Miss PR it's 9:00 a.m good morning mayor good morning good morning everyone for being here it's uh 9:00 yes sir we need two more we need representa none here's representative Kennedy so we do have a quum nope we lost representative molar there he is we now have a quorum it's 9:00 a.m. good morning this is a meeting of the El Paso city council for Tuesday November 21st 2023 mayor liser is present and presiding in council chambers along with representative Kennedy mayor Pro manelo alternate mayor Pro molinard and representative Riva it is 9:01 a.m. and I will everyone please silence your electronic devices so as not to disturb the meeting and rise for the invocation delivered by El Paso Police chaplain Joe marada I ask that we bow our heads together this morning Lord today we come before you and ask that you look upon today's proceedings with your wisdom and guidance we ask that you guide our elected in a appointed officials in the Fulfillment of their respective offices guide our city staff and employees all of whom work together to make El Paso safe and better Community to reside in guide their decisions to allow for the best possible use of limited resources in reaching the greatest number of people we recognize that many Among Us perhaps it may be ourselves have had a very difficult year we ask that you help us to find appreciation and gratitude during this time of Thanksgiving and what some would count as blessings and other as good things in life let your peace be upon each and everyone and every home we are thankful for the many people both in public and private sector who will will be working on call and available to assist their Community as needed during the holiday season we respectfully ask that you keep and protect all our First Responders and their families keep the many traveler safe we ask that you bless our nation our state the cities of El Paso and wattis and the surrounding region and communities in your name name amen amen thank you sir for the record representative erandis is present in council chambers and representative salido is joining virtually this morning to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance we have students from Harmony School of Excellence we have Aubrey Vega okay okay we have Eileen situ Alysa situ and Miranda Vela here man un [Applause] States [Applause] you for the record representative F has just arrived there you go thank you for that everyone please be seated that brings us to the mayor's Proclamation before we um before we start I'd like to um uh have a moment of silence for first lady uh rosn Carter who passed away at the age of 96 and was a huge humanitarian a huge representative of our of our country and U I'd like to have a moment of silence please thank you and may God bless her Al Paso and the United States and with that um I I just want to wish everybody a um very Happy Thanksgiving it's a time for family and hope that uh we'll see you all either at parade and if not uh Happy Thanksgiving to everyone may God bless you all m p thank you mayor the first Proclamation is public health thank you D let me pass him out this is yours thank you thank you Laura so where as public health workers in El Paso have gone above and beyond as leaders in the fight against communicable diseases updating Public Health guidance providing accurate data in addressing Health disparities impacting socially disadvantaged populations so that all El Pas on can stay safe and healthy and whereas public health workers are dedicated to reducing infant mortality ensuring their families are immunized against a vaccine Venable diseases tracking infectious diseases promoting mental health awareness advocating for injury prevention helping communities prepare for natural disasters advancing Equity efforts to reduce Health disparities inspecting and regulating food establishments providing laboratory services and much more and whereas despite these times of Crisis and uncertainty El pasa's public health workers have remained committed to protecting Healthcare and Long-Term Care Systems and have even helped to secure additional support resources and guidance for these systems and whereas advancing Public Health requires Collective action and no one can do it alone and public health workers are leaders in creating Partnerships with the business Community local state and federal Partners Community organizations and local schools to improve the conditions that lead to Better Health for all and whereas on this occasion the city of El Paso joins all El pasoans in expressing our deepest gratitude to El Paso's Public Health Heroes for their unwavering dedication and continued support for building a healthier and more resilient El Paso for all now there therefore be it proclaimed by the mayor and the city council of the city of Al Paso that November 20th 2023 shall be known as public health thank you day thank you all so much [Applause] congratulations good morning good morning mayor and Council it is indeed an honor to stand before you today I am Antonio Martinez the public health Workforce officer for the Department of Public Health as Earl W Stafford once expressed I wanted to dedicate my life to doing good for others today I'm accompanied by a section of the public health Workforce individuals who embody that Noble commitment to serving others on behalf of the entire Public Health Workforce we extend our heartfile gratitude to you mayor and councel for this Proclamation Public Health thank you day all allows us to pause and recognize the tireless efforts of public health professionals who diligently Safeguard the well-being of all people and communities Public Health work spans government business Healthcare and nonprofit sectors thank you to business owners Community Health work healthcare workers Community planners nurses doctors occupational health safety professionals and First Responders among others who contribute to Public Health work in our community thank you to the nearly 300 individuals who serve in our local public health special thanks to 211 call center Rawlings dental clinic education and promotion team epidemiology Team food Inspection Team HIV prevention team lab team Medicaid waiver team sexual health clinic and TB control immunizations team emergency preparedness team Finance team Wick team administra administrative team and the Fig team together these mentioned and other unnamed public health professionals have made great strides in data and surveillance evidence-based interventions creating new Partnerships and engaging our community as Martin Luther King articulated of all the forms of inequality Injustice in health is the most shocking and inhumane address ing this Injustice is our Department's priority particularly for those who need it most serving in this capacity is a profound honor because every facet of our community can be seen through the lens of Public Health Public Health in essence connects us all we we may often be confused with health care and healthc Care Professionals treat people who are sick where Public Health aims to prevent people from getting sick our dedicated professionals strive to prevent problems and promote well-being through education policies and various Public Health Services thank you for your support and let us continue working together to build a healthier more Equitable future for all residents of Al [Music] Paso thank you thank you all for um uh it's really important to have a strong Public Health department for a community in in a city like El Paso and I do want to recognize Dr okara Who seems to always want to be in the background but really does a lot for the public health and for for the city and keeps us all informed so thank you all thank you Dr okano for everything you all do and there's nothing more important in our community than a strong Public Health Department to continue to keep our community safe and healthy and understanding because a lot of time it's preventive that really makes a big difference so thank you you all and uh Happy Thanksgiving to everyone of youall thank you and if this morning's honores will please remain in Chambers Council will have an opportunity to take photos with you once all the ceremonial items have been completed representative Canales has just joined the meeting the following Proclamation is Al Paso Figure Skating club dat good morning Proclamation city of El Paso Texas whereas El Paso Figure Skating Club El Paso FSC originally known as the Sun City Figure Skating club was founded in 1996 by former icecapade skat Lor Lori Briggs whereas the organization competes annually with both the United States figure skating Association and the ice skating institution and whereas recreational and competitive figure skating is offered for any and all with a current membership of a approximately 80 members ranging from 2 years old to 76 years old of age whereas on August 6 2023 the op Paso Figure Skating club won first place at the isi 2023 World recreational championships in Boston Massachusetts all this possible with 56 members in attendance and whereas the competi competition consisted of 3,685 individual and group performances in which Fernanda carasco 12 years old and meline Kennedy 11 years old representing Al Paso FSC by each performing 19 times winning with a collective 1,345 points an outstanding record as it is the first time this has been accomplished in the history of figure skating in El Paso Texas whereas this remarkable achievement was the product of the team's countless hours of dedication and perseverance and whereas the op Paso Figure Skating club is not only a Sports organization but institution of great young athletes within the city of El Paso Texas now therefore be a proclaimed by the mayor and Council of the city of El Paso that November 21st 2023 shall be known as op Paso Figure Skating club day signed the honorable Oscar liser mayor for city of op [Applause] Paso good morning good morning my name is Sarah Sena and I'm one of the coaches representing our Figure Skating club of El Paso and I'm Sabrina aana as well another coach representing and on behalf of our club we want to thank you guys for recognizing us for such an amazing achievement that was nationally internationally recognized and ice skating is not common especially in Texas um especially in a desert we have thrived with our club we are growing every year and the spirit of El Paso lives in our club and we have just just prevailed um amongst just uncommon odds so um our rank that we skate at is at is um from the El Paso County Coliseum and there's still a lot of people in El Paso that don't know that there's an ice skating team here and we have so many skaters that have amazing Stories amazing families and they've all been able to come together and travel and they work hard they practice to make this amazing achievement happen so thank you all so much for recognizing us and recognizing the hard work that these girls have put in the parents the coaches thank you thank you all for um and you're right ice skating is it's a tough Sport and and you have to have a lot of coordination and uh one thing I can guarantee you'll never see me on a pair of ice skates I think a couple people just got a visual that's why you heard the but I'd love for um all the kids that uh incredible accomplishment that they did and recognition to our community and I've always said that the future of our city and our country is the youth and no no different here and I want to congratulate you all so if they all could introduce themselves to everybody it'd be an honor hi my name is Chloe Carell and I'm 11 years old hi my name is Vivian Lopez and I am 11 years old my name is aen aen tasas and I'm 15 years old my name is Aon eslinger I'm 17 years old I'm Karen Ramos and I'm n years old Miss Miss PR can we turn the this the side microphone on for some of them please thank you ma'am yes sir it's off my name is Kam Martinez and I'm 15 years old my name is Sala Roso and I'm 12 my name is Sophie tasas and I'm 12 years old my name is Zoe Garcia and I'm 11 years old my name is m OA and I'm 15 years old my name is Aurora Valdez and I'm 11 years old my name is sa Park and I'm 11 years old my name is Mariana DTE and I'm 12 years old my name is J C I'm 6 years old my name is Reina Lopez and I'm um 7 years old old I'm K old are you how do you thank thank you and congratulations again thank you uh representative mullinar ladies before you take a away go out so just remember we do have winter fest in progress and guess what we have a skating ring we like to see all all of you out there thank you repr Kennedy I was going to say that I remember back in the Sun City blades days which was one of the first skating teams when Lori Briggs and Cory Herman and I were walking around the equestrian center at that point with the dirt floor and saying you know I think we could fit an ice rink in here and uh that was a long time ago most of you guys weren't born yet um and I just to see the fruition of that come forward to where you guys are national champions is pretty amazing and I don't think people realize that figure skaters practice at very unusual times sometimes late at night very early in the morning and weekends and holidays don't count so I just want to say congratulations and it does my heart good to know that there's a thriving program going on congratulations thank you representative thank you Mr Mayor one of the coaches can you raise your hand oh thank you is there a height requirement because representative Canales is a heck of a scale we saw him at break the ice so there is no height requirement there we go we got you job thank you m I'll join up exactly ice SK is for everyone no matter the m p the next Proclamation is El Paso County Medical societies 125th anniversary phell thank you Mr Mayor it's an honor read this Proclamation welcome Proclamation city of El Paso whereas the El Paso County Medical Society was founded in 1898 and is celebrating its 125th year with the a mission of unifying physicians in El Paso region for Quality Care whereas the El Paso County Medical Society provides ongoing education and engagement of uh regional physicians and the community through various um mediums to include the El Paso Physicians which uh is a locally produced television program first airing 26 years ago and is one-of A- kind in Texas and only a handful in the nation the society continues it to quartly publish the El Paso Physicians magazine peerreview journal to Foster current medical practices and research whereas during covid-19 pandemic the El Paso County Medical Society was instrumental in uh in physician education Distributing 1.5 million pieces of protective equipment over 56 weeks to allow uh continuation of care in the physician's office whereas El Paso County Medical Society partners with Texas Medical Association for continuing medical education information on issues in Texas that affect our region working with the Border Health commission and other state and federal agencies uh along the board whereas we recognize the efforts of the El Paso County Medical Society and their ongoing Mission and support El Paso's healthare Community now therefore be it proclaimed by the mayor and councel on November 21st 2023 shall be known as El pasle County Medical Society 125th anniversary congratulations good morning doctor thank you mayor liser thank you Representatives we uh certainly appreciate your support uh 125 years uh El Paso was uh quite different at that point and uh in October 125 years ago small group of Physicians came together and formed the ELP Paso County Medical Society and it's been an existence sense and has been helpful for our community helping guide the health care as we've they've moved forward whether it was through the 19 18 Spanish Flu up through our recent covid experience and as everyone has Health Care as a part of their lives certainly the AL Paso County Medical Society is there to help guide that experience to help lead our health care teams and help us be a healthier environment and and a better Community we've uh grown quite a bit as a community and as our physician going forward we want to thank you for for your support and understand that we're going to be here probably hopefully another 125 years and we'll be much different at that point it's always exciting to see the growth uh to see the young individuals here who are doing their skating or the public health uh 125 years ago I'm not that old so I can't uh can't tell you my age at this point but uh we do appreciate appreciate that we do have a token uh a book that was produced by the El Paso County Medical Society on the history of uh Medical Care here in El Paso it is an exciting read and I hope you get the opportunity to take a look at it uh it's very informative of and shows the history of how El Paso grew as a city and as a healthc care our goal is to help El Paso and stay in El Paso and get the greatest quality care and with that we hope to be a a part of that decisionmaking and also the education of our physicians going forward for our community I'd like to uh recognize also uh individuals within our El Paso County Medical Society that help keep it running every year uh certainly we have paty Slaughter and uh Elsa travar they are very good at uh making sure that we keep on track uh going forward so want Tok thank you very much and uh appreciate your uh support and also Dr okano who's been very helpful and uh supportive of our of the El Paso Healthcare thank you thank [Applause] you you want to just bring those up be thank you thank you again for for everything you do and I I do look forward to um as you said we may not be here 125 years from now but uh we know that we'll continue to make sure we have proper health care for our community so thank you doctor and with that Mr P next is the mayor's distinguished Award presented to Mary E Gonzalez State Representative of District 75 representative Gonzalez can you come up please ma'am [Applause] you know it's um it's really an honor to to be able to honor you for not only the work you've done for many years and and you've been an incredible representative for for our city and you may represent the the Lower Valley area but you represent the CATE of El Paso and you've done an incredible job and you you know consider your personal friend besides uh and I didn't meet you till I took public office so it's uh it's always nice to be able to to look and see some of the accomplishments you've done but umu it's huge to see that um you had the vision for a Cancer Center and as a cancer survivor I can tell you that it's important and I've had to go out of town and I've been out of town many of times and as a matter of fact I'll be going again so it's important that you had that Vision to bring a tail pass so 990,000 ft Cancer Center the Steve and Nancy Fox cancer center but you brought $65 million to the city of El Paso to be able to provide the health care that's needed so people don't have to go out of town people can have the health care needed and a lot of people that don't have the ability to be able to go out of town and don't and don't have the ability to have that proper Health Care Center will have it now 9 90,000 squ ft facility that U you know and I was reading about it and um you know the the the care whether it's uh breast cancer colon cancer uh prostate SK any type of cancer we will have the state-of-the-art facility in the city of El Paso because of you because of your hard work and you know you talk about 125 years it's here today and and I want to thank you so and I want to give you the the mayor's distinguished award in appreciation and your unwavering efforts commitment to our community and your leadership to secure State funding for a Cancer Treatment Center in El Paso thank you on behalf of the city of Al Paso its citizens and every patient that will now have access to Quality treatment thank you thank you may good morning everybody it's a pleasure to be here uh the rules are a lot different in the legislature so I'm not sure what they are here but um first and foremost I do want to thank the mayor and all the councel for this recognition it means the world to me but I do have to say that this was an in an independent project the people who started to lay the groundwork for this is our UMC El Paso um District Hospital they were the ones who started the research and came to the to me with the conversation and then they tried they tried to get it on their own and when that failed we thought the project had died and um luckily through 12 years of service in the state legislature and now being Vice chair of appropriation we found a way to make sure that our community H doesn't have to leave or honestly doesn't have to die because they have cancer the truth of the matter is as we started to research this issue more people in our community have died because there wasn't access and that should never be our reality so I'm really grateful for of course yall um all the Allies everyone from UMC to Texas Tech to the delegation the county it was a giant project it's so one of the we've gotten not one of the largest Appropriations um in the history of the state in the last two years and well we can talk about definitely the cancer center that'll be transformative but so will the new Psychiatric Hospital which we also got $50 million for or you know the additional funding for our parks and so many other things but this I think will literally save people's lives and I'm just honored to be in the position to help el baso support our community and work with amazing Community leaders who who are tireless in our advocacy mayor more than anything I just want to say you are an astounding leader and I'm just grateful to have your partnership in so many ways so um to all of councel thank you so much and I'm very grateful thank you representative P um Vice chair Gonzalez before you leave you know mayor um I want to personally thank uh Vice chair Gonzalez for her leadership for her um running Appropriations in the way where she's brought money to our community from one end to the other from wo tanks to tr to the the um Trans Mountain the uh the Tramway UMC the psych center she's her leadership and Appropriations has touched our entire Community thank you for acknowledging her and giving her that award thank you Vice chair thank you again thank you may God bless you thank you M PR mayor would you like to go to the consent agenda please thank you all matters listed under the consent agenda will be considered by city council to be routined and will be enacted by one motion unless separate discussion as requested by council members prior to the vote members of the audience may ask questions regarding items on the consent agenda when the vote has been taken If an item has not been called out for separate discussion the item has been approved Council May however reconsider any item at any time during the meeting mayor Pro represent caneles did uh did you turn your button on or I miss you I'm sorry it's after the go ahead sir uh mayor I make a motion to approve the consent agenda with the following revisions page three mayor's Proclamation delete per mayor liser page seven item 15 postpone two weeks per representative Retta page seven item 16 take after the mayor's proclamations per representative anello page seven item 18 take after the mayor's proclamations per representative anello page 10 item 22 revise per streets and maintenance and that revision is to correct the item number to strike out one and replace with four page 12 item 31 move to the Forefront of the regular agenda per representative anello page 12 item 28 move to the Forefront of the regular agenda per representative anello thank you represent Canales I'd also like to add uh moving page Aid item 19 to the Forefront okay thank you sir to follow item 28 correct correct thank you do we have a second second mayor we do have public comment from Miss Turner turn item number 14 go ahead Miss Turner good morning M Turner and thank you for always being here I don't know yesterday you said you I looked like I was moving around real well you were about 30 seconds later I had pains down my leg and then my back thanks for jinxing me for the whole day uh we do have Dr okano back there if you need anything yeah well everything from C1 to S1 is messed up uh it this is the item that you all postponed this is a company that uh was fined just over 111 million uh you're at the doj found them guilty for basically selling drugs to people who were not authorized to have them so my question then and my question now is how can you do business with a company like that and since the contract calls for an excess of 200% if you do something as crazy as to continue doing business with them I don't think we should be paying an extra 200% it's not not our responsibility to pay off this company's $1 million plus fine so I would like to know the justification for doing business with this these people it would seem to me that my city would not want to do deal with people who basically sell drugs to people who are not authorized to have them and it had been sanctioned by the Doja for such actions with fines in excess of $1 million I just need an explanation mayor I would like to revise my uh motion um to page seven item 14 move to the regular agenda okay we'll do that we have second on that second that's part of the re the revisions yes thank you okay okay with that there's a motion to approve the consent agenda as revised by mayor Pro manelo seconded by alternate mayor Pro molard on that motion call for the vote representa salido hi thank you and the voting session and the motion passes unanimously that brings us to the first item that was moved to the Forefront and this is item number 16 item item 16 is discussion and action to approve a resolution for the city to recognize El Paso County Veteran of the Year Donna hes sample for her unwavering dedication to the military community and commend her for tireless advocacy of service members veterans and their families and this item was placed by representative ernandez representative nandez thank you Mary good morning good morning um I have the resolution I'd like to read into the record whereas continuing the military family Legacy Donna sample began her career in the 19 in 1986 with the US Army she was stationed at various Army installations where she received recognition including an army Service ribbon army Good Conduct Medal Army defense medal and two Army Achievement medals as well as the qual as well as qualified as an M16 Sharpshooter and whereas Donna transitioned from active duty to the reserves in 1989 and later in carrying prioritization of her growing family and Service as a military spouse was honorably discharged in 1993 and whereas in 1994 Donna and her family PCS to the Fort Bliss air artillery de defense Brigade and in 1998 they decided to choose the great city of El Pasa Texas to retire Donna has since dedicated the last 30 years to serving the El Paso Community and Ras beginning in 2002 Donna spent eight years at Region 19 Education Service Center serving as a school health safe and drug free program manager addressing issues affecting Youth and military families and later worked with Jennifer Anne's Dating Violence prevention group to advocate for bullying prevention and RZ donon is currently the director of military veterans affairs for the star military veteran program at Rio Vista Behavioral Health specializing in treatment for service members and Veterans for over 100 organizations over 30 military installations and vas Nationwide and rasdon volunteers weekly with the 346 veterans treatment Court as a mentor to veterans in the justice system and was promoted to Veterans treatment Court Mentor coordinator and additionally works with veterans involved in DWI Academy drug Corp and whereas as in addition to her charity work Donna is a member of several boards such as the American Legion 122 Flags Across America the city of El Paso's veterans advisory Affairs as the District 3 appointee and whereas in 20202 in two in 20 2022 Donna was recognized by Senator Blanco and the daughters of the Revolutionary War for her ample service and attending and supporting over 300 community activities and events through the years and Donna joined the Elks veterans outreach program to Aid veterans and their families going from homeless to homes for her selfless work she received the 20223 elk of the Year award and whereas on November 1st 2023 the El Paso County selected Donna hes sample as their 2023 veteran of the year making her the first female veteran to be honored with this award and whereas while Donna's accolades are abundant her most treasured accomplishments is raising four children who are all now college graduates along with her loving husband James sample they also have seven grandchildren with one on the way now therefore be a proclaimed by the city council of the city of El Paso recognizes the decorated Donna sample for her unwavering dedication to the military community and commend her for tireless advocacy of service members veterans and their families her patriotism commitment to the cause and continued service is a true contribution to El Paso the veterans capital of the United States congratulations Donna thank you thank you I'm proud to serve the city council I'm proud to serve um you mayor um one thing that I I want to say is that when you work in a mental health field you see a lot of uh tragedies but you also see a lot of successes and as the uh veteran advisory Affairs um City rep on the mental health chair um my goal is there's something in town called you know a stand down and that's usually when you're going out and you're finding veterans and and they're in the lowest part of their lives or in the veterans treatment Court when they are down you know and when you um when you're when you work for organizations that when you need to try to lift up you're looking for a city to support you so one of the things and one of the Visions I have for this upcoming year and I'm going to shout it loud and clear is that when they when they're down you know whether whatever organization that we're contributing our efforts to or that I am I'd like to see them step up and then you know you you you you hand you pull them up and then you step them up and then you stand them up and then you get them walking and then you hopefully get them running and you get them strong and I think we have some great systems in place there's always an involvement needed evolving process needed and I hope hope to be a contributing part of that in as far as the mental health Arena as far as the homelessness Arena and as far as mentors because they all contribute to life skills they all contribute to uh social engagement which shows healthier communities I do believe the city is doing a great job with education and homelessness and um other services that help lift you up help give you a hand up but I say that we can dig a little deeper and we could probably find little spots where we can help them stand up and we can help them get stronger and we can help them walk and I look forward to being a part of that process this year and many years to come I'm very proud to be an El Paso Citizen and I'm proud to serve this country and I'm proud to be representing the city council thank you for your service Donna um I make a motion to approve now Donna and I have known each other all 30 years she's been here we we actually um used to work out every morning what 4:00 4:00 in the morning if you can imagine that and to be here across from each other honoring you 30 years later is a great honor so congratulations thank you thank you thank you mayor we do have public comment from Miss Turner on this item M Turner again good morning mayor council Donna I just wanted to say thank you uh as the associate director of the El Paso Texas Women's veterans I want to say thank you to again thank you that we have a motion in a second yes there's a motion made by representative ernandez second it by representative Riva to approve the resolution on that motion call for the vote representative salido hi thank you and the voting session and the motion passes unanimously the next item move to the Forefront is number 18 and this is discussion and action to approve a resolution recognizing November as epilepsy awareness month and this item was submitted by representative P represent P thank you Mr Mayor it's an honor to read this whereas epilepsy the fourth common neurological disorder that causes seizures and can affect anyone no matter what their race gender age education socio economic status and whereas the uh currently 2929 Texans 47,2 of whom are under the age of 17 who have been diagnosed with EP epilepsy whereas a CDC reports one-third of people receiving treatment can still experience seizures highlighting the need to increase research medical attention whereas U acknowledging epilepsy is a a device condition characterized by various types manifest seizures is currently for developing the informed and compassionate communities now therefore be it resolved that the city of hle recognizes November as epilepsy awareness month to emphasize the importance of support toward the individual affected and remove the stigma thank you Mr Mayor thank you sir M PR is there a motion to approve a motion second there's a motion made by representative Fiero seconded by representative ernandez to approve the resolution on that motion call for the vote representative salido thank you and the voting session and the motion passes unanimously mayor would you like to recess or excuse me one second please we have good morning sir good morning I apologize we didn't see you sorry I'm hard to miss with the skating I'm like a giraffe on skates so I'm with you on that uh my name is James Han I'm 54 years old I've been a resident of El Paso since I was nine um growing up here we don't always have the best medical care so it's ironic that we have so many medical folks here today I had menitis at six months old I have been misdiagnosed with epilepsy my entire life I've had seizures in front of doctors in fact deans of facilities and they still haven't recognized it so I brought this to representative F's attention because there is definitely a need um National stats so if we're looking at El Paso alone there's anywhere between 8 to 10,000 residents that have epilepsy whether they're aware of it or not I have a unique form I'm photosensitive I can see lights flicker I have to be careful of shows there's certain things driving behind City water trucks with their flashing lights I have to be cognizant of things things like this in El Paso there's approximately four to 500 people who are photosensitive we're a little bit unique I have found a way to maneuver throughout life without realizing it after not receiving the proper medical attention I too am a two-time stage four cancer survivor and I'm a statistical anomaly I have celic arterial compression syndrome and most of this is probably due to the menitis I'm 54 I've outli my expiration date I am still here I see an opportunity I went to the epilepsy awareness walk there's nothing in El Paso that's why I reached out to representative Fiero uh the epilepsy walk they brought a representative from leic because there's nobody in El Paso and this is what they gave us it wasn't the best organized thing that I have seen but nothing on here has anything about El Paso and I see that we have an opportunity with some medical folks here some State funding here to look at perhaps doing some more education here and in even perhaps looking at readdressing the compassionate use cannabis issues it's one of the few things I take three different medications and my rescue medication is $350 a shot and it'll do the same thing as medicinal marijana okay so I appreciate you guys taking the time for this out of everybody here we say there's maybe like about 200 folks there's at least one other person in here who has epilepsy whether you realize it or not good there may be another one then so let's bring awareness and thank you for this Mr Han thank you sir thank you thank you sir m p is there a motion to recess y second there's a motion and a second to recess the council meeting in order to take photos all in favor anyone opposed the meeting is in recess at 9:49 a.m. Council in public just to give you all a run through we're going to go ahead and start with the mayor's distinguished Award with Miss Mary Gonzalez followed by the El Paso Figure Skating club and then the medical Society then we're going to go ahead and jump over to the uh veterans veteran of the year and then the epilepsy awareness month and then last but certainly not least is a public health public health because you're a large crowd we're going to do this outside all right so put your jackets on all right e for Mr PR all right you all ready can we um can we please um thank you do we have a motion to return Mo Recon there's Motion in a second there's a motion in a second to reconvene the council meeting all in favor anyone opposed the meeting is backend session at 10:08 a.m. the next item that was moved was item 31 and this is a public hearing on an ordinance amending Title 5 business license and permit regulations to create chapter 5.19 relating to signage for single user restrooms and creating a penalty mayor can we go to public comment yes ma'am we do have four people that sign up to speak on this item the first person is Andy Rose Theo followed by Lorena Edwards Amber PES and Lisa Turner good morning you have three minutes good morning again good morning y'all so um with this uh with this item uh it it's very important to have uh gender neutral and gender um non-gender specific uh single use signage for single use restrooms because uh often those are often the the safe places for LGBT individuals for uh transgender individuals for gender non-conforming individuals because it's the only place that they can go where they you know if they don't conform to either either uh a gender that's uh marked on certain restrooms then it's the place where they can go to Just relieve themselves um and uh the question comes up like why why is this important why uh is this necessary well it's necessary for their safety and for their um for their identities because often in our um in our cisgender and heteronormative Society we don't cater to people who don't fit within what um what most consider normal which who can really say what is normal and um from what I've heard from other individuals who um have spoken to this issue is that is that the people who are watching are the people out on the on the outside the people who are watching uh someone like me go to the someone like me who identifies as a transgender woman going to the women's restroom and thinking that that that's someone who is trans that's someone who is born male they should not be going into the women's restroom and it it's no one's business it's no one's business because all we're doing is going to the restroom the most that happens in uh a women's restroom is that you nod awkwardly at each other or someone asks you for a tampon or a pad and that's it um so I I urge each and every one of you to please take this into consideration that this is for the safety of um not just transgender and gender non-conforming individuals but everybody it's it's the the very least that we can do in in offering that kind of safety and offering that kind of um Sanctuary so I urge you to to help pass this item and urge you to help us continue to stay safe thank you the next speaker is Lorena Edwards followed by Amber ptis good morning you have three minutes good morning everyone good morning again I bring you an inter interesting perspective of my two kiddos I actually have a transgender daughter and a non-binary kiddo um and to be honest honest the bathroom issues have not been an issue with my oldest trans daughter at all U and that because she presents females she looks female she goes into a female restroom there's no issue genuinely uh but my youngest child my youngest child who looks just androgynous enough that you wouldn't quite be sure what their gender is uh becomes an issue when we're out in public uh and that because it becomes an issue of their identity every single time they just want to use the restroom so the reason I bring that up is because it's it's never really been um the safety of other people I've been worried about it's been the safety of my own child and that's because when they go into the bathroom and they choose that bathroom the audience that is around just watching for them and which bathroom they go into that becomes the safety concern um my youngest child has been verbally accosted before in public for going into the bathroom uh of their assigned gender at Birth and I can't explain to you what that does to a 14-year-old child to have a grown adult question them um when they're going into a single stall bathroom a single use bathroom that is the gender that they thought they were supposed to go to the bathroom using we're not even using the bathroom that you know somebody else says we shouldn't use this is theoretically the bathroom they should and shouldn't use um to ask a 14-year-old to have to constantly I you know defend their right to use the bathroom that they're being asked to use anyway is difficult and scary and if I hadn't been there I think that they probably would have clammed up and it would have been a serious situation more serious than it actually had been if we were to do these signs this would just remove that issue um there's nobody in the bathroom with you at the time this is a single stall bathroom a single use bathroom there's no reason that we wouldn't want to make this a gender neutral bathroom there's if you have the power in your hands to make something a situation where you can prevent situations from happening why not do that I don't really see an issue as to why if somebody's saying there's an issue with putting a sign on a bathroom that says anybody can use this bathroom when there's only one person in it then i' probably question what their true motive is behind not having a gender neutral bathroom so I'm just offering that little perspective for you for anybody in general who just happens to not look exactly what other people think should look like using the bathroom this could be a completely cisgendered individual just using a bathroom and maybe they don't look female enough or male enough so just think about all everybody everybody in general I think everybody benefits from this so I urge you to vote in favor thank you so much thank you thank you the next speaker is Amber ptis followed by Lisa Turner good morning you have three minutes good morning Council good morning my name is Amber ptis uh and I urge you to vote in favor of this um when we really think about it we're talking about single use stalls right so that means that there's nobody else that's going to be in there with you uh it makes absolute sense to sit there and say hey either gender or any gender can use this single use bathroom what happens if a a place of business has only two single-use bathrooms and one is unavailable everybody begins to use that other one and there's no issue with that correct so if that's the case and that's what we would kind of do naturally it makes absolute sense to move that way when it comes to actual uh like policy right um and I know many times we've seen like a single- use bathroom especially for for us uh uh women um can have a line right and a lot of times the male restroom won't have one and so it doesn't make any sense if there are two instances of of something right to not make use of both of them and to turn this into this uh this idea that it it it doesn't make sense doesn't actually make sense right and and I think the two speakers before me have really um spoken very well on these this issue right of this idea of um when you don't necessarily fit within the gender confines right of what people think and you're you have the ability to go into a space that is only yours it's incredibly safe for you and it makes you feel as if this is someplace where I can go I don't have to worry about somebody looking at me I don't have to worry about Commons or any type of of aggravation and like I said to me this makes absolutely perfect sense because they are single use stalls nobody else is there it's like and we should be moving towards this where we can use uh either what whichever bathroom it is there that it should have the ability to be used by either gender thank you and the final speaker is Lisa Turner morning Miss Turner good morning good morning Mary coun good morning Miss Turner again uh I rise in support of this it's Common Sense uh amber triggered an early transition uh event with the long lines to get into the women's restroom and the women just took over the men's room at this too and the guy had to stand outside and wait until all the women had taken care of their business I will say this single stall it's not an issue I don't see an issue with a regular restroom either I'm a trans woman I go into the bathroom I sit down I do my business I get up I wash my hands I check my makeup check my hair and then go out that's all I care about nobody thinks about anything if you're thinking about something you're already the problem because you're looking for a fight or something and there are a lot of people we have a problem a woman is supposed to look like the woman you see on the cover of Vogue and every one of us women know that ain't happening those are airbrushed do you know what uh that woman doesn't exist even the one who's on in that picture they don't exist exist uh I've seen women who look like men I've seen men who look like women but they were just regular old straight individuals you don't know we're not carbon copies of each other we're tall we're short we're big we're skinny I was fat for a while 325 but we're all different you know there is no quote cookie cutter of somebody of an individual but like I say I support this uh everybody needs to be able to go to the bathroom and if we can't use the bathroom then we should be able to do it in public because that's where you're going to force it and the problem is is you know I can't even drive home now because as an adult there are states where it's illegal for me to use the bathroom and I cannot uh H it from Texas to Kentucky and I have no intentions of wearing a diaper so I mean people have just gotten really stupid again I support this thank you mayor that concludes public comment on this item can we have staff presentation please good morning Mr Mayor and council members Tony the dakarus planning inspections all right as has been discussed next time item on the agenda item 31 is an ordinance amending title five business license and permit regulations to create chapter 5.19 signage for single user restrooms and the SE subsections there under next slide please chapter 5.19 single user restrooms again the proposed ordinance amends Title 5 of the city code per city council directive it creates chapter 5.19 signage for single user restrooms and requires single user restrooms to have gender gender neutral signage for commercial facilities that are not private or for private use specific uh it specifies the applicable penalties for violation of the requirements as a Class C misdemeanor and if approved by city council it would go into effect January 21st 2024 and that concludes the presentation any questions for Representatives or Mr Mayor mayor go ahead thank you uh thank you so much for the presentation I want to thank staff for working on this um they turned it around really quickly so I appreciate that I also want to thank all of um the organizers who came out a few months ago to advocate for this I know everyone couldn't be here today but happy to see representation from the BRC um you know this item came out of a lot of the legislative attacks on the lgbtqia plus community um this is a way for us to be more inclusive I think we heard a lot of the speakers talk about this may not seem like a big deal if there're single stall restrooms but really for individuals who just leaving the house and going out in public to have the anxiety of going to a restroom of what could happen to live with that every day knowing that there are places that are safe places for them and that they don't have to be in fear is extremely important um and just showing that in solidarity makes this community more inclusive um and so I'm grateful to staff and her Council for approving this um I spoke when this item first came up about how I had uh reached out to the Restaurant Association um and with the BRC and happy to still work with those organizations and starting an awareness campaign and how we can do Outreach and and provide some signage to make this transition for business owners a little bit easier because we don't want to be you know making this hard for restaurant owners we don't want to be implementing something that they that they can't um live up to and if it's just about changing a sign we want to help them do that so thank you again Tony and thank you to council and I will make a motion to approve second um representative ernandes hi good morning Antony I have a question related to um the effective date so if it passes it goes into effect is it retroactive or any new um permits occupancy permits it would be retroactive ma' so every existing facility that has single user restrooms would need to um change your signage correct ma okay um is there what is the educational campaign or how are are you going to notify businesses that is something that we're going to coordinate with the pio's office again reaching out to the Restaurant Association and uh as well as just overall enforcement so as council members may be aware there are yearly inspections by fire department uh PD has the convenience store ordinance we will notify the property owners at those times that if they have single user restrooms that the signs need to be changed and work accordingly with them to provide them adequate time for chapter five 9 are there any establishments that are excluded uh only those establishments that have a private use bathroom so every now and then you may go into a dentist office the dentist may have a restroom that's specific for his use not part of the public facilities those items would be excluded so like for employees or back you know correct the but the pl public bathrooms would need to meet the requirement okay I understand um so my my ask would just be if it that um notification could be robust if the pio's office can help share that information with members of council so we can share a unified message um so thank you for for the work on that and thank you for the update I I did want to send a message to all of The Advocates um to thank you for your continued advocacy your voice really makes a difference in these positive changes and to Mrs Edwards Mama Bear always fighting for your babies thank you for being here and and continuing that fight we recognize that and we're really proud of you congratulations Mr P yes mayor there was a motion made by mayor Pro manelo seconded by representative ernandez to approve the ordinance item 31 on that motion call for the vote representative salido hi thank you in the voting session and that motion passes unanimously the next item is item 28 on page 12 this is a public hearing on an ordinance changing the zoning from RF Ranch and farm and rfh ranch and farm historic to C4 commercial and c4h Commercial historic and imposing conditions at 9614 so Road come on up oh go ahead sir you have a presentation yes sir good morning Mary Council Ro Garcia planning inspections so this item item 28 is a proposal for resoning property at 9614 sakoto Road from Ranch Farm uh historic uh there is a portion that is historic to C4 historic C4 and C4 historic um this is the current zoning map as you can see it is currently zoned uh majority is RF with that uh small strip along sokoto Road about 100 feet wide that does have a historic overlay the property is surrounded by existing commercial as well as light industrial um some manufacturing industrial on the other side of Carl longer as well as as residential development so what's important to note regarding this item is the the changes that have happened over the recent years in this area that has led to to these types of proposal coming in for this area as as uh this area is in close practice proximity to the Sosa Port of Entry which ties into the current crossb uh trade that that happens there uh the city did invest quite a bit of money on extending wind road to to address that traffic related to the the international Crossing uh providing a direct connection from the Port of Entry to the existing Pan-American industrial center uh Tech do obviously has has made quite a bit of improvements along the loop again to address the the traffic situation in this area um one big driver that came in a few years ago is that Amazon facility which is currently in the county the county is is currently benefiting from that uh facility in the county and again that is driving uh what what is is part of what is driving um the changes you're seeing in this area the city of Soro uh that first slide on top that that yellow and green area um did also recently go through a major resoning of their properties with Within municipality to this the same type of proposed used uh light industrial distribution type centers um the ivu road resoning as well as the Inglewood resoning that council did approve a couple of years ago along Englewood Drive and along americaas drive again same same type of of development um in line with the the changes that are happening um also uh the inclusion of this specific property this 9614 sokoto Road um inclusion in in in in the foreign trade zone um which was uh supported by city council by this Council in in in August um as well as the county in July F fully supported uh by the county um in July as far as adding this specific property into the the Federal Trade zone or the foreign trade zone area which provides incentives uh for businesses servicing the crossb international traffic um our future land use map our plan op Paso which guides us staff in our recommendations for rezonings uh does designate this property as industrial G7 industrial uh that designation has been in place since plan El Paso was adopted which was in 2012 it's likely it was it was the same designation prior to that so again um these these things have have kind of laid the groundwork uh this is not the the first time this area has has has come up um these actions the for train Zone our future land use map has laid the groundwork for what what you see today the proposal you you see today um to go ahead and and and allow the the use that that has been encouraged through through through those actions on this on this property and then one thing that cannot be ignored is the viability the current viability viability of farming um for these relatively small smaller uh properties um uh for reasons in terms of water scarcity um water rights and then also again the size of these properties is is it really viable for for these owners to continue farming these properties a lot of these owners have decided upon themselves to go ahead and and and Market their property uh for for for future buyers so again these are important points to to note in terms of why you seeing this proposal uh before you and why you see the recommendation from from staff this is uh the detailed site plan which is binding uh which shows the the layout of the proposed building as you can see uh the proposed Warehouse is cited with the trucking operations and maneuverability located away from the residential um it also includes that historical designated strip along zakota Road uh which will uh be solely comprised uh comprised of landscaping and and drainage uh ponding um along with a combination rock wall R iron along uh the property line with heavy landscaping not only within the rideway but as well as within the the private property this design has been reviewed and approved by the Historic Landmark commission that that is the portion that is historic the rest of the property does not contain this this historic overlay and as you can see in terms of the side facing the the residential which you have there is employee parking along with with ponding uh Landscaping um um uh dual purpose ponding Landscaping as well as as purely ponding facilities there uh the building will act as a buffer to the heavy trucks uh moving and and and maneuvering um from the other side the other thing important thing to note is the crossing along Carl longer uh that that that is going to require the construction of a Crossing there over that PSB owned uh lateral uh which will uh serve as the sole the sole access for for semi TRS so semi- TRS will not be accessing sakota Road they're their only eess and interest to this property would be off of Carl longer which is already within the existing uh industrial Zone properties this is just a picture of that ditch it is it is pretty wide um anywhere between 100 150 ft wide uh that bridge is is not going to be any any any small uh task it is going to take quite a quite a bit of investment and design but just to provide some context in terms of what what that Crossing is is going to look like uh this item did include quite a bit of Outreach quite a bit of public input as you can see going back to to last year there were multiple uh Community meetings uh with the neighborhood associations um going back to September of 2022 uh July and August of this year approximately 10 to 20 people were in attendance in addition to that uh in August the property owner did take it upon himself to uh schedule an open house on one of his existing businesses to provide the community a glimpse into what what is being proposed um again the the owner uh did conduct that also in August of of this year uh what we heard from the neighborhood as as part of those meetings were some very important points um most of them do have to do with sakoto Road um again those uh as as mentioned previously the the the trailers not accessing sakoto Road the traffic not accessing sakoto Road uh are as a direct result to mitigate these points that were shared by by the community uh the sighting of the building will help with noise obviously buffering any noise um and other things from the residential area and these these were the main points that we heard from the community from these meetings and that's why you see the current proposal before you uh including the the conditions that do go towards mitigating the impact of this development on the surrounding properties as well as addressing the neighborhood's main main concerns um this design did go through several iterations uh this the one before you was not the first one and again those changes were as a direct result of the community input this this development would not look the way it looks today if it was not for that input that the the the neighborhood provided at these meetings so from staff our hats off to the neighborhood for for their input they have directly impacted this this development as well as have our hats off to the to the property owner which has uh agreed to work with them and has agreed to implement these mitigation measures as part of his development so in terms of the recommendation you see before you uh City plan commission as mentioned before uh there was a motion to to deny which did fail uh due to a a Tai vote uh there was no other motion made therefore there is no recommendation from City plan commission the the this request was not denied was not approved so it moves forward as is um before city council uh recommendation again based on compliance with our guiding document our planal passel with with several conditions again the the semi- trucks be restricted to Carl longer through that bridge crossing over the lateral taking that traffic away off of sakoto Road uh delivery and emergency vehicles will be allowed access from sakoto Road um also um there will be a Rin right out driveway design along sakoto Road that's mitigating any uh potential cross traffic conflicts for any anybody coming out of the property trying to turn left uh that driveway design will will go towards mitigating that potential conf conflict Point um extra wide setbacks uh for the building uh taller uh screening and privacy walls typically they're six foot uh the condition is requiring an 8 foot wall along the residential side as well as a 10- foot landscape buffer um again to mitigate the the existing residential um it is C4 and consistent with what we've done on other rezonings uh we are uh imp implementing a separation re requirement for any type of bar uses in case this this property ever uh doeses change use that that mitigation measure will be in place to avoid the issues in terms of noise uh right up against Residential that uh We've encountered in other parts of the city and again consistent with what we've done in other other resoning um we there are going to be a couple prohibited uses any autor related uh uses um neighborhood did have an issue with with apartment um so residential and or apartment uses will be prohibited on this property C4 would provide for a pretty high density uh in terms of apartments and residential the neighborhood did have a concern with that so that that use is is one of the uses being prohibited then again the the detailed site plan condition um uh which is binding to this project and does run with the land and will serve to present to everyone the the final design which which is being uh is currently on the current proposed site plan before you um and to ensure that all these conditions and mitigation measures are captured uh in this development and again uh everything coming from the information we received from those uh neighborhood meetings and the concerns and input that the neighborhood had that concludes my presentation thank you so we see that we've had how many Community meetings so we with st had three and the applicant took it upon himself to have one additional one between himself had four and the neighborhood yes there's been opposition since the beginning yes sir and yes sir has the applicant has addressed most of not all of the concerns or what's what's the biggest concern you think that we're having that has not been addressed so the biggest concern again was the capacity of sakoto road which is is being addressed through the uh prohibition of um trucks uh accessing through there um that that was that was the main concern that we had from the neighborhood um obviously noise um was another one again so we're build they're building a a bridge correct uh and that'll mitigate Core Road yes sir yes that that is going to be a requirement um it is part of the condition that it's going to run with the land so in order for this development to happen in order for this development to obtain a building permit that bridge will will need to be uh constructed uh which is something that the applicant will have to work with the city as well as the the PSB on on that design what do you estimate the cost of that bridge uh just rough estimates from what we've heard from some loose discussions uh close to a million a million dollars okay thank you for that information yes sir uh representative uh vetta uh sir at this point can we take public comment okay you want to go before public com go ahead go ahead ma'am Rob thank you so much um I you know I have a lot of respect for you but I I want to kind of talk about some of the points you discussed um I first want to talk about the foreign trade zone issue I had this call conversation with Mr oui last night I want to first start by saying I take full responsibility for my vote and and I'm not putting this on anyone else but when the foreign trade zone conversation came up representative Retta had issues and he talked about how the sakuro city C the city of sakuro and the Commissioners had some issues with it and it felt like a very rushed vote I was a little concerned I voted for it and I take responsibility for not being prepared but I do wish that there had been a conversation as if there was a since there was a controversial rezoning going on I wish that had been presented to council prior to that vote on the foreign trade zone again I take full responsibility for it but I don't appreciate it now coming up as a talking point for this project considering back then it was somewhat of an issue isue and it was not presented to us at the time um I also want to talk about the historic commission right I understand that our historic commission has limited ability um but you specifically talked about the future land map and your exact words were you it was likely identified as industrial per 2012 that's not true the city of El Paso had a sakuro missions historic um plan that I guess was scrapped in 2012 when when that came up and and I'm a little confused as to why that is right we have VIs El Paso we have the county of El Paso we have the city of sakuro the city of San Elizario they are all working on a historic missions plan they were recognized by the state recently um and we're the only Gap in that area who's now pushing for industrial when every other entity is p like is pushing for and recognizing our most histo one of our most significant historic artifacts in this community um and so I don't I understand that our historic commission has little control right they can uh modify some things but the truth of the matter is we as a city should be working with our partners to be enhancing the Mission Trail not pushing for industrial in an area that is so historically significant so I have spoken with CID and and some members there when we talk about um the new comp plan moving forward I won't be here for that but I do think it'll be really important for the city of El Paso to be a part of that plan moving forward we've talked a lot about historic preservation on this Council and historic tourism and it's going to be really important if we're the one missing Gap in that in the entire County plan it doesn't make a lot of sense um you also you talked about farming and a liability I I that concerns me we had conversations I think two years ago about some rezoning um it also was concerning to me that our planning department is is pushing for industrial over farming in areas like this that's why we have Urban farming that's why there's agricultural protections I don't think that that should be a reason for us to push an industrial um and and I I mean I just I wanted to just answer kind of some of those things that you pointed out before we hear public comment and for me I'm not going to be supporting this and and I I do want to hear the public comment first and and I will make another comment after that but I I do really want to point out you can have as many Community meetings and you can try your hardest as a property owner and you can come to the table and make amendments but if it doesn't work for the community it doesn't work for the community and you cannot just turn around and say we have to approve this because we tried right I think this is when you talk about s sorry I think that this areaa of the city is so special and so important you have farming you have historic and I just I think with 375 I think with the traffic I think there are areas for this and I just don't think that this is the correct area I think the community has spoken I know that they have not gotten their signatures for 211 I know Mr etu stayed on the phone with me late last night explaining to me um just what I couldn't comprehend and I get that they did not reach that but I do think that we see is over a 100 signatures and I know know there's a conversation of property owners or residents doesn't matter they're Community owners um and I'm going to acknowledge them and I'm going to respect their wishes today but I I did just want to kind of acknowledge some of those things that you mentioned about the fair trade zone about the farming and about historic because I just I don't think it's fair to the conversation but I appreciate you very much and thank you Mr Rivera for allowing me to and mayor for allowing me to talk before a public comment thank you and I do want to um let Council know that on any item we do have the opportunity for you all to speak twice on each item so make sure sure we remember that and with that we'll go to public comment thank you there are 23 members of the public that signed up to speak on this item the first person is Gilda marbado followed by Christian Ortiz El Loya aruro de laora Marcela Caro gild maroto Christian orti a [Music] lawyer Okay so so we don't have Gilda maraboto followed by Christian Ortiz and I'm calling folks in the order in which they signed up El Loya aruro Deora Marcela Caro good yes okay when folks sign up I I call them in the order in which they sign up this group wishes to go last I think we need to go as they signed up please okay thank you ma'am so miss Gilda Moto and if someone shows up after before we're done they can come we'll we'll give them a last reading to try to get them up here thank you mayor thank you good morning you have three minutes hi good morning everyone uh I have been part of this projects is the beginning so I have attended all of the meetings with the community and also the open house um since it was brought up by Miss anelo right now a main focus on those signatures I'm going to touch base on that um the signatures were given to us on September 19 which was before CPC on September 21st I know you have all of those signatures so I'm going to ask you we obviously went back to see where they are if around the community so from the signatures that were received which is 197 when you take out people that sign two three four times those sheets you only have 135 within a 300 foot radius which is what the code dictates there's only 12 signatures and within 200 feet there's only three the pending 120 are within 4.3 miles away from our project so I don't I'm hoping that you do not vote against just focusing on these same signatures because not the majority are not around that specific area they're not the community around and when I went back also the signatures um were given by Mr Pon August 21st and only two of those letters are dated August 12th the rest of those documents are September 12th September 14 August 24 August 23rd so I think either the wrong sheets were submitted I don't have a way of knowing if these signatures are for our project because they don't have any information on top they do say Soro outcry somebody scratched out the out the outcry on it um it's blacked out it doesn't say it handwritten it only says petition against so I don't have a really way to validate these signatures in that sense and I hope that's not the reason that we focus on that we have gone through every meeting we heard everything on the first meeting we had a majority public it kept going down and down on each one because we kept addressing every concern that they had the the property cannot be used well it could be used for other um type of commercial Apartments but that would create a higher impact on traffic which is what was their main concern right now I I know they don't want semis and Soro which we took care of that is over a million dollars the cost of this bridge no semi trucks are going to go through there and we also need to think think about everything that we own everything in our house everything that we eat it's transported at a point in life through a semi Trier so we we're now we allow this property be to be part of something that's good for a city that's going to break Economic Development it's going to be jobs and now we're saying no you know what no we don't keep it keep it as Farm which this land has been vacant for a long time thank you thank you the next speaker is Christian ores followed by Al Loya aruro Deora Marcela Caro naria and toan good morning you have three minutes hi good afternoon uh my name is G orti and I want to talk about the evolution of the project and the concerns that it's adapted to so one of the major concerns was Soro as you've heard already uh and the our client is willing to absorb the cost of the bridge to completely eliminate any trailer traffic that would be created by the property for Soro the warehouse use also helps in mitigating the amount of traffic on the property as the pasun code warehouses have one of the smallest parking requirements that there is for any type of use so which kind of starts tie into the another concern which was the environmental effects on the the neighborhood so while we can minimize the traffic generated by keeping the parking to a minimum uh the business is still going to rely on trailer traffic just like every other business to receive products and uh so on that end we kind of have to rely on the manufacturers of the trucks who are required by 20124 to start creating zero emission trucks and while that might be coming along epil Logistics is already uh using electric forklifts to move products around the current facility and continue to plan uh to keep that Trend going in order to be efficient and the produ efficient and productive in the delivery the delivery trucks by arrive by appointment to Mr S's operation he doesn't have trucks idling they come in by their appointment they get unloaded and they leave so there's not really a lot of idling for them to sit there and create more effect on the environment uh it it feels a little disingenuous to say that while the property is not in historic it just that one portion is uh our client is willing to turn it all into landscape to coincide with the design Mission Trail guidelines which states that Soro is um sooro is planed to be an extensive landscape Road uh when we had our meetings with the Historic Landmark commission they said that it really should have been zon was more of a Scenic Transportation Corridor so I feel like designating that entire Zone kind of coincides with that idea um so again with the extensive landscape we'll be able to address another concern from the neighborhood which was the noise with the building being flipped and the docks on the North side the new building will be further away from the existing neighborhood than the existing Industrial Park will be so not only will we be buffering the property with the extensive landscape and the building will also be further than the already existing um And in regards to the property value being uh ruined uh we can look at back then when they accepted into the foreign trade zone commission episd EPCC and ysd submitted a letter uh talking about the economic um sorry um the economic benefits allowing from allowing this property into foreign trade zone 68 thanks thank you the next speaker is Al Loya followed by aruro deura Marcela Caro naria antoan and commissioner Lan ol good morning you have three good morning sir good morning alya uh the architect with loyal Wilkey Architects um you know you're you're already heard it all right and uh and it's going to be very difficult to please everybody but I think what as an architect when we go and design facilities we listen and we try to respect the environment uh there are things that are very different to the site you know we talk about historic but that's further down near sakuro uh Fab Clint Trails happens this site if you look at the proximity to 375 it's about 500 ft from 375 right next to this site there's already a trailer yard uh across the street there's warehouses uh this is we're not trying to do something that's uh in violation of of what's going on and what's going to be developed there it was voted on by city council by by uh the county as a foreign trade zone and there's a reason for that because a development like this is needed and there's really no other use for this site it's not profitable to use it as a Farmland because you talk to every farmer you can't produce enough to pay for anything profitable I don't care how much subsidies you get uh now the neighborhood doesn't want Apartments doesn't want high density residential doesn't so what else can we do like previously mentioned this is the lowest density type of use the way it's designed this building is going to be 36 foot tall it's going to buffer everything it's basically a big wall and it'll be nice facing the the neighborhood you'll we'll an 8ot rock wall with uh a row of trees to buffer that uh and the parking it'll be a nice area same thing facing uh sakur Road we can't do much with Soro that's a tech stock deal and I don't think you guys can do much with it anyway uh but you know keep that in mind and and I think that you'll see that what we can do with this property is going to be a lot more favorable and it'll help the facility there this neighborhood already is in existence and it is right next to the property that the city of Al Paso owns PSB which is the Riverside industrial park that we also master plan for them so I know it's there there and and right next to it there's the panamerican industrial park all that is already there you know these houses were built after the industrial park was there so I don't know how how to better put it but you know we understand but we're we what we've done and what Mr cedra has has allowed us to do I think it's the best solution there thank you very much for your time thank you sir the next speaker is aruro Deora followed by Marcelo naria Anan commissioner Olin and Rudy Cruz Jr good morning you have three minutes good morning mayor Representatives ladies and gentlemen uh thank you for your time and consideration for this matter in front of us uh my name is s Lora I'm an industrial um real estate broker with CBRE with a focus in industrial real estate in El Paso Texas and SES Mexico um I currently represent EP Logistics in several real estate transactions in the Border region as they extend their offering proposition to be competitive in the marketplace of the logistics industry uh before I continue I want to highlight that the founder of EP Logistics Octavio SAA has proven to be an exemplary businessman for our community who employs about 70 people at EP Logistics he's a man of character and integrity who has built this company from the bottom up contributes to our economy every day that EP Logistics is open for business he continues to invest in El and El pasoans as he invests millions of dollars in local vendors employees property and equipment in order to remain competitive in the marketplace creating an economic ripple effect which ultimately has a positive impact in our community that said I ask the city council considers the following reasons why this resoning should be approved there is an upward demand for industrial product it increases the tax base and it optimizes the use of the subject property you know we're actively tracking about 70 million square fet of product uh of industrial inventory and there's about 420 users of industrial real estate the amount of growth that these users are having is unprecedented as a result many institutions abroad are coming to El Paso to develop industrial facilities well EP Logistics is investing in this facilities to accommodate his growth for his clients and to compete with conglomerate logistics companies that are in the region secondly this development will increase the tax base this the highest value and best use of this 13 acres it's not farming and I think has been established uh being able to convert this to an industrial facility will increase the tax base which ultimately help the community again lastly um we feel that development should be approved because it optimizes and addresses several concerns Mr SAA has taken unprecedented steps to accommodate all the concerns of the community by modifying the design several times from the building orientation to the size of the facility amongst other modifications to redirect traffic in my experience this is unheard of to conclude we often seek to attract business to the to our city and I know that our city is business friendly and supportive of the entrepreneur spirit I want to appeal to Reon by highlighting that this is an Exemplar case study thank you sir you reach the three thank thank you the next speaker is Marcela Caro followed by naria antoan commissioner Olen Rudy Cruz Jr Sylvia Caron good morning you have three minutes good morning mayor and coun good morning my name is Marcela Kio and I'm vice president of the Mission Valley civic association I also attended the PCP meeting that and and I was an objection to that meeting it ended as a tie unfortunately I was reading and looking at at the map and I saw There's 7 172 parking spaces that are going to be on the side of the residents I personally have experienced this because I live next to uh a commercial area off of Texas 20 and unfortunately when the owner goes home we're left with the noise we're left with the employees cars banging their music all hours of the night it comes to a point where you realize you know what's going on with my my property I was here and and granted I know that that the area is booming and we need Commerce but we have to remember who our residents are and what they're going to suffer when the ne when the owner goes home unfortunately I'm against this I don't think this would improve the Mission Valley we really need to booler our our Commerce here in the Mission Valley and by promoting the Mission Valley and it starts in in s on Saragosa where the sled Mission starts so it's not just one little area it's a it's a long Corridor so I'd appreciate you to vote no on this action thank you thank you the next speaker is Nadia antoan good morning you have three minutes good morning um council members and uh mayor liser um our association I'm Nadia Antoine I'm um with the Franklin Hills Association and the representative for the Northwest um for the neighborhood Coalition and our stance is just to support the um neighborhood and what they feel is best for their area um as the council member spoke earlier that's really what it comes down to people us residents really pay the bulk of our pay the bulk of the taxes for the city and we have a right to say what we want in our neighborhood as well yes industry is great and and Commercial is great but we are the residents and we should be able to say what we think is best for our area and the people have spoken they don't want this in their area and we support this the residents and the people in the neighborhood thank you thank you the next speaker is commissioner Elana Olin followed by Rudy Cruz Jr Sylvia Caro Shelby mchu Eduardo talamantes good morning good morning commissioner good morning mayor and Council I am here today regarding the resoning application related at ated to the two Parcels of land located at 9614 Soro Road these two Parcels as you heard are currently zoned as Farm and Ranch but an application has been filed to reone both as C4 commercial for the primary use of warehousing which would include the loading and unloading of 18-wheeler commercial vehicles as you know I serve as the county commissioner for Precinct 3 which includes the Mission Valley and the historic Mission Trail which connects the East Lea Mission the Soro Mission and the sisario precidio chapel via Soro Road I represent the residents of the V de las Mission neighborhood association which abuts the land for which resoning is sought the residents of this neighborhood are very concerned regarding the health impacts that would result from the activities to be conducted on these Parcels if the zoning request is granted specifically the residents are worried about an increase in pollution in their neighborhood as a result of the 18 wheelers that will be using the facilities that will be built on these Parcels as well as with the increase in noise resulting from these vehicles additionally although I understand that the 18 wheelers might be able to enter and exit from an entrance not located on Soro Road the 80 plus employees of these new facilities will be using the main entrance on Soro road to exit and enter further contributing to an increase in traffic on an already very congested roadway in addition to the concerns of the residents I would ask this Council to also consider the negative impact of this zoning request will have on the tremendous amount of work improving the mission trail that has been done by both city and county of El Paso staff as well as by so many other Community Partners such as the baso Del nor Foundation the Mission Trail Alliance and the Mission Trail Association one very notable example is the advancement of the paso del Norte Trail which at its conclusion will be a 68 Mile Trail that connects all of El Paso County from county line to County Line in the Mission Valley much of the Paso nor Trail alignment is along the historic Mission Trail which follows the alignment of Soro Road recently the city of El Paso and the City of Soro were both awarded funds from techop for construction of the trail from easta to the Soro City Limits and then from the Soro city limits to San elisio these two grants alone total total over $24 million and the county is in the process of submitting another $2 million Grant application for the design of the trail that would lead to the San elisio chapel and out into the fabin area where the portion of the trail connecting fabin to Toro has already been funded in total the Bas nor Foundation estimates that approved funding for trail development from mascar totals approximately $45 million which represents a tremendous opportunity to Spur Economic Development provide recreational opportunities improve Community Health and enhance Transportation options for the entire area because of the health noise and traffic concerns of the residents of this area as well as the negative economic impacts on the Mission Trail it is my sincere hope that the city council will today carefully consider the concerns of the residents and myself and deny the proposed rezoning application thank you very much for your consideration thank you man our next speaker is Rudy crus Jr followed by Sylvia Caron Shelby McHugh good morning you have three minutes good morning mayor council my name is Rudy Cruz Jr I'm the chair of the Mission Trail Alliance I'm also a city representative for the city of Soro I'm also a fourth generation resident of Soro I'm also a member of one of three ferally recognized Indian tribes here in El Paso Texas and the state of Texas I'm sorry I'm a former tribal councilman for my tribe there in iseta so the Mission Trail as you all know uh begins in in Isleta and it goes all the way to sisario I also recognize several of y'all because we all sit at the N together um I may not be invited to your Thanksgiving dinner after the comments I make today but that's okay we can still shake hands after the meeting some of the main concerns that I have here as the chair for the Mission Trail Alliance is that we've come together and we're trying to build this beautiful Trail here and as you all all know it wasn't but a month ago that we received in the amount of $16 million some funding from the state of Texas to help align with that design and construction of walking paths and and and shared youth paths for bicyclists and whatnot but you're also going to have the EP Marathon here pretty soon and it's got the name of op Paso written all over it so I stand here before you all today and and I ask that you support the neighborhood because the neighborhood supported you all when election time came around um I also wanted to share the facts and and and not just my opinion but the facts if you visit op Paso texas.gov you'll see that there's a a tab there that has a historic area and it outlines all the maps and one of the areas that you all have outlined in the map was the historical Mission Trail the historical Mission Trail is very very important so should this Council decide to move forward with this development I hope that the buffer and the trees that you all plant there on sakuro road are in excess of 36 ft tall to hide the big industrial building you are planning to build there to include in my comments here I just want to let you guys know that we didn't receive this funding because of one individual or two individuals we received this funding together with the help of the op Paso chamber that's been acting as a fiduciary arm for the Mission Trail Alliance we've been able to come together because what was happening in the past is we were all fighting for the same funding um to help the Mission Trail you had San elisio the city of Soro the El Paso County and the city of El Paso all fighting for the same amount of money and we were all going after the same Grant so what we did was we we we teamed together we partnered up and we've been able to secure millions of dollars together as a team I feel that the efforts of your staff your city staff that also sit as members of the Mission Trail Alliance the no and other organizations here that help build the Mission Trail I feel that their efforts and their work will go down the drain should we decide to build and move forward with this construction and the resoning of this uh property uh thank you Council mayor I appreciate the uh uh for you affording me the ability to speak here to you all today thank you all thank you sir and representative Cruz if I was cooking you'd be invited but I'm not cooking the next speaker is Sylvia Caron followed by Shelby MCH edoardo talamantes Jose n good morning you have three minutes morning Miss prank did you pass documents okay uh you all have some documents in front of you that I was um highly enough to print for you syia Caron president of the Mission Valley civic association and want to express our support for the residents of the V mission neighborhood association with the city of Al Paso I am providing you a map of all the neighborhood associations in the city which some are in every city Representatives area all of you have City neighborhoods the second map is the one for the Mission Valley area and the little purple one on the lower uh is a neighborhood association which is deeply affected with the C4 this is the mission Miss I had a meeting uh of many of the neighborhood associations and explain to them the effects that would cause the residents of the area and none of them want this project to be located anywhere near the neighborhoods you can see that it is the last neighborhood association with within the city limits before going into Soro and the county we have struggled with some of the city planners planning personnel as to allowing us the dignity to expressing ourselves the right to vote in favor of a neighborhood association who find themselves stuck between a rock and a hard place when it comes to reaching out the so-called 211 status uh for qualification to deny the Reon many of our neighborhood associations have been in meetings provided by the city planning and are very much aware of the consequences this project will bring to the families in the area and the historic of the community I feel sure that this project if this project would be proposed in your residence uh you also would deny set to deny it if you look at the map that I provided for you on the on the the actually PSP and it's just the red the red section there okay we met everything I had to go to um Central Appraisal office to get some these addresses because they're they're not the owners one of them is a vacant lot so I had to go through there and then find the owner and go to the owner and if if uh it's it's circled the 204 over here and the 9631 we just lack those two little ones to to Really fill the percentages required but uh at all them the Pam Freight is a trucking company next door to it they were built in 1990 that's before any anything was going on so this 1990 and Mr Julio contas has been a hard to reach but he has talked to us he says well let me think about it but of course it they're out of town people it's hard to get a hold of them thank you so much sir thank you thank you m the next speaker is Shelby McHugh is McHugh star six please to unmute your telephone good morning you have three minutes good morning everyone uh my name is Shelby McHugh I'm the president of the AL Paso Mission Trail Association I wish that I could be there in person with you this morning but I here at the AL Pasa Mission Trail Visitor Center I'm waiting on tourists to come in for their Thanksgiving holiday so I can get him down to a sluta to see CAA in the mission and then we're going to get him down to Soro and we're going to talk about St Michael and then from there we're going to go down to the Presidio in San lario and we're going to see the Spanish Presidio and then we're going to throw them in jail in the 1850 jailhouse down there it's going to be a wonderful day so I couldn't be with you this morning but I do thank you for this opportunity to speak uh to the to the project in front of you uh the decision that you're going to make this morning speaks to more than just your approval or disapproval of this commercial inter price the question is what policy or precedent does the city of Al Paso want to establish as far as the commercial development of our Mission Valley El Paso Texas is the hidden gym of the world it is anchored by Al Paso Texas Las Cruses New Mexico and Cades and it is incumbent and important for us to recognize this Gem of the world and protect it in accordance with the policies and the procedures that we set so the Mission Valley the lower valleys where I grew up I grew up in the shadows of Isleta high school and the Mission Valley is presently in a Renaissance of activity and development of ongoing Pro in ongoing programs of cultural heritage tourism uh we have many many resurgent activities I am hopeful that in years to come we will have UNESCO recognition of the commun real Tia de dentro which is a naturally recognized Historic Trail recognized by the National Park Service we are down here in the Mission Valley we are developing cultural heritage tourism we're trying to build community building of educational programs building of cultural programs building of cultural awareness building a community safety we're trying to bridge a true awareness of what the Mission Valley is and most importantly for you there this morning we're trying to find a way and awareness of what the Mission Valley will become so this morning I would ask you to consider the historic value of what you have before you I don't think I do not see the value of this commercial activity outweighing the value of what we're trying to create and build not just for the community but for the State of Texas and for our County as well and so I cannot support what we're trying to do with this commercial development I would suggest that we that we disapprove it and that we go forward with what we're trying to do in building this Renaissance of the Mission Valley and thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to speak thank you sir next speaker is Eduardo talamantes followed by Jose Naka Eva bilma Lisa Turner good morning you have three minutes good morning mayor Representatives good morning good morning my name is edart alantes I live in the Mission Valley been resident for 44 years there and I thought we were all passin in the city here when they say we can only have a voice if you live within 200 feet of this project you know we all I have a right to say anything about this C this city that I think is going to hurt it and in this are situation I think it's going to hurt the area when Mr Riva supported us when we had that waste disposal facility is going to be built he didn't he wasn't in our district at the time but he came and helped us and he did a lot to help us in that facility being uh removed and thrown out of the the project that area there I was there with Miss Velma and she showed me the area that Longmire Street it's a Nut House those trucks are backed up all along the canal sometimes there's holes in that thing you can drive a truck through some of the holes we went and measured that Canal I had 100ft tape measure it was 52 ft from the end to Canal to the end from the canal to the street to the nearest uh fence was 42 ft so that's a very narrow Street and when you tell me that you're going to use a they can't use a coral Road you're going to build a bridge I can tell you one thing they're going to use that road eventually somebody's going to give them the the right to build on that so-call road they don't care about history I do we all do that's why we want to preserve it and the people live have a right too I mean they're they're going to have their their homes right next to trucks they have kids some maybe somebody has asthma some kind of respiratory problem that's not going to help and they deserve a right too they're very humble people and who want would you like Mr Mayor would you like those trucks behind your house anybody here would you be okay with that I wouldn't I mean I would fight it tooth and nail and I think they right to so I say we don't want to support this thank you very much thank you the next speaker is Jose Naka followed by Eva VMA Lisa Turner Olivia Caro Ivan Lopez good morning you have three minutes good morning good morning sir my name is I represent in P Rose neighborhood association I'm supporting what they mentioned is the last neighborhood in the city no we I don't consider the last neighborhood because sooro they have neighborhood association too we have neighbor Association inside the county that's the reason I'm here because I believe the project is going to include a bridge the the bridge is going to be I'm going only adding more facts to the the already have been speak stock uh they're going to breach a brick on franking Trin that franking Trin what I believe is going to be a shortcut for panamerican Plaza Circle and close launch Mark they say it's not going to be yes it's going to be because I believe customers they're going to use that bridge to move from that part of the of the the of the industrial park to the sakuro road they say know how they going to control that because I I know they're going to use that part of the the of the area to add more traffic to the sakuro road we support Al also the sakuro um trade and another thing they ask us well we have been modified a lot of the project to be more comfortable to you guys why do you want and then I answer why we want we want a park we want a green area why we want a green area the city have been working to add more trees to the city the the city is getting warmer and the you that project is part of the city well we need also a green area that in that area because we have an ascar Park and then we have Cher Park from ascar Park to CH Park is 7.3 miles from Chev partk to capistan the next part is 3.5 miles from capistan to caribia park kib park is a small Park it's 3.2 miles and what we need there is a park big enough to hold uh uh baseball fields basketball courts we don't have it that's because this is the end of the city we are not going to invest in the future a part that really is going to hold that it's not only that it's going to open the trail the so trail to the rest of the communities so that's why I'm adding this I'm supporting the the community I'm supporting the neighbors Association because we are part of the we are families we are neighbors we are we also help Pasa thank you very much thank you the next speaker is Eva VMA followed by Lisa Turner Olivia Caro Ivan Lopez Carmen Montoya good morning you have three [Music] minutes for [Music] rench Farm [Music] [Music] potion [Music] 375 [Music] for the next speaker is Lisa Turner followed by Olivia Caro Ivan Lopez Carmen Montoya Sylvia Tapia faola Campos Lopez Mario [Applause] mendosa good morning mayor counsel I'm against this why quite frankly you all are doing the resoning you have the authority yet you're using someone else's rules that of the state which is 20000 ft for 211 versus your 300 ft the question is why the state doesn't resign you do there are environmental concerns we're talking air water both surface and subsurface flooding none of these issues are being addressed noise safety yes the traffic will find its way to sorl now this would not have come forward if rights to put that bridge in had not already been secured now who owns the rights the right away to put that in does the city own that and if the city owns that why wasn't that presented in the presentation when we started talking about the bridge you're going to have to have the RightWay you're going to have to spend money putting this there is just doesn't make sense now if this does go forward I would suggest that you put requirement on the person who's waning the resoning to perform an archaeolog archaeology survey on the entire property and and it can't go forward until such time as that report is given to you for consideration since there is a historical area attached we need to be sure that we're not destroying anything or covering it up with asphalt I don't know this is just silly uh a 44 tie it should have been left it shouldn't have come to you I think your processes need to be rethought should be resubmitted but a tie was unacceptable because it doesn't give the people who live in this area a right to have his you know to get a a decision one way or the other a tie is not a decision is oh we don't know what to do so we're going to go forward anyway and that's no way to make a decision on anything thank you the next speaker is Olivia Caro Olivia Caro Ivan Lopez followed by Carmen Montoya Sylvia Tapia pavola compos Lopez good morning you have three minutes good morning good morning good good morning I'm a mayor in Council um David Mills States in 1990 he describes zoning as means of assigning development rights to the community the right to develop land is a collective right of the community that a potential developer must purchase or be given a land owner must have the agreement of the community before developing the land it is in the developers best interest to approach the community prior to the land purchase a solution such as building a bridge to help mitigate truck traffic should not Merit the development of this type of facility having industrial an industrial part to the South and a highway to the west of this property should not Merit the development of this type of facility at the same time it is very difficult to obtain certain amount of signatures if you have only one property owner to two of these sides of the property this land was purchased with ranch Farm designation and therefore should be developed within the allowable uses of a ranch Farm designation once the decision is made to change zoning designation the community becomes a major contributor in granting that Liberty the proposed zoning change shall not be considered acceptable as it sits outside the consistent boundary delineated by the Pan-American industrial district along the Franklin drain Canal the proposed zoning change is encroaching on less dense residential areas and will hinder the potential development of our City's historical corridors let us not build upon that precedent I just want to add that we were in a resoning case not too long ago and the same comments were made about about planel Paso having a certain designation on our property as G7 postwar if I remember so I do want to add on the comments made earlier that you know the fact that plan op Paso has a G7 designation on this property should not Merit the development of this property in that manner um it is my understanding panel passo is being uh updated currently um so we should not follow you know um older plans that are probably at this point not valid um and as a former chair of the historic lar commission and I do want to say thank you to uh my representative Mr Henry Rivera for allowing me to serve in that board um the fact that they allowed a pond with Landscaping along the the corridor is a requirement to a certain point right so this was not proposed initially a lot of these Solutions are reactions to what's been heard through the process but at the beginning the community was against this and that is what should be thank you Mr Lopez you've reached the three minutes sir thank you sir thank you the next speaker is Carmen Montoya followed by Sylvia Tapia Fabiola Campos Lopez Mario mendosa Maria guado for I for [Applause] the next speaker is Sylvia Tapia and we weren't able to get an interpreter this morning we weren't alerted within 72 hours so we don't have an interpreter today siia Tapia faola Campos Lopez called Elmo yes it will you please turn on the Elmo can I change it when I want it we need the Elmo please no excuse fore spee spee I think are three minutes well I think um what is it good morning good good morning every everyone um good morning mayor city council representatives and staff I'm Fabiola Campos Lopez El Paso neighborhood Coalition president and coordinator for the corridor 20 civic association in the Mission Valley uh the corridor civic association uh 20 civic association opposes this resoning case and supports the Bay Las Mission neighborhood association in opposing the C4 case next to residential and across residential thank you um I had a lot of ideas I wanted to answer everything all the questions are I wish we would have the time to talk to you mayor and from the community not only from staff but the point of the community I'm going to say because of the three minutes and there's the most important trust is the key to any relationship partnership and the community's trust in the city government is not exception several times during the hlc and CPC meetings the applicants architect repeatedly reassure everyone that the bridge on the back of the property had already been approved in a typical case the bridge will require the resoning to be approved first starting applications with the entities that own and use the canals in this case the Franklin drain Canal will typically occur once the conditions of this Council accepted the process may start with conditional approval from the El Paso County Water District sometimes help Water Service in the city pending engineer revisions of structure plan submitted in reviews it is an ongoing process that may take months sometimes a couple of years just in planning stage without any construction well we started the pertinent reseearch research and guess what we found indeed the city initiated the purchase of this section of the Franklin drain canal in April of last year and it came to frci on June 8 2022 four months after the resoning application was submitted in FA February of 2022 the purchase section goes from the city limits with Soro teas to behind the ti reservation by San Loreno road we live it to your judgment if it's confidential convenient or it was planned the fact that the city paid a million 600,000 for it on behalf of El Paso water service is a fact but it also surprising coincidence with a purchase timing right and we are not uh taking about no man's land this section was careed for and owned by the El Paso water improvement district for the same use and purpose it is an empty Canal used for stor water preservation when it's necessary the planning department knew about this we have received evidence of the purchase and will continue to pursue more details on who made decision and how it was plan internally thank you Miss Lopez you've reached the three minutes ma'am okay thank you thank you thank you the next speaker is Mario mosa Mario mendosa star six please to unmute your telephone good morning you have three minutes good morning mayor staff and uh neighborhood associations uh I am unable to be at this meeting personally uh due to medical conditions um my name is Mario Mendoza I am the vice president of the homesley Trail Association in the low valley and um I guess I want to start by saying that uh in one of the meetings that I personally attended a few months ago the closing statement from one of your staff uh members uh Mr Mayor was that uh um it it he stated that everyone please read your minute before you come to this meeting so that we can make a good decision um just in reference to that sometimes uh the members who make the decisions don't read the minute until minutes or seconds before it's their turn to talk and many times they make a decision at the spur of the moment based on who who said yay or who say nay so I want to make that a statement or record secondly the there's a lot of pros and cons uh about the engineering the city of Al peso planning Etc and of course they're going to State the beauty of this project and how much money it's bringing in in in taxes Revenue But ultimately we have seen time and time again these huge projects come in with a lot of promises that are not kept first thing on my list is the environmental impact I've heard it many times in this meeting about how it uh it's going to affect people with asthma people that have Al allergies the idling trucks where the Diesel's running all this affects people all these are airborne articulant that are in the air that people um take in two the asphalt the concrete the drainage issues what environmental impact is going to have on our water table the oil runoff the antifreeze runoff the changing of tires runoffs will ultimately impact or go down the drain St on our water table or go down to the Waste Water treatment that's a fact two thank you Mr M you've reached the three minutes thank you thank you the next speaker is Maria wado followed by Octavio savedra Maria wado Octavio sedra followed by representative Mary Gonzalez and Debbie Torres good morning you have three minutes good morning good morning good morning may city council um I'm the property owner I guess uh feel like a villain today but uh in reality we've had three four meetings with the community uh I'm a local entrepreneur trying to make a living and uh in addition to that our company has grown quite a bit I'm a big supporter of the community a big supporter of El Paso uh my family lives here and I appreciate all the comments from the community and that's why we made all these changes to the plans from the beginning we've listened to them um they didn't want trucks in Soro road so that's the proposal we changed the plans added the bridge we're moving the trucks away from sakuro um we uh the last thing we we made to the plants we've changed them four times approximately maybe even more um and this has been all by suggestions from from the community um the last big change we made was that we flipped the building so that the parking the employee parking is facing the neighborhood but it's not immediately facing the neighborhood we're building an 8ot rock wall giving them plenty of privacy all around the perimeter we're adding trees as uh Lya mentioned um and there's about 350 ft from the closest neighborhood to the facility the majority of the of the surrounding area is is surrounded by Industrial development which are the warehouses and so on one of the things that I did is I invited the community to our facility so they can see the type of business we run our our facility is not you know your typical Warehouse we are uh we're an advanced type of facility uh we handle uh large companies like um you know in the electronic industry um um and uh uh that are that are making servers right across the you know electronic components right and and goods right across the border and we help them move all all of their Freight uh I think that I I ask for you to vote in favor of changing the Zone uh for several reasons we addressed all the concerns from the community we changed the plans it increased my cost but we reduced are trailer traffic we moved away from sakuro Road our realiz uh p a portion of that is historic and we're adding landscaping and uh but this is good for the economy good for the neighborhood we're going to increase jobs and your grandkids may be working in our facility we welcome that thank you for your time the next speaker is representative Mary Gonzalez followed by Debbie Torres good morning um I've been elected for 13 years and guess what I have never testified in F city council um and I wanted now I realize what it's like to have to testify sit in hours and hours of testimony and I've never been on this side it is um an interesting Dynamic but why am I here I'm here because this topic is very very important why after 13 years on so many issues that yall have that that are critical am I am I talking today when I travel and when I talk to students one of the things I hear all the time is their distrust with government and I think about why where that comes from and it comes from the fact that sometimes they see people organized and they're not heard sometimes they don't see how government helps them but here's a chance that we can do two things hear people and show how government can work the state has been doing lots of investment in building a historic hor the county has been doing lots of Investments the cities of saneli and Soro which I proudly represent are doing this major investment we are inviting you to be partners with us we're inviting you to say like to to recognize that El Paso is special you know we heard you heard testimony that talked about well the historic parts are only in saneli or Soro and that's just not factually true Isleta is an important mission that is getting that that's not getting as much recognition as it deserves because it's being left out of some of these planning processes let's bring it in you know I found it really interesting as someone who wakes up at 6:00 in the morning to feed livestock um as some of you all have heard when you call me on the phone that there was comment said that you you cannot do agricultural agriculture here that is also factually not true there is a whole Urban farming movement I invite you to my district I invite you to see um what the farming Market looks like in Loya Farms which is just a small small acreage and they are doing transformative things here's what I will say once you rezone this you can't undo it all I'm asking you to consider is finding some balance I am so proud that elb Paso is a economy that does have industrial that does have trade that we can brag about these things but we can also be a community that preserves our history preserves our culture and preserves agriculture I'm asking you to think about if a $1 million can be sent spent building a bridge well then why can't we spend $1 million picking another piece of land wouldn't you rather have those the wouldn't you rather have the people in that Community have an urban farm preserve a culture and history be part of a multi-g government effort or ignore all that could be a possibility we have Zoning for a reason this area was zoned agricultural be for a reason I urge you to maintain it that way thank you and the final speaker is Debbie Torres good morning Miss Torres you have three minutes before the clock starts I'd like to ask it to run a video about the condition of Carl Longmire Road Miss the video was not submitted to my office I'm not aware of a video mayor is that it wasn't submitted to my office okay go ahead ma'am good morning mayor and city council my name is Debbie Torres I an officer and member of the PUO Vio neighborhood association in the missan valley and district 7 and I come here with the community uh as a uh our association also supports uh the wishes of the community in not changing the zoning uh this is a collaborative effort and what do I mean by collaboration it's a process of two or more people or organizations working together to complete a task or achieve a goal uh there are many examples of collaboration but I'd like to focus on three first off in 2007 the community came together to stand against the proposed extension of the lead thino Boulevard uh that is in the Mission Valley as you all know this would have erased many homes and affected the quality of life in our area again in 2019 uh there was a proposed medical waste facility that a company that wanted to come and um open up its doors and create a situation of uh toxic uh issues health concerns and quality of life for the folks in the Mission Valley it would have been located right off of Saragosa Boulevard close to churches very close to schools another uh example of the collaborative effort that we as neighborhood associations and Community residents were part of was a proposed resoning of 10 acres of land uh on James Street also off of Yar in the Mission Valley this would have uh adversely uh affected the um health and safety quality of life of the community it would create would have created tremendous um traffic Hazard uh that it was very it would have been very close to uh pre down there so so there would have been many adverse implications so in each of these uh in the each of these collaborative e efforts the uh desires of the community was honored by you the city council the will of the community prevailed So today we're here again to uh ask you to vote against its resoning to honor the wishes of of the community and to preserve the quality of life and the unique cultural history in the Mission Valley thank you very much thank you ma'am mayor that concludes public comment on this item thank you representative um Letta thank you mayor first first off uh I want to thank everybody who came by to speak on uh and and uh to Counsel on their behalf and their thoughts or feelings I appreciate you being out here taking your time uh I also want to start by thanking City staff in particular planning and zoning department for working with the applicant and the community to address all their concerns I was able to attend all three uh Community meetings that were held and again I want to at that point Thank staff for going above and beyond to provide customer service to the applicant and to listen to All Community concerns that were voiced during that meeting when they were held um for the record I'd like to bring up uh could we have Mr Garcia come back up here for the record and for the Public's interest I want to ask staff to give us a little bit more information on what is required from a detailed s plan in in case you know to further elaborate on that and what what what it entails yes sir so uh detail site devel development plan is binding on the property it needs to show the final uh design um the location of buildings parking Landscaping um walls uh sidewalks everything is is finalized and captured on that detailed side plan which is above and additional to the building permit subsequent to the detailed side plan need to have to come in with a building permit which does have to 100% match what is on the detailed site plan and any deviation will create what so uh any major significant deviation will require that that site plan to obtain another approval um there are minor uh the code does allow for some minor changes again very minor in nature nothing that changes the design obviously nothing that affects the conditions on the property any significant change would would require a a reapprovals side plant were there any uh what was presented to the historical landmark commission uh was there any recommendations or concerns from the commission themselves to you all sure and I think it was mentioned there were some uh previous iterations that were presented to the historical commission um it wasn't always just parking there was uh some uh there was previous designs included parking within that area which the commission did have issues with uh therefore you see the the current uh proposal um that only includes uh ponding dual purpose ponding and land Landscaping along with the Lush the Lush trees and and the uh rod iron rock wall um again it's it's just a portion of this property um although historic does not mean it it cannot be developed it can be developed as long as it's it's in character and in line with historical uh design guidelines which the has been vetted thoroughly with the historical lar commission which is why they uh the recommendation was to approve do you know for a fact that the the uh that trail that they're talking about would would began right at the intersection with the loop 375 and and Joe Battle I mean Loop 375 and sakoto yeah we don't have too much again that's something between uh the the state and and the County however um there's nothing that would prohibit a subsequent adjustment on the design along along that Corridor to include any proposed Trail or any historical Improvement proposed at that time there would be nothing that that would prohibit um the incorporation of of that design with with within that strip and and by that you mean that the the existing trucking company that's just west of that property that Mr SRA owns and then the Circle K that's just west of that they're neighbors neighbors right it would take the the coordination with with with those Property Owners as well to incorporate the the trail provide that complete uh connectivity from iseta all the way into the valley sanelli there's nothing that would prohibit those adjustments um specifically on this property okay so with the concerns of the the of the constituents here being the historical Road and everything um would you say that the rezoning application is consistent and compatible with the neighborhood character yes sir definitely what about the foreign trade zone inclus includ inclusion that the council passed a few months ago yes sir so as you you see our recommendation as I presented previously as part of my presentation for all those reasons cited in that presentation um that's why you see the the recommendation from from staff thank you and for the record I'd like to say in regards to Mr representative Nell's comment for the record my concerns were regarding the foreign trade zone issue that pertain to uh communication with other government entities in this case it would be the city of and overlapping boundaries uh I don't want my concerns to be misrepresented here and I I want be uh yes sir known for it to be known that that's what I meant when I voted against that uh that's s of my concern um so um with the prohibited uh were the prohibited uses recommended by the community themselves to I'll go in mayor thanks were those prohibited uses recommended by the community members themselves during those meetings that I that we were present those those uh uses did come up were part of the the conversation that was held at those public meetings yes sir and it's not the first time we've we've heard that right and again I want to address uh again the main points uh of concern from the neighborhood and the neighborhood association's recommendations or Solutions brought forth for each that are listed on the uh presentation one is a Sor Road a historical Road correct we all know that to be State a state road that our pastor can't can't uh uh go in and fix which is what I asked one time when I was in the no and I spoke to Mr dinino and he said I asked him if there was any future for the historical road to be uh upgraded or you know resurfaced wi whatever they could do and I I think I gave you the answer that he said was no that was then uh you haven't heard anything as of now correct nothing specific to that uh from which would fall under the purview of Tex now this this with this new facility here is trailer traffic going onto sakuro Road plain and simple from this development no no where would be where would that traffic be going to so uh based on the existing traffic patterns the trucks would come off of a medicas um exit the loop onto the front edge and turn onto Carl longer uh for uh uh eras same turn right on Carl longer to go up towards towards amedas and loop 375 and d i 10 and I think that that was necessary to say because uh Carl Longmire is south of the proposed development correct correct into the industrial area which is what that is all that new development is being done for to get traffic off of Soro Road itself correct car long along with wind Road do serve to provide the access for the existing uh industrial properties there and your belief and knowledge of sakur road is it in current condition to handle any more load any more semi trucks um you know I'm not a traffic engineer so uh that would probably require some some studies from just the comments we've heard from the community people that live that that would be an issue and and that was the point that I was trying to make is the fact that Mr sea had intentionally go initially intended to go through Sor Road correct and it was it was us uh being myself and staff who prevented that and from that point he started co uh changing his plans and cooperating with City staff as well as the community that that is correct again as I mentioned before the the way this development is designed is a direct result um the community really heavily impacted the final design of this development and was the noise pollution also addressed yes yes sir with the sighting of the building uh bu buffering the the trucks as well as the higher walls the the trees the the Landscaping a previous design uh had the the building facing the other way which would have increased his his docking stations however um due to the neighborhood's concerns the the decision was made to flip so in all those three meetings uh did he ever bring new designs to show the public that uh or the the community that there were their concerns were being heard each meeting did include a design of of the proposed design at that time yes sir Mr Mr SAA or or staff how much those designs cost you every time you'd make one of those well well he figures that out Mr Mr Garcia initially there was parking space enough for his staff staff of 70 which I understand correct yes sir that's parking will will serve uh his employees as well as customers and so where did the other 100 spaces come from are they afford just to fill in or or or for when you have uh business contacts coming up there well okay so so the the building itself uh as far as employees you'll you'll have he's anticipating about a 100 employees more or less um and so the parking space is 120 parking spaces the additional 20 was just to have additional parking spots for visitors and so forth okay and can you can you can you repeat the distance between the building housing the employees yes the face of the building that faces the property line to the property line not to the houses but to the property line the closest one is a little over 300 ft you don't have one for the and that would only be about three houses there on that side that First Street you don't have the distance from the the building itself where the offices are located to the residential area that's in concern yes that's what it is 300 okay 300t yeah 300t and and and and again that's to the first few houses the way I don't know if you can see the map but if you can see the map uh it it immediately abing the property the the wall there's really only three houses that are but there after that yes there's the neighborhood um and and quite frankly the the the way the the traffic would flow as Mr sadra had kind of said he works on appointment and they work from on a fixed time schedule from 8:00 to 6 o' Pro everybody leaves properties are secured property is is locked because of the way the the CT Pat regulations for for this type of logistics operation it has to be fenced in it has to be secured so there's nobody that can be hanging around or or causing any problem it's highly secure so in fact he'll have Security on the property all right sir thank you I believe my time is up but maybe before that you can come back you got I'd like to make a motion to approve all conditions stated to ensure that Community concerns were met thank you make that motion right now we have representative Canales oh no there's no second at this point pardon me yes ma'am we can second but then continue the conversation go ahead so there's a motion in a second but we'll continue the dialogue thank you sir representative um Canales followed by representative mulard thank you mayor um I want to start with just addressing one comment that came all the way back from the begin beginning of of public comment um about the signatures and where they came from um the impact of a industrial or heavy commercial uh use doesn't only impact 200 or 300 or 400 uh feet you know that's what's in our uh in our municipal code and in state law for certain things like the consideration of a 211 case or uh the notification boundaries but that's not the limit of where the impact happens um and so there were 197 signatures received plus other Communication in opposition um am I am I correct in that there were there was no communication from the public in support of the project I believe the applicant did obtain some some support from the from the from some uh Property Owners yes okay uh I didn't see that included in the CPC packet maybe that happened since the since the CPC right um even if uh we ignored the the signatures that were received in the phone calls I think you can see really clearly today there's a whole Gallery full of people uh who may have been signatories to the to the petitions or may not have been but they're here today to tell us that they oppose this project and um we have representation from the quter 20 civic association the vi missiones neighborhood association um this is a lot of people and we also had representation in the speakers from other uh elected representatives who who represent folks in the area from the state representative Mary Gonzalez who we just recognized this morning for for her work uh from commissioner alen from the county from Soro City representative uh Rudy Cruz Jr so we have the state government the County government the uh AB budding municipality they are all here expressing the same thing in solidarity with the neighbors um Mr SAA came up and and you know you made a joke that you felt like a villain um you're not a villain I think uh when somebody purchases a property that's not zoned for the intended use they they run a risk and that's a business risk um we've seen it happen here before where uh that risk has paid off and rezonings have been approved and we've seen cases happen uh where it's not approved and it I understand that's that's very devastating for the property owner um but there is a certain amount of business risk that happens when you purchase a property that's not zoned for what you intend to use it for um and you know I I I feel for any property owner who's in that situation um because it's there's been a significant investment in in the plans for that property I understand and in just the cost of the property itself um but purchasing the property doesn't guarantee someone that they that they are entitled to the use that they want to use it for if that's not what the zoning is on paper at the time of purchase um and again I'm not I don't doubt the the high quality of product that they want to put out for this for this facility even the best project can have opposition we see it all the time there's always somebody who doesn't like something it can be the best project ever and there's always a reason why at least one person doesn't like it and very often that's small opposition but I don't think this today is small opposition um again it's all of the relevant neighborhood associations the different the representatives of the other levels of government uh all of people here today in the gallery um and aside from the the property owner and the The Hired representatives of the property owner there were no members of the public here signed up to speak in in favor um you know when during my election last year one of the uh organizations that put out a voter guide they asked about uh the importance of well whether whether I intended to uh be a delegate or a trustee right so a delegate is a is a representative who speaks for the will of the people right and a trustee is someone who uh is on their own and makes the decision that they think works best and I answered that I think uh a balance between the two is very important uh little bit of a copout answer maybe but I think to today when you see this quantity of people and not just any people but the people who would be most directly impacted by uh the decision that we make here today all on the same side uh in opposition it's very hard to say I want to be a trustee today and make a decision that's contrary to what so many people are telling us is the right decision for their community and their neighborhood um I I don't take this lightly because I I think uh we have a a history here at the city and and I think it's a good one of of broadly supporting the the representative of the particular uh area in which a project is located um because they've had so much of the engagement with the community that that the rest of us don't have um in this case I I I'm not intending to do that today and again I don't take that lightly and I don't mean it as as any disrespect to uh my colleague the representative from from the area or to the hard work of of Staff um in in getting this you know this is an application that's been active for nearly two years now um so getting it through the process and through the CPC into where we are today um but I think it's important that you know we we as the city council listen to the people in the area uh and so for that reason I I intend not to support this thank you if I may mayor just really quick respond and I thank you for those commas Mr Canalis and yes it is this is a difficult one um but that's what the public process is for right these are 100% public processes which is what what happen here and for the reason stated in the in the presentation as far as staff's concerned that that's why you see that that uh that recommendation from staff however uh the the challenges to reach that sweet spot right to to reach that compromise and and try to uh come up with something that that'll work for everyone and that is the the difficult part however this did go through the public process and comments were heard uh questions and comments were were addressed as part of that public process thank you sir thank you Canales represent Mard thank you very much mayor i' like to begin with this um few comments to say um we thank uh state representative Mary Gonzalez she was here earlier to get a mayor's distinguish award you heard her say that this is the first time in 13 years in public service for her as the state representative that she came to one of our City Council meetings so mayor you probably should have given her award next week that way she could have come back again but seriously I mean who does she represent she represents Us in the state house she represents the county county of El Paso whether it be sisario Clint Soro she represents those people residents voice is to be heard we heard from Elana the commissioner The Honorable commissioner Elana Olin once again another dedicated public servant using her talents her skills her expertise her education to be the voice of the county and Mr Garcia you can leave I mean it's not I'm no disrespect to you sir but uh you know commissioner once again being the voice of the people so uh I would give credit to um Sylvia Kon um Miss Fabiola Campos Lopez um oh there you are you know um if you know me and I'm going to address you and Ivan as well Mr Lopez I was a president of a ker Heist neighborhood association and there was times when we came together we shared food broke bread together we tackled issues you supported me and I supported you and so neighborhood associations bounding together is not bad it's not illegal it's not unethical we're still Americans we still have a right to voice our opinions under the First Amendment so that's what they're doing it doesn't matter if you live within 200 feet 300 feet or not there are still voices to be heard so let's talk about sokoto Road soota Road being a tech stop Road uh it's not necessarily the best conditioned Road it's a two-lane road going running East and West it's been there for a long time it's been neglected so yes what we're trying to do is get a historical designation there but it doesn't begin like somebody said just a few feet from Loop 375 and I can't remember who mentioned something but Isleta buta it's it's there Clint Soro I mean I used to go from the Northeast all the way to 9949 Soro Road just to eat just to shop just to mingle with my friends on a Saturday afternoon why because it was a great thing to do um but we need help on that road and we'll get it we're talk about people coming in and out right turn only well I can tell you so we have 100 employees but what's going to happen to the different people whether be the delivery trucks United States poal Service FedEx um ups when they turn right where are they going to go they're going to go East where they and if their route doesn't include East and they have to come back to the west side where are they going to go to turn that's when they're going to start going into the neighborhoods you're going to go into Salamanca Street aada Vaya P kbe you're going to be impacting those people in their neighborhoods in a negative way it's not going to be a good way it's not going to be in a positive way it's going to be in a negative way and so yes I've been out there at least three different times on three different days of the week three different times of the week just to see the traffic that's happening and not happening what's happening in those neighborhoods you also have a new development coming up I don't did not get the exact street but it's an apartment complex multi-level apartment complex how many units is that going to be how many more traffic is that going to be you can't stop that we can't stop that and so it's just one of those things and uh I think my colleague uh District a mentioned Mr Canales mentioned something about he has you own that property but there's a process and your goals are different but it should include those people that is going to be highly impacted because they're going to have to live with it they're the ones that are going to see it every day they're going to hear it every day they're they're going to be living it every day and it's I don't think the noise pollution is going to be better I don't think the traffic going to Solutions are going to be better it's just going to be a different neighborhood we are not going to make progress it's going to be a different negative approach here and so to the property owner sir thank you very much you're an opportun you mentioned that we salute you you're an American citizen you we that's what America's all about but at the same time these people have rights these people have and I'm talking looking to my right to the gallery here and these people and once again representative Canalis mentioned there's nobody here in support of it besides the property owners and the people that he's paying but where are the people that said yes let's do this do we have a 100 perspective employees I I'll be there right do you want to be in there I don't know but they're not here today so I say we need to band together and set the right right home therefore I will not be supporting this issue thank [Applause] you mayor protim I have one last question R before we vote which I think we're ready to do um I spent a lot of time talking to you all about the 211 something I never asked and it's been brought up a few times today and I think that it it should be commented on publicly why is it 200 ft and not the 300 that's I mean that's just what the state has established but we do sometimes do 300 ft right so we force CPC we go above and beyond um the requirement is 200 feet for CPC prior to CPC as well however through our local orance we will go above and beyond that to inform more make sure more of the residents are informed so we go my question is why didn't we go above and beyond this time because that's for for 211 purposes which is a separate issue it's it's 200 ft in line with with the state code I see Russell coming up behind you I didn't know you don't have to comment Russell I just didn't want to say anything okay um but for 211s you have extended it to 300 or just for CPC okay um I wanted to clarify that I I also just want to say you know we keep hearing that there were so many meetings so many conditions were met everything's good I just don't think we would be here today if everything was okay and I I again um not just for this issue but for other issues I do really want to focus on the fact that if the Community is saying that there are issues and and we're we're saying that we're mitigating that that there should be consensus on both sides you know I don't think it's fair to say we've we've met with the community we've heard their concerns and then they're still concerned so um I appreciate everything you've done I appreciate you and your entire team taking a lot of my phone calls after hours about this um and I guess I will call the question mayor I representative nundes and that's why I clicked it um just a couple questions not for you Mr Garcia thank you for all that all the updates um I had a question for the the architect and the owners Mr loer thank you thank you all for being here today there were some just wanted to ask for some clarifying questions about your operations what are what is the proposed hours of operation at the site uh the hours of operation are from 8 to 6 p.m. 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. is there any scenario where there would be like a night a night situation were delivery or early mornings no outside of your hour of operations okay um and then related to the concerns about sound in in your employees um do you intend to put any noise signs or signage so that employees cannot blast their music during the hours that they're there well during the hours of operations the employees are working inside they're not allowed to congregate outside and play M loud music okay that's it's not the type of business we run okay no I just I'm hearing concerns from the public so I wanted to address that yeah no I'm glad you asked that question because it was it was brought up here that you know uh the parking lot would create you know problem for loud music and so on but no 826 we close it up we're C pad certified company so we we have security guards to uh allow the trailers in to allow employees in and out so it's highly secure so those type of uh situations should not happen okay thank you um and Mr Loya uh some specifications about the proposed uh height of the uh facility what what is the is it two stories one story it's a single story warehouse and uh the top parit would probably about uh 42 feet so from the ground up 42 feet Yes uh and I know I heard concerns about the trees not blocking uh The View on this 44t High facility but on sight lines we did the study a car a tree being 10 10 12 feet a person being 6 feet walking the sight line looking up it blocks the view of the 44t which is the the the the building is approximately 100 feet away from the from the from sakuro Road it's I understand what talking about being visible but we we we were very uh um cognizant of that and and try trying to make sure that the sight lines were blocked the the the trees were there you know um the I mean it like I said before I think it's a it's a very viable business I mean it's a lot better than Farms if somebody goes out and puts a bunch of cows out there you know the smell itself would probably kill everybody around there but you know it's just I think the I think this is a very quiet as quiet of a of a type of operation as you will find that's why Mr sedra had invited everybody over there to his facility so he can see the operation okay um my concern was the distance from the home you mentioned 300 feet that's about the distance that we require um anytime there's an alcohol permit for like a daycare facility or property line yeah yeah so this it's the property line to the residents there's that requirement of 300 feet so I'm trying to get a sense of what the state requires and then what yeah the property for example the property goes like this obviously the hous is a but about here M from that property line coming down to where the building starts it's that's the where we're going the closest portion is 300 ft obviously at this point where the property is here we didn't even measure it because it it exceeded 500 600 feet so so so I'm trying to determine the distance between the homes and idling trucks Oh no that's no that's way back there the ID okay so it's in the back of the the facility is 260 or 80 ft deep plus the 300t fet so we're talking the the the buildings would probably be uh would probably be the trucks I the trucks that come into the facility would probably be about 600 feet from the property line okay not to the closest house but to the property line and and um and I know there's a lot of mention about idling trucks uh there is he doesn't have idoling trucks at that situation that stand there for long periods of time they come in they get checked once they get checked they go to a to a dock door they load unload and they leave the facility they're they're on appointment only right there's no somebody that comes in and sits out there and and you know caps and plus with with the the addition of the bridge you know the bridge will be a very wide Bridge because it has to be and because of the weight Tech uh we'll have to follow those Tech stot regulations um the the trucks it'll probably sustain about 200,000 pounds of the for the bridge and and so it's only one truck can go at a time one coming in one going out so it's not going to be trucks cannot stand on the bridge in other words they won't be able to stand there we won't allow it okay um and so it's it's it's it's very uh it's hard to explain but if you go there now on Carl longum that big facility that's a million square feet that has a lot lot of traffic right now and that's really where all the traffic comes from uh there there is there is really no no um no bit no other way to put it that there's this is not going to be a negative impact I know everybody think so uh but if you stop and think there is no other use that favors the neighborhood uh they stated before they want they don't want high density Apartments an apartment complex residents are are not going to use Carl longum Meer because they're not going to build the bridge they're going to come into sokoto Road uh a retail Center is not going to use Carl longum they're going to use sakuro Road um a Housing Development like theirs it's just going to increase multiples even more than than an apartment complex that that in in that area uh his employees come in in the morning and they stay there all day and they leave at at at 6:00 in the in the evening that that's about as simple as we can put it I don't think uh it's it's it's not a a hight traffick area you know as far as his the way his his operation works the H the traffic all occurs occurs over here on on Carl Longmire and everybody's right I mean Soro road is not a very good road Carl long is not a very good road I think uh the only road that was improved in panamerican uh Industrial Park was panamerican drive itself and that's because it connects into Riverside Industrial Park the future Riverside industrial park that is owned by the PSB um related to um the PSB I heard Mr Garcia mention that it was a canal operated by El Paso water utility or is it the water district yeah we found that out because um uh we actually went to the Lower Valley water district and and and filled out the forms to request for Bridge we got pretty far and then they finally told us hey we don't own that brid we don't own that portion of the canal anymore and then that's when uh Gilda actually went back and figured it out that it was and we did get a preliminary approval from them that's what I was going to ask did you did you get the approval but they said that that not until we're ready to go uh again Mr Sader is going to have to hire the engineers and everybody to do it PSB will review it they will approve it and they will have their own engineers also uh review uh or be on site during the construction doing the inspections so he pays for the design pays for the construction pays for everything and pays them to inspect it as well okay I think those were all my questions for you thank you for um the additional information thank for your time um and and some of my comments were related around to the placement of the facility I have seen some of these rezoning applications where they take no account for from the public and I really appreciate um the members of the public who are here to Advocate because I think it forced you all to reconsider the design and so I'm appreciative of your cooperation I do believe that there is a balance that's created historically all of the rezonings uh for this area I have not approved I have been the the only member of council voting against just rezoning changes because of the encroachment into Ranch and farm land I have um I live in a farming area and so when you say things like you know cure or or a like you know people in the valley we we enjoy that so we love that um it's it's really just a reflection of our community and so um I think you know that was my concern about all of that Industrial Park area transforming from Ranch Farm to Industrial use the the county has already um envisioned an expansion of industrial park the city through its um continuous and multiple rezonings it's created an industrial park as a result of the Amazon distribution center and for the longest for years I was saying you can't do that because then you um you change the the overall um environment and land use of the neighborhoods and so slowly it went away um but this is the first time that I've seen an application who really listen to the concerns of the public um I I mean specifically about uh the placement of the facility you're going to have over 600 feet from the residents to to the big 18-wheelers I mean that is just the placement in the facility and your design I think it's a big win it may not feel that way but it is a big win um I also am a believer in in Economic Development so I really do believe that um part of your work does require um your engagement and support and collaboration with the public um you mentioned you're a villain I don't believe that's the case I did appreciate the the commenters first statement about hey don't take into account The Advocates and the signatories um we we want to listen to everybody but I I think you did a pretty good balance I think that as part of industrial um development it's going to come with opposition um but that is the vision that the all of the governments have for this Development Area um and so because everything's already been aligned that way because the vision and the uh Economic Development opportunities have been um developed for that area you know I don't think a a property owner should be penalized anymore um for doing exactly what the governments are asking which is economic development more jobs more distribution as part of the growth of that area um to to me this is a very difficult vote because like I said I have never voted for a rezoning change but given the scope of what everyone wants in that area um and because of the future development of that area I think it's prudent um to support that that vision at this time so I really appreciate you being here and thank you for your time thank Youk You' and if I could just say one thank you thank you sir okay thank you uh representative uh Z thank you mayor real quick sir real Mr s and U Mr Loya okay let me get I'm sorry I have representative uh Salo has not spoken and I'll come back to you representative Salo thank you mayor thank you ma'am you mayor and good morning everyone city council mayor I want to thank the uh the public the local officials that came to speak today um and share with us uh their comments but I do have a few questions uh a few questions for the city staff and then some for the land owner if I may yes ma'am so for for City staff I just I am curious um for the 211 requirement what was the percentage that was collected in regards to signatures after everything was talled they reached about 18.45% short of the 20% required okay and I know that on slide seven you uh have uh the I guess what wouldn't be allowed um in regards to to Future zoning if this zoning doesn't happen um can you kind of tell me if farming does not happen in this area what are the Alternatives so that that can be built yeah that that comment is related to the uh C4 for proposed uh zoning which would allow bars and entertainment type uses which we've uh seen has posed Some Noise issues when located right next to uh residential area so that's why that uh condition is placed there which is consistent with uh conditions that have been placed in similar proposals within the city and and I know that um with the C4 it they can still build a a commercial building there I like a for for the businesses that's correct yes yes ma'am there's nothing that would prohibit a commercial retail Center commercial retail and usually commercial retail how much uh parking spots it require and how much traffic would that um add to that area yes ma'am um without having the round numbers off the top of my head it um that's something we could look into however it's it's it's going to uh trigger uh a lot more traffic a lot more trff traffic then certainly this development um as well as a lot more parking um for a shopping center commercial retail shopping center that's pretty uh clear based on um previous proposals and information that we've dealt with Engineers Traffic Engineers on previous uh resoning yeah I'm quite I was going to say those are uses that are very high high traffic demand type type uses yes I I'm kind of I'm very familiar with that area I um I did property management for for a house very close to this area and yet traffic on Soro of course is is an issue and we've heard that um and we've heard that from the from the neighborhoods and and know and I I think I I can definitely see on the plan that you all are proposing are trying to mitigate that um but I'm also looking at if something like this isn't passed you know what are the potential uh challenges we'll have if anybody else wants to come in what traffic would that incur and so that's why I was asking those questions um well thank you those are the only questions I have for for City staff and and if the owner is it can approach I do have some questions for him as well he's up there now ma'am yes oh thank you so much good morning um I know that mentioned good morning you mentioned uh you uh did you get any input in regards to that historic Commission on that trail um and the way that they're going to design it and what they're were wanting to to see well as far as I understand um our commitment for the application was to submit an application with the historic district and we went back and forth in terms of the Landscaping that was required in that area and I think we went over and Beyond and we actually uh gave a lot more land in that area um so so that if there's any future historic development or trails that need to be built I'm not using in that land in front of that building which is the 100 I believe it's about 100 ft uh so that's welcome for them to do whatever they need to do there in that area um so do uh will you be leaving it like a blank canvas how would that kind of look what you're mentioning that you're going to leave it up for them to be able to build oh no um what what I'm I'm leaving uh there's Landscaping there so if they want to build some sort of running trail through there or any additional um you know historic um type of landscaping that they need and be willing to work with them okay I see what you mean okay and I um and and I know that in this area also the fact that I did did Property Management to CLA was really close to this land security was a big issue right they would have people that would come into the backyard because this is a vacant land and they would just so I just wanted to kind of hear I know that you went over the design a little bit there's a wall that will be built um do you have cameras that would also give more security to the neighborhoods I just wanted to hear more about the security measures that you have yes absolutely I'm not sure if everyone is familiar with the uh CT pad is a certification that is obtained by Homeland Security uh as being um a freight forward custom broker we have that certification and we have to secure the perimeter of the facility so um along the the neighborhood where the three four homes are in the back there will be an 8ot wall uh rock wall and we would have uh all along the perimeter of the facility we would have uh cameras that monitor the in and out of uh into more into our building like uh all the activity that goes in employee parking and also the trailers so we always know what comes in and what goes on within our compound so that adds a level of security to the neighborhood because right now it's kind of open it's an open Farm it's wide open and then uh anybody uh right now can can jump the uh chain link fence that is uh probably uh you know four feet high okay yeah so th those were my only questions for you so I thank you for for um answering them and and I know that uh and I think also the public for sharing other concerns um definitely a we need to find a the the middle ground here um in regards to to what's going to be best for the community and and op Pas as a whole so I thank you for answering all the questions thank you Miss thank you represent Alo you're done okay uh let's call for the vote please yes mayor there was a motion made by representative Riva seconded by representative ernandez to approve and adopt the ordinance on item 20 28 on that motion call for the vote representative salido I thank you in the voting [Music] session and the motion passes 5 to3 Representatives Kennedy ernandez salido Fierro Riva voting I Representatives anelo molinar Canales voting a the motion does pass thank you everybody for being here the representatives of the property and representatives of the community thank you all m p can we take call to the public please yes sir we now go to call to the public the El Paso city council is a local government body charged with serving all of the citizens and the meetings must be focused on the meeting at charge the City Council meetings are public meetings under the Texas open meetings Act may I ask the public to please maintain decorum and take your conversations outside of council chambers so the meeting May continue the City Council meetings are public meetings under the Texas open meetings ACT public comment is an accommodation and not a requirement of city council all persons in attendance are expected to display cility and decor that is respectful to other persons without the use of insulting profane threatening or abusive language public comment will not be used for personal attacks against a person or group's character or Integrity which are not pertinent to City business nor May any member of the public use this for for political statements or campaigning please note that during call to the public the city council may not deliberate or decide any subject that is not on the agenda however Council May propose that a topic commented on be posted on a future agenda this afternoon we have seven members of the public that signed up to speak the first person is Elizabeth Crawford her topic is Thanksgiving Psalm Miss Crawford star 6 please you'll have three minutes good afternoon thank you so much good afternoon in light of Thanksgiving in light of the um situation in Israel and Gaza in light of the Advent season I would like to to share um some scriptures Psalm 89 God Covenant with David I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever with my mouth will I make known Thy Faithfulness to all generations for I have said Mercy shall be built up forever Thy Faithfulness shalt thou establish in the very heavens I made a covenant with my chosen I have sworn unto David my servant thy seed will I establish forever and build up thy Throne to all generations ba and the heavens shall praise thy wonders oh Lord Thy Faithfulness also in the congregation of the Saints and then in Luke um um the the words of Mary and Mary said my soul do magnify the Lord and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my savior for he has regarded the lowest state of his handmaiden for behold from hence forth all generation shall call me blessed for he that is mighty has done to me great things and holy is his name and his Mercy is on them that fear Him from generation to generation he has showed strength with his arm he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts he has put down the mighty from their feet and exalt to them of low degree he has filled the Hungry with good things and the rich he has sent away empty he has helped his servant Israel in remembrance of his Mercy as he spoke to our fathers to Abraham and to his feet forever Psalm 72 the reign of the righteous King give the king thy judgments oh God and thy righteousness to the King's son he shall judge thy people with righteousness and the poor with judgment he shall have dominion also from sea to Sea and from the river unto the ends of the Earth thank you so much I hope you all have a truly blessed Thanksgiving thank you thank you the next speaker is April Martinez and topic is Park restrooms in district 7 good morning good afternoon you have three minutes hello everyone and morning good afternoon good afternoon hi so I am part of district 7 I live off of that neighborhood I'm sorry I'm so sad to hear that cuz I live on on stack Drive which is literally right next to where you guys just approved but my objective today is to convey the need for the parks in my community in my district that they need an update and a little tender love and care beautification and preservation of our parks and the functions they serve in the community is of importance to me and I'm sure to others as well if they knew this change could happen so the properties that I'm talking about are Blackie chure Park Capistrano pbea and Sher I love nature I go running in these Parks I'm very sad that district 7 is not here um but I go on these parks and you know in in the morning I go running in the afternoon I'm part of the softball league for coed and it's so sad to hear like oh I need to use the restroom but I got to wait like 3 hours because of the condition that the restrooms are in it feels like a prison like I've Googled prison restrooms and you could see them right here I printed them out sorry I did not bring it on time but there's like literally pee on the floor there's poop feces on the wall there's um they're rusted these parks are rusted uh it makes me concerned because I have a child as well and I take her to these Parks so it makes me wonder like where's the money going for this side I go to the West Side I'm I love El Paso I Go Everywhere I see the discrepancies within the districts and the way that the money is spent on how these parks are being revitalized and I just wanted to bring it up to you because I am going to bring it up to the Parks and Recreation I did go ahead and call them and I let them know and I just wanted to come up here and voice my opinion and say that I'm very appalled as a person who's lived here born and raised El Paso in uh you know voted for Mr liser like I'm very sad to see that my neighborhood is being run by trucks pollution I'm running in the morning by and Blackie Chester and there's just so much trucks like I'm just wondering how many kids how how am I inhaling all these pollutants that we know that we're approving when we have a beautiful Vision we could create something more beautiful in Soro we can create pedestrian areas and walkways anyway I'm hoping that with this you guys are aware and my concept is you know build murals in these restrooms clean them up make safety put the stuff for like those those the needles or whatever that they do thank you for your time thank you can you leave the copy of your pictures if you don't mind yes I would appreciate that these are all very recent this is Blacky Chester and PUO Vio and also Capistrano those are the ones that I go to thank you we'll look we we'll look at that immediately thank you thank you thank you the next speaker is Ron Kom topic is Animal Services followed by Loretta Hyde Renee Coral Christina Martinez and Steven Strummer good afternoon you have three minutes thank you ma'am I'm sorry okay so here we are again uh I want to start out with the fact that we are are still shy of the uh asack members we got two that should be filled that haven't been um I'd like to Brak up the point that at the last asack meeting one of the members actually congratulated Terry on his adoptions um I need to bring up the fact that we are hundreds less adoptions every month we are onethird rescue polls we are onethird on return to ERS um I don't understand why we're congratulating somebody for a medial Medi I can't say the word you know what I mean job okay um I want you to see the face of a dog that was turned away by the shelter him and 10 of his siblings his mama got run over and where are we we're being turned away by our shelter our shelter is leaving aggressive dogs in in homes you know they're turning away Strays I have a lady up the street for me who's got nine puppies 8 days old she that dog was a stray I'm sorry we're creating the Strays by leaving these unaltered Strays running loose on the streets of El Paso and and as long as these things continue El Paso animal services will continue to be the biggest backyard breeder in Al Paso history I'm tired of excuses I'm tired of okay it's capacity of care it's not capacity of care it's a fact that they don't want to fill their shelter if you don't want to do the job get out this dog could have died in El Paso because he didn't want to take the dogs in this one because you didn't want to keep the dogs I don't know about you guys but I'm fed up I'm tired I'm a taxpayer I appreciate the meetings we're having I appreciate what's been happening and and the moving forward that we've have done but if we're not going to start taking care of the community and protecting them by taking in the aggressive dogs they say they are if we don't start taking in all the Strays because I don't know about you but I understand you leave on on alter Strays R the streets you get more Strays these dogs were on the street I cannot stress the fact that this dog could have died because he doesn't want to do his job enough I enough we need to get the asack committee to do its job when was the last time they came to this committee and did anything thank you Mr KOMO if you've reached the three minutes thank you sorry sorry but it had to be said the next speaker is Loretta Hyde topic is General concerns for lack of services from Animal Services good afternoon my name is Loretta Hyde I run the Animal Rescue League of El Paso been doing community service for over 30 years now and rescuing I have never ever seen so many Strays unwanted litters dead dogs dead cats dead kittens everywhere um I get calls every single day why doesn't Animal Services take these dogs they tell me to go turn them loose where I found them and that's just not acceptable we I have better things to do than come out here and do this every single month for the last two and a half years asking for your help to make change and have them Tak in these animals you know I know they're offering more spay and neutering that's not going to make a difference on on the thousands that are out there that have been left out there to reproduce for the last 2 and a half years the rescues cannot do it by ourselves a lot of the rescues are stepping down because they can't handle the drama the the cursing that we get every day because we didn't take that particular animal that they wanted to rescue and was turned away we are full we stay full we are a 501c3 which means we work by donations we do not have a budget of $12 million we do not have a veterinarian on staff these are things that have to be considered when the public comes and they tell us what are we supposed to do I say go to your city reps please let them know that you're not satisfied let them know that uh animal services should be an open admissions which means they don't get to pick and choose what they take they should take animals so people know where to go get get them instead of giving the rescues numbers out when they're not satisfied with what animal services offers them it's not our job I want to work together but I can't do it unless you do your job too please please have them start taking in Strays and giving you know the people that have a choice that want to Foster great that's perfect but get them spayed and neutered and vaccinated but don't make it the rescues problem it needs to start start with animal services taking in the dogs that they're supposed to and the kitties so please I'm I'm asking you again I'm really I'm begging you make a difference make the change thank you thank you the next speaker is Rene Coral topic is lose stray and Abandoned Dogs good afternoon Mr Coral you have three minutes good afternoon the existing problem of loose and Abandoned Dogs throughout our city as well as the challenges with the dysfunctional Al Paso Animal Services continues to get worse this city cannot get to the root cause of the problem which I believe is Affordable access to spay and neuter programs cracking down on so many backyard breeders and enforcement of current laws until this console addresses and takes action on our dysfunctional an Services which the community has lost complete faith in preventing one pregnancy will save countless of lives and save the city valuable resources with the help of our local Rescuers we can move this issue in a positive direction and resolve this current crisis facing our city once and for all but before we get to that level we desperately need to address the current crisis we face right now now as the number of loose Abandoned Dogs has gotten out of control in our city that have been countless of post on social media of carrying people picking up these animals only to have to return the back on the streets why because Animal Services refuses to pick them up and this situation is getting worse by the day the op pasal animal shelter has a sign posted on their front door which reads a band in in an animal is cruel and against the law Al Paso Animal Services is indirectly breaking this law by forcing people who can no longer take care of their animals to abandon them on the streets because they have no other place to take them this is why El Paso is starting to look like a third world country where people don't care about so many loose dogs not only is it cruel to have so many loose dogs roaming the streets of a peso but also dangerous for drivers as they avoid hitting them and potentially causing accidents loose dogs also pose a great danger to our community especially our children as they are at risk of getting attacked which continues to be on the rise I and other Rescuers have spoken with the intern city manager about forming a task to a task force to address this issue but have not heard back from the from the colonel I have also heard from many of you many of you we're working on it that it takes time that it's a process but how much longer do your constituents have to put up with this crisis that has been plaguing our city for so many years why is it Tak you so long would you once and for all do something to address this ongoing issue he says if not you might as well change this City's name from the Sun City to the heartless C city thank you thank you the next speaker is Christina Martinez her topic is animal services and abandoned puppies Miss Martinez go ahead you have three minutes good afternoon I'm here to address concerns about the treatment I received at Animal Services as Ron stated he has one of the puppies I rescued um I went and rescued a box of puppies on November 16th there was a post made on Facebook for some puppies to be picked up due to the fact that their mother had been hit and killed by a car um the person I went to go pick up the puppies from had called 311 at 8:00 in the morning at this time those puppies were nursing puppies um I showed up at 11:30 a.m. for the puppies I called animal services and asked if I could bring the puppies in they stated yes um they these puppies need care these puppies needed care they needed to be in foster care I was told by a female officer that I needed a picture of the deceased mother to prove that that's where these puppies came from and to take the puppies back and leave them where I found them again these are nursing puppies there was no way that they were going to survive there's no telling how long that those puppies hadn't had anything to eat um she was extremely coldhearted when speaking to me she did not want to hear anything I had to say um and it was like she thought those that Lit belonged to me it was an unwanted litter for me now mind you I have three dogs all three of my dogs have been spayed and neutered and they are from as so there's no way that my dog could have produced these babies so I mean I'm what I it's sorry I get very emotional with this but um I tried to to explain to her that these puppies were extremely hungry and there was no telling when the last time that they had ate they were crying they were dirty they were suckling on my fingers again super coldhearted told me again that that was not their problem that I needed to go leave them where I found them she could have offered some food for me to take she could have asked Can you Foster them she could have asked a million things or offered a million things to me and she refused so here I am with a house full of animals already which came from as with a box of puppies I had no blankets I had no food for them and thank goodness for the people in the public they came up and helped and donated so food for them and everything now we're doing we're doing the job of animal services we're having to look for foster homes for these puppies these puppies need a foster home for the next three weeks so that they can be transported out of here they don't need to be here they are always asking us for help thank you Miss martinz you've reached the three minutes thank you thank you the final speaker is Steven Strummer Mr strummer's topic is an accident that occurred last Saturday involving a Sun Metro Brio bus good afternoon Mr Strummer you have three minutes afternoon Laura good afternoon sir I am asking [Music] for um Street Linings at North Oregon at Arizona reason being we had an accident Saturday it was not a major one it was a Brio against the car car didn't have heavy damage there were two College age women that were in it I've heard there were two supervisory uh buses from s Metro that came um thank God people still alive doing well no one was hurt I am asking for lining on Arizona Avenue please um before we have fatality from North Oregon to Campbell um this is no small thing had I been out 10 minutes earlier September 21st at St Pats it would would have been all over had a car flip over we need some help here um I believe in you mayor Lisa I voted for you I spoke with you June 15 you said that we would get some lining I believe in you sir I will always believe in him but we have some real issue here here um I don't want uh fatality I do not want a car to end up going like this at St Patrick's uh vertically mayor like this against the wall I do not want that I am asking for some mercy here Chris I called your office yesterday I spoke with your beautiful SEC very friendly reception I thank you for her active listening and friendship that she expressed it had enormous impact on me I know you spoke with me March 15th I have gotten a little bit thanks to Ellen Smite um we need we need this done sir it's not funny and it's not that expensive that I see and I also thank my two changing subjects Representatives Miss anelo and Miss Hernandez for their comments changing subjects abruptly uh at mass transit you all are champions to me I really appreciate what you said at mass transit your thoughtful questions mean an awful lot thank you for hearing me uh with his time thank you sir mayor that concludes call to the public thank you ma'am I think we moved up every item but item 30 the next I'm not sure what's next is item number 19 that was moved up okay item 19 is a presentation by local nonprofit project regeneration yeah I think um they would like um would you like to take a break it's one o' what do you think all right yeah we have need in four days but that's okay been 4 AG but that's all right no item 19 is a presentation by local nonprofit regener regarding their concept for the restoration of Durango this item was brought forth by Representatives Canales and anelo Canales thank you mayor um this item was placed on the agenda because uh project re they're a local nonprofit um they asked to present and they first asked to present quite a while ago um I won't chastise them publicly I I wish that they had presented a little a little bit in advance of today um but this is when they were ready um and so uh this item was placed on the agenda to allow them to present I I know I can uh I can see the writing on the wall there may be an attempt here to uh not allow them to present today to delete this item um and I anticipate that they may be because uh some feel that it may be inappropriate given uh the the development of a process uh related to the direction that the council gave uh in October October 10th um that that motion was to begin soliciting and entertaining letters of interest from interested buyers for the purchase of the properties located in the union Plaza area of downtown um this presentation has essentially nothing to do with that process so this is an organization that's not coming to us with a financial or or a business interest in in these properties um but with a a cultural interest and a neighborhood interest um so they're not planning to propose uh to buy properties today or to present their proposal for specific properties um they're they're presenting their goals and their standards that they they want to see in for the neighborhood regardless of Who develops it or uh whether the city sells it or retains it or whatever happens um that that said I I'll make a disclaimer this item isn't intended to give any uh entity an advantage or a disadvantage in any process for the sale of the properties that the city goes through uh project aon's presentation doesn't once uh mention the sale of property or the purchase of property um again they're specifically only talking about uh what their organization and what the the folks who live in and around the area would like to see in that area um it has nothing to do with the sales uh with that I'd like to see their presentation I don't I got a couple council members that would like to speak and so would I so and one of the things uh Dr Romo I was kind of insulted by your interview yesterday saying that the city's done nothing about it and it's about time we have done something about it we continue to do something about it the city manager and his team had a vote of from Council to come back and they have a presentation ready so to go on camera and say the city of Al Paso is doing nothing about it is very Incorrect and I feel insulted by your comments not to myself but to the people of the city who have done a a job that was asked to do of them and they're going to bring the presentation back I know you brought this presentation to my office had the presentation I've seen it uh I Senator Rodriguez Mr Rodriguez uh he all brought it in my office I've seen the presentation it's a good presentation you've had it for a little while which is the one I saw the one that was on TV last night but uh we are working on it we're not ignoring the area there was some uh litigation that had to be done and the litigation continued to linger till just recently and we could not do anything until that litigation was lifted and done and if I'm not mistaken uh miss nean when was that litigation finally finished and lifted was September 1st sir so since September 1st we've done a lot and we wanted to make sure we got the litigation done and that we we didn't create any violations of the law and that's something that's really important as uh elected and public officials that we do that so um we are doing a lot we're continuing to do a lot and we respect the property we respect the area and we've asked uh the city manager and his team to make sure there are some covenants in there to bring forward what we can and cannot do so I know you said that we had done nothing and continue to do nothing and it's a shame it's not a shame because we've done it really and I'm not trying to quote you per btim but what I got out of your interview and um we are doing something about it we'll continue to do something about it so I just want to let you know that we're not sitting on our hands we're making sure that um we act responsibly and like I said it's only been since September and we're only a couple months away and and we are I know your Colonel Weston your team is prepared bring this presentation may be bringing it back on the 5th of December on the 5th of December which is our next city council meeting so this is you kind of got a little bit in front of us and when you see that I think you'll see that we are taking it seriously making sure that we preserve the area and put some covant to protect it and with that uh representative F thank you mayor um first and foremost I with all due respect I I believe that uh you were done a disservice um because we should have never put this on the agenda agenda um knowing that we had the presentation coming from Colonel Weston in a week or so um it's it just it was a little disheartening the comment about we're doing nothing because when you communicated with the the representatives that put this on the agenda I wish they had shared with you that we were waiting just one more meeting to hear from the the colonel and his staff uh in regards to um a directive that everybody on this Council had given an for so I I I again um I believe that that U you it's been a disservice to you all to come do this presentation today um thinking that we had the city had done nothing and and we were just waiting actually not waiting for de um meeting to see the results of um the directive to the colonel and his team um so again I want to apologize on behalf of of of the people up here who who encourage you to do this representative may I contextualize what I um said to the media okay uh represent Kennedy um yeah I um and I'm presuming that because I know the mayor had said he'd seen it I'm presuming that you've given this presentation to Colonel Weston no sir I haven't received the presentation um I didn't hear the question well the comment on guidelines and standards and an overall vision and a plan for the community that's what we directed our staff to come back with um I think I appreciate the presentation and I did go through it as that was backup but I think you're talking to the wrong people for two reasons first of all he's coming up with a guideline and a standard that we're going forward and as the mayor said there is going to be some caveats on our sale of the land the second thing is it's pretty clear that because it was specific purpose Bond money that purchased that land we will not be the developers of that land okay we cannot do it it's impossible what we can do is what we directed our city manager to do which is come back with some Concepts and some protections for the future of that land so presentation to us I think and I agree with representative Fiero would be best first given to our city manager and second of all given to whoever we sell the land to and and you know I I see where you're going I have some concepts for downtown too that would feed into what is done with d andito but I think that for today um our hands are tied on what we can do and we will not be developing the land so telling us this is what we'd like to do is interesting but beyond that it's ineffectual you know and I am concerned also and I'm sorry you had to sit for half a day here but um I don't think that it's though it's well-meaning I don't think it's effective or appropriate to be doing the presentation to us today I think that if you wanted to present it to the city manager before he comes back in two weeks you know we've been 322 days since it was moved out of Dingo and 14 days before we come back with a plan on how to move forward I I would move fairly quickly to try and hand him a presentation um but I just don't think it's appropriate to do it today and I mean with that I'm going to make a motion to delete the presentation Miss PR there's a motion in a second to delete the item yes sir there was a motion made by represent representative Kennedy seconded by representative Rivera and this is to delete item number 19 on that motion call for the vote I don't representative salido hi thank you and the voting session and the motion passes 5-2 Representatives Kennedy molinar salido Fierro Rivera borai Representatives anelo Canales voting nay representative Hernandez not present and the motion carries thank you may I have a word mayor uh the item has been deleted uh I'm sorry that once once we delete an item we don't we we stop conversation on it I would love to meet with you if you'd like on a one-on-one basis as you did when we did the presentation that have been so disappointing and we apologize that you were put in this position as representative Kennedy and P has just said we do have a presentation we were going to ask to meet with the city manager that was the whole intent well I think he be more than glad to meet with why we wanted to meet with he I'm sure he would be more than glad to meet with you set up a at your convenience he'd be more than glad to meet with with you all and look at your presentation and maybe incorporate something of that with what he's working with City staff specific comment to the media was that six years ago city council was not ready to listen to our presentation right I didn't say that currently they're not doing anything I was it sounded like we'd been sitting on our hands and we're not and we won't be that was not that was not what I I told the media it was taken out out of context so when when you set up an appointment with the city manager I'll be there with you there has been no public information and we have requested to find out what was going on mayor and well there was executive session item could be said well that's that's the reason and I respect that that's the reason yeah we'll we'll make a meeting with the city manager and I'll make sure I'm there with you all thank you mayor what council like to recess at this time absolutely motion to recess till next Thursday there's a motion and a second to recess a council meeting all in favor anyone opposed the meeting is in recess at 1:4 p.m. until 2:00 p.m. thank you thank you e I think we need uh yes there's a motion in a second to reconvene the council meeting all in favor anyone opposed the meeting is back in session at 203 3 p.m. mayor may we go back and pick up the item that was moved from consent uh yes ma'am number 14 yes sir huh item 14 is the award of solicitation number 20230 623 animal narcotics to Midwest Veterinary Supply M Cody good afternoon ma'am good afternoon mayor and Council Nicole Cody managing director of purchasing and strategic sources uh this item was postponed from the previous Council agenda and we'd like to go ahead and use this time to address the concerns of the public so the Midwest Veterinary Supply did provide disclosure of The Plea for guilty at one count excuse me so Midwest introduced misbranded Veterinary prescription drugs into interstate commerce because of the products did not contain adequate directions for the use of the end users of the medication or they were shipped to or from non-authorized locations under state law so this is considered a single count it was a misdemeanor which is a strict liability offense under federal law which does not require or suggest any intent by Midway and so they did provide disclosure regarding this um plea for guilty and it was a forfeit of $10 million and a fine of 500,000 and they're under oneyear probation and then I'll let the analyst provide information regarding the award that we're recommending represent keny you got a question sir yeah um because I'm sometimes not the sharpest tool in the shed basically the produ what I mean I was agreeing with you sir thank you sir um I read the judgment and it seemed to predominantly be that you're supposed to have with each container instructions on use and they were sending single instructions for a larger 10 boxes at the same time and it looked like that was their their biggest issue was that they didn't have instructions on how to use it in every single dosage is that about right yes sir that is correct along with wow I understood it then thank you interstate commerce thank you sir and let me pass it to the procurement analyst is there other questions there a motion motion approve there's a motion in a second to approve M PR sorry who made the motion representative okay thank you motion second right mayor protol lard seconded by representative Riva to approve item number 14 on that motion call for the vote representative Salo hi thank you and the voting session and the motion passes unanimously representative fedal not present thank you that brings us to item number 17 and this is discussion and action to review parking accessibility at City senior centers to include the availability of wheelchair ramps and number of disabled parking spots and to direct the city manager to direct staff to update City code to reflect the necessary accommodations required for ample parking accessibility at senior centers this item was submitted by representative ernandes representative nandes hi good afternoon um I have a item okay we can go to the next slide um I brought this item to city council for your consideration due to the numerous requests that we get um in our district from senior centers um with their concern with not having enough parking spaces so um in reviewing our our city code it does set a minimum accessible parking spots but it doesn't um specify a maximum number of parking spots so for senior centers you will find a couple of handicapped spaces um but unfortunately you know there's several dozen if not hundreds of senior citizens that use our senior centers for the senior centers that just have a Senior Center and it's not a collocation with the recreation center I really do believe the city has an opportunity to convert some of those handicap spaces um the problem for some of the residents and their concerns when they when I when they approach me at the senior centers is that they need extra space so when you have multiple Vehicles parked right next to each other especially if you have a u you know one of those Walkers or a wheelchair you don't have the ample space there for creating additional um hazards and and barriers for residents to get in and out of their their vehicles every single time I go to the Jesse Moreno happiness Center got it right um that's all they want to talk about so recently um the county commissioner for the area around the the happiness Center they uh Mr Stout also received those complaints as well as congresswoman Escobar when she visited she also received those complaints and they've all notified my office office that we have to do something I here have a screenshot of the Richardson senior center in Richardson Texas this is a senior center they have 110 parking spaces 32 of them are um accessible uh parking spaces that's about a little bit less than 30% of the overall parking spaces um you know In fairness to City staff you know this has been a request that uh we have been um you know dealing with for the past year and I know that there's been so moment but that's just for one senior center in my in my district and so I would hope that um I can have your support so that we can ask uh City staff so that they can bring back um a plan so that we can make more parking spaces accessible not only parking spaces but to have the adequate ramps um and for the example of the happiness Center there's there's one ramp that's nowhere near the handicap spaces um so you know residents who Park in the interior of the parking lot they have to Trek quite a quite away from their entrance just to go up a ramp um so I think this um item you know I think addresses a lot of our concerns with safety for our senior citizens our beloved vulnerable members of our community they love their senior centers and all they want is just a little bit more access to their parking spaces um if Richardson Richardson Texas can do it I think the city of El Paso can um and so the other thing I would like to understand is the number of new spaces that would come to senior centers so that we can you know if you know there's a funding request then we can they can bring the parks department can bring that to city council's um budget requests or we can consider our own discretionary funds if you want to pay for those additional signage and um handicap marks so if if funding is a concern bring us the numbers that way we can address that during budget season or respectively with our discretionary funds if it's not a problem the city is okay with just doing it then I would encourage you to go do it um so I just want to make sure that you know the concerns of our constituents are heard um and so I would make a motion to approve thank you and just exactly what is your motion ma'am so it'll be I move to approve that the city of El Paso um reviews the parking accessibility at senior centers to include the availability of wheelchair ramps and the number of disabled parking spots and to drive direct the city manager to direct staff to update the city code to reflect the necessary accommodations required for ample parking accessibility at senior centers perfect thank you representative um mullar followed by representative Kennedy thank you mayor so I do agree with representative ernandez that U there is a need for more handicaps parking but I do have a question um and I'm not sure maybe who can answer this but uh Mr Garcia or somebody Phillips here what is come on up pH what is the uh width of a regular uh parking space let's say in a business or and versus uh if there's a difference in a in a uh so the parking stalls good afternoon mayor canel good afternoon sir uh Two and a Half Men uh of planning and inspections so I'm reporting today so um k w will have to figure out who they have my is so your question um the the uh parking stalls are Universal 9 by8 9 by 18 correct okay is there any differention for a handicap yes there's a 5 foot uh loading loading zone but that's not for every handicap not for every load yes so you can actually have the loading zone in between two handicar spaces okay and uh correct me if I'm wrong but already in our ordinance the ways on handicap parking let's just say uh new buildings coming up and they must have or they have a percentage of handicap parking spaces that must be available so our parking requirements is based on the square footage of a building so if you have 10,000 square foot depending on if it's retail so it's different for retail for um for uh housing you know and for uh other commercial um uses so you base that on that and then you can uh based on the number of parking places places that you provided you also provide uh appropriate uh handicap uh spaces okay and Colonel won I will be supporting this item but when District 4 does have its first Senior Citizen Center we have some ground rules to play with because we do not have a a senior citizens of Center and District 4 so I'd like to make sure that when it does come to fruition that we are compliance with uh revised handicap parking spaces thank you and when you talk about the five additional feet that's B and and wheelchair accessibility correct so not all spaces would have that additional space correct right so what representative ad nandes would is asking which is to make them a little bit wider than the standard to allow them to just for Walkers and additional things I think go ahead sir so this issue is mostly a facility issue and I think facility we discussed this over a year ago uh I'm actually surprised that it's on uh on the agenda today so I think this is mostly a facility issues I don't know that you know court has anything to do with that I think it just has to be retr freed to meet those um handicap requirement spaces and we'll work with facilities and Parks and Recreation to make sure it happens representative Kennedy uh Miss Brian can you read the the motion back to me for a second yes the motion is to ask staff to review parking accessibility at City senior centers to include the availability of wheelchair ramps and number of disabled parking spots and to direct the city manager to direct staff to update city code to reflect the necessary accommodations required for ample parking accessibility at senior centers okay I my qu first of all I agree that we need more handicap spots at senior centers being somebody that could utilize a senior center I'm in that age group um my qu what it's true my question is do we have to have a change in code because there's a minimum and no maximum we can just decide we're going to add 10 more spots at each Senior Center and we don't have to make any code changes is am I correct in that I'm looking at well I think that's what Philip's point was is that we're in compliance with the federal rules like now for example um if you have between 25 and 50 parking bases you're only required to have two handicap spots so that's for 25 that's like 10% for 50 it's 5% and that's where we are F between 5 and 10% so if our goal is 25 to 30% that's very different from anything that we've ever constructed on the facility side but it would also then if we change the code it would become the minimum for people that have limited parking they'd have to use a third right and is it difficult to make the code just apply to a senior center and not just all facilities I think you could just probably have a policy for like city city senior centers we'll go back and take a look yeah we'll take we'll take a look at it and then provide a recommendation after we have a chance to the staff I'm kind of deferring to miss nean here about do we have to up do we have to make a change on the city code to just add more handicap spots or can we do a policy right what I'm hearing from representative Hernandez is that CI citizens are asking for more handicap parking in in senior sen cers so I would recommend that you do a polic other wise you change the code then all private the owned businesses would have to comply with that requirement and I don't know if that's the yeah I just I'm trying to figure out the easiest way to add more as quickly as possible and I think we could just work with Colonel you could work with facilities yeah the easiest would be a would be a a policy on how we handle our if I'm hearing it right everybody that goes to the senior center that reper nadis is talking about is hearing about parking spots where we could just say okay we'll make more right you know right yes okay okay and is there any way we can blame Philip for all this all of it okay thank you well on we still got a few more questions um representative F followed by representative ades again thank you mayor so if I understand we're directing the city manager to to come back with a plan to increase the the handicap parking spaces in senior centers please yes ma'am go ahead the the reason why I say update city code is because I actually received a cr3 response that says per code facility is required a total of 85 regular parking spaces and 788 parking spaces currently we have 86 parking spaces and 7 Ada parking spaces um and I think it comes down to the ramps so there's like this formula with ramps and I got this official request and inquiry I'm happy to share it with city council which is why if there is a a need to update the the code just for senior centers then that's why because City staff already told me that per code the ramps are what dictates the number of parking spaces in Ada facil I don't know well enough to articulate that but that was the complaint that's the response I received and I I'm happy to share with you mayor mayor canel I think you know this can be resolved with working with um um Ellen's group to make sure that it happens I I don't know that the code change is required at this point and this isn't an ordinance change at the time I'm asking for a proposal to come forward back to council if it doesn't require an ordinance change I'm great with that um if it if it's just a matter of of Maintenance and facility then that's wonderful but the ramp issue is the concern for some of the senior centers they're not they're they don't make any sense the way they're places excuse my my time no no thank you ma'am thank you for that so if we increase the number of handicap Spaces by making and adding ramps which which we need won't that lower than the number of other spaces are in the in the lot well sure okay so I mean I just want to make sure that that's that's what we're talking about right right what did she say what did she say yes thank you Phil yes thank you thank you thank you thank you and I think uh the only I have one more question um and it's for Colonel Weston is Philip the only department head that has his own dignitary Protection Team I've never seen him without them I'm just wondering if I think it just appears that way is he the only department head that has his own dignitary just just his his Entourage I don't think it's his dignitary protection I just want to make sure sir thank you what thank you thank you [Laughter] sir we do have a motion in a second so representative atand this the motion is correct as stated yes ma'am okay thank you you motion made by representative ernandez seconded by representative rera to approve the motion is read on that motion call for the vote representative Salo are you there ma'am I believe she stepped away and the voting session and the motion passes unanimously representative salido not present that brings us to the first reading of ordinances move to approve these are items 20 to 23 there's a motion made by mayor protim anelo seconded by representative Riva to approve the introduction of ordinances on that motion call for the vote Representatives I'll see those back ma'am thank you representative salido I thank you and the voting session and the motion passes unanimously that brings us to item number 24 item 24 is a public hearing on an Ordnance designating a certain area as a reinvestment zone for commercial industrial tax abatement in the city of Al Paso Texas to be known as city of Al Paso reinvestment Zone number one establishing the boundaries and providing an effective date good afternoon Miss trick good afternoon Elizabeth trigs with economic and International Development if it wouldn't mind displaying thank you um so this is this ordinance proposes the establishment of city of Al Paso reinvestment Zone number one under chapter 312 of the Texas tax code um this is the section of the tax code that governs tax abatement um or exemptions or or waivers um The Zone itself covers approximately 1,42 acres of city-owned land in northeast El Paso you can see it here displayed on this Slide the purpose of the zone is to encourage businesses to locate uh within the Zone um through the provision of performance-based tax abatements which again um are reductions to property taxes that are otherwise due to the city or waivers of those taxes one thing that a distinction I want to make just upfront is that this is not the same thing as a tax increment reinvestment Zone um this particular reinvestment Zone again is under chapter 312 whereas a tax increment reinvestment zone is established under 311 the difference between this and a re increment um reinvestment zone is this one again relies on property tax abatements for a particular project or business um whereas tax increment reinvestment zones capture the future um property value value growth within a designated Zone and reinvest um those dollars back into the Zone through public improvements or other Economic Development projects so two different things um just want to be very clear about that from the beginning um so this slide talks a little bit more about the Zone again tax abatements are just another Economic Development tool that can be used to offset the cost of expanding a business or locating a business in a a new area um and what that does for us by having that available to us it makes El Paso more competitive um particularly when we're looking to attract businesses that other communities are also looking to attract um requirements for a tax abatement first and foremost the business does have to be located in the designated Zone that can be an Enterprise Zone which is designated by the state or it can be one of these reinvestment zones which is designated by city council um but that is not the only requirement um just because a business locates in the zone does not mean that it is that it automatically receives tax abatements uh the city council has to enter into a tax abatement agreement with the business to actually extend those abatements um and that is a public process that requires at least 30 days public notice um before Council can actually hear the agreement so there there are additional um steps to actually extending abatements to businesses this slide just summarizes some of the benefits and outcomes of um using this particular tool first and foremost traditionally in Economic Development the goal is to create jobs um by having tax abatements available to us we can encourage businesses to set up or expand in El Paso which means new job opportunities for our residents um there's also the opportunity to strengthen other businesses that are already established in El Paso you have now employees with income to spend on those businesses you also have a new business established that may need to Source supplies from other local businesses um and then there's there's a couple other things on here I think what's really important to keep in mind is that um property tax abatements are intended to Spur immediate economic benefits but also um they can be used um to really strengthen our economy over the long term once these abatement agreements expire you have a pretty significant capital investment that's been made in the community and when the agreement is over um the city begins collecting on that property tax revenue so again it's it's a tool for diversifying our tax base and taking some of that tax burden off of residents in the long term um this slide shows you a timeline just to to kind of understand how the tax abatement process works again um first and foremost council did this in October there need to be a set of guidelines and criteria um that govern how uh what types of projects may qualify for property tax abatements um then the project has to be um located in an eligible Zone um which is what we're doing today is is looking to establish a reinvestment Zone um and then finally city council actually has to approve a tax abatement agreement with the company to extend those abatements and again those are performance-based they're tied to metrics things like um making a minimum capital investment um you know adding value uh to the to the property um creating jobs all of those kinds of things are tied into the abatement agreement and then after that um there are mandatory reports um that have to be made by annually to the state a little bit more about Zone operations and designation I don't need to go through all this the point here really is to show um that these abatements are intended to be a very transparent process um The Zone by state law does expire after five years and so if we wish to continue extending new abatements to uh companies that locate or expand in the zone after that fiveyear period we would need to make sure to come back to council to renew it and so again very simply um the the request today is to establish this reinvestment Zone which is an abatement reinvestment Zone not a tax increment reinvestment Zone thank you Canales but there's a motion in a second thank you mayor I made you say it yesterday I'll make you say it again and you said it at the beginning of the presentation but uh this is a an industrial uh baitman reinvestment Zone this is something different than a tax increment reinvestment Zone correct correct and this uhp of Zone despite the similar name uh we can as I said yesterday we can thank the legislature for make naming it something similar enough to be confusing uh but this is a totally separate concept there is no um increment that is captured within this Zone uh any any incremental value that goes into any kind of segregated fund no every there there's no fund at all attached to this type of Zone correct correct no fund no separate fund is attached to this where as with an increment atts a separate fund is is attached and increased property values are captured in that separate fund this does not do that thank you yes sir there's a motion made by mayor Pro manelo seconded by representative alternate mayor Pro Molina to approve item 24 on that motion call for the vote representative salido hi thank you in the voting session and the motion passes unanimously thank you the next item is number 25 and this is a public hearing on a norin granting a special permit for a planned residential development at 223 Silverwood way Kennedy appr second there's a motion made by representative Kennedy seconded by alternate mayor Pro mol to approve item number 25 there's no public comment on that motion call for the vote representative salido I thank you in the voting session and the motion passes unanimously item number 26 is is a public hearing on an ordinance granting a special permit to allow for infill development with reductions to side and rear yard setbacks a 72% parking reduction and an 85% density increase at 150 Brown Street represent Canales wholeheartedly move to approve there's a motion made by representative Canales seconded by mayor protim anelo to approve item 26 there was public comment but I don't see this the citizen in the queue on that motion call for the vote representative salido I thank you in the voting session and the motion passes unanimously item number 27 is a public hearing on an ordinance changing the zoning from R4 residential to C2 commercial and imposing conditions at 86 87 Gateway South Boulevard May second motion made by mayor protim anelo seconded by alternate mayor protim molard to approve item 27 there's no public comment on that motion call for the vote representative Salo I thank you and the voting session and the motion passes unanimously that brings us to item number 29 and this is a public hearing on an ordinance granting a special permit to allow for infield development with reductions to lot death area and setbacks standards at 1408 and 1410 North Grandma Street there's a motion made by mayor protim anelo seconded by representative Rea to approve item 29 there's no public comment on that motion call for the vote representative salido sh I thank you and the voting session and the motion passes unanimously item number 30 is a public hearing on an Ordnance amening Title 20 zoning Historic Landmark preservation alterations and changes to landmarks and age overlay properties to delete section 2020.8 A1 move to approve second representative umalis um no I just I I think there's been enough discussion of this over the many weeks and so I don't think we need a full presentation I wanted to say thank you uh provie you've you've and and all of staff I know it's taken a long time to to get this change over the line I think it will provide a lot of clarity to uh any property owner who thought they might have been affected and now it's very clear uh where they stand so thank you very much with that M PR there's a motion made by mayor Pro manelo seconded by alternate mayor protim mol to approve item 30 there's no public comment on that motion call for the vote representative salido hi thank you and the voting session and the motion passes unanimously that brings us to item 32 and this is a public hearing on an ordinance authorizing the city manager to execute a quick claim deed conveying all right title and interest to Watermill Express LLC a parcel .16 acre more or less out of track 5B block 40 East leteta Grant approve there's a motion made by representative Riva seconded by representative Fierro to approve item 32 there's no public comment on that motion call for the vote representative Sido I thank you and the voting session and the motion passes unanimously mayor protm mayor protm you want to move item 33 and 34 up okay thank you go ahead ma'am 33 is discussion and action on a resolution authorizing the city manager or designate to effectuate the purchase and closing of real property consisting of approximately 24 acres of land located within the city El Paso County described as a portion of the S2 Northwest 4 of section 17 block 79 Township 3 T and P RR service second knowledge uh I'm sorry you all I would like to see the presentation on this I got a few questions from members of the public so for their benefit I think it'd be good to see this presentation goe sir absolutely uh good afternoon Nicholas I Environmental Services Department um the presentation is on the east side land purchase um just a little brief history on the on the project um ESD has been inquiring inquired about six properties over the last four years and all of them have declined to sell or were sold during the inquiry process but of June 22nd of last year we received approval through executive Council to inquire about the property of that we're speaking of today off of Joe Battle uh just north of Bob Hope and south of Pano uh the property owner is sgo joint ventures it's a special purpose mixed use property it's approximately 24 Acres it currently has no zoning because it's outside of City Limits uh when we did an appraisal back in January of this year the appraise value was $ 6.06 million but updated comp values through our Land Management program have they said the updated comp value is 8.1 million uh this is the current condition of the land it's a bare desert out there with mosquet bushes throughout the site uh just to the north of it is um the new Fredo U dist distribution Factory and to the south of it would be um Bob H hope and the two uh sakur athletic complexes that are just south of the facility uh the proposed use of the property U would be for a Far East Municipal service center offices which would include um Environmental Services collections air quality and vector and streets and maintenance uh real estate Fleet and park maintenance uh this will also include fueling stations for our all our vehicles including unleaded Diesel and compressed natural gas a new Fleet Service Center for compressed natural gas Loop shop tire shop and state inspections um aggregate stock Pall for our medians group and for park uh maintenance um automated side loader or trash truck and large vehicle parking a new citizen collection station with a 12T privacy screen the privacy screen is to you know block the view from um the street side to make sure the residents don't have a direct view of the citizen collection station I know it's an isore from any of our residents so we put that up to make sure we block that out from their from their view uh New City gym and the estimate construction cost uh currently present day $25 million but we're looking at phasing that over multiple fiscal years uh this is the proposed design that was provided to us by our Capital Improvement Department uh this would what you would see B um off of 375 looking onto our property with the citizen collection station in the back portion of our property this is the overall layout uh proposed layout of the site with the municipal service center uh employee parking on the front side large vehicle parking uh behind the building with the aggregate stockpile in the the far um northeast corner of the the lot hidden behind everything then uh just sou of that would be the fueling station uh loop station at Fleet Service shop and our solid waste truck parking and then on the bottom portion of the property would be our new uh Far East uh ciens collection station this was placed there because there's currently a drainage Pond um right off of 375 that also has an additional six foot wall around it so we're just trying to provide two uh two blockages to the citizen collection station one with the the drainage Pond and then our 12ft wall that would go around the CCS um this is the current locations of our Municipal service centers number one be are one off of yarro and and S Paulo our number number two would be on the West Side off of Atlantic and Donan and number three would be just outside the loop at our new property with our citizen collection stations we currently have five citizen collection stations throughout the city uh this would be the number six this one would be proposed at the Joel battle site and then we also included number seven there to show what we previously had at the the Delta transfer ster so we try to have them about three miles of radius from one another to make sure we're providing adequate coverage throughout the city to make sure all residents have easy access to the citizen collection stations uh the proposed terms uh the purchase price would be 8.9 million with earnest money being 50,000 inspection time would be 60 days and the closing timeline would be 15 days after inspection period and the from the money is coming up from ESD uh fund balance this was part of the uh 2019 uh rate increase that went from 17 to 19 this was budgeted so we could purchase the land in the future when we we did that back in 2019 and just uh we're a little above market rate uh on the payment of the property but just doing a calculation on just um Environmental Services Vehicles over the next 30 Years we'll save approximately $6.4 million on fuel and maintenance charges on our vehicles throughout that are saving on starting their day closer to where they work on the fary side and making trips back and forth from the the landfill this does not include any streets and Main maintenance vehicles or Park maintenance Vehicles also and if anybody has any questions yep so then just clarifying this is non non general fund uh funds environmental funds yes sir okay thank you and with that we have a motion on a second yes sir there was a motion made by alternate mayor Pro molinar seconded by representative Gales to approve item 33 on that motion call for the vote thank you voting session is open representative salido hi thank you and the voting session and the motion passes unanimously item 34 is discussion and action that the city manager or designate be authorized to effectuate the listed budget transfers attached to the resolution as exhibit a for the El Paso International Airport as necessary to execute the approved Capital Improvement plan n FY 2024 good afternoon ma'am good afternoon I'd like to see the presentation please there's that we do not have a presentation for this you don't have one can you go over it though the amount of the transfer and everything pleas absolutely yes sir I think that's something important when we're doing a budget transfer to kind of let us know what it is and what absolutely yes sir so we have four budget transfers um for our airports as part of their Capital Improvement program so the first one is for the maristar hanger improvements and that is moving funding from their Airport operating fund to the airport Capital fund of $2.8 million uh is an increase to this project the next item we have are we increasing the size of the project or the cost go up it was I believe it was due to the cost cost sir but we have well the department is not here but I believe it's due to the cost sir so the next item we have is an increase in the budget for the general aviation ramp reconstruction for the airport CIP and this one is $50,000 it's an increase again from their Airport operating fund to airport Capital fund the next item we have is that's listed is an increase to the budget for Terminal Drive improvements and that again is from their operating fund to their Capital fund for a total of $2.6 million again is that additional scope of the project or is it additional funding I am not sure on this one I don't know if they're available through teams do we have anyone from the airport that's able to speak regarding this item yeah I just you know we in just one moment please stand by and then when we see the increase I'd like to see the percentage of increase over their overall budget also please yes sir and then the final item that we have is the parking lot electrical improvements and so this is only for $50,000 and again it's coming from their operating fund to their Capital fund okay mayor we're going to ask to postpone this item for two weeks because we want to make sure that you have all your questions answered by staff and the staff that we need right now is unavailable due to unforeseen issues so if you could please uh uh allow us to postpone this for two weeks we we appreciate that thank you right is there a second there's a motion a second to postpone the item for two weeks thank you all yes sir the May the motion was made by mayor Pro manelo seconded by representative F to postpone item 34 for two weeks on that motion call for the vote Miss bran can I do a verbal yes ma'am I thank you representative Kennedy thank you representative Salo hi thank you and the voting session and the motion passes unanimously if I can have a briefing prior to those two weeks just to see the what's going on I'd appreciate it yes sirk we'll make that happen thank you second there's a motion and a second to adjourn the regular city council meeting all in favor I anyone opposed all the motion passes and the regular city council meeting for Tuesday November 21st 202 3 is adjourned at 2:44 p.m. thank you Council you