All right, good morning everyone. We are going to get started here and welcome everyone to city council chambers. Miss Brian, good morning mayor and good morning and welcome to the presentation of the mayor's proclamations. We begin with the pledge of allegiance this morning. To lead us in the pledge, we have students from Pasoale Elementary School at the invitation of city representative Danna Maldonado Rocha. We have Jeremiah Daniel, Thomas Daniel, Leila Gomez, Liz Leon, Sadi Harmo, Fernanda Navaro, Nova Wilcox, Hema Castro, Annabella Ernnandez, Himemen Arnandez, and Felix Himenez. You're fine. To the flag of America and to the republic for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Honor the Texas flag. I aliance to the Texas. One state under God, one indivisible. Guess what else I learned? Your mustache pledge, guys. I am confident. I am kind. I am independent. I am a [Applause] disappointed. Five six seven eight. A L E. M U S A N G S. [Music] Oh. That is so cute. Josh, you know the other one is Chris. Stand right behind us. Yeah. pictures for us. I don't think she's going to need it. No, it's not such a big enough group. All right. Ready? One, two, three. [Applause] Good job. You guys did a good job. All right, Miss Prime, we're going to get started with our proclamations. But before that, I want to recognize Chris Hernandez with the Yes Independent School District who's here with us today, too. Good to see you, Chris. That brings us to the mayor's proclamations. For those of you receiving a proclamation, your group will have up to six minutes collectively to speak at the podium. The first proclamation today is Pride Month. Represent. Thank you, Mayor. I'll I'll wait a little bit to get everybody up here. Good morning. Good morning. It's good to see familiar faces here. I'll read the proclamation. Proclamation City of El Paso, Texas. Whereas every June, communities across the nation celebrate LGBTQIA plus Pride Month, honoring the history, resilience, and contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual transgender queer interex asexual, to spirit, and allied individuals. And whereas Pride Month began in remembrance of the Stonewall uprising of June 1969, a piv pivotal moment of resistance led by trans women of color, including Marcia P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, that ignited the modern LGBTQIA+ rights movement. And whereas the LGBTQIA+ community in El Paso has enriched our city through their activism, leadership, artistry caregiving service and everyday presence, shaping a borderland that is more inclusive, compassionate, and vibrant. And whereas despite decades of progress, LGBTQIA+ individuals, especially black, indigenous, and Latinx transgender people, continue to face systemic discrimination, violence, and eraser in healthcare education housing and public policy. And whereas El Paso recognizes the urgent need to confront these injustices and remains committed to cultivating a community where every person regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, or expression can live safely, authentically, and with dignity. And whereas we affirm that LGBTQIA+ rights are human rights and that true liberation must center those most impacted by oppression, including queer youth, transgender individuals, and LGBTQIA plus people of color. And whereas the city of El Paso honors the LGBTQIA+ community and not only in June but every day and expresses gratitude to the organizations families leaders and everyday people who continue to advance justice, visibility, healing, and joy for all. Now therefore, be it proclaimed by the mayor and council of the city of El Paso, urging all to reflect on the ongoing struggle for LGBTQIA plus rights, and to celebrate the spirit of love, authenticity, and collective liberation that defines pride. June 2025 shall be known as Pride Month. Sign the Honorable Mayor Renard Johnson. [Applause] Good morning. Good morning, Mayor, Council, and Happy Pride. Yeah. Yeah. like um first of all I would like to thank you all for this uh resolution's proclamation. Um the importance of uh visibility is uh an incredibly important in these times. Uh it is an incredibly interesting time, a tumultuous time if one would say. But when we have a city that catches us, when we have a city that sits there and says we don't care what's going on outside, we're going to take care of you here. It's like it makes all the difference in the world. I was like, El Paso is one of the leaders in our states and in the south. Um, with all of the the work that we do with all of the amazing people who live here and who continue to come to the city do is things like this, this resolution, these proclamations show that it is important for diversity, right? And it shows that you can come here and you can be safe, that you can come and build a family and it doesn't matter who you are, it doesn't matter what you are, it doesn't matter what you believe. This is your home. Um it is incredibly important in these moments for us to remember that we are one community and to also center of course our trans community who is under attack. It's like so this month as you celebrate all the very different iterations of the way that we celebrate pride from pride night at Lenube on the 18th uh to community night on the 14th to pride itself uh the pride parade on the 21st. As you're celebrating, remember those who came before that allowed these things to happen. And remember that when they fought, they didn't just fight for the queer community. They fought for every single one of our rights. So again, thank you so much. And there will be more people speaking behind me. Good morning. Good morning. I just wanted to say thank you and remind you our theme this year for Pride is not all heroes wear capes. And here in front of us, we have many heroes not wearing capes, wearing suits. We appreciate you and thank you for everything you're doing to keep supporting Pride and everything it stands for. All right. Thank you. And that was Rachel Mc Reynolds, our secretary for El Paso Sun City Pride. And my name's Chris um Christopher EC um president for El Paso Sun City Pride. Um, on behalf of El Paso Cincy Pride, we want to thank every single one of you, mayor and council members, um, for this amazing proclamation to continue to show our LGBTQI youth and community that we are seen, that we are visible, especially during these dark times in this nation where we're trying to be erased. history is trying to be erased, but El Paso stands strong and showing that we can light the star rainbow and that can show the kids in this community acceptance that we can lower decrease the amount of kids taking their own lives because they're being bullied at school because they're doing um you know, just all the hate that's out there. So, El Paso shines love and thank you for that and thank you for the continued support. You got it. Thank you. Good morning, Mayor and Council. Um, thank you for the opportunity to be here. Uh, pride represents the ability for so many people to live authentically and be their true selves. So, um, El Paso is leading the way in that and so we are very grateful for this opportunity. Thank you. Thank you, Nick Wise. He's he's a board member Rainbow Center. Oh, no. They hear enough of me, mister. Thank you. Uh represent Lemon. Thank you, mayor. And to add to that, uh District 7 through the city of El Paso was very honored to have lit the star rainbow colors on Saturday, June 7th. I attended the reception at the museum. It was great. And thank you for your leadership. We really appreciate it. Thank you. Congratulations on an incredible month that you guys are celebrating. But you rattled off a number of events. You said the 14th, the 16th, and Do you want to tell us the events again? Sure. We've got uh the 14th, which is Oh, sorry. The 13th, which is community night that will be at the center. So, 2714 Wyoming. Um Oh. Oh, yeah. Sorry. Actually, it starts tonight at 5:30 at Pride Square when we will be uh kind of launching the Pride Square colors. Um dedication. Dedication. There we go. Sorry. Uh, and then the 13th we have community night at the center. It's also tie-dye. Please come out. You all are invited. Bring something to tie-dye. It'll be a lot of fun. There's burgers and hot dogs, all sorts of stuff. Um, then we have on the 14th uh the locomotives. Um, as well as the Myriott Courtyard is doing a pool party. Then the 18th we have Lenube, which is Pride Night as well. When is J? 19th. The 19th is The 19th is Chihuahua. Get away. The 19th is Pride Night with the Chihuahua. And then the 20th is um here we are at the El Paso Zoo. And then the 21st is our parade that steps off at 10 a.m. and ends at Houston Park for our free um post parade picnic. And then we're ending the whole Pride month by combining our Splashfest as well as Pridefest and calling um our splash party with Pridefest, calling it Splashfest at July 5th. It went wild. Um, so we'll have vendors, DJs, drag queens, and so on so forth, but it'll be in a protected gated space for all of our community to attend. Fantastic. So, if I get it right, there's an event the 13th, the 14th, the 18th, the 19th, the 20th, the 21st, July 5th. Yes. All right. And today, what an incredible month. Uh, enjoy the month of celebrations and and congratulations on your resolution. Thank you guys. I don't want to take a picture. Good morning. Well, you should. So far, girl, you can do it. You're still good. Got it. Wait a minute. Perfect. Here we go. ever That brings us to the next proclamation and that is for Roger Arjun Day represent Lemon. Thank you mayor. This is a proclamation of the city of El Paso. Whereas Roger Arjenis is a Grammyinning producer, Billboard charting artist, and visionary music educator with over 20 years in the music industry. As the founder of Sound Stage 9, he has built a thriving music school that has shaped the careers of thousands of musicians in the El Paso Sudat Huarees region. His passion for artist development and dedication to mentorship have made SS9 a cornerstone for aspiring musicians. And whereas as a solo artist, Roger Arjennis made a major impact with his Billboard charting album Happy Sad released in 2023, showcasing his depth as both a musician and songwriter. His ability to blend artistry with technical expertise has positioned him as a respected figure in the industry. And whereas with four Grammy nominations under his belt, Roger Arjis won his first Grammy at the 2025 Grammy Awards, a milestone that further solidified his influence in music production. His award-winning project highlighted the extraordinary talent of Sound Stage 9 students, demonstrating his commitment to bringing music education with realworld industry experience. And whereas Roger Arenes's career continues to be defined by innovation, mentorship, and a relentless pursuit of musical excellence. Whether producing, performing, or educating, he remains dedicated to inspiring the next generation of musicians. Now, therefore, be it proclaimed by the mayor and council of the city of El Paso that Tuesday, June 10th, shall be known as Roger Arjennis Day, signed by the honorable mayor, Renard Johnson. Thank you. And Roger is joining us uh via Zoom. I believe he is in Montter. He's producing uh and working in there. Uh I'm sure you can hear us. Roger. Can you talk to us? Congratulations Roger. Thank you so much. Uh wow. I'm uh I I I was uh I didn't know what to expect. Uh but first of all, just thank you so much for this incredible honor. Um, yes, I'm out here Montter Mter. I wish I could be there. I didn't know. Um, yeah, it was uh this this this production has been said for a while, so you know, I couldn't get away with it or from it, but uh just thank you so much. Uh I have some words. My wife I know my wife and and and kids are there uh representing me. Um and uh but I just wanted to say thank you. Uh I honestly didn't expect something like this. Uh I wanted them to receive it from my hometown, the city of Lacrosse. and from Representative Lady Demon. It just it's just I'm very humbled. Um this city has given me so much. I grew up here. I I started my journey here and everything I've built especially through town stage 9 has been with the hope of giving something back. Uh giving young people a space to grow uh to express themselves, to find their voice because I know what it feels like to need that. So this proclamation is not really just about me. It's for every student who's walked into our studio uh not knowing that they had something special and left believing that they do. It's for my team who works so hard behind the scenes and for my family who supported me through every high and low. Uh Representative Lemon, thank you truly. Your support means more than I can say and and I won't take this for granted. Uh to El Paso, thank you for raising me, for rooting for me, and for letting me point to the next generation. I'm proud to be from here. I'll always be I always represent El Paso everywhere I go. Uh so thank you for this incredible honor. Well, thank you, Roger. Congratulations. Thank you. Thank you, Roger. And um I was just commenting with your wife. It was about 10 years ago that you started the studio in District 7. And look how far you have come. It is an honor to have you and we appreciate all that you have done for our community. Thank you. Thank you so much. Appreciate it. Thank you, Roger. And we have your wife and kids here, so we'll hear from them. Thank you. My name is Crystal Franco, Roger's wife, and this is Zayn and Liam. So, most of many people know Roger from his early musician years as an adolescent playing in local churches in El Paso. the music projects there that he had thereafter and then the last 10 years of soundstage 9 um music school in the east and west El Paso that has helped enrich children's experiences through music and even teaching elderly El Pasoans how to play a new instrument but most of you will know Roger as the Grammy winner from this point forward. So today, sorry. So today I present to you the Grammy statue right here. Can you go from there? that represents that represents the hard work that Roger has done and to lead to that has led him to this point to see um you see today the end you know the end point which is the price um of all the efforts um of his of his dreams um which sounded crazy which sounded crazy to me when I was dating him which is a goal that he shared with me um so the Grammy here is for you El Paso Thank you to the city council um for the space and recognition. Thank you to uh Representative Lemon and to Mayor Johnson. Thank you. You're very welcome. Representative Roachcha. Thank you, Mayor. I appreciate it. So, congratulations, Roger, on your Grammy win. I know it's a team effort, but more than that, you're an inspiration. uh because you just recently completed your first year of running and I I have been following your story for the last several years. But when you did that, it inspired so many people in my family to run and it was amazing the influence that one person can have in so many different spaces. And so I appreciate that. And Crystal, you yourself are your own you're you're pretty famous in your own right with your practical um influencing and your practical um clothes and your outfits. I've been following you for a very long time as well. And so I just thank you both for sharing your family and sharing your passion and sh just being an inspiration to several people that have impacted my that are in my life that you all have impacted. So thank you for that. Congratulations again on the Grammy win and thank you for always representing El Paso so so well. Your students when I go out to see them at the concerts that they give, they're absolutely amazing and they just have so much confidence and that goes a long way not just in their adolescent years but as they grow to be adults. So thank you for the for the influence and the commitment that you have in our community. I'm so grateful to you both. Thank you so much. and Roger and and Crystal, thank you guys so much for all that you're doing and what an honor it is to see the Grammy up close and and personal, Roger. We we appreciate that. And and as uh Representative Roach said, you know, thank you for what you're doing for El Paso. We know you're you're working hard. Your family is here today. We see your sons. We see your wife. We feel the emotion and we know that the hard work that you're putting into everything that you do. But thank you for representing the 915 and and and continued success and best wishes. Uh we can't wait till the next album comes out. So I know you got some more work to do, but uh uh Sound Stage 9, you know, anything we can do, your city's behind you and we're supporting you. We're your biggest fans. Thank you so much, Mayor. Appreciate you guys so much. You got it. Thank you, Roger. Thank you. Thank you. Wow. Amazing. Roger, don't log. Don't log off. Roger. We're going to take a photo. Yeah, they're fixing it. Is is arranging it. Anna, can you still see him there? No, no, no. Here. it. Were we able to get He logged off. Okay. Unfortunately, he logged off. Yeah. Smile. One two three. One two three. We're going move ahead to the next proclamation which is Hector Serrano Day. Representative Canales. We're going to Hector Serrano Day. Oh, I'm sorry, Miss Bryant. Miss Bryan. Hector Serano Day. No. Or did you want to go to June? He has a He has Junth. Okay. I'm sorry. The next proclamation is 2025 Junth observance. Okay. Yes. Represent Canales. represent Canales proclamation city of El Paso, Texas. Whereas the official national Junth theme for 2025 is together we ride the Juneenth wave of freedom to liberty. And whereas Black El Paso Voice and the city of El Paso, Texas celebrate the official secondyear partnership to celebrate and educate the community about Junth. And whereas on June 19th, 1865, the people of Texas first learned that all slaves in the former Confederacy had been freed 2 years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation to the rebellion states. And whereas nearly 250,000 former slaves in Texas were to be given absolute equality in their personal and property rights following the reading of General Order number three delivered by Union General Gordon Granger in Galveastston following the end of the American Civil War. And whereas on January 1st, 1980, Junth became an official state holiday in Texas through the efforts of Al Edwards, a black American state legislator. The successful passage of this bill marked Junth as the first emancipation celebration granted official state recognition. And whereas Junth, also called freedom day or emancipation day, remains the most popular and widely recognized annual event celebrating the end of slavery in the United States. And whereas Junth stands as a poignant reminder of the atrocities endured by black Americans, it simultaneously commemorates the formidable challenges and barriers surmounted in the relentless pursuit of civil rights, voting rights, and social justice while honoring the monumental achievements and contributions of millions of black Americans. And whereas local organizations and initiatives exist to properly honor, observe, and preserve black culture, heritage, and history in El Paso and other areas of the Southwest, including Junth El Paso, Black El Paso Voice, the McCall Neighborhood Center, Oro Temple number nine, Oral Court number 20, El Paso Holy Royal Archmasons number 90, the Interclub Council, Amplify El Paso, the Black Roundt, the El Paso Museum of History, history and as of 2025 the new black business living museum. Now therefore be it proclaimed by the mayor and council of the city of El Paso that June 19th 2025 shall be known as Junth Independence Day signed by our honorable mayor Renard Johnson. Welcome. Thank you. On behalf of our wonderful leader, Monica Tucker and Black El Paso Voice and the entire African-American community, I'd like to thank the mayor and city council for recognizing our celebration of multicultural diversity in our community and supporting our African-American community. as a child of an emancipated slave who learned of her emancipation I guess no not child great-g grandandchild who learned of her emancipation on Junth. It is particularly poignant to me as a native El Paso in that our city recognizes and celebrates the history and contributions of the African-American community. And I thank you again for um reminding us of the importance of liberation of all the oppressed. Thank you. Wow. Well, my friend, we're not going to let you off that easy. We're going to take some pictures, but thank I I I'm not I'm not even supposed to be here for this. No, but this is good. We're glad that you're here and and I know all the work that you do in in this community and and I want to say personally say thank you for that. But uh and I know Miss Tucker and some of the other ones were um other groups were supposed to be here but didn't make it today. But thank you for standing in and thank you for that wonderful speech and congratulations on Junth. Thank you. And and I do have to give a shout out to Black El Paso Voice and all the wonderful work they have been doing over the last 20 years under the leadership of Monica Tucker and a lot of fabulous community members. [Applause] Goodbye. All right. Ready? Smile. One, two, three. No, I'm not going anywhere. I'm here for That brings us to the final proclamation and this is for Hector Serrano Day. Okay that's all right, Miss Prime. And the proclamation reads, "Whereas as an educator, he dedicated 34 years to shaping minds, teaching at Austin High School, Tech High School, UTP, and EPCC until his retirement in 2014. At EPCC, he not only founded the theater program, but also directed over 50 productions, leaving a lasting legacy in the performing arts. And whereas in 1978, Mr. Serrano brought Viva El Paso to life at Mckelican Canyon Amphitheater, directing it until his retirement in 2002. Through music, dance, and drama, he beautifully captured El Paso's history and community spirit, inspiring both performers and audiences. He also established scholarships at UTP and EPCC, empowering cast and crew to pursue higher education. And whereas in 1981, Mr. Serrano founded Shakespeare on the Rocks at Mallalican Canyon Amphitheater, bringing the bar's timeless works to life. Since 2004, the production has graced various venues, including the Chamisal in Cathedral High School. He remained its devoted artistic director until his passing. And whereas in 2000, he created Sabatiados, a vibrant multicultural dance spectacular that captivated audience at the Ibraham Chavez Theater and the Plaza Theater. And whereas throughout his career he directed over 250 productions including Mission La Morinita tribute to Our Lady of Guadalupe which he wrote and directed for four churches across the city. This heartfelt ofrena told through music, dance and drama was his tribute to God's blessings with its final performance on December 8th, 2024. The feast of the immaculate conception. Now therefore, be it proclaimed by mayor and council of the city of El Paso that May 13, 2025 shall be known as Hector Serrano Day, signed by our honorable mayor, Bernard Johnson. [Applause] Good morning. Good morning again, Mayor, City Council. Um, this is such an important uh recognition and I want to thank you for recognizing the contributions of Hector Serrano to our community. You know, I don't know if you're aware, but Hector was the first person to speak words from the Mcklligan Canyon Amphitheater in 1976 in the production of Paso Delorte. And in 1978, Paulie Harris, a former city council member, um asked him to produce a production showing the multiculturalism and plurality of El Paso. Um and that's what started Viv El Paso in 1978 until Hector's retirement in 2002. Um, something that people don't know is that the city of El Paso funded the employment of actors, singers, and dancers and technicians, costumeumers um, in El Paso through the Viv Paso program. I myself in 1979 was a CEDA pick uh, child and was paid from those funds to learn how to be a performer. And that was very important to Ector was to make sure that young people knew that they had the ability to earn a living as theater performers. Um his contributions to community theater in El Paso are immeasurable. His last tribute to the Dark Virgin um he cruised away into the sunset. Well, actually it was the middle of the day, but on December 24th, Christmas Eve of 2024, Hector Manuel Serrano um left us, but he uh created Eden Enterprises, me and David uh I'm sorry, Eden Performing Arts. We changed it. uh but uh which is the production company of the the uh theater productions that Hector has been putting on since his retirement in 2002 from Viv Paso. Something else people don't know is that Hector received the concistador award twice from the city of El Paso. And I want to thank you for remembering him, for honoring his memory, his contributions um as someone who met him in 1979 as a teenager and worked with him becoming his assistant artistic director in 2001. Um and then worked with him until his death and as his goddaughter. This um is a very significant moment and um I'd like to introduce the executive director of Eden Performing Arts, David Mills, who was not only a partner in work and production and artistry, but Hector's life partner as well. Thank you. Good morning, David. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you council for this recognition. Um obviously you met Whisa Davis who's a member of the board of directors of Eden Performing Arts. Um Ricardo Valva and Beakami is another member of the board. Um Kathy Martinez is one of our dancers who performed in the show for a number of years and her daughter Maddie uh representing a second generation performed with Sapati in 2023. So, um, looking forward, I would say that Eden Performing Arts is committed to continuing Hector's legacy in this community, uh, through theater, through dance, um, and upholding the culture, the multiculturalism of our part of the Southwest. So, we're very proud to be here and thank you very much. Thank you. [Applause] Does anyone else want to come up and speak? Yeah, there we go. Hello, brother. My name is Ricardo Valva, a former cast member. I did have the privilege of getting to know Hector and David in the artistic world and of course Whisa. So, I do want to thank them for all that they have done for the arts in El Paso also. But Hector does have a a reputation around town of having promoted the arts and he's practically the godfather of the arts in El Paso. So all the people in El Paso know that he needs a recognition that we're giving him today. And I think I speak on behalf of all the former cast members that we are very proud of the impact he has had across the nation on people who have pursued careers in the arts. And so thank you for the proclamation everyone. You're very welcome. [Applause] Does the dancers want to Daddy, come on. You're the youngest. Okay. Um, I just want to say that it was really like an honor knowing Hector considering that he did like he um made my mom into the dancer that she is today and was back then. So being like the second generation dancer for him was really special to me considering he took me under his wing and personally worked with me. So that I became what he wanted me to which was so special to me. Um because also my grandmother was involved with him. So it was kind of like a third generation thing and it was really special for me and I just wanted to come here and um represent him because he deserves so much recognition and so much he did over the years. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you all for this honor. He would be astounded by all of this. Um he was amazing and we're so grateful for this. Thank you. Thank you. You're welcome. Uh represent Limon represent Lima. Thank you. Hector Serrano was an incredible influence on so so many lives. um the life lessons that were learned. He was a strict, strong educator and you learned, you really learned from all of that. I remember distinctly him telling the the young people uh that he was looking for triple threats. someone that could dance, someone that could sing, and someone that could be an orator or a playwright or speaker. Hector was beyond that. If anything, Hector was a triple triple threat. Um, Viva El Paso, the original Viva El Paso is gone. And for those of us that saw it year after year, I was blessed that my oldest daughter, Marisa, was a cast member for several years. Thank you, Lisa, for your your teaching and and guiding my daughter. Andre Harper is another one. Incredible teacher, ballet teacher for her. And David, you were always there watching and and caring for the young people. Um, it was an incredible loss. It still resonates as a loss to the arts community and maybe one day we will have another spectacular voice to narrate the play of Birhind de Guadalupe again that I will miss forever. Thank you for joining us today and for honoring Hector. appreciate it [Applause] and congratulations on on uh celebrating Hector said day and I can tell you that you know my parents would take us to Viva. I had the the the pleasure of of being on the board uh several several years ago. But the impact that David and and and Hector have had on this community and the thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands of people not only in El Paso but from across the US in Texas that have seen this have been incredible. Continued success and congratulations on this day. Thank you guys. Come on David's back. Come on. Let's go. We suspect God's kid. Awesome. There we go. All right. Ready? One, two, Few more. Thank you. And this concludes the presentation of proclamations. The regular city council meeting will begin at 10:00 a.m. Where did you go? She didn't change. [Music] You guys ready? Okay, Miss Prime, we are ready to go. Yes, Mayor. Good morning. This is a meeting of the El Paso City Council for Wednesday, June 10th. I'm sorry, for Tuesday, June 10th, 2025. Mayor Johnson is present in presiding in council chambers along with representative Asdo, Representative Madon Rocha, Representative Boy Tjo, Representative Nino, Representative Lemon, and Representative Canales. It is 10:01 a.m. Will everyone please silence their electronic devices so as not to disturb the meeting and rise for the invocation delivered by Ministry Coordinator for the El Paso County Sheriff's Office and Chaplain Ammeritus for the El Paso Police Department, Sam Ferrroni. Mr. Mayor, council officials, and guests, good morning. And I would uh invite you to bow your heads with me if you'd care to join me as I pray. Lord, we gather here in the presence of those who are in this chamber, in the presence of those who are watching this meeting online, and most importantly in your presence. You are the only one who knows our hearts. You are the only one who sees what is in our hearts and you are the only one who truly knows our motives. Today, as this meeting continues, may our motives be pure, and may we have ears to hear what you have to say and what the people of El Paso have to say. Let us heed the words of the ancient proverb that says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight." put within us the willingness, desire, and courage to do what is good and what is right, and to the wisdom to know indeed what is good and what is right. I thank you for our mayor, our city representatives, and all officials that serve our city. I pray protection, favor, and grace over each of them. I also pray for the citizens here this morning who truly love our city. And I close this prayer with some of the words that our Lord taught us to pray when he said, "Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth in El Paso as it is in heaven. Lord, please watch over and protect those who keep us safe and those who preserve our freedom. In the name of my Lord Jesus, I pray. Amen. Thank you. For the record, uh, Mayor Pro Tim Chavez joined the meeting at 10:03. Mayor, that brings us to public comment on consent agenda and regular agenda items. This morning, we had two members of the public that signed up to speak on item 16. We did alert them that the the item is on the list of revisions for council to consider the deletion of the item. Okay. So that brings us to call to the public. And for the record, alternate mayor pro Tim Fiero arrived at 10:04. For call to the public, we have six members of the public that signed up to speak. The El Paso City Council is a local government body charged with serving 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. Public comment is an accommodation and not a requirement of city council. All persons in attendance are expected to display civility 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, nor may any member of the public use this form 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 in the agenda. However, council may propose that a topic brought forth be posted on a future agenda. The first person to speak this morning is Claudia Contra. Claudia Contra Siller. I don't see her in the queue and I don't see her coming forward. We'll move on to Ron Ko. Mr. Ko's topic is exercising his constitutional rights to the rescue 1983 animal services. Good morning, Mr. Ko. You have three minutes, sir. Hi, T. Can we bring up the presentation, please? You know, while while they're bringing the presentation, I'll kind of go over a couple items. I think it's really important. uh while this item came up um we talked about what we were going to do and how we were going to get this facility and for the reason of the facility and it's 19.04 4 acres and it um we were there's already a natural divide in the facility that divides the the building uh where we're going to put u for emergency sheltering on one side and um on the other side we're going to do a westside animal services which will be to get animals off the street spade neuter and basically a full-blown animal services which has really been needed uh to help get the animal population off the Great. No. Yep. Did anybody hear adoption center? I didn't. I heard a fullblown animal services. That's what the city council voted on. That's what it's supposed to be. So my question to you all sorry I got to move slow. I'm old. Does this um qualify as waste of taxpayer money or misuse of taxpayer funds by calling it and operating it as a adoption center only? You heard what the mayor proposed. You heard what city council voted on. and yet I don't see it happening. One other thing I'd like to discuss, we've talked about the constitution that we talk about because I say constitution, I also say to the rescue 1983. Let me read to you about section 1983. It provides an individual with the right to sue state government employees and others acting under the color of state law for civil rights violations. in section 1983 does not provide civil rights and its means to enforce civil rights. It just exists for allowing us to sue. By the way, we had another dog attack this weekend. I'm shocked. I'm actually surprised it's the only one I've heard about lately. When are we going to fix this, folks? Are we going to violate what city council voted on? It's supposed to be a full-blown shelter, not an adoption center. What are we going to do? Are we going to violate what city council voted on? Are we Are we going to let this person do what he wants because he doesn't want to work? Thank you, Mr. Kovville. The next speaker is Michael Davis. Mr. Davis, star six, please to unmute your telephone. Michael Davis, thank you. Star six, please. Good morning, Mr. Davis's topic is El Paso, Texas first black history tour guide. Good morning. You have three minutes. Thank you very much. Good morning, Mayor Johnson and city council members. Uh my name is Michael Davis as you already heard and I am the chairman of the board for the East Side Central Coalition. Some of you visited one of our new sites that was just mentioned in and compliment opening in the resolution about the Black Business Living Museum. You have copies of the presentation I've given you, but I won't read everything. I refuse to do that. But what I like to just focus on a few things that I think are so important that you you know we are about to go go into an historic moment or event in the city of El Paso. We are publishing the first black Al Paso history tour guide. Uh, it recognizes all of the significant contributions of Black Al Paso from 1850 all the way to September 2022. Why I say 2022? That was the date Miss Davis closed SCI Barberhop after 70 years of operation and contribution to the community. Quickly, the East Side Central Coalition is a nonprofit organization and we're focused on a certain area, but of course it feeds into the entire city and county, but our focus is on Alama's pedag uh central east side central corridor. And what we're looking at doing and what our mission is promote econom economic growth and cultural awareness through a lot of initiatives to include this first tour guide. If you go to chart number three, it talks about the successes of the coalition in the in the last two years. We partnered with the Steeler Live uh exhibit at the Alpasa Museum of History, a very successful event and program. And they continued on with a series of stepping stone events like the walking tour of what used to be the black business section of El Paso, Pedress and Alamita, our Black Wall Street where over 60 plus black businesses operated uh between the period of 1940 and 1970. Some of those businesses around Basset, Eucalyptus, as well as what we call mananna, Madetta, which is now Gateway East and Gateway West. We've even gotten approved by the Texas Historical Commission, a marker that would be placed on the corner of Alama and Ped highlighting those contributions that Black Al Paso's given to the city and the county. We've already mentioned the back business living museum, but we've worked on new Thank you, Mr. Davis. Thank you, sir. Continue. You've reached the three minutes. We would like to quickly Thank you, Mr. Davis. We You've reached the three minutes, sir. The next speaker is Max Gman. Mr. Gman's topic is property tax and street maintenance. It will need Elmo, please. Good morning, mayor and city council. I wish to thank you for your 5 to3 vote on May 13th to preserve the integrity of public comment. I am grateful that as a taxpaying citizen, I still have the right to speak directly to items on the agenda after staff presentations and city council discussion, maximizing the impact of my speech in the moments before you vote. I also wish to thank city staff for deleting from today's agenda item 16, which would have set a new minimum threshold for the unrestricted fund balance at 17% of the general fund budget. The fund balance currently stands at 135.5 million or 83 days of operating expenses, which is enough to safeguard the city's bond rating and guarantee investors that our municipality is financially stable. When Joyce Wilson left office in 2014, the fund balance stood at only 9 days with the city teetering on the brink of insolveny. In fiscal year 2021, it still stood at only 38 days, but thanks to the focused efforts of city staff, the reserve broke above 80 days in FY 2023 and has remained there ever since. Item 16 would have provided city council with justification for raiding the fund balance for up to $33.6 $6 million which could then have been reallocated for capital outlays quote unquote including as Ellie de Perez appined on June 2nd El Paso Matters for the deck plaza. I understand the fund balance will come up for discussion in the next several weeks and I hope that staff will set a minimum threshold of 80 days and refrain from permitting its use for capital outlays or closing budget gaps. It should be only spent for emergencies because that is what it is for. Period. Finally, I wish to congratulate Mayor Johnson on his electoral victory and to thank him for repeatedly promising to lower our property tax. When D Marggo ran for office, he merely promised to quote unquote hold the line on taxes before presiding over the steepest tax increases in the history of El Paso. But you, Mr. Mayor, emphatically promised to lower our property tax. Achieving this will require superhuman ingenuity. The city must still issue nearly a half billion in GEO debt from the 2019 public safety bond and the 2022 community progress bond. Moreover, the city is short about $ 35 million on its budget for streets, which are in appalling condition and which you promise to fix. Add to that the pressure from police and fire to increase the city's contribution to their pension plan by at least $5 million per year. And then there is the matter of keeping up with annual raises for the more than 6,000 city employees. And of course, there is the $35 million the city proposed contributing to the duck plaza during a staff presentation April 15th. Speaking for myself, I cannot wait to see you, Mr. Mayor, overcome these challenges and to learn about your plan during the upcoming budget discussions to lower my property tax so that I will be it will be easier for me to support my family. Thank you. The next speaker is Lisa Turner. She will be followed by Claudia Contra Siller. Miss Turner's topic is intro and warning. Good morning, Miss Turner. Morning. Good morning, Miss Turner. I'm here to speak basically on intro simply because certain members of this council have made me feel like I'm an idiot. So I thought I will give you my background. My last IQ test I popped a 160. My background is electrical engineering, RF wave theory, material science, atmospheric physics, geoysics, basically anything physics, quantum theory, and right now I'm studying genetics just to educate myself. I have nearly three decades of government background in this city. I have documents every basically every penny you've spent. Now, warning. This morning, I awoke to something very strange. Reporters being arrested for covering what's going on in LA. It's bad enough that nobody can come up with a budget for a construction project because we don't know what anything's going to cost. The cost of food is going through the roof. The people who harvest our food, just so you understand, 85% of our fruit and vegetables are handpicked, are being deported. A lot of the workers who do construction are being deported. Price of food is going up. There are shortages in things like rice. Uh problems in with sugar, basic items. The government has cut money from food banks and you all haven't taken a position. You don't have a plan. You may have most probably will experience food riots this year in this city. Instead of people running in and stealing stuff out of a Walmart stuff, they're going to be going into a grocery store to steal food because they can't eat. They can't afford to eat. This council cannot sit on its backside and ignore this problem. You have to do something. You need to make a plan because if this happens, you know, on top of this god-awful path this country is going down right now, which doesn't have an off-ramp, you need to prepare. You basically need to prepare for what? The end times. Not talking in a biblical thing, but in a government stance. You You have a issue and you need an emergency. You need FEMA. You're not going to get FEMA money. Six states have been turned down for FEMA for hurricane, tornadoes, floods. Just been told you handle it yourself. We're on our own right now and you need to draw up a plan and be ready for it. Thank you. And council. Thank you, Mr. Turner. Dr. Gman brought a document he wanted shown on the Elmo. However, we had technical difficulties, but I will share it with council after the meeting. The next speaker is Claudia Contra Siller. Her topic is majestic beauty of cats. Good morning. Hi. Good morning. Good morning. I want to thank everybody that keeps the order in the city, the police department and the border patrol and everybody. I want to talk about the beauty of cats. Um, the first cat I rescued it was year eight years ago and it's the perfect pet for the people that cannot stay all day at their house because it only requires a litter box and it's very unexpensive. Also, I was three Sundays in a row at animal services. Not this past Sunday, but the other three. And I could see their hard work. Um, all three times it was emergencies that I had to go and I want to recognize them for their hard work. Even if some people come here just to bash them, especially someone that bashed them and me. Uh, I brought a kitten that I rescued yesterday at 1:00 a.m. His placenta still was attached and the umbilical cord was tangled up in his leg and he just passed away right now. when I was coming here. It's a baby cat. And um I'm here with the bottle. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I want to motivate the people of El Paso to help animal services. Right now they're loaded with animals and also puppies and it's hard that sorry they have to go through this every day. I just went through this right now but I admire them for working hard on a Sunday that I was there. It literally looked like it was a a movie seeing they were running back and down. I had to wait from 11:00 a.m. to 4:30. And I want to just tell people to advocate for the animals, for the cats. A lot of people do not understand them. And it's the perfect pet for to have a cat in your house. You're never going to feel alone. And he's going to give you a lot of love and just uh touch touch your hearts. Give them water. right now it's very hot outside and also I want to thank the police department uh the animal cruelty unit for always advocating for them and uh I want to say that animal services and the animal cruelty unit are doing their jobs. However, um defending someone that does does not have a voice is very hard. So everything falls on the judges and I want to tell them for them to take everything seriously regarding animals. Thank you. Thank you council. That concludes call to the public this morning. That brings us to the consent agenda. All matters listed under the consent agenda will be considered by city council to be routine and will be enacted by one motion unless separate discussion is 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 Potim. Thank you, Miss Prime. I make a motion to approve the consent agenda with the following revisions. Page three, item three, move to the regular agenda per Representative Asdo. Page seven, item 16, delete per office of management and budget. All right, M. Miss Prime, before we call for the vote on the consent, uh, I noticed Elizabeth Crawford was signed up to speak. Yes, sir. And she submitted a statement, okay, for council and we shared it with you this morning. Perfect. Thank you, sir. All right. So, we have a motion. Is there a second? Second. We have a motion and a second. Miss Prime, call for the vote. Yes, sir. The motion was made by Mayor Potm Chavez, seconded by alternate mayor prom to approve the consent agenda as revised. on that motion. Call for the vote. Representative Lemon. Thank you. End the voting session. And that motion passes unanimously. That brings us to page number five, item number 10. This is the introduction of an ordinance. Point of order. Don't we go to number three? No, sir. For the order that comes after the public hearing. Perfect. Thank you. Thank you. There's a motion and a second. Any discussion on this? Miss Miss Prime, call for the vote. Yes, sir. The motion was made by Representative Lemon, seconded by alternate mayor Poen Pedro to approve the introduction of ordinances. This is item 10. On that motion, call for the vote. End the voting session. And that motion passes unanimously. The next item is number 11. And this is a public hearing of an ordinance granting a special privilege license to Real Valley LLC to allow for the construction installation maintenance use, and repair of a surface encroachment consisting of four covered balconies and support columns over the city rightway for the planned development located along Leavona Drive. Motion to approve. Second. All right. Is there any discussion on this item? All right. Hearing none, Miss Prime. Call for the vote. Yes, sir. The motion was made by Mayor Pro Tim Chavez, seconded by alternate mayor prom. This is to adopt the ordinance on item 11. There's no public comment on that motion. Call for the vote and the voting session. And that motion passes unanimously. We now return to page number three to item three that was moved to the regular agenda and this is a request that the city council ratifies the issuance of purchase order to Jordan Foster Construction LLC for the performance of the emergency rock wall facade removal to mitigate the safety risk posed by the falling rock walls. Represent you want to see the presentation first? Okay. Good morning. Good morning, mayor and council. City manager Victoria Ree, the capital improvement program administrator with the airport. And ifit can pull up the presentation, please. [Music] Okay. So, the date of incident, May 13, 2025. High winds caused a rock wall facade along the airport's rental car facility located uh at the car rental agency to detach and collapse. We identified the immediate threat of injury or death to pedestrians or damage to vehicles on the parallel roads with three of the remaining seven rock wall veneers. Our emergency response airport maintenance responded immediately to the removing fallen rocks. They close the sidewalk and the turn lane closest to the one remaining rock wall facade pulling away from the structure. Uh the airport coordinated with the purchasing department and Jordan Foster Construction for assistance with removal of three additional rock wall facads showing signs of detaching from the structure and collapsing. There's a video. Not sure. Okay. And here's some photos. One of the three uh remaining walls showing signs of detaching and collapsing. as mentioned at port maintenance they closed the sidewalks and the turn lane nearest to the one of the walls that were uh detached as well. So our timeline uh at 2:30 the Rockwell facade at the entrance to Conrad collapsed. Um the following day at 8:50 a.m. an RFP was sent to Jordan Foster Construction. At 11:51 JFC responded to the RFP and by 5:30 a PO was issued to Jordan Foster. The following day at 2:30, the airport met with Jordan Foster on site to discuss the strategy for removal and the traffic control plan. Um, on the 16th, Jordan Foster submitted their plan to SAM for approval. And on the 19th, they removed two facads. And the following day, on the 20th, the final facade was removed by Jordan Foster. It's a request for action that the city council ratifies the issuance of purchase order um 6897 for $127,000 to Jordan Foster Construction LLC for the performance of the emergency rock wall facade removal to mitigate the safety risk posed by the falling rock wall facads. All right. Before we um Is there a motion to approve? Motion approved. Second. Is there a second? A second. All right. There's a motion to second. Uh discussion. Represent. Thank you, Mayor. So, thank you for the presentation. I had also seen the Sunfit FAM and hadn't really gotten any sort of communication or briefing from the city. So, I thought this was an important matter for the public to kind of understand what exactly happened. Yes, sir. And so, that's one of the reasons that I pulled the item today because I I also found out on FitFam uh because it was a little shocking to see. So from your presentation, my understanding is that there was no one that was injured. Correct. Okay. Yes, sir. So this was more property damage. Yes. And safety safety mitigation and the risk for for the others. We did observe that there were two more that were detaching from the concrete panels. So that's the emergency covered those three for removal. So it was just the the rock wall falling. Were there any cars that were damaged or anything? No, sir. No damage, no injury. Okay. And so this was caused by high winds. Do we have more of an understanding of why this happened other than the high winds? Was there something I I see some of these pictures where it seems like they were kind of nailed in or something? So do we have more of a concrete report on that? Yeah, like the assessment on it was there's anchor dove that are onto the concrete wall and the rock wall veneer and once it collapsed noticed the patterning of it like the offsets of it didn't necessarily match. I believe what the design called for. Um, so we're addressing that as we go. That's why we have we're working on removing the other three under a different contract. Okay. And then with this, is it going to look the same? You're kind of going with the same kind of design with the rocks or is it going to be complete? It's a removal and then patching up of any of the holes that are left behind. So no new rock wall veneers will be installed. Okay. Mhm. Okay. So that's kind of like another safety hazard in the future. You're preventing that by doing some other design and and patching it clean. Yes. Okay. And then the the other question that I had was on the purchasing side, how um on your timeline, which I really appreciate your timeline. There was an RFP sent to um a construction company right the right the next day and you got to action. So procurement wise, was this something that we had on a buy board or how did how did that kind of work that we were able to do it so fast? Good morning, Claudia Garcia with purchasing and strategic sourcing department. Given the emergency, the code uh state allows for uh issuing uh emergency items like this. So it is under a code exemption where we don't have to do it competitively. Okay. All right. Thank you so much, Representative Rocha. Thank you, Mayor. I appreciate it and thank you for the presentation. I just have a couple of questions. How long had the facads been in place before this happened? I believe the Conra facility was conf completed in 2015. Oh, okay. So, 10 years. Yes, ma'am. Roughly. Okay. And then um I I understand that that it's 10 years now. They fell. And is there any type when when facads go up or any type of construction goes up, is there any type of warranty that comes with that? Yes. After constructions are completed, there's a one-year warranty associated with with the contract. So, just one year and that's that's that that's the negotiation. Okay. Okay. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. You're welcome. Representative Lima, who built the original facade? I want to say it was Arrow Building with the contractor. Thank you. Yes, ma'am. All right. Any more discussion on this item? All right. Hearing none, seeing none, Miss Bryant, call for the vote. Yes, sir. The motion was made by alternate mayor prom, seconded by Representative Rocha to approve item three. On that motion, call for the vote in the voting session. And that motion passes unanimously. We now turn to page number six, item number 12. Item 12 is discussion and action on a resolution to authorize the expenditure of district 5 discretionary funds in an amount not to exceed $1,000 for capital costs related to the new pet pantries at El Paso public libraries including micro mobile microchip scanners and related accutraments which serves the municipal purpose of nurturing and promoting a healthy and sustainable community for al pasle pits and pet owners. This item was placed on the agenda by representative Nino. Representative would you like to make a motion to approve? Yeah. Motion to approve second please. All right. Represent Nino. No further. I think uh you know thank you representative Canonales for for the advocacy that you did in this and I'm looking forward to continue supporting this initiative as well. Any further discussion on uh Representative Canales? Just to say thank you back to you. Um you know multiple uh representatives have uh contributed to this project and I think it's a worthwhile investment of of discretionary funds. So thank you. Any further discussion? All right. Hearing none, seeing none, Miss Bryan, call for the vote. Yes, sir. The motion was made by Representative Nino, seconded by Representative Rocha to approve item 12. On that motion, call for the vote in the voting session. And that motion passes unanimously. Item 13 is discussion and action on a resolution to authorize the expenditure of District 5 discretionary funds in an amount not to exceed $3,000 to support initiatives, events, and meetings in District 5. The funds will be used to support current and future programming for youth, seniors, and athletic activities, community meetings, and other events within the district. Representative Nino. Motion to approve. Second. There's a motion and a second. Any discussion on this item? All right. Hearing none. Seeing none, Miss Prank call for the vote. Yes, sir. The motion was made by Representative Nino, seconded by Rep uh Representative Chavez to approve item 13. On that motion, call for the vote and the voting session. And that motion passes unanimously. Item 14 is a presentation and discussion on proposed amendments to the El Paso City Code 20.20 historic landmark preservation. Good morning, Mr. Mayor and council members. Tony de la Cruz with the planning and inspections department. As Miss Prime mentioned, uh item number 14 is a discussion and presentation item regarding the proposed amendments to the El Paso City Code Chapter 20.20 historic landmark preservation ordinance. Just to clarify for the public, there is no action being taken on this. That will come back to council in the future. Overall, uh the proposed amendments align with strategic goal number three, uh specifically 3.1 to improve the visual impression of the community as well as celebrating and promoting El Paso's unique identity and offerings. To provide you with a norview of the historic landmark ordinance, the ordinance was first adopted in 1978 and last revised as part of a mass overhaul of the zoning o ordinance in 2006. Since then, there have been little few amendments here and there, but this is more of a substantial amendment to keep in line with our certified local government standing through the state historic preservation office. This ordinance addresses basically city designation of properties that are not currently designated. Uh review and approval authority from the historic preservation office as it relates to new constructions additions alterations pretty much anything that affects the exterior of a locally designated historic property as well as demolition requirements. Uh for those of you that may not be aware, although I'm sure you all are, we have nine historic districts throughout the city. A lot of them are located in the downtown uh area. And of course, we have Sunset Heights, Old San Francisco, downtown, McGoffen, and Chiuawita within the downtown area. Moving on to the central area, what we have there is of course Manhattan Heights and Austin Terrace. And finally, over in the Mission Valley, we have the Sleta Mission or the Isleta Historic District and the Mission Trail. An interesting thing about the Mission Trail is that based on the way the ordinance was written and in coordination with the state, this specific district only spreads 150 ft to each side of Soooro Road. So anything beyond those 150 feet total of 300 feet wide is outside of the purview of the preservation office or the historic landmark commission. Okay. So to go over the proposed revisions and get uh council's input on these revisions. The revisions really are primarily being done to clarify the ordinance by leaving less room for interpretation whether it's by the public or by staff thereby streamlining and simplifying the process for a more userfriendly uh process in obtaining the building permits and uh providing for greater efficiency in that aspect. This is also of course in line with a state historic preservation office. Uh I might call it the shipo. So just in case I go off tangent, police state historic preservation office chipo. Okay. Uh but it is a mandate that as a certified local government that we actually update our ordinances routinely. Again like I mentioned the last ordinance amendment for this is going on 20 years. The certified local government is of course a state local state and federal government partnership supporting local historic resources. It does provide technical assistance to the city staff and has the ability to provide grant funding. Okay. And of course the revisions need to align with local state law. So some of the proposed changes that we're recommending one is inter protection. So what is interim protection? Well, basically interim protection applies to properties that are not currently do designated, but that an individual, the HLC or council can may say, you know, we really find this structure has a lot of historic character background unique architectural features. We'd like to recommend this for designation. If we go through a process where we have owner consent, relatively simple. Owner provides us an application. Staff does the research for the property in question to determine if it meets one of nine criteria established within the current city code. If it does meet that criteria, HLC would take a vote on that and forward it to CPC and city council for official designation. Okay. as we'll move on because this has been a question what happens if we don't have owner consent well state law is very clear on that okay so basically like I mentioned a member of the public HLC city council can recommend a property that we do not own for designation okay when that happens what what occurs is a st two two-step process the first thing is the individual that is not the owner would have to submit an application and for review of historical significance. That application is vetted through the historic preservation officer and forwarded to the HLC for review. And if they agree at that point, then they forward it to city council. Staff would come before city council uh basically under a resolution for discussion and action requesting the author the authority from city council to move forward with a city initiated overlay. Okay. So in this in this term once we bring that uh property forward we would also be recommending interimm protections. What we would like to do here is pretty much ensure that the building while we're going through our process of designation does not get demolished and we lose a valuable historic resource. Okay. This is capp for 180 days. So that does make staff get this process rolling, move it through HLC, CPC and city council. However, if for the second step of the process is now we have city council approval to move forward with a city initiated designation, then we actually start the formal overlay process which is a zoning action. Under state law, we do have to take it to the HLC, CPC and city council. Again, one of the key components here is one, we have to provide an impact statement to the property owner 15 days before the HLC hearing. The impact statement, as shown on the uh presentation, has to include what applicable requirements the property owner may be facing, the designation procedures that the city would have to go through, any potential tax benefits and available municipal funding to rehab or repair the property. This is a requirement under under state law as well as requiring a supermajority from HLC, CPC and city council. Again, this is because we are actually moving to designated property without owner consent. If at any time we don't get HLC supermajority, CPC supermajority or council supermajority, the project uh the request for designation ends and the property owner can continue moving forward with this property. All right. Some of the other key changes that we're looking at is under the certificate of demolition. This is currently in the city ordinance. Any request for demolishing a historically locally designated historic property has to uh submit an application that will be heard by the historic landmark commission. Under state law through the CLG, once we receive a completed application, we cannot issue a permit for a minimum of 60 days. And I believe some of the council members have seen letters from people requesting a uh demolition. Under city code, we the applicant is required to notify all council members as well as the county historical commission. So you may see those types of letters coming your way. That's because somebody is requesting to demolish a historical asset. And those projects typically won't be seen by council, but we'll take it through HLC. If HLC denies, then at that point, it might come to council under an appeal. So, what we're recommending here uh is really just having two meetings in that 60day time frame. One to provide the public and any property owner within a historic district uh opportunity to voice their objections. And what we've really noticed is that the majority of the time after the first hearing a applicant is doesn't provide all the information. So HLC will basically say can you come back with additional information. So that's really the requirement that we're imposing for a two meeting within the same time frame. Other changes that we're looking at are the requirements for demolition of prevention prevention of demolition by neglect. So again, this is already in the ordinance, but it really has no teeth to it. The only thing that it requires is that the property owner may submit a plan to address the deterioration. So what this really captures is a property owner who is letting the property deteriorate to the point where they can claim my property so bad I need to demolish it. We're trying to avoid that. We're trying to lose not lose any historical assets throughout the city. So, what we're recommending here is really that the HLC has the authority to refer a case that's undergoing uh demolition by neglect to the building standards commission. The building standards commission is another commission that's authorized through the state and the state of El Paso to actually mandate in order to rehabilitate the property or impose civil penalties, which is a I guess authority that is not granted to the landmark commission at this point. The other one we're uh this is simply codifying the appeal fee that for cases that are denied or approved, we've actually had both and the owner chooses to appeal the decision of the HLC. On this item, we already have it in schedule C, but it's not clearly delineated in the ordinance that they need to play pay for the appeal fee before the application is accepted. So this is simp simply a cleanup identifying that that fee will need to be paid. One of the other items that we currently don't have is expiration dates on any of our administr or on any of our applications that are submitted. So an application that may have been submitted 20 years ago let's say to change out the roof that roof was changed owners sometimes say well I still have it so I should still be able to use it. Well, no, this is a new project that the administrative approval will expire within 24 months and those are typically for your smaller work. You're re- roofing the property, painting the property, changing windows, modifying landscape items like that. So overall, what we've noticed is that those even with building permits, we have 180day deadline for it to expire. This is granting about four times or three times more than the 180 days. And that's really because we can see those types of projects being completed within two two years. Certificate of appropriateness are really we're doing an addition to the home. We're doing substantial work that requires plans, permits, uh, and inspections for it to move forward. On these items, we're recommending 48 months and for a certificate of demolition, 12 months. under administrative review. What we're recommending, and this is really the authority that staff has to review without taking to the HLC, we're recommending to expand and provide more flexibility. Currently, our building codes allow an accessory structure and this could be a tool shed. Uh the man woman cave uh because my wife took over mine. Um so this really expands authorities. Uh for example, the building code allows 200 feet. Our administrative provision only allows for 150 square feet. We're wanting to align those. If it can be re if a permit is not required, let's say for your first accessory structure less than 200 square feet in the backyard, um then at that point we would like to have at staff be able to review this administratively rather than through HLC action. Some of the other items that we're looking at is more flexibility for railings, replacement of uh railings in historic structures, ADA ramps, and of course security bars uh and not limited to that. solar panels, HVAC equipment, different items like that. One key change that we have, well, not really a key change, clarity. So, is compliance with the guidelines. So, as I mentioned previously, we have nine historic districts. The current guidelines for those historic districts govern any property within that boundary, whether it's identified as non-contributing contributing or landmark structure. non-contributing structures and I'll cover that a little bit in the next slide. Well, let me go through it. So, what is the difference? Okay, so we have three levels like I mentioned. We have non-contributing contributing and landmark. Landmark structures, Lorettto Academy, Lorettto Academy is a piece of architectural marvel, right? So those designations for landmark are held to those structures that were designed by a master architect built by a master builder like the Basset Tower. Uh I don't remember if the mills got regained that designation but those are the re very significant structures where we've come into conversations is the contributing versus non-contributing. So throughout a district, the large percent of of the properties are going to be contributing structures, but because of the boundaries, we don't uh want to gerrymander any of the districts. We end up landing with non-contributing structures. These non-contributing structures may be newer homes. If you've ever traveled Austin Terrace, as you go outside of the Circle area, there's a new development that was actually built built in the '90s. Those structures are non-contributing structures. However, they still play an integral part to the district because if changes are done to them without being sensitive to the historical properties around them, it could impact the district. You know, so that's really providing clarification that both types of properties, whether contributing non-contributing receive the same level of protection when they're in a locally designated district. Next, we have the uh public meetings that we'll be conducting within the next two weeks. Uh, as you can see, we have a June 16th meeting via teams. Uh, June 16th at 6 p.m. at the Pavo Real Recreation Center. Uh, and June 17th here at city hall and during that same day at the Memorial Senior Citizen Center. These meetings are lo specifically located to try and capture the districts that are located around the area. But please share this with you your constituents. The more input we receive from the public, the better. Uh that way when we come back, we can provide you with the public's voice and make sure that we're going along the lines of the public's desires in preserving their uh preservation or their historic districts. That concludes my presentation, Mr. Mayor. And come. All right. Thank you, Tony. Good presentation. Uh, Representative Lemon. Thank you, mayor. Thank you, Tony. Really, really good information here. But let let's go back or let's start with um slide number six. Uh the Mission Valley Historic areas. Yes. And so, if I heard you correctly, uh the historic area is down Soro Road. Yes. Okay. So, in looking at this, and I don't know if you can put it back up there, but there's a one and a two. There's a um a green and then a teal colored. What's the difference between the two sites? Okay, so the and sorry, I'm color blind. So, uh number one is actually the So, you don't realize I'm wearing green, right? No, this is green. Uh that one gives me a hard time. So number one is actually the boundaries of the Isleta district. In this specific area they do intertwine but the number one is specific to the boundaries of the Isleta historic district and number two is the initiation of the mission trail. So in the top area they do intertwine and it's a little bit wider in that specific section but then narrows down to the 300 ft width. And there's two little pieces up on the side as well. Mhm. Do you see them? Those are those are Can you tell me like more or less what street those are on or or Those are on Alamea. So the one on the bottom left top left that's uh Isleta High School. Okay. Good. Good. And the other one the other one is actually a shopping center. Uh Mimco shopping center if I'm remembering correctly. Uh that one was designated as part of the district but that one was reconstructed in later years. Right. It it I'm not sure that it represents anything historic there, but it's a shopping district. Okay. Um I have a constituent who um went through the process of reconstructing her home and she's in the third year and they're not finished. And they're not finished because of lots of delays in the process. First it was a historical district, then it wasn't a historical district, and it's just gone on and on and on. And so I'm glad to see this chart or this thing. And and then I will, you know, I'll bring it back to you all um so that we can discuss this on a separate matter, but it is concerning that it's taken them three years and they're still very very much in some of the early stages of the project. I also want to ask you what happened to Isleta Elementary. That was a historical building, a landmark building. It was the first courthouse. Um, it was the first school in the Easta District. And why was it demolished and how could it have been demolished? I'm not familiar with a school, ma'am. I'll be honest with you. Um, I think that one re relates back to the interp protection that we're recommending. Okay. And we we can certainly discuss that at another time. I know that the community was very very upset. It was an overnight thing. It was completely demolished and so it now sits as a vacant property, but it did have uh great significance uh historic significance to the property. Um and and thank you. I look forward to the outreach. I know that we'll have numerous people at that meeting uh gathering information and clearly understanding um the mission trail is is the heartbeat of that area. It has the potential of well if someone was really interested this is this could be a an economic development boom in the area. Uh unfortunately it doesn't have as much presence but it certainly could have that. And um I look forward to working with you and with Philip and Kevin as we proceed with this and thank you very much. Appreciate it. Represent Canales. Thank you, Mayor. Uh yeah, thank you, Tony. I think it was a very comprehensive presentation about what's being proposed. I really appreciate that uh you are bringing it to us and to the public uh well before uh any change is considered by the council. Um I think there's been a lot of uh misunderstanding of what this these changes might be. Uh and this presents very clearly I think they're they're very common sense uh changes to make the process work better both for us as the council for the historic landmark commission but also for the individual property owners who have to navigate this this process that you know as you just heard can be very complex. uh these these changes simplify that process for people and I think uh it will save people a lot of time and effort uh as they look to go through this process for their for their property. Um the uh I I know I have five of the uh historic districts in downtown plus a partial partial uh one in central is also located in district 8. So it's it's the large majority of them. Um, I will say now for anybody who chose to tune in on a Tuesday, uh, I invite constituents, anyone who's concerned to come to the the various public meetings that are happening. Um, I imagine you're going to be asked to present it maybe in in a few other places as well. But I think there's plenty of opportunity for anyone who has concerns about these changes to uh to come get their questions answered, uh, to come give their feedback. And so I welcome everybody. I will try to be at as many of these outreach meetings as well so that we can hear directly from the public. So, thank you again. Uh I I think these make a lot of sense and and uh this is an excellent presentation of of what's being proposed. So, thank you. Thank you, Representative Kandes. Represent Fiero. Bless you. Bless you. Thank you, Mayor Tony. Yes, sir. Did you state and on page nine of the presentation that someone beyond the owner can ask for a property to be designated historical? Yes, sir. And that is currently in the ordinance. Is that state law? I'd have to research that. And so if I have a property, my neighbor here could say that property needs to be historical and submit it. and then I would have to start complying with whatever the the city code mandates. No sir. Okay. So this one has as I mentioned two specific components to it. The first one is a request for to for review of historical significance. So at that point somebody let's say I I don't like you Mr. Fedra and I say your property is needs you're not in the minority. uh the property needs to be designated. Yes, I could submit that request. However, I would sub have to submit all the supporting documentation that as to why this meets the criteria and then I would have to comply with responding to all the different um questions and hoops to jump through to defend myself. Well, we would provide you with notification if the case moves forwards to the landmark commission. Prior to that, of course, as the property owner, you you we have to give you due process. So, at that point, preservation, the preservation office would review the application and determine whether it meets any of the criteria. If it doesn't, we would still move it forward with a recommendation to not designate. If the HLC agrees with us, then that case dies right then and there, and you don't have to comply with anything, and there is no interim protection. If the h the HLC agrees with staff and it moves forward to city council, then we're requesting council to implement the interim protection at that point. So it would be a council supermajority that would be required for that designation to continue moving forward. Thank thank you Tony. Very good presentation. I just find it fascinating that somebody could make me comply with my property, the the property I own to compel me to say it's historical or start abiding by those historical um regulations and ordinances. Thank you, mayor. Thank you, Represent. Thank you, mayor. I had a few questions specifically on slide number 12. um seeing that there is no fee for appealing codified and so what does this fee look like? The fee is already in the books. Um I want to say it's a $300 uh approximately. Uh and that fee really covers the work that sta staff has to do to prepare the staff reports documentation coordinating with the legal department to bring it forward to the HLC. Uh I believe uh Representative Ato you have heard a few appeals in the past and all the work that goes into it. It's already in schedule C. We're simply codifying that it has to be paid prior to the application being considered fully complete. And do you know if this has created a barrier for some people that they can afford the $300? Not that I'm aware of. I think in the last two to three years we've seen maybe two or three appeals and a lot of it was uh work done without permits ahead of time. Okay. And I I'm just kind of thinking about some of my constituents in Manhattan Heights where there's there's a good mix there where some of them are are trying their hardest and they kind of hit a wall at some point and then the other ones are kind of doing their own thing and then trying to appeal after because it's just such a difficult uh process to to navigate. So, I'm trying to understand what these changes are going to look like. And one thing that I'm kind of seeing that I'm not really understanding from your presentation is how we can make it easier to navigate. So, I'll give you an example. One one big barrier that continues to come up with my constituents is a customer service issue of really and and I've I've said this over and over again. Um I don't know if you've been in the room though, but it it becomes a a thing of well you need to go to the HLC and thanks bye. Right. That's that's what it is. And people are kind of afraid of going before a body and they're not really having their handheld through the entire process. And you mix in bad customer service with with all of that and it creates a a really bad situation for people, especially those people that are are trying to do the right thing when they live in a historic neighborhood. So, I I want to see a little bit more of that in this because that continues to come up a lot in my district. And then I would also appreciate seeing a red line of the changes that you're doing. I I looked at the backup and there was no red line, but I think that would be really helpful. Yes, sir. Of course. And the reason was because we weren't taking action on this item, Representative Asav. Yeah. Um, but I I guess at some point we'll take action, but I I still think the way my brain works for more input on this, I I'd really like to see it to see what the before and after will look like when in a in a red line document. Yes, sir. We'll get that. The last thing that I wanted to ask was what are we doing to promote these community meetings? Uh, we are putting out uh and I'm not sure if Laura is here. We are actually putting out a public service announcement. Uh we're we're asking the representatives also for your community meetings if you could provide that information. We're putting it on the city web page uh as well as the departmental web page. Good afternoon or go still good morning. Good morning council. So, we have actually at the end of this presentation some of the upcoming meetings. And if you look on the screen, oh, for the record, Laura Cruz, communications director on the screen that you see right there, we have um scheduled four community meetings that are going um to be taking place. There's at least one virtual meeting and three community meetings throughout the city, specifically located in the three general areas that Tony went over at the beginning of the presentation related to the historic preservation. We can of course add additional meetings as with any of the outreach that we do. So, if the council members wish to add any of their community meetings to that, we can also give a presentation at your community meetings. And and Laura, can you tell me more about this PSA that you're doing? Is it just is it an actual video or you're just posting on social media? What is it? So, yeah, it's on social media that we're putting together um the outreach related to that. Okay. So, one one thing that continues to be a theme for me across the city doing community meetings is some of these kind of feel like checkboxes. I think the intention is there to to have these meetings, but when we're not working closely together with at least with my office, right? And I don't know how the other council members feel about this, but it it makes it a little difficult to to get people to these meetings. For example, on June 18th, I won't be here um for that meeting, right? So, a lot of my constituents want to make it to these meetings or or something along those lines, right? But if I'm not going to be there, they might not show up, right? And then that's because I have an engagement that I have, so I'll be out of town. And so, I I would just encourage more more working with us. The the other thing, we had a a budget workshop. I believe it ended up being on a Thursday or El Paso Electric meeting in in May. Thursdays are really bad meetings for or bad days for my constituents. No one shows up. They're very good on Tuesdays and Wednesdays in central. And so there we've kind of noticed trends along my entire district. So if we could be brought in from the beginning and asked, you know, what day do you think will be good for for this meeting? We could really give you that information in my office. Sure. So, as I mentioned, one of the we are open to having additional meetings. So, if you all can let us know. I did send out this information to the council members with the other meetings. I did reach out to all of your all's offices and I did ask for when to schedule those budget meetings and the El Paso Electric meetings. We had two specifically for your district. So, just let us know what works best for you all and we can we'll happily schedule those meetings. Okay. I I think we could continue the conversation cuz it's still not it's still not working for me. Okay. Um and then um I know I said this was the last thing, but the the one last thing that I wanted to say is I just met with my HLC appointee and I realized that there are um appointments that are needed on the HLC. They they have um people that are already termed out and there are people that are expired. So, it could become an issue down the line. So, I just wanted to encourage council members to just look at the member roster and if yours is expired to please appoint somebody. Thank you. Thank you, Tony. One quick question on page six, the Mission Valley Historic Areas. I just want to make sure I understood what you said. the uh mission trail area that's crossing is that border highway and Sor Road there. You said it was 150 ft or yards. 150 ft, sir. From the center line to each side. Okay. Because it looks it crosses through it looks like some commercial projects there on border highway and secur road. It does sir. It does cross through commercial properties. Okay. So, one that I recall is the gas station. I believe now it's a Valero at the intersection of the loop and Soro. When they first came in, they gave us their basic here's our box. We said, "You're in a historic district. You guys have to do better." And they I mean, it's a gas station. How much better can they do? But they did improve the design of that. Okay. Just wanted to make sure. Uh, Representative Chavez, thank you, Mayor, and thank you, Tony, for the presentation. On that note that miss that the mayor was just uh talking about on commercial properties, would commercial properties be considered non-contributing? Would the newer structures I mean if if it's a blank piece of land, it's likely considered non-contributing, I guess. So then my question is would all anything in that area be either contributing or non-contributing? Would they have to whether they be commercial or residential fall under one of those two categories? Yes. Yes, ma'am. And they would still have to comply with the guidelines. And I'm just and I'm asking here just off the top of my head here, just wondering if if it's necessary. I don't I I don't know. Right. So that's why I'm posing the question if it's necessary to maybe have a different bucket or a different consideration for commercial versus residential in terms of you know whatever whatever changes they're going to have to make or uh laws that they're going to have to abide by. Uh on that one we'd have to look at the guidelines specific for that district and bring it back to council. Uh but right now one of the what we've noticed with a lot of commercial properties because they are large commercial properties in and of themselves a lot of the times what we have noticed is the actual construction building construction is pushed back to 151 ft. So because it's beyond the 150 ft limit the local uh guidelines and historic preservation office and HLC regulations do not apply. So they end up using a lot of the front component for parking, landscaping, and then push the building further back. But it's something that we can discuss. Yeah. May maybe we could start looking into that and consider it, you know, and see what that would look like if we put a clause in or something if we're already going to be taking an action down the road on this code amendment to to think of scoping out commercial properties and identifying it as something uh separate than residential. Okay. Thank you. All right, Tony. Thank you for the presentation. Appreciate it. Thank you, council members. Okay, Mr. Bryan, does that bring us to item 15? Yes, sir, it does. And item 15 is discussion and action on the award of solicitation 2025-0221 janitorial services health locations to ACE Government Services LLC for an initial term of 3 years estimated amount of 1,789,82610. Okay. Is there a motion? Second. There's a motion and a second. Uh, Representative Asetto. Thank you, Mayor. I was looking through the backup on this and I saw that um we are doing a 42% increase and it wasn't very clear when I was looking at the backup. It had a bunch of locations listed, but I kind of wanted to get more of a clarification on that, please. Okay. Uh, good morning. This is Paula Salas with purchasing and strategic sourcing. So the increase is due to additional uh locations. So it's not just the wick clinics. There's uh and I have health here that they can provide additional information and also the hourly price, the hourly cost went up. So that's why the contract variance, but I'll allow the department to explain the locations. Uh good morning, Edward Rodriguez with the Department of Public Health. The addition is there were six locations that were not on the prior solicit solicitation that were added. That was a total of about 49,000 square ft. As she as Miss Salas mentioned, the rate increased uh that the contractor will be charging. There was also a uh more comprehensive scope of work that was uh that was used. And finally, this contract includes supplies that the contractor will pay for. Okay. And and what did the rate increase to? From what to what? It increased from $18 an hour to an average of $27 an hour. Okay. So, just depending on positions, it averages out to be about a $9 increase. Correct. Okay. And then the six locations, 49,000 ft². Is that throughout the entire city or is it It is. There are wake locations and administrative buildings. Okay. Thank you so much. We have a motion and a second on this item. Is there any further discussion? All right, Miss Frank. Call for the vote. Yes, sir. The motion was made by Representative Lemon, seconded by Mayor Pro, alternate mayor prom to approve item 15. On that motion, call for the vote and the voting session. And that motion passes unanimously. Item 17 is discussion and action on a resolution authorizing the city manager or designate to sign an agreement for professional services between the city of El Paso and Advid Associates Inc. a domestic for-profit corporation authorized to do business in Texas for a project known as Architect and Engineering Services for the EPIA Federal Inspection Services FIS renovation new information desk and accessible pathways project. Motion approved. There's a motion. Is there a second? Second. Motion in a second. And Miss Prime, for the record, I need to um note that uh Al Reges and Associates uh was one of my donors to my campaign. Yes, sir. All right. Any discussion on this item? All right, Mr. Bryan. Call for the vote. Yes, sir. The motion was made by alternate mayor prom, seconded by Mayor Proim Chavez to approve item 17. On that motion, call for the vote. and the voting session and that motion passes unanimously. Item 18 is discussion and action on a resolution that the city manager or designate be authorized to effectuate the listed budget transfer to utilize 2012 quality of life investment interest funds to set up the budget for the Asia Forest skylight roof replacement within the support elements project. Is there a motion? Motion approved. There's there's a motion and second. Any discussion on this item? All right. Hearing none. Seeing none, Miss Prank call for the vote. Motion was made by alternate mayor prom, seconded by representative Nino. This is to approve item 18. On that motion, call for the vote and the voting session. And that motion passes unanimously. Okay. Item number 19 is discussion and action on a resolution that the city of El Paso supports funding a shared use path project on McGoffen Avenue from Cotton Street to Palm Street and as described in the 2025 transportation alternative set aside program detailed application and is willing to commit to the project's development implementation construction maintenance management and financing. Move to approve. Good there's a there's a motion a second. Good morning walking. Morning. Does anyone want to see the presentation? Okay, Bucking It, can you bring up the presentation please? Thank you. So, good morning, Mayor and Council Wend Rodriguez with the Capital Improvement Department. Um, this item is part of the transportation alternative set aside program. Next slide, please. Just some brief background on that program. The transportation alternatives program uh really focuses on activities defined as transportation alternatives that are on and off-road pedestrian and bicycle facilities. U during this project call, the city and other local government agencies were allowed two large-scale grant applications um each requiring their own submission. We were limited to two applications total. The categories that are available with this funding source are large-scale active transportation infrastructure, active transportation network enhancements, and active transportation non-infrastructure. Next slide. So the scope of work for the McGoughen Pedraas Pyano project um essentially is an extension of the McGoughen project that um is wrapping up construction right now, which gets you from uh downtown to about Cotton Street. This would extend that uh over to near the zoo area. Uh the total cost of that project is estimated at 11.9 million. That's our request. And because of El Paso's uh designation as an economically uh disadvantaged community, there are there will be no local match requirement. We'll use uh transportation development credits from the state. And here's a map of what that route will look like. Okay, you can go back to the map ID. There you go. So, that's all I have for this one. 19 and 20 are related. If you'd like, I can do the the slide for item 20 as well right now. Sure. And let me read 20 into the record. 20 is discussion and action a resolution that the city of El Paso supports a project to construct an upper deck with multimodal transportation infrastructure and amenities over I 10 as as described in the 2025 TA detailed application as willing to commit to the project's development implementation construction management maintenance and financing. Mr. Brian, let's let's vote on number 19 first and then we'll Yes, sir. We'll take this separate of course. Item. So there was a motion and a second. Any discussion on item 19. All right. Hearing nine now. Miss Prank call for the vote. Yes. The motion was made by Representative Canal, seconded by Representative Lemon to approve item 19. on that motion. Call for the vote in the voting session. And that motion passes unanimously. Now we're on item 20, which is a resolution that the city supports a project to construct an upper deck with multimodal transportation, infrastructure, and amenities over I 10. Walking, you back up. Good morning, Mayor Council. Walking Rodriguez again with capital improvement department. So item 20 is the same grant program. uh provided by the state uh federal funds that funnel through the state. The second application the city u would like authorization to submit is for the I10 deck plaza. Uh that scope would be for design and construction of multimmoal transportation infrastructure and amenities over I 10. Uh we are requesting the full amount of funds available uh with this program which is 25 million. Again because of the city's uh status we would be eligible for transport transportation development credits. Um, that's not to say that, you know, this project would only cost us 25 million. I think we're all aware from past presentations that this is, uh, you know, a small piece of what that, uh, federal and state funding allocated to the project, uh, would be in the long term. Okay. And here's a map of uh, the project area. And the recommendations or our recommendation is to approve and authorize staff to move forward with both of these applications. Okay. All right. Is there a motion? Motion approved. Is there a second? Second. All right. Uh represent Canales. Thank you, mayor. Um I just have a quick question. I'm, you know, committed to seeking out federal and state funds for this project. Um I I just want to make sure. So in the uh in the the therefore clause of the of the resolution and in the posting language itself, it says that the city is willing to commit to the project's development, implementation construction maintenance, management, and financing. In approving this resolution, are we committing that regardless of what funds we we receive, we will be committing to the financing of this project? No, not necessarily. So, the resolutions of support come from Texot as a template. Um, that's what we provided you all. What you're committing to is following through if we do receive these funds, keeping in mind that this is a much broader project, right? That's going to have multiple different components um of funding to it. So the formal commitment would come at a later stage when we execute the advanced funding agreement with Tex assuming we are awarded. Um at that point these funds would be part of that funding stack within that advanced funding agreement. Um the resolutions as you know most resolutions approved by council don't necessarily have any teeth for enforcement. So the resolution is just showing that you are committed uh to following through with the project and moving towards that advanced funding agreement. Um if we are awarded these funds. Okay. So no formal commitment at this time just by what it says in the if we're awarded the funds there would be that second agreement um that is the advanced funding agreement with text. Yes. Yeah. Okay. Thank you. Represent Lima. Thank you Mayor Hen. I have a question. Um so see if I can understand it better. There are two projects allocated every year or every what funding source every how often? So the projects aren't allocated. This is still a competitive process. Um it's different from year to year on how many uh applications the state will accept from each agency. Um this year that limitation was two applications. In the past we've submitted you know two for construction and one for planning um or different arrangements. This year the direction from the state was uh that each agency would be limited to two applications. All right. How many projects were identified for our area? Um or specifically from the city? From the city. We had originally identified uh two projects. the McGoffen Street project you see here and another shared use path on uh El Paso sort of through the I don't know what to call that area sort of east of the medical center the Americas area um through our coordination with the health foundation um and Texot with the submission of these applications um we felt it was more appropriate for the city to be the sponsor of the deck plaza application rather than um the Pasadona health foundation so that's why this application was added to to our list. Uh and we chose to forego for now the El Paso shared use path. Um we've been really competitive in other funding uh opportunities with those shared use paths. So um we don't see that as the project going away. It's just uh you know something that we'll pursue in the future through other funding sources. How do projects get on the list? um this list or or who develops the list? So, my staff develops lists of projects pretty regularly. Right now, we're in the process of developing a large list of projects for the uh NPOS's RMS 2052. Uh but again, those are all submissions. The final authority for those projects um and for these as well because it's federal funds lies with the transportation policy board at the MO. Um any any project um related to transportation in our region that uses federal funds, the ultimate authority is with the transportation policy board because we cannot use any of those federal funds unless they're formally programmed by that board in our regional planning documents. But the projects are developed within the city first, right? Correct. Yeah. Right. The city identifies those and what department identifies them? Is it your department or is it a different department? Okay. Yeah. We work collectively with other departments like streets and maintenance, um, international bridges to identify what those priorities are. Ultimately, those come to council um for you all to to move forward or not. I would really like to um um to see if the scope could be widened a little bit so it's not always in the same area in the same kinds of projects that we see. I have a very very difficult time specifically with what um representative representative canal stated right now of how this um resolution reads. Um I don't want us to take a vote today and then be held to the fact that we took a vote today and that now we must fund um the deck part. So for that reason I'm going to vote no on number 20. And then I will ask you that in the future give me an opportunity to visit with you or sit with you and let's see how we can expand this so it's not always in the same area the same kinds of projects but that it becomes more of an inclusive u to encompass more districts within our city. Absolutely. We can reach out to your office to schedule. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. represent. Thank you, mayor. I wanted to ask you, Hin, what the timeline for this looks like in terms of when you're submitting this and when it would be awarded and what you think the chances are of us getting this. So, this this project actually this call goes through a preliminary application um and then a formal application. This is the formal application stage where the resolution is required. Um, we should hear if we are awarded I think in August um of this year. I may be wrong on that, but I'll I'll double check. Um, but I I believe we'll hear back in August. These funds are actually FY27 funds. Um, the city was successful with the transportation alternatives program for FY25 and 26 funds um with the McCrae shared use path project. Um so these funds would not be uh allocated to any any district who is successful until FY27. Okay. So we kind of have a pattern of success in the last two years. So the third time is a charm maybe. We hope so. And and just um so I have a clear understanding because just with the the discourse that's happened um on this item, the resolution is not binding right? That might be a Carlo question, but generally resolutions are are not binding. That's what I was thinking too. Text dot requires a resolution of support for the application um just to ensure that the governing body supports the application. Okay. Is did you want to chime in, Miss Neman? Sorry. So So you're required to have a resolution as part of the application process. are still at play in place in regards to whether you move forward with the project or were even awarded the funds, right? So that's still in play. It's simply a matter of applying. Okay. So application and then later there's more of the the the advanced funding agreement is the formal commitment to use those funds. Um if we are awarded that's the process that would be triggered once we're awarded. Um you all have seen advanced funding agreements from my team in the past. Every project for uh federal funding requires that advanced funding agreement with Tex to allow those funds to flow through to us. And that's where we make the formal commitment of Tex is going to do X Y and Z, Federal Highway Administration's going to do X, Y, and Z. City's going to do X, Y, and Z. And here's who's going to pay for all of it. And here's the schedule on when we're paying for it. But that's not happening today. That's not happening today. We will come forward. We will come back with more of that conversation in the future. This is like and very initial first step. Yeah. Second step, I would say. Well, I I'm not even in step one right now. This is like zero. Mhm. Will that make you feel better? -12. Okay. In the process. We're not at zero right now. Okay. Well, and and I think that really helps and and everything you said makes a lot of sense. We've done a preliminary. This is a formal application. Now, we wait till August. We see how that goes. Hopefully it gets awarded and then at that point we start getting into all the steps that Miss Neman will work on and get into all the legalities and then at that point that's when things would be more binding. Okay. Thank you so much represent trail. Thank you. Just a quick question regarding the application. Are there any my microphone there? There we go. Are there any fees associated with the application? No, there are no fees associated with the application. Um, and there's no local match required because of our ability to leverage the transportation development credits. Um, because we are an economically disadvantaged community. Thank you. All right. Any further discussion on this item? Yeah. All right. We have a motion and a second. Seeing no further uh discussion, Miss Prime call for the vote. Mr. The motion was made by altern seconded by representative Rocha to approve item 20. On that motion call for the vote and the voting session and the motion passes 7 to1. Representative Lemon voting nay. The remainder of council voting n. The motion carries. Yeah. W Thank you for the uh presentation and hopefully we'll be successful on the on the grant. We'll see. Thank you though. Mayor, it's 11:30. Would you like to recess for the Mass Transit Department board? Yes, please. Thank you. Is there a motion to recess? Second. There's a motion and a second to recess the regular city council meeting. All in favor? I. Anyone opposed? The meeting is in session at 11:31 a.m. Good morning. This is a meeting of the El Paso Mass Transit Department board for Tuesday, June 10th, 2025. It is 11:32 a.m. Present presiding is board chair Johnson. Also present in council chambers are board members Chavez, ADO, and Rocha, Pojo, Nino, Fiero, Lemon, and Canales. There is no public comment. Okay. And the consent agenda has items one and three. And all matters listed on the consent agenda will be considered by Mass Transit Department to be routine and will be enacted by one motion unless separate discussion is requested by board 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. The Mass Transit Department board may however reconsider any item at any time during the meeting. Okay. Is there a motion to approve the consent agenda? Second. Okay. There's a motion in a second. Any discussion on this? All right. Call for the vote. And did I get this right? Board member Lemon made the motion. Seconded by board member Fiero. Mr. Chair, voting session is open. Thank you, sir. And the voting session and the item has been approved unanimously. All right, let's take number four. Did it show on the screen? Okay. And item number four is discussion and action on a resolution that the city manager is authorized to submit an application to the Federal Transit Administration fiscal year 2025 low or no emission grant program and the grants for buses and bus facilities competitive program in the amount of 1,963,500. Motion approved. Second. Second. All right. Is there any discussion on this item? All right. Hearing none, seeing none. Call for the vote. We have a motion made by board member Fiero, seconded by board member Lemon. Voting session is open. The voting session is open. Thank you. And the item has been approved unanimously. And that's it. Is there a motion to adjurnn? So move. Second. All those in favor? Anyone opposed? And the Mass Transit Department board meeting for June the 10th has adjourned at 11:34 a.m. Thank you. Move to reconvene the city council meeting. Second. There's a motion and a second to reconvene the regular city council meeting. All in favor? Anyone opposed? And the regular city council meeting is back in session at 11:35 a.m. page number nine here. or item number 21. Item 21. And this is discussion and action to approve the city manager to sign a subawward agreement with the Texas Energy Poverty Research Institute, a Harris County subreient to implement the solar forall program in El Paso. Enthusiastically move to approve. Second. There's a motion and a second. Any discussion? Okay. Can we see the presentation? I take the presentation for item 21. Thank you. Good morning, mayor and council. I'm Fernando Bhano with the strategic and legislated affairs. This is a presentation about the solar for program under the environmental protection agency. This um presentation aligns with the strategic plan on goal eight and specifically goal 8.4. First uh a little bit of history about this grant program. The EPA released the grant opportunity back in 2023 and this is a program to install or deploy um solar systems into lowincome households. The in July 2024, the EPA awarded a big um a big grant to Harris County. the the coalition lead for almost $250 million and the county of El Paso was part of that coalition. The the city's been collaborating with the county on after that award and we've getting into a consensus. So the city is the implement implementation agency for the for the program in the region specifically the scope of work for this program here in El Paso. This again, this would be to install solar systems into low-income households, both individual households and multifamily. And that's up to 440 different households receiving solar installations. That would acrue um at least $300 of savings annually for those families, those households. And we also need to comply with a couple other requirements to a workforce development requirement to train 20 interns into solar installation. How to do that? How to get a certification and also we need to reach out at least 1,500 people to promote the program and make the program accessible to as many people as possible. The overall solar capacity installed under this program for those individual and multifamily households would be 1.4 megawatts of solar. And this is um a breakdown of the of the total u budget for this program in El Paso is just over $6 million in in four different buckets. 75% of that of that budget goes straight into the systems. That's the financial assistance, $4.5 million. That would allows us to install the solar systems, but also do any type of enabling upgrades that we need in those households, electrical upgrades or minor roof repairs. The other components are the workforce development component that I mentioned before to train those 20 interns and then the engagement and obviously the the program administration budget for it. the program itself we the city we've been as as I mentioned before we've been discussing and talking to the county we will be the the entity signing that soore agreement with the Texas energy poverty research institute which is a nonprofit that manages the program on behalf of Harris County for the El Paso region and also the the the Rio Grand Valley region as well Why why we doing this program? The the 440 households will be benefiting for economic savings and this program fully align with the sustainability programs and all the input that we received throughout the outreach efforts for the last 18 months. This program does not require a match from the city and will run until the end of 2029 for five years. How we going to do this? We'll sign that if if you all authorize for us to enter into that agreement. We'll sign that agreement with TRI. We'll we'll engage with a third party management entity with knowledge and expertise on deployment of these types of programs nationwide. And we'll also collaborate and engage with nonprofits and academic institutions for the outreach and workforce development components. The next steps would be to finalize those agreements with TERI if authorized and then finalize that program design, the capacity building, the outreach, all that um to really launch the program this fall in October of 2025. The action and our uh for you all that we bring to you all today is to authorize the city manager to enter into negotiating an agreement with Terri, the Texas Energy Party Research Institute with no match for for that full amount of just over $6 million. Very good. Thank you. Thank you, Fernando. Representative Canales. Uh thank you Fernandanda for all the hard work. I know uh this is a program that didn't begin with us at the city. Um and uh somebody in the community needed to step up to take on the the all the capacity of work that needs to happen here. So I'm very glad that we were positioned to do that and I know it's uh been a lot of work for you personally. So thank you for committing to this. Um, and I'm I'm very excited for what this offers at no cost to us really. Um, aside from your hard work and time. So, uh, thank you. That's all. Thank you, Mayor Fernando. Thank you, uh, Representative Rocha. Thank you, Mayor. I appreciate it. And, and thank you for the presentation. I think this is a this is a wonderful effort that's that's being provided. I just have a quick question. How are the is TRI the one that's going to um identify the 440 households or how are those how are those identified? So I I forgot to mention that we are partnering up the the sustainability team is partnering up with community and human development and as you all know they have extensive experience with uh low-inccome programs. So we as I mentioned we're going to engage with nonprofits and that third entity that third management entity to to identify those households. the the income requirement is that those households need to be under 80% AMI. Mhm. And um there would be technical requirements for those households, but we're going to engage with um fellow departments and also nonprofits throughout the community. I is it an application process? There will be there will be there will be an application process. There will be a process as well to select the the solar companies that going to take the lead into the actual installation of the systems. And those solar companies, it it'll go out for a bid, I imagine. Yes, ma'am. Okay. Wonderful. Thank you so much. All right. So, I hit a button here. Represent Lasave, you're up next. Thank you, Mayor. And Representative Maldona Rocha kind of stole everything I wanted to ask, but I I kind of want to build on on some of what um she was saying. So there's 440 households on this. So are we doing something maybe 440 divided by 5 years and that's how it's going to be or how will that work out? We we don't have a breakdown per year. We still need to define the the final design of the program. I um I it's going to depend in the breakdown between single family and multifamily. um how we gonna be able to roll out annually. So I don't have an answer. We don't have a breakdown right now. Okay. And then with this third party, we still don't know who the third party is, right? No, we that that would be a process that we need to iron out with our with our partners and and define how we comply with federal regulations. Is that something we have to go through procurement or is that something that we could access through already? That that's a good question. those two options are feasible that we still need to define what is more efficient for us as a city for a staff time and also for the program to be deployed. Okay. And and I'm thinking about that just cuz if procurement is involved in getting a third party or something along those lines, does that set us back in terms of the 5 years starting let's say today or maybe the 5 years starts in 6 months or something along those lines? Yeah, that that's a great point. the we're actually a little bit behind because the this was a county's program. So that put us um a few months behind from the starting line. But the idea is to find the most efficient procurement mechanism to to minimize that. Okay. And then what one thing that I I just kind of I I think this is a great program and I'm I'm really excited about it actually, but community human development did kind of run into something with another kind of low-inccome program for housing and stuff like that and there were a lot of capacity issues that we had internally. So it we really relied a lot on our nonprofits and that's almost a good case study to kind of learn from as we implement this to see how much capacity we have and kind of have all the rules of the game at the beginning and what capacity we need from nonprofits and how much capacity we have. I I really curious to know more about the process and it seems like the process is in process, right? Mhm. Okay. Yes, we we'll definitely brief you once we know more. The the nonprofits will be mostly engaged in the outreach. So, we're not going to rely probably in those nonprofits for the installation. But again, we we need to define that. Yeah. And and that the application and the guard rails I I think is going to be really crucial because I can see this being very popular. And if we're only at 440, how are we going to determine who gets it and who doesn't, right? is it first come first serve or along those lines where we also started getting behind in another program where we had too many applications and we couldn't tackle all of them. So there's there's a lot to learn from it to make sure that this is going to be a lot smoother moving forward. Yes. And and and we'll rely uh in in our partners. They're running this program in in three other communities. So there's going to be a network opportunity to learn from them and then from us. The as many other low-inccome programs, the need is much larger than the actual funding. So that's not a new problem for us. Okay. And this funding is still good. It's it's good for 5 years. As of today, it is good. Okay. I know. I know it's a day-by-day basis, but let's just move on it so we have contracts in place at the very least. But thank you. Thank you. All right. Representative Lemon. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Fernando. When um when a resident applies for the program and whatever the criteria that you're going to have, um there's going to be some sort of a screening process. And so, first of all, the person or the family needs to be homeowners, correct? Not renting, not leasing, but homeowners. Okay, number one. Number two, who is going to do an evaluation to determine um if there are any needs in the home prior to the installation of the solar panels? Do you have someone that's going to be doing that? The the selected solar company or companies? No. No. Um maybe before, you know, before. So, here's a family, here's a home, homeowner. Okay. But is there a review of the home? like do they have good windows, the doors, roofing, all of those things will be reviewed as well. The that's something that that's a very good point. We we were looking at reviewing the state of the roof and the electrical installations and that will be done by the selected solar company, but we can definitely look at looking at other energy um improvements that may happen in the in the household. Okay. I hope that there's going to be a division. So, you've got the solar panel company here, but if they if they if they say, "Well, you need uh a new roof or you need windows that are sealed properly," that they are not the ones that are going to do that work, but rather that that work is sent off to someone else. I hate to see a conflict of interest, okay, evolving in something like that. So, yeah. Thank you. And then also you're going to be using um local nonprofit agencies perhaps to come in and help and assist. I'm I'm thinking rebuilding uh Roger Dor's group, you know, that they do that kind of work. So that could help us get the families in line for the solar panels. That Yeah, that's a good idea. Thank you. We'll we'll consider that. We're going to look at the looking for the most efficient way of deploying the funds. So, but those are great ideas. We we'll get back to you when we define that. Thank you. Thank you, Fernando. Representative Tjo. Thank you, Mayor. I I do have a question regarding once the installation is done on the solar panels, the who takes care of the maintenance? Would it be the homeowner? So, the the the systems will be owned by the household. So the assistance will have a guarantee in terms of performance as as any solar companies offer today. The the agreements between the solar company and the receiving households those the the maintenance or any type of malfunction will be in that agreement and it would be a regular type of agreement like any other solar uh residential household. What is the maintenance look like on solar panels for homes? So the maintenance is pretty easy if if there is no um hail storms or any major um weather related issue. The usually it it requires some type of water cleaning uh for dust and and just making those panels back as most efficient as possible. But if if they the installation is correct and everything shouldn't shouldn't require a lot of maintenance at all. Okay. And and the insurance or the liability insurance, the homeowners insurance, is that get reduced because their solar panels or does that increase? That that's something that we need to define with our partners. The I don't have an answer to you right now how that would affect their their home insurance. Okay. And then I do have another question regarding the identifying the home. So you're you're going to be working with nonprofits. One of the things that I wanted to recommend if you're looking at I think what 440 homes to look at evenly distributing that within the districts. We had a conversation about that. Uh it's a what comes out to like 55 homes per district. I think that would be great to be able to evenly distribute those uh this opportunities within within the district as you work with the with the nonprofits to identify those homes. Yeah, we we'll work we'll work to make this program um available throughout the the city in all districts. Obviously, I cannot assure you uh uh perfectly even uh distribution a a lot of um a lot of parameters there um household eligibility types of programs, but we'll work to with the partners and with you all to make the program available throughout. Okay. Thank you, Represent. Thank you, mayor, and thank you, Fernando. Fernando, thank you so much for all the work that you're doing on this. One request or one thing that I'm looking forward to is really the engagement and outreach efforts that you guys will be doing with the different nonprofits. Um, you know, we started working on the budget and the community workshops and one thing that I found interesting is District 5 does have the second lowest average income in the whole city from all the districts. So I really want to ensure that we take in consideration the young families that um when it comes to doing the outreach that we know how to communicate to different communities. Um you know I have young uh families that might not be available to come to community meetings and whatnot. So you should really looking at the whole dynamic of the different communities that we could essentially do outreach that they could ensure that they take advantage of any future programming that we we do. Um, so I'll I'll love to work further with you all to, you know, communicate further at least to District 5 to ensure that they're aware of any programming and and possibilities that they could apply into this program. So, thank you so much for the great work that you do. Yeah, thank you for that offer. We'll we'll definitely take it. All right. Any further discussion? Fernando, great presentation. All right, Miss Bryan, call for the vote. Yes, sir. The motion was made by Representative Canales, seconded by Representative Tim Nino to approve item 21. On that motion, call for the vote and the voting session. And that motion passes unanimously. Mayor, there's a presentation for the next three items. So, I'll read them into the record, but council may choose to vote on them independently. Item 22 is discussion and action to approve the 2025 community needs assessment, a facet of the citizen participation plan, which provides a guide for citizens and citizen organizations to participate in an advisory role to implement the 2025 2029 city of El Paso consolidated plan. Item 23 is discussion and action to approve policies and procedures for planning and implementation of community development block grant program, emergency solutions grant program, home investment partnerships program, housing opportunities for person with AIDS program and home investment partnerships American rescue plan program. Item 24 is discussion and action to approve the draft 2025 2029 consolidated plan and the first year action annual action plan for funding allocation of this 5-year consolidated plan. Okay. Make a motion to approve all three items as second. All right. Uh represent Brocha. I wanted to first see the the presentation Nicole if that's okay. Yes. Uh good reserve it to morningish. Uh Nicole Rodriguez, director of community human development. So today's presentation brings together three major components. We've got the community needs assessment, our updated policies and procedures for our entitlement programs and the five-year consolidated plan with the first year annual action plan. And these pieces really work hand in hand. So we're presenting them together to show the full picture of how we plan, fund, and deliver services. This timeline gives you a sense of where we're at in the planning cycle. Currently, we are uh or we begin our year with our community needs assessment. Uh we're currently in the public comment process and here today for adoption of our policies and procedures, our consolidated plan, our annual action plan. Um and then we uh we look to implement by September. So September uh one services begin going on to our community needs assessment. So this is really uh our way of collecting public feedback to inform our consolidated plan. It helps us um make decisions on biggest areas of needs um such as housing services and capital improvements are we collect public input uh as to their perceived community vulnerabilities. Um and then this data is collected and incorporated into our our consolidated plan. We had six over 645 participants uh by using surveys and public sessions to reach as many people as possible. We really made a strong effort to engage our service providers, our residents, neighborhood associations, and others to make sure that we had a broad input. And so today we have a summary of the findings to share with you. We broke these findings out into two main categories and it's really our funding categories, our services and our facilities. On the services side, uh mental health, transportation services, family support, and homelessness stood out as top priorities in our service category. When it comes to our physical improvements, uh people pointed out to mental health facilities. So, you're going to see mental health again. uh better walkability, accessibility, affordable housing, and homelessness facilities. And so this next section is our entitlement policies and procedures. These are the rules and processes that guide how we spend our entitlement dollars, um how we stay in compliance, and how we ensure fairness and how programs are selected and monitored. The city receives federal entitlement funding from HUD annually and a small amount from the state. These funds support services um housing neighborhood projects. And so this slide really highlights our main uh programs that we manage and how the updated policies apply. We've made some important updates to improve how our programs run. This includes adding uh the state HHSP program which is the um from the state We're expanding our multi-year funding, clarifying some compliance expectations, and tying future funding to performance. These changes are designed to improve transparency and impact. Moving on to our consolidated plan and the annual action plan items. The consolidated plan is our strategic focus for the next five years. And then our annual action plan is our priorities for year one of five. The priority needs that were uh selected amongst the the public for the next five years and our consolidated plan that we will share with HUD will be rental assistance and homelessness prevention, affordable rental housing development, services for people experiencing homelessness and HIV and AIDS, expanded public facilities and mental health services, improved walkability and accessibility and crisis care counseling for vulnerable populations. And in FY26, we're maintaining uh level funding. I'm happy to report that that the federal government provided uh level funding. This is a final year of our multi-year uh our current multi-year funding plan. Um this helped us provide stability with the agencies. Um, and so in early 2026, we'll open that competitive process for agencies to start applying for the next round of multi-year funding. So, a minimum of three years with this new policy and procedure. As a reminder, 15% of CDBG goes to fund services. Each area is capped by HUD's rules, and we work with partners to deliver these services. Our allocation percentages are as follows. We've got 60% for emergency shelter, 20% for children and youth, 20% for seniors and persons with disabilities. On the emergency solutions grant, this is our only HUDf funded uh grant solely focused on homelessness. Um we use this for outreach emergency shelter prevention and rapid rehousing. And our allocations are as follows. Emergency shelter at 25%, street outreach at 20%, homelessness prevention at 15%, and rapid rehousing at 40%. For neighborhood development, our public facilities, and our housing, we're investing over 5.7 million combined in neighborhood and housing improvements. This includes the continuation of our three-year capital plan and expanding access to affordable housing through home funded projects. Our next steps is we're going to allow the public comment period to end. Once uh that information is is gathered, we'll submit our final uh plan to HUD. And this is for the next five years and then the one-year action plan uh all to execute the funding uh contracts with our subreients starting September 1. And that concludes my presentation. Thank you, Nicole. Represent Brocha. Thank you, Nicole. and and I want to apprec I want to just uh give you an appreciation because you streamlined the process for us today and you brought us a holistic view of what everything's going to look like versus splitting it up and so for for me that I'm new on council that helps a lot to see the full view of the plan al together so um you know I spoke with you when you briefed me the other day I think it's um wonderful that you were able to maintain the funding from the federal side. I think that's a huge win for um the community and so I'm I'm happy to to support your effort. Thank you so much, Represental. Thank you, mayor. Yeah, I was going to start by saying something similar. The the possibility of losing some of this funding was like literally keeping me up at night and I was shouting from the rooftops that I Yes, I know you too. um and and you know shouting from the rooftops that uh I was going to push to to backfill all of the funding lost with with local dollars and you know I even mentioned it during I think the the state of the city address um that it would it would be a priority for me. So uh you know the federal government I guess bucked the expectation and and we got a flat allocation which which I'm very very grateful for. Um the uh I don't think it's I don't think anybody would be upset with me for saying that the continuum of care COC basically the other uh the other recipient of federal funding here for for homelessness is in a little bit of disarray at the moment and so a lot of the the responsibility falls on us this year in particular. So I'm very glad that you've put together such a comprehensive plan for the year. Um, do we anticipate any issues? I know we saw, for example, a small reduction in ESG, correct? And a small increase to CDBG where we received an a decrease. We received an an a little small increase in CDBG. Um, so that's why we went with the percentage model to allow us for it types of fluctuations like that. Okay. And help us be more resilient towards any type of future cuts. Yeah. I don't think you've left that much room for a lot of questions because you explained everything in great detail. Uh so thank you for the hard work on it and uh look forward to seeing the the roll out of this over the next year. Thank you. I appreciate it. Represent Trhon. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Nicole, for this wonderful presentation and relief that we're getting today. Um, so I noticed that you're continuing to receive community input through the month of June or are you are you done receiving the community input? Uh, I believe the public the public comment period ends June 15th. Is that correct? June 16th. June 16th. Closed. Okay. Um, and then uh so that the public comment period remains open. Any any uh comments will be received and forwarded to HUD. Okay. If there's anything we can do to help with that, please let us know. Uh we can share the link on our newsletters. whatever you need to to get that information out. Wonderful. Thank you so much. Thank you. Any other questions for Nicole? Nicole, I know you were at the edge of your chair waiting on the funding. Yes. So, yes, sir. Congratulations. We're breathing right now. Next year, I don't know what the plan is, but right now we're breathing. But we'll celebrate this year. Absolutely. Yeah. Good job, Nicole. All right, Miss Prime. We have a motion in a second. Yes, sir. The motion was made by Representative Lemon, seconded by Representatives, I think, Roacha, Tjo, and Canales to approve items 22 through 24 on that motion. Call for the vote in the voting session. And that motion passes unanimously. Mayor, I'd like to make a motion that we recess at this time since our agenda is covered and that we uh recess for lunch and come back at 1:30 as programmed. Is there a second? There's a motion and a second to recess the regular city council meeting. All in favor? Anyone opposed? The meeting is in recess at 12:05 and we'll reconvene at 1. Let's Let's do 115. At 1:15. Thank you. It's in recess at 12:05 and we'll reconvene at 1:15. Thank you, staff. Thank you, city council. That's great. Yeah. Council, is there a motion to reconvene? Second. There's a motion and a second to reconvene the regular city council meeting. All in favor? I. Anyone opposed. The meeting is back in session at 1:22 p.m. That brings us to the executive session items. Is there a motion to retire? So moved. Second. There's a motion and a second to retire into executive session. All in favor? I. Anyone opposed? And the city council of the city of El Paso may return to executive session pursuant to section 3.5A of the El Paso city charter in the Texas government code chapter 551 subchapter D to discuss any of the following. Executive session item one, Mark Avalos versus City of El Paso and El Paso Fire Department 2022 DCV882 under 551.071. Executive session item two, application of El Paso Electric Company to change rates PU number 57568. HQ number utility-60 under 551.071 executive session item three statement of intent of a Texas gas service company a division of one gas inc to increase rates within the company's incorporated areas of the central Gulf west north and Rio Grand Valley service areas in the state of Texas HQ number utility-67 under 551.071 071 Executive session item 4, discussion on economic development opportunities in Van Horn, Texas. HQ number 825-4694 under 551.087. Executive session item 5, discussion on purchase, exchange, lease, or value of real property in El Paso, HQ25-4962, under 551.071 and 551.072. and executive session item six, city attorney evaluation and legal consultation regarding employment evaluation process and duties for city manager, city attorney and chief internal auditor as city council appointed employees HQ number 4883 under 551.071 and 551.074. These matters are taken into executive session under 551.071 consultation with attorney 551.072 deliberation regarding real property and 551.074 074 personnel matters and 551.087 deliberation regarding economic development negotiations. It is 1:24 p.m. I do. Okay, Miss Bryan. Council, is there a motion to come out of executive session? Second. There's a motion and a second to come out of executive session. All in favor? I. Anyone opposed? And the meeting is back in session at 5:30 p.m. We're on EX1. Alternate mayor prom. Thank you, Mr. Prime. Uh motion made, second and carried that city attorney in consultation with the city manager be authorized to engage in settlement negotiations in the matter of Mark Avalos versus the city of El Paso, case number 2023 DCV1882 and take all steps necessary including execution of any required documents in order to uh execute the authority. This authority Second. Thank you. Okay, there's a motion and a second. Yes, sir. Miss Brian, there was a motion made and read into the record by alternate mayor prompto, seconded by representative Nino on EX1. And this is to engage in settlement negotiations. On that motion, call for the vote. Oh man. Mr. Frame I in the voting session and that motion passes 52 one. Representative Canales voting nay and representatives Chavez and Rocha not present. So that motion carries. The motion does carry, sir. The X2 U. Motion made, second carried that the city attorney in consultation with the city manager be authorized to hire retain outside outside counsel and any other necessary consultants and on uh to file an intervention with the state of uh intent of the Texas Gas Service Company, a division one gas, Inc. to increase rates within the uh company's incorporated area of central Gulf West North and Rio Grand Valley Service Area in the matter number H HighQ utility-67 and to take all steps necessary including the execution of any required documents in order to to execute with uh authority. M I think the record needs to show ex2 there was no action and this is ex3. Thank you, mayor. EX2, there's no action. And EX3 was just read. Was just read by alternate mayor prompo. And this is to hire council and file an intervention. Yep. There's a motion. Is there a second? No. Are we on EX2? The EX2 was no action. That was the I read the EX3. I was very excited. Okay. There's a motion in a second. Miss Pry. Yes, sir. There was a motion made and read into the record by alternate mayor Pompei, seconded by Representative Thjo. This is on EX3 to file an intervention and hire counsel. On that motion, call for the vote. I thank you representative Hero on that and the voting session and that motion passes unanimously. Representatives Chavez and Rocha not present. EX4 ex4 no action. Thank you. EX5. EX5 motion made, second and carried that the city manager or designate be authorized in consultation with the city attorney to work towards approving a a term sheet between the city of El Paso and the Deck Park Plaza Foundation for the development of the Deck Park Plaza project. Okay. Is there a second? Second. Motion in a second. Miss Prime call for the vote. Yes, sir. There was a motion made and read to the record by alternate mayor prom seconded by representative ADO on EX5 and this is to work towards a term sheet. On that motion call for the vote in the voting session and that motion passes 5 to1. Representative Leon Lemon voting nay. the remainder of council voting. I representatives Chavez and Rochan not present. Ex6. EX6. No action. Thank you. Move to move to adjourn the meeting. Second. There's a motion in a second to adjurnn the regular city council meeting. All in favor? I. Anyone opposed? And the regular city council meeting for Tuesday, June 10th, 2025 is adjourned at 5:35 p.m.