good morning mayor good morning right there yes we do good morning good morning sir good morning this is a meeting of the El Paso city council for Tuesday December 6 2022. present and presiding in council chambers as mayor Lisa along with representative anello representative molinar representative Salcido representative Rodriguez representative Rivera representatives schwarzwein and lizaraga have requested to be excused this morning and I will everyone please silence your electronic devices so as not to disturb the meeting and rise for the invocation delivered by Rabbi Levi Greenberg good morning good morning rabbi before I begin I'd like to do an act of charity Sovereign of the universe look favorably upon mayor Oscar liser and The Honorable members of the city council of our great city of El Paso and bestow upon them and all of us gathered here today the joy of life good health and prosperity in two weeks we will celebrate Hanukkah the Jewish Festival commemorating A great miracle that occurred over two thousand years ago in ancient Israel oppressed by a ruthless enemy that endeavored to destroy the treasured traditions of the Torah a small band of devout and courageous Jews famously known as The Maccabees revolted against their oppressors and miraculously won the war upon regaining control of the Holy Temple they could only find one day's worth special upon regaining control of the Holy Temple they could only find one day's worth of ritually pure oil to Kindle the menorah the ritual candelabra undeterred they lit up the lamps and hoped for the best A great miracle occurred and the one day's supply of oil burned for eight days and nights the miracle of the oil and religious freedom is celebrated each year by Lighting in menorah starting with one candle on the first night we add another candle each night until the eighth night the lesson of the menorah is simple yet profound in a world of Darkness all it takes is one single Flame one selfless good deed to usher in a reality of light and Hope however once you have lit One Flame it is crucial to consistently increase never suffice but the positive accomplishments of yesterday a New Day brings fresh opportunities for goodness and kindness the chanukkah Flames tell us a story the story have of how we can brighten our world every single day through routine and consistent actions of goodness and kindness Sovereign of the world grant us all the wisdom and courage to apply the powerful lessons of the menorah so that we be able agents of goodness and peace to ourselves our families communities and to the entire world give this honorable Council guidance so that they will always be conscious of your presence and will strive to enact laws with honesty and integrity in accordance with your will there are Borderlands regions serve as a beacon of light to all of humanity as we do our part in preparing the world for an era of Global Peace and Tranquility may this occur speedily in our times and let us say Amen thank you rabbi and with that pledge allegiance please liberty and justice thank you and and I do want to thank everyone for being here it's um today I I think we all need to as the rabbi was talking about we need to think about just things in life that have made us grateful and thankful for for the people that impacted Our Lives and for life should we've been able to impact I think it's important that uh we think about the season in giving and not only giving but also being thankful so I'd like to have a moment of silence and everyone just you know kind of think about the people that have impacted your life and the life you've been able to to change an impact and and be thankful thank you thank you and may God bless may God bless every one of you today and every day thank you mayor for the record representative Hernandez is also present in council chambers and for those joining us in teams please make sure your microphones are on mute so we can avoid any meeting disruptions we continue now with the mayor's proclamations the first Proclamation is Pearl Harbor Day thank you Ms Prine Proclamation city of El Paso Texas whereas just before 8 A.M on December 7 1941 hundreds of Japanese fighter planes attacked the American Naval Base at Pearl Harbor near Honolulu Hawaii The Barrage lasted just two hours but it was devastating the Japanese managed to destroy nearly 20 American Naval vessels including eight enormous battleships and more than 300 airplanes more than 2 000 American soldiers and seders died in the attack and another thousand were wounded and whereas the day after the assault President Franklin Delano Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war in Japan Congress approved this declaration with one with just one dissenting vote three days later Japanese allies Germany and Italy also declared war in the United States and again Congress reciprocated more than two years into the conflict America had finally joined World War II and whereas the Japanese plan was simple destroy the Pacific Fleet that way the Americans would not be able to fight back as Japan's Armed Forces spread across the South Pacific and whereas at about 8 A.M Japanese planes filled the sky over Pearl Harbor bombs and bullets rained onto the vessels and more below at 8 10 a.m a 1 800 pound bomb smashed through the deck of the battleship the USS Arizona Leonard and Ford ammunition magazine the ship exploded and sank with more than one thousand men trapped inside next Torpedoes pierced the shell of the battleship the USS Oklahoma with 400 Sailors aboard the Oklahoma lost your balance rolled onto her side and slipped under underwater and whereas the Japanese had failed to the Pacific Fleet but the 1940s battleships were no longer the most important Naval vessel aircraft carriers were and as it happened although the Pacific Police carriers were away from the base on December 7th moreover the Pearl Harbor assault had left the bases most vital onshore facilities oil storage Depots repair shops shipyards and submarine docks intact as a result the U.S Navy was able to rebound relatively quickly from the attack now therefore it be a proclaimed by the mayor and Council of the city of El Paso that December 7 2022 shall be known as Pearl Harbor signed the honorable Oscar leaser mayor city of El Paso thank you representative you know and um it's uh it's very important that we thank all our veterans and people that defended our country and uh if it wasn't for them we wouldn't have the opportunity to be here and have the freedom and um I'm very thankful and and people that fought for our rights and continue every day to fight for our rights and every day to um to stand up for our country so thanks to all our veterans and um I'd like to have a moment of silence for those people that lost their lives on Pearl Harbor Day thank you Mr Pine thank you mayor I'm I believe representative schwarzbein is joining us virtually good morning sir good morning sir we now continue morning good morning the next Proclamation is Charles Q and Gene Murphy day thank you Proclamation the city of El Paso Texas whereas Charles and Gene Murphy contributed 60 years collectively to the El Paso Community as Educators through the El Paso Independent School District and whereas originally from the state of Alabama Charles and Gene Murphy made their way to El Paso Texas via a music scholarship granted to Gene Murphy to West Texas Western College and whereas in the 1950s El Paso Independent School District would pay students majoring in education with 90 credits or more A reduced salary until they obtain their degrees both Charles and Gene began their teaching careers in 1957 under this program and whereas Charles Q Murphy received his bachelor's degree in elementary education in the spring of 1959 and His Master's in school administration in 1962. these degrees would afford him to have a career teaching fourth fifth and sixth grade at San Juan Elementary now Hawkins elementary and afford him to be an assistant principal at Putnam and Zach White Elementary Schools later Charles became principal of Zach white and then eventually principal of Coronado High School where he served in that capacity for 14 years and whereas Gene received her degree in music education in the spring of 1960 and began her teaching career at San Jacinto Elementary for a period of 10 years and then later taught at Putnam Moorhead Lamar and Lamar Elementary schools and whereas the city of El Paso celebrates the many contributions of both Charles and Gene Murphy and celebrates the opening of Charles Q Murphy Pre-K to eight school as part of the El Paso isd's 2016 Bond program a new school that boasts a modern learning environment with the most up-to-date technology providing students the tools necessary to succeed the 21st century now therefore be it proclaimed by the mayor and the Council of the city of El Paso the December 6 2022 shall be known as Charles and Jean Murphy day signed by The Honorable mayor Oscar Lisa congratulations we can you um Mr Murphy Mrs Murphy would you like to say a few words I know that um I'm very thankful for for both of you I actually uh when I moved here from the United States I didn't speak a word of English in this Summerfield was there teaching at Putnam school when I got there and she actually went to her home and brought me some books to help me learn the read and kind of understand so it was very impactful and then uh Mr Murphy when I went to Coronado he was the principal at Coronado and I think he'll I'm glad we're going to give him a few minutes to speak so he can tell you what a perfect student I was while I was there Mr Murphy you weren't supposed to laugh at that but uh no you know it's uh you know I'm one of thousands of uh kids that you all impacted thousands of children that you change their lives and um and it's uh you know Mr Murphy didn't have to do that you weren't my teacher back in because you're a second grade teacher I think at the time and I came in in third grade and but yet you you saw that I needed some assistance and you're willing to do that so again I want to thank you both for your leadership and also willing to help and understand the difference in the impact that you would make on children's lives and one last thing uh Miss Murphy I don't know if you still go there but Mrs Murphy and I used to go get our hair done at the same place I don't need to go much more but uh your hair still looks very good thank you Mr Murphy my wife used to have real red hair and when I saw her when we were both in Junior College that impressed me and as time went on and we both got our degrees here in El Paso and the main reason we came to El Paso we had never been here before but we didn't know that it had a Texas Western College and we looked on the map and the river ran through El Paso my wife was raised in Florence Alabama and the Tennessee River which was a real River did run through her her City of Florence and I lived in a little town called Boaz Alabama and it was about 15 miles from Guntersville Where the River ran through there so we looked at the map of real good and said geez that would be real nice to come here and see a river well needless to say we were a little bit shocked when we rolled into town and looked for the river but anyway we did our teaching and and principaling and everything for the 30 years and when we retired in 1986 I asked my wife I said well we live in an apartment we can sell our furniture and move anywhere you want to move so where would you like to move she said well why do you want to leave El Paso I said well I don't it's just we can well I'm not going to leave El Paso so we've been here ever since and we love El Paso it is our home and I give my wife a lot of credit for making Oscar who he is so she did she did give him books and I know that she's had a very warm feeling for Oscar every time we see him and at the time that he was named the outstanding student at Coronado High School she had a real thrill of being able to give Oscar a hug and think she may have had just a little bit of something to do with it so I thank everyone very much we really do appreciate it and we have loved our teaching careers in El Paso thank you thank you and again congratulations in the naming of the school it was some it was unfortunate we were in the middle of a meeting yesterday and weren't able to celebrate that with you representative uh Miss Pine the final Proclamation is leading the way workplace well-being week good morning everyone this is the proclamation of the city of El Paso whereas the health and wellness of the city of El Paso's Workforce through its strategic plan is vitally important to sustain a healthy environment for our employees producing more productive and overall healthier individuals and whereas we are continuously developing innovative ways to engage our employees and offer them opportunities to get and stay healthy including virtual exercise classes mental well mental well-being classes disease management classes and weekly educational podcast and whereas the city of El Paso has received Aetna's highest recognition by featuring a well-crafted comprehensive Wellness strategy for employees to live a healthier and more active lifestyle while prioritizing wellness and whereas this recognition demonstrates how the city of El Paso has exceeded the national standards for a healthy workplace and leads the way with the Innovative and implementation of programs to assist employees and prioritizing their mental physical social and professional well-being and this is is the third time that Aetna has provided this award and this is the third time that the city of El Paso has received the highest recognition I added that in there and now therefore be proclaimed by the mayor and Council of the city of El Paso that the week of December 6 2022 shall shall be known as leading the way workplace well-being week signed by honorable Oscar mayor Lisa thank you [Applause] good morning good morning my name is Christina chakon I'm a well-being consultant and I work on site with the city of El Paso to support their employee wellness program it's an honor to present the award to the city of El Paso I have the privilege of working along alongside this wonderful group of people behind me it's the city of El Paso benefits team and the parks and recs shape it up team I personally see all their efforts and hard work that go into designing and implementing the shape It Up program in addition they have developed Partnerships with outside organizations to continuously focus on improving the employees health and well-being a little history the process to apply for the annual well-being workplace award is quite a vigorous process it entails a survey with extensive multiple choice questions open-ended questions as well as attachment supporting documentation regarding everything that goes into the city of El Paso wellness program it is then evaluated and scored by that in a well-being team the city was awarded the gold level in 20 and 21 because that was the highest level that was able to be achieved at that time this year they added an additional level raising the expectations to those that meet that level to a very high standard to be called the Platinum level I am proud to say the city of El Paso has achieved that level and has been awarded the Platinum award for the well-being work site um award this is no small fee has this is an application that is completed by many of Aetna's employers Nationwide and out of everybody that applied only 92 received an award of either bronze silver gold or platinum 14 only 14 were able to walk away with the title of the Platinum well-being workplace award which means that you're truly leading the way in designing and implementing programs that focus on improving the health of your employees congratulations very nice so Mary Michelle Wiggins Assistant Director of Human Resources so on behalf of our benefits team we proudly and accept this award the benefits team which is way back there for some reason please come from I mean this this is the benefits team and our shape it up from the parks and rec team it's a collaborative effort that goes into this um very proud of everything our employees they don't just go through the routine of you know coming to work each day and making sure that you know they cross the t's and Dot the eyes and everything they truly care about what they do we're continuously challenged you know the the city manager is great and challenging us and just trying to come up with new efforts to to make our employees healthy I believe that one of the reasons that we did win this award is because during covid when most companies and most employees and and our citizens are we're stuck at home uh quarantined not able to do anything a lot of the wellness programs around the Nation they subsided and it went the different direction our benefits team kicked it into gear and they became very Innovative they started looking for ways of what can we do to reach our employees it wasn't okay that we couldn't get to them so they started coming up with different programs to meet our employees in their homes for some of our employees they didn't even they had no social contact they were stuck in their homes and I'm sure you've heard of the Christina and Roman podcast it's become quite popular so every Thursday at noon there is a podcast where they invite different you know vendors and different Partnerships to come in and we educate our employees and we want to teach them and help them to be healthy and to live a fulfilling life and it's not just for the employees it reaches out to their families because whatever we're teaching them here in the organization they're going home and they're sharing that with their families and so we're not just affecting the people here we're we're affecting their families the citizens and so I'm proud to call this a wonderful team we couldn't do it without them and so we gladly accept this thank you mayor can I say one thing mayor can I say one thing I wanted to thank um Mrs Chacon I when I went through my pregnancy I was it was like a coveted pregnancy so nobody wants to work out and then nobody wants to work out when you're pregnant well she really encouraged me to get up get out and she she said well you know why not try a pool well well we know that our therapeutic pool is closed so I actually drove 30 minutes every morning to get to the closest warm pool so that I could exercise every morning because you encouraged me so I really wanted to thank you for the wrap around services that you're providing to our employees because it really makes a difference congratulations you all deserve this award you're making a difference for every single employee's lives and we're really proud of this distinguished award congratulations thank you thank you congratulations to all the team members thank you there's plane before we do that I think we do have to appoint a mayor potom yes would you like to take photos first or no let's do uh I think I'd like to elect a mayor Pro tem yes sir and then um mayor potem that's on video would like to do consent agenda real quick so I told him we would yes sir thank you is there a motion to allow Ed Pro Temp for this meeting aye a little quick but okay there's a motion and a second to elect representative Hernandez as a mayor Pro tem for this meeting all in favor yes anyone opposed the motion passes we now move 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 good morning um these are the proposed revisions for December 6th page three item two request to excuse apps and council members excuse um representative yes ma'am page four item seven postponed one week per Capitol Improvement Department page six item 12 postponed one week per Capitol Improvement Department page eight item 15 delete per representative schwartzbein and then page eight item 16 delete per representative schwarzine any other revisions Council second there's a motion made by representative or mayor Pro tem Hernandez seconded by representative Rivera to approve the consent agenda as revised on that motion call for the vote mayor Pro tem short swing uh thank you and the voting session and the motion passes unanimously at this time would Council like to recess for photos there's a motion and a second to recess the city council meeting to take photos all in favor yes anyone opposed the meeting is in recess at 9 26 A.M mayor and Council if we could go ahead and meet up in the back and if I could ask um members of the audience if we could go ahead and do Pearl Harbor Day first to followed by El Paso ISD item and then lastly the um cities item on Wellness and yeah is there a motion to reconvene there's a motion and a second to recombine the council meeting all in favor and you want to post the meeting is back in session at 9 34 a.m that brings us to item number 13. item 13 is a man is a management update on the city's financial help good morning sir So today we're going to focus on providing another couple of key slides that outline City's current Financial Health and then at the very end have a slide that references and really good news related to the city's Bond reading for the International Airport which was recently upgraded so one of the keys here we do all these budget updates and you hear all the results from not only the financial but the operational results that we produce and those results happen because of the implementation of best practices having the systems the processes in place that are what's helping to generate these results so really three key points here these are some of the points from the bond rating that we've received over the past year and then from the airport as well and these are the things that they constantly point out and really reflects that exactly what I just said about the best practices and having those systems of resource or systems of processes in place so again they always point out our policies that we have in place they always look to make sure that we have whether it's our debt management policy or investment policy uh recent our post issuance policy that you all approved here recently they look to see those things and that we actually utilize those and Implement those on an annual basis the long-term planning is something that we've implemented over the last eight years ensuring that not only are we looking at the upcoming fiscal year but that we're constantly looking ahead for the next five years to provide not only the council but the public as well as to what we may be facing over the next over years to ensure that again we're making decisions not only for the immediate term but looking to long term as well the strong budgetary flexibility again we've presented multiple times on the fund balance and the performance that we've seen in that area but also looking at the frequent budget monitoring so we have our budget staff that they do that on a daily basis you know this is what they do day in day out working closely with all of our city departments and then finally the strong budgetary performance again looking at those results that I talked about the investments in those key priorities and then also the operating Surplus on the annual basis and then also the new Revenue sources that we've created over the last several years as well so again on the reserves we've talked about this but it's worth repeating over and over and over because it's part to remember where you were as an organization and where you are now and so again reminding from 2012 to 2014 that the city actually decreased our reserves by about nine million dollars during that three-year time span so that was three consecutive years of operating deficits again three consecutive years of operating deficits between 2012 and 2014. and obviously you all are well aware that we reversed that over the last eight years now generating Surplus in each of those fiscal years increasing our operating number of operating days from nine to ninety one with the closest most current Fest career which ended in August and again a reminder of where we were and where we are now but then also the comparison right so looking at where some of these other cities are and where we want to be as an organization 91 days is very very significant it's a huge improvement from where we were as an organization in 2014 however progress is that it's progress it never ends we should continue to push forward not only looking at our reserves but all of the other areas as well and continue to ensure that we're constantly getting better at progressing and meeting our strategic plan one of the sound financial practices that was one of the key initiatives with city manager when he first started it's something that has taken the council approving and making those difficult decisions during the budget process but this is really about being financially responsible and again looking at the long term so the pay go funding that annual set of site funds built into the annual budget to address things that we have to do we have to replace police cars we have to buy fire trucks we have to buy ambulances we have to invest in our streets otherwise we know what happens we end up with a larger situation where you have a lot of deferred areas and so building this into the annual budget over 18 million dollars a year now on an annual basis for Street projects police cars fire trucks ambulance Replacements and improvements at our city facilities and our parks that's significant because prior to 2014 there were zero dollars in the annual operating budget for these items so again doing this in a very fiscally responsible manner building it into the annual budget has resulted in if we had financed all of those purchases would have saved over 50 million dollars in financing costs and so there is a tremendous benefit to the way we've approached this and again not just looking at the short term but again the financial long-term output Outlook as well some of the keys here on the new Revenue source is something that we've really pushed hard to make sure that we're tapping into all available Revenue sources to offset the property tax rate and so again benefiting from collecting that state sales tax portion through the State Convention Center Hotel program which we passed the legislation to get that to be able to take advantage of has helped with the economic development incentives for some of the downtown hotels also in 2016 the hotel occupancy audits which is pretty significant for not only helping the hot collection that goes towards the marketing tourism but also remember that a portion of the hotel occupancy taxes we received goes to the ballpark and so next week I'm going to provide you an update on how the ballpark performed that two percent that's dedicated for the debt related to the fall Park payment and so that's significant that's additional Revenue now that is helping to generate over three million dollars since 2016. we're currently doing a mundo and his team utilizing some outdoor resources to help do for a franchise audits again to ensure that we're collecting all the revenue that's due to the city but it's also can go the other way into the image has been very clear about this when we started this that there are times when we may be collecting on that franchise fee Revenue that we need to rebate or reimburse back to those utilities because it's maybe a property outside the city limits or whatever the case may be and so that's something that we're currently underway the Apostle Leisure franchise for you again that's additional Revenue that's coming through that agreement to go towards the economic development incentives and then finally the short-term rentals we had the two ordinances on the agenda today post upon those for next week we'll do the introduction next week but something that we've talked about again looking at that registration process in order to focus on the safety of our residential neighborhoods to ensure that we're making sure those businesses are registering with the city of El Paso and then at the same time ensuring that the city is able to provide that list and have a good understanding of the current demand for short-term rentals in the community some of the other key areas so again I talked about the sound financial practices and it again it's not just one thing it's not just increasing the fund balance but it's about having again those systems and processes in place to be able to generate these type of results and so these are a few examples again whether it's Sun Metro and turning around the mass transit Department from a 27 million dollar deficit to where they are currently over a 15 million dollar Surplus now that they're actually able to plan for a capital placement into the future and so that's significant now and so again looking at the long-term operation of our mass transit looking at the Butterfield Trail Golf Course which is again was another annual operating deficit so the city was losing on an annual basis of operating that Golf Course and now with the turnaround of the new lease agreement now we're actually generating additional Revenue 20 million dollars of a life of that new lease that the recycling cost again going from weekly to bi-weekly results in over two million dollars a year savings and environmental services department which has allowed them to keep their rate the same over the last few years our federal state grants you've seen presentations on that through various updates management updates over the last several weeks as well and ensuring that we're getting back all of the money that's due to the city through these grants that work on a reimbursement basis you all are well aware of the FEMA grant that we're currently utilizing for the migrant crisis and again it's important that we have not only the staff but ensuring that they're trained they have the experience and they know how to put that information together when we submit that reimbursement package to ensure that we do collect 100 of the grant proceeds that we're entitled to and then also the auto findings again ensuring that our our staff we've centralized that function now and we have a grant administrator who oversees the entire process for our grants to ensure that we're being in compliant 100 with particularly over the last several years that's been critical and again having that in place since 2014 really positioned as well as we went through covid and we received 119 million through cares we received 154 million through the additional Federal funding through the arpa to ensure that we have the process and systems in place to be able to take in such a large amount of money and do it in a manner which in compliance with the requirements to the federal government and then finally the ballpark as I mentioned we have a presentation coming next week again very very good news about the hotel occupancy Revenue that we've managed to increase over the last over years how well that's performed the ballpark continues to perform well the team Revenue performs well and so as I present next week I'm giving you a little teaser here but this was the first year ending August 31st that no general fund subsidies was required to make that debt payment and so there's a lot of things that went into that so it was looking at the refinancings two different refinancings that we've done over the last several years to generate that savings or bring those financing costs down investing in the downtown hotels investing in the hotels throughout the community which increases the hotel occupancy having those Hotel occupancy audits which generates that additional Revenue all of that plays a key role in being able to generate these type of results and then finally my last slide so I mentioned some good news related to the city's Bond rating for The International Airport and so s p recently did a review of The International Airport revenue bonds they've upgraded them from a positive to a plus and so again very very good news and you can see here's some of the points that they indicated in that review again really pointing out the strong management and really pointed out again the experience management and again that goes back to the training that you hear so much about the city manager it make sure that all of the Departments that we're developing our staff so that one they have the experience and the technical skills to be able to perform their job but then also that we're preparing them to become the Future Leaders of the organization as well and so again just some of the other key points which reflect across the entire organization the long-term planning that I just talked about of having those five-year forecasts having the Strategic plan which outlines the key initiatives all plays a key role in getting these type of results so again very very good news again with the bond rating Improvement for the International Airport and so that covers the presentation I'll turn over to city manager who so I actually was going to make some points but I don't have to because Robert made them all and I was just going to point out that in 2014 Robert cortinas was a senior budget analyst and today he's a Chief Financial Officer for the city of El Paso and I can tell you just based on my experience in working in other cities and working here he is the best CFO in the state of Texas if not one of the best in the nation and that happened because like what he said we invest in our staff we train them we develop them we do have a good systems and processes that we enable our staff with they use them they they understand how they can capitalize and leverage those systems and processes and they get us these results but you need people any leaders and he talked about how we invest in our people and that we grow our own and that they become the Future Leaders of organization well you see in the future you're seeing the president right now with Robert and that he has developed over time and he's an incredible talent and I come right from here from El Paso and the fact that we do have the training that we've invested in our in our people we have a lot of people like Robert in the organization that we put in front of you as you see you just don't have department heads present in front of you you have uh mental managers uh I know that uh just by coincidence Mr molinar attended an event where we had an event for the 500 which represents the middle management of the organization and he was very impressed with it I probably should have invited the entire Council to that but he was only there because we had to ask him if he didn't mind coming out to the zoo to meet me there since I was already there for for our staff for an event an all-day event that we had for him it was the leadership development uh course and an event rather and those things are not just something that you know they're feel good things there are things where we train them we develop them we we share just different processes and systems with them and they pay off and you're seeing it pay off right here in front of you with the results that you see and the person who's delivering it who's developed over time and like I said is one of the best in the nation and definitely the best in the state so thank you Robert for that presentation thank you representative thank you mayor going back to slide eight and uh where it says the last bullet Point ballpark debt Capital Improvements are now self-supporting no longer require general fund subsidies is that through fiscal year 22 or it begins in fiscal year 23 or just because you're 22 so the fiscal that just ended August 31st was the first year that no general fund subsidy was needed to make the debt payment or to go towards the Capital Improvements and so next week you're going to hear the update from myself on how the fiscal year finished You're Going to Hear The Five-Year CIP for the ball prep from San Rodriguez and what our recommendation is going to be to fund that but yes so this is as a fiscal year 2022 as we I'll show you next week the projections continue to be positive we actually generated about a 1.3 million dollar Surplus to the dedicated Hotel like busy tax revenue for the ballpark so that 1.3 million with what you all approved back in August that 1.3 million surplus has to stay it's restricted for the ballpark and so that's what was used to fund the Capital Improvements for the ballpark okay this past year thank you Mr cortinas and also on slide number nine uh City Bond rating Improvement International Airport revenue bonds last bullet point around 200 days of cash on hand what does that translate in millions of dollars oh I I don't have it you don't have it yeah but I can I'll send that to you all all right and that's impressive for the airport they've continued just like the city general fund revenue or reserves the airport's done the same continue to increase their operating days of fund balance as well okay and also on the very first bullet point on that same slide number nine the s p Global ratings raised its long-term rating from a plus from a so we're now at a plus correct a plus all right thank you sir thank you thank you representative representative Hernandez I give a special thank you to the airport staff for their hard work along with the the finance team um anytime I see our bond ratings increase it really brings me significant Joy because these increases to our bond ratings translates to direct savings to El pasoans to our airport and so that's very significant and so I wanted to thank you Robert I can agree more with Mr Gonzalez's statements um you have I mean I've watched you over the years you have grown professionally very significantly and um it's really in the data it's really in the performance and the metrics that we're meeting this is a direct Testament to your leadership as well and so we thank you we're better off because you are guiding us through the the financial health of the city of El Paso and so I just really thank you and your family for the sacrifice that you give to our community long hours late nights we understand it it's not it doesn't go unrecognized so we really really appreciate all the hard work from the finance team this is such a great accomplishment and congratulations to this body to city council and to the city of El Paso thank you Richard nundish and um one thing I do want to really congratulate the staff on the Christmas lights at the airport they're incredibly beautiful they're really it's a wonderful job and I know that I've had people that have come in and people that are leaving and they comment they said they've been to a lot of airports across the country and they've never seen better lights and I've been out there late at night and I look at it and it it really is it's it's a big undertaking because it's not just a little bit it's a lot of lights everywhere so congratulations and a beautiful job to the staff thank you thank you with that Mr Prine yes mayor that brings us to the next item on the agenda this is 14 and it's a presentation and discussion on El Paso Animal Services volunteer program hi good morning members of the council Michelle Anderson for the record marketing and public engagement manager for El Paso Animal Services as mentioned we're going to be presenting on our volunteer program today this is one of the many life-saving programs that we have at El Paso Animal Services we're going to talk about a little bit about the volunteer program how it works our onboarding process some of the Partnerships that we have that make this volunteer program such a success and of course some of the opportunities that we have through our volunteer program as well so a little bit about the El Paso Animal Services volunteer program it is a one of the 11 best practices as part of the shelter reform plan that was passed back in 2016 to have a thriving volunteer program and this is just one of the many ways for the community to get involved with our organization Community involvement is really important in terms of making El Paso a no-kill community and the volunteer program is one of the many ways that the community can get involved with the shelter when this program began back in 2013 2014 our volunteer program was very limited pretty much anyone that wanted to volunteer at the shelter all they could really do was walk dogs maybe play with a handful of cats but that was basically about it anything further than that unfortunately we didn't have the opportunities the training or the support to have volunteers be more integrated in the department and I'm very excited and happy to say that that has since changed but what we've seen over the years is that people really want to help we have uh you know dozens of people reach out to us every single day wanting to find out how they can get involved with the shelter how they can get involved with life-saving and the volunteer program is a thriving program so a little bit about onboarding and training like I said back in 2013 2014 all they could really do was you know walk a few dogs maybe play with some cats we have ramped up our training efforts over the last few years they go over a new volunteer orientation and shelter tour we also have partnered with the transformation office as well here at City Hall that has provided AP Learners access to trainings such as violence in the workplace sexual harassment various different trainings that us as staff and as council members do have to go through as well and then we have different levels of animal handling training depending on what level that that volunteer wants to uh progress in and then various other different trainings to participate around the shelter whether they want to help with play groups taking dogs out to the play yard and letting them run around and play if they want to do clicker training and help train dogs to help them become more adoptable and departmental training program specific training we have various different trainings for our volunteers to really be integrated within the organization but back in you know when covid first hit we closed our volunteer program at the peak of covid we weren't sure really this was a very new disease we weren't really sure how it was going to progress so in order to protect the staff and our volunteers as well we closed our program volunteer program off but luckily we partnered with the Department of Parks and Recreation where they shifted their many of their staff many of them from the aquatics Department to help fill that void that the volunteers left they were able to help us with walking dogs and reading to our cats and providing enrichment which is you know some mental stimulation and during that time period we also were able to develop new ways for volunteers to participate virtually or in more off-site locations rather than grouping during coved which we've continued on to today and over the last couple of years we've increased various different opportunities and continuing to enhance our onboarding process we heard from our volunteers that when they discover this opportunity to come and volunteer with us at the shelter they want to get started right away as soon as they fill out that application they want to come in and start working with dogs and with cats and you know making a difference so we're continuing to work with the transformation office and human resources to enhance that onboarding process make it easier and more seamless for them we've added numerous more training opportunities to make sure that they're safe but also integrated within the department and handling various different animals and assisting them with their either Behavior or taking them out of their kennels we expanded our opportunities across the shelter and not only are they walking dogs or playing with cats they're helping clean kennels they're helping with customers service they're helping with data entry we have a skill specific volunteers as well that help with grooming or photography and we've also developed Pathways to careers in Animal Welfare as well if you remember a couple presentations ago where we talked about our medical team our vet science students are a huge part of this volunteer program and a part of our medical team where they're able to gain that veterinary assistant certification through a program with us and we're currently partnered with four local high schools and about to add on a fifth like I said volunteers help in all areas of the shelter if they want to help if they want to get involved if they're ready to get dirty we'll we'll get them integrated in the department and we see so many people that aren't afraid to get dirty and want to make sure that they're providing that uh that love and that care for the animals that we have at the shelter with over you know 800 animals currently at the shelter we need a lot of hands and our volunteers are a big part of uh providing that extra love and attention that they need some of the programs that we have available of course starting off with our youth programs we have a kitty reading book club for ages 8 through 13. this is a program where kiddos of this age group can go and read to our cats and kittens provide some with some enrichment get some use to being around people especially around kids makes them more adoptable and on the other end of that as well it also allows these kids to enhance their reading skills we also have you know community service opportunities as well a lot of kids nowadays are needing community service hours for Honor societies as young as Middle School even so we've opened up opportunities for them to start getting involved with the shelter there as well uh this program brand new um we just started it right as covid was starting so it's still really taking off but we have our youth advisory and service Council which is a group of about eight students currently that are doing various different Community projects for the shelter and representing the shelter out in in their communities in their schools and encouraging more uh you know youth of their ages High School ages to get involved with the shelter currently they're working on a project right now called Pizza pups where they are creating little flyers for some of our long stay resident dogs and taking them out to we currently are partnering with pizza pros and they're including those flyers on those pizza boxes so that was one of the projects that they're working on and various just different uh volunteering with a parent or guardian or our vet science program as well we also have short-term volunteering we have a lot of people that not necessarily are able to commit to you know every day or every week but they want to still get involved so we have one day group volunteering for civic groups and organizations we also have our rescue Runners every Sunday where you can you know sign up come out run a couple dogs from 8 to 10 in the morning and then go about your Sunday and then we also have a partnership with the Municipal Court where anyone that needs to rectify traffic tickets or other violations minor violations like that they're able to complete their community service hours at the shelter and then General volunteer opportunities um like I said there is a wide range of opportunities at the shelter whether it's Animal Care and enrichment being strictly Hands-On with the animals we also have opportunities for maybe people that don't want to be Hands-On but still want to make a difference they can help with making enrichment data entry data entry Support Services skill based opportunities we're always in need of photographers and groomers and then of course really enhancing and integrating volunteers to help them learn about the various different career Pathways in Animal Welfare and some of our Partnerships that we have that really make this volunteer program a success these are renewed Partners uh over since covid has ended uh or will not ended but um has since it's um kind of died down is of course we have our partnership with the Chihuahuas and the locomotives our partnership with Municipal Court we have Partnerships with various different school districts yist sisd even EPCC and UTEP as well we have amazing volunteer base from our local military installations like Fort Bliss and White Sands and then of course our rescue Runners who are a huge part in making sure that anywhere from 100 to 200 dogs are running getting out of their kennels every Sunday and moving forward this volunteer program has really grown over the last few years we've had 242 percent increase since 2020 and we have even increased our volunteer hours since pre-covered year 2019. um I believe uh in 2019 we had about 28 000 volunteer hours we're definitely going to be surpassing that this year we have already hit about 31 000 hours so far this year and we're only in November so volunteers are coming out in droves we have an amazing volunteer base and we're continuing to just increase this volunteer program we're serving surveying our volunteer base to see how we can continue to retain and continue growing our program and growing our volunteers within the organization and just increasing our Partnerships as well because with as many animals that we have like I said we need those extra hands from our volunteers and our volunteers we cannot do it without them um and with that it has a video that they're going to pull up I can talk about our volunteer program for days um but I would like for you guys to hear it from our volunteers directly on what it's like volunteering at El Paso Animal Services the dogs the cats the other random things rabbits that come so that's been fun to be able to see but a lot of it has been the staff here and the other volunteers have become a family while I've got a point here I've done a little bit of everything I've worked with adoptions I've helped with different events I've been at two different parades but the main thing that I've done here is work with all the dogs that are here so working through with the kennel staff and also the training in Richmond coordinators and just making sure that the dogs are getting attention getting out and just providing that secondary assessment but also is working with them and trying to provide them a helpful loving environment that helps them grow and I've seen that become beneficial for a lot of them even if it's 15 minutes a day they've been very helpful and the dogs respond very well to that so I kind of want to start making a change if I volunteering here and also because I plan on majoring in like something with animal science so like Veterinary Urban and to know that I'm providing A change is really something important to me I heard there was a lot of dogs here that needed attention and walking and just human interaction and socialization so I um I decided to come and see what I could do as volunteers are the ones that make a difference in in their mental health because socializing is so important for them the need is really great and there's really never a shortage of things to do and I also part of one of the best parts of working here is how much of a difference you make in the dog size we really need a lot of volunteers and there aren't very many of us so what you can do makes such a huge difference in the lives of the dogs and they're always so so so happy to see you and there really is nothing like coming into a yard with a dog and they're just being like you're the best thing in the world so I really love the feeling I get from helping out the dogs there really is nothing like a shelter dogs love and you get unlimited Chelsea God glove here and even if you like cats I mean they really are just looking for someone to latch onto and there's really nothing better than being that person knowing that you made a difference in an animal's life is one of the best feelings in the world and I think that if you never try it you'll never know but um it is truly like such a wonderful experience to make a difference I love how how many crazy animals we get we get pigs goats pea cocktails sometimes and I just I love being around the cats it does help out everybody from making enrichment stuff to changing cages to walking dogs to up and cats get adopted it does make a difference but this is a center that can always use support they always need more volunteers at any given time they've got at least 700 plus animals so being able to take a little bit of time and help with all that is a very good for you and just general well-being but it also helps provide um your back and helps throw that support [Music] and you know we talk about our Workforce and our volunteers are a huge part of our Workforce at El Paso animal services so with that thank you so much and any questions thank you thank you thank you very much thank you for your presentation Mr Prime do we have any call to the public yes sir we do have public Iran Como well by Spencer Linville good morning Mr Como you have three minutes sir good morning ma'am how are you this morning thank you again um as you all know I'm here because we have a major issue and I get kind of tired of the life-saving comments coming from our shelter um just for facts sakes we keep being told they're on the no kill program I'd like somebody to show me something they're doing actually and not just said that is on the no kill plan you and I both know what this on the no kill plan we were there I was there with no with the Haas program I went to Paula in June of 2020 and told her what was going to happen because they implemented it in March or April not in June like was stated one of the things I'd like to bring to your attention is as you all were aware of the reports that were doctored and you made some changes the thing is is you didn't check with the city auditor to find out who was actually doing the changing of those reports however because the shelter police is the shelter nothing was done there was complaints filed you can check with the city auditor Mr Mayor you and I had a conversation at the shelter and gentleman told you about the adoption rate being 65 percent less Nationwide we already proved that was the LIE I now have information that the second thing you asked him about deceased dogs I'm being told that Environmental Services picks up the deceased dogs and they do not ever get accounted for because they don't actually go to the shelter if they don't go to the shelter they don't have to account for them is this something you need to look into um no kill plan doesn't have fine to Foster found reports and you know I I just I keep looking around and nothing makes sense I received a email yesterday to bring my Foster in for shots I haven't had a foster it helped out some animal services for six months so how many of those Fosters don't exist and as far as the mayor's conversation about his trip to the shelter I think he needs to speak with the human resources department and check how many people were employed in 2019 that were there for over a year or over two years and how many are there now that have been there for over two years I think it's cute that he spent an hour and a half and thinks the shelter is great let him spend time in our shoes let him spend time with the community that you're supposed to represent and see what's happening on the streets Mr Mayor you said you were going to get the shelter fixed when you ran again this time you know we're nowhere 8 507 less Strays went out the front door in 2022 and 2019. 2839 have been killed since Terry took over thank you Mr Como where is the Improvement thank you thank you thank you sir the next speaker is Spencer Linville good morning Mr Linville you'll have three minutes sir thank you ma'am good morning um Everybody um a little bit by myself Spencer Linville I am from Cleveland Ohio um good morning sir it's always a pleasure um I started volunteering um about a year ago um just to get an award for the military that's all I was looking for I never thought it was going to change my life in the way it did it had such a big impact that I am now going to school to become a vet tech and as soon as I get out of the army to become a veterinarian to help the city of El Paso because we are undermanned and um we just need help as as much as we can get it I am a volunteer I have over a thousand hours there about 1068 has been most of my time with the cats that's where I find most Comfort at um it helps it helps every every bit helps every volunteer helps I know we have people that look at us and but they won't take a minute to walk a mile in our shoes they won't volunteer they won't help us as much as they can um but the shelter is an amazing place it is helpful we do get animals adopted we do give them a lifelong home it's not glamorous work sometimes you come home dirty come home stinky but to see a cat go home to a family that loves it or a dog smile because got out of the kennel for the first time in in days is always good it's good work and I would suggest everybody volunteer maybe for an hour maybe for a day just get out there and volunteer um thank you for your time that's all I have to say thank you thank you for your service sir mayor that concludes a public comment on this thank you ma'am can we and will Council like to recess for the mass transit Department board meeting there's a motion and a second to recess a regular city council meeting to convene the mass transit Department board meeting all in favor hi anyone opposed the meeting is in recess at 10 11 A.M good morning everyone Ellen Smythe Chief Transit field operations officer and Michael just a moment miss Helen we need to call the meeting to order good morning everyone there's a meeting of the mass transit Department board for Tuesday December 6 2022 president our board chair Oscar liser and board members Alessandra nello Cassandra Hernandez Joe molinar Isabel Salcido Claudia Rodriguez Henry Rivera board members Peter swords financially sargai requested to be excused from today's meeting it is 10 12 a.m um board chair Lisa we do have uh called members signed up for a call to the public today right can we proceed yes sir um first individual is Josue Rodriguez hi good morning good morning sir good morning everyone um I'm just here today to ask again when Sunday service will be reinstated for all of Sun Metro because we still have people that are calling us and complaining that they're not able to go places on Sundays and we understand that there are some areas um that have been re-established but we just want to know when um will that service be re-established for everyone I'm sorry you may continue you'll have you'll have still have some time left okay I'm sorry so uh we've had several calls from individuals people that are trying to go to church um people that are needing to do things on Sundays um and we haven't been given not even a set date to when we can project that all of Sun Metro um fixed route buses will be running and of course if the fixed route is affected so is Sun Metro lived which is a whole other issue in itself but we do want to um have a a projected date for when the services will be re-established we're hoping that um we were told that by the end of what was it September November something like that um that the services would come back um we're still waiting on services to be re-established everywhere there are certain areas where um you do have service but it's very confusing if it's if it's confusing for the writers it's also confusing for schedulers um one time I was scheduled on a Sunday to go somewhere and they called me I scheduled on a Thursday or Friday I believe it was and then I called they called me on Saturday to tell me that um I that they couldn't provide that transportation for me because um they my area didn't have services on Sundays um I know that we tend to not be a priority apparently um the priorities are the streetcars we've been told before and uh other services but we do have individuals that are being stranded at home I'm not even not able to do a lot of things on Sundays we know that we've been told that there's shortage on um on staff we don't know where exactly that is um if it if it has been resolved or what has been done to be resolved but we do need we we would like to know if by his son if by if by February we can have that service back thank you thank you thank you sir and I know Miss smart is working on on that so thank you the next speaker is Ruben Montoya and his topic is also Sun Metro Sunday schedule good morning sir liquor man by Sunday all day you people got family all day do you got family out you want to go see okay all the negotiate your family then nobody on no Loop all day will you be able to do about it I mean waiting for the question I'm waiting for the question is fun now or wait until after the call to the public I'm not per The Rules of Order we cannot speak to constituents during call to the public they can contact you at a later time oh thank you thank you Mr Montoya the next speaker is Ruben Fernandez and his topic is also Sun Metro Sunday schedule he's walking in foreign good morning sir hey um they put their birthday entertaining to get we I want to go because Hey Brother uh I'm ready and what I'm looking at they want to be a person um uh he quit every day is the condition where he wouldn't get New York not here and we want to know what I'm gonna put Sandy and budget because you are I pray for you I probably and they have they had to pay um a human Penny can you answer your question for hey everybody go ahead Mr Fernandez you still have a minute and 10 with your comments yeah we weren't busy and said before we can walk and we can go see our family so if I wasn't going to pray I can't okay [Music] right that that's it getting okay see this um no I wanna know and you want to provide a city or how are we gonna get around nobody can answer a question what but I want to send it to the commissioner Fernandez your time is concluded thank you very much sir can you answer your question thank you sir the last speakers Mr Steven Strummer and his topic is not an ADA Compliant bus stop at North gamble in Arizona good morning Mr Shimmer you will have three minutes I wanted to thank all the Heroes drivers of Sun Metro who risk their lives to service in our Sun City I wanted to Express gratitude for the three bus shelters at the edges of the Vista Del vallier Park on Hawkins at Viscount Boulevard in front of the city parks building changing subjects here late September on Route 34 eastbound an office woman fell out of the back exit door of the bus at the stop at North Campbell at Arizona Street across from the UTEP Health Sciences Campus she fell upon both knees and palms and had abrasions on all four of them the lovely woman driver uh came offered assistance and possible ambulance services the woman who fell said she was perfectly fine would it be possible to have a ground Granite chat surface over the ground where the MCI Verizon cable is buried to conform to the Americans with Disabilities Act maybe a handrail for wheelchair access my neighbor Nina she's retired from the U.S Air Force she's 65 users only has only one eye mayor and has an eye patch and so it is her voice I speak for today my provider of 58 years in El Paso and Mrs Mata uh she's a taxpayer and homeowner has splayed out feet she uses a market cart as a modified Walker and uses the stop to service my home 270 days a year as a provider for the last three years in September at this stop her right knee gave out Crossing North Campbell at Arizona because it isn't properly engineered for the disabled people for or any people for that matter the curb sir is over two and a half foot high and it's got a slope from the stop down um I'm praying that this stop will be re-engineered is it a violation of full and flagrant violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act signed June 27 1990 by The Honorable George Urban Walker Bush thank you for your great patience hearing me thank you Mr Strummer thank you board chair Lisa that concludes the call to the public portion would you like to proceed to the consent agenda please all matters listed under the consent agenda will be considered by the mass transit Department board 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 up for separate discussion the item has been approved the mass transit Department board May however reconsider any item at any time during the meeting we currently do not have anyone signed up to speak on any of the items for consent agenda mayor I had a question yeah I had pushed the button mayor yes ma'am I have a question for number five I don't know if it needs to be pulled or if I can just ask the question pardon me I have a question on number five I don't know if it needs to be pulled or if I can just ask the question you can ask a question okay um my question is from Miss Miss Smite um on number five on slide 15 um I just wanted to be clear it seems like my understanding and I could be very wrong and this is what I want clarification on is that while the federal government considers a hundred percent under the poverty line the city of El Paso Sun Metro considers 150 percent um to be considered low income yes um city council voted on that standard several years ago and so that's the the standard that we use when was I voted on I don't have it in front of me okay well I can I can certainly let you know yeah I would like to be briefed on that in the future sure thank you thank you I do have a motion go ahead Miss Mike I was just going to say um these um uh Equity analysis are done whenever we have a service modification and in this case it had to do with the Montana Brio that opened in November as well as the additional extended hours for the streetcar and I know that the questions come up regularly about more service on the streetcar more service on the Sunday service as well as more service more frequency on the regular fixed routes so as I've recorded many times that we have to take turns because my limitation is Transit operators so the same people who drive the Sunday service as well as the street car service as well as the Brio service are all the same Transit operators so when I had pledged to you was that on September 1st we added additional hours for the streetcar on November and the first week in November we added additional hours for the Brio and that the next graduating class of operators will be dedicated to expanding um Sunday service the problem with me not being able to give you a firm date on when that is is because I don't really have control on how many people join my training class each um each time we offer the transit operator training class and so we're really at the mercy of how many people um you know agreed to accept the job from some Metro and then come and make it through the entire eight eight weeks of training so I if I could give you a hard date I would but just know that my um promise dance firm um we take turns and that all the services that submetro offers will be dedicated with the resources that that it needs over time we're still in recovery from coded yeah I mean I understand that my concern is really how in a community that's low income and we're looking at cutting services in the future not necessarily these ones why we would be qualifying low income in terms of equity at a 50 lower rate than required by the federal government when we already know that that a lot of the communities that rely on Sun Metro are highly low income and so I I'm more concerned about how we're using this metric and creating or like looking at this policy in the future for future I guess just cancellation of services I I don't really have an issue with this one in particular but I just wanted that clarification and so I would love to start that conversation with you so we can understand why that is happening yes ma'am I'll get with you thanks thank you for that we have a motion in a second I have a motion from Mr Henry Yvette I did not capture a second second I have a motion in a second I have a motion for Mr ivada in a second by from Miss Isabel Salcido to approve the consent agenda has revised the revision being for item two excusing members Peter Schwartzman and cecili saraga and on that motion call for the vote and the voting session the motion passes unanimously seven to zero that brings us to the conclusion of the agenda motion to adjourn second I have a motion from Mr Rivera second by Miss Isabel sancito to adjourn the mass transit Department board meeting all in favor any opposed and the meeting for the mass transit Department board is adjourned at 10 30 a.m thank you is there a motion to reconvene the regular city council meeting so moved there's a motion and a second to reconvene the regular city council meeting all in favor anyone opposed the meeting is back in session at 10 31 a.m We are on page number seven on the first reading of ordinances is there a motion to introduce item number 17 there's a motion made by representative anello seconded by representative Salcido to approve item number 17 for the first reading on that motion call for the vote in the voting session and the motion passes unanimously that brings us to item number 18. item 18 is discussion in action on the request that the director of purchasing a strategic sourcing Department be authorized to issue purchase orders to te of El Paso LLC the Solon authorized distributor for the 2023-0168 auto car proprietary parts and service lift your proof there's a motion made by representative anello seconded by representative Rivera to approve item number 18. on that motion call for the boat in the voting session and the motion passes unanimously item number 19. is a public hearing on an ordinance amending title 13 Street sidewalks and public places chapter 13.34 picketting to add exceptions and spontaneous events move to your proof there is a motion made by representative anello seconded by representative Molina to approve item number 19 there's no public comment on this item on that motion call for the vote in the voting session and the motion passes unanimously item number 20 is a public hearing on an ordinance changing the zoning from R5 residential to AO apartment office South of Detroit Avenue and east of Murchison Drive move to Perth there's a motion made by representative anello seconded by representative Rivera to approve item number 20. there's no public comment on this item call for the vote in the voting session and the motion passes unanimously item number 21 is a public hearing on an ordinance changing the zoning from R5 residential to GMU General mix use and a proving a master zoning plan and this is at 11 12 North San Marcel Street move to approve second to motion made by representative anello second and by representative Molina to approve item 21. there's no public comment on this item on that motion call for the vote representative Salcido thank you in the voting session the motion passes five of with five affirmative votes representative anello abstaining and we will get you an affidavit map following the meeting the next item is 22. and this is an ordinance terminating the sign design non-exclusive franchise for waste containers on sidewalks and other city property it's Motion in a second there is a motion made by representative Molina seconded by representative Rodriguez to approve item number 22 there's no public comment um sorry is there a presentation on these items pardon me is there a presentation on these three items 22 23 and 24 I don't think I think this is a voluntary deal 22. request by the former Bender okay thank you thank you there's a motion in a second on item 22 on that motion call for the vote in the voting session and the motion passes unanimously item 23 is a public hearing on an ordinance granting to Tyler Lyon El Paso Street ads LLC a non-exclusive franchise for waste containers on sidewalks and other city property um Ellen Smite um these three items are related um the first one is Smite we've already taken the first item we're on item number 23 and 24 now or really 23. the second I apologize the second item is um um being terminated and I don't know if you're taking them together but questions go ahead represent uh Rivera thank you mayor Miss Smite who's uh who's responsible for picking up those uh curbside trash cans each franchisee is responsible for emptying their own containers the company who monitors their actions though do you do um yes Environmental Services um Kathy Cook is the one who monitors the actual contracts in terms of payment and invoicing and compliance and then I have my Solid Waste managers who go out for complaints or actual field issues Temple I mean I'm sorry thank you on that I'll be sending you some because I I came across them that were really overflowing and onto the street already and not only my district but District Six and District uh I think it was District three so I'd I'll send you the addresses on that thank you man thank you yes yes please do thank you and this will be the responsibility of the new vendors that we're approving today and I think that's one of the reasons the prior vendor for their convenience they want to determinate thank you right with that I think a motion in a second did we get a second there's a motion made by representative Molina seconded by representative Rivera and council did you also want to take 24 I'm sorry let me take the vote on item 23 first on item 23 there is a motion and a second call for the vote in the voting session the motion passes unanimously Representatives short spine and anelo not present item 24 is a public hearing on an ordinance granting to Ruben Torres DBA Elite advertising a non-exclusive franchise for waste containers on sidewalks and other city property there's a motion made by representative Rivera seconded by representative Molina to approve item 24 there is no public comment on that motion call for the vote in the voting session and the motion passes 521 representative anello voting nay Representatives Hernandez molinar Salcido Rodriguez Rivera voting I and representative schwartzwein not present item 25 is discussion in action that the city manager be authorized to sign an amendment to the multiple use agreement between the city of El Paso and the state of Texas on behalf of the Texas Department of Transportation to permit the city of El Paso to design construct operate and maintain additional public parking on the spur 601 right-of-way move to approve second there's a motion made by representative Hernandez seconded by representative Molina to approve item 25. on that motion call for the vote go ahead nope should I know I guess I I don't have any questions I just would like to be briefed on these situations in the future um yeah I got a little confused with redistricting but yeah if we could just be briefed in the future of these things that would be great thank you thank you my apologies representative the voting session is open Council Council no site conversations police the voting session is open in the voting session and the motion passes unanimously representative short not present item number 26 is discussion in action to approve policies and procedures for planning it and implementation of the Community Development block grant cdbg program emergency Solutions Grant ESG program home investment Partnerships home program and housing opportunities for persons with AIDS hopwa program move to approve second push it in a second there's a motion made by representative anello seconded by representative Rodriguez to approve item number 26 on that motion call for the vote and the voting session and the motion passes unanimously representative shorts by not present that brings us to the to the public is there a motion to recess until noon for college second there's a motion in a second to recess a city council meeting until noon all in favor anyone opposed the meeting is in recess at 10 42 A.M yes mayor is there a motion to reconvene good there's a motion and a second to reconvene the city council meeting all in paper anyone opposed the meeting is back in session at 12 o'clock P.M we now go to call to the public the El Paso city council is a local government body charged with serving all of the citizens of the city 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 displace Civility and decorum that is respectful to other persons without the use of insulting profane threatening or abusive language public comment will not be used for personal attacks against a person or group's character or Integrity which are not pertinent to City business nor May any member of the public uses foreign for political statements or campaigning please note that during call to the public the city council may not deliberate or decide any subject that is not on the agenda however Council May propose that a topic brought forward be posted on a future agenda this afternoon we have three members of the public that signed up to speak the first person is Miss Wally Schick this check will be followed by Steven Strummer and Albert Rivera good afternoon Miss check you have three minutes ma'am good afternoon ma'am [Music] God Bless America and may God bless Safe America and everyone I wanna let you know I bring your joy 70 years ago today right is this moment I was stressed like a bishop and it was a German Santa Claus and I recited a poem that took me a whole month to learn in English to 30 army officers I was a waitress at the chairman concern that was occupied and they were supposed to be our enemies and I was their little waitress from October 45. and when I want to 30 officers and I asked everyone what do you want Santa Claus bring to you for Christmas and some officers said I want to go home I want a choo-choo train I want a bicycle making fun with me and one officer said can I sleep with the Santa Claus and that was a big surprise and this was my Christmas to give to the soldiers that I served Faithfully morning breakfast lunch and supper and I have the biggest Santa Claus gift in Sherman today I announced December the 6th my books be out published next week I called them up this morning and they're gonna come Mr Mrs Fenton in my house so I don't go in the advertisement and Mr Mayor I have a Christmas card it concerns every one of you I love you from the deep of my heart you are the people's mail and please I've been better than the post office here I'm gonna have people Myers thank you Merry Christmas in two weeks okay well next week next week Miss check we'll be back next week with a December 13th regular city council meeting next in one week we'll see you in one week yes ma'am oh thanks I don't see Mr Strummer in the audience we'll move on to Mr Albert Rivera Albert Rivera Mr Rivera's topic is noise nuisance and eppd funding for sound level meters good afternoon Mr Rivera you'll have three minutes sir hello bars to create I live at 537 West Franklin Avenue and the bar that I'm talking about is the hush hush bar at 533 which Franklin used to be the Blackbird container Deluxe here's my issue when I sued the Cantina Deluxe last time I was able to use my own meter and bring a lawsuit to them concerning the noise nuisance laws that they created but since that happened you all have taken charge over the noise nuisance law and the police department are supposed to have these meters to come out to do the meter sound to check to see if they're in violation the police department is underfunded is underfunded in that particular area that they cannot do their job for the people in El Paso that live in these bar neighborhoods that these boards created when they I've called the police department this last week at least five times on the weekends from Thursday to Sunday out of five times two of them had meters they cannot do their job they can't help me they can't keep the noise down from the bars they can't give them a citation and the bars continue to get away with this because the police don't have the proper instrument to do a simple job it's under it's ridiculous that we don't have these meters in every one of these police cars so they can do their job we have batons we have guns we have whatever they need handcuffs but we don't have meters we need to fund the police department in this area it cost me 25 000 last time to see the Blackbird continuing to lecture for the noise that they made I got my money back plus some extra I didn't get enough I shouldn't have to sue These Bars to keep the noise down when the permit department and all of you I'm not particularly pointing my finger to any of you have allowed these permit bars to be put in abnormal settings in neighborhoods you need to reevaluate these permits where you're allowing These Bars to be put in you're disrespecting the neighborhood and the people who live there I'm 75 years old it's mental abuse that I'm being put through because of the system the permit the birds the police being undefined so I can't get a strike thank you Mr Rivera thank you sir you've reached the three thank you very much for being here sir I got more to say next time I come back thank you thank you sir Council that concludes call to the public there's a motion and a second to adjourn the regular city council meeting all in favor anyone opposed and the regular city council meeting for Tuesday December 6 2022 is adjourned at 1209 pm thank you Council