Good morning everyone. Miss Prime is 9:00 a.m. Good morning, Mayor. Good morning. Good morning. This is a meeting of the El Paso City Council for Tuesday, September 24th, 2024. Mayor Liser is present and presiding in council chambers along with Mayor Pro Tim Kennedy. Representative Ernnandez, alternate mayor promolinar, representative Salceo, Representative Fiero, Representative Ria, and Representative Ganales. It is 9:01 a.m. Will everyone please silence your 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 Emiritis for the El Paso Police Department, Sam Ferrroni. Good morning, sir. Mayor representatives officials. Unknown participant is now joining Um, it's a privilege to be with you today to offer prayer and I certainly invite you to join me if you'd care to bow your heads. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the gift of another new day and for all the opportunities that you give us to make positive contributions to society in order to make this world a better place. Help us to be ambassadors of goodness, integrity, and honesty in a world that has seemingly lost the sense of importance of such virtues. We know that positive change begins with individuals and with groups such as this one gathered today. So, I ask your guidance in this council meeting. Discussion will take place and decisions will be made. and may it all be for the well-being and betterment of our city. I plead for your blessing of wisdom over my mayor, city representatives, and all who influence the direction of our city. May personal agendas be set aside for the pursuit of peace, prosperity, and safety of our city. God bless our leaders and elected officials. God bless El Paso and God bless America. In the name of my Lord Jesus, I pray. Amen. God bless you. God bless you and may God bless you, sir. Thank you. For the pledge, will you all stay? Please rise for the pledge. Mayor Prom, can you u lead us in the pledge sir? To the flag of the United States of America there shouldn't be a difference of opinions and I ask everyone to please conduct in a very professional manner and no attacks on anyone and uh if there is at any time we will ask you to to you'll lose your three minutes. So I want to make sure that we respect everybody's viewpoint and again no personal attacks on anyone. Also, I would like to have a moment of silence for um as we uh we close our eyes and um pray for peace on earth, not just in the US, but all over the world. Thank you and may God bless El Paso and may God bless every one of you. Thank you, Mayor. And for the record, Representative Ato also joined the meeting at 9:03. That brings us to the mayor's proclamations. For those of you receiving a proclamation this morning, your group will have up to six minutes collectively to receive the proclamation and speak at the podium. The first proclamation is Hispanic Heritage Month. Who has that one? Represent Mullen. Good morning. Proclamation City of El Paso, Texas. Whereas we recognize Hispanic Heritage Month from September the 15th through October the 15, 2024. This month-long celebration of our rich culture and progress commemorates how communities like ours have influenced and contributed to American society at large. And whereas this celebration of Hispanic heritage began in 1968 after it was introduced by California Congressman George E. Brown and solidified by President Lyndon B. Johnson to fully recognize the major contributions of the Hispanic community. And whereas today the Latino population is over 62 million people and makes up 18.9% of the total population of the United States. Latinos are also the majority of new entrepreneurs, cementing them as having some of the strongest purchasing power in the country. Whereas nearly 5 million Hispanicowned businesses in the United States contribute nearly 800 billion to the American economy each year, those in the Hispanic community tend to start their own businesses at a higher rate than any other racial group in the United States with nearly 400,000 of small business being owned by Hispanic Americans. Whereas those in the Hispanic community not only represent an economic powerhouse, but also serve in areas deeply needed in our communities, they often feel critical workforce gaps in the labor market, including agriculture, hospitality construction and healthcare. And whereas Hispanic Americans are a major contributor to the United States, paying nearly $800 billion dollars to the American economy, ensuring the well-being of the United States economy and with nearly 2.5 trillion in spending power. During the COVID pandemic, these small businesses fueled our economy with an increase in entrepreneurs and small business by 34% during a critical time nationwide. Undeniably, the Hispanic business community is a major part of our country's economy, setting increasingly impressive numbers of new businesses. Now, therefore, it be proclaimed by the mayor and council of the city of El Paso that September the 24th, 2024 shall be known as Hispanic Heritage M. Sign the honorable mayor Oscar Leiser, city of El Paso. Good morning. How are you, ma'am? Sorry, I have been ill for a little while, so you'll have to excuse me, but thank you, mayor and council, for allowing us this opportunity to celebrate what is right about El Paso, and that is our Hispanic culture. We are rich with a tapestry of all kinds of things, but specifically as a Hispanic chamber, we work with a lot of Hispanic businesses. We saw firsthand that during COVID, it was those small mom and pops that kept us going. We want to thank each of you as representatives of our city for what you do for El Paso. Someone has to run for office. I'm glad it's each of you and not me. Um, and thank you for what you do for our leadership. And thank you for all the efforts that you've provided our organization in celebrating what is right about El Paso and that's our Hispanic culture. We do have a big event coming up on November 9th. It's as a last event is our fiesta celebration and we are bringing in none other than Mr. Lee Trevino himself. So, we will be sending you all kinds of in interesting information. We also have a little goodie gift for you that the girls are going to pass out and just want to thank you for allowing us to celebrate Hispanic heritage between now and the 15th of October. Thank you. Thank you. And um as you're coming up to take a picture, I think it's important to Hispanic Chamber that um you know, you represent El Paso and a lot of businesses, but you also represent El Paso outside the city, and that's what's so important. Representative Salce, hold on one second, please. It's okay. Go ahead. Just wanted to Thank you so much, Mayor. um thank the the El Paso Hispanic Chamber for everything you all do. Um wanted to really share that during the very tough times that we all experienced during pandemic as a small business owner, El Paso Hispanic Chamber really is the only one that was able to provide PPE for for me. Um it was very tough time as many businesses suffered. you all were there for the community and I wanted to let you all know that you were impactful for me and that little bit helped and I could not see that you all weren't very impactful for all our small businesses and a lot of the uh trainings that you all have have been really great and and sat out and and people from my district love the training. So, thank you for everything you all are doing. Thank you. Tequila, but we didn't want to get it. Thank you. Art wants some and the next proclamation is mental illness awareness week. Yes, ma'am. Nundis, good morning. The proclamation reads, proclamation of the city of El Paso, Texas. Whereas one in five adults experience a mental health condition in any given year. And whereas every individual and family within a community must understand that mental health is an essential part of overall health. And whereas approximately 1/ half of chronic mental illnesses begins by the age of 14 and three/arters by the age of 24. And whereas long delays, sometimes decades, often occur between the time symptoms first appear and when individuals get help. And whereas early identification and treatment can make a difference in successful management of mental illness and recovery. And whereas it is important to maintain mental health and learn the symptoms of mental illness in order to get help when it is needed. And whereas every citizen and community can make a difference in ending the stigma that for too long has surrounded mental illnesses and discouraged people from getting help. And whereas public education and civic activities can encourage mental health and help improve the lives of individuals and families affected by mental illnesses. And whereas on World Mental Health Day on October 10th, individuals from across the globe come together to celebrate and spread awareness for mental health. Now therefore, be it proclaimed by the mayor and council of the city of El Paso that October 6 through October 12th, 2024 shall be known as Mental Illness Awareness Week. signed by honorable mayor Oscar Liser. Congratulations. Good morning. And I think um one of the things that Representative Nun said is awareness and that is so so important when we talk about anything that uh what's available to the public and where people can go and when she's reading I mean seconds do matter. So you know public awareness and where they can go. So, thank you all for being here and acknowled what they can do to help. Yes, of course. Thank you, Mayor. Uh, good morning. My name is Katherine Longoria and I'm the director of government affairs at Eg Health Network. Our CEO, Miss Christy Dy, was unable to join us this morning, but she sends her best and would like to thank Rep. Hernandez, mayor, and members of the council for recognizing mental illness awareness week. At Emergency Health Network, we're incredibly grateful for partnerships we've been able to foster through community leaders like yourselves, Mommy El Paso, local school districts, other healthcare systems, and law enforcement to seamlessly integrate mental health services across the community. Uh through these collaborations, we've been able to continue our mission of raising awareness and reducing the stigma associated with mental illnesses. Mental illness awareness week is an incredibly important reminder to prioritize mental well-being just which is just as important as physical well-being uh both individually and as a community. It's a time to remind everyone that seeking help is a sign of strength and not weakness and we're incredibly grateful for the city council's continued support and dedication to mental health advocacy. You've all been great partners and we together we're making a positive difference in the lives of individuals and families in the community. So, thank you again. Thank you. Good morning, mayor. Good morning, council. Crazes, executive director of NAMI El Paso. On behalf of our board, myself, our team and volunteers. Thank you, Representative Hernandez, uh, mayor and council for this proclamation today. Uh, NAMI's theme and our focus during mental illness awareness week and world mental health day is my mental health at work. We know that the co pandemic has had a huge impact and has had a huge increase in conversations when it comes to mental health, but the action continues to be needed to follow. And so our focus will be on workplace culture, which is a, as you all know, a huge economic economic development driver in our community. And so focusing and making sure that workplaces are focusing on mental health, as mayor said, bringing awareness to mental health in our workplaces. 74% of Americans agree that it's important to talk about mental health at work, but less than 50% agree feel comfortable doing so. And so, NAMI El Paso stands ready to partner alongside with wonderful organizations and we have like emergency health network, the city, and other businesses and organizations to bring presentations, educations to employees and workplaces across our community. So that way we can build uh stigmafree workplaces in El Paso and bring these important conversations. On October 19th, we will be uh meeting at Escarath Park for the region's largest mental health awareness event, NAMI Walks El Paso. Uh registration is free and we invite you all and our community to join us. Additionally, NAMI Texas for the first time in their history will be bringing their state mental health conference to El Paso with support from uh El Paso Live November 7th through November 9th, bringing hundreds of advocates, mental health experts and family members and individuals living with mental health conditions here in downtown El Paso. Uh so we can continue to spread awareness, advocate for policy changes, and build community when it comes to mental health. and we're very grateful that NAMI Texas is celebrating their 40th anniversary here with us in El Paso come November. Additionally, we'll be having a visual this Thursday. I won't steal the public health department's thunder um during their proclamation. But again, we're very grateful for the partnerships and community here in El Paso helping us bring mental health awareness to the region and eliminating the stigma so that nobody feels alone and everybody understands that there's hope and help out there. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Representative Pier. Thank you, Mayor. Now, what's the last day to uh register for the NAMI walk? You can register to the day of. Oh good. So, we would ask that everybody kindly pre-register. Uh but if you haven't, you woke up and you decided you want to go take a nice walk at a park, join us on October 19th. Thank you. Looking forward to it. And mayor, I just want to give Katherine kudos. I mean, when when our office has any questions or any issues and and she can be supportive, we call reach out to her immediately. we get a response and help. So, thank you, Katherine, for everything you do for our community. Thank you. And thank you all for being here. [Applause] [Applause] And the next proclamation is October month. Who's that one? Our month represent Furo. Go ahead, sir. Thank you, mayor. Whereas the American Institute of Architects, El Paso chapter enhances the quality of life in the city, county, and surrounding areas by designing spaces that benefit all residents through through the built environment. Whereas AIA El Paso chapter is reasonable for design of many iconic buildings in El Paso, protects the region's cultural heritage through historic preservation, helps renew local codes, ordinances, and ensure the health and safety and welfare of citizens. Whereas AIA El Paso chapter is a leader in energy efficient design, urban planning, technology design, innovation and to improve our city. Whereas the AIA El Paso chapter encourages citizens, architects to take pride in and learn about build environment, understanding its impact on our city's progress, regional cultural identity, and improving the quality of life through building historical structures and neighborhoods. Now therefore, be it proclaimed by the mayor and city council, El Pas uh of El Paso, the month of October shall be known as Arctober month. Somebody help me with that. I got the R sorry part right. Congratulations. Thank you. Thank you so much uh mayor and council. Uh my name is Reas Fahani. I am the president of the AIA El Paso chapter. We um very much appreciate all of the efforts and attention of all of the architects within the community and the partnerships that we have working with the with the city and this great this great community. Uh it's important that we get the awareness uh community knows like how important and vital architecture is to the community because we handle a lot of life safety through the built environment. It's really important that we understand like how how us working within the community benefits everybody in general. So we have um I'm I'm accompanied by Lorena here as our vice president. Good morning. I'm I'm Lorena Hulgin, uh, president-elect for 2025. And yes, we're honored to be here in front of you to, uh, represent all the architects here in El Paso and and and and represent this month for we're calling Arctober. It's a month where we're excited to celebrate everything in the built environment that contributes to our community. And we like to educate and and teach uh, our community about what we do and the importance of the buildings that we live and work in. Um, we also just want to invite everybody to visit the AIA El Paso website for the line of events and activities we have lined up for children to join us again to participate and educate um what we do and and and have some fun as well as um we invite you to our October 20th 5K um 5K run and onem friendly friendly walk uh for everybody to come. and it it's guided it's it's planned to go through buildings around downtown and we provide you with a little pamphlet of what the importance of each building and historic uh reference they have for a city. So yes, we welcome you. Thank you. That's all we got. Thank you. Thank you all. [Applause] cookies. How you doing? How you doing? Thank you. Congratulations. We appreciate it. Of course. Hey, congratulations. I wish you would introduce yourselves. Wish you would yourselves out there. You think you How you doing sir? Hi. Congratulations. And the following procation is down syndrome. awareness month. Representative Canales. Thank you, Mayor. Proclamation. City of El Paso, Texas. Whereas one in 700 babies born in the United States is born with Down syndrome. And whereas El Paso County has the highest birth rate of Down syndrome in the state of Texas. And whereas people with Down syndrome are active participants in educational, occupational, social, and recreational circles of the community. And whereas the Down Syndrome Coalition for El Paso invites everyone to join us on Saturday, October 5th at the 2024 Buddy Walk to celebrate, promote acceptance and inclusion, and raise funds for the Down Syndrome Coalition for El Paso, EPCC scholarships for students with disabilities, and the na the National Down Syndrome Society. And whereas the Down Syndrome Coalition for El Paso Buddywalk will take place on the EPCC via Verde campus and participants and donors can take part by registering at epuddywalk.org. And whereas the buddy walk will bring together individuals, families, and agencies to raise awareness. Now therefore, be it proclaimed by the mayor and council of the city of El Paso that the month of October shall be known as Down Syndrome Awareness Month. signed by our honorable mayor, Oscar Liser. Thank you. Thank Thank you very much. Appreciate it. Good morning. Thank you, Mary. Thank Thank you, city council. I'm Belinda Walker. I'm the vice president of the Down Syndrome Coalition for El Paso this year. I happen to have a daughter with Down Syndrome, who I didn't bring because I didn't want to take her out of school today. Um um the Down Syndrome Coalition is wonderful for people here in El Paso who are born or in the El Paso area born with Down Syndrome. established in two 2015 for individuals um and their families born with Down syndrome. We um allow them to find come together as a family, enjoy activities together all year round. We have activities for our family members. Um and the down the walk is just one of our many activities that we have. Um if you all have a chance to come out and join us, I really invite you to come out. It's a it's a beautiful event. um Saturday, October 5th at VIA event the campus. I believe it starts at 10 o'clock and we welcome all of you out there. I appreciate everybody's support and visit the DSSE website for more information. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you all for what you do and um I um I know that that's just one of the few things you all do and and it's um it's the kids with Down syndrome are great kids, beautiful kids, and they're just like you and I. So thank you. Thank you. [Applause] Mr. Pine, the next proclamation is National Suicide Prevention Month. represent Salceto. Thank you, Mayor. Good morning. Proclamation City of El Paso, Texas. Whereas since 20 2008, every September is recognized as National Suicide Awareness Month to honor lives lost, support those impacted, raise awareness, reduce stigma, and spread message of hope. And whereas suicide is a serious public health issue and in leading cause of death in the US affecting all ages with lasting community impacts. And whereas suicide rates are higher in rural areas, certain industries and among LGBTQ youth. And whereas the you the city of El Paso is committed to raising awareness of the cost, risk factors, and prevention strategies of mental health illness, improved screenings and access to care through partnerships with local agencies. And whereas the 988 suicide and crisis lifeline implemented in 2022 provides essential support. And whereas if you or someone you know is suffering with suicide in ideulation, please call or text 988, the national suicide and crisis lifeline. Now therefore be proclaimed by the mayor and city council of the city of El Paso. The September shall be known as National Suicide Prevention Month signed by the honorable mayor Oscar Leiser. Good morning. Good morning. Um, good morning, uh, city council and mayor. Uh, my name is Ivon Marquez. Uh, I work for the city of El Paso Department of Public Health. Um, suicide can affect anyone regardless of age, gender, or upbringing. Suicidal thoughts often indicate more serious mental health issues or conditions. September is National Suicide Prevention Month, which is a time to remember the lives of loss due to suicide, acknowledging the millions of people who have experienced suicidal thoughts and families that have been impacted by suicide. It's a time to raise awareness about suicide prevention and spread hope. The city of El Paso Department of Public Health and local health mental uh partners NAMI and EHN want to take a moment to emphasize the critical importance of having access to resources people need to discuss suicide prevention and seek help. Everyone plays a vital role in suicide prevention. faith communities, schools, community centers, medical providers, and any caring individual can promote mental health awareness and encourage those in crisis to seek help. Some of the warning signs to look for are talking about or making plans for suicide, acting anxious or agitated, talking about being a burden or feeling trapped, increased use of alcohol and drugs, sleeping too little or too m too much, withdrawing or isolation, and displaying and um extreme mood swings. Please seek help for yourself and others by using the National Suicide Crisis Lifeline. You can call or text 988. The number is available 24 hours a day in English and Spanish. Remember that talking to someone about your thoughts and feelings can save a life. Um we want to thank you uh for this opportunity for this proclamation. We are going to have a vigil on Thursday at San Casinto Plaza from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. And we invite all of our community to support um all of the suicide um uh victims and suicide uh families uh that that have experienced suicide in their family. Um thank you so much uh city council and mayor for this proclamation and your continued support and um for helping us prevent suicide in our community. Thank you. Thank you all. And I know I said this earlier today and it's the same thing that we need to make sure that people know there's help and someone they can talk to and that's so important and public awareness is so important that we do. So, thank you all for being here and thank you for the health department from the city for always being proactive. Thank you. Thank you so much, Mayor. She just doesn't want me having to take time off. She needs you. She just loves me here. She's supporting me. All right. Sorry. Waiting on me. All right. Right this way. Ready? One, two, three. Thank you. [Applause] Mr. Cry and the final proclamation is El Paso Figure Skating Club D. Thank you represent. Thank you mayor. Welcome everyone. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning, everyone. Proclamation City of El Paso, Texas. Whereas in 1996, the El Paso Figure Skating Club was formed as a nonprofit organization to provide ice skating in the borderland and currently has the support of approximately 20 dedicated coaches to develop over 80 talented skaters ranging from 2 to 76 years of age. These talented skaters compete annually within the United States Figure Skating Association, also known as USFSA, and the Ice Sports Industry, also known as ISI, competitions. And whereas the El Paso Figure Skaters Skating Club completed at the 2024 ISI World Recreational Team Championships in San Jose, California, which lasted 94 hours in four ranks and faced 42 skate teams from other cities, states, and countries, and was the fourth largest team at the competition with 61 members competing and winning first place overall. And whereas the El Paso Figure Skating Club has won the ISI World Recreational Team Championship two consecutive years in a row, a feat which has not been done by any other team in over 27 years of accomplished by earning 471 points over the second place team for a total of 1527 points. And whereas the the 2024 Michael Booker Trophy marks another achievement as it highlights the countless hours, dedication, and perseverance of the El Paso Figure Skating Club composed of astounding coaches, board members, and skaters. And whereas the El Paso Figure Skating Club was crowned world champion for offering a high quality experience with unique techniques and strategies, leading the team to success, brighter opportunities, and developing good character as it proudly represents the city of El Paso. Now therefore, it be proclaimed by the mayor and council of the city of El Paso that September 24th, 2024 shall be known as El Paso Figure Skating Club Day. [Applause] Good morning. Good morning. My name is Kylen Almarees at the vice president of the El Paso Figure Skating Club. Um, recently we did go to San Jose, California to compete at the ISI Worlds. There were teams from all over the United States as well as about three of them from different countries. Um, so it was from all over the world. The girls and and boys did fantastic. Um, we had 61 skaters go, including 10 adult skaters that also competed there. Um, and it did last four days. We were there. Long days, hard work, a lot of early mornings, late days, um, for these kids, but they did a really, really great job. and they showed up every day, put in their best effort, and we of course came out with the the world's wings. So, we're very proud of all of the kids and all their hard work and dedication to it. Um, these are Thank you. our kids, they're going to come up and Yeah, if they can go to the microphone, the little ones on the side there, I'd love the them to introduce themselves. I got to meet every one of them, but I'd like to see them introduce themselves. Hi, my name is Siva Roso. I have been skating for about four years. Good morning. Good morning. I'm Maline Gutierrez and I'm 12 and I've been skating for four years. Good morning. My name is Sophia. Good morning. Hi, my name is Danica and I've been skating for two years. Good morning. I'm Valdez and I have been skating for nine years. Good morning. Hi, my name is Victoria. Good morning. Hello, my name is Evelyn and I've been skating for one year. Good morning. Hello, my name is Victoria Pales. I've been skating for three years. Good morning. Hello, my name is Adriel. I've been skating for two years. Good morning. Hello, my name is Ran Mund. Good morning. Hello, my name is Hardle. I've been skating for two years. Good morning. Hello, my name is Regina and I've been skating for three years. Good morning. Hello, my name is Vivian Lopez and I've been skating for three years. Good morning. Hello, my name is Cassidy Ali. I've been skating for eight months. I must say it's an honor and a privilege to be here today to represent El Paso Figure Skating Club. I'm proud to call myself an El Paso Figure Skater. Thank you for inviting me. It's an honor. Thank you. Good morning. Have a good day. Hi, my name is Marcos and I've been skating for three years. Good morning. Hello, my name is Raquel and I've been skating for nine months. Good morning. Hi, my name is Chloe Carell and I've been skating for three years. Good morning. Hi, my name is Aaron Eslinger. I've been skating for eight years. Good morning. Hi, my name is Bailey Escandon and I've been skating for one year. Good morning. Good morning. I'm Sarah Spritzer. I'm one of the adult team skaters and my daughter's on the team. We're brand new to the team this year and uh when the chaplain was praying about um for goodness, integrity, and honesty to make our local and small worlds around us a better place. That has been our experience this year with the figure skating club. You have to show up on time with discipline. Uniforms have to be perfect. The coaches have high uh expectations, but the group, the families have welcomed us with open arms. We helped each other tremendously at the competition. It's fantastic exercise, which I can tell you as a physician, it's wonderful for your mental health as well. And it was really awesome to see El Paso beat this really, really wellunded California teams this year in the competition. So, thank you. Thank you. I'm Sales Gandon. I've been skating for six months now. Good morning. Good morning. Thank you for the invitation. And my name is Vivana Lopez. I've been skating for five years. I started when I was real little and then now as an adult uh very proud to say that we put an actually name in place for El Paso, Texas and bringing this uh championship to you is a great uh commitment to you and we're here. Good morning. Hi, my name is Miriam Esinga. a skate mom and a fellow um adult skater as well. And I'm very very proud um and uh to be part of the El Paso Figure Skating Club because they really really they help local talent to shine like nothing else. And I've not seen anything like it. And it's it's an amazing thing. And they have to learn discipline and they have to practice and they have to be on time and all this. It's just it's making an an amazing experience. I've been skating about for five years now myself. Not very well, but I like it. It's scary, fun, and I can only invite each one of you just to come out and try it with us. Thank you. Good morning. My name is Kathy Park and I'm the skating director and one of the coaches. Thank you. Thank you. Congratulations to everyone of y'all. One thing I've never tried and that's figure skating and at 250 pounds and I've played a lot of sports. That one won't be one of them. So, um, it takes a great talent and congratulations on y'all and I think you all talk about it that that dedication. You know, first time you ever got on a pair of skates, you'd never been on one before, but you got back up and you got back up every time and continued to compete and look what you were able to achieve. So congratulations for not only wanting to do it but being able to get back up and continue and become winners. Thank you and congratulations. Mayor Proam, I remember when the equestrian center was going to be turned into an ice rink and everybody said, "We must be crazy because this is El Paso, Texas, and why would you put ice in El Paso, Texas?" Um, Corey Herman and I were working on that from the very beginning with Lori Briggs, who was part of the figure skating group. And I will say that that this is what we hope the fruition of that project would be would be that it's not just I tell people it's not just a hockey rink. It's skatable ice for so many things. And yes, you guys have to have different quality ice so you don't stick your toepick in then can't pull it back out. Um but I I just want to say how proud I am to to see you guys all here and all the work you do. Um, I know you take unusual times for practice because that may be when the ice is available and your dedication paid off and we should be proud that El Paso now is known as an ice skating center. Represent. Thank you, Mayor. I just want to say congratulations to all of you. uh figure skating and hearing y'all's mission about discipline, honesty, and integrity and just seeing that being on time means a lot. That's really great to to see. I I grew up watching Michelle Quan, one of my biggest fans. Uh I was a big fan, but I grew up in the project, so I I never was able to go ice skating. I would just rollerblade and try to mimic, which probably not the same. Um but I want to I've actually, fun fact, never gone to ice skate even though now. So, I am now going to go and skate with you all. Uh, I'm taking the mayor with me. He's coming. Um, uh, he's committed. Yeah. You ready? Yes. Okay. He said yes. Um, and so I I never done it before, so I'm I'm excited for you all uh to to show me. I might fall a couple of times, but I'm looking forward to it. Thank you so much. I think it's great for for discipline and everything. So, thank you for Remember, Representative Shelsey, though, it's not how many times you fall down, it's but how many times you get back up. I'm gonna let you know we're going to remind each other at the day we go skate. Mayor, yes, absolutely representative. Thank you, mayor. This only it's an honor to have read that proclamation to you all and this only strengthens the thought that we have uh most of us up here in council since we've come come on the mayor as well, how talented our youth is in El Paso. how talented our youth, our coaches that teach these youth are in El Paso. I thank you all for having such not only beauty and grace, but you know, the tenacity to say, "Hey, you know what? El Paso beat that California team." I love that. Thank you so much. Thank you, Rep. Hernandez. Also, Representative um Canales. Thank you, Mayor Rep. Rep. Pierro just whispered over to me that he also wants to join you. So, I think maybe we can we can take the show on the road and we'll we'll have a whole council meeting over on the ice. I think we can all stay up on skates for long enough. So, uh really I would love I would love to go out and and skate with you all too. So, uh we look forward to finding a time that we can all uh get out there. I think it'll be enlightening for the council to uh be on skates for a while. Thank you all. Thank you. And one last thing that I've always said and I can never say it enough that the future of our country and of course the future of our city is the youth. And by looking right at you all I can tell you that the future of our city is very bright. Thank you. [Applause] Get on No, ma'am. Not at all. We're all going to take turns on the ladder. All right. Right this way. Ready? One, two, three. I'm so sorry. Try again. Ready? One, two three. Parents, you want to give us airrop? Keep holding that pose. 371. Yeah, I give you options. I taste like 18 every time. So, this is like a game. Almost gay. Anybody else? Thank you very [Applause] from Monday to Wednesday. Miss Prime, I know that um we do have a um some guests here. The El Paso Leadership Academy baseball team. Can you all stand up please? Are they here? The El Paso. There you are. I know we don't have a proclamation. We got our wires crossed, but I do want to recognize you all and kind of give you a few minutes to um tell us your great accomplishments. Thank you for being here. Also, yes, thank you for having us. Uh and thank you for taking the time. Um we're representing uh El Paso Leadership Baseball Academy. Uh I'm Coach Andrew Anandis. Again, thank you for having us here. Um uh these gentlemen right here, uh represent TCSA. It's a long acronym for the Texas Charter League. Uh they did win the Texas State Baseball Championship. So, um, very, very big accomplishment for them. Um, the big thing about it is a lot of these kids, they do work, they go to school. Um, you know, over here in El Paso, athletics are kind of pushed to the side. Uh, we're neglected in the state of Texas. So, uh, being able to do this each and every day, uh, was a huge accomplishment for these kids. Um, the big thing about it for these kids, uh, I'm going to bring up Mr. Manuel Escollo. He's our leader of our team. he's going to represent and uh talk about all the uh the accomplishments we did do this year. But again, um it's big time because we did have to travel over 500 miles to play one regional championship game. On a weekend, we play one game on a Friday, travel 500 miles back and then we do it the following weekend because again, El Paso has been neglected. So, not only are they representing their families, the school of El Paso, uh but El Paso city as a whole. So, uh thank you very much again and I'll bring up Mr. Manuel Escollo. Thank you. Can you all introduce yourselves, please? Every one of you. Good morning. My name is Mones Co. Good morning. Good morning. My name is Ivan Martinez. Good morning. Good morning. My name is Abraham Contas. Good morning. Good morning. My name is David Reine. Good morning. Good morning. My name is Yoga. Good morning. Good morning. My name is Jose Muro. Good morning. Good morning. My name is Gando. Good morning. Good morning. My name is Ryan. Good morning. And thank you again for y'all being here. Congratulations. Representative Nandez. Thank you all um young gentlemen for being here. I have a freshman at the El Paso Leadership Academy in downtown. And what I can say is that the skill sets that you're providing to your youth are unmatched and the leadership skills through sports is very important. And um I want to highlight a little bit about uh what was reflected um in in a report in an article about your achievements. It says the El Paso Leadership Academy won a state title in the Texas Charter School Academic and Athletic League playoffs by a score of 14-2 on Saturday against Legacy School of Sports Sciences. The game was played at Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas. Yahil Yahil Kintana, did I say that right? Yahil Kintana was the winning pitcher, striking out five. The top hitters were Aruro Barasa, Yadi Yadi, Yadier Hippolito, and Fernando Cortez. All three collected two hits each. The El Paso Leadership Academy reached the finals with a two to zero win against Prep on Friday night. Adrien Sto was the winning pitcher and had eight strikeouts. Arura Parasa had a key triple and RBI. And now um you all won the Texas Charter School academics and El Paso is very proud of you. Thank you for bringing the gold home. Thank you for sharing with other youth and other um charter schools that we can also have these achievements whether you're in public school or in a charter school. And we're very proud of you. Thank you all for joining us today. We'll make sure that we commemorate this with a a token of our gratitude and appreciation and we'll deliver it to you at your school. Thank you. Would it be okay to take a photo? Yes. Congratulations again. And I said it a minute ago, but you all just exactly what I said. The future of our city is the youth and you guys are making El Paso. We know that our futures in is very bright moving forward. Congratulations. Come on up. I know. I don't think this is going to work. Can I do this? Can I get all of y'all to go and I always look at each other. All right, you ready? Right there. One, two three. At the end, can I have you move over to this side for me, please? Perfect. All right. Ready? One, two, three. Thank you. [Applause] Mr. Prime. Yes Mayor. Council, per the rules of order, no use of personal cellular devices nor personal communication should take place on the DEAS while the meeting is in session. Once you obtain the floor from the mayor, you will have up to 10 minutes for debate and may speak twice per item. Please speak into the microphone and refrain from side conversations at the deas while the meeting is in session. And for those of you joining virtually, please make sure your microphones are on mute to reduce any background noise. 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 prom. Mayor Prom. Page 19, item 43, moved to the forefront of the regular agenda per Mayor Liser. Item 19, excuse me, page 19, item 45, postpone four weeks per planning and inspections. Page three, item four, move to the regular agenda per Representative Oavdo. Mayor, if I could move item 30 to the forefront as well. Thank you. With that, do we have a second? Second. Have a motion and a second, Miss Pine. There is a motion made by Mayor Proim Kennedy, seconded by Representative Salceo to approve the consent agenda as revised. On that motion, call for the vote. in the voting session. And that motion passes unanimously. Mayor, would you like to take 43 or item four that was moved to regular first? Um, I'm sorry, I didn't hear you. Would you like to take item four that was moved to the regular agenda first? Yes ma'am. Thank you, sir. Item four is a resolution that the attached safe routes to school action plan be adopted as the city of El Paso's official plan for schools zone safety. Hi, good morning council. Um this is our initiative safe routes to school to promote kids walking biking to school. Uh we have prepared a presentation. Um, next slide, please. Oh, sorry. My name is Anime Sazent. I am the bicycle and pedestrian program manager. I work in the capital improvement department. So, moving forward, uh, safe routes to school is going to be our action plan to promote kids walking. Unknown participant is now ex. This um comes from our vision zero action plan, which you guys adopted in June of 2023. The vision zero action plan included several items that um required us to expand our safe routes to school program and through this action plan we are going to be accomplishing several of those action items. Next slide please. So in addition to the vision zero action plan we also received some direction from council um including discussion and action to create a uh school zone safety strategy. And then in October, we began moving forward with um council's direction with focused outreach. And then in July, we presented our public draft to you all, which we are now bringing um back our final draft, which incorporates all that feedback from the public draft. Next slide, please. So, the entire process was about a year-long planning process. Um to start we did goal setting and we did some outreach sessions with our mobility advisory committee as well as our vision zero task force. We also included in those outreach sess sessions excuse me um many stakeholders and representatives from the community that may be interested in this action plan. And while those outreach sessions were going on, we also conducted a citywide survey which was advertised in the news on social media um as well as within schools, parents and teachers. And then we used um all of that feedback that we got from that initial round of outreach sess sess sessions to put together a initial draft. And then we actually were able to weave that initial draft back through all of those aforementioned stakeholders to produce a public draft. And then we released that public draft and did a openhouse period where people could come in and read the public draft as well as we posted it online where people could read the public draft online and then send us comments. And that brings us to step three which is we where we are today. We are recommending the adoption of the plan. And after we adopt it today, we'll move forward with implementation. The action plan has a very clear implementation section that outlines the specific action items, who is responsible for those action items, what the timeline looks for, as well as key um measures that we can use to evaluate the program as it moves forward. Next slide, please. So, an overview of the public outreach that we did. Like I said, we shared a survey on local news, in school, and on social media. We got over 300 responses. And then once we produced our public draft, we did a public open house where we shared key elements of the plan as well as we had a viewing area where people could come actually read the plan and leave us comments. Um, and so after that public openhouse, we did a two-month public review period online where people could access the plan, leave us comments, give us feedback, and then we were able to use that feedback to produce the final draft that we're presenting to you today. Um, like I said, the input sessions that we did, we included the mobility advisory committee, the technical review committee, which is our internal um, counterpart to the mobility advisory committee and includes different departments that you'll see listed there. Um we met with all of the various departments that will be that will be engaged with the implementation of this action plan including planning and inspections, streets and maintenance, sun metro, international bridges, public health, community and human development and parks and recreation as well as police and fire. So even the initial draft was um guided by the outreach of our internal committees as well as these input sessions. Next slide please. So we created these five final goals for the action plan and this is what overall the action plan is aiming to accomplish. That first goal is to create a connected and comfortable infrastructure network for children to walk and bike safely to school. The second plan is to prioritize areas that are at risk, underrepresented and highly utilized. The third goal is to provide a clear and implementable pathway for future improvements. And the fourth goal is to effectively reduce vehicle speeds through design and compliance. So through our outreach sessions, we were able to fine-tune the language on these first four goals. And then through a public outreach, we were able to identify a fifth goal, which is to engage in local partnerships to expand safety, education, and community participation. Next slide, please. So the final content of the action plan looks like this. We have six sections as well as an index. Um the first section is going to be an introduction and background where we go over why this is important um why we are completing this action plan as well as an overview of the outreach that we completed. The second section comes mainly from streets and maintenance where we outline an inventory of our existing infrastructure and conditions in our school zones. And then the third section is going to be our solutions and strategies. And this is divided into two main sections. We have um infrastructure solutions, so signage, sidewalks, bike lanes, things like that. As well as strategies that are related to education and outreach. So ways that we can engage the community, energize people, um educate in schools, and maximize education in schools. Um and then the fourth section is going to be implementation and performance measures. This is where we have our big implementation matrix that details who is responsible for what, when those things should be accomplished, and how we're going to evaluate and accomplish those things. Um, in section five, we have legislative priorities. And then in section six, we have a equity based prioritization. This prioritization outlines a methodology that we put together within the capital improvement department um where we ranked all of the schools by priority level using data regarding um safety. We looked at collisions in schools. We weighed schools that had more severe collisions outside of their schools. We also looked at socioeconomic status. So, we're prioritizing schools that have lower medium median household incomes as well as schools that do not have um access to cars in their household. And then we also looked at um demand. So, we're going to be prioritizing schools where schools where the students may be already walking and biking to school. And then we will also be making public a index which includes our survey results and the data from the prioritization. Next slide please. So like I said um we completed a high level priority analysis where we identified schools that might be most at risk or might be um already walking and biking to school and through that analysis we identified these top 11 priority schools. Um you can see in this map here these darker areas are highest priority and these lighter red areas are considered lower priority through the analysis. Um the action plan details very specific maps of all three of those factors that I mentioned before and how we came to this this priority conclusion. Next slide please. So, an example of a lowcost infrastructure solution that we can implement as part of this program is um a quick build. And a quick build is a lowcost temporary infrastructure solution that we do with paint, vertical delineators, and other low-cost materials. We did our pilot project outside Guen and Hart Elementary School. Um, as you can see, rather than filling in these these are they're called bulbouts. Rather than filling them in with concrete, there's a striping here. And then those striping later on is filled with delineators. And what this does is it reduces the space that the pedestrians have to cross. So it's it's taking back that space from the cars and giving it back to the pedestrians. And then it's also going to be increasing the visibility, which you'll get a little bit more insight to in the next slide. But it also shows um data shows that when we narrow the road like this, it forces the pedestrians to pay attention a little bit more and naturally they'll go a little bit slower. And there's also data that on the corner like this that you can see in the bottom left that doing it on the corner reduces turning speed. So this is just a small example of these lowcost semi-permanent infrastructure solutions that we can implement um in schools all over the city. Next slide please. And so a really fun element of these um quick builds is we got to do a community painting event for this pilot project where students that go to the local school got to come out and actually paint inside of these curb extensions. And like I said, these colors are going to really increase the visibility, but it's also going to give the schools a little bit of ownership and understanding of the project and hopefully encourage them to walk and bike to school. So, after we did the painting um of just the white stripes, the students came out there and painted their school colors inside of the curb extensions. And then after that, we had a local artist come and paint a mural on top of the curb extensions. And then the delineators were installed also to enforce those curb extensions. Next slide, please. So, a couple of the well, one of the main elements of the education and outreach within this um action plan is to really encourage these schools to maximize education and outreach. We are going to be creating a community toolbox and this is going to be filled with um program guides you know incentive materials um different education things that they can very easily download and implement and share in their schools. Um and this is meant to really reduce those barriers for the schools and um really promote them to make sure that they're teaching their kids um about pedestrian and bicycle safety. And the incentive to really participate in this community toolbox is that schools that do do education in their schools and events like this and and participate and use these resources will be granted an official safe routes to school designation from the city and we will give them a official plaque and an optional tree ceremony where we can um plant a tree on their community or in their community. We can plant a tree in their school zone and that will also provide a little bit of shade for the students who are walking and biking to school. Next slide please. So, two of the main things that we heard through our public feedback was concerns about maintenance and concerns about enforcement. And so, these next two plan highlights are going to address both of those concerns. Um, so for school zone maintenance, the streets and maintenance department, the streets and maintenance department provided us a school zone maintenance program which includes routine maintenance cycles, the additional personnel and funds that they'll request to be doing this um, maintenance cycles as well as what schools are going to be prioritizing. And then in addition to that school zone maintenance routine program, we are going to be developing a future a future program that will help us identify how we're going to identify future requests and how we're going to treat future requests for the schools. Next slide, please. So, I wanted to share with you aside from the infrastructure solutions, some of the other different um solutions, tools, and strategies that we've been exploring. We made sure to look at comparable cities as well as cities that have very successful safe routes to school programs. And um this is an example of a lot of those different strategies, education and outreach things that we can do. Things like um partnering with our senior and retired volunteers to do crossing guard programs, parking a block and walking a block, bike buses, walking school buses, walk audits. Um one that I really wanted to highlight with all of you today is the deferred disposition for school zone citations. Next slide, please. So, the deferred disposition for school zone citations is a case study that we looked at in Austin, Texas, where essentially if you get a citation in a school zone for speeding or distracted driving, you have the option to have your ticket completely waved if you participate in the safe routes to school programs. And what that looks like is you volunteer as a crossing guard for two shifts. You'll be assisting somebody else who is trained to be a crossing guard. And for the first shift, you count cars and you note the cars behavior. And then for the second shift, you count you count pedestrians and then you count the pedestrians behavior. And so I think that brings a little bit of attention to the people who might be violating um school zone safety regulations. And um Austin reports a 99% positive feedback rating and they have only had one repeat offender. And this is something that we proposed within our very very first outreach session and it was in all of the drafts. So, we've been um fielding this throughout the community throughout the entire year process and we have received very positive feedback on this program. Next slide please. So, you might be wondering what is new between the last public draft that we presented to you and this final draft that we're presenting today. And we did include um lots of feedback that we got from the public. And some of the things that that includes is um we added a section on cost and savings. So, we looked at some other cities, what they're reporting for their cost and savings since adopting a safe routes to school program. We also finalized these maps of historic crash data at all the priority schools. So, every single priority school now has a map where you can look at historic crash data and see where really these areas are of concern. Um, we also added several countermeasures in response to public feedback. Um, we added a section about possible collaboration between the school district police department and our police department. And we added a case study of the Portland bike bus. Uh, the Portland bike bus is a really cool um, initiative. It's one of the most, I think, successful safe routes to school initiatives in the country. If you take a look at the video, the kids um, there's several kids every single day that ride a bike to school. It's like a mini parade almost in the streets. It's a big social event. The kids are very energized about it. So, we incorporated that case study into this action plan as well. Next slide, please. So, then what is also next for this program? Um, we were awarded $10 million as a part of these safe streets and roads for all grants. A portion of that funds was to specifically hire a consultant to create a safe routes to school action plan. And because we were able to create this in-house, we're now going to be able to use those funds for actual infrastructure improvements at those priority schools. Um, continuing also with our vision zero action plan, we're going to continue to prioritize schools as well as vulnerable vulnerable road users like bicycles and pedestrians. And so many of those projects for vision zero will also continue to be in these areas. Um, and then through our education and outreach as we've been engaging with the schools, the community, and different stakeholders, we've we've already sort of got the ball rolling on community, future community paying events, um, future community outreach, bike safety events, walk and walk, bike enrolled school days, and different events that we think are going to be really great to kick off this initiative. And that is the end of my presentation. I'm happy to take any questions. Thank you. Here we have representative uh Canales followed by represent. Thank you, Mayor. Uh thank you, Anna and Hain. Uh when you presented this to us a few months ago, um I was very excited. Obviously, we've been working on this for a long time. And I when I say we, I mean the city of El Paso and you all um and your team have been working really hard on this. uh the the uh demonstration project, the pilot uh that you showed near Guen Elementary School, I think has been a great success. Um it looks excellent. It has held up very well. Um and I I I don't have data yet, but from what I can tell, from what I've heard from feedback from the community, students feel safer. Parents feel safer walking with their children uh to school. And it seems to me that that vehicle speeds have slowed there. Um especially uh on on Cotton Street and where you know there's a a pretty abrupt turn to the right that people used to take very quickly and I think um this this narrowing and very visual narrowing has really helped to slow down the traffic there. So it's something that I hope we can replicate at at many other schools and and I think this will be really successful. So uh thank you all for the work you've done on it. Uh it's something that we hear at least in my office and I'm sure across the whole city uh very often that folks are concerned about the safety of students around schools and students walking to schools. So this is a really important step. Thank you all. Thank you sir repres. Thank you mayor. And so this is great. Um, it's been like what, a six months since you last talked to us about this and then it's a fullyfledged out plan and I really appreciate it. I had a few questions in terms of your long, medium, shortterm goals. What do you see this being in terms of a short-term goal and a long-term goal? How long do you think it'll take to implement? And then you have the $10 million to do all of the all of the schools on the list or you still need to get more funding. So the 10 mill or the $10 million is not all for safe routes to school. There is a portion of it dedicated to it and we are going to do our best to address all 11 schools. Um whether that means that we have to do some of these quick build infrastructure solutions or um incorporate some vision zero projects into that. We are going to address all 11 of those schools and that will be a short-term solution. And then um some of the other short-term items include um you know a lot of education and outreach because those are sort of lowest hanging fruit and the kind of the lower cost things. Um and then long-term I think more formal programs like um a more formal crossing guard program would be great. Hiring a safe routes to school coordinator. Cities like Austin and Portland have really fleshed out um staffs that actually manage these kind of programs. So, um, short term, we really want to kick it off with a lot of these education events and outreach and use this first round of infrastructure improvements. And I see that being, um, you know, between one and five years and then moving forward, maybe developing a more sophisticated program for the city. Okay. So, this is maybe a 10-year plan. Yes. Okay. And in terms of the policy to get the traffic tickets and get rid of the ticket by ex doing what you were saying being a cross garden that seems like lowhanging fruit. Is that something that we could move on immediately? I do think that in the implementation matrix that is a short-term goal. That is something we can definitely accomplish sooner than later. Have conversations happened with municipal court? They have not yet, but we can absolutely do that as one of the first items after adoption. My my recommendation would be to talk to the judges. I feel like the judges would be all for it, but I think there might be a bump in the road with administration because as we've seen, there's been innovative ways of getting people to pay their t their tickets and it's not working, but they still have those same programs. So, that that's a worry of mine. And in speaking to the judges, I felt that they were more receptive to something like that. But I think that we need to move on this pretty pretty immediately. And I think that that'll be kind of a game changer to have other ways of approaching how we do tickets in El Paso. And then the other thing that I was going to ask, we had submitted uh school zone safety issues around Paul Moreno. And I know Paul Moreno is not on this list, but I thought if there's a chance to include it, it might be a good idea because now we have two schools at Pal Moreno, right? We have Paul Moreno Elementary and Paul Moreno Montasauri. And Monttoauri is on the San Jose side and so there's no school zone on there cuz there used to not be a school. And so that's a new development there. And I feel that when you're kind of passing through Dakota, a lot of people are spitting through the school school zone even until 400 p.m. I've seen it a lot. And so I think that's a good one to look at. I know that my office was working with EPISD trustees to kind of look at getting a school zone in that area as well as at El Paso High because there is a lot of issues at El Paso High and I'm glad that that's already included. But I think if we could merge the efforts to get the school zones that are needed there with this program, I think that would be more effective. Yes, absolutely. I think many of those requests go um directly to the streets and maintenance department. We are working very closely with them to um even beyond these uh 11 priority schools to include those requests and future improvements for other schools. Okay. And I I'll talk to streets about it as well. So I think more um collaboration amongst departments is probably a good idea. Absolutely. And then the the other thing that I wanted to discuss was what we could do around Jefferson with the tragic accident that just happened a few days ago that's been on my mind. And the unfortunate part of it is that Texot is already working on something for Paisano. But then Texot's plan is going to take 5 to 10 years including the removal of the pedestrian bridges and doing other type of of measures and I feel that we need to do a little bit more on our end. I know Pyano's text dots road but what what else can we do around that and and I think that one one thing that I was thinking about was as we're moving this MCA project forward with UMC and Texas Tech, how can we bring in traffic calming measures to that area? cuz I think right there right in front of Jefferson and going over the Reynolds bridge that has been a very dangerous road as well. And so I I worry about the the students and that one is our road. So how can we integrate Vision Zero into the Jefferson area cuz I think I mean I was just watching the news and one of the relatives of one of the people that was run over was talking about not taking that route anymore cuz they don't want to pass by there and it's the danger. It's the trauma from seeing the horrific accident that happened. So, what else can we do to be more proactive in the short term for that area? Yeah. So, in the action plan, we did include a section about the Pesano study and we are working with Texaw and communicating with them what we think needs to be prioritized there. But, you know, outside of that, what you're saying about addressing these fatalities, um, I think there's a lot of room underneath our vision zero plan, and this ultimately will fall under the vision zero initiative where we can do improvements where those fatalities are occurring. So, things like quick builds or other long-term infrastructure solutions, we can absolutely look at for outside of those priority schools. Yeah. And I and I noticed that you put in the BINO study with with Tux in the actual report, but not in the slide. So kind of does that mean that Jefferson is a priority school or you're just kind of looking at the corridor as a big project in general? So I don't think Jefferson is in that um what we're calling the high high priority schools but it is still a priority school in the data. Okay. Um and we'll still be able to address that under vision zero. Okay. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. Of course. Thank you. Thank you. And um thank you all for the presentation as well. well aware public safety and safety of our children, students is our number one priority. So really great job. You can tell the detail and and a lot of work gone into it and I know that we'll continue to add and work on it. So I thank you all for being here. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Prine. Is there a motion? There's a motion made by Representative Ria, seconded by Representative Fiero to approve item number four. On that motion, call for the vote and the voting session. And that motion passes unanimously. Next item, please. The next item listed on the agenda that was moved to the forefront is item number 30. And item 30 is discussion and action to authorize the expenditure of District 4 discretionary funds in an amount not to exceed $75,000 for future impending pickle ball courts located in District 4, which includes related pickle ball equipment, serves a municipal purpose of enhancing the quality of life of the citizens of El Paso through promoting community recreation and by fostering community pride and encouraging civic engagement. This item was submitted by Representative Molina. represent Molenor. Thank you very much, Mayor. Um, put this item on the agenda for many reasons. Pickle ball is here in El Paso, but we need to expand that. District 4 should be the leader as far as what we need to have, what we need to get done. So, it's my use of discretionary money to make sure that this money is funded for different things in district 4. And I also move to approve. Second. We have one person signed up to speak. Yes, sir. We have public comment from Miss Jamie Fiser. She's coming up today. Good morning, Miss Fischer. You have three minutes, please. Good morning, ma'am. Thank you. Good to see you all again. Thank you, Representative Molinar, for offering to donate your discretionary funds. We appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you. There were two proclamations this morning that had to do with mental health and suicide awareness. And so, I'd like to talk about that angle. Uh, pickle ball is very social. Do any of you have children or nieces or nephews who are in their 20s to 30s having to relocate to a new city? I have my daughter and her husband relocated to Ohio 5 years ago for higher education to pursue some degrees and they are still struggling to make friends. They ended up there because of well they they hit the front end of COVID but after that higher education stayed virtual in a lot of ways and so it's still a struggle and even the neighbors across the street across the hall they live in an apartment complex. They had two little children and they would come out and pet their dogs when they were walking and the family moved and never even said goodbye. That's one of the problems with apartments. you don't establish a strong bond and that is what we need. We need to establish a strong bond and the way best way to do that is organized activities. Now, some of you are going ice skating so you're done there. But also, Border Mountain Bikers has a full moon nighttime mountain bike ride. They just had one Friday. So, if you feel adventurous, you can do that. That's too much for me. For the rest of us, let's talk about pickle ball. I got three little stories. I got an email from a woman who just transferred here from uh St. Louis. She wants to meet people. She heard pickle ball is a good way. Doesn't know how to get started. So, I sent the email off to Ben and he's going to get her in a beginner clinic. I went to a scarity two Saturdays ago. A young man in his 20s just got relocated here and he is alone. So for him, he gets to put his paddle in line and as the line progresses, he'll be put on courts with people and he can start meeting people that way. But he also wants to know where he can go dancing to meet more people and that's out of my league. So if you all know a good bar, let me know and I'll pass that on to him. So the last little story is this past weekend we did a playd date for economic development and it was a blast. We went out to Grand View. It doesn't have permanent nets, so we took nets. And their department got to do something social, something teamoriented, and that's good for team building. So, thank you for supporting pickle ball. It's good for us socially. It's good for our community, and I hope you will approve this proposal. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Prime. A motion and a second. Yes, sir. The motion was made by alternate mayor promolinar, seconded by representative salceto approve item 30 on that motion. Call for the vote and the voting session and that motion passes unanimously. Thank you. [Applause] We now turn to page 18 to item number 43. It was also moved to the forefront and this is a public hearing of an ordinance changing the zoning from R3 residential and R5SC residential special contract to A3 apartment and A3SC apartment special contract and imposing a condition. Good morning sir. Good morning Mayor Council on Inspections. So this uh item 43 is a reszoning of property located on Mesa Hills uh north of Sunden Park Drive. Uh this this is a shot of the current uh aerial of the property which is currently vacant. Uh this is a slide of the existing zoning which again is comprised of R4 residential as well as um R3 residential and also shows the surrounding existing zonings which do include again R3 residential as well as apartment zones. It also shows the uh adjacent uh to Mesa Hills which is a minor arterial. There's 90 ft of rightway there with 60 ft of pavement um there to service the properties. uh our future land use map which is our our guiding uh document does identify this area as G4 suburban walkable which again does encourage uh providing that mixup housing um to account for nontraditional households and multi-generational families. This is a shot of the conceptual this is purely conceptual again showing the the proposed uh conceptual layout of the property but again purely conceptual. The uh property does have a zoning condition for a detailed site plan to be to be approved by city council. So that'll be a forthcoming application that will show the the final design. And then some shots of the property. This is uh looking directly at the property. Um another shot of the property and then looking south uh towards Sunen Park. Surrounding uses uh to the north and east do include residential single family. Uh to the south existing apartments and to the west you have I 10. In terms of public input which there was quite quite a bit of of input. Uh a total of uh 41 notices uh were mailed to property owners within 300 ft. uh we did uh receive considerable uh response both in opposition as well as in support even up to uh this morning. So in terms of opposition uh we do have 41 calls, 60 emails, one letter for petitions total of over,00 signatures uh in opposition. Um and again we were unable to update this slide in terms of the support. Uh we did receive some documentation this morning. So, uh, based on on what you see here on the screen, the five calls, the two emails, and the two letters, we did receive a petition of 500 pages this morning, estimated over 3,000 signatures uh, in support of this development. And again, throughout uh, from the time this application was submitted, there have been multiple public public meetings um, conducted by the applicant with the surrounding residents. Uh this is a shot of the uh notification area showing the properties that were directly notified by mail. So this is the 211 map. Again, the 211 is that state code section that does require a supermajority from council when there's 20% or more opposition within 200 ft. Uh this was as of yesterday um as as presented at at agenda review. uh as of yesterday, this was a 211. Uh late yesterday morning, we did receive a withdrawal of opposition from the existing apartment owners. Um so with that withdrawal, obviously that takes it away from the 211 status. So as of as of today, this case is does not meet the criteria for 211 as the percentage of opposition um does not meet that that criteria. And then just some important points to note considering the the comments and the considerable um input that has been provided from everyone. Uh just to provide a standard uh um um description of our notification process. Uh we again we did send out direct mail to everyone within 300 ft uh at least 10 days prior to the original city plan commission meeting. Um the state requires 200 feet. However, uh we do go above and beyond our local ordinance. We expand that an additional 100 ft. So, instead of the 200 feet, we do notify uh 300 ft surrounding the the the property. Uh we the code also requires on-site posting signs. Those are those green signs that you see advertising of the the proposed resoning. Those are those were installed a minimum of 15 days uh prior to that city plan commission meeting. Um, as the case for all zoning applications, neighborhood associations, uh, registered neighborhood associations are required to be notified. In this case, uh, there are no, uh, registered, uh, neighborhood associations relating to this property. Um, and then the city plan commission agenda, again, uh, minimum requirement is to post at at least 72 hours prior to that meeting. That agenda, uh, was posted at least 7 days prior to that meeting. And again, there's been has been constant communication between staff and the residents as well as the applicants um accounting for the uh numerous information and documents public comment that has been received. Uh again, uh things that that were heard in terms of concerns from the neighborhood. Again, just want to touch those briefly on those traffic. Um so in for uh staff to require a stud a traffic study there has to be a certain criteria met. Uh that criteria is based off the institute of traffic engineers uh numbers or criteria. Um the impact would have to generate 100 peak hour trips uh which translates to approximately 184 units. In this case, uh they are proposing 104 units. Uh obviously under the criteria to require a traffic study. The the the other thing to note is the permissibility that's there now. The trips that are there now under the existing zoning, which is R3 and R5. Based on maximum density, you're looking at anywhere between 50 and 70 units. Um R5 does allow for duplexes. So those those trips are already there. Um again further reducing that the impact that traffic impact um from this development taking into account those trips that are already there under the existing zoning that's there today. And then covenants was also uh mentioned again city was not part of those covenants. So um city was never a party to those covenants. Our analysis uh is based on plan El Paso. our guiding document uh as staff we do not take into account property values um for surrounding properties. We also look at the neighboring zoning and uses which again in terms of compat compatibility this uh request does comply. There is existing apartment uses and zoning uh within the um short nearby vicinity of this property. So with that, uh staff does recommend approval of the resoning based on compliance with plan El Paso. Uh the property does fall within the hillside area. Um so uh that uh that is the reason it was presented to the open space advisory committee. Uh the open space advisory board uh did recommend denial of the request. Um it is important to note uh uh the the reasons for denial were essentially the same as the concerns we've heard from the neighbors. Uh not necessarily associated with open space issues more the the traffic and and the land use issues that that that we've heard which actually falls into the purview of the city plan commission. Uh the city plan commission again did recommend unanimous approval with the following conditions. Uh capping the total number of units at 104. So, um, no more than 104 units will be able to be constructed, um, on this property. With that, that does conclude my presentation. Thank you for your presentation. Um, I know that, um, I met with some of the organizations, some of the people, and I did quite a bit of work, but I'll uh, I'll kind of lay it out as they come up or there's any questions, but uh, we did do a lot of research and a lot of work and met with quite a few individuals regarding some of the concerns. I'm sorry. We can't hear you. Pardon me. I said that u we have a couple uh city council members are going to talk. I know we have 19 people signed up to talk. I did meet with a lot uh two of the organizations, two separate groups. Uh some questions were asked. I did do a lot of due diligence and a lot of the questions that were asked. We did receive a lot of answers and met with quite a few different individuals to be able to have these answers. And as the the questions come up, we'll we'll be able to answer them all. Uh with that, we'll go to Representative Caneles, followed by Representative Salceo. Mayor, can we hear public comment first? Can we hear public comment first? Represent Salceo. Public comment first. Go ahead. Go ahead, ma'am. Thank you, mayor. Quick question. You mentioned the 211 um a apartment association withdrawal or apartments. That is correct, ma'am. The owners of of the apartment properties did withdraw. Which which apartments were these? Uh the ones directly across the street owners are JLK. What are they called? What are they called? That's the retreat apartments. Oh, the retreat. Okay. Thank you. You're welcome. And with that, we'll go to public comment. Yes, Mayor. We have more folks that have signed up to speak. We have 23 citizens that either signed up to speak or submitted a statement which have been which have been shared with council. Uh for those of you speaking, you will have three minutes that the timer will display green and you can monitor your time on the various TV monitors in the chambers. It'll be begin displaying green at 3 minutes. Once you have 30 seconds to speak, it'll turn to yellow. And once you have five seconds remaining, it will turn to red. We begin with Luis Lopez, followed by Linda Peacock, Don Smelner, Jose Nunes, Carlos Alto, Linda Cochran, Darren Peacock. Good morning, Mr. Lopez. You have three minutes. Good morning, sir. Good morning, Mayor. Good morning, members of council. In April, when I first saw the sign posted on the lot, I was surprised and I was angry and hopeful. I was surprised because I was concerned that the lot was very small. It's only 6 acres of land and when you break up the units in size in terms of people, you're going to basically have about 628 square ft per person. That's including living space, parking, and place uh to play. I was angry that home didn't include us residents. They came in and they told us what they are doing. When the Hunt family built the retreat apartments, they came in and they invited the me the residents to come join us, take part, participate, let us know how we can build a successful apartment complex and the residents took them to took up their offer and the retreat was built. There were no problems. There was no opposition. That wasn't done in this case. And I was hopeful. I was hopeful because I knew that the system once the presidents stood up and we opposed it and we presented valid arguments, we would have a chance. And I was so wrong. You can't win against the largest housing authority in Texas. El Paso is the sixth largest city, but this but El Paso has the largest housing authority. They have a $91 billion budget. They bought a property that did not have clear title and they sued Best Buy, Target Sprouts Michaelels Ross and Dicks and the retreat departments all at once and were able to keep those entities in court for a year and a half. Who can afford to do that? But we knew that the retreat departments, as long as they stood behind us, we had a chance. And therefore, we submitted the protest under the 211. then they pulled out on us last yesterday. When I go online and look at the retreat apartments, they are now listed for sale on the JNL and L broker website. So, the retreat at some point in time will probably become a uh another housing authority and so they housing authority will own the Tuscanyany Royal the Retreat and the 401 404 units that they're planning to build. Basically, we can't stand up against this agency overreach. But I'm going to ask you in the last 30 seconds to say no to this. You don't have to fill every space with a building or an apartment. We don't want to become like Wades where their buildings are just mashed together, one right next to the other and parking lots and asphalt. El Paso is beautiful because we have these little oasises of desertscape in our community in the middle. You don't have to drive out of town to enjoy coyotes and deer and rabbits and skunks. It's right there. And this is what this project is going to do. It's going to end all of that. So, I'm asking you, yes, just because you can doesn't mean you should. Mr. office. And if any of the citizens that signed up to speak need Spanish interpretation, we do have an interpreter available. The next speaker is Linda Peacock, followed by Don Smelner, Jose Nunes, Carlos Alto, Linda Cochran, Darren Peacock, and Lionel Rubio. Good morning, Miss Peacock. You have 3 minutes. It will need the Elmo, please. Excuse me. I'm asking it to display your She's turning on the Elmo for you to so it'll be overhead. Display it on the screens. No, ma'am. You're fine. Go ahead, ma'am. They just you got three minutes. Explain it please. Okay. Okay. Um we have like in our our to both neighborhoods about 1,400 around seven people uh homes I'm sorry and these homes you can see we have a super majority by the pins. each one of them are against it. Unlike home who have taken people from their the the list that they have for um their retail businesses, they took people who had the signatures who aren't anywhere near this project. Uh within the 200, their pictures are a little bit different than ours. As you can see there, we have all the signatures in the 200 and the 300 except for one house. And that's the way it was until yesterday. We're not North Korea. We're your neighbors. We have seniority. We are the ones that paid taxes for 20, 30, 40, or 50 years. We are the people that helped build El Paso. And we're just being ignored now. Somebody comes in and there's no they didn't in the beginning when the retreat came over, you know, they came house to house to talk to us to let us know what's going on. These people just came in and said tough without asking any of us and representation was very low. We're diversified. Let me tell you, I'm on fixed income. However, we also run a huge foundation and we give $200,000 away every year to 5013C's in the area for communities, but we're not going to do that if this isn't a community because the way they treated these wonderful people that we would just totally ignored. And on top of that, when I told you that there was a problem on the property, you know, there's dangers there. This is the one of the girls that fell into one of those canals. And none of you when we talked about Yeah. She's had a million over a million dollars worth of surgery already. And nobody's helping her out. They ignored her. Nobody's called her. Is that a community? I don't think so. If someone came in and looked at the way you support people, it's not right to ignore the people who have stood behind this community for how long and someone's going to come in and just without even calling us, giving us a piece of paper, giving us anything and just decided just tell we're just going to do it. And then we get no support. We get no support when we're behind El Paso 100%. What happened? What happened? Who are we as a community? It doesn't look good for me and other other charities that have come in here. Why would they want to give to somebody who treats their people like this? The next speaker. Excuse me, Miss Prime. Can we move the eel towards the back, please? Can we move the eel towards the back, please? If you want to leave it up, you're more than welcome. Just towards the back. Okay. Yes, ma'am. Thank you for that. Yeah. just no on the other side. Okay. By the by the pictures in the back is the next speaker is Don Smelzer followed by Jose Nunes, Carlos Alto, Linda Cochran. Good morning, sir. You have three minutes. Good morning, council mayor. Good morning, sir. First of all, I want to thank all of you. At some point, you did try to take care of looking into some items for us, and so that I'm very appreciative. Um, we didn't get most of the stuff that we were asking for. Um, and certainly on May 8th when there was a meeting presented, home told us that there was going to be a 700page report on how this decision was made available to us. As soon as we requested it through open records act, we were told we could not have it. Um, when we requested a video of the meeting, we were denied that request. Many of our elected officials tried to get answers for us, but we have not heard back from most of them as far as what information they got back because they were going to share that information with us. So, a lot of this has been put where it's we can see that there's something that they just don't want us to know. We were reminded as we met with some of you the success of home and I will agree home is very been very successful but I think we also get a halo effect. We're thinking that they've done everything correct that all we got to do is go along with what they've said because we know that they know their business. This is all public information that we should have access to. And all I know is that the even in our meeting and they acknowledge that all they did was check the boxes. They couldn't answer our questions. They they didn't have that research because everything they did was based on a formula or based on previous information they had back from 2002 2003. Ordinance 15630 if you're not aware of it was a procedure that was adopted by this city council in 2003. But when we talked to some of you or talked to some of the city planners, they were well not aware of the steps that need to be take taken. And that and this is still supposedly in effect. And that is that your explosives for all of your options to require permitting of developments to consider marketing studies including utilization repurposed all possible facilities in the area already in existence. the project location in the history of the developer impact of city schools to include high density anti-clustering to new subdivisions. Was ordinance 15630 applied here? Because according to some of the information I'm getting back, most everybody that was in the decision-making process was unaware of it. And therefore that leads me to believe that no it wasn't followed. I humbly request that you design deny the zoning change. Open space has also recommended that and they could still do what they want to do with that land. They just can't do it with this many properties. Thank you. The next speaker is Jose Nunes. [Applause] It team Mr. Mr. Nunes will need the Elmo please. Good morning, good morning, sir, members of the city council. My name is Jose Nunes. I'm a licensed uh civil engineer in the state of Texas. Uh the ordinance that uh Mr. John Smeer mentioned, it was adopted over 20 years ago. And one of the concerns that was brought up during their time was traffic. Uh the the traffic Like I said, it was it was a it was a concern over 20 years ago is a concern today with the addition of uh home recently purchased Tuskany Apartments and understand they're in the process are doing the same with the Royal Stage which is a retiring facility. We can expect an additional 660 vehicles with Me Hills 2 project. It would add another at least another 150 vehicles. That's over 800 vehicles. And as when we met with city council members, one thing, one of the concern I mentioned is that we don't have the infrastructure that we need in know in in order to be able to handle the additional traffic generated by Mr. Hills 2 project. During the public meeting of July 9th, engineer Daniel Shaveida, chief of the city's planning inspection, he acknowledged that the traffic at the intersection of Silent Park Drive and South Mesa Hills Drive was already bad. Mesa Mesa Hills 2 project will only make traffic matters worse. Unfortunately, according to the reference book based on statistical national average that the city uses, anything less than 200 apartment units does not require traffic study. It is my uh understanding that all the projects that the home has been building since there's been under 200 units, they never done a traffic study. I disagree with that because one thing that uh what we can see in the layout on the on the area is that Messa Hills is a a four-lane uh roadway, but it tapers down to two lanes right in front of the proposed Mesa Hills 2 project. Over 50% of those vehicles that will be generated from the the mesa hills 2 project will be traveling through the Leon through this really narrow roadway which is only 20 ft in width. So the Leon street is not it is a residential street and it's not designed to handle the high volume of vehicles traveling through that roadway in order to make its way to to Mesa Street. The Mesa Hills 2 project will generate anywhere between 150 to 200 vehicle. This range does not include any service vehicles like plumbers, electricians, HVAC technicians and care providers any and also any other support services. Thank you, Mr. Nunes. The next speaker is Carlos Alcedo. [Applause] to the elbow, please. Good morning, sir. Good morning. Good morning, members of city council. My name is Carlos G. Saledto. I am the president of Stland Park North Neighborhood Association recognized by the city of El Paso. Home did a reasonable sensibility study on the air pollution and decel noise pollution that the residents of their first proposed 64 affordable housing units would be exposed to daily from Messa Hills traffic only. But they did not take into consideration the air pollution and the noise level produced by the traffic on I 10, especially during the morning and afternoon peak traffic hours. Therefore, the environmental assessment does not adequately address the potential environmental impacts on noise and air pollution. EPA studies have consistently shown that children, pregnant women, older adults, and individuals with pre-existing heart and lung disease are more susceptible to air pollution. And people in low socioeconomic neighborhoods and communities may be more vulnerable to air pollution because of factors such as proximity to highway and hightra areas which Messa Hills will become with these 150 to 200 cars added to our neighborhoods. Other EPA studies have also linked long-term air pollution exposure with increased risk for cancer, diabetes, cognitive impairment, and neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. Approximately 70% of the people living in our neighborhoods of Coronado del Sol and Sunland Park North neighborhood neighborhoods uh have uh cardiovascular and respiratory health and their cardiovascular and rep uh respiratory health who will be extremely high risk due to the increase in outdoor and indoor air pollution. The proposed home project will deprive the local neighborhood wildlife such as deer, coyotes raccoons foxes skunks squirrels that traverse through and live in the proposed affordable housing unit site of their natural environment. I will show you some of the uh wildlife that exists in our neighborhood. This is my backyard and this is some of the uh neighbors that I share my backyard with. This is my dog Apollo. These are some of the bucks and other deer that also show up to eat some some of the bushes at at our neighborhood, especially at L three block one. And this is the way that they travel down towards uh L three block one to the reservoir water as you can see they traverse down this way but but because of the project being built they won't be able to do that. So I request for not to reszone lot three block one. Thank you. Thank you sir. The next speaker is Linda Cochran. Linda Cro Cochran, Linda Cochran, followed by Darren Peacock, Darren Peacock, Yonel Rubio coming up followed by Bob Blumenfeld, Gerald Cishon, Fred Dalbin, Emanuel Carcoba, Wala Lupteria, Karen Guido, Lawrence Gibson, Jesse Romero, Jose Martinez, Alma Nunes. Good. Good morning, sir. You have three minutes. Good morning, sir. Good morning, uh, Mayor Lisa and council members. My name is Lionel Rubio. I will address home's process of deception and lack of transparency in proposing building an infill project of affordable housing in the neighborhoods of Coronado Desol and Coronado Hills. From the get-go, we have been ignored and not listened to. Uh our neighborhoods have been framed as a onesizefits-all, and there are no such neighborhoods. We have been stereotyped and perceived as discriminating against affordable housing communities. Instead, we are standing up against an unfair process whereby our voices have not been heard and our participation has not been included. One needs to keep in mind if the people don't buy into the process, the process is flawed. We've had two meetings with home. Both meetings have been have been homes show and tell. Questions and concerns were presented regarding traffic, environmental and health issues and home has had no answers or answers have been unclear. After our presentation, the Pyano Housing Redevelopment Corporation tabled a recommendation to resoning. We met with uh city planning commission as per a report submitted by the city planner to the commission. No input was provided from the following departments. Police environmental sun metro the county's 911 district dot EP county water improvement district and the school district. And I asked why when these departments would impact the operations in the area. We went and did a presentation before the open space advisory board. The OSAB unanimously votes against reszoning preserving the beauty and the wildlife of the land as part of the city's green infrastructure plan. In closing, lack of transparency and deception are evident when requests when requests are made of home to identify the studies used that support their claims against our presentations. They refer to a 600700 page report which we have not seen. On behalf of our neighborhoods, respectfully ask for your support in voting against resoning. Thank you. Thank you, sir. The next speaker, The next speaker is Bob Blumenfeld. Good morning. I represent home. We'd like to go at the end after all the um the community comments are made. Mayor Pro, what was the question? There's uh I represent the housing authority home. Um we we'd like to go at the end. If I could have order in here, please. That's not I can't hear the question. Our our request is to do our public comment after the the neighbors have made their their comments so we can respond to any concerns that were raised. I feel that you were I want five more minutes. You know something? If we can't keep it quiet, we'll clear the room. Thank you. I think that you the order in which it was signed up would be the most appropriate way and I appreciate the fact that you would I appreciate the fact that you'd like to wait to hear all the all the concerns, but it it would be probably most appropriate to just go in the order. Okay. Sure. Um, good morning. My name is Robert Blumenfeld. I'm a lawyer for home. I've worked for home for 29 years, which is a long time to say the least. Um, first we want to thank you for for having this item on the agenda and we also want to thank the the city staff for walking us through the resoning process. Um, to today our my first comment is this is a resoning issue. There are a lot of concerns that are being raised by the neighbors. We have heard them. We do hear them. We recognize them. Those concerns don't relate to the reszoning process. We're asking city council to focus on the steps that are required to reszone a property. The housing authority, as your staff has indicated, they a reszoning application was made. That's a public document. Um, all the information that the city requires was provided and the reasonzoning went through the the city staff. It was vetted and approved. It went through the city plan commission was vetted and approved. We're here asking you to do what you would do on any resoning project, which is that that meets all the rules. There are rules. There are criteria. There's laws. We have met every single one of those criterias. And we're asking the reasonzoning be the focus of today's hearing, not the project in general. But I will address some of the concerns in in the minute I have left. Um there are concerns that the neighbors have that are not substantiated from our perspective. Um you all have had the opportunity over the course of time you've been in office to see other housing authority projects. Maybe you went to a ribbon cutting. Maybe you went to you saw a brand new project or you saw uh a renovation project. You you have knowledge about the quality of construction that the housing authority commits to do. It's very high quality. It provides important housing. Um you would also know if there were crime problems at the housing authority. The housing authority has almost 90 sites throughout El Paso. If the housing authority was a incubator or hotbed of criminal activity, you would be the first ones to know. People would be calling. Your police department would be telling you if if the housing authority caused crime, which it does not, and there are statistics to to support that, you would be the first to know. One of the concerns that the community has um is property values. The housing authority is in every single one of your districts with numerous properties. Um if it was causing harm to property values, again real estate agents would be coming to you, the CAD would be coming to you, um owners would be coming to you and saying the housing authority is hurting our property values. That is absolutely not the case. Your own information proves that the property values in El Paso are increasing. They are not being harmed by housing authority projects. Um the housing authorities had a very transparent pro process. There's been more than 10 meetings on this and um we we're asking for your support to approve the zoning as recommended by staff. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. The next speaker is Gerald Sichan followed by Fred Dalbin. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning, Mayor Council. Thank you very much for allowing me to be here and to speak today. My name is Jerry Sashan. I'm the CEO of home uh formerly known as the housing authority. And uh I want to thank you for all of your support over the years. As you know, I've uh been working at the housing authority for approximately 16 17 years now. Uh and we've been able to revitalize or build over 6,000 units in the last decade. So, uh want to let you know that uh without your support, without all your help, we wouldn't uh be able to be here today. There's $25 million that are at risk. $16 million in tax credits uh that were approved by the state to come to El Paso, specifically to this site. Uh and additionally there was $6 million in home funds that are also approved that we competitively won uh for the site also. Uh with the addition of the other monies it's approximately $25 million that if we're not allowed to move forward on this site will be lost to El Paso forever. Um the application that we had to do to TDHCA uh we had uh shared with you it was online and public was over uh 500 pages. The TDAC, the Texas Department of Community Housing Affairs, looks at every single site and breaks it down to its fin to determine if it is a healthy, safe, and appropriate site for tax credits and for affordable housing. Uh it is a competitive process of which the housing authority was selected uh to build on that particular site. The the apartments themselves are 104. We're not looking to increase density to what it could be, which is approximately 130. Uh we believe that 104 is the appropriate number. The open space there is is healthy. Almost half the space is open space for the kids. Uh the the number of parking spots that we are creating is in excess to what the city even requires. Um we we think that this is a healthy site. It's a great site. You have food down the street. You have uh ability for jobs, access to buses, and um we respectfully ask support for this particular community. As you know, we have approximately 70 communities across El Paso. Uh, Fair Housing was here. Uh, we talked to HUD yesterday, the assistant secretary of HUD. I had a conversation with him. The important thing is to give kids a chance to grow up in a place that they can succeed. And if you take everybody and you put them in the poorest areas of town with the most challenged schools, you take away their chances, you take away their opportunities to become what we know they can be as Americans and to live this American dream. We picked this site because it was a good site. We picked the site because it had good schools. We picked the site because it had access to parks. We picked this site because it had shopping next to it. But if we're going to take everybody and put them in a food graveyard, put them in areas of town where there aren't parks, where there aren't complaints, then what are we doing to our people? And what are we doing to these kids and their chances uh to be El Paso? We house 20% of every single school district in this town. One out of every five kids in the schools live with us. They're our kids. As this housing authority goes, our city goes. I appreciate your support. Thank you. The next speaker is Fred Dalbin, followed by Emmanuel Caroba, Gualuperia, Karen Guido. Good morning. Good morning, mayor. And uh good morning, sir. Representative. Uh my name is Frederick Dalwin. I'm with Wright Delbin Architects. We've been working with the housing authority for over 30 years. uh we have been selected for this project. I've started to to plan and have some uh uh design that we actually presented to uh the community, the neighborhood. This is a development that will be uh barrierfree, fully accessible, multi-generational family housing, including one, two, and three bedrooms with one and two bedrooms being the majority of the units. There also be like was said before plenty of parking space uh above a minimum code uh requirement a community center with amenity similar to other project like patriot place I don't know if you've seen the latest projects uh built by the housing authority in the northeast uh the construction is planned in two phases over a 24 uh month period of time this uh planning process uh match Uh the city plan plan El Paso for walkable neighborhood. The zoning fits the neighborhood. The uh A3 zoning fits neighborhood with actually more uh stringent requirements that the existing apartment uh projects in the neighborhood. Uh we also plan on uh including beautifification on uh Messa Hills with uh a lot of trees. We have over 300 trees in the project plan. Uh Mesa Hills is a minor arterial which can handle the traffic uh easily. Uh project include uh security lighting uh which is above minimum requirement by the city. We also uh the community center will also include some flex room for after school program. There is uh small sports uh like a half a basketball court. There is a trail a walking trail. Uh and the the development also feature quality finishes as far and so we ask you to support this project. Thank you. The next speaker is Emmanuel Carova. followed by Walup Reia, Karen Guido, Lawrence Gibson, Jesse Romero, Jose Martinez, Alma Nunes, Martha Jimenez, Elizabeth Oroa. Good morning. You have three minutes. Good morning, sir. Good morning, council members. Uh, my name is Emanuel Koba. I stand before you to speak in favor of item 43 today. I am a resident of Mesa Hills. I am born and raised El Paso, Texas. I had the privilege to attend Morehead Middle School, which is no longer Morehead Middle School in the area, Coronado High School, and graduated uh UTEP. Uh I speak before you today uh because we are here uh I am here personally because of the campaign against home uh by this community that has been led by mis uh leading rhetoric that negatively portrays residents of home properties. Since the signs first came up in the several months ago, a false perspective of the project has been spread throughout the community. Uh before me I have a GoFundMe uh titled Save Cornado Delo that states if we allow this it will bring to our neighborhoods the following loud mufflers, loud cars causing extreme noise pollution, endangered pedestrians, endangered pets due to speeding, graffiti, crime, increased police presence due to questionable activities and drugs and the influence of drugs on our community. Now whether it is their intention or not, a handful of people are portraying a group of our community as criminals. Home has given people who are not as fortunate the opportunity to put a roof over their head at an affordable cost. Home complexes all over the cities have been positive in term of building and improving communities and helping people continue to live a positive uh way of life. I feel as though sometimes we forget how fortunate we are in this life without realizing that other people are not as fortunate and struggles in ways that we don't notice. This area that home is proposing to build on gives people an opportunity to be part of a welcoming and diverse community. Even though right now the conversation isn't as welcoming as some would hope. I hope the council members before me today that represent different parts of El Paso can attest that home complexes in their district are not criminal hubs as some of the language might imply. The first few months that this project was revealed, I stayed quiet. At the time, I didn't think my voice mattered, but as I watched the misguided language continue, I felt I needed to say something. And I am glad I did. I am glad that I took the opportunity to stand before you council members and present my view. I am a constituent like everyone else and I believe that this property is more than acceptable for affordable housing. The idea of not in my backyard is not an idea I believe in. Thank you for your time. Thank you. The next speaker is Guala Lupteria. Miss Reia requested an interpreter, so she'll have six minutes. Good morning. Can you see me? Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, mayor. Thank you, Northeast Representative. My name is Beatatrice Losano and I'm here with Walup Reia and I represent here JR JWRC JWRC. JWRC takes the home communities [Music] improvement programs. programs to improve the quality of life, work or job programs and we want these new housing projects to be supported because the city of El Paso is very beautiful. We're more beautiful than Huarees and Korea or whatever they said. We are a city that is uh comparable to New York. We and we do have rabbits and we do have all the natural life that a desert affords. But we also have a lot of families that need places to live in. We represent more than 25,000 families who are benefited by home. My daughter was born in the home community and she is a teacher here in the Basset schools. And uh among the children of Mteria and the other representative there are also lawyers and architects. I work as a provider and I would be happy if I myself were to move over to the location of Mesa Hills to be a provider for them and help them. and we're not depriving them of their error air or anything like that. I think that we are a beautiful community and we are a peaceful community and we can live together and fellowship together those of us who have least less resources with others. And don't worry, housing also has rules. For example, they run background checks on the people that live in the community. And the traffic issue is not just there. It's something that's going on in all of the city. And also we see that you the representatives are always doing something good for the roads. [Music] And I am pleased and happy to be here uh with such important people and like perhaps some of those that came up like architects and lawyers maybe they're not in my community and perhaps we don't have access to some of the things that were mentioned like the ice skating rinks and those sort of things but I think we are a beautiful community and I want to thank you for everything that you're doing for our community. the home. Thank you. And I would like to ask that you all approve this request, this project. And uh they themselves over there, they're not going to be lonely. There are still going to be rabbits and um the traffic is still going to be there. We're going to be able to live together and I want to thank you. Gracias. Gracias. The next speaker is Karen Guido followed by Lawrence Gibson, Jesse Romero, Jose Martinez, Alma Nunes. Karen Guido, she coming up. Good morning. You have three minutes. Good morning. Good morning. Um, I have some notes here because I'm not a good exemporaneous speaker. First of all, I am offended that a group of people has been called elitist and racist by someone who doesn't know our heart. This is off script. Just because we are against this particular project does not mean we are against affordable housing. I'm not part of any steering committee. I'm not a member of the lawsuit. My primary concern is traffic and safety. When I use the term we I'm using the term of the people who I was at the meeting at Poly Harris Center. We were told that traffic in Mesa Hills and Sunland Park is terrible. So, we're going to make it worse. We were told that they did studies that the ingress and egress from this project would be Mesa Hills and Sunland Park. We were told that part of this project was to generate population at Putnham School. This proposed development is 104 units with 200 parking places. We were told that the residents would be the only ones to park on the property. That's my recollection of what we were told. If it's wrong, I apologize. the facts. I personally drove from the project to Putnham down Mesa Hills to Sunland Park to Mesa to Fiesta to Putnham School. It's 2.6 miles and has eight traffic lights. Then I drove from the project to Putnham going up Deleó to Camille. It was 1.1 mile and had five stop signs. It's ludicrous to believe any rational person is going to take the Mesa Hills Sunland Park route rather than through the neighborhoods and increase traffic in those residential neighborhoods. In addition to parking, let me let me move on. I have been a professional for 35 years and I have never been treated so arrogantly, condescending and patronizing than I have by the Mr. Shashon in particular who pretty much ignored everything we had to say at that meeting. If in fact he ever did make eye contact, which was rare, all they did was check a box that a meeting was required, a meeting was had. They listened to us. They did not hear us. Please do not let this city council meeting just be another box that is checked. I'm asking you to please deny this zoning request. The next speaker, The next speaker is Lawrence Gibson. Thank you, ma'am. Gibson. Lawrence Gibson, followed by Jesse Romero, Jose Martinez, Alma Nunes. Good morning, sir. You have three minutes. Morning Mayor. Good morning, sir. I uh have to confess I'm almost frightened to to speak, but this project I I'm the chairman of the Sierra Club in El Paso. We have about a hundred residents in the 79912 area. Um, this project fits with our policy of uh of infill and infill cuts sprawl. And although it may fill open space in this area, it will prevent the city from sprawling out into open space around the city. That's all I have to say. Thank you. Thank you. The next speaker is Jesse Romero. Thank you, sir. Jesse Romero will be followed by Jose Martinez, Alman Nunes, and Martha Himenez. Good morning, Mayor. Good morning, sir. Good morning, city council. Mike, Cassandra, my city council member. First of all, um the way I see it, how low-income housing should be temporary and not a way of life. Okay. Now, will more housing increase tax revenues? Do they pay tax revenues over there? Property tax revenues. 90 sites. Do they pay property tax revenue? I do. Okay. Anybody out there pay tax revenues? Yes. One more. No. The way I saw when it happened was we're going backwards. Instead of saying, "Hey, go buy a house. We'll help you with a house." No, we got more housing. Will the housing increase the quality of life? Tell me any answers, will the housing increase our pastoral revenues? What about those who don't qualify for housing? What happens to them? You know what's going to happen? We're going to continue working. We're going to go to work, work for eight hours, $8 an hour at the museum or the other museums, as security. So, how do we do it? We have to make ends meet. We retire, we continue working, and we don't qualify for housing. And you know what? I don't want to go to housing. That's the last thing I want to do. My father taught me to work and I'm going to work hard and I may be poor but I've got dignity and I will continue working. Thank you very much. Have a good day. Thank you sir. The next speaker is Jose Martinez. [Applause] Good morning Mr. Martinez. You have Good morning sir. Good morning mayor. Good morning, Council. Um, so my name is Jose Martinez and I'm the uh resource coach for the housing navigating program at Amistat. And one of my the the scope of my program is to uh is to empower uh the developers and then also uh advocate for individuals with disabilities and elderly and their veterans inquiring more accessibility into the any development that is that is uh being constructed. So that's all I have to say. Uh just to to increase that number of percentage of accessibility to individuals with disabilities and elderly. Uh thank you and I just wanted to say that thank you. Thank you. The next speaker is Alma Nunes followed by Martha Himenez. Good morning mayor and council members. My name is Alma Nunes and I have lived in the Bluff Trail neighborhood for almost 35 years. And I take it as a very personal offense for people to think that we're anti- um low-income housing. We're not. A lot of my neighbors, including myself, have come from low-income housing. We work hard. We worked out our lives, try to make a better life for our children. We buy our house. um we retire and we're thinking, okay, our house is paid. We're retired. We are on a um fixed income. A lot of my neighbors have disabilities, so we're not against the housing. We're against home approaching this the way they did. Um Mr. Blumenfeld said to please just consider the reasonzoning that all our concerns are really not important. I disagree totally because if you approve this resoning and they do build these housings, all our concerns are going to come to fruition, but it's going to be too late. Um he said that there's no crime. We weren't going to speak on crime at all, but he brought it up. Mr. Blumenfeld brought it up, and we do have facts. Um for a period of four years, the crime in at the Maidano apartments was over 2,000 incidents. For the same time period at our 156 houses in our neighborhood, plus the retreat with over 700 apartments, we only had 40 incidences in our neighborhood and 143 at the retreat, which makes it 183 reported incidents. So crime does make a difference. Mr. Sichon said that he wants to build this community because he wants kids to live live in a better community. I totally agree, but he says we can't put them all in the same neighborhood. Well, there's already clustering in this neighborhood. We already have all those kids going to Morehead. It's not Morehead anymore. It's Mc Murphrey. But it's still all the same. It's a lot. It's a large community. It's and we're going to be adding more. We want good schools. We want we want our kids to go I was a I was a teacher. I retired as a teacher at Johnson right there at that community. So, I know the kids that we get there, we cannot afford to send more our kids that we want to flourish to go to um that school. He's talked about stores. I'm a retired teacher. My husband is a retired engineers. We don't shop at Target. We don't shop at Sprouts because it's so expensive. We need to drive to Walmart. We need to drive away from our neighborhood. So, please, please, we beg you have our back and please vote against the resoning. Thank you, ma'am. The next speaker is Martha Himenez. Good morning, ma'am. You have three minutes. Good morning, ma'am. Good morning. Good morning, Mayor Leiser. Good morning, city council members. Um, today it's a day about truths. We're really not here only to discuss resoning. And you're not here only to vote for reasonzoning. You are voting our lives. You are voting our family's future. That is what you are voting. The criteria that you have pres has been presented to you by by um home is very limited. It's a criteria that factually cannot support itself. We have understood clearly that the 156030 ordinance of no clustering was not respected this project. The open records request was not respected. The transparency was not respected. Our community was disrespected. I can tell you that today you have a choice, a very simple choice. It is black and white. You can either choose to vote for a private business that Mr. Chichon represents or you can vote for people. You can vote for people that have continuously been looking for you, have been asking you and requesting you to represent us. Mr. Ganales, you can do a difference and have a a different position today. All of these people, you have the ability today to change our lives. Vote vote for transparency. You can vote for the rule of law, for so many things that have not been answered. You can help us stop the resoning today and answer those questions. You can vote for honesty, but most importantly, you can vote for the elderly, for veterans, for disabled members of our community, for hardworking people. You can vote for El Pasoans. You can vote for taxpayers today. You can vote for us as your neighbors. Today we ask you to vote no on the resoning. You have the alternative to say today. Answer these questions. Resolve these problems like traffic, like environment, like so many issues that have been brought up to you for months and today. You can do that. Thank you, ma'am. Thank you very much. The next speaker is Elizabeth Otto. Elizabeth Ortoa followed by Sean Spencer Kare. Good morning, Miss OA. You have three minutes. Good morning. Good morning, council members. Mayor, I am a resident of the Coronado area. So, one thing that I want to bring out is in when all of this started first opened up, one of the uh things that was used in defense of having this resoning was the uh population of our schools, the children, the schools were going to remain open. So, within our area, we have the two apartment projects that are right across what used to be Johnson and what used to be Morehead. We have the Cooper and the Robinson home projects. Those schools did not remain open. They were consolidated. We all know and now it is Murphree PreK through 8. So adding more projects, more home projects did not make a difference with the enrollment in our schools. We also have what is the farthest one, Sandova, right across from Robert's Roberts Elementary. that school is now closed and is on sale. So, that did not help the enrollment in our public schools. Right now, as some of us have said, we take offense that we're trying to keep people out of our neighborhood. From where that block is, that area, we have the Machukas who are right across the freeway. That's one mile away. We have Cooper and we have Robinson. that is less than two miles away and we have the sandovar that's about four miles away from us. So my question is isn't there any land somewhere else? We've welcomed them they're ours. Why there? Why still why not look into another area and reszone there? We're already we're already hosting four of those. Not to mention the other apartments that have just been bought. I I I was raised poor. I was poor. That's never knew it, but I was and I have worked my way up. So, nobody can come tell me that, you know, I'm trying to keep all all the kids segregated. I love my I love my home. I've worked hard for my home. I've raised our kids and so have all of the residents. Just please consider it. Oppose. Oppose the resoning. Thank you. The next speaker is Sean Spencer. Sean, Sean Spencer, followed by Jorge Kare. Good morning, Sean Spencer. Good morning, sir. Good morning, Mayor. Morning, Mr. Canales and the rest. Um, I would just like to say that um there's been a new road in El Paso. You may not know it, but it's the Burlington parking lot. People cut across the Burlington parking lot. You know this too, Mr. Canel, as you live in the neighborhood. People do not wait for the stoplight on Mesa Hills. They cut through the parking lot. I personally don't do it a lot just because people walking across the street, but it happens and it is an issue that we need to be concerned about. People taking a left after work from Mesa Hills onto Southern Park going toward the interstate. That is a major problem. Sometimes it plucks it uh clogs up that intersection. It is something we should consider before you do this. Um on this latest issue, I want to talk to something that Mr. Chichon said. I'm going to substantiate this by saying my job a long time ago used to be budget officer for the United States Navy for all the entire air force of the United States Navy for the Pacific at a 1 point some odd billion dollar budget. And what Mr. Chichchon says is he's going to get $25 million. $25 million that's a lot of money, right? That comes down to $240,000 for each unit that is waste, fraud, and abuse. And that does not even take into consideration the price of the land. So basically, you're coming down to the point where each one of these units he's building costs the amount of a house in the neighborhood. If it comes down to it, it's kind of gross. It's kind of like, you know, you we hear things about like buying the Air Force buying $500 toilet seats. It's that Okay. And uh Mr. Canal, you um also stated about Putnham. Other people have addressed the issue, but our neighborhood is going through transformation. I personally know two of the older people, the original residents. They are since moved out. Younger, newer neighborhoods are coming in. Newer neighbors are coming in. My wife is going to be giving birth here in another week. So, we've got people. It's going to happen. There's no need to rush it. There's plenty of time. So again, I thank you for your consideration and just understand that we have like a beautiful neighborhood and it doesn't need to change so drastically so fast. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. And the final speaker is Jorge Kare George Kare or Jorge Kare. I don't see anyone coming forward. Mayor, we also received a statement from James Martinez from JRK Kolina Sol which has been shared with council. So that concludes the public comment on this item. Thank you and thank you everyone for being here. And with that we go to represent Cornales. Pardon me. She can go ahead and go ahead ma'am. Would you like to speak? Go ahead, ma'am. Just um please state your name for the record and then you'll have three minutes. Thank you, ma'am. Thank you. My presentation is called green areas conservation. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Eugenia Den. I live here in El Paso. I have seen it grow and expand and I have seen the work of other governments putting green areas all over the city and the county. You should know trees, shrubs, grass and other plants give us food. They also give us water. In recent years, in their misunderstanding to preserve water, a group of individuals have thrown rocks on top of grasses trees shrubs plants and flowers. And they have been cutting trees, millions of trees at an alarming rate. And it is happening north, south, east, and west all over the city. They take uh trees take more than 50 years to grow. Miss Darden, I believe you signed up to speak for call to the public, which is not not at this time. Your topic is not related to item 43. Oh, no, it's not related. No, ma'am. We invite you to to We'll call you back up in a few minutes at noon. We'll call you at noon. Okay. Thank you, ma'am. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for your time. Thank you, Miss Prime. Represent Canales. Thank you, Mayor. Uh I'll start very briefly, Miss Prime, by asking if uh I can include a few things uh in the record. One is an open letter that I wrote to the neighborhood published April 14th, 2024. I'll provide you a copy. Um, a KOX article of August 6th, 2024 about the topic. Um, I'll provide you a copy of that as well. And then an uh transcript of my comments today. We'll provide you that as well. Thank you, sir. Um, I live just up the street from the the subject property that we're considering here today. Uh, my wife and I walk past the property with our dogs nearly every day. Uh we walk by on our uh walks to the to the supermarkets and to the stores in the area. Uh we regularly enjoy the use of Ponford Park. Um any decision made about the property today is going to have a similar impact on me as it will to the others in in uh our neighborhood. Uh when I ran for office in in 2022, I ran very clearly with a stance in support of affordable housing. Uh, and that's something that I stand by within my own neighborhood just as I would in in any other neighborhood. Um, I know uh that there are a lot of stereotypes and and outdated ideas about affordable housing. Um, I I want to clarify two things before we get to the the crux of the comments. Number one, home the housing authority is an entity that's run entirely separately from the city. Uh, it is not a department of the city. It's not part of the city government. Uh it was created by state statute uh back in 1938 to provide low-income housing uh to residents of El Paso. Uh home is governed by a a five member board of commissioners. And although it receives its funding uh primarily from the federal government, home operates uh in most respects as an independent public sector developer, not a for-profit company. Uh the the city is not uh number two, the city is not proposing this resoning or development, nor uh is the city council or any city council member making this proposal. Uh the housing authority submitted an application to reszone property that it already owns. And the city plan commission and ultimately us, the city council are the bodies tasked with making a decision based on that application that was submitted. Uh so city staff simply received the application for the resoning, scheduled a city plan commission hearing as they're supposed to. Uh and that process has proceeded to today where the city council will make a final decision uh with the recommendation of the city plan commission. Uh while I didn't know about Holmes's current proposal or request to reszone the property until the sign went up on the property in April, I learned about it at the same time as as the rest of the neighborhood. I have had an idea that the housing authority would probably look to build on this property that they purchased from El Paso Water uh back in 2019, four years before I took office, because that's what the housing authority does. Uh they they build affordable housing projects. Why else would they have purchased that property? Um, last year, Home applied for a federally funded 9% low-income housing tax credit award for this property, and the city council was presented that application along with applications for other uh, locations from both home and uh, selection of private developers back in January 2024. Uh, home's success in that application process comes down to a decision of the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs, TDHCA, not the city council. Um, the council can award additional points in the scoring rubric in that process, but this body chose to award the same letters of support to all of the proposals that were made to us that day, essentially leaving the decision fully to the state agency. Um, I'll note that I voted against those letters of support back in January. Uh, home funds its developments through a variety of different funding sources. in in their current proposal, they plan to use a combination of the 9% low-inccome housing tax credit that they previously applied for. uh some non-competitive uh 4% housing tax credit bonds which the city has no involvement in and uh and home investment partnership program funds passed through from the US department of housing and urban development uh and previously allocated by the city council for affordable affordable housing production across the entire city uh as guided by the El Paso regional housing plan. Uh since the development is largely funded with federal funds, there will be strict continual oversight from the federal government to protect its investment. Uh home here is, as we've heard, proposing to construct 104 units on a 6.32 acre parcel. Uh the retreat at Mesa Hills, the large apartment complex next door, has 752 rental units on 36.51 total acres. That means the new development will have a density of approximately 16 units per acre. while the retreat next door much larger number of units has a density of greater than 20 units per acre. Uh so the the new development is significantly less dense than the surrounding area of apartments. Uh once constructed the new affordable units would represent fewer than 13% of the total units in the immediate area along that segment of South Mesa Hills. Um, I've heard concerns about traffic. Even conservatively, assuming uh the 104 units and an El Paso, the El Paso average of 1.73 cars per household, uh, this would represent fewer than 180 new cars in a neighborhood with more than 3,000 residents and several thousand personal vehicles. Um, as a wide four-lane arterial street, South Mesa Hills would absolutely be able to handle an increase of of 180 maximum personal vehicles. Uh the reality is that that residents at existing home properties actually tend to drive far less than other residents. Home properties generate fewer uh trips per person. So the impact would likely be even smaller than that. Um the the proposed development would serve families earning 30 to 80% of the area median income or AMI. Um that's the median that an El Paso household earns annually. So these families would have income and would pay rent for these units. Uh those within the bracket of 50 to 80% AMI are working people typically whose income is lower than the local medium median, but they're not people in dire poverty. Uh homes residents at 30% AMI are typically elderly or disable uh disabled El Pasoans. El Paso's AMI for a fourperson household is $59,500. So 50 to 80% of that would reflect an earnings range of approximately 30,000 to $48,000. uh consider a single mother with two children and an elderly parent that they care for uh working maybe as a teacher or a receptionist. That's a perfectly normal salary range uh for someone in that position to be bringing in and as the only earning earner in the household, they would qualify for this type of housing. Um just because of how the economics of 50 to 80% AMI developments work out, a high percentage of residents end up fitting the profile of single working parents with multiple children. Um, I'll read an excerpt from the from the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs website about this particular type of housing and how it differs from traditional public housing. From the website, it quotes, "In many instances, there is a significant difference between tax credit and bond properties and public housing properties. Most developments in the TDHCA rental housing portfolio built using housing tax credit and private activity bonds require tenants to have income of at least two to two and a half times the rent. Those housing developments further diff from public housing in that they are privately owned and privately managed and they primarily serve individuals with families uh individuals and families with incomes between 30 to 80% of the AMI. Most public housing developments serve individuals and families at 30% and below of the area median family income. Tenants of tax credits or bond properties may include administrative personnel, school teachers, police officers firefighters mechanics retail employees, single parents who are balancing career and family while attending school, city employees, sales clerks, and retirees. The program's rent and income levels vary from county to county. The housing tax credit and private activity bond programs are not rental assistance programs like the housing choice voucher or section 8 voucher programs. Tenants who qualify for housing choice vouchers or section 8 tenant vouchers may lease an apartment at a tax credit or bond property. However, they must qualify under the same requirements as any other tenant. That's the end of the quote. Uh it's been addressed earlier. Uh people have spoken about Putinham. Uh one entity that stands to benefit greatly here is EPISD and Putnham Elementary School. Uh Putinham very concerningly has an current enrollment of fewer than 300 students. I believe 298 benchmarked at the end of the last school year. Uh in contrast, it had 700 plus students in the mid190s and 500 plus students as recently as the mid2010s. Uh Putnham's enrollment has declined sharply and the school has been part of EPISD's previous and very recent discussions about potential school closures. Uh there were meetings in recent weeks at Franklin and Cornetta high schools about their feeder patterns. Putnham was uh the lowest scoring elementary school in terms of their their risk index for closures. Uh and so it is slated to potentially uh be up for closure. uh as soon as next year uh if it doesn't have a boo significant boost in enrollment. Other communities in district 8 have already lost their neighborhood schools uh and the fallout of those closures has been in incredibly difficult for a lot of families uh families living at a new home apartment complex will provide students to boost enrollment at Putinham including boosting the school's funding from the state and potentially safeguarding its future uh altogether. Um, I would say the closest comparable development to this is Madano Heights near Red Road in I 10. Uh, Madano Heights has 146 units on an 11.6 acre parcel, very similar in density to this. Property values in the neighborhood around Madano Heights have not declined since it opened four years ago. Value growth has been consistent with the average in similar neighborhoods all across the city. Uh, and you you don't have to take my word for it. A simple search on the Central Appraisal District website will show you the same. Uh, mayor, I know I'm nearing the end of my time here. Uh, we're gonna go to Representative Salce and come right back to you. Thank you, sir. Thank you, Representative Salce. Thank you, Mayor. I had some questions for the staff. Oh perfect. Yes ma'am. Hi. Good morning. Oh, is it morning? Good afternoon. I think we're at afternoon almost. Um just for the public's benefit and uh for a transparency just wanted you to kind of go over the process of uh reszoning and as as it relates to this case as mean is every step that has been performed. Sure. So what what applies to every resoning case no matter no matter where in the city um it is a public process which involves the community as well as the applicant as well as staff and again as I mentioned before um our analysis is focused on plan El Paso that's that is our guiding document and that's where our recommendation comes from but again um that our recommendation is forwarded to the city plan commission as well as the public's input uh that all that is presented to the commission and they also uh make a take that and make a recommendation that at the end of that day is forwarded to to to city council. Um so by the time he gets here you you have the recommendation from city plan commission from staff as well as all the input both from the residents the neighborhoods as well as the applicants. And when you talk about the plan commission is a traffic study uh required part of this process uh for this particular request. No again it did not meet the the criteria to require a traffic study. what what is the criteria to require a drive? Uh it's it's based on uh calculations uh from the institute of traffic engineers. So basically uh in this case uh 100 peak hour trips would have to be triggered uh which uh from those calculations would uh be based off of 184 units. Again u this development is proposing well below that. And then again, as I mentioned previously, when you take into account the trips that are already there, that would be there by right with the residential zoning. Those trips are far less um less than what would be uh triggered for a traffic study. Okay, perfect. Well, that that kind of definitely answers my question. This reminds me a lot of uh one of the ones I had in my district when I had district six, like one part of it, Ardell to me in regards to this zoning process. I know that the like you mentioned it's there's the criteria to get the traffic study unknown participant is now joining met um and so I know it's not part of the process but um plan commission somebody could have requested to to have been done the traffic study uh in this case city park commission did not request the traffic study ma'am okay and uh in regards to this project is there timelines uh that we need to approve this Um, no ma'am, it's up to the discretion of the council. Okay. Um, well on, you know, just similar to the the uh zoning I had in Ardell, um, similar did not meet for the the traffic study, and I know that I I needed the traffic study in order for me to to be able to get that data and be able to support the project. Um, and similar to the last time, it was just I think there were some guidelines or deadlines at the time. So, um, if there isn't any violence, I would like to offer a friendly amendment to get a traffic study done if anybody would support that. But I need that information for data for myself at least to feel uh comfortable in uh making the best decision. But thank you. before sorry before you go I did um now is home required to capture zone on-site water as far as drainage and uh so that we're not exactly there yet. Uh they either will have to comply with the overall master drainage plan. It may involve uh conveying to the streets or uh keep entirely onsite within their property. that that'll be part of the detailed site plan uh application as well as the building permit and grading permits that that will come in if this project. Okay, so they will be required. I know that I talked to John Belaloo from PSB and the reason why they bought the water was because of the water coming down the hill and they're actually going to remove that pipe that's exposed out there and put it underground and move the water underneath uh the freeway to keep the water moving and and also because I know some of the the neighborhood associations had talked about flooding concerns there and that's the main reason that when they bought the property was to uh move the the water underneath the freeway. and get rid of that pipe that's exposed right now. Are you aware of that? Yes, sir. Yes, sir. And um just to uh confirm um the detailed site plan will require city council approval. Again, the drainage plan, the basic drainage plan will be there as well as uh the subsequent building permits and grading permits will have to be approved by our land development section which focuses on drainage over the overall drainage design. Okay. And I talked with Ellen Smite and you might have the the answer. said that uh the bus is right there on Mesha by Five Guys is the bus line and they would be able to move it and go to the the housing area and to the area and then turn back on to Mesa. Is anything required by you all for that for per permitting and inspection inspection? Not not from the planning or or permitting inspection side, but that's definitely something that uh the applicants can work with with Sun Metro on. Okay, great. Thank you for that. With that, we go to represent Salto. Thank you, Mayor. I wanted to ask about some of the stuff in the area because I know the traffic study has been something that has come up in diverse talks. Are there any speed humps throughout any of these streets? I I'm I'm not aware of where those speed humps would be, sir. Okay. But that's not something that was part of our analysis, right? I'm and I'm asking because I know that when we put speed humps in, we we test to see if there's a mitigation if if there's a need for the speed humps, right, for speeding and stuff. So maybe we could have looked at that data at that time. So that's something that could be done um through uh streets the their neighborhood traffic management program in terms of traffic calming any potential traffic calming designs that could be implemented. And so this could still happen at some point, right? And and I think that there could be looking at at traffic at a later time to kind of see how things have been before and post to see if there's any other things that need that can be done in the area. Yes, there's nothing that would prohibit uh them coordinating with streets and or capital improvement for some sort of uh traffic related project. Okay. And then um that could include the the road that goes over the ditch. Yes. Right. So, so there's nothing prohibiting us from looking at that down the line. So, the only thing there obviously would that would require coordination with PSB. Uhhuh. But no, nothing that stands out that would flat out prohibit that. Okay. And then one other question that I had was there was a mention of the size of the units being small compared to other units. Is is this true? I don't know if the applicant can answer that. Can Can you come up and somebody from home, please? Uh, I don't have the square footage at my fingertips. The architect had that and unfortunately he had to run away. Okay. Uh, to another meeting. So, I do apologize. Uh, I would like to say just one thing real quick. The pres-certifications for TDHC are due tomorrow. Uh, if we don't get a vote done today. Excuse me, sir. Sir, you're you had your three minutes. I apologize. I want to meet equal to everyone else. Okay. Thank you. All right. So, I appreciate that. And I think that's all the questions that I have. Thank you. Thank you, Representative Nundes. Thank you, Mayor. Um, first and foremost, I want to thank everybody who took their time out of the day to come to city council. I've had an opportunity to meet with you all to hear your concerns. Um, and this is such an incredibly difficult vote. Um, but for me and the position that I have taken from the time that I started on city council to current, I have been steadfast in support of home and making sure that we have these affordable units. Given the current housing crisis, just looking at prepandemic levels, I'm very concerned about the lack of home ownership and pathways to home ownership, especially for families making under $40,000. And it's very alarming how quickly these families who are making under $40,000 are losing home ownership. This is a call to action from members of council and the public to rally behind homes efforts, including other private developers who are working very hard to meet the demand of our community. All of your concerns are valid and these are the concerns we need to hear so that your representative can work fiercely on your behalf. Representative Gales, thank you for your leadership on this. I know it's been very difficult. I want to let you know that I'm very proud of you. everything that you have done in your tenure. I I'm very um supportive of your leadership. We vote on hundreds of matters, thousands of issues for your districts. And Mr. Gonzalez works incredibly hard. He's one of the only members of council who does his research. And for those reasons, I share those sentiments because this role is incredibly difficult. So, thank you for your leadership. Now, here is kind of the the overall scope of my concern if this doesn't pass today. Of course, there are dollars on the table that are in jeopardy. But in the event that this fails, the duty of your city council is to review land land use assumptions, to review the usage of your land, and to ensure that we are preserving private property rights while meeting the needs of public necessity and good, which is in this case our concern about housing. What recourse does home have if this fails? And is there any violations or any concerns with our current existing ordinances that that home has failed to meet that could dictate a city council administrative action to deny because from what my perception is that they've met all the criteria that a private property owner has a right to seek a reasonzoning. But for all of those administrative um uh ordinances and laws, there's no other reason to deny the request. Is there anything um wrote that you can add to to clarify if there's any concerns about not meeting the current ordinance? Um thank you, Mr. Nandez. So um from the planning and inspection standpoint, no, there is nothing. Um again, at the end, these processes are public processes. At the end of the day, it is at the discretion of city council. final action falls with the council but as you see in the backup there are recommendations by staff there's a recommendation by CPC there's a recommendation from OSAP what we look at is again as I mentioned our our plan El Paso and there was no other ordinance or provision that is being violated um our recommendation is clear it does fall in line with plan El Paso which is our guiding um document and a recourse for a private property owner if a reasonzoning fails um I would have to pass out to the private property owner. I will share if if uh if um not approved or if denied uh the applicant cannot come back with a similar request for for an entire year. So in the event that this resoning fails, that property or the applicant cannot experience a resoning requesting. Correct. They wouldn't be able to come back and request a similar or make a similar request. It is uh important to note the property is is zoned for development already. There is it is R RF um R5 R3 uh single family and duplexes would be permitted today by right on that property. Right. And I also think given the severity of the shortages of available homes that home and affordable housing by right should be able to develop to avoid these concerns um of not being able to provide these units. Um but that's another policy direction council can take. I want everyone to know that I've heard you. I've listened to your concerns. We don't have to attack anybody. We can have a strong unity force here in support of home. And I understand that that's not what you want in your neighborhoods. But given the fact that we don't have these affordable units across the city, it is imperative that we make the pathway for home and other developers to have access to land their private their private property owners so that they can develop it responsibly to provide a public necessity which is housing. Um I do want to ask the city attorney um you told me that the recourse you couldn't come back for another year. Um, is there any risk to the city if if there was no violations of ordinances or anything of that nature? Is there any risk to the city to not reszone this or is the home room municipality like that's our full authority? So, so the only the only thing that I would advise the council is um the findings in regards to why you want to deny the zoning would be important in regards to ensuring that there aren't any um discriminatory uh reasons why you would be denying the resoning. Um, so that's what I would advise that you um if there is a request to deny that we would talk about what the findings are in order to protect the city from any allegations of discrimination. Correct. Um, bro, does our current ordinance require traffic impact analysis? No, not for this case. Um, what would trigger a traffic impact analysis? a certain number of units that would produce a certain amount of of traffic, which again, this project does not um fall within that criteria. So, if members of city council say, "Well, for reasons because we did not have a traffic impact analysis, therefore we're going to deny," does not rise to the occasion of an actual merit for denial because our ordinances does not specify that that you have to have a traffic impact analysis, which is a policy decision city council can make in the future so that we can address the question about traffic impact analysis. But as in the current state of the application, they have met all the criteria to the best of my knowledge. That is correct. And a traffic study is is not required in this case. Got it. Um thank you. Thank you for that because I think you know this is very technical and there's a lot of nuances behind government and and having those um technical uh issues addressed and they and home meeting that criteria matters. It really matters when it comes to private property rights. As a resident of affordable housing my entire life, I can tell you that I was given an opportunity that every other El Pasin El Pasan was given. A house, a safe place to live, a community to be part of, and programs that are necessary for all El Pasoans to reach economic prosperity. And while we not may not always agree on the outcome of the vote, I want to make sure that you understand that we are one of you. We are your neighbors. I have maybe six affordable housing units around my home and I've never had the concerns that have been u brought up today. That does not mean that there is a potential for that and that there are bad actors in our community which is why we have a lot of support and faith in our law enforcement and home program so that we can control that and mitigate those risks. I ask for the public's understanding and the critical need for housing in El Paso and my vote will reflect the long-term goals of the city to provide those units for our families who deserve it like my family. Thank you. Thank you, ma'am. Representative Molina followed by represent. Thank you very much, Mayor. Thank you very much, Mayor. Appreciate the opportunity to speak. So, um, back on May 16th, 2024, coming back from lunch, um, noticed the security there was overwhelmed. But anyways, I was wondering what in the world is happening today. And I noticed that a lot of people were in the call it the lawyer, I'm excuse me, the lobby or the foyer area there. And then there was a lot of people inside this city hall chambers. And I was trying to discern what is happening, what meeting is going to happen or what's on the table. Finally realized it's a city planning commission meeting that's going to be held upstairs. So there's a lot of these same people here that wanted to go upstairs to the meeting. And I understand upstairs on the main conference room, it is limited in seating and I'm not sure exactly what happened there. I did review the um agenda and it does say the main conference room second floor, but I did totally disagree that that meeting should have been moved down here. We talk about customer service. We as a city failed. We failed this group because they were not able to. So this some people did sign up to speak but the volume of the people that did want to sign up and speak they couldn't. And yes I hate to say this but they were hurted up in stairs or the elevator like cattle. Okay four or five at a time while everybody else sat here and watched it on TV or monitors. That is bad. Talk about poor customer service. We as a city need to be better. And so that was the catalyst. That was the catalyst for me to take a a good look at what's happening, what's not happening, and why it's happening, not happening. Uh post the meeting. I did watch or excuse me, I did watch the meeting on YouTube from my office. I did meet with the interim city manager, the Colonel Weston about this, and he agreed to me that this was not handled correctly. I did meet with uh the chair of the uh city plan commission, Mr. Alfredo Borego, he too agreed with me that this was not right, that he probably would have preferred it to have the meeting down here. And I understand the agenda written is written correctly. I doubt very seriously if anyone from the Texas Attorney General's office would come down here to El Paso to chastise us for not having the meeting upstairs. Uh we would not be reprimanded by that at all. Um the city plan commission voted in favor of the recommendation but the open space advisory committee also voted not in favor of it eight to or unanimously. So that sends contradictory messages on what's happening and not happening litigation. Um I'm going to say home home voluntarily entered into litigation. They became the plaintiffs in this party knowing full well that there's covenants on this property. Well, those covenants were established many years ago for whatever reasons. Uh they have been established and now to fight against those covenants to me sends a wrong message to put into litigation to the retreat departments and all the other businesses there. What negative message are we sending to those people? So in essence I totally disagree with the process of this specific issue on the reszoning how it came to be. I do accept or I do uh am in favor of affordable housing but in this one particular case the process is flawed. It is not well. Someone mentioned something about the American dream. The opportunity to live the American dream. Well, these people here in two neighborhood associations, they have been living the American dream. They have been paying property taxes. They have been disrespected many times, not just once, but numerous times. It they're not getting a fair shake. And I can tell you, I know where I live, you know, there's affordable housing complexes, probably the highest concentration in the city of El Paso. So, I know the different things that happen and don't happen every day of my life. So I will not be supporting this resoning case. Thank you represent Molinar. I just want to make sure you do that. If you post the meeting and the meeting is held in a different location. The meeting is not a valid meeting and any action taken would not be u acceptable and it would not be proper. So anything that was taken if you do move the venue it becomes a no action and that's what you uh now whether it needed to be uh at a different venue that's something different but to move a meeting from the designated place to a different place all action taken would be voided. All right mayor and thank you very much for that clarification. However the meeting agenda is clearly stated 300 North Campbell Street. Yes sir. Uh main conference room second floor. It was still this area here today is still 300 North Campbell. So moving it from one room to another would not I don't believe violate anything about Toma. I haven't seen the reading but if it says second floor conference room that's where it has to be held. Thank you. Uh represent. Thank you mayor. Uh Mr. Garcia I'd like to ask you something. Okay everybody everybody's brought up the issue of Mesa Hills. Uh do you approximately know the size of that street? cuz when I went out there to look at it, it's wider than Treywood, that's for sure. And so, do you know the the exact measurement of that? Yes, it is, as mentioned, a minor arterial currently 90 90 ft of rideway uh which does include a minimum of 60 ft of pavement. Okay. And then uh Bluff Street, Bluff Bluff Canyon appear to to be uh a regular size street, a normal size, what is it? 36 or something like that? uh 60 foot for local residential streets at the time in the area was was developed. Yes. And we saw traffic using that east and west. My staff and I went out there personally. Yes, sir. Um and this condition that you placed on the on the on the uh housing and home. What was that again? So what I mentioned was there is an existing condition under the R zoning that requires a detailed site plan um to be approved by council. Okay. the outside which will run with with this um it it runs with the land. So if this request is approved, that condition remains on the property. And did I hear you right when you said you minimized it to 104? Uh correct. We we kept the the density at at 104 units. Yes, sir. That that is a a condition uh that is being proposed at this time. Yes. And finally, when getting back to Mesa Hills, I just I just remember what I was going to ask you also besides that. When those two large apartment complexes were built, was there a study done? You know, that happened in the 1980s. Um it's it's hard to say exactly what was required. Our codes were different back then. Uh in fact, that's why you see the existing conditions uh that exist now. There's one for for platting prior to recording things that were not codified with which are now. Okay. And and do you know the the uh I know you know one of them you said about 800 the one that will be next to this project. What does the other complex hold? You know about the same. Um I I don't have those exact numbers. However, um it is it it would be a uh logical to to assume that at the time of development uh back in the 80s that that project met all the requirements in terms of traffic, in terms of zoning, in terms of development um at that time, right? And to me, it kind of kind of looked about they looked about the same square footage on that, same size and everything. So, you've got let's assume we got 801 possibly 800 600. That's what was quoted. Yes, sir. Okay. Already occupying Mesa Hills and and that accommodates both complexes without any problem. Correct. Correct. Correct. Even with this uh new new development, the existing infrastructure is that Holmes project is located south of can Bluff Canyon next to that complex that's here. Oh, west of that across the street. Yes, sir. From the existing apartments. And they still have that short drive to get up to the residential area the north of that. And uh every everybody's going to go either east or west or uh southwest towards the uh towards the sun sunland. Right. Correct. Um southwest towards Sunland and it 10 or um I guess uh east on Deleó to end up on Mesa and and having hung up there. I mean traffic studies to accommodate those two apartment complexes, the large ones must have been done. Must have already been considered by planning before they even built those apartments complexes ago. So to me that that suffices in in handling I think you said 104 104 apartments. Correct. Okay. And so these aren't uh these aren't going to be the traditional projects that you see all over. Right. I think Mr. Shon has taken the the attitude that he was going to change that and not have them. Could I ask him personally? Mr. Yes sir. How you doing, sir? Uh these these apartments you're going to build, they're not the traditional housing projects that you had across the street at Sandal. uh and and when they were built all looking the same and everything else. Yeah. No sir. So uh these are actually very similar. They're actually the design is taken from the Madano Heights design. So if you go to Red Road or you look at Patriot Place up in the Northeast, it's a garden style walk up uh design with green space all around the buildings. So it's not it's not the barrack style that had been built back in the 70s. Okay. And I just wanted to be sure you you said 104 Yeah. 104, sir. Okay. And and uh I know it's been mentioned several times already that you know uh El Pasoans do need housing. Not everybody's as fortunate as those that that could go out and buy their own house immediately. Uh yes, they work hard. I worked hard. I still pay taxes. And so, uh, I appreciate you you, uh, building these to give these people, uh, so-called starting place to go, but am I correct to say that after a while, you're kind of encouraging them to buy their own? Yeah. No, we have, uh, two full-time employees that work on uh, family self-sufficiency to move to home ownership. U, we're selling approximately 300 homes right now, single family homes. Uh, we are selling as many as we can to the residents. Uh right now I think we've produced 30 new uh homeowners uh in the last uh 45 days. Right. And and uh this is something that's never been done before because and the reason I came across is because you had some of those homes uh HUD homes in in back the neighborhood homes uh in in the neighborhoods, prominent neighborhoods. And so um I know you you're still continuing to do that part, but you're not saying, you know, you're going to stay here forever. We're going to take your view forever. You're not that's not what you're No. In fact, we have lots of programs to get every everybody up and out. Uh financial literacy, English a second language, uh citizenship classes, uh anything we can do to assist. We have for the elderly uh Zumba classes. Uh we have luras that run with every one of our properties and we're providing I think uh monthly almost 900 different uh services to the residents. It can be for the elderly driving them to uh the pharmacy or to the doctors or food. Okay. Thank you, sir. Thank you very much, M. Mr. Garcia and Mayor uh whether the move was made or not on the on that meeting that they held it was well attended. Had it been here it would have been overflowing. There would have been watching the monitors still. Correct. That is correct sir. So so none of that was taken away. No. No. And we followed what was publicly advertised to the Yes, sir. Thank you. And I felt the city did everything it could with what it has. uh we don't have a large auditorium to to house these these type of meetings that we had. Um and I can say that because one time we uh when we were fighting a TCQU, we had to borrow a school gymnasium to do that and even then we still didn't have enough time. I mean enough room. So I I I thank you for your efforts and I thank uh everybody that made the decision of this. So, I don't think that staff should be maligned on this, nor the city of El Paso, because I think they did everything that's necessary to get to this point right now. And so, I thank you for that. And thank you, mayor, for allowing me. Um, I didn't have my microphone on. Apologize. Yes, sir. So, since you started the rebuilding of public housing, um, which we've torn down, we cuz I watched it happen, but I know that we're not, it's not part of the city. You have torn down all the old facilities with evaps and obviously rundown facilities. How much have you how much federal funding have you brought to the city of El Paso? And how much have you spent for uh quality housing in El Paso? So far, uh we raised approximately $2.3 billion at no taxpayer expense spent in the city over the last 10 years. And building a quality place of living gives people the the joy and gives them the opportunity to move forward and appreciate their surroundings in their home. Wouldn't you say that's a correct statement? Oh absolutely sir. And um so I know when you first started doing this back in 2013, you and I had a discussion and I didn't think you could ever accomplish it. And that's you were going to bring about $800 million to the community to be build quality housing and you had $2.3 billion to make sure that um people have a quality of place to live and that's important. You know, I I um I understand that you all are for public housing and that's really why I wanted to to let you know that that this is what's going on in our community. And um I know that u when I met with the numerous groups I did explain that I am for public housing. I um I did start um as a minimum wage employee. I had parents nine of us that worked for minimum wage and it was a struggle in life and um I know I had uh siblings that lived in public housing. So I um I think it's important to give people an opportunity in life and I didn't hide it from the beginning. First thing I said when y'all walked in my office that I would find some information, but I do support public housing because I do support the opportunity for people to move forward in their lives and they have a quality of place to live. Uh, Representative Canales. Thank you, Mayor. Uh, just one quick question, Mr. Sushan. Do you do you have deadlines from the THCA or HUD, the federal agency on the money that will expire? you know, will will that expire if we're not able to proceed today? Tomorrow deadline. So, if we don't have a vote on this tomorrow, the pre-certifications cannot be turned in and we uh we lose all the tax credits. Okay, that's my only question. Thank you. Thank you. Um I think we've heard it from uh Mr. Garcia and uh others who have asked questions uh have had similar response. I want to emphasize that uh our ordinances all law policy and practice have been followed uh to the letter by home by the city planning and inspections department uh by the city plan commission uh most of the reasoning processes is dictated to the city by state law uh which the city in in many cases actually goes above and beyond to include more citizens. So, for example, chapter 211 of the of the local government code uh requires that a municipality notify residents within 200 feet of the subject property uh of a proposed resoning at least 10 days before the hearing by the the local zoning commission. In our case, that's the city plan commission. Uh our local municipal code actually requires that the city do better than this. So, the the planning and inspections department notified property owners within 300 ft, not the 200 feet required by by state law. Um, the applicant was required to post a notice of the resoning case and the hearing before the city plan commission on the property. Uh, which they they did in the form of the large signs on the lot. Uh, they also had to notify any city recognized neighborhood association that the property falls within. Um, but our neighborhood did not have a a neighborhood association at at the time of that application. um you know, despite the circumstances, I'm I'm very happy to say that two two neighborhood associations uh have formed uh next to each other in in that area. I I think it's always a positive thing when neighborhoods are are organized and and working together. Um you know, I've I've worked hard to set up neighborhood associations across the district over the last several years. Uh and so I'm happy that that has happened. Um, I want to address also the the undeniable reality that we're facing, like Representative Ernnandez brought up, we have a really serious shortage in in El Paso of housing units in general and and affordable uh units in particular. Um, the El Paso Regional Housing Plan clearly lays out the the really immense deficit that we have in affordable units. um you know we're precoid we were talking in the range of 10,000 to 15,000 units uh missing that are needed post pandemic it is probably significantly higher than that and I know that's something that we've talked about uh studying again uh to understand the the current situation um when families can't find housing that they can afford forced to make impossible choices uh that's between paying rent or or buying food, uh between paying their bills or or buying school supplies for their kids. Uh these people sometimes end up on the street unhoused and that definitely does not help our community. Um so in that sense, this is a housing gap that affects all of us. Uh the the property that we're considering today provides us an opportunity to begin to bridge that gap. Uh the housing authorities proposal is is again just it's 104 units. This may seem like a small number against the the thousands of units uh of deficit in our community and across the country, but for 104 families, it would mean the world to have a place to live uh in a in a quality neighborhood. Uh the the development, as I said before, is designed for working El Paso families who contribute to our community every day, uh but cannot keep up with rising rents on uh the the salaries that they earn. uh we we have to ask ourselves in my opinion if we can't support affordable housing here in a relatively walkable accessible neighborhood uh with with decent proximity to grocery stores to transit to uh high-quality schools like Putinham uh where where can we support it? Where should we support it? This location is is good for families who might not own multiple cars and who want their children to grow up uh w with access to quality education. Um, affordable housing in this sense, I think, strengthens our community and strengthens our neighborhood, not just by providing shelter, but allowing residents to stay within our city, to not have to leave, to contribute to our economy, to support enrollment at our schools. Um, and for me, at the end of the day, the decision comes down to being good neighbors. Uh, I I think El Paso is a city that's built on on kindness, on compassion, on support for one another, and looking out for for fellow citizens. Um, and we have a responsibility to care for all El Pasoans, uh, especially those who are struggling to afford to a place to live. Um, affordable housing isn't just the the dollars and cents uh, and the processes. It's it's about dignity and it's about opportunity for for the people who we share our community with. Um, so we have a real opportunity today, I think, to live up to the values that that I think define us, uh, El Paso as a city. Values of hospitality, of inclusion, of care for our neighbors. Um, and and so I urge the council to take the opportunity to make a tangible difference in the housing problem that we have and in the lives of the El Pasoans who would benefit from this uh from this development. Um again at the end of the day all we are being asked to consider today is the the allowable land use on the property. Uh it is a resoning case. Uh that is uh in reality quite narrow. Uh but in supporting a resoning here I think we are supporting families. We're supporting students. uh and we're supporting the future of our city through uh the advancement of infill development over over sprawl uh and the financial burden that sprawl puts on taxpayers all across the city. Uh so this is a very important uh investment to make in in the core of the city. Uh with that I move to approve. Second. Mr. Pine, we have a motion and a second. Yes, mayor. The motion was made by Representative Canal, seconded by Representative Pierro, and this is to approve the ordinance on item number 43. On that motion, call for the vote. And the voting session and the motion passes 6 to2. Representatives Kennedy, Asabo Ernnandez Fiero Ria Canales voting I. Representatives Molina Salceo voting nay. The motion does carry. Thank you. Thank you everyone for being here. Mr. P, we'll go to call to the public. Yes, sir. We now move to call to the public. The El Paso City Council is a local government body charged with serving 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 display civility and decorum that is respectful to other persons without the use of insulting, profane, threatening, or abusive lang language. Public comment will not be used for personal attacks against a person or group's character or integrity which are not pertinent to city business, nor may any member of the public use this forum 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 forth be posted on a future agenda. This afternoon, we have five members of the public that signed up to speak. The first person is Elizabeth Crawford. Miss Crawford's topic is International Day of Migrants and Refugees, Persian Women. Good afternoon, Miss Crawford. You have three minutes. Miss Crawford, go ahead. Ma'am, you have three minutes. Yes. Can you hear me? Yes ma'am. You're back on mute, Miss Crawford. Star six, please to unmute your telephone. I apologize. Okay. September 29th has been designated the world day of migrants and refugees as El Paso is at the forefront of the migrant and refugee situation. And as we daily hear about all the chaos in the Middle East, I would like to speak briefly about one group of refugees, a bright spot of hope in the Middle East narrative. As the rhetoric of Iran and the growing list of countries continues to escalate against Israel, there's a group of people, a rapidly growing group that is overlooked by the mainstream media, abbreviated as MAB. They are Muslims background believers, those born into Muslim families who later become Christians. I was lent a book by a friend back in 2012. It was an account of two young ladies in Iran who were sentenced to time in the most dangerous prison in Eden prison for sharing Bibles with fellow Iranians. They refused to return to Islam despite the threat of execution. Instead, they turned their corner of Eden prison into a place to show compassion to fellow prisoners. By God's grace, they were eventually released and were granted refugee status in the US. while we keep seeing the hatred in the news. There are Muslims background Christians in Iran who love Israel. Um, September 17th was my mom's birthday. And in memory and in honor of her, I will briefly share. When I was learning Portuguese years back to serve in Brazil, I was introduced to a young man, Sed Ramadan, Iranian Brazilian background. Sed introduced me and my mom to a Messianic congregation near my hometown. I went off to Brazil for my two-year commitment. And in the meantime, God did in my mom's life things I've been praying about since childhood. God used that messianic congregation, Jewish and Gentile believers in Jesus to transform my mom's life. I recently had opportunity to visit that congregation after many years and was reminded of God's mercy and goodness in the life of my family and how he used an Iranian fellow who loved Jewish people to set off an amazing chain of events to transform my family. My mom in many ways spiritually was like a migrant came to find refuge for her soul at the cross. My mom ended life well. We're told in 2 Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he's a new creation. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new." Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. The next speaker is Ron Ko. Mr. Ko's topic is exercising constitutional rights to rescue 1983 animal services. He will be followed by Barbara Valencia. Good afternoon, sir. You have three minutes. How you doing, ma'am? It's a pleasure. Good afternoon, sir. Well, hello. Most of you. They're coming. Okay. Should we wait? If you want to wait a minute or two, you're more than welcome to wait just because it been a long They're all kind of Give everybody a chance to get Yes sir. If you wait a minute, it'll be some people get they'll come back up. Good afternoon. Good afternoon, sir. Here we are. Another city council meeting. Another discussion on our failed shelter. Um, when we purchased the school, I got a phone call from the Humane Society of the United States who offered to send a gentleman down here that strictly designs shelters. That's his job. That's what he does. we were going to get his services for free. I was told that a fireman was going to design our shelter. I I find it very very straightforward. If he was going to go in and design the fire, whatever to make sure it passes code, I get it. To design a functional work working shelter, we needed somebody that did that every day of their life. We didn't do it. Here we are. I haven't seen or heard of anything that's been going on. So, I can't tell you where where we stand. I don't see us in taking strays still after you told them three times and Colonel Western sent him a text to open and take, but it's kind of like the shelter being a shelter on the west side and not an adoption center. Kind of tired of hearing adoption center coming out of a building that we voted on as a shelter. Um, I got another phone call the other day and lo and behold, a gentleman that applied for a position at El Paso Animal Services is now running Dallas Animal Services. The gentleman never even got a call for an interview. Three strikes to me, you're out. I don't know who's doing the hiring there, but why are we not hiring people that are qualified for the position and putting people that are not qualified in the position in place? Friends and family, I get it. But you've put the strays in the community at risk. I'm not the only one saying it. Texas Parks and Wildlife person said it himself. His job is training and behavior, animal behavior. We're dropping the ball. You guys have known now for four years. Four years that this is a bad situation. The gentleman in charge of public safety for the city of El Paso is also in charge of how the shelter runs and has allowed managed intake, which has put the city of El Paso in danger. Guys, you only got a couple of months left. Are you going to fix this problem or are we going to have to put it back on the next next group of of city council? I mean, a lot of you aren't coming back. Let's get it fixed. We don't need this anymore. We need to get the fire department out of our shelter. Get the right people in to get it done. We need transparency and honesty out of the shelter instead of what we got. Anytime you guys talk to management from animal shelter, learn two words, prove it. When I talk to you guys, I tell you where the information came from and why. So that you know I'm not dazzling you with brilliance. Thank you, sir. The next speaker is Barbara Valencia. Miss Valente's topic is animal services and rabies on the rise. What is your topic? MCO training. Okay. Good afternoon, ma'am. Good afternoon. First off, I am exercising my protected constitutional right to under federal section 1983 to speak. My name is Barbara Valencia with Huckleberry Hound Dog Rescue. An animal control officer from El Paso Animal Services uses a metal baton to beat a scared stray dog. Per the witnesses, this poorly trained acco were trying to catch this scared dog. We witnessed the acco beat the dog with the metal baton in hand. I confronted the acco and asked that that they really just hit the dog. And the acco admitted yes. The dog was going in the acco's direction, but only because the partner was on the other side. The dog was scared, but not aggressive. Even the El Paso Independent School District Police stated, "The dog is not aggressive." Here is the picture of the dog along with the ACL wielding the metal baton used to beat the dog. El Paso Animal Services response to the incident is the bite stick, which is actually a retractable metal baton, is the ACO's last line of defense. Again, their last line of defense. Two of the witnesses to this incident have rescued in this city for 20 plus years and are professional dog trainers and behavioralists who specialize in aggressive dogs. Witnesses further stated that ACO didn't have any other capture tool like a catch pole or lead, only the baton and used it as their first line of defense, not their last line of defense. After beating the dog, the ACL put the injured and bloody dog into the back of the animal services truck and left. This city council has allowed this department to go unchecked without proper leadership, any oversight or accountability for years, and it has turned into some working at animal services to go rogue because there are no repercussions for their reprehens reprehensible actions. If this was anyone else beating a non-aggressive dog with a metal object, that person would be charged with animal cruelty. The training program being provided to the ACOs is extremely deficient and needs to be restructured to ensure all ACOs not only are abiding by the laws but they are also performing their duties humanely. This acco does not possess the muchneeded critical thinking skills to assess the situation and to respond appropriately to avoid further trauma and injury to this dog. Just because this acco wears khaki pants and a badge, it does not absolve them for committing the crime of animal cruelty. This acco should be relieved of their duties and criminally charged for animal abuse. This must be rectified immediately so no other animals suffer abuse by the very agency that is supposed to protect them. Thank you. Thank you, ma'am. The next speaker is UA Darden. Miss Darden's topic is green areas rehabilitation. Good afternoon, ma'am. You have three minutes. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. My proposal is Queen Areas Conservation. My name is Eugenia Den. I live here in El Paso. I have seen it grow and expand and I have seen the work of other governments putting green areas all over the city and the county. You should know trees, shrubs, grass and other plants give us food. They also give us water. In recent years, in their misunderstanding to preserve water, a group of individuals have thrown rocks on top of grasses, trees, shrubs, plants, and flowers. And they have been cutting millions of trees at an alarming rate. And it is happening north, south, east, and west all over the city. Trees take more than 50 years to grow. We need to stop this nonsense. Even though green areas may not look that important, we would not have rain or snow without them. It has taken 50 years to plant trees and grasses and parks throughout the city and somebody is killing it. I want to repeat to you the importance of green in the city. These iron plates they put at the base of the tree kill the water in the soil and they radiate heat. All the broken rocks radiate a lot of heat. River rocks are spread throughout the town. The town needs to consolidate these rocks from the river in the river section. Our food depend on the green. We eat green every day, all day. The trees don't eat rocks, eat water and soil. Thank you. I have my proposal. I will present it to the mayor. Thank you. Thank you, ma'am. Thank you. The final speaker is Albert Rietta. I don't see Mr. Vetta in the queue. Mayor, so that concludes call to the public. Thank you. I'd like to um motion to recess till two. Second. There's a motion and a second to recess a city council meeting. All in favor? Anyone opposed and the city council meeting is now in recess at 12:48 p.m. and we'll reconvene at 2:00 p.m. I should have Yes sir. Yes sir. Y'all can uh can y'all come up? We need one more for a quorum. Mayor, do we have a motion to return? Second. There's a motion and a second to reconvene the city council meeting. All in favor? I. Anyone opposed? The meeting is back in session at 2:02 p.m. The next item is on page nine, item number 29, is discussion and presentation by the El Paso Police Department on the current crime rate and comparison to prior years. This item was placed by Representative Ria. Representative. Good morning. Good afternoon sir. Good afternoon, sir. Thank you. Thank you very much, Mayor. Um, yes. So, hang on sir. Yes, I have a place to sign them on the agenda because talk around town is that crime is running rampid in our community and uh it's generally by not the people here, not the people that are running here either, but the newbies that are running out there and using that as a platform to to claim that the crime is at an all-time high. Most recently, a tweet by the USBP chief Jason Owens uh stated that that stated and confirmed that a Venezuela govern uh gang member from the tren alara had been captured in the city of El Paso. Well, when in fact the gang members that were uh the that gang member was apprehended in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, yet he listed El Paso, Texas is where he he was a he was a uh detained and arrested when it it should have read the El Paso Border Patrol sector and not El Paso, Texas in general. um most common uh these gang members or these people are are crossing at a point uh that that's chosen uh near the Santa Teresa area and this is where they caught him. So during that time, you know, when they were coming in uh the migrants that entered that were allowed to enter the United States uh were not really vetted by the US Border Patrol like they should have been. That was a standard procedure and uh that is my reason for placing this this item on the agenda to give the El Paso Police Department the fact the the opportunity to to refute those claims that our local candidates not again not the ones up here, not the veterans, but rather the newbies that are using it as a platform that crime is up and uh I want to dispel that rumor right now. Well, thank you. And I think that's important. And I did talk to Chief Good yesterday and he said that uh the ind individual that was coming in was at Santa Teresa crossing and did not enter the US. Correct. But he's still listed as Yeah. And I think it's important and maybe chief you I don't know if you know the the area but uh the border patrol is uh you know all the way up to Silver City and up to POS and up that area and that's considered the El Paso sector. So when anyone is captured or when they talk about the numbers of asylum seekers coming in and uh they they talk about the El Paso area, but it's actually the El Paso sector that's a really big range. Do you know exactly what the range is, Chief? I think the mic is on. Okay, Peter Pillas, for the record, I don't know the exact size of uh of uh area that they cover. I believe it's from the New Mexico, Arizona state line all the way down to basically the Big Bend area. Yeah, Sierra Blanca. Sier Blanca. That that type area, but the square miles that they cover, I have I don't know. All right. Thank you, Chief. Um, go ahead. Your presentation. You can pull up the presentation, please. Next slide. So, uh, covering the, uh, the crime statistics, uh, in El Paso. Right now, we're sitting, uh, pretty good. This does not minimize uh that we still have victims of crime out there. Um if you ask somebody who's a victim of a crime, do you feel safe? They're they're probably going to tell you no on that. But uh when when you look at it right now, when you're comparing the two years on this chart is uh it's important to remember we had to have a stopping point which is at the end of August of 2024 calendar year. So, uh, our murder rate, uh, our murders are down, our sexual assaults are down, uh, our, uh, our regular assaults are down. Um, for a total person's crimes, uh, 10,000 compared to 7,000. Uh, our crime, our robberies are down, our vehicle thefts are down, but that's one of our bigger driving and our property crime, our vehicle thefts, burglaries, uh, um, uh, it could be habitations andor, uh, businesses down. uh thefts are down and uh fraud uh criminal mischiefs are the same. So you're seeing the trend that it's it's down. Our weapon uh type crimes are down. Uh our drug crimes and our social crimes uh which are u uh basically uh showing at this chart that overall our crimes are down close to uh 11,000 at this point in time. Our fatalities are also down. Uh currently we're sitting at uh uh 46 uh fatalities on the roadway compared to the same time this year is at 5055. Next slide please. So this just translated into the crime rate uh which uh you're taking 100,000 people uh by the the amount of crimes that are committed. You look down this chart and you'll see that uh once again it's just the same uh chart that was on the previous. is just broken down into the factors of uh of the u uh population versus crime. Next slide, please. So, this came up uh earlier in the year uh that uh claiming that El Paso is a safe city. This uh survey is what goes out to major city chiefs basically the counterparts uh of mine across the country. It's also made up of Canada and uh the United Kingdom, but this survey is just American uh law enforcement from the beginning of the year to uh uh middle of the year, which is June 30th on there. This does not rank uh uh departments or cities in any way. This is just the way for us chiefs to look at uh departments and uh having a cross-pollination. What are you doing in your city that is affecting your crime rate? Uh and vice versa. So, if you go to the next slide, uh right here outlined right where the arrow is, it's showing where we were compared to last year, El Paso, uh all our crime rate, if it's all in black, our crime rate is either equal to or below uh the crime from the previous year. So, Austin, Dallas, uh and uh I believe San Antonio, we all had we're all in the black. Houston and Fort Worth had at least one rise in one category. So, this is all alphabetical uh on there and it has 69 of the major police departments here in the United States on there. Now, what people need to understand is there is no more uh safest city designation as Quinland Press used to do. Several years ago, the uh mayor uh conference, US mayor conference, the FBI and some other people got together. So, there is no entity out there that's doing that. You can Google safest cities in the United States, and you're going to see a bunch of little things popping up with different uh uh uh if you want to call them vendors that are saying this city is is a safest city and this city is a safest city. But you have to look in there. They're doing a lot of quality of life issues. It's not just statistics, but there is no longer uh where we can come out and hold up a banner and say any uh US city can come up and say that they claim to be the safest cities because Quinland Press stopped doing that. So uh the next slides are just the rest of the uh counting of the 69 cities. Next slide. And that tops out the major city chief's uh um half or bannual report on violent crime. So uh next slide. So what have we done uh to do this? So uh every every week we have a strategic analysis of crime. That's where the chiefs get with all the commanders. They're looking at the crime trends in each of the uh regional command areas. and the commanders are are telling us what they're doing to combat crime fatalities, things of that nature. Um, over a year ago, we started a violent high uh violent crime task force when we started having these uh uh shootings at uh the rental properties and things of that nature. We brought in different entities, both uh other local entities, sheriff's department, constables, uh state DPS, and federal entities. And that's how we prevented that one uh individual who was trying to take a uh firearm out at the Cincinnati district. We had a task force, a violent time crash force out there and our officers were able to take that person down before he even entered uh one of the establishers up at Cincinnati. And these task forces have been doing surges throughout the year uh on that. So, what we've been doing with uh with all that uh uh initiatives is we're making sure that the individuals that want to be involved in violent crime, they know we're out there and we're stopping them uh to prevent that. The fatalities, what are we doing with the fatalities out there is we split up our high performance vehicles and now we have them over two shifts. both the business busy hours in the morning rush hours and afternoon and then we have them in the evening hours to help out our DWI task force to stop that. Um we have committed officers that are out there making these arrests. Uh on the other side our PIO's office has put out a a couple briefings on where you know juvenile crime. You saw that presentation just generally you know know where your kids are at at 10 o'clock things of that nature. So, our par officers, community officers are going out there and educating the community on how how to keep their home safe, how to uh cross streets. We have safety town like we've had for years and decades. So, we're doing a lot of those initiatives out there. Now speaking to uh your question on on the TDA out there and this question was brought up in a press conference earlier this week on there. We cannot come out and say there are confirmed members in TDA because we have to follow the code of criminal procedures and we have to make sure we vet and people make uh uh meet the criteria to be designated as a gang member. TDA, the El Paso Police Department, hasn't identified people under the state criteria, the law to put them into text gang as confirmed gang members. But are there are there TDA in El Paso? Yes, there are. Just like every other major city, El Paso is a funnel uh for uh this type of activity. Whether it's uh legitimate business coming through the the ports of entry or you have the cartels on the other side controlling what's coming over here uh on that side. But what are we doing about it? Same like we're doing with every other gang in El Paso. Our gang task force works out of the the Texas anti-gang uh unit tag out there and they work with both the other local partners, so constables, things of those natures. The state DPS and the federal agencies are all working together to compile all types of gang problems here in El Paso. It doesn't matter what they're doing. It could be drive by shootings. It could be in the narcotics trade or whatever it is they're doing. We are putting pressure on these gangs, anybody operating in the El Paso area. So, we have our officers are out there, our civilian staff are out there every day. You all did a proclamation the other day on our analysts on there. They are critical in helping us analyze where the crime trends are so our commanders know where they are assigning their officers to make sure we're putting them in the right places uh predicting crime trends. And at this point right now, we're uh minus uh three. We're below 3% of our crime last year. These officers and civilians are doing a great job out there. They're doing a great job. So, u with that, uh I'll open it up for any questions. Go ahead, sir. Thank you, sir. Uh thank you, Chief. That's that's great. And and when you mention the gang members in particular because people are you know uh concerned concerned uh your men whether they be in that specialized unit or or field officers or are trained on on on how to identify and and actually properly vet somebody has to fit into the bill of a of a gang member. Doesn't matter what gang it is. Correct. Yes. All the officers uh know the criteria. They they might just have one criteria. They fill out what's called a uh a gang card, a blue card, and they send it over to the the tag for them to vet to to see if this person is actually either makes the criteria or doesn't make the criteria. So officer, traffic officer, and every officer during the training that they go through, uh they do get shown that even though even the field officers are, you know, as opposed to the experts being the the gang member units, uh that that disseminates this information right? Yes, sir. every officer knows uh knows what the criteria is and how to how to get that information to the tag. Thank you, sir. Thank you, mayor. Thank you. And thank you, chief. And I know that uh our number one priority is public safety and our number one priority is the safety of our community and we we understand that there is crime in the city of El Paso, but we are one of the safest cities in the country and will continue to be. But we understand that we have a responsibility to our community and that's to protect our our community and uh I know that um it um serve and protect is uh always been you know what you all talk about and it's important to stand up here and say that we know that um we have challenges but challenges are opportunities to to take care of things and make sure we do the right thing and protect our communities. So, thank you for your leadership, sir. Thank you. Um, just on a a positive note, I mean, the community allows us to police out there. We have a great part partnership with the community, but um just uh a little bit of good news, uh by the end of May, if our numbers hold in the academy, we'll have uh 91 new police officers on the street. So, uh we have a class graduating in November, a class graduating in January, and then the last one in May. If all our numbers hold up right now, we're looking at about 90 91 uh new police officers on the street. Thank you, sir. Thank you. Thank you for your chief out there. With that, Mr. Prime, that brings us to item 31. And this is discussion and action to authorize the expenditure of district 2 discretionary funds in an amount not to exceed $5,000 to fund the annual fall festival at Memorial Park on October 5th, 2024 and the fall festival at Sunrise Park on October 12th, 2024. This item was placed by representative repres. Thank you, mayor. So, we we have been doing these things in district 2 for several years now. Just kind of want to continue the the tradition. constituents are excited about it. So, we're going to do Memorial Park and Sunrise Park backtoback weekends. And one of the great things about doing this is that we're going to bring city services into the community at the Sunrise event. We're bringing vaccinations to the community. We're bringing the mobile library and working to bring animal services there as well. And then also, we're working through some sponsorships. We we did receive $2,000 from Marathon uh to sponsor this event. So that will also offset the cost. So with that said, I move to approve the item. Second. Motion and a second. There's a motion made by representative as second it by alternate mayor promolar to approve item 31. On that motion, call for the vote. Representative Ria. Thank you. And the voting session and that motion passes unanimously. Representatives Ernnandez and Salceto not present. Item 32 is discussion and action on the recommendation from the financial oversight and audit committee to city council to direct staff to review the internal audit charter for any proposed revisions including the appropriateness to retain an outside consultant to recommend best practices. And this item was placed by Mayor Prom Kennedy. Miss Neman, there are some new suggestions, requirements, and best practices coming in January for internal auditors. Is that correct? Yes, sir. I think they're requirements that go into effect January 9th of 201. They're more than just suggestions. They're requirements. They're they're mandatory guidelines from the International Audit Profession. Yes, sir. All right. We put this item on coming out of FOAC because we felt like it would be best to get cracking on this since there's new requirements coming in January and to direct staff to um retain any outside consultants that would be required um to look at best practices and come in an outside eye on what are the best practices, policies, procedures. Um, also when we when we take a look at at everything else that's going on, um, as far as the new requirements, uh, we need to look at at the audit charter and, uh, also establish internal audit a manual on policies, procedures, and communication procedures. Also, since I know that the new, uh, requirements are very large on how information flows back and forth. also establish some performance metrics which we have not done to this point. Um and see how the communication would work throughout the entire organization with the internal auditor through the department heads through FOAC through city council on what the best policies and procedures are out there so that we can sit and take a look at that. And I'd love to to put a long time frame on this but this is kind of a hustle up because it's coming quickly. And so I would say, you know, I don't want I don't want to give you a deadline because I have a feeling you guys will bring it back as quickly as you can. I think this is critical for us to to implement the new practices as well as become just a better department. And bringing in somebody from the outside who can look at some of the other cities and see what their best practices are and bring them back to El Paso, I think would be a good idea. And with that, I will make that motion. Second. Representative um Furo. Thank you, Mayor. Uh Mr. Chair, so we're talking about these best practices that are supposed to take effect 12 weeks from now. When are we going to get an overview of what they are, what they should be um for us to start considering as a full act meeting committee. I think we only have one more meeting before the end of the year. We have one required, but we can do more than one if we choose to. We can add an additional one. Um, I'd kind of look to staff to say what do you think uh what's your best guess on when we might be able to to bring this to full at least with some suggestions to start looking at. So, um, based on my initial research, we have some people that we think may be suitable for this task. Um, I would like to have somebody that the council would approve here in the next hopefully under less than a month, I hope. But um that's what we're hoping for. I know that the the guidelines have been posted and published since January of this year. And a lot of the research that I'm coming across shows that the organization should have already been doing some of this. So I would imagine that we could find somebody that has already done it somewhere else. And can Do you think we we might get a recommendation on who to choose in two weeks, do you think? Or do you think it'll take a month? I don't want it to take a month. I think we can shoot for two weeks, but then we may need a little more time. Why don't we put it on for two weeks and if we have to table it or postpone it for two weeks, then we could do that, but at least then we'll have a benchmark. Mr. Chair, can So, you're saying two weeks, we should be able to get an idea of when it can come in. Well, at least we'll know who we're talking about as the outside expert at that point. And can you also include an estimate on the price? I'm I'm a little concerned about We're only a few on the cost. I'm sorry. Thank you, mayor. I'm I'm a little concerned that we're so close to when it's supposed to come in effect and and um we it sounds like we're a little bit behind the eightball. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Representative. Thank you, Mayor. I just kind of wanted to throw a few notes on what I'm hoping that we can also get out of this. for for me I'm looking at getting ideas to improve the function and performance overall and I think I'm thinking of it in terms of governance and how we are everything from setting the agenda to um how the reports are made and stuff like that and then how we can work with departments on this as well especially our legal Um, and then when we could look at better hotline practices, kind of going back from the last FOAC meeting where I was kind of talking about a dashboard, for a lack of better terms, where we could kind of see what needs to go to one place and what needs to go to the other place. And then I I think that maybe if you want to look at the Institute of Internal Auditors, I think that is is a good place to also start if you need ideas of where they're doing it just cuz I think that when we're thinking about audit, they have really intense standards to follow. And so I think those are some of the best practices to kind of look at the international standards for the professional practices of internal auditing. But I'm very supportive of this item and I think this will help us kind of get everything that we need to kind of implement the new things that are coming in January and kind of marry everything that we're doing. Thank you, sir. Uh represent Molina. Thank you, Mayor. Um, Representative Kennedy or Chair Kennedy, I would ask that uh possibly to have two FOAC meetings for the rest of this year. Region simple being finish up what we can do. The other thing too is pro possibly u dedicate one meeting to like a training session once everything starts coming out. Um, we could ask good questions, we can get some great answers. uh the makeup of the FAA will change come January. So this could be like a uh template for other things to come that we may or may not know, things that we can expect, some things that we don't expect that we can just facilitate a better meeting starting in 2025 for any member who's going to become a member of the FOAC for future meetings. Mayor Prom. Yeah, the requirement of a meeting per quarter is a minimum, not a maximum because we're required to have one meeting a quarter, but we could have as many meetings as we need to get through this process. And I think particularly now with changes coming to FOAC as far as personnel, it would make great sense for us to do that to get our house in order and to set our house right and move forward with this. I think that that setting our house right as far as the financial oversight and audit committee is critical to make sure that we get a process that stands the test of time going forward. I think when we were talking about the hotline that is included I I am going to say under the communication with other departments and making a decision on what best practices are on that. I think that the communication not only with legal but with everybody that is in management whether it's city manager department heads and having that spelled out participant is now I think that it's that it's important to have that communication spelled out succinctly on here's how information will flow and here's what's going to be brought back to us once we get that set up if we have to have multiple multiple meetings I think it's a requirement to do it as quickly as we can and as efficiently as we can so that even if we have an indiv individual that comes in that can move it quickly and if we're having, you know, bi-weekly FOAC meetings, if that's what it takes and that's what we need to do to get this handled and to set our house right on this. Thank you, Mr. Pride. Yes, mayor. The motion was made by Mayor Pro Tim Kennedy, seconded by alternate mayor prom to approve item 32 as posted. On that motion, call for the vote. in the voting session. And that motion passes unanimously. Representatives Ernnandez Salo not present. That brings us to item 33. And this is an operational focus update from the code enforcement bureau and the El Paso Police Department on the sociable city assessment action plan. Good afternoon, sir. Good afternoon, mayor, members of the council. Steve Alvarado, code enforcement director with the El Paso Police Department. It if you could bring up this SCA update, please Sorry about that. Thank you. So this is a followup to the presentation that we brought forward to council back in May of this year. Uh at that time we had our third party consultant the responsible hospitality institute with us at that time in which we pres pro provided numerous recommendations um from them and also to the city to action on. Today we will not be taking any actions on this items. These will be further recommendations. Next slide please. Thank you. Next slide please. So we have four proposed action items uh that'll be for recommendations. Um first one is the noise ordinance amendments, the ride share hub, an ambassador for nighttime economy and increased nighttime enforcement. Next slide please. First recommendations has some language cleanup. It's section 9.40030 sound level violation. Subsection B. It's to clarify language from silent to change to received to produced. Uh subsection D is specify where the location of the measuring noise level shall be at the property line of the property producing the noise. Next slide please. Next amendment recommendation would be section 9.4. 40070. This to cover penalties. This will include a civil action uh I'm sorry, include a civil action with a civil penalty. Next recommendation would be enforcement 9.40080. Update which departments can enforce this ordinance. And the next one is an entirely new one which is 9.490. Recommendation will include low frequency ambient. Uh add a new section to address a low frequency ambient. create a low frequency DBC level and provide the specified level enforcement for any violations. This would cover the vibrations, the bass, the lower sounds coming from the instrument emitting the noise at that time. Next slide, please. Our next slide, two slides will be covered by Lieutenant Milner from our Westside Regional Command. Lieutenant, good afternoon, Mayor Council. Lieutenant Milner from the Westside Regional Command Community Services. So, this one right here is a win-win across the board. This is um part of the social assessment specifically at Cincinnati. So, writers and drivers of course will benefit by having a designated mark curbside location and I'll show you on the next slide the location that we're proposing. This is going to be initially this is going to be a pilot program and we're calling this zone 2. Right now, the only ride share hub that the city has is going to be uh at the airport. So, we're looking at this being zone two. Hopefully, long term, we would look at zone three and zone 4, especially that the city is growing with um like the amphitheater in the northeast. So, we're looking at this being uh the first project. So, bless you. for this location centrally located adjacent to University of Texas which draws large crowds throughout the year. Of course, we have football season coming around the corner. This location benefits surrounding businesses, shopping, dining, and of course 247 entertainment. Of course, this would also assist in the location of minimizing the need for parking in the residential areas, which has been a recent complaint. And uh the ride share hub would encourage patrons to utilize ride share instead of DWIs. And we would also be able to curb pedestrian fatalities in that area. Next slide, please. Okay. So, this right here, these three parking spaces, this is going to be the um this is going to be 200 Baltimore where it meets with Messa and it's centrally located. This location was chosen also because of multiple pedestrian enhancements in this area from digital lighting, from railage. Um we have cameras, text city cameras. So this area right here um is what we're proposing. It does not interfere with the bicycle lanes. It does not interfere with the bus or the trolley. So this is a win-win. We are also working with the traffic engineers on this one. Do I have any questions on this one? And is that represent Canales followed by represent? Yeah. Is that the end of the presentation? Are you done? No. No. Okay. We'll wait till the end of the presentation. Thank you. Thank you, Lieutenant. Uh the reason we also select this location, it's well illuminated. It has cameras. Um there's only three meters there that would have to be removed. Um we did an analysis. Those meters typically generate about a th000 each. So $3,000 a year would uh you know be removed from our that budget that budget there. So um next slide please. So we also talked about increasing the nighttime enforcement. We named that position nighttime ambassador, nighttime consultant, um you name it. Uh we we look at this position coordinating the necessary resources for balancing public safety, quality of life and vibrancy with the city. Uh some of the duties would be to oversee nightlife activity and other projects in various neighborhoods and report on trends and impacts. Uh disseminate information using social media platforms. Uh this position would also aid in neighborhoods with both residential and commercial activity to achieve peaceful and mutually beneficial coexistence. that'll track, measure, and report on data indicating changes of improvements in public safety and economic development. It also assists with daily operations needs within the code enforcement bureau. This position could be an assistant director within the division. It could be a project manager, something of that type. Next slide, please. So, increase sound and parking enforcement. We would focus more nighttime enforcement efforts around the Unitarian area citywide. uh respond to calls for service from EPD dispatch and provide the ability to tow any legally parked vehicles by parking enforcement at night. This would be done on an overtime basis. Right now, um currently we have no parking enforcement out at night and uh we could typically start enforcing issuing parking citations in multiple areas including the meters at night as well. Next slide, please. With that, I open up to any questions that the council may have. Representative Penelis. Thank you, Mayor. Um, I guess I'll start at the ride share hub. I really appreciate this. It's a something that I've been talking about for years. I think it makes sense to have a designated pickup location. Um, and I know the ride share companies are very open to working with municipalities on uh designating these locations that make sense for for public safety. Um I I know we had spoken in the past about a location uh a diff another location. I don't want to say in instead because I I like this one, but uh one that's already in frequent use now on North Stanton um around the corner. There's a an already designated uh passenger loading zone with a curb cut. Um is that something that we would look at for a potential expansion? So we did consider that location, sir. However, it we are looking at this being a 247 operation in order for um citizens to attend UTP games all the way to 2 o'clock in the morning and it would interfere with Sun Metro with the bus routes. Is that currently a bus pickup spot? It is. It is. Okay. Because it's designated the sign there is commercial loading zone and passenger uh pickup zone and and so Stanton we we of course Yes. We initially looked at that location because it's already there. However, you have the bicycle lanes, you have the trolley, and you have the buses that travel through there until a certain time of night and I believe it's till 6 or 8 just depending on the evening. But, um, this this location, we just thought it would be primed because it wouldn't interfere with anything that's already established. Okay. And when we coordinate with the the ride share companies essentially are they does does it function kind of like a blackout of a certain area where they any any rides originating from within that area would direct them to that pickup. So So we're proposing to have signage that is uh digital signage which is already out there at Cincinnati for pedestrian walk uh walking. And so we're proposing to have digital signage so that everybody can see that this is the location to be picked up, of course, which is right across from a bus stop. So it's already kind of like a pickup zone area. So we wouldn't be coordinating with the ride share apps to incorporate that into their functionality. It is we would be coordinating with them to let them know that this is a hub that the city has named a hub. However, anybody who is a designated driver, a limousine service, taxi service, ride share, they would all know that this is the location that is safe with cameras, lighting, okay, um designated for you to pick up. I would recommend that we do coordinate if we can. Um you know that all across the country there are places if you request a ride on Uber or Lift, they make you walk to a different location at a secure pickup point. And I think that's something again I've done some research about how municipalities engage with we agree 100%. I've actually emailed the ride sharers just asking a separate question but at least starting that conversation and I look forward to continue conversation because I think it's going to be an ideal location for them to be the signage would also include you know no stopping or standing for longer than 3 to 5 minutes um so people aren't just staging there blocking other rid share drivers from using the location that have a pickup already done. So, okay. Um, that's immediately adjacent to uh T-Mobile store. Have we been in contact with that business? We would theoretically be removing parking that's available to their customers during the daytime. Yes, we have not done that because we haven't gotten that far, but that's something we will definitely do. So, and again, they have a they have an on-site parking lot, right? Um, but I think it would be helpful to contact them to make sure they're aware of a of a change coming. Um, in terms of the nighttime ambassador, nighttime manager, um, do we have is is that position already in the works? Do we have that posted or are we still developing like a job? We're still developing. We've reached out to PDHR. We're running some numbers. um just depending on on which position we end up going with whether it be a project manager, code manager or assistant director, those positions are right on the books in our various department. So we'll basically mirror that um but put in the job specifications duties at that time. Okay. And then um on the noise ordinance amendments um I love the the proposal to create a a limit for the DBC the low frequency uh decibb or what what will we use to develop what that what that limit will be. So we we've looked at we re researched the other major metropolises that have them. Currently we only found the city of San Francisco and New York. Uh, San Francisco goes 8 dB over ambient temperature and we, excuse me, ambient noise, pardon me, ambient noise. So, we typically take ambient noise within two to three blocks of the location. So, we won't take the ambient noise right there in Mesa because there's so much traffic, there's so much stuff going on, music and stuff. So, we'll go into the neighborhood, take an ambient noise, and if that noise comes back 62, then we'll go with 70. Anything over 70 as a violation or 65 and you know whatever that may be 73 at that point and again that's specifically for DBC that's the kind of rumbly rumbly bassy the vibration we don't people complain about exactly and our current meters do you do enforce A and also C re ratings so we won't have to buy new meters okay so we're already equipped to enforce forc so um and then can you talk a little bit more about the benefit of including a a civil action with a civil penalty as opposed to the way it's written in the code. Now, you know, it's something that the city attorney and I have been talking about. Um, Eric, excuse me. So, I I think it's going to be more of a a larger punitive fine if I'm not mistaken, Carla. Um, and I think it's up to $1,000. Um, right now I think we don't issue class C. Class C is a misdemeanor issued by police officers. So, we're not registered as police officers. We're registered through the state as code officers. So, it's something a different action and approach we could take as well um to enforce this. Hopefully, we get their attention and you know detour some of this uh bad behavior. And what is the what is the disposition of this kind of civil penalty like the someone receives it and then their next step is you know what I haven't done this here. Um can you represent can you ask your what is your question like what how what is what is the process for like disposition of this kind of civil penalty like someone receives the penalty from a code enforcement officer and then you get a citation and then it's scheduled to be heard at municipal court and then they have to come and show that they're in compliance etc etc and then either the judge decides that they issue a fine if they're not in compliance or they get some other sort of um penalty. Okay. And how does that differ from the the uh misdemeanor that currently the police off a police officer would issue a class C? So the differentiation is our code enforcement officers don't issue citations. So what what Mr. is referring to is that they can only issue a notice of a violation and then they can either come to the city attorney's office and we prosecute a case that we believe that there's violations taking place and then we would prosecute it in municipal court. Okay. So the the process for someone receiving the citation or the in this case the the civil penalty it wouldn't be different for that person. they would still go through to a municipal court and it's the same process essentially but it'll allow the code enforcement officers to issue the penalty instead of the police officers issuing a class misdemeanor. Correct. Okay. Yes. Um and then I had one more question. Let me see. Ah, so the the location for measuring noise levels, um, what is the part of the code that's not clear now about the property line? I always understood that it was measured at the property line. Does it just say at the property line instead of the property line of the property? I think it just clarifies it because it's been uh brought up in some of their court cases that, you know, well, it doesn't say the property line could be across the street, the neighboring adjacent property. So, it spells out right there at the property line, which typically the the sidewalk area. Okay. Um yeah, thank you for these changes. I'm very interested to see uh how what implementation of these looks like. Is this something that will come back to council altogether or in different parts? Uh yes, I believe uh we'll work at the city attorney's office, review everything, and then we'll come back with an actual date at some point in time. So, okay. Um again, I I think it's a good start. Uh I've I've made clear through the process that I think we do need some adjustment to the the DBA levels in the code as well. Essentially the the you know high higher frequency noise. Yeah. The highest uh standard standard noise that someone thinks about when they when they think about a property uh producing noise. Um and I'm I think this will be a big help. Uh, I I still would like to see uh some sort of development or some sort of proposal developed for what a change to the to the DBA levels could look like. Um, you know, I again, I don't know if that's something that that I can work on um in conjunction with with you and your team. Uh, but I I'd like to bring that proposal forward as well. Yes sir. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Represent. Thank you, mayor. Thanks for presenting this. Thank you for presenting as well. I I have a lot of thoughts on this and I I'm seeing a lot of this is coming from the entertainment study that that we got presented a few months ago and and I think the the study, which was not you, left me with a lot more questions than answers. And I was really wanting a lot more hard data out of it. And that's not your fault or anything, right? But it it's just more like how can we adopt this 12 pass? So, how can we get like I I think one of the things that I was hoping for was a recommendation on what decibel level, right? Because this is an argument that we've been having at the city for years and we can't figure it out, but other cities have figured it out, right? And so I know you were saying something about San Francisco earlier, but then I'm also thinking the way to figure that out is going and understanding what other cities maybe in Texas, maybe similar sizes as us, but with housing in downtown for example, and then bars around that housing, they have it figured out and we can't get there. And I feel like that might be the key to kind of have a full understanding of what the reading needs to be. And then on the second part to that is I'm thinking if we're just going to find them and then it's going to pile up whether it's $1,000 or $100, whatever it is, can we come in and do a little bit more to say we're working with you to do it, but you only have two weeks to do it or 30 days and not six years, right? You know, so those are kind of my thoughts and I'll let you respond with what your thoughts are. Sure. Uh first question, Representative Aso. Um yeah, we looked at various uh uh cities within Texas as well and and they do range. Um some of them go up to 85 such as in San Antonio downtown the Riverwalk area. Um not too much housing, but there is hotels there as well. So some are actually lower, some are at 60 and some are at 70 and just just varies. and we could run a work with the city attorney's office um analyze what we have and see what best practices would would benefit the city at that time um perhaps come back to you all with with what came up with at that time as well. Uh the second question um I'm sorry, can you repeat it again? It it was more around you're you're doing a new fine of $1,000, but we'll work with you for two weeks, for 30 days, six years. Like what what tools do we have for them to fix whatever issues that they're having? So, the city attorney does uh go with us to the courts and they they sometimes mediate uh agreements with with the bar owners, whoever the person receiving the citation. Uh I've seen various things where they've compiled it and specified a fine. We've looked at other options as well. Um maybe some type of agreement and going back to the bar and checking them out if they're in violation. We'll do this for extended period of time up to six months at some points. Um so there is various options that we have implemented with the bars themselves. Can it be strengthened with actual days? You if you get a violation that needs to be fixed up to 14 days and can can we do something like that and that might be a Yeah. And some of these agreements I have seen it's give them 6 months. Any violation within that six-month time frame eliminates the agreement and we just go with the full citations at that point that we're pending. But it's still more citations, right? We're not able to do more than just citations. and then they just pile up. So that is one of the things that uh we have started ever since the social city assessment. We do have quarterly meetings with the stakeholders, the business owners and so forth. So that it's not always just enforcement. So we do have their contact information. So we've we've come a long way since we started this. And so yes, we matter of fact, we have a meeting coming up October 17th with the stakeholders, many business owners within the social districts. But but then I think if I remember correctly, the last time we talked about this, a lot of them were not showing up. Specifically, the ones violating were not showing up. So, it was just a lot of good faith. Yes, we're in, but we're you're not consulting us, but now you are. And how I think there needs to be a bridge to actually get them there. And maybe it's one-on-one conversations. Maybe you've already done that, but it I'm trying to see how we get that delicate balance with the needs of our residents and the needs of the businesses because I think both needs are just as important, right? So, it's it's discussion that's going to have to be continuous. Like I said, um we will meet with them on October 17th and continue to invite them. Um hopefully, you know, down the road and they say, "We didn't know." Yes, you knew. So, then that's time for enforcement. So, okay. I'm hoping that we could find the balance. I It's such a we've been doing this for years. I know. We just can't figure it out and it's frustrating. We're working on it. Absolutely. No, and I know you are and I and I appreciate you for that. Yes sir. And Representative Asavo, just to just to follow up with that. Um, one of the positions that'll be the primary function if we do get a nighttime ambassador, economy manager, assistant director, that'll be their primary focus is to bridge that gap and continue to have these conversations. and we do want to bring them to the table cuz you know siding them isn't always solution but you know that's the tools we have right now. So and and I'm also not completely sold on this position. So the next time that you bring it to us if you could really give us a more of a job description like I understand this is very topical and it's giving me an idea of what you're doing but I I really want to know if this is going to be a good expense for the city. Absolutely. We'll get those details for you. Yes, sir. And then I also was thinking about this ride share hub. Mhm. And um Repal is kind of stole everything that I was going to say cuz I was thinking that that area in front of G2 I think is a lot better than where you're putting it here. I think we need a right share hub there for sure. The reason that I think it's better is because I think this might be a little too far off from the entertainment district. Okay. And I worry that people are going to be walking down the alley and that alley is extremely dark and that gives me a little pause. And I'm also wondering if we could get some data to kind of back that up because I I think the the bus stopping is is absolutely critical. And I'm not saying that we should change a bus route for it, but I think a lot of where we're using ride share is between the hours of 10 and 2 in the morning. And at that time the bus is not running anymore. So if we could get a better understanding of when people are using ride share to get to the Cincinnati Cincinnati district. Okay. To make that decision or that other one is part two of the ride share hub. Okay. And it's only from 11:00 p.m. to 4 in the morning or something. It has a sign that that's what it's for. Okay. But that's kind of what I'm thinking with that. But and then maybe we we get lights in the alley because I mean I've been through it many times and it's pretty have so recently um I haven't been in a while so I don't know if you added lights. So yes we did address that concern. I know when we spoke at your town hall meeting that was one of the concerns. We did get lighting in in both alleyways. Um there is discussion with the owners about more cleanup in those alleyways. And um as far as that location that we did look at the Stanton location, but it does interfere and this is not necessarily just for Cincinnati um partygoers, this is also to benefit when you go to a UTEP event which is all year long so that you don't have to drive, park, walk long distances. This is also for students, anybody who wants to be dropped off. So not necessarily just for the late hours. Um and then it's also dining. you want to be able to have a drink and we're just wanting to make sure we um take care of the fatalities, pedestrians and and stuff like that. And we chose this location because of so many pedestrian enhancements that have happened over the years. So, and and then I'm also thinking about a potential wrongway driver going into this alley when there's people leaving the bars cuz I mean that happens. So, it wouldn't be the alley. No, I know. But if they're going through the alley to get to the ride share, that's kind of where I'm thinking is usually when there's a wrongway driver going up Cincinnati, they turn into one of the alleys cuz they realize that they went the wrong way. And so that is true. I mean, however, we do have officers out there every weekend. We're still doing that. And then like Mr. Alvarado also said, we were looking at having nighttime parking enforcement. So they would also be giving tickets and we'd also have a way to measure how this program is working for us at that specific location. So we have thought about a couple of those things but but as far as the bus route, we did not want to interfere with that during the daytime. No, absolutely. And that's kind of why I was thinking more like the night service that that would be important for that and that's what I was like maybe thinking that's a part two and it's just those certain hours but so when we bring it back I will definitely be able to show you pictures of what it looks like at night what it looks like if we had a sign illuminated and then maybe we may need to make more um railage as far as pedestrians right there in that area. However, we all we're also talking about um including ADA accessibility to that location as well. So, we've thought about those things. No, and that's important and thank you for considering that as well. And and then the last thing, and this is just kind of a a general thing overall, for many years, you could just turn from Stanton onto Cincinnati, and now you have the turn only lane, and nobody's using it. And it drives me absolutely insane. So, I don't know what we can do to get more people to use the turn only lane and not turn from the other area because I think that could pose some danger if there's two cars turning at the same time. One using the actual lane to turn and the other one using the one that used to be the turn lane. I don't think there's been accidents or at least I haven't seen them because of that. But at the very least, if we could make it more clear like this is this is the turn only lane and this one you just go straight. Okay, I'll bring it up when I talk to the traffic engineer. Thank you. Appreciate you. Representative Salceto. Thank you, Mayor Pertip. Good afternoon. Thank you so much for all the hard work you all did. Um I I did visit with you all uh in regards to this and I I think thank you also for including the public and the uh business owners to have a place at the table. Um I I kind of I'm going over a little bit of the the proposals kind of walking through and I wanted to ask you all a couple of questions. I know that you mentioned the property line. Um when you talk about measuring the property line, is it in the center, left, right? So that way the public could be very clear. No, certainly a good question, Representative Salceto. Appreciate that. Um the property line will be anywhere um where the public rightway starts and the private property ends. So typically we we take it from the sidewalks. Typical general rule of thumb is a property line even though the property line may go back a couple feet past the sidewalk. Um it's just we don't have the engineers map to do it that way but uh typically we'll do it from the sidewalk area. So Okay, perfect. That just so that way they can be a little very clear um on it. And then there was another one um another constituent back when this had originated a very long time ago. He asked about base being measured. Do our um devices measure I guess base? Yes, they will. The current devices that we use, measure A, which are the highs, and then C's, which are the lows, the vibrations. So, um, and that's one of the the proposed recommendations is to enact a low frequency ambient noise level, and that's that's in here as well. So, Okay, great. Yeah, that was one of the biggest ones I heard. Um, at the time, um, I know as mentioned, it was mentioned right now if the noise is violated, there is a a fee associated to that. So, we issue a notice of violation and we work with the city attorney's office and we we set up a court date to go to court in municipal court. Um, there is fines. I I believe that one is around $216. Sometimes they they mitigate it because there's multiple fines at the same location or will it come with some type of agreement at times to okay, we'll we'll do them at x amount of dollars, but you know, you have 90 days, 30 days, no violations, you know, so there's different various agreements that can be be brought up. So, and is that the one that we were trying to kind of raise as well? Is that also your proposal to raise that fee? That was a civil action. Yeah, civil action, I believe, was to raise it to $1,000 that fee. So, um Yes. Okay. No, great. No, that's that's because you know, you you do have always good operators, bad operators, but I I also did see some just kind of included as cost of business. Yes. And and you know, dismissed what what what we're trying to accomplish here. So I think yeah upping the fees very important so that they don't and roll it in as heart costs and just continue to to you know not be a good neighbor to other people. Um another one I wanted to kind of um talk to you about and I think I mentioned to you all about it but it it's ancillary to it's kind of ancillary and it kind of goes into this. So when when we talk about the building code when we are you're issuing a a permit for a establishment that's going to have noise I think um it will lend itself to look at the way the building is built already. I don't know if that's something we could take a look at. So what I have seen in the past is that you I think there one in particular I think in district six when that was my area was the um it was a shed and so because you know they already when you're issuing the the uh the permit and everything you know it's going to be a sound u noise place or you know bar grill what I whatot and uh I think looking at ways that we can make sure that it's not soundproof but it could uh it is prepared to withhold sound Um yes. Um and the planning inspections division issues the uh amplified sound permits. Part of that uh process is them reviewing the site plan to see where speakers are located. Things along that line. Now if it's an existing building, of course, construction standards are different depending on when the building was built. Um more insulation in newer ones, so less insulation in older ones. So those are some of the challenges and some of the things that they look at. Yeah. And I think it would lend I don't know if we have somebody from planning of inspection here, but it would lend itself for something for for us to work with uh with them on it, but because I know that this only applies to certain um establishments, I think within a certain square feet. Yes. 350 ft from residential property. So if you're not within 350 ft, no permit is required for amplified sound. Exactly. So kind of it will end itself for us to sit down and look at moving on forward any establishment to be built adequately so that the sound doesn't permeate out of the building and it'll be just simple to sit down take a look if it's a shed what do we need to you know ask them to do so that it could be um you know just mitigating the sound for for to be good neighbors to everybody. Yeah I mean just just a suggestion but I want to thank you all for for your hard work. I I do see all's proposal. So so what is the next steps? So, next steps are the recommendations. We'll work with the city attorney's office. Um, and then we will come back with uh at that time either recommend further recommendations or actual changes to the ordinance at some point in time, but we'll work with the attorney's office and uh give a timeline for that as well. Perfect. Thank you so much for for your work. Representative Molinar. Thank you, Mayor Potam. Um, couple of questions. The word ambassador sounds. I guess that's borrowed from another social city or something like that. Yes, it's been it's it's a word that has been thrown back and forth. Some people use it, some people don't. It's not set in stone. I will say that. Okay. It just sounds too diplomatic for me. And so I know there's no job description yet or maybe they're working on it, but um is this person going to be like have experience in law enforcement? this person have experience in sociology. They're going to have psychology degree or so it would require a bachelor's degree. Um they would have we're asking for at least three years minimum nightife experience or working with restaurants s such things as that. Um we probably have this person primary function doing the night life and entertainment um portion of that but also assist within code enforcement as is another entity in our division. So and would this person be working nights? Yes, they would be working nights. They would have to understand that you are working at night. Absolutely. That's one of the crucial parts. And of course, you know, we we'll look at budgeting, see how we could fund for this position. But it's probably too early for this question, but is this person going to have like supervisory authority? You know, it's something we're looking at. We don't know if they're going to have anybody under them as far as working in an office or some point in time. As a city grows and our entertainment venues grow, I think we can have a bigger team at that point. Okay. And then um right now, let's just say the Cincinnati Entertainment District, the quote unquote highest authority for a law enforcement, is that an LT, a lieutenant? Yes sir. Okay. And then uh whether it's that LT or a supervisor or perhaps later on the ambassador, do they have that uh discretion to move to other parts of town? Perhaps they're receiving calls. Uh what I'm thinking is this. So there's a gentleman that last name Mr. Ria. I'm sure you remember him. He comes here quite frequently and he talks about the noise right next door. And I have personally been right there and I don't know how that man sleeps. Uh I hear him loud and clear because of his frustration. But would that be possible to send the ambassador down there to check it out or? So So yes. Yes, sir. When we uh did this assessment, it wasn't just Cincinnati. Cincinnati was the catalyst. However, it is looked at citywide. And so that's why we went to everybody's town hall meeting because it affects everybody in a different way. And so yes, all of the entertainment venues would be addressed by this person. So not just one specific location. Would you consider that one particular bar an entertainment venue or just a single bar? Well, we c the term has been loosely bar clusters, entertainment venues. The thing about it is when we did speak with um the nonprofit organization that did the assessment, people did not like the term entertainment district. So they wanted us to get away from that. So now we refer to it as entertainment venues or clusters. Well, to me, if it's a single bar, it's a single bar. And if they're creating a noise violation, they should be looked into right fairly across the board. The ones we identified are those that um were giving us a little bit of problems and high police presence. So those those are the ones we identified as our hot spots throughout the city. All right. Thank you very much. Yes sir. Representative Salceto. Thank you, Mayor Pam. I forgot another question. I just saw it here. Um the uh the part where it says provide the ability to tow any illegal parked vehicles by parking enforcement at night. Can you further elaborate? Would what your intent is there? Sure. So the plan is to have parking enforcement working with us Friday, Saturday nights um on an overtime basis. Currently they don't work on overtime and code enforcement does not tow vehicles. Um so that was one of the objectives. Also increase uh citations within the area because we get numerous calls from residents blocking driveways, blocking sidewalks or whatever they may be double parked, who knows? But uh to have that ability to respond in a timely manner and not burden the police officers with that. Oh, okay. I think uh the one that you mentioned like parking incorrectly. I think that that's great. I think the the one I'm kind of looking at it with a different lens, you know, if somebody does leave their car, you know, and they're being responsible. They Ubered. I wouldn't want to punish them, right, for actually keeping the street safe and not killing somebody. Um so I don't know how we would have to view that in what eyes or how we would approach it. But I do think that you mentioned like the parking incorrectly in front of driveways and certain things might not be appropriate. Um but uh just kind of giving you some thoughts there if we could um look at it more with I don't some kind of discretion or or or Sure. We we could meet and confer and discuss what are best options for the community. So perfect. Thank you. Thank you. And that is it. Is that it? No further questions with that. Miss Prime. Next item. Yes sir. Item 34 is a presentation and discussion on an update on the FY2024 year end review report, quality of life, public safety and community progress bonds, capital programs, and overview of the priorities of the city's capital improvement program. Good afternoon, Council I Nandez with C. So, I'll be going over the highlights for fiscal year 2024, the work that we have uh completed and the impact to our community. Then, I'll touch on our three uh bonds, where we're at with the projects for quality of life, public safety, and community progress. And then, I'll end out with our certificates of obligation. These are our capital plans from 2017 to 2020. We have completed the 2012 2013 street infrastructure. Um, and then the last one being the East Side Sports Complex phase two. So for our results looking at uh for the year 2024 um these are our incumbrances. So the total for this year is close to 152 million. really excited to report on that because this means we have new contracts with our consultants, contractors, labs and this is equating to 152 million which means money that we will be spending it down in the next year for our expenditures this year it was approximately 90.7 million. So if we look year to date uh fiscal year 18 to 24 over the past six years we've spent 811 million into our community. If we look at the impact and what that does for our labor costs if you take about half of every million dollar for construction and this year we had 90.8 million roughly there's about 45 million that are spent on labor costs. So that means that our CIP has supported over 4,500 jobs. If we look over the past 13 years, that's over 51,000 jobs uh within the city of El Paso. So taking account those 4,500. And they also look at indirect and induced, more than 6,700 jobs were supported by our construction projects for the fiscal year of 2024. And here's a list of both contractors and subcontractors that have been awarded projects with the city of El Paso. Over 263 different uh companies that we have worked with. So, um placing all of these on the map, uh it's getting pretty busy, which is great. It's over 582 projects and you see that spread out um throughout the entire city of El Paso. And then also looking at the resurfaced streets 558 projects have been completed. This is looking from 2013 to present. So this is all the investment that we have recently done within our city. So that equates to just this fiscal year 72 projects completed. Really excited because generally we hover around 50 projects. Um so excited to report that we did see an increase this year on projects completed for the community. And if it could please play our year-end video. So want to give you some feedback from the community but also visuals to see some of the projects that we have completed. should have been a separate file. It Oh it they're currently doing a search as I could see on my monitor. Um, we could always come back to that. Why don't we do that? Yeah, it if I could um come back to that. Let me go ahead and finish out. Um so I'll be updating on the the bonds and then also the um certificates of obligation. So here's a snapshot of the funding um per capital plan. Um if we look at just the funding um for the three bonds, the certificates of obligation of the $1.6 billion that has uh been allocated for all of these funding categories, um we've spent 806 million to date. So focusing on the quality of life bond update, we've completed 214 projects. Uh we currently have 17 projects, the majority of which are in um construction. So looking at our projects and planning, we have the MPC, which we all know will go to uh the voters this November. We have three projects in design. As you remember, we brought central flat fields to council to identify the location and also additional funding. Um, paved trails is 95 95% complete. We should be um moving that to advertisement procurement by next month. And then the South American Pavilion, that's one of the older buildings in the zoo. And so we are working on improvements also helping the zoo keep their aa accreditation for the four projects we have in bid in bidding. Bear Ridge will be brought to council um in November for award. East Cave we're currently working on the purchase order should have the pre-construction meeting later this month. mountain to river. We will be bringing this to award in January and the deest were 95% complete. For the projects um in construction, there are nine projects. You see that the majority of those will be finished this year which are Coyote Park, Galopagos exhibit at the zoo, um the leopard exhibit, um also memorial lighting, um and Rancho del Sol NIP. really excited to show the Lanube which we all know opened um early in August I believe August 10th. Also wanted to provide you the attendance. So just one month they have received over 20,500 attendees to this new um amenity that we have for the city. So that's really great numbers um and really excited for the completion of that project. public safety bond. We've completed 11 projects. Um, and we're looking to really gear up in design and bidding and we currently have projects in construction. So, you'll see we have five renovations for the stations in design. Um, we're working very closely with our fire department. We need to make sure that as we bid out, as we start construction, we don't impact their response time. Um, so we're working in collaboration with them. Additionally, we're working on our uh command centers. We've started design for Northeast Pebble Hills and then uh we recently acquired the property for Central Regional. So, we're working in collaboration with PD programmatically on the central regional command center. We've started with a police department headquarters. If you'll remember, this is located at our public safety complex, which includes our fire department headquarters, training academy, vehicle maintenance, and also the PD training academy and logistics center. So, we're currently working on the guaranteed maximum price with our design build team. And we have two projects in bidding, fire station 18 and 22. So, in construction, we have four fire stations currently in construction. Um, we've started the special operations division that's located here in downtown off of Campbell. And then we will have the ribbon cutting uh this Saturday for fire station 38 that's located out near the um Upper East Side uh regional command center. And we've completed 11 projects thus far within this bond program. Uh most notably here photographed is what you'll see on Saturday should you attend the ribbon cutting. Uh that's our East Side Regional Command. and then fire station 36 for the community progress bond. Um we have three projects in design bidding. Um we've also completed four projects. Um so what I'm reporting here is the reconstruction. Please remember there's also a resurfacing component to this and a streets and maintenance department will come back and provide a more indepth presentation. Um so this is highlighting the resurfacing and reconstruction for this bond. So that includes uh Roas Vista del Sol. We moved those projects up and we're going to start design on those projects. They were slated to begin uh design in fiscal year 26 and 27, but we want to go ahead and address some of our larger projects. So we're already uh negotiating design with potential uh consultants. Additionally, we moved up all our extension projects. If you'll remember, three were identified. Airway, Wrestler, and Montwood. We're negotiating um a design price for Airway. We've started design on Wrestler and Montwood is about 60%, we're working in collaboration with the county. The other projects in design are our traffic signal uh program. Uh two of our reconstruction projects, Pebble Hills and Vista del Sol phase one. Um in bidding you will see our traffic signal program. Um we have the majority of of those in bidding and then we also have three canopy projects which is hadex uh park incad and officer David Ortiz. We've completed four projects which are the canopies and then we've also been very successful at the theming community engagement. So we finished that round and identifying where the all abilities project will be located. Now looking at the certificates of obligations, as I made mention, we finished the 2012 2013, so we're starting at 2017. We've completed 60 projects and we have six currently that are ongoing. The East Side Regional Park phase 2 is 95% complete and we should be getting that ready to advertise for bidding. Um the PIA drain shared use path path. Padia to Zaragoa is currently in bidding and we have four projects um in construction. Signals out on the west side along Donafan and Roas widening is nearing completion. And here's the list of the 60 completed projects for the 2018 capital plan. We are we finished 24 projects uh with this funding. The railroad reconstruction. This is in partnership with Federal Highway. So, they are um awaiting the funding agreement from TexOT and the long- aaited Sean Hagerty Extension. We should be bringing that for construction award this next month. Um Schustster reconstruction. We're uh already in phase 7 about 80% complete and we should be finishing that uh by the end of this year. So there's 24 projects that were completed under this capital plan. 2019 we completed 18 projects and we have a significant amount in bidding. These are um largely uh federal projects. So we have the downtown bicycle improvement uh McCrae shared use path. This is phase one from Montana to Album. And then we also have the upgrades at the traffic management center. pre-esign. We are currently working on negotiating the design for Sun City Lights. That's district six and seven. And then the projects that we have in bidding are the completion. This is the last of the lighting and landscaping um improvements along our main uh arterials. We completed 16 projects thus far. And the last of the certificate of obligations um for 2020 is 21 projects were completed. We currently have 15 in construction. Once again, we're negotiating for design on Sun City Lights. This is in district 3 MCA area. We have border um highway shared use path. This is a federal project in bidding and the HVAC improvements out at Chalio A Costa. The projects in construction are our traffic signal uh program. We've also started construction out at the animal shelter. Um, and we're also completing uh lighting out at uh Modesto Gomez Park. 21 projects have been completed. And the last, and I'll allow you guys, if you have questions, is the East Side Sports Complex. Uh, we just had the substantial completion last week. So, we're working on punch list items, and we should be opening phase two for the sports complex later this year. And that concludes uh my presentation. Should you have questions? It do you have the video or video? While we're waiting, anybody have any questions they'd like to ask? Thank you. Appreciate that. And I'd be remissed if I didn't recognize my team. Um, I have a really great team. They love what they do. And our basic mission, uh, mission statement is leave El Paso better than when we first started. So, I hope you guys are seeing that within your districts. Well, it looks like we may have been shut out on the video. I hear yelling in the back. Sure. Oh. What are you tapping? Are you tapping in? Is that what Hold on. I'm too short. Here we go. [Music] That girl [Music] want [Music] I love it because the canopy, the shade there keeps the kids safe, especially during the summer months when the sun is so hot, so they can actually enjoy the park. [Music] The kids really seem to love it. Even more so than the other playground equipment I've seen. [Music] [Music] That girl you [Music] got you Back [Music] [Music] up. Got you. Got you. Got you. [Music] [Music] Got you. Got you. Got you. [Music] Got you. That wall. [Music] [Music] It's definitely a step up to have some shade out there for the kids and the family and the players that are out there get a little extra shade. So, it's definitely a big step up. [Music] Representative Telsino. Thank you, Mayor Prom. Um, quick question. The full budget for the police department regional command center, what was that amount? This one has a collaborative amount with all the completed projects. I just curious to know if you have that at hand for I'm sorry for the regional command center and which of the regional command the uh the upper east side one. Oh yeah I can get that for you. Oh actually I know 33 million. Perfect. Thank you. Any other questions? Yes. He was asking if the ribbon cutting for that will be tomorrow. Yes. All right. Thank you very much, Miss Prime. Next item. Thank you. Yes, sir. The next item is number 35, and this is a presentation of comparator analysis and budget impact for adding gender affirming benefits to the city's employee insurance plan. Good afternoon, Council Mary Wiggins, human resources. You could bring the PowerPoint up. We'll go with that. Okay. Next. Let's see. Is it this one that's going to move it or there? Okay. So, we came to council um and you asked that we come back. There was discussion and action to direct the city manager to take the steps for us to go out and just do some research um find some data uh regarding claims experience and what some of our sister cities are doing regarding gender affirming care. um and just to kind of bring back some recommendations on what that might look like for the city and to do that within 60 days and we are not moving here there. So what we did um whenever we first came to council several of you mentioned um that you had met with Dr. Tony Ramirez. And so before we started down this journey of sending out surveys and asking questions, um we thought it would be best that you know we met with her as well. That way she could educate us on some of the things that she had seen um and the questions that we should be asking. Want to make sure that we're asking the right questions, not just doing a survey to ask a survey. So u met with her very informative um was able to give us lots of recommendations and just things to consider. Um we also met with Etna which is our insurance consultant to ask them about what their claims experience looks like. What does it look like for their cities? Um you know as far as having coverage and the same thing with Gallagher. They're our benefits consultant. So you know we reached out and just wanted to know you know what are their clients looking like? um what kind of coverage do they have you know is it uniform across the board. So that was very uh helpful and so we did put together the survey with after you know talking with everyone we devised the survey we sent it out and we did get responses back from the cities that you see at the bottom of the screen for Worth, Dallas, San Antonio, Phoenix, Houston and Austin. Each one of those the years that are behind it, that's the years that those cities actually implemented uh gender affirming care respectively. Well, it won't go there. So on um the survey, so we sent out a survey and I'm not going to read this um for everyone, but I mean pretty much what we sent out to the our sister cities was is do you have uh gender affirming care? And if so, we wanted to see what were some of the coverage items, did they have maximum limits? Um were there any specific legal obligations in their state that may have changed, you know, how they implemented their um their care and their claims? um you know, was there any other considerations as far as like medical, mental health, uh prescriptions? So, just kind of want to get a flow of what it looked like for all the other cities. And so, that was sent out and I'm going to get it here. There. And so, pretty much across the board once we got all the surveys back across the board, uh they pretty much all look the same, some identical. And so what it looked like is they pretty much mimic the standard um care that that most insurance companies are administering. And that's um specific requirements. I mean, so going into this, so for example, if someone was going to have a um a gender surgery, the things that they would be required to do is they would have to have a written psychological assessment from at least uh two qualified behavioral health providers experienced in treating gender dysphoria who have independently assessed the covered person. The assessment must document that the covered person meets all of the following criteria. The covered person has experienced persistent welldocumented gender dysphoria. The covered person has the capacity to make a fully informed decision. They must be 18 years of age or older. That is a state of Texas requirement. And then if significant medical or mental health conditions are present, um then they have to be reasonably well controlled. Number two, the covered person must complete 12 months of continuous cross sex hormone therapy appropriate for the desired gender unless there is a medical reason that they're not able to do so. And then last, the covered person must complete at least 12 months of successful continuous full-time real life experience in the desired gender. So these are requirements before the surgery. They must go through these things before they progress to the next level. So some examples of covered services um therapeutic options for gender dysphoria or transgender individuals include um there are different types of medical treatment um behavioral mental health including but not limited to psychotherapy, social therapy and family counseling. Just to note that um those are items the city of El Paso is already covering. hormonal therapy treatment such as puberty suppressing hormones or masculineizing feminizing hormones that also the city is already covering and then gender reassignment surgery as medically necessary to treat gender dysphoria. So we got into medically necessary versus um cosmetic. So transgender surgery for cosmetic indications and reversal of gender reassignment surgeries are not covered. Um there are medical necessity prior authorization criteria or things that you they have to go through for gender reassignment surgeries. Um this is done on a case-byase basis and it may need to go through a medical director um at Etna for review depending upon um the case. As far as medical necessity, um that's where there is clearly a need to perform surgery and medical necessity has been met to address the significant psychological limitations affecting daily functioning due to gender dysphoria. Now, cosmetic, you know, what does that look like? Cosmetic is going to be things that are mainly for visual there where surgery is to address appearances and there's no functional or intractable pain that's um that's being met due to an overwhelming psychological limitation. It's not being affected on a daily basis. So, you know, when we spoke to we asked, you know, so what what do you um what do you think this is going to look like? you know, from a budget standpoint, we kind of got to have an idea what we're looking at. So, based on an actuarial study of the clients that Etna currently has that actually have gender affirming um under their plan, they're forecasting a 0.02% increase in total claims expenditure for the city of El Paso. So, for example, last year we had $43 million in total claims. And so based upon a figure like that, we're probably looking at, you know, around 90, 80 to 100 somewhere in there is kind of where we're looking at. As our claims go up every year, of course, that percentage will, you know, continue to climb with it. Of uh of Etna's clients that they have, um half of them have an actual $50,000 lifetime cap. The other half uh provide the benefits under um general medical benefits. And we currently have 24 members in total that we are aware of um 11 employees and 13 dependents um that are currently being treated for gender dysphoria. We know this only because they're going through um and receiving mental health benefits for gender dysphoria at this time. We're confident there are, you know, many other employees, but these are the ones that we have right now that are currently being treated. So recommendation and next steps. So we're recommending the city of El Paso cover medically necessary procedures to treat gender dysphoria under our regular plan benefits. Um there's a 90-day notice requirement that Etna has in order to implement benefits. So if it was to pass today, we would have time to get that on for our January 1 calendar um plan year for 2025. And then as we move forward, we'll just continue to monitor the claims. Um we'll monitor and look um at how things are paying covered and then if we need to down the road, we can always course correct. But this is our recommendation at this time. Any questions? Representative Canales. Thank you. Uh thank you for the hard work on this. I know it was a a lot of effort to reach out to the cities and to take all the extra steps that you took especially meeting with with Dr. Ramas to inform it on the front end. So I really appreciate that. I did have a couple questions. Um I know let me see slide uh six shows that hormone uh hormonal therapy and treatment is already covered by the city. I I've spoken with city employees who say that they are paying for hormone treatment out of pocket because they were denied coverage through the city insurance. I just wanted to get clarification of whether that's a recent change maybe in the new provider or I I can look and see. I mean I don't know if it's under it was denied and they had to pay or was it it was because CDHP and they had to pay. I think because it was denied and they had to pay. We'll look. But we can yeah clarify that offline. I just saw that and remembered that conversation I had had. Um I was trying to do a little quick math. the you said approximately 90k annually is what and I anticipated that the total claims would be here for us. If that is 0 a 02% increase that means our total claims are around four and a half million. Well there are four you make me do math here. Sorry that's okay. I guess it doesn't have to be through math either. Do we have a ballpark of like what our total claims are? It's probably like 0.002 then. I mean it's it's around 90,000 is what Etna came back and said that it would be okay. Yeah. I just wanted to understand like 90,000 against the total the total number quite small. Yes. Uh yeah. 02%. So again, we're talking well and two things that I didn't mention, you know, one thing is also in that 90,000, I just want to also point out that that is not going to be passed on to the employees. That will be absorbed by the city. So there will not be an additional increase to employees for this. This will be picked up by the city. The other thing that I also wanted to just mention um in you know versus cosmetic versus medically necessary because I know this was asked um in several of my briefings. Um generally I mean there's many different things that can be considered under cosmetic but one of the things that we generally consider cosmetic but that's not considered cosmetic um if it goes through the required would be um the breast augmentation those are generally considered medically necessary if they meet the criteria. So I know that was asked several times. Okay. Excellent. Um, and then I just add one more point which is you did say if it were to pass today, um, this is not posted for action. It's just posted as a presentation. Oh, that's true. You're right. I know the last the last uh, you know, I I wrote the original item, it did already provide direction to the city manager to take the steps necessary to to opt into this coverage. Um, it, you know, it said in advance of implementation to please conduct this kind of review. But I I do think that the way it was written again discussion and action to direct the city manager to take the steps necessary to opt into healthcare coverage of gender affirming care for city of El Paso employees. So we we provided that direction uh in the last item. We we'll check the posting for the prior item. Okay. It is. Yeah, it's here on slide two as well. Yeah. Um yeah, I wanted to make sure that this benchmarking took place just so we could have a solid uh uh idea of what we wanted to implement. But again, I I think the direction is already already there. Thank you. Um and that's all. Thank you again for for the hard work uh to you and to the team to the consultants at Etna. Yes, the consultants at Etna as well who uh have provided us really great service uh throughout the whole the whole process and uh to everybody you know anybody who happens to be watching from any of the comparator cities who you know it takes them time too. So uh thank you for we appreciate them responding. Thank you Mayor Proen. Representative Oavdo. Thank you Mayor Proton. I was also going to say the the presentation we're not posted for action, but I was also under impression that we were good, but if we're not, can we make sure to get it for the next one cuz cuz um that would kind of delay us like a week in January still get us through the 90 days. But hopefully that's not the case. We're okay, sir, based on the language as posted. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. I want to just read a statement from one of my constituents. um he could not be with us today, so I will just read a statement and that's basically all I have for the item. Good morning, council. Well, good afternoon. Now, my name is Michael Gutierrez, a constituent of district 2, and I am writing to strongly support agenda item 35. Gender affirming care is a critical and necessary aspect of healthcare for transgender and non-binary individuals. Just as any employee and their families should have access to care that meets their specific health needs, transgender individuals should not be excluded from receiving vital services. Healthcare is a fundamental human right and no one should be denied access to essential services because of their gender identity. When cities choose to offer comprehensive healthcare benefits that include gender- affirming care, they send a clear message that all employees are valued, respected, and supported. Providing gender- affirming benefits ensures the city supports all its employees, reflecting our values of inclusion and equality. Transgender employees contribute to the strength of our community and their healthcare needs must be met just like any other employees. I urge the council to approve this item, which we've discussed, and affirm the city's commitment to fairness and human rights for all. That's all I have. I appreciate that. Represent Representative Molinar. Thank you, Mayor Pro Tim. Um, Mr. Wiggins, I know you gave us a number. Could you please repeat that number? What perhaps the cost impact would be around $90,000 on an annual basis. Okay. Could we get the Mr. Robert Cordina if you can come up please? Could you kindly give us your perspective as not only for city employees but also their dependents? Um is this m I'm not saying Miss Wiggins is not correct. That's not what I'm saying. But is there anything you could add to that as a I think the only thing I'll add is on slide number eight where she references the estimated impact. Again, that's based on a study that Edna has done on their current customers that they provide these services for. These are just estimates. We don't know until we actually provide the benefits to our city employees. But based on what they've seen, I think the impact that we've shown on the slide is very, very minimal. I don't think it's going to have any type of significant impact on the city's finances. Particularly because we are self-insured, our healthcare claims go up and down every year. I don't believe that this is going to have any impact on the city. We thank you for their input. Thank you, sir. I have no other questions, mayor. All right. If there's no other questions, thank you very much. Appreciate it. Mayor Pro Tim, we did have someone sign up to speak. I'm not sure if Amber Bettis is here. Miss Bettis signed up to speak on this item. Good afternoon, ma'am. You have 30 minutes. Good afternoon, everybody. It's Amber Bettz with the Borderland Rainbow Center. Sorry, it's been a long day. uh but uh I wanted to come and of course support this um and support the council um because this is such an incredibly important step right because what we're showing is that we are showing that throughout the state throughout the nation we are a city that literally is a bastion of uh for other cities to follow that we do believe in inclusivity that we believe that every life truly does matter um Michael actually said everything that I would have said so I'll cut this relatively short, but one thing I did want to bring up is the fact that um as Representative Canales did bring up the fact that there are city employees that are saying they are not able to get their hormones on insurance. I wanted to reiterate that this is something that we as the only LGBTQI plus center offering direct services for 300 miles have also been hearing this um since January. So, it's under our understanding that since January, city employees have been unable to have their hormone uh trait retreat uh replacement therapy hormones uh covered by the city insurance. So, I just wanted to reiterate that and kind of support uh Representative Canelis on that. And again, I would like to say thank you for these steps that you are taking. This is incredibly important um especially here on the eve of October, which is going to be queer history month, but you'll hear plenty about that next month. So again, thank you so much. Thank you. One last thing, Miss W. No to Miss Wiggins. Sorry. Thank you, Miss Wiggins. When you get an answer on that on the the denial, can you just make sure we all are looped in on that one? Thank you. I appreciate that. With that, Miss Prime, the next item. Yes, sir. That's item 36. And this is discussion and action that the managing director of purchasing and strategic sourcing department be authorized to issue purchase orders to Vigilant Solutions LLC, the soul source provider. This contract will allow the police department to continue to have access to license plate data. There is a motion made by Representative Ria, seconded by Representative Pierro, and this is to approve item 36. on that motion. Call for the vote and the voting session. And that motion passes unanimously. Representatives ADO and Ernnandez not present. Item 37 is discussion and action on the award of solicitation 2024-0494 Transportation Services Migrant to American Coach and Limousine Inc. DBA Coach America Deoysa Bus Transportation Inc. DBA El Paso Busrite Mobility Technologies LLC DBA GoGo Charters LLC Sylvia P. Gutierrez Castillo DBA Messenger Charters LLC and Namibi Bus for an initial term of three years. There is a motion made by Representative Fiero, seconded by Representative Salceo and this is to approve item 37. On that motion, call for the vote. in the voting session. And that motion passes unanimously. Representatives Asseo and Ernnandez not present. Item number 38 is discussion and action on a resolution authorizing the city manager to sign a two-year on call agreement for professional services to perform traffic engineering services on a taskbytask basis between the city of El Paso and ACOM technical services incor engineers LLC and GRV Integrated Engineering Solutions LLC. Motion approved. Second. There is a motion made by Representative Fiero. Seconded by Representative Salceo to approve item 38. On that motion, call for the vote. End the voting session. And that motion passes unanimously. Representatives ADO and Ernnandez not present. Item 39 is discussion and action on a resolution authorizing the city manager to sign a two-year on call agreement for professional services to perform surveying services on a taskbytask basis between the city of El Paso and Cobb Finley and Associates Inc. Frank Spencer and Associates Inc. and GRV Integrated Engineering Solutions LLC. Motion to approve. Second. There is a motion made by Representative Jeta. seconded by Representative Fiero to approve item 39. On that motion, call for the vote and the voting session. And the motion passes unanimously. Representative Ernnandez not present. That brings us to item 40. And this is discussion and action on the award of solicitation 2024-0539 Greater El Paso Landfill Cells 15 to 20 to Forex Construction Group LLC. Unknown participants. This project consists of the con construction of Greater El Paso Landfill Cells 15 through 20 that will enhance waste disposal capacity for the city of El Paso. Second, Mayor Prom, um, we have a transcription error that I'd like to mention. Okay. So, we have a transcription error. That's part of the backup. On the bid tab summary, page four of the backup under additive alternatives. We should it should read 250,000. It was missing a zero for a new total of 18,947,700. This error does not affect the ranking, nor does the amount change or the award as requested action. Warning. We still recommend moving forward with this award and the backup will be updated. Ma'am, what page was that? It's on as part of the backup. It's on page four under the bid tab summary. It says 25,000. It should have read 250,000. under number two with that change. And mayor prom, we do have public comment on this item. All right. We have Holla Abdel Jabber that signed up to speak. Sir, if you're in the queue, you'll have three minutes. Mr. Jabar, are you in the queue? We have Hala Abdo Jabar. If you're in the queue, you have three minutes. I don't believe he's in the queue. May I approach him? All right, let's go ahead and take the vote then. Okay, the motion was made by Representative Salceo, seconded by Representative Fiero, and this is to approve as revised. On that motion, call for the vote. end the voting session and that motion passes unanimously. Representative Ernnandez not present. Item 41 is discussion and action on the award of solicitation 2024-0505 motor oil antifreeze lubricants transmission and hydraulic oils and fluids deaf and sample kits to MJ Mater Enterprising DBA Biodine Chemical Company. This contract will allow for the purchase of motor oil, antifreeze, lubricants, transmission and hydraulic oils and fluids, diff and sample kits for the fleet division. Motion to approve. Second, there is a motion made by representative Ria, seconded by representative Fiero. Miss Brian to approve item 41. On that motion, call for the vote. in the voting session and that mo motion passes unanimously. Representative Ednandez not present. The next item is 42 and this is discussion and action that the city manager be authorized to sign a city landfill litter control services contract number 2025-000050 between the city of El Paso Workquest FK TIBH Industries Inc. and Border TM Industries Inc. DBA exceeded resources and performing party to provide later control services for the city's department of env environmental services. Move to approve. Second. Call for the vote. There is a motion made by alternate mayor promolinar, seconded by representative to approve item 42. On that motion, call for the vote and the voting session. And that motion passes unanimously. Representative Ernnandez not present. That brings us to item number 44 and this is a public hearing of an ordinance granting special permit number PZST24-0000004 to allow for a governmental use building on the property at 5625 Confetti Drive. Move to approve. Second. There is a motion made by Representative Ganales, seconded by Representative Ria to approve item 44. There's no public comment. Call for the vote on that motion. Call for the vote. And the voting session and that motion passes unanimously. Representative Ernnandez not present. Item 45 was postponed four weeks. That brings us to item 46 and this is a public hearing of an ordinance amending title 12 vehicles and traffic section 12.88.010 oneway streets to add item 97 West Main Drive from El Paso Street to North Santa Fe and amending title 12 schedule 3 parking prohibited at all times to add item 388 West Main Drive from El Paso Street to North Santa Fe Street south site. Move to approve. Second. There is a motion made by Representative Canales, seconded by Representative Salceo to approve item 46. There's no public comment on this item. Call for the vote in the voting session. And that motion passes unanimously. Representative Ernnandez not present. Item 47 is discussion and action on a resolution providing a 7 $750,000 match for the El Paso Metropolitin Planning Organization I 10 deck plaza design project and mayor prom we do have public comment on this item. Okay. Mayor Prom, can we please also see the presentation? Yeah. Walken. He's already headed this way. Teasing me with that motion. Good afternoon, Mayor and Council. Wain Rodriguez, grant funded program director with the capital improvement department. It can you please bring up the presentation? Next slide, please. Uh we wanted to start off the project with a little bit of background. Um this has all been presented to the community at our latest community meeting. Um but this process of uh really formally starting the development of the deck plaza concept started in April of 2013 uh with council approving a grant application to the FY21 raise uh program. In November of 2022, council awarded a consulting contract after successfully receiving that grant for $1.3 million to Stantech uh Stantech company. 900,000 of that came from the federal government. 431,000 from the Basel Norte Community Foundation. Throughout January to February of 2023, we engaged with MEND, a public engagement and planning firm, to hold one-on-one interviews with stakeholders, uh, neighborhood associations and other, uh, stakeholders in the in the surrounding area of the Deck Plaza and folks with an interest in um, or would be affected by Deck Plaza development. Those reports then informed our further public process. Uh through February and April of that same year, led by Stantech, we held a series of three community advisory committee meetings and a number of public meetings uh throughout the city. Moving forward to today, after a brief pause while we uh ironed out some issues with our federal highway agreement, um we had our final public meeting July 30th of this year with over 120 uh attendees at the Blue Flame Building. It was a really well attended meeting, really um vibrant conversations going on about the deck plaza, about the highway widening, and about the impact to our community. Generally, the the consensus that we hear from the public is that a lot of folks are excited about this project and the concept, but a lot of uh questions remain about how it could potentially be paid for in the future. Next slide, please. Why we are here today is to request a grant match to participate in the FY24 reconnecting communities grant application being led by the MO. The city did apply for the FY23 reconnecting communities grant program. We did not receive that grant, but we were ranked highly recommended on receiving a debrief from the US Department of Transportation officials. They did recommend that we resubmit for FY24. So this year the metropolitan planning organization is going to be the lead applicant. Um the deadline for this application is September 30th. The total request is 10 million for design. Uh 50% uh of that will come from the grant program and a total of of that 50% of local match that's required. We are able to use 30% of additional federal funds. So 20% has to come from uh local governments. To date, the MO and the Deck Plaza Foundation have received commitments from the MO for 3,750,000 from category 7 surface transportation funds, 1 million from El Paso County, and 250,000 from the Deck Plaza Foundation. We have also received a letter of support from Texot affirming that they will be the owner of the facility and future management and operations and programming. um that will come at a later date through multiple use agreements and a number of other um legal instruments executed by the local governments that are going to partner for this project in the future if it does take place um and tech stop. The downtown Deck Plaza Foundation has committed to help develop uh programming, fundraising, and oversee the construction and operate and maintain the deck park similar to the Clyde Warren Foundation and the work that they provide uh for the deck plaza that is in Dallas. Next slide please. So the benefits of moving forward with this design project really it allows our region to have a shovel ready project. So when we say shovel ready we mean that there is a set of construction drawings on a shelf waiting to be executed uh once funding for the project is realized. So moving forward with this grant application gives us the opportunity to have funding to move forward with those construction drawings and be shuffle ready. Ideally, that would position us to apply for additional grant programs in the future and to fund raise knowing that we have that shovel ready project uh ready to go. Additionally, the cost estimate that we have right now is based on a highle concept of the deck plaza. Continuing forward with the development process of uh going through the construction documents gives us more detailed cost estimates um and also allows us to create a more detailed estimate of the cost of maintenance and operation of the plaza when it's constructed. Um, additionally, moving forward with that design gives us a basis to start having some of those discussions on land use agreements uh and development capacity and starting those conversations with Texot about who the future uh entities will be that are going to participate in maintenance and operations. Next slide, please. So, this is an early rendering. Some of this has changed through our coordination with Texot, but essentially Tex um their frontr running alternative is alternative I and our team uh Stantech put together this rendering of what alternative I would look like without a deck plaza and without some of the changes that we have uh requested that text make to further facilitate the deck plaza. Next slide, please. And then this is sort of that same aerial view, but what that area could look like with the deck plaza and with some of the elements and features that we've identified through our public engagement um as as being uh features that the public really wants to see on this project. Next slide, please. Here's a plan view of the conceptual layout of the deck plaza. Some notable features there are large um entertainment lawn type area to the west. Um a civic forum in the middle, a place for outdoor games there in blue moving further east. And then all the way to the east uh something that we're calling a fieldhouse, but essentially a shaded area for recreation that could be potentially indoor area as well. Next slide please. This is some of the work that the Stantech team has done. This is a 3D aerial view of uh potential layout for the deck. Next slide, please. Another 3D aerial. You can see uh some of the vibrant pedestrian areas that we would create, areas that could be programmed uh into the future for different activities. Um again, all of this was presented to the public back in July. If you want to see a lot of the in-depth stuff on this, it's all been available on the Downtown Deck Plaza Foundation website. Next slide, please. So, the construction estimate as it stands today is $27 million. Um, this is for the concept as presented by Stantech. Again, as we move forward with design, there are certain elements here that may change um just based on feasibility and logistics and coordinating with TexOT um as they're the ones who are ultimately responsible for the surface improvements uh and some of the the bridges crossing the area. Next slide, please. This has changed slightly from the briefings um that we all gave you. Our original intention was to recommend that the um source of the matching funds come from the downtown tax increment reinvestment zone. Um we did present that to the TUR 5 board and their recommendation at that time was to not use TUR 5 funds for this grant match. U based on that and some of the feedback we received from you all during those briefings, we're proposing an alternative to TUR 5 and recommending that the grant match come from the city's impact fund. Um, as you all know, the impact fund is derived from the El Paso Electric Company franchise fee. 75% of that is dedicated to Medical Center of the Americas, and the remaining 25% is for economic development initiatives, including the promotion of commercial investment in the renovation, restoration, and rehabilitation, and new development and new construction in downtown El Paso. Um, we feel that this project is very well aligned with the uh goals and and provisions of the the El Paso Electric Impact Fund. Um, but we also want to make a note that the the language in the resolution is not specific to the source of funds. The Federal Highway Administration doesn't really care what the source of funds is for purposes of this application. If we are awarded this grant, we would come back in the future with an agreement um with either the no or with text to administer those funds at that point. Um if council so wishes, we could choose a different a different funding source altogether. But our recommendation for today's action would be the impact fund. Of course, the language is broad enough that council can direct a different source at this time as well. Next slide, please. So, our requested action is approve a resolution allocating 750,000 as local match to the FY24 reconnecting communities discretionary grant program for the El Paso NO I 10 deck plaza design project. Happy to answer happy to answer any questions you all may have. Um before we've got Representative Canales and then Representative Oavdo and Representative Fiero, my concern is I don't want to approve something personally that would go forward saying we're thinking about using the impact fund and then switch. I'd like to have the fund designated where it's coming from. Personally, I would prefer TUR 5 be it because there are some other things we can do with the impact fund, but I don't want to approve something going forward and then say but we can switch the funding source later because I'm uncomfortable with that. But Representative Canales, thank you Mayor Prom. Uh I was going to lead off with the same uh except to say that uh I would much prefer that we use the impact fund as opposed to TUR 5 because there are some other things that I think we can do with TUR 5 funds within downtown and the TUR 5 board uh unanimously agreed uh with with with that statement. The they they had unanimous uh they made a unanimous recommendation not to use the TUR 5 funds for this purpose. Um looking back at the at the funding split um again 3,750,000 it's coming from uh category 7 uh surface transportation program funds STP funds allocated by the the no. Um, I I voted on those funds at the NO and and um, you know, did I didn't think that was the best use of of category 7, but that's already been allocated. Um, and and we're just being asked today to look at at a $750,000 contribution from the city. Um, I I do support moving forward with this today again, as long as we do uh lock in the impact fund as the source. Uh I it doesn't necessarily mean that this project will be constructed. That's just the reality. We're applying uh for for federal funding here. Um and I want to make it clear too that that supporting this today doesn't necessarily mean uh that myself or anybody who votes for this today is is saying that we would support uh for sure the the use of local taxpayer dollars or any other local funding. uh for construction in the future. This is merely a the next step in design. Uh and as slide let me scroll sorry slide uh four the benefits of of design project shows um it it is beneficial uh if it's going to if if this conversation is going to proceed it is beneficial to have designs for a shovel ready project that we could use um to apply for future funding from the federal government uh to potentially pay for this project in the future so that the burden does not fall on uh the local government entities, ultimately local taxpayers. Um so I I'll make it clear uh even clearer. I personally, and this is in my district, I I personally don't support uh the use of local taxpayer dollars for the eventual construction of this project. Um but but again that doesn't mean uh that it doesn't make sense to take this next step so that we can potentially uh avoid that expenditure in the future. Um you know I think it's an unfortunate reality that Texot has, you know, all but officially confirmed that they will be proceeding with alternative eye. um they theoretically still have other alternatives on the table, but alternative I is the only one that they've developed uh that they've continued to develop as as time has gone on. Um and so I anticipate in the next few months they will have officially uh selected alternative I as as what they plan to proceed with. Um alternative I has high-speed frontage roads on both sides of I 10. Um it has uh Texas turnarounds. the high, you know, high-speed turnarounds. Uh, and I know they've modified the plan slightly, but they they have turnarounds at both the north and south ends of downtown and also at Mesa Street right in the middle. Um, as of the the last updates that I've heard from them, uh, directly, and those are not very conducive to the design of a deck plaza, right? We don't want to be uh channeling pedestrians into the middle of high-speed frontage roads on both sides and and cars turning specifically, you know, making those U-turns at very high speed right through the middle of the deck plaza. And so, uh, I hope and I, you know, I'm concerned about the timeline because Tex intends to move forward quickly. It seems they've accelerated, uh, their their widening project. They hope to let in in 2025. I don't know what the timeline for this design process will will necessarily look like. I'm hopeful that through completing additional design here, we'll be able to influence Tex's uh future planning in in terms of what alternative they select potentially. I don't think we'll do it that fast, but maybe what changes they're willing to make to that al to that uh alternative eye in order to accommodate a a future project here like this. And so uh those are the reasons why I think this makes sense today. Um I Miss Prime, can you remind me who made the original motion? It was Representative Ria, seconded by Representative Pier. Uh okay. Uh Representative, if you'd be willing to make a friendly amendment to select the impact fee as the the funding source, we can proceed like that. Otherwise, I I'll propose a different separate amendment to vote on. What did I say? Impact fee. Impact fund. Yeah, if not I'll in a minute. Wait a minute. We have um Representative Oavdo next. Well, and I will still continue otherwise. Okay. In that case, I I uh move to amend the main motion to uh still approve the resolution but to identify the impact fund as the funding source. Thank you, Mayor Proton. Representative Oavdo. So, I have a few questions and I know that we talked about this hawking for for a while. So, I I kind of just wanted to understand a little bit more about texttop being the owner. It seems like that's news and there's been a lot of wondering about how that's going to happen. And so we could kind of dive a little deeper in that. So, so Textot will have always been the owner. I think there was some confusion um and discussions that went around regarding this grant application specifically. The grant application does require either the applicant to be the owner or to have some sort of confirmation from the owner of the facility. Um a lot of the conversations that have centered around ownership lately have been um a bit premature. At this point, Texot is the owner of the facility. There will be future agreements to authorize sponsors of the deck to use the airspace above Tex's highway, but Texot will remain the owner. There will be someone else responsible for operations and maintenance of the deck plaza through separate agreements. Um, and those are probably conversations that as a region we need to have in the future. Um, but at this point for the application sake, Texot is the owner of the facility, the NO is the owner of the application and we're able to move forward with those commitments. Yeah. I appreciate the explanation and that's kind of sounds like Lincoln Park where Texat owns the land but then we operate the park. I'm not very familiar with that agreement but I I just kind of found out that Texat owns all of that land and then MSI now owns part of it. So it seems like a similar setup around we have similar agreements with Texot for many of our shared use paths that are within Tex rightway. Um I believe actually last month uh city council approved a multiple use agreement with text for a shared use path along some of their rideway. So much simpler agreement um for a shared use path but similar in nature to the type of agreement you would see um for this facility as well. Okay. And then with option I I mean it it's kind of written on the wall already that that's going to be the option. Is there anything that you foresee as that not being the option or you think it's a pretty high chance? I I don't want to speak on behalf of Texot or, you know, make that sort of um assumption. Texot is still proceeding with their environmental process. Um the timeline that we've heard is that they will have environmental clearance by summer of next year. So that's the point at which they would identify a preferred alternative. Um they have shared with the transportation policy board that al alternative I is their frontr running alternative in our coordination um on design and technical aspects of the deck plaza with Tex. We have focused on alternative eye as well. Um that's not to say that we have not made requests of text dot to modify their alternative eye u to address a lot of the concerns that representative canal brought up um about ensuring that it is uh pedestrian friendly that it is contextsensitive to the urban nature of our downtown street grid. Um some of the notable progress that we've made is uh alternative eye does not show a north south connection on Kansas. Um in our meetings with text dot they have been open to um reinstating that north south connection on Kansas. Um we've also asked that Yandell remain closer to its current alignment um which is north um of where alternative I proposes it. that gives us an opportunity to um have some area that is more easily developed than um what would be floating over the deck. So giving us some firm ground on which to develop. Um Texot has been willing to to talk to us and to meet with us um regularly over the past two years. We've met nearly monthly to discuss a lot of these issues not just for downtown but of the broader U it 10 widening project alto together. Okay. No, thank you for for that. And I I just am also thinking about a lot of advocacy around not widening the the highway and I feel like that's going to be done at this point, right? Not speaking on behalf of Tech, but just kind of like conversations that you had kind of putting again one one of the alternatives being carried through text dots uh environmental process is of course the no build alternative. Um but ultimately the state of Texas did allocate um you know the $500 million in the the statewide unified transportation plan for this project. Um so Texa has the funding to move forward. Um they are in the middle of that environmental process. It is likely that at the end of that process they will be moving forward with construction rather than with the no build process. Okay. Thank you for that information. And I I think as I'm looking at this, we kind of have to do what we can with the cards that have been dealt at this point and make the best of it. And so I'm kind of looking at this project as something that we can definitely look at housing for downtown. And I I had shared with you that I don't like that the city has a plan of getting 10,000 units of housing by 2040. That's 16 years from now. And I feel that that's closer to a three to five year plan that we should start moving forward. And I think that this can really be the catalyst to getting housing in downtown. And I really want to see that. And hopefully we're not talking 10,000 but 20,000 or something that's much larger and is not on a 16 year old 16-year plan. And then I'm also looking at this as a way of getting more trees into the area, but trees with intention. I think we need to look at other cities and what they're doing to actually lower temperatures wherever these trees are. And so I'm hoping that in whatever project we're looking at, whatever we're participating as the city, I want to make sure that that is taken into consideration where we have these trees planted to actually be in 110°ree weather, but it's going to be degrees lower under the trees because of the shade that they're providing. So I I really want to be intentional about that. And then the last question that I had was what is your recommendation on the TURS versus the impact fund just in terms of I know that they were I I think from my understanding the TUR was supportive of the project but they weren't supportive of using that fund for the project. So if you could explain a little bit more on that. So Ian Bogleweed, strategic and legislative affairs. I just wanted to clarify that the resolution does in fact call out the impact fund as the source of funding and and that was another question that I was going to have. I think it was already for the impact fund because that was what the recommendation was, but how do you feel with either one? I I think really it's up to council. I think even though it's called out in the resolution, I think through your motions you could specify a different funding source if you so please. Um, as far as you know, my personal preference, I don't necessarily have one. I think both funding sources are, um, aligned with this type of project, um, the impact fund, I believe, has a $ 1.7 million uncommitted balance. Um, and there's a similar amount of funding in in the TUR 5 fund. So, yeah, right now the available cash in the impact fund, there's currently about 4.8 million. There are some obligations, but there's about 4.8 million in the impact fund. and the TUR 5 which is the downtown tur there's currently about 2.8 million available. Okay, thank you for that information. Appreciate it. Representative Fierro, thank you Mayor Prom. You know th this is really our opportunity to leave our mark in this community. This downtown deck park is is going to be a gamecher for downtown El Paso and and for really as a community our economic development growth and opportunities. And this is the first that I've heard that tiers five um had a a meeting and and voted not to or had a recommendation or an opinion on how to spend their money or the art or or the city's money. Um, I would hate for us to get bogged down on some of the details that the study I believe is going to really give us opportunities to move forward on. But then also as a funding source, it's my understanding that um the other funding source that Ian brought up is really for economic development and for our opportunity to bring businesses into the community and and help the taxpayers and help our tax base. Is that not correct? I'll I'll take that as a yes. Thank you, Ethan. It it is correct. Um it I don't know if you can bring up the the slide on the impact fund. I believe it's slide three. Slide 11. I think it's 11. the matching fund source slide. There we go. So, what you see in bold and in quotes is the intended purpose of the uh impact fund there. Commercial investments in the renovation, restoration, and rehabilitation of new development and new construction in downtown El Paso. I think that um and I don't know but I think the opinion up here is that most of us if not all of us want to see this opportunity come to our community and I I don't want us to get bogged down on on what the end product is going to be because we don't have no idea what that's going to look like until after the feasibility study and then secondly um on what the funding source is going to be. My opinion is I think we should use a tiers five funding source. That's just my opinion. That's where I would um I would want us to tap into. Thank you, Mayor Prom. Representative Rivera. Thank you, sir. Mr. But when you when you uh briefed me on this, I thought we were set on on on the uh tier five because they could make it up uh much faster than any of the on the other fund that you're proposing now. And the other thing was that I understood and I was going to call Mr. Cordinz up and say, wasn't the impact fund going to be used to pay off some debt? Nope. Okay. No sir, there's no plans to use the impact fund to pay off any debt. So, so I I think u again both funds I think are suited for this purpose. Um the reason we changed to the impact fund was really based on that negative recommendation from TUR 5. Um I think historically we have you know forwarded their recommendations to you all and acted with those in good faith but ultimately this city council is responsible for how those funds are used. Um if we need to switch back to tur 5 at your all's direction that's not going to be an issue for us not an issue for the application. Um it's really just a decision for for this council to make. Ultimately, again, Federal Highway Administration doesn't care which fund we use to uh match this grant. As long as we have committed to providing that match, we're able to move forward with the grant application. Well, then uh I have to kind of agree to what Representative Fto said. I mean I mean that would be the best that would be the best choice to make um because they you yourself even told me they would benefit out of this and make it up sooner rather than later. And so, uh, now that things have changed, I'm I'm having heartburn with this because, uh, I too want to see this project. And, and and it is like every other thing, major thing here in the city of El Paso that benefits El Paso, benefits taxpayer, benefits, you know, expands that. Is it is it going to Well, I was going to ask Mr. with that. But, uh, that benefits El Paso and everybody wants to I I don't know. I want to have I want to make sure it's there so that it's possible that you get the the design that you, you know, for the the uh the deck and that the deck be actually built here. Seeing other communities with it and how they benefit from it is it's it's amazing, but yet um it's it's it's something that that uh would leave a uh make what you say is have your your have your cake there. You see what I'm saying? And and have a bill that's really beneficial and fantastic for the city of El Paso. We completely agree. I I think um if you would like to amend your motion to direct us to use the funding source of the tourist 5. Well, that's why I was going to ask No, the TH five. Uh that's why I was going to ask Mr. Gortinez. uh which what okay can you explain then for those listening in uh since I misunderstood also me what is the impact fund going to be used for so it's typically used for the economic development incentive agreements so I would add that while the impact fund has a larger balance than the TUR 5 balance does so economic impact fund currently has 4.8 million t 5 has about 2.8 8 million there is more capacity so there's less obligations on the tur five right now. So for example brings in a little over a million dollars a year in revenue. This past year they spent about 400,000 in commitments. So there is capacity there to take on additional projects. So they have been accumulating additional fund balance every year. Um obviously you're restricted on the ter five uses. You have a little more flexibility on the impact fund to be able to use those for larger economic development incentive agreements. Ultimately, I think staff is is finding the way. I mean, I think both their suitable funding sources for the city match and that would be a lot uh easier for tier the tears to to go ahead and make up that money like I like you know I was told sooner rather than later there's additional capacity. Yes, sir. There's less obligations on the tur five than currently on the impact fund. Okay. And one last question from Chicago before I say something else. Oh, we do have public comment on this. I don't know if you want to hear from them before I want to ask him personally. I have that choice right to ask him personally. Uh good how you doing? Good afternoon, Mr. Caro. Good to see you again. Mr. Gallo, if say this thing doesn't pass at all. Okay, just just assume it doesn't. What does it mean for the project itself? Will we ever see it again or no? Well, for the record, Eduardo Cabo, executive director of the El Paso MO. Um, so this application is um we're we're seeking funds to design the deck. Right. Right. So, you know, it's it's a great opportunity and and just like uh described earlier, you know, this application or similar application was submitted last year and it was very wellreceived. Unfortunately, it was not selected, but it was very well received. So we feel it's a really really good opportunity for us especially now that uh that we are submitting this application showing a true partnership right and and again the the um you know uh US department of transportation or federal highway administration they they look at that as as something very positive so we feel very good about that but it's still one option that we have for for designing right if uh now this is a federal program it's a very competitive program. So, there's no guarantee that we're going to get the funding. You know, we we feel good. We're uh cautiously optimistic, right? But, uh but there's no guarantee. So, um so the you know, if we don't if we're not selected for it, well then, you know, we've got to have a plan B and and a plan C and and and so on. I don't know if that answers your question. It doesn't you know, but it does doesn't necessarily mean like next year, next year or the following year, right? Well, I mean unfortunately the the you know the project gets gets delayed further and uh this specifically this program the reconnecting communities program uh I believe this is the last uh funding opportunity right because it's for fiscal year 25 and 26 correct the funding years are combined exactly so so this is the last bite at this apple but but again you know there are other federal programs other federal grants that we that we will continue seeking because we need funding not just for design but also for construction. Okay. Thank you, sir. Appreciate you coming up here. Um, Mr. Prime, then I would make a motion for us to use the TH five instead of the the impact fund. Second. So, you want to amend the motion? Yes, I do want to amend the motion. Miss Bren, since we already started, let's go ahead and do public comment before we finish the conversation. Okay. Yes, sir. We have Mr. Joe Gutenrath that's in the queue. Mr. Gutenrath, good afternoon. Star six, please to unmute your telephone. Good afternoon. You have three minutes. Good afternoon, council. This is Joe Gutenreth of the downtown management district. Sorry I couldn't be with you today, but uh thanks for considering this item. Want to start off by thanking Representative Canales and Representative Oavdo for your concern about the actual widening project. Um that is something that as they finalize it as texttop finalizes the design we're monitoring um as well as during the whole implementation phase it's something I think we're going to have to work our way through. So again I thank for your thank you for your attention to that issue now and uh going forward. Um as you saw from WE's presentation I don't think I need to say too much about the project itself. it will truly be transformational. But I think the most impressive aspect of this project so far is how it's being pursued um with a number of governmental entities coming together representing the public sector, the private sector, our nonprofits, our community groups, neighborhood members, all coming out in support uh of this project and the the the impact that it will have on our community. this support is coalesing around this major opportunity for our community. And so I hope today you can support the the your pledge to the grant that is being applied for and that hopefully it will be a successful step forward as we continue to inch closer to the implementation of this project. Thank you very much. The next speaker is Tracy Yellen. Miss Yellen will be followed by Monnique Posiger and Matthew Gusman. Good afternoon. You have three minutes. Good afternoon, Mayor and Council or Mary Prom and Council. Thank you so much um for considering this request to investment in this project. Um we have been participant is now sorry we've been so honored to work with the city on the phase one physibility so far and Waqen and his team have been fantastic. um also grateful to the NO for their leadership and uh you know this is not their normal course of business applying for applications like these but it just does show the community collaboration around the project. So we really appreciate uh your consideration of this investment today. We know it's an ambitious project and we still have a lot to figure out but it does allow us to further advance the project um after this. So thank you and I'm here to answer any questions if you have any. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. The next speaker is Monnique Posiger. Miss Posigor, star six, please to unmute your telephone. Good afternoon. You have three minutes. Hi there. Good afternoon, Mayor Leer and council representative. Thank you for your time today. I know you have many important decisions to make today. One of which is the reason I'm here, and that is to gain your support to approve the resolution today that would provide matching funds for the I 10 downtown deck project. Your vote today would not only help this project move forward, but also lessen the burden on taxpayers. In 2012, we bought our home in the historic Sunset Heights neighborhood with the hope and foresight that our downtown would become the vibrant downtown we knew it could be. 12 years later, we now have a premier children's museum, a first class ballpark, added hotels, and commerce taking place downtown. There is no doubt that these quality of life projects are instrumental to the depart to the development of our city and the thriving of our people. Parks create value for cities and a park of this size in the heart of our downtown would truly create intrinsic value bringing positive economic opportunity combating crime and creating that great space to encourage health and wellness. The one thing I know about El Paso is when we come together we can make great things happen. This project is one that is going to take several entities to help it come to fruition. From the county to the city, businesses, philanthropists, and of course, El Paso. Investing in this park is an investment for the future of our community and will leave a lasting legacy that enhances the lives of our residents and will strengthen the fabric of our neighborhood. Thank you for your time and consideration. Thank you. The next speaker is Matthew Guzman. Mr. Guzman star 6 please to unmute your telephone. Uh hi, good afternoon. Um I you know I think it was bold of you guys and admirable um to uh vote to approve the resoning effort today for the home project um in the face of uh all of the dissenters that were present. And I'm hoping that we're going to see the same level of support today for the economic development projects that are being discussed. Um, you know, Tracy Ellen and PDN have been working insanely hard to connect communities with trails and bike paths, and now they're working equally as hard um to connect Sunset Heights to downtown with the proposal for the deck park. Um, you know, commonly we hear uh the denters talk about the the cost of the project and who's going to pay for it. And I'm happy to hear from you guys today that like let's not get bogged down by that, but let's find a way forward. Um I think if we can focus on the project um as an investment rather than a cost um we'll be able to pave the way. Um the the population in the core of the city has been in steady decline as uh the flight to the northeast, the far east, and the far west uh has taken residents and tax dollars away from the city center. And as we have more discussions on the park deck, um let's keep in mind all the problems that it can potentially solve. We're looking to add green space, um, opportunities to develop dense, uh, mixed income housing, um, giving residents who may not have vehicles access to an area where they can eat, work, and play. And we could begin drawing businesses and residents back to the core and stop the bleed of sprawl. Um, so as you all hear the descent going forward, which is inevitable, um, I hope you'll be as bold in your votes for progress as you guys were today. Uh, and I hope we can begin tackling the core issue of the housing affordability crisis, which is really the low number of high-paying jobs and skilled resident retention. So, let's give businesses um a reason to come and our skilled workers a reason to stay. Uh, I think, you know, um, a rising tide raises all ships. So, I think if if we're guiding the ship in the right direction and making the necessary and high impact investments in our core infrastructure, we can ensure that future growth. U, that's all I've got. Thank you, guys. Thank you, Mayor Proim. That concludes public comment on this item. Representative Salceino. Thank you, Mayor Prom. So, I had a couple of questions. Uh, the TUR five um mentioned, you all mentioned something about a committee gathering and not approving. Yes, ma'am. The TUR 5 board met on September 4th and we shared um a presentation essentially the same presentation with them and there was support for the project as a concept for the idea of the project but they did not feel at that time that the TUR 5 funding source was appropriate to spend on this project and uh how does their funding um how fast does it come in um give me a good idea of how it's generated? I think Mr. Cortinez mentioned earlier their revenue is about a little over a million dollars per year for TUR 5. Um so this project again is $750,000. There is another commitment um of about $500,000 this year but the fund balance is more than enough to cover both those commitments and recover almost completely next year in two years in one year. Okay. And then you mentioned the uh the impact fee. No, not the impact fee. The impact fund because you corrected representative um for that one. Um I guess we're where I guess it's discretion of trying to fund it through here is because it will create economic prosperity in that area or both funds are appropriate funds for this purpose. Um the project to develop the deck plaza will ultimately have a significant uh economic impact and redevelopment impact on downtown and the surrounding areas. Okay. Yeah. So those were my my only questions and I know there's already an amendment to the motion. Um I mean I'm just trying to I don't know Representative Canales. I I really I think that that this design is important for us to look at what what this project is and I think representative um Pierro mentioned like we can't be lost in the the ancillary of the minuscule details but I think it we need to get a design we just funding it is just I want to make sure it's appropriate and everybody supports it right so unless we we divide it and fund this I mean for everybody to feel comfortable I'm just trying to really just get the the result I think that um I've heard a lot from my constitu uent and that they they would like to see this um uh perition and but more importantly they want to see how it will look and so I think the design is going to be very crucial to really understanding how much is it going to cost and so for me I think it's it's important but I don't know if anybody would entertain that motion but I'm just trying to make sure that this council we all you know can support it together thank you representative Molinar Thank you, Mayor Prom. Um, couple of things I'd like to know. I know we've used the word or I've heard the word deck. I've heard the word plaza. I've heard the word park. So to me in your presentation it's kind of confusing and it's I mean I understand what's happening but for the constituents out there I think you should name it something and go across the board with whatever you decide to do on that. Um representative I mean excuse me as mentioned trees. So you want to make a park and you want to plant trees I can tell you in district 4 we could use a lot of trees and we don't have to create anything. We just need to buy the trees get the labor and plant the trees. That's for sure. Um, Mr. Codwell, welcome back. I haven't seen you in quite some time and I know you and I have worked together before and so I'm going to talk about a little bit the Borderland Expressway. I know that's being done in three different phases. Phase one is currently under under construction and phase two is going to happen when there's that funding source. But I can tell you the Borderland Expressway to me is 10 times better than this. Uh, it's going to alleviate the traffic on I 10 going eastbound, westbound. It's going to serve as its purpose that should have been built many years ago. I can tell you back when uh city, former city, the late Carl Robinson was in office, uh he used to send me to the different meetings for the uh back then the northeast parkway and I would report back to him. So, this has been going on for quite some time. That should have been fixed and done a long time ago. we probably wouldn't be having this conversation right now and you would have seen a different change in the city of El Paso. You would have seen a different change in traffic uh less pro posially less traffic jams improved road. Can I ask legal? Are we allowed to discuss other projects or do we have to uh I am focused to the subject at hand. Mr. Molinar, the the question that's before the council is the decision whether to move forward with the funding on this. Okay. But you didn't stop me when I mentioned trees or you didn't stop possibility when you mentioned trees. At the request of the chair, I'm answering his question. Okay. Well, I'm going to continue ma'am. Uh I will state re reiterate the border expressway needed to be completed. So uh Mr. Walkin, you mentioned there was reception to this. What was the opposition? So there there is a sort of a point of distinction that we need to make and it's something that you know we have struggled to to effectively convey to the public but the the deck plaza project is not the widening of I 10. Those are two separate and distinct projects. They are sort of joined at the hip because it's very unlikely that the deck project happens if this widening effort by text was not happening. Um there are a lot of cost savings and efficiencies in doing the two at the same time. Um but ultimately they are not the same project. There is um a pretty vocal group in the community that is opposed to the widening of I 10. Um that group in the conversations that I've had with them are supportive of the concept of the deck. They just don't understand why we have to have it uh have the widening associated with it. Um, and then secondarily to that, many of the the community members that I've spoken to and that attended our meetings are supportive of the concept of a deck, but much like Representative Canales, u don't necessarily feel that the city and local taxpayers should be paying for a $27 million project, which is uh, you know, a fair concern. unknown participant is now. And a big part of why we're here today is so that we can have this grant ready, shovel ready project so that in the future if a grant becomes available that can help us pay for, you know, all or a majority of this, we're able to apply for that grant. Um, it's incredibly difficult to apply for construction grant funding without construction documents ready to go. And typically we have about uh 3 to four months from the notice of funding opportunity to a grant application deadline. There's no way that we can create construction documents in three to four months when a grant opportunity becomes available. So having these construction drawings ready to go really positions us to be able to apply for grants in the future. Okay. But my question is what was the opposition? I believe I answered that question, sir. the opposition. How many people, how many groups, how many neighborhood associations, how many civic associations when you did the um one of the engagements at the uh Blue Flame Building, was there opposition? Yes or no? At the final meeting at the Blue Flame Building, um I did not encounter any one of those 120 people who were opposed to the project. Okay. I will not be supporting this. Thank you, Representative Canales. Thank you. Uh, Mayor Bert, uh, I I'll reiterate again, I I really want to be able to support this today. It really makes sense to proceed with additional design. Um, I cannot with the funding source as identified. Um, and that's largely because, you know, if we think back if we think back a few months, um, there was some fairly significant conflict with the board of the TUR 5. Um there was a proposal to dissolve that board and for the city council to take on those those powers. Um I believe the city council unanimously postponed action on that item because we heard concern from the TUR 5 board that wanted to retain uh the the ability to make recommendations on on that those funds and and it alarmed a lot of people on this council. uh we we chose not to take away that authority from the TUR 5 board to make those recommendations to us on on the funding. This is one of the first recommendations that they make to us. They do so unanimously and we're saying uh you know we we choose to ignore your unanimous recommendation and use your funding use the funding source that you uh that you sit on a board to discuss uh without your approval. Uh I think that is a surefire way to lose the support of uh of a portion of downtown uh business owners and stakeholders. They're making a recommendation to us on a funding source. Um you know uh I I wouldn't call that getting bogged down in the minuscule details of of a funding source. Um this is $750,000 of of funding that comes from one source or another. and the the folks who the mayor appoints and the the city council confirms uh to make recommendations on on how to spend the the t five uh increment funds. They're they're telling us what they think we should do. Um uh I'm frankly like pretty dismayed that I'm hearing uh from a majority seemingly of of the council that's here today uh saying that that they want to go against that recommendation. Um I cannot in in good faith as the representative of downtown and essentially the the the majority I think all of the folks who serve on the TUR 5 board again they're they're downtown stakeholders. Um I I cannot in good faith go against their recommendation on what to do with the funds that they as downtown property owners and downtown uh uh you know folks folks who who are tied to downtown uh people who pay in to the t five uh funds. I I can't in good faith go against their recommendation. Just for the record, the the members who voted uh at that TUR 5 board meeting, it was Elliot Berg, Holt Grahamling, George Salom Jr., uh Justin Underwood, and Deborah Zuluaga. Uh they heard this presentation. They thought that their that funding source wasn't a good use of those funds. We have the impact fund available and unencumbered. Um I I just don't I'm not I'm not understanding here. Like I like I led off with, I very much want to support this. I think it makes a lot of sense to to proceed. I I simply won't be able to if if what we uh what we end up with is is uh a motion to use the the TUR 5 fund against the recommendation of the board and against what staff initially proposed to us. Thank you, Mayor Bertton. Um Representative Oavdo. Thank you, Mayor Prom. I just wanted to clarify that my comment on trees was completely around this backup. There's slides 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10. Every single slide has trees and potential designs. So, it was absolutely related to what we were talking to about at hand. So, I just wanted to clarify that. And then, Mr. Cortinez, off the top of your head, and I'm sorry to put you on the spot. I know you said that the TUR fund has uh $400,000 that they were going to use this year. That's what they spent last year. So, they brought in about 1.1 million and they actually spent just under 400,000. And then the year before, do you know if they spent around the same? It's typically around the same. I think the projections for the next few years on the THER 5 is around 5 to 600,000 a year. uh projecting that incremental property value growth to come in around 1.1 1.2 million a year in revenue. Okay. And then what do they typically spend it on? I don't have the list in front of me, but there is several obligations that we do have currently in the downtown area, different programs utilizing those funds. Okay. But then they'll be replenished within the next year, another million dollars right? Correct. So the annual revenue right now is about 1.1 million. As I mentioned, they're spending 4 to 500,000 a year. I think the most recent improvement project that they completed with tourist funds was the uh improvements to West Main Drive in front of Lanube. Okay. And so the 2.8 already includes the 400 that they've spent. And so they would go down to about two 2.1 million if we use that fund. That's so that's as of the end of the fiscal year of August 31 of this past fiscal year. So they ended that fiscal year with about 2.8 8 million. So as we begin FY25, which we're currently in, they'll generate another million dollars and spend 4 to 500,000 roughly. So okay, I appreciate those. I'll replenish those funds that would be spent if that's the funny source. Okay, I appreciate it. Thank you, Representative Fiero. Thank you, Mayor Pro Tim. And this will be the last I say. Um, but you know, I'm I'm a little bit disturbed, um, hurt, insulted that we're sitting here talking about the TI five and how they voted to do this and voted to do that and recommended this and recommend that. I, for one, I don't know if any of my colleagues got a phone call from them saying, "We want uh, we don't want to use this funding source. We want to use this funding source because we have this in the plans." So, I mean, this is I I just I don't understand why we're we are even having this conversation. Council already made a motion, picked a funding source. Um, I think we should vote on it and then if it doesn't go, we'll pick another way. But I I I believe this the church 5 board and some of those people are friends of mine didn't have the courtesy to pick up the phone and call up and say, "This is what we want to do and this is why." So, mayor, that's it. Mayor Pro Tim Um, I guess it's my turn. Uh, a couple of questions on the impact fund. It is 75% allocated to um, Medical Center of the America, right? Correct. The 4.8 would be 75% allocated to Medical Center of the America. I'm not sure if David Torres or someone from economic developments is online they could probably answer that question for you. Uh my understanding was of the 4.8 some of that is already encumbered. Um okay I don't know the detail. It's not it's not a critical point. What I'm saying is the other 25% is for commercial investment in the renovation. Um and I understand that that it's a viable fund. I don't think it's the best fund. While I appreciate the TUR 5 board, they are truly an advisory board of which we have many. And many times we take their advice and we sit down and make the decision for the city of El Paso that there's a better way to go. So, I appreciate their time and effort and I appreciate their advice. They are not the decision-making body. This body is on the project itself. Somebody will say, "Are you for it or against it?" And my question, my answer is always, "I don't know yet." Because we don't know what the final project's going to look like. We don't know the final funding. And while I will not vote to have have funds from our funding to build it or things like that, how do we know that it won't be paid for with federal funds? We won't know until we do this project. I think that it makes a great amount of sense to move this project further down the road and get ready for the potential for grant money which comes from other pockets other than our taxpayers. You know, I think that this is one where we say it's a great concept and concepts are great, but plans are better. And this is a plan to have plans that we can then take to people and say, "Here's what we've got. How do we fund it? And how do we move forward?" I am going to be in strong support of approving this as the motion was taken. And with that, I don't see anybody else up on the board, so I'll call the question. Miss Brian. Yes, sir. So the first motion is to amend the resolution. The motion was made by representative Ria, seconded by representative Fiero. And this is to amend the resolution by striking out impact fund and replacing with TUR 5 fund. That was my amendment there. That's the amendment. So the amendment will be voted on first. So on the amendment, call for the vote. and the voting session. And that motion passes 5 to2. Representatives Molina Canales voting A. Representatives Kennedy, Aso, Salceo, Fiero, Ria voting I. Representative Ernnandez not present. So the next motion is to approve as revised and this was made by Representative Ria, seconded by Representative Fiero. On that motion, call for the vote. And the voting session and that motion passes 5 to2. Representatives Molina Canales voting nay. Representatives Kennedy, Asdo, Salceo, Fiero, and Ria voting I. The motion does carry. That brings us to the final item on the agenda and this is 48. Item 48 is discussion and action that the city manager participate be authorized to affffect effectuate the listed budget transfer attached to the resolution for the capital improvement department in support of allocating investment interest proceeds associated with Proposition 2 from the 2012 quality of life bond proceeds to capitalized expenditures associated with the Mexican-American Cultural Center. And there is a motion made by Representative Ria, seconded by Representative Fiero, and this is to approve the resolution on item 48. On that motion, call for the vote. Representative Fero. Thank you, sir. And the voting session and the motion passes unanimously. Representative Ernnandez not present. There's a motion and a second to adjurnn the regular city council meeting. All in favor? Anyone opposed? And the regular city council meeting for Tuesday, September 24th, 2024 is adjourned at 5:00 p.m. Thank you, council.