INTO THE CITY BY ORDINANCE IN THE FUTURE. AND AGAIN THE ANNEXATION AND THE ZONE CHANGE ORDINANCES ARE SCHEDULED FOR THE SEPTEMBER 15TH CITY COUNCIL MEETING. AND THE ZONE CHANGE APPLICATION IS SCHEDULED FOR THE SEPTEMBER 2ND PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION MEETING. AND STAFF IS ALSO RECOMMENDING APPROVAL FOR THIS ONE TO BE PUBLIC USE DISTRICT AS WELL. OKAY. AT THIS TIME, I'LL GO AHEAD AND OPEN IT UP TO HEARING RESIDENTS AT 754. ANYBODY WISHING TO COME UP TO SPEAK ON RESOLUTION 26-R-094. GOING ONCE. TWICE. WE'LL GO AHEAD AND CLOSE HEARING RESIDENTS. 754. AT THIS TIME, I'LL GO AHEAD AND OPEN IT UP TO QUESTIONS BY COUNCIL. COUNCIL MEMBER GUERRERO. A MOTION TO APPROVE RESOLUTION 26-R-09 FOR SECOND.
[1:55:04] OKAY. I HAVE A MOTION BY COUNCILMAN GUERRERO TO APPROVE RESOLUTION 26-R-094. SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER PAUL MACALUSO. CAN I GET EVERYBODY CAST THEIR VOTES, PLEASE? CAN I GET THE VOTES PUBLISHED. OKAY. HAVING SEVEN YEAS, NO NAYS. MOTION PASSES. THANK YOU. ALRIGHT, MOVING ON TO OUR WORKSHOP ITEM 14 PRESENTATION OF THE 2026 EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT SURVEY RESULTS, WE HAVE OUR DIRECTOR OF HUMAN RESOURCE, JESSICA KURTZ. GOOD EVENING, MAYOR COUNCIL. LET ME GET IT PULLED UP HERE. SO SINCE 2014, THE CITY HAS CONTRACTED WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN'S INSTITUTE FOR ORGANIZATIONAL EXCELLENCE TO CONDUCT OUR EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT SURVEYS. SO WE DO THEM EVERY OTHER YEAR. SO WE'VE JUST COMPLETED OUR 2026 EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT SURVEY. AND HERE TONIGHT I'M GOING TO INVITE UP IN JUST A MINUTE IS THE DIRECTOR FOR THE INSTITUTE. DOCTOR NOEL LANDED. SO HE'S GOING TO COME UP AND REVIEW THE RESULTS FROM OUR 2026 EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT SURVEY. NO. THANK YOU. HEY. GOOD EVENING. MAYOR. COUNCIL. CITY MANAGER. THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME DOWN AGAIN. MY NAME IS NOEL AND I WORK AND TEACH UP AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN. AND I HAVE THIS REALLY KIND OF COOL JOB OF GETTING TO ASK PEOPLE IN GOVERNMENT AND NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS AND CHILD WELFARE ORGANIZATIONS WHAT THEY THINK ABOUT WHERE THEY WORK, AND WE DO A LOT OF CITIES AS WELL. IS THIS A TOUCH SCREEN? OKAY. NO, IT'S NOT A TOUCH SCREEN. OH, THERE'S A THING DOWN HERE. OKAY. THANKS. SO WE'RE WE'RE A UNIT THAT'S BEEN IN THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS ABOUT 40 YEARS. THE GOVERNOR WANTED TO KNOW AT CLEMENTS AND IN THE LATE 70S, WHAT THE PEOPLE WHO WORK FOR THE STATE OF TEXAS FELT ABOUT WORKING FOR THE STATE OF TEXAS. THEY FOUND SOME EXPERTISE OVER AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS THAT DID THIS TYPE OF ASSESSMENT, AND WE CONTINUE TO DO THAT TO THIS DAY. WE ASSESS MOST OF STATE GOVERNMENT. WE ALSO ASSESS ABOUT OVER 150 ORGANIZATIONS ON A REGULAR BASIS, AND MY JOB IS TO TAKE SOFT MEASURES OF HOW YOU THINK AND FEEL ABOUT THINGS AND PUT HARD NUMBERS TO IT, BECAUSE HOW WE THINK AND FEEL MAKES A BIG DIFFERENCE. IF YOU LIKE A RESTAURANT YOU LIKE WHERE YOU PARK AT THE RESTAURANT, YOU LIKE THE FOOD AT THE RESTAURANT, YOU'RE MORE LIKELY TO SPEND YOUR HARD DOLLARS AT THAT RESTAURANT IF YOU LIKE WHERE THEY WORK. YOU KNOW YOU LIKE THE PEOPLE YOU WORK WITH. YOU LIKE THE THINGS ABOUT WHERE YOU WORK. YOU'RE MORE LIKELY TO BE MORE ENGAGED AND GIVE MORE OF YOUR DISCRETIONARY EFFORT. SO WE DO A LOT OF DIFFERENT SURVEY WORK TO TRY TO PROVIDE LEADERSHIP WITH GOOD DATA TO MAKE DECISIONS. WE ALWAYS BASE IT ON A THEORY. AND THIS IS THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT FOR CIVIC GOVERNMENT. AND THAT IS IF YOU HAVE A STRONG ORGANIZATION, A STRONG LEADERSHIP, A STRONG CITY WITH A GOOD SENSE OF MISSION AND VISION, WITH STRONG LEADERSHIP AND SUPERVISORS THAT ENGAGE EMPLOYEES EFFECTIVELY, THEY'RE MORE LIKELY TO DEVELOP AND DELIVER BETTER SERVICES TO CITIZENS AND TO CLIENTS, BOTH INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL. AND THAT BUILDS BETTER TRUST BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT IF WE GO TO AN ORGANIZATION THAT'S WELL RUN. YOU HAVE A GOOD INTERACTION WITH THEM. YOU TRUST THAT ORGANIZATION TO DO A BETTER JOB, AND ENGAGEMENT WORKS ALONG THAT SAME LINE. SO THE CITY, AS WE'VE MENTIONED, WE'VE BEEN DOING THIS FOR OVER A DECADE. AND THAT'S THAT'S PRETTY OUTSTANDING. AND WE'VE SEEN CHANGES OVER TIME, BUT WE ALSO BREAK THIS DATA UP IN 21 DIFFERENT WAYS. SO THERE'S LOTS OF DIFFERENT WAYS TO LOOK AT THIS BY DEPARTMENT AND BY AREA. AND YOU ALL ADDED FIVE ADDITIONAL ITEMS TO IT. THE RESPONSE RATE FOR THE SURVEY WAS 43%, WHICH WAS DOWN FROM THE LAST TIME, ABOUT 6%. WE DO LIKE TO HAVE A STRONG RESPONSE RATE FROM INDIVIDUALS. USUALLY WE LIKE MORE THAN 50% ON AVERAGE. YOU STILL HAVE VALID RESULTS ANY TIME YOU GET ABOVE 30. KIND OF THE INDUSTRY AVERAGE FOR SOME ASSESSMENTS ALONG THIS LINE IS ABOUT 40 TO 60% IN THAT RANGE. SO THE CITY FALLS IN THAT, BUT IT IS DOWN A LITTLE BIT FROM LAST TIME. AND WE ALWAYS LOOK AT THE DEMOGRAPHY. WHEN THAT HAPPENS, WE ALWAYS LOOK AT THAT TO MAKE SURE THAT THE INDIVIDUALS THAT INDICATED THAT TOOK THE SURVEY, IT KIND OF FITS THE PROFILE OF THE CITY. AND WE SEE THAT YOU HAVE THE DIFFERENT BREAKDOWNS AND THE REPORTS HAVE THE DIFFERENT BREAKDOWNS. A VERY SMALL PERCENTAGE OF PEOPLE INDICATED THAT THEY INTEND TO LEAVE. AND YOU DO HAVE A PRETTY HIGH GROUP OF PEOPLE THAT TEND TO RETIRE, YOU KNOW, 18% THAT TOOK THE SURVEY. THAT'S A PRETTY HIGH RATE. THE SURVEY HAS 48 PRIMARY ITEMS, SO IT HAS 48 QUESTIONS THAT BREAK INTO 12 DIFFERENT GROUPS. SO WE LOOK AT HOW THE WORK GROUP HOLDS TOGETHER THE STRATEGIC ORIENTATION, MY SUPERVISOR, THE PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT, THE WORKPLACE, MY SENSE OF COMMUNITY. IT'S ALWAYS ABOUT IT. IT'S ALWAYS ABOUT COMMUNICATION. IT'S ALWAYS ABOUT PAYING BENEFITS. EMPLOYEE DEVELOPMENT IS OUR WORD FOR TRAINING. AND THEN JOB SATISFACTION IS WORK LIFE BALANCE, WHICH HAS BEEN A GROWING AREA EVER SINCE THE PANDEMIC.
[2:00:05] AND EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT IS AN OVERALL, THE CITY HAS A HEALTHY OVERALL SCORE. WE WANT IT TO BE ABOVE 350. WE LIKE IT TO BE ABOVE A 375. AND WE HIT THAT MARK ABOVE A 375 AND WE'RE IN THAT GREEN ZONE, IF YOU WILL. AND SO THIS SCORE RUNS FROM A LOW OF 100 TO A HIGH OF 500. AND AN ENGAGEMENT SCORE OF ABOVE A 350 INDICATES WHAT I WOULD SAY A HEALTHY ORGANIZATION IS. IF YOU LOOK AT THE OVERALL SCORE DOWN, BECAUSE I THINK THIS IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE YOU SEE YOUR SCORES HAVE FLUXED OVER TIME. BUT THE GENERAL TREND AND I JUST PULLED THIS FROM 2018, I COULD HAVE GONE BACK EVEN FURTHER. BUT YOU SEE THE TREND LINE IS WE HAVE HAD A STEADY INCREASE OVER TIME. IT'S FLUXED UP AND DOWN, BUT WE'RE CURRENTLY AN OVERALL SCORE OF 377. AND THE OVERALL TREND LINE THERE INCREASES OVER TIME, WHICH IS WHICH IS WHAT YOU LIKE TO SEE. EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT IS A MEASURE THAT WAS REALLY POPULARIZED IN THE EARLY 2000 BY GALLUP. GALLUP, THE SURVEYING ORGANIZATION, TOOK A BIT OF ANALYSIS OF SURVEYS AND SAID, WHAT DOES THAT LOOK LIKE? WHAT DOES ENGAGEMENT MEAN? AND THE MORE YOU HAVE ENGAGED EMPLOYEES ARE HIGHLY ENGAGED EMPLOYEES, THE MORE EMPLOYEES ARE WILLING TO GIVE THEIR DISCRETIONARY EFFORT. YOU KNOW, THEY'RE WILLING TO REALLY GIVE MORE TO THE ORGANIZATION. WE LIKE TO HAVE 50% IN THOSE TOP TWO QUADRANTS. AND YOU GOT THAT. WE DO LIKE THOUGH, THE BOTTOM TWO QUADRANTS, THE 32% MODERATELY ENGAGED. WE LIKE THAT IN THE 20S OF THE TEENS EVEN AND THE DISENGAGED IN THE SINGLE DIGITS. WE WERE KIND OF AT THAT POINT TWO YEARS AGO. WE DID A LITTLE SLIDING THOUGH ALONG THAT LINE, BUT WE'RE STILL MANAGED TO HAVE MORE THAN 50% OVER TIME. AND AGAIN, THAT TREND LINE KIND OF HELPS US UNDERSTAND THAT THE CITY IS MOVING IN A GOOD DIRECTION. IT JUST IS VARIATING A LITTLE BIT RIGHT NOW. WE ALWAYS LOOK AT THE THE 12 DIFFERENT CONSTRUCTS, AND WE PUT THE THREE HIGH IN BLUE AND THE THREE LOWER IN RED. WORKGROUP, STRATEGIC AND EMPLOYEE DEVELOPMENT. ALL ARE SCORING VERY HIGH WORKGROUP. HOW THE GROUPS GET ALONG TOGETHER. STRATEGIC. DO THEY UNDERSTAND THE MISSION AND DIRECTION THE CITY IS GOING IN? VERY HIGH AND EMPLOYEE DEVELOPMENT TRAINING MADE AVAILABLE TO IMPROVE THE WAY THEY DO THEIR JOBS. THAT'S ALSO STRONG. INTERNAL COMMUNICATION AND PAY ARE ALMOST ALWAYS IN THE BOTTOM FIVE. THEY'RE ALMOST ALWAYS IN THE BOTTOM FIVE. FOR ORGANIZATIONS, PAY IS SOMETHING THAT PARTICULARLY GOVERNMENT HAS BEEN CHASING, PARTICULARLY IN CENTRAL TEXAS. AND WE ALL KIND OF UNDERSTAND THE ECONOMY RIGHT NOW. INTERNAL COMMUNICATION IS A CHALLENGE. JOB SATISFACTION IS AT THAT 375 SCORE, SO IT'S STILL GOOD. BUT RELATIVE TO THE ORGANIZATION, IT'S ONE OF THE LOWER ONES. AND AGAIN, THAT'S THE WORK LIFE BALANCE SCORE. WE YOU KNOW, JUST FOR YOUR INFORMATION, EACH ONE OF THESE GROUPS. AND HERE'S THE THREE HIGH CONSTRUCTS HERE. THESE ARE THE ITEMS THAT MAKE THAT UP. SO IF WE WERE TO LOOK AT WORK GROUP AND WE'RE GOING TO SAY WHAT'S REALLY DRIVING THAT WORK GROUP'S SCORE, PEOPLE INDICATE THAT THEIR WORK GROUP GETS THEIR JOB DONE. THEY COOPERATE TO GET THE JOB DONE. YOU WANT THAT, RIGHT? STRATEGIC ORIENTATION. THEY KNOW HOW THEIR WORK IMPACTS OTHERS IN THE ORGANIZATION. THAT'S A REALLY HIGH SCORE AND THEY'RE PROUD OF THE QUALITY OF WORK. THEY DELIVER AN EMPLOYEE DEVELOPMENT. THEY BELIEVE THEY HAVE A CAREER WITH THE ORGANIZATION. I'D LIKE TO REALLY STRESS THAT ONE. WHEN WE LOOK AT INTENT TO LEAVE AND WHY PEOPLE LEAVE AN ORGANIZATION ALWAYS IN THE TOP TEN, WHEN PEOPLE SAY THEY WANT TO LEAVE, IT'S BECAUSE THEY DON'T FEEL LIKE THEY HAVE A CAREER. THAT'S NOT ONE OF THESE ISSUES HERE. THAT'S A HIGH SCORE FOR THE ORGANIZATION. ON THE LOWER SIDE OF THE SCALE HERE, COMMUNICATIONS I RECEIVE AT WORK ARE TIMELY AND INFORMATIVE. THAT'S ONE OF THE LOWER ONES. COMMUNICATION IS ALWAYS A CHALLENGE. PAY KEEPING PACE WITH THE COST OF LIVING THAT'S, THAT CONTINUES TO BE A CHALLENGE FOR ORGANIZATIONS AS WELL. AND THEN ON THE BOTTOM, THE PACE OF WORK ENABLES EMPLOYEES TO EFFECTIVELY PERFORM THEIR JOB. THAT'S ONE OF THE LOWER SCORES AS WELL. SO YOU KIND OF SEE WHAT DRIVES THOSE DIFFERENT CONSTRUCT SCORES. THERE IS A DIFFERENT SECTION IN THERE THAT LOOKS AT HOW THE SURVEY IS, IS BEING USED AND PERCEIVED BY EMPLOYEES. YOU GOT ABOUT 30% OF EMPLOYEES DON'T THINK THIS INFORMATION IS GOING TO BE USED. RIGHT. AND SO WE'VE ALREADY BEEN TALKING ABOUT HOW TO KIND OF CHANGE THAT SCORE, BECAUSE YOU DO WANT EMPLOYEES TO FEEL THAT THEY PUT THE EFFORT IN THAT THE SURVEY WILL WILL MOVE THAT FORWARD IN THE RIGHT WAY. YOU HAVE ABOUT 25% OF PEOPLE FEEL AS THOUGH IT WOULD BE GREAT TO GIVE MORE OPPORTUNITIES TO GIVE FEEDBACK TO SUPERVISORS. ABOUT 25% WOULD LIKE MORE DIFFERENT TYPE OF COMMUNICATION FROM UPPER MANAGEMENT. AND I'D LIKE TO POINT OUT THAT THE ETHICS SCORE AND HARASSMENT SCORE, WE ASKED REALLY GENERIC QUESTIONS ON THAT. WE LIKE THOSE. WE LIKE THOSE AS LOW AS POSSIBLE. BELOW 5% IS IDEAL. YOU'RE RIGHT AT THAT 5%. BUT THOSE ARE ALWAYS ISSUES TO WHICH TO CONSIDER AS WELL. THE NEXT STEPS WE ENGAGE THE EMPLOYEES. WE'VE BEEN ENGAGING THE EMPLOYEES FOR OVER TEN YEARS.
[2:05:01] THE STAFF HAS THE DATA, REVIEWING THE DATA, SHARING THE DATA, AND THEN IT'S TIME TO DO SOMETHING WITH THE DATA AS WELL. YOU KNOW, I KIND OF LIKEN IT TO, YOU KNOW, YOU PAY A LOT OF MONEY FOR A GYM MEMBERSHIP. YOU PAY A LOT OF MONEY FOR A PERSONAL TRAINER, YOU PAY A LOT OF MONEY FOR A WORKOUT PLAN. BUT IF YOU DON'T WORK OUT OR DON'T GO TO THE GYM, YOU'RE NOT GOING TO GET DIFFERENT RESULTS. AND THIS IS THE SAME THING. YOU'VE GOT DATA. THE CITY HAS HISTORICALLY DONE GOOD THINGS WITH THE DATA. SO, YOU KNOW, I BELIEVE YOU KNOW, THAT PROCESS CAN TAKE PLACE, BUT TO TAKE ACTION ALONG THAT LINE, THERE'S LOTS OF DIFFERENT ACTIVITIES TO DO. WE, WE WORK WITH I, I GO TO PLANO TOMORROW AND WORK WITH THE CITY MANAGEMENT AND PLANO 140. PLANO IS A BIG CITY, 140 OF THEIR MANAGERS WHERE WE'RE GOING TO DO AN ACTIVITY WITH ALL THEIR DATA ABOUT HOW TO MOVE THEM FORWARD ALONG THAT LINE. SO I DO THAT THURSDAY MORNING. THERE'S ALL DIFFERENT OTHER TYPES OF THINGS TO DO. IT'S IMPORTANT TO COMMUNICATE IT BACK AND JUST HAVE THE CONVERSATION. ENGAGING EMPLOYEES ALONG THAT LINE MAKES A BIG DIFFERENCE. SO HAVE THE CONVERSATION ALONG THAT LINE. THAT'S THE KIND OF WORK WE DO. I WOULD BE HAPPY IF I IF I HAD A MOMENT, I'D BE HAPPY TO ANSWER QUESTIONS ALONG THAT LINE. IF ANYBODY DOES. YOU YOU KNOW, THE REPORTS ARE REALLY THICK WITH INFORMATION THAT COULD HELP ANSWER SOME OF THOSE QUESTIONS AS WELL. ANY QUESTIONS FROM COUNCIL? I GOT A QUESTION. COUNCIL MEMBER GUERRERO. YES, SIR. HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO DO ONE OF THESE SURVEYS? IT'S FOR LIKE THE INDIVIDUAL TO COMPLETE IT FROM START TO FINISH. SO. WELL, TO COMPLETE THE SURVEY, IT AVERAGES ABOUT 10 TO 12 MINUTES PER INDIVIDUAL TO DO IT. THE TIME IT TAKES THE ORGANIZATION, THOUGH WE USUALLY DO IT OVER A MONTH, PERIOD OF SETTING IT UP AND ADMINISTERING AND SENDING OUT REMINDERS AND SO FORTH AND SO ON. THAT'S IN A TWO PART PHASE, CORRECT? A TWO PART. IS THAT WHAT YOU SAID? WELL, THE SURVEY IS TENDED TO 10 TO 12 WEEKS IS WHAT YOU SAID. NO, NO, NO, THE THE INDIVIDUAL TO COMPLETE THE ITEMS LIKE ACTUALLY TAKE THE SURVEY AND SIT DOWN. THAT ONLY TAKES TEN MINUTES. OKAY. THE TIME IT TAKES THE THE ORGANIZATION SETS THE SURVEY UP. THEY COMMUNICATE TO EMPLOYEES TO TAKE IT. WE ADMINISTER THE SURVEY. 3 TO 4 WEEKS AND THEN WE RETURN THE DATA REPORTS. WHAT IS THE COST FOR ALL THIS? I AM NOT SURE WHAT YOUR RESULT, WHAT YOUR COST IS FOR YOU ALL. I KNOW IT'S COST. IT COSTS $3,249. THANK YOU. NOW, WHEN YOU CONDUCT A SURVEY, IS THIS AN ONLINE SURVEY FOR THE EMPLOYEES OR IS THIS A HARD COPY SURVEY THAT THEY TAKE THIS. THIS? IT CAN BE BOTH. BUT I BELIEVE THE CITY. YOU ALL DO IT ALL ONLINE. OKAY. SOMETIMES WE HAVE EMPLOYEES THAT DON'T HAVE ACCESS TO. AND WE DO A HARD COPY. BUT IF I CAN JUST ADD TO THAT, OF COURSE, YOU KNOW, PARTICIPATION IS VOLUNTARY, HIGHLY ENCOURAGED. AND WE TRY TO GET OUR SUPERVISORS TO, YOU KNOW, REALLY ENGAGE WITH OUR STAFF, REMIND THEM OF THE OPPORTUNITY. IT WAS OPEN FOR ABOUT TWO WEEKS. WE SENT MULTIPLE REMINDERS DURING THAT TIME. ENCOURAGE SUPERVISORS TO MAKE TIME AND MAKE AVAILABLE THE USE OF A COMPUTER FOR THOSE FOLKS WHO MIGHT NOT BE SITTING AT THE COMPUTER DURING THEIR DAILY JOB. TO GIVE FOLKS AN OPPORTUNITY TO RESPOND, THEY COULD COMPLETE IT ON THEIR MOBILE PHONE. SO LIKE I SAID, IT'S IN ENGLISH AND SPANISH AND ACCESSIBLE. YES. LOTS OF OPPORTUNITY. OKAY. COUNCIL MEMBER MACALUSO. YEAH. JUST REAL QUICK. JUST A COUPLE IT LOOKS, I SAW THE, THE LINEAR GRAPH THAT YOU HAD THERE AND SHOWING THE SCORE GOING UP, YOU KNOW, CONSISTENTLY. SO I THINK THAT'S SOMETHING TO SAY ABOUT THE LEADERSHIP THAT WE HAVE. SO GOOD JOB FOR, FOR DOING THAT. A LITTLE BIT SURPRISED BY THAT STATISTIC THAT YOU HAD THERE ABOUT THE EMPLOYEES THAT ARE CLOSE TO RETIREMENT. THAT THAT WAS A PRETTY HIGH NUMBER. SO HOPEFULLY THAT'S BEING LOOKED AT AND, AND BEING PLANNED FOR. I AGREE. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? OKAY. ITEM 14 WAS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. SO THANK YOU ALL VERY MUCH FOR YOUR REPORT. OKAY. WELL, THANK YOU VERY MUCH. HAVE A GOOD EVENING. THANK YOU SO MUCH. OKAY, MOVING ON TO ITEM 15 WORKSHOP REGARDING CURRENT IMPACT FEES. WE HAVE CITY ENGINEER CATHERINE WOODLEY. GOOD EVENING, MAYOR AND COUNCIL. LOOKS LIKE MY PRESENTATION GOT CLOSED, SO I'M GOING TO TRY. BEAR WITH ME FOR A MOMENT. OH, BOY. SORRY ABOUT THIS.
[2:10:12] THIS IS A CYBER SECURITY. SO WE ARE SECURE. IF WE NEED TO, WE CAN BRING IT UP FROM THE WEBSITE. GOT IT. THANK YOU. JUST IN TIME, I APOLOGIZE. ALL RIGHT. SO WE HAD A REQUEST TO GO OVER OUR IMPACT FEES AND WHERE WE STAND WITH THOSE. SO SOME OF THIS WILL BE A REFRESHER FOR A LOT OF YOU. A LITTLE BIT NEW FOR SOME OF OUR NEWER COUNCIL MEMBERS. SO JUST AS A BASIS, IMPACT FEES, ALSO KNOWN AS CAPITAL RECOVERY FEES, GOVERNED VERY STRICTLY BY TEXAS LOCAL GOVERNMENT CODE, CHAPTER 395. THEY ARE A CHARGE ON NEW DEVELOPMENT TO RECOUP A PORTION OF THE COST OF THAT DEVELOPMENT ON CITY INFRASTRUCTURE. THE BASIS FOR THE FEES IS LAND USE ASSUMPTIONS AND CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLANS AND COSTS. THE MAXIMUM ASSESSABLE RATES PER LIVING UNIT EQUIVALENT OR DEVELOPMENT UNIT, DEPENDING ON WHETHER WE'RE TALKING WATER AND WASTEWATER OR ROADWAY, ARE OBJECTIVE CALCULATIONS. SO WE LOOK AND THE COUNCIL APPROVES SOME LAND USE ASSUMPTIONS AND LOOKING AT THE PROJECTION OF GROWTH EXPECTED. AND WE COME UP WITH A CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN AND COST FOR THOSE PLANS. AND THERE'S A CALCULATION. AND THAT OUTCOME OF THAT CALCULATION IS THE MAXIMUM ASSESSABLE RATE. NOW THE ACTUAL OR EFFECTIVE RATES THAT THE CITY CHARGES ARE DISCRETIONARY FOR COUNCIL. SO WE CURRENTLY HAVE WATER WASTEWATER AND ROADWAY IMPACT FEES HERE IN SCHERTZ. SOME CITIES ALSO HAVE DRAINAGE IMPACT FEES. WE'RE NOT DOING THAT AT THIS POINT. SO FOR WATER AND WASTEWATER WHERE WE STAND THERE IS WE RECENTLY HAD UPDATED MASTER PLANS FOR BOTH WATER AND WASTEWATER, AND WE UPDATED THE IMPACT FEES AND THE RATES CHARGED THAT WAS EFFECTIVE IN JULY OF 2025. SEEMS LIKE YESTERDAY, BUT IT WAS A LITTLE MORE THAN A YEAR AGO. WE'RE CURRENTLY WORKING ON AN UPDATE TO THE ROADWAY IMPACT FEES, SO YOU'LL BE HEARING QUITE A BIT ABOUT THAT IN THE COMING MONTHS. OUR CURRENT ROADWAY RATES WERE ADOPTED IN MARCH OF 2018. WE HAD A SMALL UPDATE IN 2022, BUT NO CHANGES TO THE RATES. THAT WAS JUST TO TAKE IN SOME AREA THAT WE HAD ANNEXED INTO THE SERVICE AREAS. SO WE'RE CURRENTLY, LIKE I SAID, WE'RE CURRENTLY WORKING ON UPDATING OUR MASTER THOROUGHFARE PLAN AND OUR ROADWAY IMPACT FEE. WE ARE PLANNING AND SCHEDULING SOME PUBLIC OUTREACH MEETINGS. WE WILL HAVE A CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE. SEE, I KNOW WE HAVE A COUNCIL LIAISON FOR THAT. THAT COMMITTEE WILL HEAR AND PROVIDE FINDINGS TO COUNCIL ON THE PROPOSED UPDATES, AND WE WILL HAVE PUBLIC HEARINGS, DISCUSSION AND ACTION ON UPDATED RATES AFTER THAT. AND THOSE ARE ALL DICTATED. THE TIMING AND THE NUMBER OF HEARINGS AND THE ORDER OF PROCEEDINGS ARE ALL BASED ON CHAPTER THREE, 95 OF THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT CODE. SO OUR CURRENT RATES, WHAT I'M SHOWING HERE ARE THE MAXIMUM ACCESSIBLE RATES AND THE ACTUAL FEES THAT WE CHARGE. SO FOR WATER IMPACT FEE PER LU AND THE LU IS BASED ON THE METER SIZE THAT A DEVELOPMENT INSTALLS THE MAXIMUM. AND THE ACTUAL RATE CHARGED IS $8,814. WASTEWATER IMPACT FEE $5,556. THE ROADWAY IMPACT FEE IS A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT. ROADWAY IMPACT FEES ARE STIPULATED THAT THE FEES COLLECTED CAN ONLY BE SPENT IN THE AREA THAT THE DEVELOPMENT IS TAKING PLACE IN, AND NO AREA CAN BE LARGER THAN SIX MILES IN DIAMETER. SO WE DID HAVE TO DIVVY UP THE CITY INTO FOUR DIFFERENT SERVICE AREAS. AND WHEN THESE WERE ADOPTED, IT WAS COUNCIL'S DETERMINATION TO NOT HAVE SEPARATE OR DIFFERENT RATES FOR EACH SERVICE AREA.
[2:15:04] SO THEY PICKED SERVICE AREA THREE, WHICH HAD THE LOWEST MAXIMUM ACCESSIBLE RATE FOR RESIDENTIAL. IT WAS DETERMINED AND IT WAS PHASED IN AT THE TIME, BUT IT WAS DETERMINED THAT IT WOULD GO ALMOST UP TO THE MAXIMUM ACCESSIBLE RATE FOR RESIDENTIAL PROPERTIES. SO THEY'RE CURRENTLY PAYING $1,000 PER DEVELOPMENT UNIT. AND FOR COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT, THERE WAS A CONCERN. WE THIS WAS THE FIRST TIME THE CITY EVER ADOPTED A ROADWAY IMPACT FEE. AND WE'RE ONE OF THE NOT NOT A LOT OF CITIES IN THE AREA HAD THE FEE AT THE TIME. IT WAS FAIRLY NEW AND THERE WAS A CONCERN THAT IT WOULD IMPACT DEVELOPMENT NEGATIVELY. IT'S HARD NOT TO USE THE WORD IMPACT WHEN YOU'RE DISCUSSING IMPACT FEES. BUT IN ANY CASE. AND SO THAT RATE WAS SET EXTREMELY LOW AT THE MAXIMUM. ACCESSIBLE IN THAT LOWEST SERVICE AREA WAS $1,044 PER SERVICE UNIT. AND IT WAS ADOPTED AS ACTUALLY IT STARTED AS $100 AND WENT ALL THE WAY UP TO $175 PER DEVELOPMENT UNIT. SO WHY DO WE CHARGE THESE IMPACT FEES? SO THEY ENSURE THAT NEW DEVELOPMENT PAYS A SHARE OF THE COST TO EXPAND THE CITY'S SYSTEMS, RATHER THAN EXISTING CUSTOMERS FULLY FUNDING THE EXPANSION BY PAYING HIGHER RATES. AND YOU'LL RECALL WHEN YOU LOOKED AT THE BUDGET AND WE DID THE PRESENTATION OF THE CIP ON THOSE INDIVIDUAL PROJECT SHEETS, IT IDENTIFIES THE FUNDING. NOW, THE VAST BULK OF THAT FUNDING IS COMING FROM BONDS AND BOND PROCEEDS, BUT THERE ARE QUITE A FEW PROJECTS THAT ARE PART OF THE IMPACT VSIP AND IMPACT FEES ARE USED TO FUND THOSE PROJECTS. SO IF WE DIDN'T HAVE THOSE IMPACT FEES, THEN MORE BONDS WOULD BE NEEDED TO FUND THOSE PROJECTS. AND THE BONDS ARE PAID BY THE RATEPAYERS FOR THE WATER AND WASTEWATER FOR ROADWAY PAID BY THE TAXPAYERS. SO THIS ENSURES THAT NEW DEVELOPMENT THAT COMES IN PAYS A FAIR SHARE OF THAT. SO HOW ARE THEY CALCULATED. SO THE COST OF THE INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDED DURING THE PLANNING PERIOD IS ESTABLISHED IN THAT CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN. THEN THAT'S DIVIDED BY THE EXPECTED GROWTH IN THE LUNGS DURING THAT SAME PERIOD. AND THAT EQUALS THE MAXIMUM ALLOWABLE IMPACT FEE. SO FOR EXAMPLE, FOR WATER, THE COST OF INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDED TO ADDRESS GROWTH IN THE PLANNING PERIOD. SO THE PROJECTS THAT WERE IDENTIFIED IN OUR WATER. CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN IS $62.5 MILLION. THE GROWTH THAT WAS DETERMINED TO BE EXPECTED DURING THAT PLANNING PERIOD. 7100. LOUIS. AND THEREFORE THOSE TWO DIVIDED OR. I'M SORRY, BUT THE COST DIVIDED BY THE GROWTH. THAT'S WHERE WE CAME UP WITH THAT $8,814 FOR WASTEWATER. IT'S THE SAME CALCULATION, THE COST OF THE IMPROVEMENTS NEEDED FOR TO ADDRESS THE GROWTH. A LITTLE MORE THAN $40 MILLION DIVIDED BY A SIMILAR NUMBER OF LOUIS. AND SO THAT MAXIMUM ALLOWABLE FEES. THE 5556. AND HOW ARE THESE CHARGED AND CALCULATED TO THE DEVELOPMENT. SO FOR WATER AND WASTEWATER, IT'S BASED ON THE METER SIZE AND HOW MUCH FLOW CAN GO THROUGH THAT METER. SO HOW MUCH CAPACITY DO WE HAVE TO HAVE IN OUR SYSTEM TO BE ABLE TO PRODUCE THAT MUCH FLOW? AND WHEN THAT METER GOES IN, WHETHER THEY'RE GOING TO USE ALL OF THAT FLOW OR NOT, WE DON'T NECESSARILY KNOW, BUT THEY PUT IN THE METER SIZE THAT THEY NEED. IF ONE BUSINESS LEAVES, ANOTHER ONE COMES IN. IF THEY USE THE SAME METER SIZE, NO ADDITIONAL ASSESSMENT WOULD BE MADE. IF THEY CHANGE THEIR METER. IF IT DOES GO UP, THEN WE WOULD CHARGE THE DIFFERENCE. SO YOU DO GET INTO SOME FAIRLY BIG NUMBERS, BUT THAT'S A LOT OF FLOW THAT CAN GO THROUGH THOSE THOSE LARGER METERS. SO COMPARISON, WHERE DO WE STAND WITH RESPECT TO OUR NEIGHBORS AND SIMILAR SIMILAR MUNICIPALITIES AND UTILITIES. SO WE'RE FAIRLY CLOSE TO THE THE MIDDLE OF THE GROUP WHEN IT COMES TO THE WATER AND WASTEWATER FEE PER LUE, YOU NOTICE SOME OF THE ONES THAT ARE A LITTLE BIT OLDER SAN MARCOS AND CIBOLO ARE, ARE LOWER RATES, BUT THE ONES THAT HAVE BEEN ADOPTED MORE RECENTLY GET QUITE HIGH. TOPPING OUT WITH PFLUGERVILLE, WHEN YOU ADD THE TWO OF THEM TOGETHER, $29,000 PER LUE.
[2:20:03] SO TRANSLATING THIS INTO ACTUAL DEVELOPMENT. SO A SINGLE FAMILY HOME, FOR EXAMPLE, AND A SINGLE FAMILY HOME IS THE BASIS. SO WHEN WE TALK ABOUT 1LUE, THAT'S HOW MUCH IS USED OR GENERATED BY ONE SINGLE FAMILY HOME OR A 5/8 INCH METER. SO CIBOLO IS LIKE I SAID, AT THE LOW END, AND PFLUGERVILLE IS AT THE EXTREMELY HIGH END. AND WE SIT KIND OF IN THE MIDDLE OF ALL THAT. A FAST FOOD RESTAURANT, ON THE OTHER HAND, MIGHT USE A TWO INCH METER. AND HERE'S WHERE WE WE DO JUMP UP AHEAD ABOVE SOME OF THE OTHER MUNICIPALITIES BECAUSE WE, THE TWO INCH METERS THAT WE USE CAN TRANSMIT QUITE A BIT OF FLOW. SO IF SOMEONE WERE TO BE USING AS MUCH AS THEY POSSIBLY COULD THROUGH THAT TWO INCH METER, THEY'RE GOING TO BE FLOWING MORE, NEEDING MORE CAPACITY IN THE SYSTEM. THEREFORE THEY PAY MORE IMPACT FEE. SO I PICKED A STANDARD 9000 SQUARE FOOT MEDICAL OFFICE BUILDING, MIGHT USE A ONE INCH METER. YOU CAN SEE THERE WITH THAT ONE. AGAIN, WE'RE PRETTY CLOSE TO THE CENTER OF THE GROUP OF UTILITIES THAT WE LOOKED AT A 200 ZERO ZERO ZERO SQUARE FOOT WAREHOUSE, WHICH IS A VERY, VERY LARGE WAREHOUSE. AND A TWO INCH METER ISN'T UNHEARD OF FOR SOMETHING LIKE THAT. SO AGAIN, IT'S THE SAME NUMBER. YOU SEE, IF YOU LOOK AT THE 200 ZERO ZERO ZERO SQUARE FOOT WAREHOUSE COMPARED TO THE TWO INCH METER ON A FAST FOOD RESTAURANT, THE FEE IS THE SAME BECAUSE AGAIN, IT DOESN'T HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE TYPE OF USE, IT'S HOW MUCH WATER THEY CAN GET THROUGH THEIR METER. ALL RIGHT, SO HOW MUCH DO WE COLLECT WITH THESE RATES? DURING THE PERIOD APRIL 25TH TO MARCH 26TH. AND THAT THERE IS A MIX OF THE OLD RATES AND THE NEW RATES IN THERE. BUT, BUT MORE OF THE HIGHER RATES THAT WE'RE CURRENTLY COLLECTING FOR RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT, WE COLLECTED OVER $1.5 MILLION FOR COMMERCIAL 445, 446,000, FOR A TOTAL OF ALMOST $2 MILLION WASTEWATER IMPACT FEES DURING THE SAME PERIOD. YOU CAN SEE SIMILARLY RESIDENTIAL ALMOST $1 MILLION IN COMMERCIAL, A QUARTER OF A MILLION FOR 1.2 MILLION TOTAL FOR ROADWAY IMPACT FEES IN EACH SERVICE AREA. WE BROKE IT DOWN WITH RESIDENTIAL AND COMMERCIAL. AND HERE'S WHERE YOU REALLY SEE THAT YOU'RE COLLECTING SO MUCH LESS FOR COMMERCIAL THAN YOU ARE FOR RESIDENTIAL. AND AGAIN, THAT'S BECAUSE THE RATE WAS SET AT A MUCH LOWER AMOUNT THAN $175 PER DEVELOPMENT UNIT, AS OPPOSED TO THE MAXIMUM IN SERVICE AREA THREE, WHICH WAS 1044, I BELIEVE. SO WE COLLECTED A TOTAL OF 873,000. SO REMEMBER THAT WE CAN ONLY USE FUNDS COLLECTED IN THE SERVICE AREA WITHIN THAT SERVICE AREA. SO WHAT ARE WE USING THOSE FUNDS FOR. SO AS WE DISCUSSED IN THE RETREAT AND PRESENTED SOME OF THE PROJECTS THAT ARE SLATED FOR FISCAL YEAR 2627 THAT ARE AT LEAST PARTIALLY FUNDED WITH WATER IMPACT FEES, OR THE SCHWAB TO ECKERT 12 INCH MAIN ROBIN HOOD WAY WATERLINE REPLACEMENTS. THE EAST LIVE OAK TO I-35 DEDICATED TRANSMISSION MAIN. STILL HOPING TO GET SOME GRANT FUNDING FOR THAT ONE, BUT IF WE DON'T, WE'LL USE OUR IMPACT FEES AND WHERE. SEGUIN PUMP STATION EXPANSION SEWER PROJECTS INCLUDE THE CIBOLO WEST WASTEWATER TRUNK, MAIN WIEDERSTEIN ROAD, EIGHT INCH GRAVITY ARANDA EIGHT INCH GRAVITY NORTHCLIFFE LIFT STATION UPGRADE AND THE TOWN CREEK GRAVITY LINES FOR ROADWAY. WE LIKE I SAID, WE FINALLY HAVE MONEY. IT TOOK US A FEW YEARS TO ACTUALLY GET SUBSTANTIAL AMOUNTS TO BE ABLE TO DO SOME REAL WORK. OLD WIEDERSTEIN ROAD WIDENING AND EXTENSION. AND I BELIEVE OLD WIEDERSTEIN IS IN SERVICE AREA ONE. LIVE OAK TO MASK IS IN SERVICE AREA TWO, SO WE'RE DEALING WITH TWO DIFFERENT POTS OF MONEY THERE. AND THAT'S WHY IF YOU ACTUALLY LOOK AT THE CIP PLAN AND SEE HOW MUCH IS FUNDED BY IMPACT FEES FOR THOSE TWO PROJECTS, IT'S A DIFFERENT AMOUNT FOR EACH ONE BECAUSE THAT'S ALL WE HAVE AVAILABLE IN THOSE SERVICE AREAS. SO MOVING FORWARD, LIKE I SAID, WE'VE GOT ROADWAY IMPACT FEE UPDATE. IT'S NEARING COMPLETION. SO WE'LL BE BRINGING FORWARD TO YOU AN UPDATED MASTER THOROUGHFARE PLAN, UPDATED LAND USE ASSUMPTIONS, UPDATED ROADWAY IMPACT FEE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN AND COSTS.
[2:25:03] WE'LL BE DOING PUBLIC OUTREACH MEETING WITH THE CIAC TO HEAR AND PROVIDE FINDINGS TO COUNCIL. AND THEN YOU ALL WILL BE HAVING SOME PUBLIC HEARINGS, DISCUSSION AND ACTION TO DETERMINE THE NEW RATES FOR THE ROADWAY FEE, AND I'M HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS. COUNCIL MEMBER PAUL MACALUSO. THANK YOU FOR BRINGING THAT TO US. NOW WHAT WHAT PREVENTED YOU FROM HAVING ROADWAY COMPARISON IMPACT FEES BETWEEN CITIES IN THIS PRESENTATION? I BELIEVE THAT I WAS JUST UNDERSTANDING THAT WE WERE FOCUSING ON WATER AND WASTEWATER. I APOLOGIZE AND WE COULD BRING THOSE BACK TO YOU FOR SURE. NO, I KNOW, I KNOW, I WANT IT ALL IMPACT FEES BECAUSE, I MEAN, THAT'S EVERYTHING THAT A BUSINESS OR SOMEBODY IS CONSIDERING. WITH THAT BEING SAID, I DON'T THINK OUR ROADWAY IMPACT FEES ARE VERY HIGH, ESPECIALLY FOR COMMERCIAL FROM WHAT I CAN UNDERSTAND. BUT I DO THINK THAT A CONCERN TO ME THAT WE GO TO TWO INCH METER AND ALL OF A SUDDEN WE'RE THE HIGHEST THAT THERE IS. I MEAN, I DON'T KNOW, IT'S A QUESTION THAT MAYBE SOME OTHER PEOPLE COULD ANSWER, BUT HOW MANY BUSINESSES HAVE WE POTENTIALLY LOST BECAUSE OF THAT? AND FOR US TO BE AT THE HIGH END OF THAT, I THINK IS IS IS CONCERNING. IF ALL THINGS BEING EQUAL, THAT COULD EASILY BE A DETERMINING FACTOR FOR SOMEBODY TO LOCATE HERE OR NOT. SO I KNOW FOR ME, I WOULD LIKE TO SEE US MORE COMPETITIVE WITH THAT RATE THAN WHAT THAT'S CURRENTLY SHOWING. AS, AS WE APPEAR TO BE ON THE OTHERS, WE'RE, YOU KNOW, KIND OF MIDDLE OF THE PACK. I THINK THAT'S FAIR. BUT FOR US TO BE THE HIGHEST OUT OF ALL THOSE CITY COMPARISONS AND THAT'S CONCERNING TO ME. SO I CAN ADDRESS, I'M SORRY, ONE MORE THING. AND WITH THAT, THE ACTUAL COLLECTED AMOUNT WAS NOT VERY MUCH MONEY. AND SO IT'S, I DON'T KNOW, I JUST DON'T SEE US PUTTING THAT BIG OF A BURDEN ON A, ON A NEW BUSINESS, ESPECIALLY IF IT'S NOT REALLY BRINGING IN A WHOLE LOT OF REVENUE. OKAY, SO WE WILL BE TAKING A DEEP DIVE INTO THE ROADWAY IMPACT FEES IN THE COMING MONTHS, BUT I CAN PUT TOGETHER SOME COMPARISONS TO PASS ALONG SO THAT YOU'VE GOT IT FOR NOW. I WILL SAY WE'RE ALMOST CERTAINLY GOING TO BE AT THE LOW END FOR THE ROADWAY IMPACT FEES, BUT WE CAN PROVIDE THAT. AND THEN I WILL ALSO SAY, AND I'LL LOOK TO LARRY TO CHIME IN IF I'M INCORRECT, BUT I THINK WE HAVE MUCH LESS USE OF A TWO INCH METER. THEY'RE MORE RARE. WE'RE MUCH MORE COMMONLY HAVE THE ONE INCH. AND WHILE DEVELOPERS REGULARLY COMPLAIN AND QUESTION THE FEES, I'VE YET TO HAVE ANYONE ACTUALLY INDICATE THAT THEY'RE. ONCE THEY'VE GOTTEN TO THE POINT WHERE THEY'RE LOOKING TO DEVELOP HAIR AND SHIRTS THAT THEY. THAT IT'S A DEAL BREAKER. SO UNDERSTOOD. JUST WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW FROM OUR PERSPECTIVE, THAT'S WHAT WE SEE. AND I WOULD BELIEVE THAT IF SOMEONE'S, YOU KNOW, MADE THAT DEDICATION TO, YOU KNOW, BEING HERE. BUT IF THEY ARE HAVING A COMPARISON, ESPECIALLY IN A WAREHOUSE, YOU KNOW, IF IT DOESN'T MATTER WHERE THEY'RE LOCATED, THAT WOULD. THAT TO ME, I THINK WOULD BE A CONSIDERATION TO SOMEONE. OKAY. SO I KIND OF SHARE THE SAME THING WITH COUNCIL MEMBER PAUL MACALUSO, ESPECIALLY AS IT PERTAINS TO FAST FOOD RESTAURANTS. BUT I SEE THAT WE HAVE OUR COMPARISONS ARE BASED ON 2025 FIGURES AND SOME OF THE OTHER ONES STILL ARE 2023, 2024. SO I UNDERSTAND THAT THAT THOSE NUMBERS MAY BE HIGHER TODAY. SO I DON'T KNOW, BUT I DEFINITELY WOULDN'T WANT TO DO ANYTHING THAT WOULD LIKE, LIKE DETRACT ANY BUSINESSES OR FAST FOOD RESTAURANTS FROM COMING IN JUST BECAUSE OUR IMPACT FEES ARE SO HIGH. YEAH. IF I MAY, IF I MAY COUNCIL MAYBE THIS SORT OF HELPS FRAME IT BECAUSE I, I CERTAINLY UNDERSTAND THE, THE CONCERNS WE'RE HEARING, RIGHT. AND THAT'S, THAT'S KIND OF WHY WE HAVE THE ROADWAY IMPACT FEE FOR COMMERCIAL SET AS LOW AS WE DO, RIGHT. IT'S ABOUT, I THINK, $0.16 ON THE DOLLAR. AND IT WAS THESE SAME CONCERNS, RIGHT. WE HAVE BUSINESSES COME IN, THEY PAY PROPERTY TAXES, THEY PROVIDE JOBS, THEY PAY SALES TAX THAT HAS THESE THESE BENEFITS TO US. AND SO IF WE GO TOO HIGH ON THOSE, THEN, THEN, YOU KNOW, WE'RE DRIVING THEM AWAY. A COUPLE OF THINGS TO ADD TO THIS. AND THEN WE CAN MAYBE IF COUNCIL WANTS TO COME BACK WITH SOME OPTIONS AND SOME THINGS LIKE THAT, BUT A FEW THINGS TO, TO SORT OF KEEP IN MIND. BUT, BUT I THINK WE STILL UNDERSTAND THE POINT. SO A COUPLE OF THINGS. ONE IS WE DO PROVIDE CREDITS FOR BOTH ROADWAY IMPACT FEES AND UTILITY IMPACT FEES. WHEN SOMEONE, WHEN A DEVELOPER BUILDS A SYSTEM IMPROVEMENT.
[2:30:03] SO ONE OF THOSE ROADS THAT'S ON THE ROADWAY IMPACT FEE STUDY, IF A DEVELOPER BUILDS THAT, THEY GET CREDITS THAT OFFSET WHAT THEY ACTUALLY PAY. THE SAME THING APPLIES IF YOU BUILD A WATER LINE OR A SEWER LINE THAT'S ON OUR IMPACT FEE SYSTEM. SO FOR EXAMPLE, THE HERITAGE OAKS DEVELOPMENT THAT YOU'VE SEEN CONSTRUCTION KICK OFF ON ON SCHERTZ PARKWAY AT WIEDERSTEIN, THEY'RE CONSTRUCTING A LINE, I THINK, OR MAYBE IT'S A WATER LINE AND THAT'S ON THE SYSTEM. SO THEY GET CREDIT FOR THAT BASED ON PUTTING THAT IN. SO AGAIN, WHEN PEOPLE ARE BUILDING INFRASTRUCTURE, THEY HAVE CREDIT GOES TO IT AS A WAY TO MAKE THE SYSTEM SYSTEM FAIR. THE OTHER THING TO KEEP IN MIND THAT THAT WE CAN DO IS CERTAINLY WITH PARTICULARLY SOME PROJECTS BEYOND THE TYPE OF THE PROJECT THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION CAN PROVIDE AS PART OF THEIR INCENTIVE PACKAGE TO KEEP IN MIND WHAT THAT IMPACT FEE AMOUNT WOULD BE. NOW, THAT'S NOT EVERY BUSINESS. IF THEY'RE NOT BUILDING INFRASTRUCTURE, IF THEY'RE NOT CREATING PRIMARY JOBS, THEY HAVE LESS FLEXIBILITY. BUT IT'S A TOOL IN OUR TOOLBOX TO, TO LOWER THOSE FOR SOME SO THAT WE DON'T USE BUSINESSES. THE OTHER THING THAT WE'LL TRY TO DO A LITTLE BETTER JOB, MAYBE WHEN WE COME BACK, BECAUSE WE CERTAINLY UNDERSTAND THE POINT THAT WHAT I'M HEARING, AND I DON'T DISAGREE THAT FOR COMMERCIAL UTILITY IMPACT FEES ARE SEEM HIGH BY COMPARISON, AS LARRY NOTED, THOUGH, OR AS CATHY NOTED, AND LARRY TESTED AND I CONFIRMED, RIGHT, IS THAT THE TYPE OF METER WE USE NOW FOR A TWO INCH METER FLOWS, A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF WATER. SO WE BASED COMPARED TO OUR OLD METER, YOU CAN GET A LOT MORE FLOW OUT OF A CURRENT TWO INCH METER THAN WE'RE USING THAN OUR OLD TWO INCH METER. AND SO PART OF IT MAY BE EDUCATING FOLKS WHEN THEY COME IN, WHICH WE POINT OUT TO THEM, RIGHT? DON'T PUT IN A BIGGER METER THAN YOU NEED FOR YOUR BUSINESS, RIGHT? LOOK AT WHAT OUR METERS CAN FLOW. AND IF AND AGAIN, THIS IS GENERALLY DETERMINED BY THE ARCHITECT. THE ENGINEER. IF YOUR BUSINESS ONLY NEEDS A ONE INCH METER ONLY PUT IN A ONE INCH METER. DON'T PUT IN A TWO INCH METER. AND ALSO MAKE SURE YOU UNDERSTAND. AND WE HAVE THE DATA ON HOW MUCH WATER OUR METERS CAN FLOW. SO RIGHT AGAIN I UNDERSTAND THE POINT. WE'LL COME BACK WITH A LITTLE BIT IS THAT WE THINK WE'RE HAVING FEWER PEOPLE USE TWO INCH METERS BECAUSE OUR ONE INCH METER FLOWS MORE WATER THAN THE OLD ONE INCH METER USED TO IS PARTLY WHY WE'RE HAVING THOSE NUMBERS. BUT THERE ARE THINGS WE CAN DO. AND SO AGAIN, I THINK IF THE GENERAL CONSENSUS FOR COUNCIL IS GO BACK AND LOOK AT WHAT WE COULD DO TO TRY TO ENSURE THAT OUR IMPACT FEES ARE NOT A SIGNIFICANT OBSTACLE FOR NEW DEVELOPMENT COMING IN. WE CAN DO THAT AGAIN. WE DID THAT WITH ROADWAY IMPACT FEES. WE CAN LOOK AT IT WITH UTILITY IMPACT FEES AS WELL. AND, AND AGAIN, PART OF IT KEEP IN MIND, RIGHT, IS WHAT PACE DO WE WANT TO BUILD INFRASTRUCTURE, RIGHT? SO HOW MUCH MONEY DO WE WANT COMING IN AND KIND OF HOW DO WE WANT TO FUND THAT? WHO WE WANT TO FUND THAT THERE'S NOT A RIGHT OR WRONG ANSWER. SO WE CAN CERTAINLY COME BACK IF THE CONCERN IS, LET'S LOOK IN PARTICULAR ABOUT OUR FEES RELATIVE TO COMMERCIAL BUSINESSES AND WHERE WE WANT TO REMAIN COMPETITIVE. WE CAN LOOK AT A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT STRATEGIES TO DO THAT AND COME BACK WITH YOU. HAPPY TO DO THAT. THE OTHER THING I WOULD CAVEAT, RIGHT. IF YOU REMEMBER LAST YEAR, ONE OF THE THINGS WE FACED WHEN WE WERE DOING ROADWAY IMPACT FEES AND CATHY, CATHY SAID, THIS IS WHEN WE DID ROADWAY IMPACT FEES, WE HAD A SIGNIFICANT PHASE IN FOR THOSE, AND THAT WAS TO LET PEOPLE GET USED TO IT, LET THEM FACTOR IT INTO THEIR PROJECTS, NOT KIND OF HIT THEM ALL AT ONCE. PROBLEM WE FACED LAST YEAR IS THE LEGISLATURE WAS CONSIDERING A BILL THAT WOULD NOT HAVE ALLOWED US TO SORT OF DO THAT PHASE IN THE WAY THEY HAD INITIALLY WORDED IT. FORTUNATELY, THEY KIND OF CAME WITH A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT. BUT ONE OF THE PROBLEMS IS ONCE YOU SORT OF SET YOUR IMPACT FEE, YOU CAN'T GO UP ON IT. IT LIMITS YOU. BUT YEAH, I THINK WE CAN COME BACK. GIVE US A COUPLE OF MONTHS. WE CAN COME BACK WITH SOME TECHNIQUES AND OPTIONS FOR YOU. IF THAT'S IF THAT'S WHERE YOU ARE AND HELP YOU UNDERSTAND THE IMPLICATIONS TO MAKE AN INFORMED DECISION. BEFORE I GO TO DOCTOR SHERIDAN ON HIS QUESTION MY OTHER QUESTION IS DO SOME OF THESE BUSINESSES, COMMERCIAL BUSINESSES, DO THEY HAVE TWO AND SOME THREE METERS WATER METERS? BECAUSE I KNOW A LOT OF TIMES YOU HAVE TO HAVE A WATER METER FOR CONSUMPTION. YOU HAVE TO HAVE ANOTHER WATER METER FOR FIRE SUPPRESSION AND THEN ANOTHER WATER METER FOR IRRIGATION. THAT'S CORRECT. SO FOR FIRE SUPPRESSION THE FIRE LINES DON'T GET METERED. SO WE DON'T CHARGE AN IMPACT FEE FOR THOSE FOR IRRIGATION. WE CHARGE WATER IMPACT FEE, BUT NO SEWER IMPACT FEE BECAUSE IT'S NOT CONNECTED TO THE SEWER AT ALL.
[2:35:03] AND FOR THE DOMESTIC, WE DO CHARGE THE WATER AND THE SEWER BASED ON THE METER SIZE. COUNCILMAN. SHERIDAN. NO, I JUST WANT TO KIND OF PIGGYBACK OFF OF WHAT YOU SAID. MAYOR AND COUNCIL MEMBER MACALUSO YOU KNOW, LOOKING AT PAGE 12, SLIDE 12 THERE, IT SEEMS THAT WE'RE REALLY OUT OF TOUCH WITH WHAT THE LOCAL OR, YOU KNOW, OUR SURROUNDING CITIES ARE, ARE PROVIDING IN REGARDS TO THESE YOU KNOW, IMPACT FEES THAT WE'RE CHARGING. SO, YOU KNOW, KIND OF CONTRADICTS WHAT WE HAD EARLIER IN REGARDS TO, YOU KNOW, WE WANT TO MAKE SURE BUSINESSES, YOU KNOW, ARE LOOKING AT SHIRTS, YOU KNOW, AND, YOU KNOW, TO ME THAT COULD POSSIBLY, YOU KNOW, SCARE THEM AWAY IN A SENSE, YOU KNOW, BUT AND WE DON'T WANT TO DO THAT. SO AGAIN, YOU KNOW, THE REVENUE THAT WE'RE COLLECTING ON THIS, I DON'T THINK IT'S REALLY SIGNIFICANT ENOUGH TO, YOU KNOW, BUT, YOU KNOW, WE'RE, YOU KNOW, LOOKING AT THESE SLIDES, WE'RE, YOU KNOW, WE'RE REALLY OUT THERE, YOU KNOW, WE'RE AN OUTLIER OUT THERE IN REGARDS TO WHAT I'M SEEING HERE. SO AGAIN, I THINK YOU KNOW, YOU KIND OF ANSWERED ALL MY QUESTIONS. I KNOW THESE ARE PROBABLY, YOU KNOW, NEGOTIATION TACTICS THAT WE'RE USING TO EXEMPT THEM FROM, YOU KNOW, WHEN THE BUSINESS COMES IN MAYBE TO KIND OF, NEGOTIATE. HEY, WILL, YOU KNOW, CUT SOME OF THESE FEES OR. NO, NO, I MEAN, A COUPLE OF THINGS. LET ME BACK UP. RIGHT. SO NO, I MEAN, THE THE CODE STIPULATES WHAT THE FEE IS. NOW THERE'S A PROVISION THAT THEY CAN APPEAL OR PROVIDE DATA IF THEY FEEL LIKE THE METER VOLUME OVERESTIMATES OR UNDERESTIMATES THE THE CHARGE. SO IT'S GOT A LITTLE FLEXIBILITY, BUT THEY'RE NOT A THEY'RE NOT A BARGAINING TOOL FROM THE STAFF. THIS IS WE, WE, WE, WE CHARGE THEM BASED ON THE ORDINANCE YOU PASSED. AND IT, IT IS WHAT IT IS. OKAY. SO THERE'S NO POINT THAT WE REIMBURSE THEM FOR MEETING CERTAIN TARGET POINTS, ETC. IN THEIR DEVELOPMENT OF THEIR BUSINESS. SO, SO LET ME, LET ME SAY THIS. RIGHT. SO WE USE THE CITY OF SCHERTZ HAS THE SCHERTZ ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION, THE SCHERTZ ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORP. CORPORATION EVALUATES THE BENEFIT THAT PROPOSED BUSINESSES BRING TO THE COMMUNITY. AND, AND, YOU KNOW, BASED ON A VARIETY OF FACTORS, INCLUDING, YOU KNOW, HOW MUCH WE WANT THAT TYPE OF BUSINESS FROM THE STRATEGIC PLAN. AND THEY PROVIDE INCENTIVES THAT THE EDC BOARD RECOMMENDS AND THAT COUNCIL ULTIMATELY. AND THESE ARE PART OF THOSE INCENTIVES WHERE WE MAY RIGHT. SO WE WILL HAVE DEVELOPMENTS THAT COME IN AND THEY WILL GO TO EDC AND SAY, LOOK, HERE'S MY COST. I'M PAYING THIS TO BUY THE LAND. I'VE GOT TO PAY THIS IN BUILDING PERMIT FEES. I'M PAYING THIS IN UTILITY IMPACT FEES, I'M PAYING THIS IN ROADWAY IMPACT FEES. WE WANT YOU TO FACTOR. WE WANT EDC TO FACTOR THAT IN IN TERMS OF THE LEVEL OF INCENTIVE. AND THAT'S SOMETHING THAT'S CONSIDERED. BUT JUST TO BE CLEAR, THERE'S A SEPARATION. THAT'S SOMETHING THAT EDC DOES, RIGHT? IT'S NOT SOMETHING THAT GENERAL CITY STAFF PLANNING, ENGINEERING, PUBLIC WORKS DO BECAUSE COUNCIL PASSED THE CODE AND THE CODE, WHAT IT IS, WHAT IT IS. THE OTHER THING I'LL SAY TO YOUR POINT, RIGHT, AND LET'S JUST KEEP IN MIND IS THE WAY THE FEE IS CALCULATED TO, TO GET AT THAT MAXIMUM FEE IS BASED ON THE COST OF THE INFRASTRUCTURE THAT'S NEEDED TO SUPPORT NEW DEVELOPMENT. AND SO ONE OF THE THINGS IS EVERY COMMUNITY IS DIFFERENT. WE'VE TALKED A LOT ABOUT WE'RE A BACKWARDS Z SHAPE. THAT, IN MY OPINION, MEANS WE IT IS PROBABLY A HIGHER COST FOR US TO PROVIDE INFRASTRUCTURE AS OPPOSED TO COMMUNITY THAT GOES CONCENTRICALLY. SO ONE OF THE THINGS RIGHT OR WRONG IS WE WE MAY HAVE GREATER COST TO PROVIDE THE NEEDED INFRASTRUCTURE WHICH SETS WHICH ESTABLISH THAT MAXIMUM ASSESSABLE FEE HIGHER. AGAIN, DOESN'T CHANGE THE POLICY CHOICE ON COUNCIL. BUT. RIGHT. THE TWO THINGS YOU'VE GOT IS WHAT COULD A CITY CHARGE. RIGHT. AND THAT CAN VARY SIGNIFICANTLY. VERSUS WHAT DOES A CITY CHOOSE TO CHARGE? AND AGAIN, I WOULD SAY THAT FIRST FACTOR OF WHAT ARE THOSE COSTS THAT AFFECT US QUITE A BIT ON THE ROADWAY IMPACT FEE, BECAUSE OF THE LIMITATION ON THE SERVICE AREA DISTANCE, THERE'S A REASON WHY SERVICE AREA FOUR IS AS HIGH AS IT IS, AND IT'S FRANKLY A FUNCTION OF, I WOULD SAY, THE SIZE AND SHAPE OF THAT RELATIVE TO THE OTHERS IN THE COST OF THE INFRASTRUCTURE RUNNING THROUGH THERE. THAT'S JUST A FACTOR IN THAT. SO THERE'S SOME OF THOSE THINGS WE CAN'T CONTROL. BUT IT ALL COMES ULTIMATELY DOWN TO THAT POLICY. QUESTION OF WHAT DO YOU WANT TO CHARGE? RIGHT. AND SO SO THEN ALSO, I'M SORRY. NO, I WAS GOING TO SAY THE RATE OF GROWTH ALSO CAN IMPACT, RIGHT. I MEAN, IMPACT EFFECT. YEAH. THE AMOUNT OF YOUR IMPACT FEE. BECAUSE IF YOU'RE A REALLY RAPIDLY GROWING COMMUNITY AND WATER AND SEWER INFRASTRUCTURE IS ESSENTIALLY NON-DISCRETIONARY, WHEN YOU HAVE THAT GROWTH AND IT'S COMING, YOU HAVE TO BUILD IT AND TRY AND KEEP UP. AND THIS IS ONE MECHANISM USED TO TRY AND KEEP UP. SO IN A SLOWER GROWTH COMMUNITY THAT HAS IMPACT FEES.
[2:40:01] IT MIGHT NOT NEED TO BE AS HIGH. YEAH, I MEAN, I MEAN, THAT'S FAIR. OR A MORE DEVELOPED COMMUNITY. I THINK THAT'S FAIR. THERE ARE A VARIETY OF FACTORS THAT GO INTO WHAT THAT MAXIMUM FEE IS. SO SO THE TAKEAWAY FROM THIS IS THAT WE'RE GOING TO REEVALUATE. AND THEN HOPEFULLY WE CAN BE SOMEWHAT COMPETITIVE TO OUR NEIGHBORING, YOU KNOW, CITIES IN A SENSE. RIGHT. SO I THINK, I THINK WHAT WE'LL DO IS COME BACK WITH SOME DATA TO HELP YOU MAKE AN INFORMED DECISION FROM A POLICY STANDPOINT AS TO WHERE YOU WANT TO SET THAT FEE, RIGHT, SO THAT YOU UNDERSTAND A COUPLE THINGS. MAKE SURE WE'RE GIVING YOU A CLEAR APPLES TO APPLES COMPARISONS WITH OUR FEE RATE RELATIVE TO OTHER COMMUNITIES. AND WE'LL GET YOU SOME INFORMATION ON ROADWAY WITH THAT. AND THEN WE'LL TALK ABOUT SOME TECHNIQUES YOU CAN DO TO TRY TO REDUCE THE BURDEN ON WHAT I'M HEARING IS PARTICULARLY COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT WITH REGARD TO IMPACT FEES. AND THEN ALSO LET YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT THE IMPLICATIONS OF DOING THAT THOSE THINGS ARE SO THAT YOU CAN MAKE THAT INFORMED DECISION. AND AGAIN, I THINK THAT THE TIMING IS PROBABLY GOOD BECAUSE LET ME LET ME COME BACK TO A COUPLE OF THINGS. WE'RE WE'RE WE'RE ABOUT TO KICK OFF THE ROADWAY IMPACT FEE. WHAT I TEND TO FIND IS MOST NEW COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT REALLY CARES ABOUT WHAT'S MY TOTAL COST IN VARIOUS FEES. IT'S NOT AS MUCH OF MAN, YOU GUYS ARE GREAT. YOU KNOW, YOU'RE YOU'RE THIS IS REALLY LOW AND THIS IS REALLY LOW. BUT THIS IS THIS IS HIGH. IT GENERALLY IS. IT'S WHAT'S MY TOTAL BILL, RIGHT? I MEAN, IT'S KIND OF LIKE WHEN YOU GO TO A RESTAURANT, YOU LOOK AT WHAT DO YOU WALK OUT PAYING VERSUS WHAT DID I NECESSARILY PAY FOR THIS APPETIZER RELATIVE TO A SALAD KIND OF A THING? AND SO PART OF WHAT I, IN DOING THIS A WHILE THAT I HEAR FROM COUNCILS IS. LET'S, LET'S LOOK AT THIS VERY BROADLY, BECAUSE WHAT WE DON'T WANT TO DO IS HAVE A CONVERSATION IN TWO MONTHS WHERE WE LOWER UTILITY IMPACT FEES FOR BUSINESSES, BUT THEN A MONTH LATER, WE GET THE UPDATE FOR ROADWAY IMPACT FEES, AND WE'VE GONE UP EVEN EVEN HIGHER. RIGHT. I THINK PART OF IT IS TO UNDERSTAND THAT POLICY DECISION. WHAT DO YOU WANT TO CHARGE OVERALL WITH FEES? WHAT ARE THE ALTERNATIVE FUNDING SOURCES FOR ROAD AND WATER AND SEWER. SO THAT AGAIN, YOU CAN ACCOMPLISH THE MOST THAT YOU CAN ACCOMPLISH. AGAIN, MAKING AN INFORMED DECISION IF THAT IF THAT HELPS TO GIVE YOU A FEEL FOR WHAT WE DON'T WANT TO DO IS SAY, GREAT, WE SOLVED THIS THING WITH UTILITY IMPACT FEES. THEN A MONTH LATER YOU'RE GOING, OH MY GOSH, WE, WE JUST DIDN'T DID ALL THE GOOD WE DID. IF THAT IF THAT HELPS. RIGHT. THE OTHER IS, I MEAN, AGAIN, EVEN LOOKING AT ROADWAY, RIGHT. IF YOU WANT TO GO BACK TO SLIDE, WE DECIDED TO CHARGE AS A POLICY MATTER, A UNIFORM RATE FOR ROADWAY FOR RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT. AND. AND WHAT THAT MEANT, THOUGH, IS THAT WE DIDN'T CHARGE AS MUCH AS WE COULD. WE CHARGE CLOSE TO IT. BUT, YOU KNOW, THEORETICALLY, IN SERVICE AREA ONE, IT'S MORE EXPENSIVE TO BUILD THE ROADS. WE NEED AS A POLICY MATTER. THIS NEXT TIME YOU COULD SAY, LOOK, DON'T CAP IT AT 1000. DON'T MAKE IT EQUAL. GO AT 90% FOR RESIDENTIAL. YEAH. AND THAT COULD EVEN BE A POSSIBILITY THAT MAYBE WE HAVE TO RAISE THE IMPACT FEE FOR THE ROADWAY FOR COMMERCIAL BECAUSE IT'S TOO LOW. BUT YEAH, YOU KNOW, I JUST THINK IT ALL NEEDS TO BE LOOKED AT BECAUSE YES, YOU'RE RIGHT. YOU KNOW, WHAT IS THAT TOTAL BILL GOING TO BE? AND WE DON'T WANT TO BE HERE AND EVERYBODY IS HERE. EXACTLY. SO LET US LET US DO SOME WORK. COME BACK WITH SOME INFORMATION ON UTILITY. BUT MAYBE WHAT WE DO IS IF WE KEEP MOVING THE PACE, WE THINK WE'RE GOING TO MOVE WITH THE ROADWAY. WE THEN KIND OF LOOK AT A FINAL DECISION TOGETHER HOLISTICALLY SO THAT YOU HAVE THE ABILITY TO, TO PLAY WITH ALL THE DIFFERENT LEVELS, ACHIEVE WHAT YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE. WELL, BECAUSE YOU DID STATE THAT THE ROADWAY IMPACT FEE IS RELATIVELY NEW. AND SO THAT'S SOMETHING THAT PEOPLE ARE JUST NOW STARTING TO DO. NO, IT WAS IT WAS IT WAS NEW THEN TO THIS AREA. OKAY. RIGHT. SOME AREAS OF THE STATE, THEY'VE BEEN DOING ROADWAY IMPACT FOR A LONG TIME. FOLKS DOWN HERE DIDN'T. AND SO THAT WAS PART OF WHAT THE DISCUSSION WAS BECAUSE FOLKS AREN'T USED TO IT DOWN HERE. SAME KIND OF COMPETITIVE DISADVANTAGE THING. LET FOLKS GET USED TO IT. BUT MORE AND MORE COMMUNITIES ARE STRUGGLING WITH THIS, PARTICULARLY AS THE STATE LIMITS TAX RATE AS YOU HAVE OTHER THINGS, RIGHT? I MEAN, A GOOD EXAMPLE IS, YOU KNOW, WE WE HAVE A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER OF THE DISABLED VETERANS HOMESTEAD EXEMPTIONS, RIGHT? SO WE MAY NOT HAVE AS MUCH MONEY COMING IN FROM ONE SOURCE OR BE ABLE TO FUND ROADWAY CONSTRUCTION THROUGH THAT, WHICH MAY PUSH US OVER TO THE IMPACT FEE. BUT THERE ARE PROS AND CONS TO EVERYTHING. BUT I THINK WE UNDERSTAND THE GENERAL FEELING AND LET US COME BACK WITH SOMETHING TO TRY TO ACHIEVE WHAT YOU WANT AND STILL GET THE BEST RESULTS WE CAN. AND THEN MY QUESTION IS, JUST TO BE CLEAR, IN REGARDS TO THE DISCUSSION, WHEN IT HAPPENS TO LIKE SAY,
[2:45:03] THE RESTAURANTS, THE BUSINESSES, THE DISCUSSION IN REGARDS TO THE IMPACT FEES, BECAUSE OBVIOUSLY SOME OF THE BUSINESSES THINK IT'S LIKE A SURPRISE ATTACK AT THE END AND THEN BUSINESS IS DELAYED OR THE PROJECT IS DELAYED. SO THAT IS 100% DISCUSSED AT THE TIME. IN THE BEGINNING INITIAL. WELL, SO SO AGAIN, LET ME SAY THIS. I CAN'T SAY EVERYTHING ALREADY, BUT A STANDARD THAT I THINK STAFF WILL SHAKE THEIR HEADS ON WHEN WE'RE IN DEVELOPMENT MEETINGS EARLY IS LET ME TELL YOU ALL THE THINGS THAT YOU'RE GOING TO RUN INTO THAT ARE GOING TO BE ISSUES, RIGHT? SO IF WE HAVE CHALLENGES WITH EASEMENTS OR SERVICE EXTENSION AND WE RUN THROUGH, AGAIN. IF I HAD A DOLLAR FOR EVERY TIME I WENT THROUGH THE IMPACT FEE CONVERSATION. RIGHT. SO WE TRY TO ISN'T PROMISING, FOLKS DON'T DO IT. NOW, WE ALSO HAVE INFORMATION UP ON THE WEBSITE THAT WE POINT PEOPLE TO, THAT THEY CAN RUN THESE CALCULATIONS FOR THEMSELVES. SO WE DO REALLY WELL TRYING TO GET IT. BUT RIGHT, IF WE'RE DEALING WITH THE ARCHITECT OR THE ENGINEER AND WE'RE SAYING, HEY, HERE'S YOUR REMEMBER, WE HAVE THIS STUFF, THEY GO, OKAY, GREAT. THEY MAY NOT PASS IT ON TO THE CLIENT, OR THE CLIENT MAY NOT UNDERSTAND THAT THAT COMES IN. SO YEAH, I MEAN, AGAIN, IF YOU TALK TO PEOPLE, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE GO I KNEW NOTHING ABOUT THIS. DIDN'T KNOW WHAT IT WAS, DIDN'T KNOW THE AMOUNT WAS, BUT WE, WE ROUTINELY COVER THIS BECAUSE WE KNOW THE STUFF THAT CATCHES PEOPLE BY SURPRISE AT THE END. RIGHT? YOU KNOW, AND, AND PART OF THAT IS THE BUILDING PERMIT FEES, THE PLAN CHECK FEES AND THE, THE IMPACT FEES FOR RESIDENTIAL, IT'S THE PARKLAND DEDICATION FEES ON TOP OF THAT AS WELL. SO YEAH, WE ROUTINELY GO OVER THAT. COUNCIL MEMBER. GUERRERO, DO YOU HAVE A QUESTION? NO, I WAS JUST GOING TO SAY THAT I LIKE WHAT YOU WHAT YOU'RE DOING. YOU'RE SAYING IF THEY DO SOMETHING FOR US, THEY BUILD A PIPELINE OR SOMETHING, THEY GET CREDIT, CORRECT? YEAH. AND I WANT TO BE CLEAR HOW WE PHRASE THIS. JUST I WANT TO MAKE SURE IT COMES UP RIGHT. I APPRECIATE WHAT YOU'RE SAYING. RIGHT. SO THE ORDINANCE LAYS OUT SPECIFICALLY, IF THE DEVELOPER BUILDS A WATER LINE OR A SEWER LINE OR A ROADWAY THAT'S ON THE IMPACT FEE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS PLAN, WHICH IS PART OF WHAT THIS FEE IS CHARGED FOR, THEN THEY GET CREDIT FOR IT, RIGHT? SO IF I'VE GOT TWO DIFFERENT DEVELOPERS, LET'S SAY I'VE GOT TWO APARTMENT COMPLEXES COMING IN AND ONE OF THEM BUILDS A SECTION OF ROAD ADJACENT TO THEIR PROPERTY THAT THAT PART OF THAT FEE GOES FOR, AND THE OTHER ISN'T ADJACENT TO ONE OF THOSE DOESN'T HAVE TO BUILD A ROAD. IT, IT SEEMS LIKE YOU'RE DOUBLE DIPPING ON THIS GUY TO SAY, WELL, YOU STILL HAVE TO PAY YOUR FEE AND YOU'VE GOT TO BUILD THE ROAD. BUT THIS GUY, YOU JUST HAVE TO PAY YOUR FEE. AND SO YEAH, IF A DEVELOPER CONSTRUCTS AN IMPROVEMENT ON THE CIP WATER SEWER ROAD, THEY GET CREDIT FOR THAT TO OFFSET THEIR DEVELOPMENT. AND IF THEY HAVE SUBSTANTIAL CREDITS LEFT OVER AT THE END OF THE DAY, THEN WE HAVE TO GIVE THEM WE HAVE TO PAY THEM BACK THAT DIFFERENCE. AND SO YOU MAY RECALL, WE BRING THOSE AGREEMENTS TO YOU. WE BRING THOSE ROADWAY OFFSET CREDIT AGREEMENTS AND AND THE SUBDIVISION IMPROVEMENT AGREEMENTS THAT OFTEN COVER THAT THAT LAY OUT THOSE AS WELL. SO THEY DO GET CREDIT FOR THOSE. THE WAY YOU GET CREDIT BETWEEN ROADWAY AND WATER AND SEWER DIFFERS. BUT, BUT YOU DO GET CREDIT FOR IT. SO AGAIN HERITAGE OAKS DEVELOPMENT IS GETTING CREDIT FOR THE, THE WATER LINE AND THE RECONSTRUCTION OF WIEDERSTEIN, I BELIEVE WITH THAT WHERE THEY'RE BUILDING THROUGH THEIR PROPERTY. THANK YOU. YEAH. AND I LOVE ALL THE COMPARISONS THAT ARE HERE. I WOULD LIKE TO SEE A LITTLE BIT MORE OF SOME OF THE LOCAL CITIES AROUND US, LIKE LIVE OAK UNIVERSITY CONVERSE BECAUSE I KNOW THOSE WHEN IT COMES TO BUSINESSES, THOSE ARE SOME OF THE CITIES THAT WE'RE ALSO COMPETING WITH. SO I'D LIKE TO GET A GOOD LOOK TO SEE WHAT WE CAN CERTAINLY PROVIDE YOU WITH THAT. AND THEN WE'LL ALSO PROVIDE YOU. WHAT WE'LL TRY TO DO IS LET US GIVE YOU THEIR. IF THEY CHARGE IMPACT FEES, WHAT THEIR CITY LOOKS LIKE, RIGHT. BECAUSE IF YOU HAVE A CITY THAT'S MOSTLY BUILT OUT, THEY MAY NOT, YOU KNOW, YOU GET A LOT OF CITIES MOSTLY BUILT OUT. THEY DON'T EVEN BOTHER WITH IT. IT'S MORE TROUBLE THAN IT'S WORTH TO CHARGE IT BECAUSE THEY DON'T HAVE THE SAME INFRASTRUCTURE TO BUILD. RIGHT. SO AS AS AN EXAMPLE, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE A LOT OF CIP ITEMS IN TERMS OF WATER LINES AND SEWER LINES THAT UNLESS THOSE GET BUILT, NO DEVELOPER IS COMING IN AND BUILDING ANYTHING. RIGHT. SOME OF THOSE CITIES YOU REFERENCE MAY NOT HAVE. THEY MAY JUST ALREADY HAVE BUILT THE INFRASTRUCTURE AND. AND SO IT'S AGAIN, UNDERSTAND THAT IMPLICATION TO MAKE AN INFORMED DECISION. AND JUST TO PIGGYBACK ON THAT, YOU ALSO HAVE TO CONSIDER THE WATER AND SEWER RATES THEMSELVES, BECAUSE I CAME FROM A COMMUNITY WHERE WE HAD NO IMPACT FEES, BUT OUR WATER AND SEWER RATES WERE SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER BECAUSE WE STILL HAD TO PAY FOR
[2:50:04] THAT. CIP AND OTHER CITIES, YOUR YOUR PROPERTY TAX RATE IS HIGHER BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO ABSORB THAT AND SPREAD IT AROUND THE WHOLE COMMUNITY. SO IF YOU'RE GOING TO DO A TRUE, FAIR COMPARISON TO A CITY THAT DOESN'T HAVE IMPACT FEES OR HAS SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER IMPACT FEES, YOU GOT TO KIND OF ASK THE QUESTION OF, WELL, ARE THEY BUILDING IT INTO THE THE ACTUAL VOLUMETRIC RATES THEMSELVES OR BASE RATES? AND THAT'S ONE WAY TO DO IT. AGAIN, THE FRUSTRATION SOME FOLKS GET, WE'LL HEAR RESIDENTS GET UP AND SAY, WHY IS THIS NEW DEVELOPMENT NOT PAYING FOR ALL THE STUFF THEY NEED? AND THE ANSWER IS IT'S JUST A POLICY QUESTION THAT WE WE BALANCE THAT. BUT YEAH, GIVE US GIVE US A COUPLE OF MONTHS, WE CAN COME BACK WITH SOME MORE INFORMATION. WHAT WHAT I MIGHT SUGGEST IS THAT WE DON'T MAKE A DECISION UNTIL WE KIND OF GET THE ROADWAY IN, WHICH MAYBE IS A FEW MONTHS AFTER THAT, JUST SO YOU SEE THE WHOLE FULL PICTURE AND YOU CAN PULL THE LEVERS AS YOU WANT. YEAH. WELL, I APPRECIATE ALL THE WORK THAT THE STAFF PUT INTO THIS BECAUSE IT'S DEFINITELY A LOT OF WORK. YOU HAVE ANOTHER QUESTION? YES, MA'AM. A COUPLE OF MONTHS. THAT'S, I KNOW YOU. WHAT DO YOU HAVE? THREE MONTHS? THAT SEEMS LIKE A LOT. BUT IN THE MEANTIME, WHILE YOU'RE WORKING ON IT, DOING YOUR DUE DILIGENCE, CAN I GET THE OR CAN YOU SEND US THE ORDINANCE THAT YOU WERE JUST REFERENCING? AND I'M MORE INTERESTED IN NOT IN THE IMPACT FEES, WHATEVER, BUT THE WHOLE PROCESS FROM BEGINNING TO END, FROM THE TIME OF BUSINESS IS INTERESTED IN COMING TO THE CITY OF SCHERTZ ALL THE WAY TO THE TIME THEY OPEN UP. WHAT ARE THE WHAT'S THE FRAMEWORK? I DON'T NEED IT SUPER DETAILED, BUT WHAT'S THE FRAMEWORK? WHAT ARE THEY? THEY GO TO NEIGHBORHOOD SERVICES. YOU'LL HAVE A PRE-CONSTRUCTION MEETING. THEN THEY DO THIS, THEN THEY DO THAT AND THAT, YOU KNOW WHAT I'M SAYING? I'M TRYING TO UNDERSTAND THE PROCESS MORE THAN JUST IMPACT FEES, I THINK. I THINK THAT'S SO WE CAN COME BACK QUICKER. LET ME BE CLEAR. WE CAN COME BACK QUICKER WITH THIS THAN YOU WANT. I MEAN, WE COULD LITERALLY PULL SOME DATA AND WE COULD COME BACK NEXT MEETING AND PUT SOMETHING ON THE AGENDA. AND YOU CAN HAVE THAT MAKING THOSE CHANGES IF YOU WANT, IF THAT'S WHAT YOU PREFER. JUST SO I UNDERSTAND YOUR QUESTION WITH REGARD TO THE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS, WHAT ARE YOU WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING TO UNDERSTAND? IF I WAS A NEW BUSINESS OWNER, JUST TELL ME WHAT I NEED TO DO. I DON'T WANT TO SAY THE HURDLES, BUT THE THE THINGS I NEED TO DO IN ORDER TO BECOME A LOCAL BUSINESS OWNER. THAT'S WHAT I'M I'M TRYING TO UNDERSTAND THE PROCESS THAT A NEW BUSINESS OWNER, AN ENTREPRENEUR, NEEDS TO DO IN ORDER TO COME TO THE CITY OF SCHERTZ. THAT'S WHAT I'M TRYING TO UNDERSTAND THEIR PROCESS, NOT FROM MY PROCESS OUTWARD, BUT I GUESS FROM CUSTOMER SERVICE, YOU KNOW, SORT OF LOOKING FROM A BUSINESS OWNER PERSPECTIVE, RIGHT. WE CAN PROVIDE YOU SOMETHING, RIGHT? I THINK ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE WOULD SAY IS IT'S IT'S GOING TO VARY, RIGHT? SO IF YOU'RE A NEW BUSINESS OWNER AND YOU WANT TO LOCATE AND MOVE INTO THE SHOPPING CENTER RIGHT DOWN HERE, A VACANT SPACE, THEN YOU SHOW UP AND SEE BUILDING INSPECTIONS AND SAY, THIS IS WHAT I WANT TO DO. WE DOUBLE CHECK, JUST MAKE SURE THE USE IS ALLOWED. AND THEN WE BASICALLY LOOK AT THAT USE. IT TYPICALLY WOULD BE AN INSPECTION BY BUILDING INSPECTIONS AND FIRE. AGAIN, DEPENDING ON WHAT CHANGES YOU'RE MAKING TO THAT SPACE, THAT THAT WOULD BE IT. NOW, IF YOU BUY A PIECE OF PROPERTY AND YOU WANT TO BUILD A BUILDING AND SAY YOU WANT TO DO A DATA CENTER, SO YOU WANT TO BUILD A DATA CENTER, AND THE ZONING DOESN'T ALLOW A DATA CENTER, THEN YOUR FIRST STEP FOR DOING ANYTHING IS YOU GOT TO GO TO P AND Z, AND YOU GOT TO GET COUNCIL, AND YOU GOT TO GET APPROVAL FOR A DATA CENTER. AND THEN THE NEXT QUESTION WOULD BE, WELL, IS THE PROPERTY PLATTED? AND IF IT'S NOT PLATTED, YOU HAVE TO PLAT THAT PROPERTY. AND THEN THE QUESTION WE WOULD HAVE IS, WELL, WHERE'S THE WATER LINE? WELL, IF THE WATER LINE IS A MILE AWAY, THEN YOU GOT TO BRING THE WATER TO THE PROPERTY, RIGHT? IF THERE'S NOT A ROAD TO THE PROPERTY, YOU'VE GOT TO BUILD A ROAD TO THE PROPERTY. AND SO IT VARIES FROM PLACE TO PLACE. IF SOMEBODY'S A SMALL BUSINESS OWNER SAID, I'M GOING TO BUILD A RESTAURANT UP IN THE MERIT DEVELOPMENT OFF OF RIGHT THERE. THEY'VE ALREADY PLATTED IT. YOU'RE JUST REALLY WALKING INTO SITE PLAN BUILDING PERMIT AND MOVE FROM THERE. BUT WE CAN PROVIDE YOU A FRAMEWORK OF THAT. BUT THAT'S WHERE, AGAIN, THE CUSTOMER SERVICE COMES IN BECAUSE EVERY PROJECT IS A IS A BIT DIFFERENT. THERE'S NOT A ONE SIZE FITS ALL. IT REALLY IS TAILORED TO THEIR PARTICULAR SITUATION. BUT WE CAN GIVE YOU A FEEL FOR THAT. YEAH. YES, SIR. THAT'S ALL. JUST HELP ME UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY GO THROUGH. NO, I WAS JUST SAYING DATA CENTERS AND I LOOKED AROUND, BUT, I MEAN, IT JUST IT VARIES. IT VARIES. RIGHT. AGAIN, IT'S A BIG DEAL IF YOU HAVE ZONING, IF YOU DON'T HAVE ZONING, YOUR ZONING IS A 3 OR 4 MONTH PROCESS, REALLY, THAT YOU NEED TO DO TO EVEN KNOW IF YOU CAN DO THE PROJECT BEFORE YOU WANT TO START SPENDING MONEY ON ANY OF THE OTHER STUFF. I MEAN, THAT'S, THAT'S IT, RIGHT? YOU DON'T WANT TO START SPENDING A TON OF MONEY IF THEY GET UP TO COUNCIL AND COUNCIL SAYS, NO, YOU CAN'T DO IT RIGHT? LIKE AN SUP FOR A GAS STATION CONVENIENCE STORE, LIKE THE REDEVELOPMENT OF NORTH CLIFF. YOU JUST DON'T KNOW HOW THAT WOULD PLAY OUT. BUT WE CAN COME BACK AS QUICK AS YOU WANT ON THIS,
[2:55:07] DEPENDING ON IF YOU JUST WANT TO MAKE A DECISION SOLELY ON LET'S LOOK AT THE WATER AND SEWER IMPACT FEES OUTSIDE EVERYTHING ELSE. GO AHEAD. SO I DEFINITELY DON'T WANT IT RUSHED BECAUSE I DEFINITELY WANT Y'ALL TO DO GOOD WORK. AND I FEEL LIKE, LIKE YOU WERE RUSHED JUST TO BE ABLE TO PROVIDE SOMETHING. SO DO YOU FEEL THAT YOU COULD HAVE SOMETHING WITHIN 30 DAYS SO WE CAN COME BACK AS QUICK AS YOU WANT. REALLY, THE QUESTION I WOULD SAY FOR COUNCIL IS HOW BROADLY DO YOU WANT TO LOOK AT THIS? RIGHT. IF IT REALLY IS SOLELY, WE JUST WANT TO LOOK AT WHAT OUR IMPACT FEES AND SEWER IMPACT FEES FOR COMMERCIAL. WE DON'T REALLY WANT TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT RATES BEING CHARGED. WE DON'T WANT TO REALLY TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THE AMOUNT OF INFRASTRUCTURE THAT NEEDS TO BE BUILT TO SUPPORT NEW DEVELOPMENT, RIGHT? BECAUSE AT THE END OF THE DAY, YOUR VIEW MAY BE LOOK, ALL OF THAT ASIDE, IT STILL COMES DOWN TO HOW MUCH ARE WE CHARGING VERSUS HOW MANY SOMEBODY ELSE IS CHARGING. AND WE WANT TO FOCUS ON THAT. WE CAN COME BACK QUICKLY. IT REALLY IS HOW BROADLY YOU WANT TO LOOK AT THIS VERSUS LOOK, IT ALL REALLY MATTERS TO US IS I WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE, YOU KNOW, AT THE 50TH PERCENTILE IN TERMS OF WATER SEWER RATES, AND IT IS WHAT IT IS BEYOND THAT. I MEAN, WOULD YOU SAY THE CALCULATION OF THE RATES IS IT'S FORMULAIC, RIGHT? BUT BASED ON WHAT YOU'RE ALLOWED TO CHARGE, HOW MUCH YOU'RE GOING TO SPEND ON YOUR SIP, AND IT'S A FORMULA AND YOU CAN CHOOSE TO BE BELOW THAT AMOUNT. BUT EFFECTIVELY WHAT YOU'RE DOING IS SUBSIDIZING IT SOMEWHERE ELSE IN YOUR BUDGET. YEAH. I MEAN, THAT'S IT. OR YOU'RE, OR YOU'RE SLOWING DOWN OR YOU'RE SLOWING DOWN THE RATE OF CONSTRUCTION OF INFRASTRUCTURE, WHICH HAS IMPLICATIONS ON ITS OWN. RIGHT? AND SO AGAIN, I THINK WE JUST NOT TRYING TO BE EITHER WAY. I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE DON'T LEAD YOU DOWN THIS PATH AND YOU THINK, HEY, THIS IS GREAT. EVERYTHING'S GOOD. THERE'S NO NEGATIVE WITH IT. AND THEN LATER YOU REALIZE, OH, WAIT, WHAT ABOUT THIS? AND YOU'RE GOING, OH, YOU DIDN'T TELL US ABOUT THAT. WE DIDN'T KNOW YOU WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT THAT. SO JUST REAL QUICK ON THAT. EVERYBODY GETS THAT. SO WE'VE GOT TO FOCUS ALSO ON THE LIGHT. ON. RIGHT. SO AS BRIAN EXPLAINS, AS WE KIND OF TALKED ABOUT EARLIER, OUR METERS FLOW SIGNIFICANTLY MORE THAN THE OLD METERS DO. AND NOT EVERYBODY HAS THE SAME METERS, RIGHT? AND SO, SO EVERYBODY GOT STUCK AND IT'S A BIG NUMBER. AND SO NEW NEW DEVELOPMENT GETS STUCK ON THAT NUMBER, RIGHT? IT'S $239,000 FOR THIS SCENARIO. BUT BUT YOU HAVE TO LOOK AT THE OTHER OTHER NUMBERS, RIGHT? SO IT'S, IT'S $250,000 IN THE SAN MARCOS DRAFT OR $205,000 IN THE NBA DRAFT. BUT THEY'RE ONLY THEY'RE ONLY PUSHING EIGHT. LOUIS. AND THAT'S ALSO CORRELATES TO THE SEWER COUNT AS WELL. RIGHT. SO LIKELY IT'S ACTUALLY A GOOD COMPARISON BETWEEN A TWO AND A THREE INCH. IT'S ACTUALLY ABOUT DOUBLE THAT YOU CAN PUSH BETWEEN A THREE INCH METER AND A TWO INCH METER. AND SO ALL THOSE THAT HAVE THAT LOW LOUIS, WE JUST DID A STRAIGHT COMPARISON IF BASED ON A TWO INCH METER FOR WATER, BUT ACTUALLY ACTUALLY THEY WOULD PROBABLY NEED A THREE INCH METER IN THOSE COMMUNITIES, RIGHT? SO THAT NUMBER IS GOING TO BE HIGHER. SO YEAH, AND JUST FOCUS ON THE DOLLAR AMOUNT. IT WOULD PROBABLY BE A HIGHER DOLLAR AMOUNT THERE BECAUSE THEY WOULD NEED A LARGER METER SIZE JUST. YEAH. AND ACTUALLY THANK YOU, LARRY, FOR THAT. AND THE THE RATES THEMSELVES, IT'S REALLY A BETTER COMPARISON TO LOOK AT THE SINGLE FAMILY HOME BECAUSE THE RATE ITSELF, I DON'T THINK IT'S PROBLEMATIC. WELL, IT'S UP TO YOU TO DETERMINE IF IT'S PROBLEMATIC WHERE WE FALL IN RELATION TO THE OTHERS. AND SO IT IS A BIT OF A MISNOMER COMPARING TWO INCH METERS BECAUSE IT'S A LITTLE BIT OF YOU KNOW, MAYBE NOT APPLES AND ORANGES, BUT A RED DELICIOUS VERSUS A GRANNY SMITH KIND OF THING. SO, SO SOME OF THOSE THINGS AND THE METHODOLOGY THAT WE'RE USING FOR CALCULATING THE CHARGE BASED ON THE LEASE VERSUS LOOKING AT JUST THE RATE PER LOU IS PROBABLY INFORMATION THAT WOULD BE VALUABLE TO YOU. OKAY. COUNCIL MEMBER DIETZ. IS THERE A WAY TO GET MORE CURRENT DATA ON SOME OF THESE CITIES AROUND US? BECAUSE LIKE, YOU KNOW, SAN MARCOS IS 2018, CIBOLO IS 2021. SO I DON'T KNOW HOW THAT COMPARES TO US IN 2025. SO THESE ARE ACTUALLY THE RATES THAT THEY'RE CHARGING TODAY. SO THERE'S STILL THAT RATE. THE DATES THAT ARE ON THERE ARE JUST THE DATES WHEN THEY ADOPTED THOSE RATES. SO IT'S HOW OLD THEY ARE. AND AND WE ARE REQUIRED. EVERYONE'S REQUIRED TO EVALUATE AND MAKE A DETERMINATION IF THEY WANT TO CHANGE THEIR RATE EVERY FIVE YEARS. GENERALLY IT TURNS INTO LONGER THAN FIVE YEARS BECAUSE YOU GET STARTED WITH THE STUDY FIVE YEARS AND IT TAKES A COUPLE YEARS TO GET THROUGH THE STUDY SOMETIMES.
[3:00:06] SO IT JUMPS MORE THAN THE FIVE YEARS, BUT WE'RE REQUIRED TO EVALUATE REGULARLY SO EVERYONE ELSE IS ALSO. THANK YOU. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? THANK YOU. ALL RIGHT. THANKS. ALL RIGHT. ITEM 16 AND 17. WE'RE GOING TO BE GOING TO CLOSED SESSION ITEM 16 CALLED IN ACCORDANCE WITH SECTION 551-087 OF THE TEXAS GOVERNMENT CODE. DELIBERATION REGARDING ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT NEGOTIATIONS CLOSED. MEETING THE GOVERNMENTAL BODY IS NOT REQUIRED TO CONDUCT AN OPEN MEETING TO DISCUSS OR DELIBERATE REGARDING COMMERCIAL OR FINANCIAL INFORMATION THAT THE GOVERNMENTAL BODY HAS RECEIVED FROM A BUSINESS PROSPECT. THAT A GOVERNMENTAL BODY SEEKS TO LOCATE, STAY OR EXPAND IN OR NEAR THE TERRITORY OF THE GOVERNMENTAL BODY AND WITH WHICH THE GOVERNMENTAL BODY IS CONDUCTING ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT NEGOTIATIONS OR TWO TO DELIBERATE THE OFFER OF A FINANCIAL OR OTHER INCENTIVE TO A BUSINESS PROSPECT. ALSO KNOWN AS PROJECT HOLLY. NUMBER 17 IS THE CITY COUNCIL WILL MEET IN CLOSED SESSION IN ACCORDANCE WITH SECTION 551-072 TEXAS GOVERNMENT CODE. DELIBERATION REGARDING THE PURCHASE, EXCHANGE, LEASE OR VALUE OF REAL PROPERTIES FOR FUTURE ROADWAYS, ROADWAY EXTENSIONS, ROADWAY EXPANSIONS, CITY FACILITIES, DRAINAGE AND DETENTION, AND GENERAL MUNICIPAL USES. WE'LL BE GOING INTO CLOSED SESSION AT 901. EXECUTIVE SESSION AT 958 AND RECONVENED IN THE REGULAR SESSION ITEM 18 AND 19. THERE WILL BE NO ACTION TAKEN ON EITHER ONE OF THOSE ITEMS COMING OUT OF EXECUTIVE SESSION. AND WE'LL MOVE ON TO A REQUEST AND ANNOUNCEMENTS FOR REQUEST BY MAYOR AND COUNCIL MEMBERS FOR UPDATES OR INFORMATION FROM CITY STAFF ANY COUNCIL MEMBERS ONE ANY REQUEST HAVING NONE, WE'LL MOVE TO REQUEST BY MAYOR AND COUNCIL MEMBERS AT ITEMS OR PRESENTATIONS BE PLACED ON ANY FUTURE CITY COUNCIL AGENDAS. HAVING NO ITEMS, WE'LL MOVE ON TO CITY AND COMMUNITY EVENTS ATTENDED OR TO BE ATTENDED BY COUNCIL. I ATTENDED ANY P AND THEN THE CHAMBER LUNCHEON TODAY. I ATTENDED THE RIBBON CUTTING THIS AFTERNOON DOWN IN OLD SHIRTS FOR THE CELEBRATION OF THEIR NEW WATER AND SEWER LINES AND NEW STREETS. NOTHING FOR ME. I ATTENDED THE HOG WILD EVENT AND ALSO THE H7 RIBBON CUTTING. I ATTENDED THE RAMPAGE LAW HOG WILD EVENT. I ATTENDED THE CIBOLO TOWN HALL YESTERDAY CONCERNING THE DATA CENTER AND I ATTENDED THE CHAMBER LUNCHEON TODAY. I ATTENDED THE NEP LUNCH LAST WEEK, THE CHAMBER LUNCH TODAY AND THE RIBBON CUTTING IN OLD SHIRTS THIS AFTERNOON ATTENDED THE NORTHEAST PARTNERSHIP LUNCHEON, THE CHAMBER LUNCHEON AND ALSO TODAY'S EVENT WITH THE THIS STREET HISTORIC PRESERVATION SIGN. THANK YOU. OKAY. AND I ATTENDED I ATTENDED THE CHAMBER LUNCHEON TODAY, ALSO ATTENDED THE SAN ANTONIO METRO CHAMBER'S MAYOR'S BREAKFAST AND ALSO ATTENDED THE, THE CHILD ADVOCACY CENTER FUNDRAISER OVER THE WEEKEND AS WELL. SO THIS WILL CONCLUDE TONIGHT'S CITY COUNCIL MEETING AT 10:00.