[This transcript was generated automatically from audio using AI and hasn't been reviewed by a person -- it can contain mistakes, including plausible-sounding sentences that were never actually said. Treat it as a starting point, not a verbatim record.]

[0:40] Next up is public comments. Is there anyone from the public that would like to make a comment?
[0:55] Hi, I'm Olga Vega Carter, and I'm here representing the Salvation Army, and this is Jean, and Julie is here, but she had to step out for just a second.
[1:05] I just came by today because I wanted to say thank you, especially thank you to Joseph, too, who is back there.
[1:15] We've been part of Salvation Army for over 30-some years, but this year the city of South
[1:22] Padre came out and rang the bell for the day, and also the fire department.
[1:28] And the fire department actually raised the most money.
[1:33] They did $739, which was amazing, and the city did $423, but all together we raised
[1:40] over $15,000.
[1:41] dollars. All that money goes right back into the community. So I just wanted to come and
[1:46] say thank you and we brought you a certificate. So I don't know Patrick if you or Mayor Patrick,
[1:51] if you want to come over.
[1:54] is a chief here you're gonna have to set up a challenge between the police
[1:58] department right right yes thank you
[2:20] for all you do Olga I know you do a lot of
[2:33] Yeah, she's not here.
[2:40] Alright, come on.
[3:13] And thank you for your donation to Walk For Women.
[3:16] Thank you.
[3:20] I owe them all the best your husband to meet you. Thank you.
[3:25] Alright. Thank you so much.
[3:29] Any other public comments? Thank you.
[3:33] Is there any staff for public comments?
[3:38] Okay.
[3:47] Good evening.
[3:48] I want to give you a quick update on Laguna Boulevard and the repairs that are going on
[3:54] over there.
[3:56] As they continue to work between Swordfish and Red Stamper, Laguna Matata Water District
[4:02] is trying to repair the 10-inch sewer main, excuse me, and they're fighting a 13-foot
[4:09] depth.
[4:10] The crews have several dew-watering pumps running 24-7 to keep the 18-inch water table
[4:17] pumped out and the main sewer line also has a bypass running from one manhole to the other
[4:24] and it's also running 24-7 and Public Works is helping with traffic control in any way
[4:32] that we can or you get to get it back into service and then also we have a detour
[4:39] going on over there. And we kind of recommend locals to stay out of the area. And that's
[4:46] pretty much it. If you have any questions, contact us at pwcares at my spi.org.
[4:53] Well, I just want to heck of a hole right there. Yeah, see those people in it. It changes
[4:59] daily.
[5:02] Are we still looking for an expectation around the middle of February, 1st of February?
[5:12] I know they're only working like five hours a day out there, so.
[5:17] Wow.
[5:18] We're eager to get them back and we're supportive of everything that we can do.
[5:22] All right.
[5:22] Let's keep helping them along and hopefully we get it done by the middle of February.
[5:26] Yes, sir.
[5:27] Hopefully.
[5:28] Thank you.
[5:29] All right. Any else from staff have any public comments? Yeah, may I just like to
[5:38] acknowledge our state representative Jenny Lopez for being with us tonight.
[5:43] She's on the island quite often, but she's from my hometown of San Juanito and
[5:47] I'd like to welcome her. Thank you.
[5:55] Short time. All right, we'll move on to
[5:58] item number four, which is 4.1 presentation of proclamations recognition
[6:03] of Police Captain Juan Herrera's retirement from 29 years.
[6:11] Come on up here, Captain.
[6:16] Good evening, Mayor of City Council, Claudino Carroll, Police Chief.
[6:21] I'm going to try not to mess this up, but I've worked with Captain Herrera for 27 years.
[6:27] So it's an emotional, unhappy for him day, but an emotional for the rest of us.
[6:32] But I want to read something to make sure that we recognize his amazing years of service.
[6:38] Today we would like to recognize Captain Juan Herrera, a most valued team member of the
[6:43] police department prior to his upcoming retirement from public service at the end of January.
[6:48] Captain Juan Herrera's career with the city has reflected what public service is truly
[6:53] meant to be, dedication, integrity, leadership and heart.
[6:57] For nearly three decades, Captain Oreda has been a member who has been on the front line
[7:02] of this community's security and safety.
[7:05] It all started back in 1996 when he began with the City of South Padre Island as a police
[7:10] officer having previously worked with Cameron County Sheriff's Office as a jailer.
[7:14] It was clear early on in his career that leadership was an inherent trait as he began
[7:19] to rise through the ranks in 1999 with a promotion to Police Corporal.
[7:23] At that time I had started working here and at one point remember him as my field training officer.
[7:30] I, like many others in the department, developed a sincere respect for him as I observed his constant calm
[7:36] but confident demeanor in ever-changing high-stress situations.
[7:40] So it was not a surprise to anyone when in July of 2001 he was promoted to patrol sergeant responsible now for a shift
[7:47] and their response to emergencies on South Pottery Island.
[7:50] He continued in this position until his promotion in 2013 to police,
[7:55] Lieutenant, when he took on expanded leadership responsibilities,
[7:59] overseeing police operations and telecommunicators in dispatch center.
[8:04] As the department expanded and restructured in 2019,
[8:07] Captain Arreira was now one of the department's administrators,
[8:10] working on strengthening our team, research and improved equipment and technology,
[8:15] ensuring fiscal responsibility, mentoring the next generation,
[8:19] developing our supervision and much more all while ensuring the safety and
[8:24] security of the community. Johnny, you have been a great friend and mentor to
[8:29] many of us over the years. Myself included. You need to stand over here
[8:33] because I'm going to come back over. You need to turn around and face everybody, sir.
[8:37] Through changing and complex times, evolving challenges, too numerous to
[8:42] name, and countless calls for service, you remain steady, professional, and
[8:48] committed to doing what is right, even when it was difficult to know who was watching.
[8:53] It was noticed. But behind every long and successful law enforcement career is a level of sacrifice
[8:59] that is seldom seen by the public. Long shifts, missed holidays, physical risk, time away
[9:05] from family, and the emotional weight of protecting others are burdens carried not
[9:10] only by the officer, but by their family who support them. Policing is a profession
[9:15] that does not end when the shift is over.
[9:18] It follows officers' homes, into their families,
[9:21] and into every part of their lives.
[9:23] Today, we also thank Captain Oredo's loved ones
[9:26] for standing beside him and supporting a life
[9:28] of service to this community.
[9:30] His wife, Maribel, who is with us here today,
[9:35] who is also a police officer herself,
[9:42] Juan,
[9:49] Police Department, and the citizens of this community,
[9:52] we extend our deepest gratitude
[9:54] for 29 years of honorable service.
[9:58] We wish you a retirement filled with health, happiness,
[10:02] and a well-earned opportunity to enjoy the next chapter of your life.
[10:06] Wishing you the best, Johnny.
[10:25] Very grateful that Texas State Representative, Miss Janie Lopez,
[10:29] has agreed to be here and made every effort to be here present
[10:32] to say a few words to Captain Herrera if you would come to the mic.
[10:36] Ma'am.
[10:43] It's an honor to be here with you tonight and celebrate Johnny,
[10:46] many, our good friend to our community. Thank you to our city council, our mayor, the friends
[10:53] and family that are here today for celebrating with us this very, very important moment.
[10:59] At this time, I'm honored to present this resolution to honor Captain Juan Herrera III
[11:05] for three decades of distinguished service with the City of South Padre Island Police
[11:09] Department. It highlights his career, advancement, professional credentials, and dedication
[11:15] in public safety, something that few are called to do, and you have followed.
[11:23] The resolution today formally recognizes your service and expresses our gratitude from the city,
[11:30] from your friends and from your community in the long-standing commitment that you have bestowed upon them.
[11:37] Today, from the state of Texas, I affix my hand to confirm a flag was flown in your honor
[11:44] at our beautiful state capital in Austin.
[11:48] So this is a certificate that certifies
[11:50] this flag was flown in your honor.
[11:57] Go ahead and give it to him.
[12:12] Whereas Captain Juan Herrera III has served the city
[12:15] of South Potter Island Police Department
[12:17] with distinction for three decades.
[12:20] And whereas a native of Harlingen, Captain Herrera
[12:23] graduated from the Lower Rio Grande Valley Development
[12:26] Council Police Academy in 1994.
[12:29] And later that year, he began his career in law enforcement as a jailer with the Cameron
[12:35] County Sheriff's Office.
[12:37] He joined the South Potter Island Police Department as a reserve police officer in February 1996.
[12:44] And he soon transitioned to a full-time role.
[12:47] Since then, he has climbed through the ranks as Corporal, Sergeant, and Lieutenant.
[12:53] And he was promoted to his current rank of Captain in 2019.
[12:59] And whereas Captain Herrera is a member of the Harlingen High School class of 1989,
[13:05] and he earned his Associate Degree in Criminal Justice from Texas Southwest College in Brownsville in 1992.
[13:12] He also holds certifications as a Master Peace Officer, Firearms Instructor,
[13:17] Basic Instructure, and Mental Health Officer.
[13:20] And whereas, in all his endeavors, Captain Herrera enjoys the love and support of his
[13:26] wife, Maribel, and he is a proud father of a son Juan, who will also carry the legacy,
[13:33] and two daughters Briana and Bianca.
[13:36] And whereas, through his dedication to his profession, Captain Juan Herrera has built
[13:41] a long and distinguished record of promoting public safety, and he has earned the respect
[13:47] and gratitude of his colleagues and fellow citizens alike.
[13:51] Now, therefore, be it resolved that Captain Juan Herrera III be honored for his three decades
[13:58] of service to the city of South Padre Island Police Department and that he be extended
[14:04] sincere appreciation for his contributions to the community.
[14:08] Thank you for your service.
[15:42] Can I get those voices back?
[15:43] Yeah, go ahead.
[15:46] Talk about branding.
[15:48] There's a lot of work.
[15:49] What?
[15:50] There's a lot of work.
[15:51] Can't we stand up?
[15:53] When you saw that stage, it's the same.
[15:55] No, we didn't.
[15:57] That's the first.
[16:02] Oh,
[16:05] I know.
[16:05] Oh, no.
[16:06] Right?
[16:19] This is a family photo.
[16:47] You guys got them?
[17:23] And again, thank you everybody, Council Mayor,
[17:29] everybody here who I, in a sense, so I grew
[17:34] up and grew up with, you know, I remember Mr. Joe Riegel, I forget this guy, he's all
[17:42] years are in sperm break even more so and at the council of course Randy thank
[17:46] you much sir you know met Randy in 2010 when he became our chief and you know
[17:53] and everyone else console and I don't talk to you
[17:58] oh Javi but Javi I used to be our assistant chief you know Javi was
[18:04] obviously waited before he was here before me and then obviously he went
[18:09] and down the road also as far as retirement.
[18:11] But again, I appreciate it.
[18:13] I appreciate the city, the hard work you guys do
[18:17] to take care of other employees.
[18:19] And that's what I try to instill on our younger officers
[18:23] that yeah, you see your paycheck,
[18:25] but look behind your paycheck.
[18:27] Look at the benefits that the city gives us.
[18:30] I'm blessed and I'm here 30 years for a reason.
[18:35] And I hope they got clarified
[18:36] fight because when I said what you said 29 but now you're saying 30 but yes I
[18:40] started reserve in early February and I got my chances of the opportunity full
[18:44] time and I felt work that same year so I guess you know my wife here during
[18:51] spring break to back in 2003 that's how we met and that's that's that's another
[18:58] that's another 30 minutes story there Bob I'm not gonna go there
[19:03] Unfortunately, my daughters are not able to be here, they're open about doing their thing
[19:09] and our son is here.
[19:11] But anyways, coworkers, friends, family, that's the first thing I want to say, one of the
[19:18] last things.
[19:19] We're a family.
[19:21] Like I said, I've seen people come and go, Holly is part of my family when he was
[19:26] with us and I just wonderful people experiences and I don't care what to say
[19:32] or what agencies that anybody else comes from this is a very unique place you
[19:39] know how many are you 28 for song offices and burgers but we experience
[19:45] everything you know you guys know that and it's just the ordinary I want to
[19:53] work in the world. But anyways, thank you for your time. Everybody for being here. I won't
[19:59] be physically here every day, but every now and then you'll see my face. And thank you
[20:05] everybody. My wife, I love you mom. It's done. I love you too. Love you. And again, thank
[20:11] you. Any questions? I have a question. Since you're one more week and you're done,
[20:18] Lance wanted me to ask this. Who is your favorite chief? Was it Eunice? Robert?
[20:25] Randy? Javi? Or Claudine? Not that I want to choose one over the other.
[20:32] Can we eliminate a couple? Eunice is the one that gave me the opportunity.
[20:37] And the hats. Yes. And the hats.
[20:41] Chief E.E. Eunice. Of course Javi knows and also he is. Rachel?
[20:46] Rachel, where's Rachel, I think she's here.
[20:49] Rachel, she's been here longer than I have,
[20:51] believe it or not, you know,
[20:53] she has about three years on top of me.
[20:55] And, but yeah, you know,
[20:57] but I'll teach, you know,
[20:58] learn something from each and every one of them.
[21:01] You know, I learned a lot about running an agency.
[21:04] You know, I tell people,
[21:05] that's not according to business without making profit.
[21:08] You know, it's just unreal.
[21:10] A lot of experiences I've learned, I'll tell you.
[21:13] and I left my door open until Chief Claudine and Captain Silva said hey you
[21:19] guys not just because I'm gone doesn't mean I'm not gonna help you out you know
[21:22] whatever I can do to help I'm here. Same thing goes for you guys Councils.
[21:28] It's Nikki. So again I built the relationship something that I will
[21:32] never forget but thank you everybody in this room. We watch him that I've
[21:39] But in two over 30 years
[21:42] But thank you
[21:44] Thank you all. Thank you. Thank you. We appreciate your time
[21:48] Thank
[21:59] you, Janie for for coming out here. She's always got south part around our mind and we really appreciate that. Thank you
[22:08] Right over here
[22:26] All right, well y'all y'all gonna stay for the rest of the meeting or y'all want to go out go on out of there
[22:33] Appreciate it very much. Thank you captain. Thank you for your time
[22:55] I guess we'll move on to item number thank you
[22:57] We'll move on to item number five approved consent agendas or a motion to approve 5.1 and 5.2
[23:03] Motion to approve second all in favor. Please raise your hand
[23:09] opposed
[23:10] Motion carries
[23:12] Now we'll go on to item number six regular agenda will do 6.1 discussion of possible action to approve up to
[23:19] $60,000 for a media buy with Rio Sports live for 20 fiscal year
[23:26] 2025 through 2026. Hi everyone Cindy that have been you a director of marketing
[23:32] So, this is a potential partnership with Real Sports Live.
[23:36] We have been in partnership with them for the past four years, at least.
[23:41] And so, they have live broadcasts that you can see through streaming.
[23:47] We have advertisements also on social media.
[23:51] They put our logo on all the sporting events that they broadcast, so they do broadcast
[23:57] live through over 200 high schools in the Rio Grande Valley and people can see it
[24:03] through San Antonio, across the RGV, and in Corpus as well.
[24:10] Anybody from council have
[24:12] any questions? What were the dollar amounts of sponsorship in the last four
[24:18] years? In the past it was sixty thousand in a year but it was broken up by
[24:25] like $30,000.
[24:27] So like $30,000 every six months?
[24:29] Correct.
[24:30] Correct.
[24:30] Which is the same as what's going to be.
[24:31] The same amount right now, just all together.
[24:34] Has it always been the same type of placement?
[24:36] It looks like the logo's being placed on all
[24:39] of the different games, different broadcasts.
[24:43] And the only difference that I added this year
[24:46] is that they come to live broadcasts
[24:48] to our events, sporting events that
[24:51] are taking place here on the island.
[24:52] so they can go live and during pickle ball some of the cheer events that cells
[24:59] brings in as well and possibly maybe the boat parade as well since it's one of
[25:03] our top events here in the island and will that be in addition to the 5,000
[25:08] monthly to the 5,000 say that again oh no you mean the as far as payment goes
[25:15] No, that's included.
[25:16] The broadcast.
[25:16] The $60,000.
[25:17] How you at?
[25:18] Correct.
[25:19] Correct.
[25:21] Have you ever looked into potentially buying a commercial spot on the Real Sports Live
[25:30] instead of just the brand placement?
[25:34] They said they can play commercials as well.
[25:36] I just need to send them.
[25:38] There are 30-second videos.
[25:39] I just wasn't able to send them right now until this is until this is finalized
[25:47] Okay
[25:48] So they're gonna run some commercials for us as well. Yes. Yeah, they've been asking me for the ads
[25:53] And I said I can't I can't run a man until we get final approval
[25:56] Would Greenhaas be who is
[25:59] Developing those commercials for us or we already have the 32nd commercials because we have some running already through
[26:05] Channel 5 as well
[26:08] So it's a standard commercial that you see. Yes, it's a general commercial and CNBC and whatever you know
[26:14] I'd be I'd love to see a commercial that is branded specifically to your high schoolers and family
[26:21] Friendly things to do if we're going to spend $60,000 getting eyes on South Petra Island
[26:26] Just make it a little bit more relevant for sport to the people that are watching that
[26:31] Besides it just being the logo brand placement. Okay. We can definitely look into that
[26:38] Thank you
[26:39] But we've run ads in the past
[26:41] 30-second slick ad site, you know, we do we do real well with these when our
[26:45] When our local teams get into the playoffs and if we get up by like San Antonio over there
[26:50] These sites really does well from the people from San Antonio so they can watch the game
[26:55] Or you know the other stuff they all can't make it out there. Yeah, that's the site goes crazy for those
[27:00] And it's you know, it's and it's families watching their kids. This is a I think it hits the mark
[27:06] like
[27:11] we've answered some questions someone like to make a motion. Motion to
[27:15] approve. All in favor please raise your hand.
[27:23] Thank you.
[27:29] Next up is Randy's
[27:31] favorite part we're going to do 6.2 which is presentation of the fourth
[27:34] quarter 2025 city managers report. Good evening Randy Smith city manager. So
[27:41] on these quarterly reports and I'll just say it because I think we have
[27:43] of some obviously a new council person
[27:46] and other people participating and watching.
[27:49] These reports by no means is all that our staff does.
[27:54] It's just some highlights that they wanna boast on
[27:58] and we wanna include in the reports.
[28:00] There's a lot of other things
[28:01] that don't go in these reports
[28:03] but I'd like to also say that I go through it quickly
[28:06] cause it's kind of, it's a little boring
[28:09] to just sit here and go line by line
[28:11] but I just want to really hit the vision that we have from the city employees standpoint
[28:18] is that, you know, remind everybody that we all know that we're a tourist driven industry
[28:24] and it doesn't matter if you're running a hotel or you're running whatever, it's the
[28:28] service we give that make the people that want to come back that keep the city rolling
[28:33] that makes it nice and it's all up from leadership at council to the volunteers
[28:39] on our board committees that are the professionals that helped set some
[28:44] guidelines and structure for the city down to the boots on the ground which is
[28:48] us that fill out the vision that is sent down to us to do whatever it is we
[28:56] always try to do it over and above and that shows in our work and every one of
[29:02] And these divisions that the city has, which is broke up into 14 divisions, these guys,
[29:12] these folks, these employees, they really do go above and beyond.
[29:15] Some people say, oh, you know, they're city employees, they're paid, they get insurance,
[29:19] be happy.
[29:20] But they go, I've worked for agencies that people kind of go to work, they do the
[29:25] nine to five and they go home, but our people aren't those people.
[29:29] These are folks that come to work, they go the extra mile, like Jim Pigg is like, we
[29:36] got to go participate in state events because there's possibility of grass fires over in
[29:44] Mid-Texas.
[29:45] Well, those are the same state folks that we call when we have floods, waters, hurricanes,
[29:51] tropical storms, we have to collaborate with them.
[29:56] Rodrigo goes the extra mile to make sure that we get the award.
[30:00] He could just say, oh, well, you know, we could get by, but that's just not how our people
[30:05] think. They go so much further. Our HR and the training that they give is phenomenal. You'll
[30:12] see that when you read the HR report later, and we have SBI connect. Well, there's CE
[30:18] hours that our folks have to have for their certain certifications, but HR goes way above
[30:25] and beyond. There's a whole lot of other courses they get to take that help them
[30:29] grow within their jobs that they make sure is available through training sessions.
[30:36] Most of them right here, where we don't even have to pay to send an employee off to train.
[30:42] Our health care benefits.
[30:44] We could do the minimum, but we sit on the health board, Wendy does.
[30:48] She makes sure that we get the best health care service.
[30:52] In the end, we end up paying less and then even getting money back from claims
[30:57] saved because they're so detailed in the way that they handle our health care.
[31:02] So it doesn't really matter whether it's the police department going out to the schools
[31:07] or the fire department that's participating on the beach with events, I think our people
[31:13] go beyond.
[31:15] This is an example, year after year, the excellence award.
[31:20] For 35 years, the finance department gives.
[31:23] These aren't easy.
[31:25] I have to participate in that.
[31:26] There's two of us that absolutely have to go to training every year to talk about investments,
[31:33] to talk about how to handle the city's money.
[31:37] I'm one of them and Rodrigo's the other.
[31:41] This is cross-city-wide interest reports.
[31:45] It's just blurted out here, but in our quarterly financial reports, the breakdowns are there
[31:51] and it explains it.
[31:52] the city's compelled to try and do its best to utilize taxpayer money and if
[31:58] they're not utilizing and they're sitting on it they are supposed to invest it
[32:02] and make it grow and I think they do a great job at it. This is an example of
[32:08] the fire and beach patrol. I mean you can read the calls for service or the
[32:13] medical calls but you know they go above and beyond they recruit the
[32:18] Young life guards for service
[32:21] They do prevention. They do not just enforcement. They do training and and prevention and a lot of other things within their
[32:29] organization that make us proud
[32:33] This is an example down here in the left-hand corner where they sent folks out to those talking about for the fires in Alice when
[32:41] the when it's dry and there could be possible fires or we'll send EMS
[32:45] somewhere to be on scene for state calls and then of course we use them
[32:51] ourselves and the we have some new equipment coming and it's a little bit
[32:58] different and upgraded so the fire departments jumped ahead and already
[33:01] started training with what those equipment pieces of be on the new
[33:06] fire trucks that we have coming I don't think Jim put it in here but he took the
[33:12] personal time to travel to the location where these really expensive fire
[33:16] trucks are being made and toured the plant and toured the craftsmanship and
[33:22] just basically went to reassure that if the construction of those fire trucks
[33:30] are that we're getting our money's worth it basically is a better way to put
[33:34] it.
[33:37] This is another example of the police department. They could come in and just do
[33:42] their regular thing, but they apply for grants. They really, Sergeant Silva works really hard
[33:49] on managing that grants with finance, and they're able to do things like stone garden.
[33:54] Most of the citizens wouldn't even know what that is, but that's extra patrols
[33:58] on our street that we get funding for, and Lone Star is another one, and then we are
[34:05] able to even get just about a $90,000 patrol car all equipped on one of those grants.
[34:13] They're just working hard to get whatever is available out there, and I've said this
[34:18] before, Council, and we've talked about it.
[34:20] There's tons of grants out there, everything the sparkles doesn't shine.
[34:23] There's sometimes a lot of things afterwards that causes a lot of headaches.
[34:27] So that's why going you can apply for a million grants what you want to do is you
[34:32] want to apply for the grants that fits your area and benefit the city and not
[34:37] cost a lot of extra behind-the-scenes issues like reporting for years or
[34:42] paying paying it on the back end training hosted by SPI you can see and
[34:50] they also get involved you see up here at the top where they go to the
[34:53] school districts, where they involve themselves in training, and then we have online reporting.
[35:00] They made a note down here.
[35:02] That's kind of a new concept.
[35:05] It works good for large cities like Houston that are over inundated with police calls,
[35:10] but it works real good for us because people come stay down here.
[35:14] They go back to Dallas, Austin, or San Antonio, and they have a police report they need
[35:19] to make.
[35:19] If it's not one that requires them to be right here,
[35:22] we have a call-in system where we can generate a case number
[35:26] and still help them with their needs.
[35:29] National Night Out is another community involvement.
[35:32] A lot of cities might just do the police department,
[35:35] but here it's really, really cool
[35:37] because our transit department gets involved,
[35:40] our HR gets involved,
[35:42] our police department's hosting it,
[35:44] the fire department's very involved.
[35:46] You can see all the city staff that get involved.
[35:49] with National Night Out, and then our community partners
[35:53] come visit us too, like Border Patrol
[35:56] and Texas Parks and Wildlife, et cetera.
[36:00] Claudine, being in her chief's position,
[36:03] has really taken a lead role in Women in Law Enforcement,
[36:07] which I think is a really nice thing.
[36:09] They've hosted some stuff down here
[36:10] at the convention center that's very successful,
[36:13] and then she's also reached out
[36:15] and gone around the valley
[36:16] and been very involved in that.
[36:19] Public works got our chillers going.
[36:22] Those were, while this building was built in 2008
[36:27] and doesn't seem that old,
[36:29] those chillers had reached their life
[36:31] and they were able to successfully get that all fixed up.
[36:37] And then the pickleball courts,
[36:39] whoever thought that would be so widely used
[36:43] and so enjoyable for everybody.
[36:45] I think once a week, if not once a day,
[36:48] I hear how much everybody's enjoying all the pickle ball areas and courts and
[36:53] With the museum going in it was very important to and particularly I don't think
[37:00] Mr. Franky's
[37:01] Got his hands on that and anything he does is going to look good
[37:05] So we've had to jazz up the back of the pickle ball courts to make it flow and have a very attractive
[37:11] Look for the whole area, which is really good because it's a very popular area a lot of people go by there
[37:17] and that's why I think this parking that you see down here funded by the
[37:21] chairs is going to really be a great addition to the area after we get a
[37:26] little bit of green replanting and some designer light poles and things that
[37:31] are going in there I think it's going to really add some attractiveness to
[37:35] the area give us some extra parking these asphalt slabs poured in the
[37:42] middle of a median just don't hold the attractiveness that that I think this is
[37:47] going to you'll be able to see a big difference between those and as you see
[37:54] our environmental health department they deal with a lot of issues including
[38:01] lighting issues lighting has been a big problem on the island they go around
[38:07] they we operate on complaints but we also have units out there trying to
[38:11] look and see what we can do to try and tone that down before the complaints
[38:15] come in. They also wanted to make a note that they're the second scariest
[38:19] contest on the island but they're they won second place in our we try to do
[38:23] stuff within our departments you know Bill camaraderie and and the city's
[38:29] real good about doing their Halloween door decorations. I think the court
[38:34] got first place, if I remember right. Also, code enforcement is just like our other parts
[38:42] of the department. They like to get out and engage. They engage on career day. They're
[38:47] out there engaging. A minister matters is out there all the time for the recycling.
[38:52] And then they have a pretty good size component of helping with management of the short term
[38:59] rentals.
[39:02] Stagnant water is always going to be an issue here because we have raised
[39:05] properties and lower properties and we where an island is sand underneath and
[39:10] it's always we're always going to have water built up and honestly I think they
[39:15] do a phenomenal job. Somebody may say I got hit with a few mosquitoes but I
[39:21] can tell you when I was in Surfside we would make traffic stops that we had
[39:25] just get let them go because you couldn't even write the ticket the mosquitoes were too bad
[39:34] building department is showing the valuations right about for the this is for the final quarter
[39:41] so we're just about seven million dollars and then in permit fees is 56,000
[39:48] I'll note on that one Randy if you don't mind that you know under the state law
[39:53] While residential properties aren't required to put the value of construction on their permit
[40:00] anymore, permit application, so that number could be greater just because of that residential
[40:06] component.
[40:07] Because I, like myself, I don't put a value on there when I pull a permit, so.
[40:11] Good point.
[40:13] And then as you go through these reports later, you can look at some of the breakdowns
[40:18] are the subsequent information that is in addition. And then information technology, you know that's
[40:25] always a growing thing. We're real fortunate to have our team aboard. These two things are just
[40:33] showing how they're integrating the fire systems and the fleet management. The fleet
[40:39] management here is because of our environment and conditions requires the most we can get
[40:46] out of it vehicles and repairs are super expensive and this management software system helps
[40:53] navigate them through all those problems, but the one thing I want to say about information
[40:59] technology is today with all the hacks and everything that goes on they're doing a real
[41:06] good job at keeping us safe, having double or whatever it's called authentic verifications
[41:11] to sign on whatever it takes to protect our technology infrastructure there on
[41:19] top of it. Human resources, we every year that we do employee recognition show
[41:26] 5, 10, 15 years make sure employees know that we appreciate them. Also the HR
[41:34] division does wellness programs we also have several programs where we
[41:41] not only you know yes we provide the insurance we do this but we also bring
[41:45] in extra teams that help employees can sign up they can get all kinds of
[41:52] medical evaluations for next to nothing that they wouldn't be able to get at
[41:57] the hospital to help preventative problematic issues with their health
[42:05] and it pays off and in the end it's we go above and beyond the state health care
[42:12] benchmarks for that type of stuff and employee training that's the internal
[42:18] training I'm talking about you can see they held 33 sessions we had we don't
[42:23] have 333 staff members so you can tell that you know members went to multiple
[42:29] staff training some of it might have been mandated but the majority wasn't
[42:34] It's selective, and if they go to it, then they just build their knowledge and we enjoy
[42:40] doing that with them.
[42:45] This is the Halloween thing, just some stuff we do to have some fun within the different
[42:51] departments and build camaraderie.
[42:52] Municipal courts, they're handling their collections.
[42:57] The judge obviously has to take his CE hours.
[43:01] We're all on top of our hours.
[43:03] Every division has a certain amount of those CE hours we've got to take.
[43:06] They, the courts do a great job at participating
[43:09] at National Night Out.
[43:10] The community gets to come out and learn
[43:12] about what all they do in the courts
[43:14] and there's a lot of good feedback that we get from that.
[43:19] Also, the court helps host things here on the island.
[43:25] A lot of these things, but heads and beds
[43:27] just like code enforcement, host stuff
[43:30] that brings heads and beds the police department does.
[43:33] where like I said in the beginning a tourist destination and if there's any
[43:40] opportunity that any of our divisions can help bring those organizations and
[43:46] their annual training here we work really hard on it and we appreciate all
[43:51] those managers in the city that go out and try and bring their organizations
[43:56] here. This is the City Manager's Office. This shows, this mainly, Nikki Soto gives us this
[44:05] data pretty much, but it gives us the meetings on demands and any of the social media hits.
[44:15] It shows all the public information requests that come in. Some of those, one of those
[44:22] may just be a really quick public information request and some of them as we know can really
[44:29] take some time. They bog us down, they take a massive amount of time together, the information,
[44:35] some stuff has to be deducted, some stuff isn't preppy, and it's a lot to go through.
[44:40] Over 80 a month, that's a lot.
[44:42] yeah it is a lot and then this is the some of the this is an example of you
[44:52] know when we try to get boards and committees it shows that you know there
[44:57] might be other ways to to knock on
[45:00] Doors and see who's qualified and interested, but this one got a lot of hits, and it was inexpensive
[45:07] to freeway to advertise, and it looks like it got a lot of views for how many ever positions
[45:16] if you add them up. That's a lot of views and a lot of interest. People are looking
[45:21] and they're they're discussing it obviously. And then Island Metro, man I don't you know those
[45:30] buses look great and they're roaming around all the time. I know that a lot of people really enjoy
[45:37] those buses being here and it could be like anything else maybe not appreciated as much if
[45:43] you don't use them. I like to take a Saturday once in a while the bus drivers know it because
[45:48] they'll see me and will actually, me or someone in my family will go ride those buses just
[45:53] to see how they're doing and check them out.
[45:56] And I always tell people if you hadn't ridden those buses around town, you should just
[46:01] do it just for the experience to see how cool it is.
[46:06] Their ridership is always really high.
[46:09] They came up with the idea to try and put some advertising capability out there
[46:15] it gives someone something to do while they're riding the bus, they can learn about maybe
[46:20] some establishment on the island, an eatery or whatever the case may be, and it does bring
[46:26] some funds back into the island metro.
[46:32] And the parks department always does a great job, and particularly at Christmas they really
[46:37] shine.
[46:38] And as you see, we had over 50 entries this year, it was a really nice parade.
[46:44] paid. And the butterfly park, they added another, I'm trying to bring the wording is here, but
[46:55] the book vault or whatever, where they go and they trade these books out. I had never
[47:01] heard of that until they did the first one recently, but that's a really popular deal
[47:06] and I think they're doing a good job with it and the park looks great. And then the
[47:13] holiday event, you have the lighting ceremony, the winter wonderland, the
[47:18] boat-lighted parade, and breakfast with Santa. I know we discussed it here
[47:22] briefly right afterwards where Debbie came up and showcased it, but I heard
[47:27] everybody had fun and it was a great event.
[47:31] And then in the end, this is the
[47:36] show some of the branding being done, I guess would be the
[47:42] word greenhouse and they're saying that people are just it could be SPI it could
[47:47] be South Padre but now they're just saying the island there's quite a few
[47:52] islands up and down the coast but how cool would it be to be the island is
[47:57] is what the concept is and you'd already know what they're talking about and
[48:02] then the McAllen parade we all know that's huge gets a lot of views and
[48:09] And there's, I think it's a great investment and McAllen's always been a great partner
[48:18] and it wouldn't even matter whether it's a parade or anything else we do, they've really
[48:22] been good partners for the city.
[48:24] And I know that the visitors they get like to also visit us.
[48:29] And then this is the Spurs partnership, I haven't been to the Spurs game in a while
[48:37] But I have had a lot of friends that tell me they see our advertising on the electronic
[48:44] billboards behind and they say it's really cool to be sitting there and all of a sudden
[48:49] they see South Pottery Island being advertised.
[48:52] You know we keep getting told that the drive market is super important and we believe that
[48:56] from the experts.
[48:57] We're here doing the work, we're just using the expertise of the community that
[49:03] knows best about where, you know, the professionals in the business that say what's the best markets
[49:08] and that Austin and San Antonio, that's obviously good places and it seems like it's working.
[49:17] And then this is the football club is what they call it, but it's the soccer and a lot
[49:23] of good hits there and a lot of good feedback.
[49:26] It's great advertising in the convention center is saying that they're seeing the
[49:31] benefits out of it. And of course these are different signature events that you can go
[49:39] back here and look later that are hosted here, the most notable the boxing event that occurred
[49:45] here. And the youth, we always know the youth like to come and then when they come their
[49:51] parents come and they spend time on the island and it's packed there. It looks like they're
[49:56] having a great time.
[49:59] There's two slides in here, so that was an accident.
[50:01] We apologize for that.
[50:03] Shoreline, we got a lot of stuff going on there.
[50:08] The boat ramp's going to go in.
[50:10] I think it's going to be phenomenal.
[50:11] I know there was some concerns about compact area
[50:16] and a lot going on over there.
[50:19] I think in the end, we're going to see the great benefits.
[50:23] Fishing is super important, and we've
[50:24] got to find more access points to the bay. If we can't have one big one I don't
[50:30] know if anybody I have multiple times gone to one of these lakes that has a
[50:34] ton of property and you pull up and they all have five boat ramps and all
[50:38] kinds of parking but this island unfortunately we don't have that
[50:42] availability we just don't have that much land available to the bay so we
[50:48] We have to kind of do pocket boat ramps, unfortunately.
[50:53] One boat ramp isn't enough, two boat ramps, probably five boat ramps isn't enough.
[50:57] But this is a good start, it gives us another access to the bay, it gives us some parking,
[51:03] and I think it's going to flow better than most people first were concerned with.
[51:10] And that's it.
[51:13] Oh, and they went into water sports, or who didn't catch that?
[51:16] We did it's listed on here that we had the perm out and so we're really excited to get that go on to
[51:22] Yeah, we should get that out to to bid here in the next month or so. So we'll be excited about that
[51:29] Anybody else have any questions. It was a very comprehensive report. We appreciate it. It'll be online for anybody
[51:36] Thank you to all the city staff and everybody who works does a great job for South ponder Island
[51:42] We appreciate it very much
[51:45] All right. And we'll move on to item number 6.3, which is discussion of possible action
[51:53] to approve the January 7, 2026 regular city council meeting minutes and the January 9,
[51:59] 2026 special city council meeting minutes. This is pulled from Consent Agenda because
[52:06] I'll abstain from it. So is there a motion to approve in a second?
[52:09] Motion
[52:14] approved.
[52:15] Second?
[52:16] I'll second.
[52:17] All in favor please raise your hand.
[52:22] I'll abstain.
[52:24] Motion carries.
[52:27] And I'd say number seven is we are adjourned.
[52:30] Thank you all very much.
[52:32] Have a great day.