foreign foreign foreign foreign good morning good morning mayor yes sir foreign good morning this is a meeting of the El Paso city council for Tuesday December 13 2022 present and presiding inside council chambers as mayor Lisa along with representative anello representative Hernandez representative Molina representative Salcido representative Rodriguez representative Rivera representative lizaraga has requested to be excused from today's meeting and mayor Pro tem shortfein is also on the Deus it is 903 am now will everyone please silence their electronic devices so as not to disturb the meeting and rise for the invocation delivered by El Paso Police senior chaplain David Mayfield Chaplin you're on mute sir let us pray good morning Creator God as we prepare to meet to do the business of this community we ask your blessings when it's time to listen give us ears to hear when it's time to speak give us tongues of Truth when the time comes to make decisions may we be servant leaders working for the benefit of all we ask all of these things to your glory amen come in representative Source One can you lead us in the pledge please sir the United States thank you thank you sir good morning everyone and um I'd like to welcome everyone here and um you know today I want to you know this will be the last meeting of the year has almost the last meeting we still have to canvas the votes on the 23rd but it's actually the last meeting required at Quorum and I do want to um really thank all the city council for everything they've done and uh it's uh you know when you make a decision and I know Mr Gonzalez and I talk about this when you make a decision people say it's a tough decision but it's really not it's a decision that's made because we want to make sure we're doing the best thing for our community so I do want to take thank all the council their family and their sacrifices that they make day in and day out to represent our community and um also our First Responders police and fire as the holiday season comes that um you know a lot of them will be there with their families during this time as they'll be out you know making sure that our community is protected so I want to make sure that um I'd like to have a moment of silence and put them all in our prayers and thank them for you know giving their time to our community and also for counsel for giving their time to our community thank you thank you that brings us to the mayor's proclamations the first Proclamation is Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl week good morning Proclamation city of El Paso Texas whereas the Sun Bowl Association has served as a guide to enhancing the lives of the citizens of El Paso for 89 years and the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl is known throughout the country as one of hospitality professionalism fun and excitement whereas the annual Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl has grown to be the largest single sporting event in the city as well as one of the top entertainment values while showcasing the city on CBS to a national television audience for 54 years and whereas the Sun Bowl Association achieves its threefold purpose of one to presenting a football attraction of national importance to to promoting El Paso in the southwest and three to generating tourist income for the area an economic impact study done by Dr David Schauer of the economics department at the University of Texas at El Paso revealed that the direct economic impact to this area from the bowl game is 12 to 15 million dollars and whereas the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl with the University of Pittsburgh and UCLA as participants in this year's annual contest at 12 p.m on Friday December 30th continues to showcase the city of El Paso on a national stage with outstanding football teams their fans families and supporters right here in the city Sun City and whereas the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl sponsored by Kellogg's as a football game that is embraced by the citizens of El Paso as their own and serves as a great backup backdrop to the city the people and the culture of El Paso Texas now therefore be it proclaimed by the mayor and Council of the city of El Paso that the week of December 26 2022 shall be known as Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl week signed Oscar leaser honorable for the city mayor of the city of El Paso [Applause] thank you Mr Lewis good morning thank you mayor thank you city council thank you city manager for for this Proclamation we again once very proud to put some bullet up uh you know in front of national audience on CBS on third on Friday December 30th again going out Nationwide on national TV uh for the whole country to see what a great City we have here in El Paso and uh and uh representative molinar that study was a long time ago that economic impact is over 20 million dollars now so it's very important I think not only for our community but for you know for the city but the representatives at the same time I think we have one tremendous matchup this year and uh thank you for this Proclamation I like our presence say a few words if that's all right Mr Dunlop good morning sir you got it uh thank you Mr Mayor and city council for the recognition and it's going to be a great event we have two top teams coming in we're very excited about it I mean UCLA was a team we wanted from the Pac-12 from early on and we went and visited Pitt and they are very excited to be here so they'll be a lot of fans so we appreciate this recognition and we're going to do our best to make this one of the best games we've had in years thank you thank you we'd like to hear from the Sun Queen hello mayor and city council my name is Annalisa Quinones and I am the 2022 Sun Queen um thank you for this Proclamation we are so excited for our bowl game um it's a great way to celebrate El Paso and we're definitely ready to welcome all of the visiting teams in their family and really show them how great our city and Community is thank you and I you know one of the things I think is important all the years I've been involved is that these young men and women that come to El Paso and when they leave they become incredible ambassadors to our community you know they the five six days that are here and how they're treated not only by the symbol staff and the hundreds thousands of volunteers they really go home and they can't wait to tell their friends and their families about this great community and I know that some of the coaches that return really ask Bernie that hey if you have an opportunity pick us again we had a great time our kids had a great time and we want to go back because we've been we've been to different bowl games I know that um uh Miami came back in 2010 and then the interim coach at the time stoudland ended up going the coach and he was coaching for Alabama at the time and he um they were playing on a national title the next day and he called me that night and he says I want to tell you that no one compares to the symbol and No One Compares to El Paso and that's a compliment to you Bernie to your staff and your thousands of volunteers to continue to create incredible ambassadors for our communities so thank you for for doing that and thank you for all the symbol and Mr President uh the sun Queen thank you again for representative El Paso the way El Paso likes to be represented mayor with your permission we have a gift for for all of you if you allow us to go and give this is an incredible book and it's the history of all bowl games if you with your permission we'd like to answer thank you mm-hmm and if this morning's honorees will please remain in Chambers Council will have the opportunity to take photos with you once all the recognitions have been completed without yeah the end of Bernie hey I want to know what page I'm on it's in there yeah that's for representing lasagna if you want to give that to miss Pine we can give it to her thank you yes sir thank you see you on December 20 30th at high noon thank you and the next Proclamation is one a day [Applause] thank you proclamation of the city of El Paso Texas and whereas on January of 2019 Roman and Adriana Wilcox opened El Paso's first 100 percent plant-based Food business which they named one grub Community diner with the mission to provide accessible healthy food to the people of our community and whereas one grub Community Diner utilizes their pay it forward sponsored meal program which utilizes 100 of their tips to provide the community access to fresh healthy plant-based food while also allowing those who volunteer for at least one hour during normal business hours to become eligible for a donated meal from one grab Community Diner and whereas on November 10 2022 Chef Roman Wilcox was a contestant on HBO's The Big brunch where he showcased his amazing talents and the work and mission of one grub Community Diner and showcase to the world the hard-working and wonderful people in Border communities like El Paso who are always willing to help one another and whereas Roman and Adriana are also co-founders of Plenty for the people a non-profit organization in which they utilize their 53 garden beds to teach people how to grow their own food in the desert and the program is running by volunteers and the produce is sold at pay what you can pricing and whereas the city council of the city of El Paso recognizes that we are only as good as the people in this community who wake up every day and work to help our fellow neighbors and applauds and recognizes Roman and Adriana Wilcox for starting their business in our community and representing our city well on the national stage now therefore be it proclaimed by the mayor and City Council of the city of El Paso the December 13 2022 shall be known as one grub Community Day signed by The Honorable mayor Oscar Lisa congratulations y'all good morning good morning um thank you for this I I've cooked in El Paso since I was 15 years old and um it's really nice to be recognized for this when I had the opportunity to go compete I had a couple goals in mind and one was to um represent the vegan Community show that plant-based food could be fun and of course to tell the story of one group Community planning for the people but I think my biggest one was to represent my city and I just wanted to make sure that uh whoever was watching knew what El Paso was knew the heart of our people the beauty of our food and culture and um to have that opportunity and then to have this just almost immediately after is is a really good confirmation so thank you Alexander we're very proud of you it's a pleasure thank you they're chickens thank you very much and thank you for representing our city we now have the mayor's distinguished award the first award is for City representative Peter schwartzling and mayor Pro tem I just want to give you the mayor's distinguished award it's a word that I don't give out very lightly and I'm not in the two years I've been here you'll be the fourth person we we will give it to because it's something that's a very important and very personal that I believe should be only given to really people that have done an incredible job for our community and and uh with that I'd like to present with you the mayor's distinguished award to Peter schwartzbein City representative in appreciation for your service to district one from 2015 to January 2023. congratulations [Applause] and the next one uh representative we decided to get our son unable to be here but I'd like to thank her also for serving District 8 and in appreciation of your years of service to District eight from July and she took over an unexpired term so it comes from July 2017 to January 2023 representative I hope you're watching and thank you for your service to District 8. foreign I think it's appropriate for you to share some of your thoughts with with the public today your last meeting thanks well um as as you'll see there's a number of resolutions and items that I placed on the agenda um for a lot of different people and institutions that I think make up the the backbone of the city and they aren't necessarily um well known to a lot of different people but they create a sense of community and to me uh having the the distinguished honor to be able to serve this community for seven and a half years has probably been one of the biggest honors and it comes down to that sense of community um and a sense of responsibility for wanting to give back um my father was an immigrant to this country my mother was an immigrant to this country um the daughter of a holocaust Survivor and my parents chose El Paso in 1977 to to start a family and to start their their business and their practice and that was a choice that they did because of all the things that make El Paso so great and unique we really are the best of both worlds here on the border we have the economic opportunities of the United States and one of the most unique cultures that combines many different communities many different cultures and languages and put together to create something much much better than I think any other city in the entire world and we have a lot to show this world and um coming into this position I came in as an artist I came in as an advocate for this community those things have never left me on these seven years that I've been here on this dice they're still in my heart but being able to speak about this community as an ambassador to many many different audiences from across the world and from across neighborhoods as well has been truly a blessing and I would say that probably the biggest lesson that I've learned here um when it comes towards good government and good governance is the ability to listen um says it on all of our business cards for district one the good government is great customer service and no matter what ideas I might have on bringing back A Streetcar or film incubator program or even trying to get more dog parks in our city um all of those ideas are secondary to the ideas that we have and we hear from our community and we hear from our residents um and so uh coming out of this office uh it will truly be a blessing working with each and every one of you um it was truly a blessing working with City staff with our office staff as well um and I'm sure that uh I've tested their patience too I probably tested a lot of people patients as well but only to make sure that we give the best possible opportunities for our community moving forward um I'm looking forward to continuing to serve El Paso in many different ways both large and small I'm also looking forward to getting married this weekend coming up so you talk about chapters ending and beginning this is is a really big one so Tatiana thank you again for for all of your work um and patience and patience um but yeah it's uh it's it's been an incredible journey um my father passed away my first year in office um and it was a very very difficult time for myself and if it wasn't for the support of the community for this Council for the city manager and City staff I'm not sure exactly where I would have been and so I want to thank everybody again uh for your for your dedication and allowing me to serve this community um truly been an honor you know there's a idea in the Jewish faith of tikkun Olam and that is the responsibility of repairing the world and it's not about trying to go to heaven or going to hell it's merely about the responsibility that we have as people to leave this world a better place and where we found it and I hope that in these last seven and a half years I've had a little bit of an ability to leave El Paso a better place than where we found it as well and so thank you again mayor for this recognition and thank you all thank you and thank you again for your service [Applause] and I think one of the things that you told me the other day when we were talking that you're not going to stop serving your community that you may uh this may be your last city council meeting but uh you did tell me that uh this is not the end of you continuing to serve your community so thank you for that thank you and with that Mr Pine yes sir next we have our city manager Mr Tommy Gonzalez will be presenting service recognitions so that's a great segue into what we're going to talk about about leaving some place uh you know better than how you found it and so your service mayor Pro tem has made this city better it's made it safer we have more beautiful neighborhoods because of the votes that you made as well as this Council the the tenacity you demonstrated on the Deus with making our economy more vibrant by giving us more exceptional opportunities in the recreational space in the cultural space definitely the Art Space and the educational space as well and you made the organization better I know that the council was challenged with covid with a lot of other challenges that we've faced and you're one of the tenacious ones on the day is that really pushed the staff to to be better so I want to thank you for that and your dad would be proud I know your dad was very compassionate my dad was very compassionate my mom was very tenacious I think he took on the traits of my mother I think that Lazada alternate mayor Pro tem took the uh the traits of my father so I I can't give you a better compliment to tell you you're a good man so thank you for that on behalf of 7 000 employees when we're fully when we're fully staffed I want to thank you for your service and we have an award for you yeah [Applause] yes I'm sure the sneakers come out in the picture I had to represent for the culture we have an award also for the alternate mayor Pro tem she was a tremendous voice on the council as I said very compassionate LED with her heart and I know that a lot of the council members feel the same way about what she's done for us and for our community so again thank you mayor Pro tem I want to thank the alternate mayor Pro tem Lazada she couldn't be here she uh she's going through therapy right now she had an injury and I want to thank the rest of the council for all your service I know that you do it dutifully and you also do it selflessly and you you take a lot of criticism unjustly sometimes but you you chose to lead our community and I want to thank you for that for doing that with your heart and also leading with uh with compassion thank you very much thank you thank you and finally representative Rivera has a service recognition thank you man uh Priscilla can you come up front please I Priscilla my staff here I'd like to to recognize our sir for her years of service with my office in District Seven as of December 31st this uh Brazil will be leaving to join the office of uh congresswoman Veronica Escobar uh she has been an essential integral part of the office and I feel that uh I should recognize her and let her know that how much she was appreciated by not only me by staff as well you worked with staff well and so um I just wish I want to wish you best in your new Endeavors if you have someone to say Now's the Time thank you congratulations she's shy [Applause] 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 and list 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 the pen 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 forward thank you mayor Pro tem yes um so uh page three item two request to excuse absent council members that's to excuse representative CeCe lizarga from today's meeting um page five item nine moved to the regular agenda per Parks and Recreation uh page 99 item 22 moved to the Forefront of the agenda for representative schwartzbein page nine item 23 moved to the Forefront of the agenda to representative schwartzbein page nine item 24 I've moved to the Forefront of the agenda for representative schwartzbein page 9 item 25 move to the Forefront of the agenda of you guess it per representative schwarzbein page nine item 27 delete for representative schwartzmine and uh page 11 item 31 delete per planning and inspections uh Mary I also have two other items I'd like to take off consent agenda that's item nine and item 19 if we could take that after uh after the rest of the the other items not not moved to the Forefront just regularly there's also page 11 item 32 delete per planning and inspection oh look wow uh yes page 11 item 32 delete per planning inspections page 4939 postponed nine weeks to February 14 2023 for representative and Page 15 item 43 revise and postponed five weeks to January 18 2023 for representative molinar as well as page 5 15 item 45 moved to the Forefront of the agenda after item 26 per representative schwartzbein council are there any other uh changes at this time or requests okay is there a second second thank you there's a motion made by mayor Pro tem short spine second if I representative Rivera to approve the consent agenda as revised on that motion call for the vote in the voting session and the motion passes unanimously we now turn to page number nine item number 22. item 22 is discussion in action to proudly honor and recognize its significant contributions of Sergeant Michael Short throughout many decades of Public Service to our community and to the El Paso Police Department this item was submitted by Representatives Hernandez molinar and Rivera hi good morning Sergeant short and any guests if you can make your way to the podium where I read the resolution it is an extreme honor to share this moment with you and to thank you for your Decades of service to the El Paso Police Department and I'd like to read the resolution and the record and then ask for a second on the resolution so this resolution is in recognition of Sergeant Michael Short whereas Sergeant Marcus short number 1293 entered the El Paso Police Academy in December of 1988 and was assigned to patrol at Central Regional command until 1993. short transfer to the Freeway Patrol in 1993 and whereas short was part of the Freeway Patrol and the El Paso Police Headquarters and the Mission Valley Regional Command Center and was promoted to the air support in 2004 where short became a helicopter pilot for patrol operations and then the alpha hidta task force and whereas short was transfer transfer to Pebble Hills Regional command in 2009 and in 2013 was promoted to the rank of Sergeant and supervised at the northeast regional Command Center and the criminalistics unit and whereas short supported and developed the mental health response division for the El Paso Police Department on the direction of police chief Allen which included the crisis intervention team that began in October of 2018 and served in that unit until May of 2019 and also worked temporarily in the HR department and rash short was elected and currently serves as the president of the El Paso Municipal Police Officers Association in 2019 and we're as short is the only police officer to have been invited to the National crisis negotiation Center and Quantico at the FBI Academy to train with negotiators from the FBI and are asked short served 34 years of service with the El Paso Police Department to include 29 years as a hostage crisis negotiator two and a half years on the combined search and rescue team 30 years as a board member of the Police Association and three of them as the president and certified Accident Reconstructionist adjunct instructor at the Academy and many more contributions to our city now therefore be it resolved by the city council of the city of El Paso that the city of El Paso proudly honors recognizes the significant contributions as sergeant short throughout many decades of Public Service to our community and December 13 2022 shall be known as Michael short day congratulations see Mr short congratulations and you know um I think this is a perfect example of the men and women standing behind you that we all are brothers and sisters together and thank you for bringing your family with you to share this day with you thank you sir thank you all we appreciate you share some words wow well all that stuff you just read may sound a lot like me but I have to say it doesn't happen by one person not one breath do I draw without the permission of God Almighty that starts every single day and by his Blessing was any of that stuff ever done and opportunities for me certainly my family and loved ones who have supported the hundreds of call outs and whatnot holidays family time that I've missed the El Paso Police Department under the direction of Chief Allen has been my privilege and honor to have served for 34 years he's a revered leader in his treated me with such kindness and allowed me to do all of those things certainly these men and women standing behind me most of them are on my board of directors from the Police Association my family has my police family has been here to support everything I've done and they deserve all of that and finally all the people sitting out there the El Paso Community that has allowed me and trusted me to be a police officer for 34 years I have greatly enjoyed it has been my privilege to serve all of you and my honor and we have a great relationship the El Paso PD with our community and we hope to enjoy that we are very appreciative that our community supports us and we love doing what we do and I think Council mayor I've served under 10 mayors 11 if you count mayor leash or twice uh has been my honor and privilege and I thank you for every minute of it thank you thank you you're not done yet represent mullinar hold on representative mayor thank you very much for this opportunity I've known Sergeant Michael short for quite so many years I've known him to be a dedicated leader friend a mentor an association president leading the way for all these police officers detectives and civilian staff for for the community as well and so it's an honor and a privilege to have been a part of this resolution to honor you sir and your dedicated service to our community I wish you nothing but best godspeed and God bless you foreign [Music] thank you mayor Sergeant short Michael you and I go back a long way too work together and uh we had some pretty interesting times and so I too have to repeat the same words that were just said it was an honor to have known you to know you to know you and to I have worked with you and gone through some tough times together and uh that's most recent you've been the president of the association and have skyrocketed that organization to leave Beyond leaks and violence that are imaginable I thank you for that I thank you for taking care of the men and women of the department as as a president should and of course you you said the right things the the community what is always behind its department and so uh I also want to thank you as part of this recognition we have a little something for you I know you're going to get a bunch of these today and it's called a little plaque for you a little something for you so you can remember us and remember this day and so from the city of El Paso Texas the city council of the city of El Paso proudly honor and recognized the significant contributions of Sergeant Michael Short through many decades of Public Service to our community and to the El Paso Police Department December 13 2022. thank you sir thank you for your service and enjoy your retirement thank you sir [Applause] uh thank you uh Sergeant I'm trying to leave no no no no I just I just wanted to say really quickly that I really appreciate um the conversations that we've had throughout the years your candor and honesty and your perspective um you know I'm extremely um fortunate this community is fortunate for your service to our community um I my family does not have any police officers and your insight into the to the department and into your values and ethics and morals has been extremely extremely helpful throughout the years has made me a better person so I want to personally thank you for those coffees and those conversations throughout the years and thank you again for your service to our community thank you sir and good luck on your future nuptials thank you congratulations to you thank you that's awesome thank you representative anello followed by representative Salcido sorry I'll keep it short as well um I just also wanted to thank you I think representative schwarzbein said it a lot I I don't have law enforcement in my family and I don't have a lot of family here and I want to highlight that you have really been an advocate for mental health within the police department um you know I think the world is changing a little bit and it's you know for for individuals like myself who have family members with mental health we're learning that it's okay to take talk about it and take those experiences and make our community better and I know that you really did that and and you helped me along the way as well understanding the program that we put in place and I will be forever grateful for that work so thank you so much thank you ma'am thank you representative represent Salcido thank you mayor um just want to say my sergeant Michael short just want to thank you so much when I first came in office that you were very willing to sit with me and talk about those tough issues and let me know what really is important to you all and so that open communication that you gave right off the bat has helped me make better decisions in regards you know to anything that comes before me in the police so I want to thank you for always being honest you're Candor and in letting me know what's important to you all and being able to share that is extremely important in order for us to to make sure we're taking care of what needs to be taken care of so I want to thank you and I want to say God bless you and and I wish you luck and anything else you do further and I probably will still be reaching out to you because your wealth of information so thank you thank you ma'am thank you representative Hernandez thank you ma'am thank you and and I also want to make a motion to approve the resolution um thank you and um just to to wrap up my thoughts is is just to to let you know that how profoundly proud We Are of your service it doesn't necessarily feel like it was um a lot of work but 34 years is is so significant to our community we owe you a debt of gratitude and El Paso safer because of you you made a difference in your Association caring for police officers to the point where there's now even a retiree Health Plan named after your badge number 1293 you should be proud that you've made a difference in our community you've made us safer and forever we are grateful for you and your public service congratulations on your retirement and I hope you rest well thank you thank all of you I appreciate it thank you and one last thing you know based on what everyone said based on what you said and based on all the responsibilities in 34 years I can tell you that there was never a challenge too big or too small for you to accept and thank you again for protecting our community and for serving the men and women of our Police Department thank you sir thank you mayor appreciate it may God bless you and your in the future today and in the future and every day he does every day I awake I am blessed by God Almighty and I thank him for everything and I thank all of you and I hope wish everybody the best thank you thank you without Miss Prine we do have a motion yeah so that was a motion made by representative Hernandez by representative Rivera to approve the resolution on item 22 on that motion call for the vote voting session is open mayor Pro tem aye thank you in the voting session and the motion passes unanimously next item is number 23 and this is discussion in action to recognize the barbed wire Open Mic series the founders and all of the community members and organizations that have contributed to more than 15 years of providing performance spaces for people to freely Express their artistic voices and connect with one another through the Performing Arts and this item was submitted by mayor Pro tem Shortline mayor Pro tem thank you thank you again mayor um appreciate everybody coming here as well um you know I I had left El Paso After High School um was gone for nearly 15 years and came back to El Paso in 2011 and it spent a lot of time uh working on an art project for graduate school visiting my family in 2010 and 2011 and uh being open to the idea of of an El Paso that could welcome me home and met a number of people Richie Rob Santos and others that had an open mic series at the old percolator in downtown El Paso of blessed memory and was open to a creative community in El Paso that felt welcoming that felt like home and while that was my particular experience with the barbed wire Open Mic series they offered a home to so many creatives in this community for them to practice their own words uh their own speech and to grow the art and culture in this in this town and there are so many small items small actions that have such a big impact for El pasoans across and um barbed wire Mike series is is one of those organizations um that puts El Paso forward that helps people be comfortable with who they are and celebrate who they are with no apologies and so I would like to read this resolution here um in honor of barbed wire Open Mic Series so resolution whereas we were here today to recognize and honor the barbed wire Open Mic series its Founders Veronica guajardo Trent hudley Amit Ghosh Robert a Santos and Ricardo marufo and all the community members and organizations that have contributed to more than 15 years of providing performance spaces for people to freely Express artistic voices and connect with one another through the Performing Arts and whereas the barbed wire Open Mic Series in the last 15 years has organized over 300 100 Open Mic support events supporting over 10 local establishments and online platform showcasing more than the 7 500 performers and holding space for thousands of art appreciating community members and whereas the barbed wire Open Mic series enriches our city by providing creative Hub that incubates and amplifies the voices narratives experiences and creativity of our diverse population leading to the communal creation of culture and whereas city council wishes to recognize the contributions of the barbed wire Open Mic series and their generous and continued service to the community and to the Arts now therefore be resolved by the city council the city of El Paso that December 13 2022 shall be known as barbed wire Open Mic series day congratulations y'all mayor I just wanted to to ask if if Richie or Rob would like to just bless us with a short poem let let people know about the talent and the art that we have here in our community thank you all so much for having us here today thank you thank you Peter schwarzbein representative this is amazing not only are you a representative but you also represent so I appreciate that um yeah so I've been called to uh turn this place into a little bit of an open mic here for a second and this is what we've done for 15 years so I have a poem for you all that uh celebrates diversity it celebrates a lot of what we have here on the border and um it's from my unique perspective but it's still I believe in all-inclusive situation it's an oldie but goodie so it goes like this oh it takes some crowd participation though so I'm gonna say Mazel tov Mi Gente and I need you to say Mazel tov okay all right all right all right Mazel Tov Mi gentev you all are looking at a join again out of Julio Dominican at a light-skinned African with nappy hair that's thin add an afro mench I got a right foot that's rhythmic while the left is stiff and I'll dance with green horns Banderas if the yamaka fits the yarmaka fits scrape laguida with the pick raspatuguda with a pick is let me introduce Ricardo marufo who is the current uh Project Director with just a few words thank you so much uh assassinated poetry here in city council right no uh any recognition or claim that comes bewam's ways because of the community that makes it out all the artists that come out and are in development and just sharing a little bit of their their truth through their creativity and expression it's just great support venues so thank you one of my city of El Paso to come check out one of our open mics we have one almost every week including one this Friday so we'll be celebrating thank you guys so much Amit thank you so much for Border census as well for all the support over the years for Barb Wire thank you thank you well when I uh thank you to city council for this recognition thank you Peter and congratulations on your wedding when I found out from Rob and Richie that this is happening this was a very very rewarding feeling because we have been doing this for 20 years now and finally the lot of support coming from different sides makes it a big difference so I appreciate everything you guys do thank you thank you thank you [Applause] and if you all want another motion if y'all want to stick around uh we'll be doing pictures in a little bit as well um motion to approve second there's a motion made by mayor Pro tem Shortline seconded by representative Salcido to approve item number 23. on that motion call for the vote in the voting session the motion passes unanimously representative Rodriguez not present that brings us to item 24 and this is discussion in action to recognize the Borderland Gem and its founder Dave grave Herrera that gives local artists the opportunity to promote public art and help clean keep the city clean and this item was also submitted by mayor Pro tem shortsman thank you I'm not sure if anybody is here with Dave or with anybody else from the community for those that are not aware we have a beautiful and dynamic graffiti arts and culture Community here that goes there thank you so much for coming up guys and nowhere is that shown through the Grassroots and through the Borderland Jam which if you all have an opportunity to go down Cotton Street in Delta is it there is uh close to probably over a mile long of two and three story warehouses featuring The Best of aerosol spray and graffiti artists not just from El Paso but literally from across the entire world and every weekend in October I believe it is there is a weekend where these artists come down they pay their own flights they pay for their own paint and they transform an area of Industrial El Paso into literally an amazing living breathing um Art Gallery um full of amazing expression from the Grassroots and so started many years ago maybe not with an mcad Grant but it still continues on through a lot of people's hard work and dedication uh towards the culture and so I'd like to read this resolution whereas Dave grave Herrera founded what is known as the Border youth mural Collective and all volunteer organization in the city of El Paso to help keep the city clean by giving local artists the opportunity to promote public art and keep that productive since 1995 and whereas Jose match Fernandez Francisco kid ice Camacho Mario Durock Alvarado Luis SKU Martinez Mike urobali and others these artists and Community Builders helped shape mentor and Inspire youth in El Paso in positive ways for over 30 years throughout many border walls with Community beautification mural works and whereas artists were provided with curated public art wall space mentoring and repurposed paint supplies the organization raised it needed dry good donations to is local homeless shelters every year as border youth an accomplished the mission of promoting the city of El Paso's culture local talent and uniqueness and whereas in 2009 it became known as the Borderland jam and artists from all over the world were invited every year to the city of El Paso to express themselves by creating a mural and selected buildings of our community and whereas Yoko lung artists were mentored through this project and transformed prior vandalism into public art and helping smell local businesses of flourish in our community and whereas on February 2022 the Borderland Jam hosted one of the most successful events in El Paso over 100 artists from all over the world participated by leaving murals in South Central El Paso at the corners of South Cotton Street and East Third Avenue now therefore be resolved by the city council the city of El Paso that the city of El Paso proudly honors and recognizes significant contributions of the Borderland jam and Dave grave Herrera and many others throughout many years of our service to our community in December 13th shall be known as Borderland jam and Border youth out beautify day enough like to come in and good morning good morning thank you gentlemen thank you it's an honor to be amongst everybody here this is Frank Camacho it all started when I moved into the Five Points area the Pershing theater was a tagged vandalized and my growing son asked me what do those words mean and I said well you know that's not something that you need to read that you need to know so I took it upon myself to ask Mr Marty Snowden the owner of the pipe preaching Theater now it's a photo studio if you would ask me if you let me uh paint some positive messages on his wall any start from there I met my friend Bowie High School graduate also we started from there we did not know that we were sitting on our movement but yet it has become that and we're very proud to have been the the first ones to start something that we did it for fun but now has become a quite an art movement and usual take a look at the warehouse in the South Side it is a beautiful piece of art we thank you so very much for the recognition thank you very much thank you sir congratulations it's a motion to approve there's a motion made by mayor Pro tem short spine seconded by representative Hernandez to approve item 24. on that motion call for the vote in the voting session the motion passes unanimously representative Rodriguez not present next item is number 25 and this is discussion in action to recognize Maynard Joseph haddett senior served as a leader Mentor friend and small business owner of H Car Wash who gave up his time and selfless service for the betterment of the El Paso Community this item was submitted by mayor Pro tem shorts fine mayor Pro Tem thank you I don't know if there's anyone from the Haddad family that would like to come up um again it's the last resolution that I have here again we have these places we have these institutions of what make El Paso who we are and I can't think of a family like the hadads that that represent those values and a place like H Car Wash which has filled so many generations of el pasoans not with some really good huevos rancheros but amazing memories as well and those memories are The Quiet Moments of spending time with your father or your friends catching up over a cup of coffee in a small but proud Diner and when uh when H H Car Wash closed we lost a little bit of El Paso and when Maynard of blessed memory who is no longer with us in physical form we also lost something as well but we still have those memories that were able to keep us all alive and to sustain us um as well and so um it's my deep honor to be able to have this resolution in honor of of Maynard Joseph Haddad senior and H H and so whereas Maynard Joseph Hadad senior received served as a leader Mentor friend and small business owner of H Car Wash who gave of his time in selfless service for the betterment of the El Paso Community and whereas Maynard Joseph Haddad senior served as a proud son of a Syrian descendant served his country in the military helped build the family business H Car Wash and supported local businesses well it's helping to pave the way for future generations of Syrian Americans in this community and whereas Maynard Haddad Joseph Haddad senior served with distinction as an exemplary first generation Syrian American who supported and served as a member of the Saint Clements church congregation and as a supporter and advocate for the University of Texas at El Paso for over 60 years and whereas for decades Maynard Joseph Haddad senior served and donated and supported the University of Texas El Paso's athletic programs served as president for the touchdown club and built lifetime relationships reflecting our diverse and beautiful border community and whereas Maynard Haddad senior has been the counselor the mentor and the friend to hundreds of citizens of El Paso who are researching the historic connection to their Syrian ancestors or researching their connection to El Paso and whereas Maynard Joseph Hadad senior an H H Car Wash has brought thousands upon thousands of el pasoans and visitors together for good food and great conversation and whereas H Car Wash will forever live on in our history as an iconic El Paso destination and small business now therefore it be resolved by the city council of the city of El Paso that the city of El Paso proudly honors and recognizes the significant contributions of Maynard Joseph had seen her throughout many decades of service to our community and December 13th shall be known as Maynard Joseph Haddad senior and H H Car Wash day thank you thank you good morning um I'm going to let Mr Olivas speak first so I can collect myself thank you you know what well Bernie's coming up I think I'm not sure I've met anybody in El Paso didn't have a Maynard Haddad story and I know that you know I would go in there and have breakfast and I still have my white hat with the Red Riding H car wash that Maynard gave me one day and I enjoyed going in there and seeing him with his towels sitting up front smoking a cigar and he's the only one that ran to register too you know I was I remember so I had the opportunity back I don't know 30 40 years ago to get to know and meet Maynard and he loved UTEP he loved the symbol and he really he loved anyone that would sit down and sit there and talk to him really hit uh so I um I have some when I saw this item it put a big smile on my face because uh I can tell you I had hundreds of conversations with him and um some of them unfortunately I can't repeat because I'm not allowed to use that language up here but um I loved sitting down and getting to know Maynard and talking to him and I I actually probably had breakfast around how many years at least three times a week there while I took my kids to school my grandkids to school so Bernie thank you you said a lot of what I was going to say everybody else passed on those matter but his his legacy goes Way Beyond El Paso and he was a huge supporter of the Sun Bowl and I can tell you I made it a tradition to take our athletic director from both visiting schools to eat breakfast at H car wash and of course my first thing I told him was I just want to give you a warning he has no filters absolutely no filters so you can handle that you know we'll go have a great breakfast and of course we would pull up we would pull up and look at the place I said best breakfast in town and I always agreed them and always ask me who's this so this is so-and-so he's actually director of UCLA or this come on in and he'd always start with an insult I always start with an insult and his favorite word and he used to tell me hey I just like the way it sounds and you know what word I'm talking about and they would sit there and listen and before you know it he's coming taking pictures he is handing him Cups he's handing him caps he's doing everything and if you look at all the pictures on his on at the wall of H you know he's been around but what really stands out is that once this team's left every one of those athletic directors used to send me a box full of paraphernalia from their from their schools UCLA hats shirts jerseys everything Duke Stanford Pittsburgh everybody used to say hey look what I got with a little letter to Maynard had that and the first thing that they asked me when I go visit back is hey how's Maine are doing and unfortunately I had to go give the bad news this year when I was visiting Bernard Muir over at Stanford and Kevin White over at Duke and they all asked how is Maynard doing and like I said his legacy goes Way Beyond you know our city limits and I just want to say you know congratulations to your dad he was a fantastic individual thank you for allowing me to say something about mayor thank you so much thank you [Applause] and uh this last time I ran for office at uh you know we as we all run for office we go ask people to help us uh you know with our campaign I can tell you one one day I was opening my mail and I had a check from Maynard which meant a lot um on behalf of our I'm so sorry Our Father um an agent H car wash I'm sorry thank you thank you this would mean the world to him he was very humble and had few words as I do right now but from the bottom of our hearts thank you on behalf of our father thank you for anybody who knew Maynard you didn't know when black kids kids did um it was a tough cookie for every story you have we have several Bernie talks about all the coaches he knew what came along with that is all back in the day younger people won't understand they would invent new paddles and the coaches come to the car wash and show Daddy the new paddles they had to back when they used to discipline and so dad always had a new version of the new paddles the coaches had come out with that wasn't a lot of fun but you know God bless him that car wash his church UTEP burning notes he loved this community and this honor like my sister said he would have been way too humbled to accept because he did not like that kind of attention so thank you thank you from our family from thank the community for supporting us for all those years and God bless you all thank you God bless you and your family represent Eleanor [Applause] thank you mayor don't leave me just yet please don't leave come back anyways my name is Joe Molina and I live in the Northeast part of El Paso and I would go to the H Car Wash I'm sure you remember me and I'd go there for many reasons yes to say good morning to Maynard uh eight you know you had some outstanding breakfast and some outstanding Cooks they did very well did great job but it was it was more than just family it was like a little culture within those buildings those green Walls uh things that happened and didn't happen that mountain lion going in there if you recall that you know I didn't agree with it shooting the mountain lion but that's something else but he always treated me very well and yeah he was a little abrasive at times but that's okay you know you get used to that after a while to all the people that he employed all the people washing those cars whether they're from El Paso over there from ciudad Juarez that didn't really matter but he gave him a living He gave him an opportunity they were there for many many years and there are several that I knew from like 1985 that went there for many they worked and they did a great job and that's where I would take my cars for a car wash also to eat and but to say hello and yes just like you said mentioned mayor uh Maynard he gave me a campaign contribution I didn't even expect it he just came up to me and said hey you're running I'm going to take care of you and so thank you very much and not just for the campaign contribution but for the person that he was the builder of this community and a great place to go thank you thank you for the Memories thank you do we have a motion motion to approvement I'll take it Miss Brian there's a motion made by mayor Pro tem shorts fine seconded by representative Molina to approve item number 25. on that motion call for the vote in the voting session the motion passes unanimously representative Rodriguez not present would Council like motion recess there's a motion and a second to recess the city council meeting Priscilla can you come up front please all in favor hi anyone opposed the meeting is in recess at 10 05 A.M Council if I could get y'all um to line up back here behind me in the back wall and we're going to start with Tony the Tiger symbol week followed by one grub Community Day followed by Sergeant Michael short day followed by barbed wire Open Mic Founders Then followed by border jam and then uh last but not least Mr Maynard had out of H recognition so if we can start with the Sun Bowl week first thank you at this time um would you like to convene the Downtown Development Corporation meeting you know I have the past short but it didn't work last time so you're just gonna have to and uh in 15 minutes yeah I'll be back in I know what I forgot ready for my own you're gonna have to restart let's see no that's not on there so because it'll boo you about the things from yesterday yes I got it good morning this is a meeting of the El Paso Downtown Development Corporation board of directors meeting for Tuesday December 13 2022 present and presiding is board chair Lisa along with board directors short spine anello Hernandez molinar Rodriguez Salcido and Rivera Port director lizaraga has requested to be excused the first item on the agenda is the approval of the minutes for the February 14 2022 meeting minutes when were they this was February 14 2022 sir okay thank you do I have a motion there's the motion made by Mr Rivera seconded by Miss Salcido to approve on that motion call for the vote and the voting session and the motion passes unanimously item number two is the FY 2022 report on the status of the Downtown Development Corporation and five-year Capital Improvement plan good morning sir if it can bring up that presentation please all right thank you it so again Robert cortunes for the record we'll be presenting an update on how we finish the fiscal year 2022 for the ballpark and then also providing an update on the five-year CIP Sam Rodriguez will take the second part of that presentation and cover not only the projects that we've accomplished but the projects that we have in that five year upcoming CIP for the ballpark uh these are the areas that we're going to be covering again the recap on the financial practices that we've implemented and how we've got about achieving these results provide you a summary talk a little bit about the hotel occupancy and then show you the comparison on the revenues from the ballpark so it's important to as we get into the presentation sort of recap how and the strategies and the practices that we've implemented to be able to achieve these results and so one of the things you've heard us continue to talk about is the audits on the hotel occupancy that we have so not only does that generate new revenue for uh the city and the market in the tourism but obviously a portion of that that two percent does go back to the ballpark and so that's helped generate additional Revenue that we were not collecting prior to 2016. one of the big key areas was the refinancing that you all approved last year so you all remember back in April last year we did a refinancing ended up saving significant amount of money almost eight million dollars the last year alone and so since 2016 over 20 million dollars of savings on those Bond costs so when we talk about interest rates and I know that's a big topic right now with what we're seeing in the economy but looking at when the ballpark was originally financed back in 2013 2014 those interest rates were around seven and a half to seven point two five percent to put that into comparison the interest rate we got last year was about two and a half so a really significant Improvement in those interest rates which equates to that savings that you see on the screen here again the improvement in our hook to like Ben C again so as we've seen the rebound and the recovery from covid strong hotel-like pencil which helps obviously generate the revenue that goes to the ballpark and then the capital project Investments which Sam again is going to cover and again Australian that we're maintaining the high quality facility in the downtown area so again a main takeaway Point here is first year no general fund subsidy needed to make the debt payment it's a really really good news we've had some up and downs obviously over the last several years with the pandemic that we faced it had an impact on just about every Revenue source for the city but obviously the hotel occupancy was one of the sources that was impacted the most we had in 2019 we had projected to actually enter our first year in 2020 and then obviously in the middle of that year we were hit with the pandemic so very very good news again that this was the first year so the fifth degree that just ended up August 2022 that there was no subsidy needed there was enough revenue from the ballpark from the hotel occupancy and the team Revenue to fully cover that debt payment however it gets even better because not only did that Revenue fully cover the debt payment there was actually a surplus so that Surplus coming about from again the hotel occupancy tax revenue that two percent venue project that's dedicated for the ballpark which actually generated a surplus of just under 1.4 million it's important to note though that that Surplus that 1.4 million approximately is dedicated revenue for the ballpark so these funds cannot be used for any of their Source we cannot reallocate the industry to reallocate them to the general plan these are restricted revenues for the ballpark and so with what the council approved back in I actually saw a couple of presentations in 2021 but in August you all had asked that we come back and identify a revenue source to be able to fund the capital projects and that's how we're accomplishing it with this Surplus that's being generated so that one point four million bucks money was transferred into the capital projects and what Sam presented in August of 2021. so again really really good news that not only no general fund subsidy needed for the debt payment but actually a surplus to help fund those caliper projects at the Ballpark this is what the two percent project venue revenues look like over the last several years so going all the way back to the first year in 2014 you can see it continued to increase as I just mentioned all the way up through 2019 we hit 3.4 million and we were projecting actually to have no debt subsidy in 2020 and then as I mentioned covet hit mid-year you'll see the impact in 2020 and 2021 the impact on that Revenue source and then you see how we rebounded really nicely in 2022 hitting 3.9 million really getting us back on target with where we were prior to the pandemic so a comparison over the last several years you can see here a point to the bottom row there because this shows you what the general fund subsidy was for these last few years as I mentioned in fiscal year 2019 was a very minimal subsidy that was needed just under 90 000. and as I mentioned we had actually projected to have no subsidy needed in 2020 but then again as I mentioned covet happened and had an impact on the revenue source for the ballpark there was no games in 2020 they had a condensed season in 2021 limited capacity that also impacted 2021 and then you'll see in 2022 as I mentioned again no subsidy needed from the general fund so as we look to the Future and the forecast of the ballpark revenue and The Debt Service here you can see these estimated amounts and again these are estimates forecasts that we've put together that shows you'll see the projected Surplus over the next five years totaling just under 5.9 million so this is again additional Revenue above and beyond what's needed for the debt payment for the ballpark that again are dedicated solely for the ballpark so these funds cannot be used for any of the sources these are restricted to be utilized for the ballpark and so with that I'll turn it over to Santa margaritas and so before he starts just real quickly getting that far right-hand economy you'll see projected over the next five years five just under 5.9 million of additional Revenue to go towards capital projects and so Sam's going to cover what that CIP is going to look like April 2023 and 2027. can you go back to the previous slide so on this one can you just make it clear to anybody who's watching that when you say about it being restricted can you can you describe why because it's the venue District correct so again the main Revenue source is the two percent venue project approved by the voters and those uh what the voters approved that revenue is dedicated so it's in the bond agreements it's in the master lease agreement These funds are restricted to go to the ballpark now the two percent is hot taxes hotel hotel tax yes so based on your location of the hotels within the area and we've had some great growth in downtown area right that will continue to grow right and so as we mentioned we've seen strong Hotel expense we've seen a little bit of a decrease in the hotel occupancy over the last several months but still really high compared to where we're part of the pandemic but yes again really encouraging news that because of the refinancing again that we did last year and in 2016 because of the increase in the hotel occupancy those are playing a key role in a key factor and what you see on the screen here being able to generate that Surplus for each of the next five years projected and then the the 20 million is from refinancing of the hotel debt which is from the first time we refinance when was 2016 2016 and that'll be through the and the savings will be maximized through the end of it's over the life of the months right and we probably will refinance again somewhere hopefully around because we still have a bullet in there we have one more right so and prior to August of 2023 we have another five million dollar bullet which is a 5 million dollar lump sum payment that the way the ballpark debt was structured which again we won't sort of rehash the history but we all know the financial challenges that were faced when financing the ballpark and so the one of the ways yeah you're right there was a couple of bullets that were built into and so there is one remaining and we'll bring that back to the council play in the next few months to get that approved so we can go out and refinance that again over the life of the bonds as well and no one's due when the child is 23 August of 2023. okay so we'll do it prior to then great thank you for that sir okay thank you uh Mr Rodriguez thank you so many members of council um Sam Rodriguez chief operations officer so next several slides I'm going to cover the The Five-Year CIP just a quick overview over the timeline this agreement was approved back in October of 2012. so really just completed our 10-year anniversary on the agreement uh the agreement is with mountain Star Sports Group with El Paso Chihuahuas being the main tenant they started their uh 10th season uh here in the ballpark coming up there's been a couple of amendments uh one of those was amendments was uh related to the modifications that the team made with relations to the locomotive in the soccer activities at the Ballpark itself per the agreement we are we stipulates that when you bring a five-year CIP to city council annually so the last one that was approved that was presented city council was August of 2021 and today we've completed 33 projects as part of the the capital uh plans that have been approved over the years next slide so part of the agreement under the agreement the city of El Paso is required to provide all capital costs associated with the ballpark in a way that continues to to maintain the facility in a first class manner as it relates to other standards within Major League Baseball in addition a lot of these improvements that have been that are presented to you today are related to updated standards that MLB has instituted for for uh minor league teams as well as major league teams specifically to safety players attendance or spectator safety so all those have been included as part of the updates to the CIP as well when we go into the development of CIP we meet with the ballpark with the team or the tenant and they present to us the proposed Capital plans we go in and we make modifications whether it's removing any items that we do not believe our Capital type of improvements we also make modifications to the the money as to when some of these items there are band or when it's needed if something is expected to have a little bit of longer lifetime or expectancy from a life cycle standpoint we make those modifications and ultimately agree on what the recommendation will be made in front of city council typically under the agreement we use the the Gap the General accepted accounting principles to determine what is maintenance and what is the capital expenditure and that's ultimately what we end up deciding as to whether something's going to be picked up by the state as a capital cost or Mountain starts um Sports Group as an operation and maintenance cost next slide you know from their aspect of it the tenant is is required to provide all expenditures related to the operation of the ballpark uh to include direct and indirect costs associated with the team and events and they provide regular routine maintenance interior exterior paints um that are not tied into the capital Improvement such as a big remodel uh aspect of it and they also manage obviously all the concessions and the spaces within the facility itself next slide these are the projects that were completed from 2017-20 next slide and then uh 21 and 22 that we just wrapped up um so next slide back in August of 201 the city council did approve a capital Improvement plan that took us through fiscal year 25 so we got 23 24 and 25 that were approved um part of um what's being presented is updated estimates based on covet impacts some of the big increases that we've seen the video board was originally approved at 1.2 million we've seen an increase of almost a million dollars on that particular item and you could see some of the other um different uh different increases that have been anticipated or increased as a result of the covet impacts to where projects that were previously approved at 3.1 million they're now being estimated to come in about four 4.5 million dollars next slide so this is the full plan that includes additional fiscal years 26 and 27 that would be a total of 7.9 million dollars that's projected over the next five years uh next slide uh summarize a big component of this is Architectural Interiors about 5.7 million dollars and then the structure itself is 1.48 million dollars this is a city facility it's owned by the city um obviously and and being maintained for the agreement for this Capital uh request as Robert stated we do have um 7.9 million as projected expensive shirts 5.8 million dollars of this is supposed to come from the uh five-year projected ballpark Revenue that he just presented and then two million dollars uh is will be recommended to come in from the sale of capital assets as city council was briefed in executive session yesterday uh for a total of 7.9 million dollars there was a companion item on the regular agenda that has been postponed until the second meeting in January so this item will come back up again for City council's consideration uh to include uh the additional fiscal years 26 and 27 um as well as the additional expense managers associated with covet impacts next slide and that completes the presentation Robert and I are available for questions on this thank you Robert and Sam for the update um as it relates to the increases of the the cost as a response from the pandemic and supply chain issues inflation is there any um potential that those costs would decrease in the future could we revisit that if indeed those costs do reduce yes uh representative so these are estimates of what we believe the cost to be with inflation you know obviously when we actually go through the procurement um the actual bids um or if you see decreases in in some of those prices we will part of the updates that we'll do annually for the contract uh will reflect those uh updated costs so every year we're almost a recalibration process that we go through as part of the updates that we do to this five-year CIP real quickly so it's a good question about the inflationary impact it's also as Sam mentioned and he said it pretty quickly but I think it's important to say it again is the requirements from not only minority baseball but Major League Baseball as well of some of the improvements that are on that list and things that we have to invest in in order to meet those requirements again those are standards that are being set by minor league Major League Baseball okay um I you Mr Rodriguez and Gonzalez and cortinas initially I had drew some concerns with initial proposals using the general fund this response I feel is a very eloquent solution to our concerns and so I want to thank you for listening I did not want to use our general fund proceeds which are essentially property taxes sales taxes fees for services because we have other responsibilities in this community so I really think this is an elegant response to our concerns on Council so thank you and in addition to that I also want to lend my support for this plan we have seen Decades of disinvestment into our infrastructure and one prime example is the unfortunate tear down of the Diablo Stadium because there was never any investment to our stadium and so it there are consequences when you defer maintenance and that's one of them this is our asset this is our property this is a this will be a tourist attraction it will continue to be for the next decades to come if we continue to invest and to take care of a city-owned public property that has been one of the shining stars and a great Testament to the Renaissance in downtown so city council and and future city councils My Hope Is that we continue to take care of our assets that we continue to invest and to make sure that we can retain these contracts with our providers and make sure that we are competitive and a global economy that is requiring organizations and municipalities to be as competitive and that means that our assets have to be up to standards and so thank you for continuing to to remind us that these are contractual obligations but also these are necessary requirements so that we can continue to have these wonderful amenities for all persons to enjoy so I just wanted to share my support for this plan and so I hope in the New Year Council can make a bold decision to make sure that we invest in those assets thank you Mr Martinez thank you those are are excellent points and so you've heard us talk a lot about the the neglect and the Deferred in a lot of different areas and so the recommendation and again what was presented here and we had the action item that was now postponed is that not only is it our Ballpark and we need to continue to invest in it but we have debt payments all the way through the year 2043. so we have to continue to make those debt payment for another 21 years so it's financially responsible for us to bring forth the recommendations that are going to continue to invest in these upgrades that are going to continue to have a high class quality facility in our downtown area that further complements all of the renovations that have taken place not only with the hotels with the Mexican-American Cultural Center the children museum all of the investments from the private sector in the downtown area so again that's the recommendation and we did have the action item that Council had decided to postpone but absolutely I mean we've worked really hard to make sure that from the restructuring of the debt that the city issued back in 2014 again the hotel occupancy tax revenue doing the audits now generating that additional Revenue all of these different things have really been critical to making the ballpark now self-supporting not needing General plan dollars to help support that operation anymore so again really really good news and we're working on a visioning session for the city council with respect to Capital Improvements in our community and looking into the future but we also want to make sure that we have planned expenditures mapped into that discussion uh as Robert just indicated the children's museum is going to need an ongoing funding stream for Capital Improvements and so that's that's something that's going to be an ongoing expense going forward and because there's so much dialogue about certificates of obligation and those things have to be voted on and that's something that needs to be put in front of the voters to continue to give them the first class product that Robert coutine has talked about and so did Cassandra and on this our council person uh yes thank you um representative Rivera thank you mayor project I'd also too like to commend staff and Mr Gonzalez and will you brief me on this you saw how excited I was but can you repeat one more time on the ball forecast this will be a savings to maximize uh for the maximize life of the bond is that what you right and so as as I mentioned that refinancing that we did last year again very very strategic in the way that the city manager myself working with our French advisor of monitoring the market to make sure we're taking advantage of the best opportunities and so doing that refinancing last year generated about eight million dollars of savings so significant and so again that savings is really what has helped lower that debt payment combined with the increase in the revenue from the hotel occupancy that we've seen is what led to that result that you see today and are you locked in at that rate yes sir okay that's that's why I wanted to make clear to the public that it's listening in I I again I commend you and I could have representative Hernandez can have said it best it's it's a vision that you all have as a staff and and Mr Gonzalez and you bring it to us and we make those decisions for you and so I mean we support your decision rather not make decisions we support your decisions and and it's a facility that we're going to take care of I mean that facility keeps getting compliments and so it's it's time that the city of El Paso act like a big city and it's acting like such since we've been on and so uh it just speaks volumes for you I thank you Mr Martinez Mr Gonzalez and Mr Rodriguez thank you so thank you mayor Pro tem just one more quick comment so as I presented at the last council meeting when we give you the update when we talked about the airport and their bond reading upgrade I mean this is just another example of again the financial management and our strong financial stability so not only increasing the reserves that we talked a lot about but also in eliminating these operational deficits whether it's in some Metro whether it's the golf course and now for example the ballpark we have another example of where the role of the financial management being able to eliminate these operating deficits which helps ease the burden on other departments that are able to utilize those resources for other needs in the community and and I remember you telling us about this about two years ago and targeting 2023 and here we are we're coming up on and you were right on spot yeah thank you so much thank you May pretend thank you welcome uh representative mullinar followed by representative salsita or representative okay thank you mayor protein appreciate that uh Mr cortinas thank you very much for your presentation Mr Rodriguez thank you for your presentation as well on Slide 14. projects completed 20 21 2022 so I'm just going to pick out whatever for 2022 the field wall padding 114 thousand dollars and you do have two asterisks turned over to the city for reuse have also been provided for Turf and that's also for the production on LED ribbon boards first and third base side so besides that is there anything else let's just say for the televisions that are replaced what happens to those televisions yes representative Molino we we work very closely with them if it's something that it still has value and that our Parks and Recreation Department can still use uh we we get those turned over because again these are City assets uh those get turned over to us um and we make that decision at the onset it's like yeah we do want that we do we don't want that and if we don't we if we don't have use for it for a department you know that typically if they're salvage value is part of the bid process we tell the contractor this this is going to be removed and disposed though so that we get the credit from that salvage value as part of the bidding process but things like wall padding um the the turf as an example is something that every time they convert from from a base from a soccer game to to a diamond field all that grass in the infield area gets removed that gets picked up by our Parks and Rec facility and gets that targets distributed to various Parks throughout our our community um as as as as as part of our operation so we work very closely with them uh any every opportunity that we get yeah and that's great uh Mr Rodriguez great to hear that but who actually makes the call to say hey um I'm just going to look here at the visitor homeroom locker room of interior upgrade I'm sure that's gets a lot of use and uh we're in 10 years into this uh the stadium so who makes the call to say hey we need this upgrade we need paint job we need new lockers we need uh uh you know whatever it is that they may need we need new shower heads something like that who makes that call yeah so the the maintenance and operation is the responsibility of the tenant um as I stated they provided an initial list request of to the city um myself in the capital Improvement Department uh so they made the initial request uh we have our Engineers um myself go through the facility and we look at it and we either agree that it needs replacement or we don't and if we don't agree we say well this probably has three three more years of useful life let's propose it until down the line because again part of our job is to ensure that we're we're making use of the the amount of money that's available um and and I can tell you they don't get everything that they request because we do go through the inspection we decide make those decisions from our side and ultimately we we're the ones that present the recommendations to city council it's very thoroughly vetted with inspections of the facilities as part of the original request okay and Mr Gonzalez I'm going to tap on to you uh your your intelligence and City Administration and management after the lease is over over the 30 years what would be our options I mean in other words we own that structure we own the ballpark would we take that on or we contract that out to somebody and I know that's really too premature to just a ballpark figure if you could so we own the facility yeah like you pointed out so the city owns it and that's how the contract was put together when the contract is over you would want to utilize it for its intended purpose so you'd want to renegotiate and extend the contract further with the existing tenant and and or if there's a new league that has established 20 years from now that might be a stronger League that we could compete for you would look at those options as well okay all right and there's also three options to extend three five year options so a total of 15 years that we could extend so the tenant would have to let us know two years before that contract expires whether or not they want to renegotiate three three options for five years each so 15 years total thank you very much I have no question no further questions thank you thanks representative Salcido I just had a couple questions thank you so much for the presentation um I know that you mentioned the Capital Improvements um the list that is created does the MLB also request certain things and does that take precedence to that list yeah so the the major league uh baseball comes through with new requirements um or standards and those get incorporated into the capital plan so whether it's the padding or additional netting that were recently added as part of capital plan again those are based on standards that MLB puts on the on the teams in order to be able to play in these facilities so those those get Incorporated uh automatically you got Representatives let's see though and presented obviously to to city council for approval but those are those are included also safety issues if there are safety issues we identify an ADA access as an example or a safety issue that um just everybody's missed throughout the years those those are automatically addressed as well as part of the the capital plan when we go through the the process the contract does allow the the team to make those immediate safety repairs and they get reimbursed for the city or specialty items uh they get those will go on a reimbursement basis for their contract but those are those get Incorporated and I also read on the contract a ballpark ballpark standards is that something that we we have is that done by is that following the MLB is that our own Bob art standards it's it's following the MLB standards for ballparks facilities for their for the teams okay and for the public benefit you mentioned that it has its own source of Revenue and it does not it cannot be moved it needs to be sold allocated for addressing these Capital Improvements yes these revenues are restricted for the ballpark okay okay perfect and um yeah so those are my only questions and um I think I had seen on slide I had one last question actually I think it's lied um right here slide uh seven where we talk about the ballpark Revenue an FY 2022 I know that it's a zero from the general fund depth subsidy I just want to see for the public benefit if you kind of explain why we had numbers on 19 20 21 and then why I said at zero that is showing at the end of the general fund dip right so as I started the presentation with again up until this most current school that just ended in August of this year the general phone is having to subsidize to make the debt payment and so that was the projection all along when the ballpark was originally financed it was made clear that the general phone would have to help subsidize the payment to help for at least the first I believe 12 years is what was estimated and so what I'm showing here is just a comparison um you see the two percent Hotel occupancy tax revenue is the first line there that's the primary revenue Source that's used for the ballpark debt uh we also received the sales tax a portion of the ticket Revenue portion of the rent portion of the parking so all of those Revenue sources are dedicated to going towards that debt payment so for example the team Revenue which is the sales tax ticket rent parking that's restricted to making the debt payment we cannot use that for the capital the two percent for the hotel like capacity is where the additional excess is coming from that's being utilized for the ballpark and so as I mentioned I'm showing this just for comparison really because in employee 2019 as I mentioned the bottom row there you'll see less than a 90 000 subsidy was needed because the ballpark was performing well the hotel occupancy was doing well the revenue was doing well and unfortunately covet impacted us which is what if you look at this light here what I was highlighting in 2019 you'll see we generated 3.4 million from that hotel occupancy dedicated revenue and then you'll see the drop-off in 2020 and 2021 with the impact from covid again in 2020 there was no season for the chihuahuas again a subsidy or a smaller uh season in 2021 they had a restricted attendance coming out of covid but then you see the bounce back in 2022 so just the reason why I provided this just for comparison purposes and to show that again no subsidy was needed from the general fund to make that debt payment this year okay thank you so much Robert um I just wanted to add really quick that you know this is 10 years into this into this uh ballpark most minor league ballparks see a precipitous drop off in terms of in terms of people visiting usually around year five we haven't seen that and the fact that we've been able to work with mountain Star Sports Group not only to keep the chihuahuas active and fresh but also to be bringing in USL soccer with the El Paso locomotives is a testament to a creative and high-function organization and also the ability to create Partnerships across organizations as well so I think that it's really really prudent to make these Investments sound to be proactive and to make sure that this ballpark remains remains fresh and most importantly we're not paying more down the road it's not just about a contractual obligation it's also about doing what's right for this community so many people from so many different places in our community enjoy this ballpark variety of reasons and it's the right thing to do so thank you again for for this presentation uh representative uh Rodriguez good morning Robert so I know that this item was played with the one that got deleted yesterday when you do bring that item back will you bring back this presentation again please yes we will okay that was it thank you okay anybody else have any questions all right I I do have one last statement I think that Robert's already kind of pointed it out and the council's had a long discussion about this we do own the building it's our responsibility to maintain it on the capital side that's part of the contract so I know this got pushed back to January but the facts aren't going to change and and I do believe that what we presented to you is exactly what the council asked for is an alternative to not utilizing the fund balance with regard to Capital Improvements thank you all right is there an action with this no sir there's no action on this item and this brings us to the end of the agenda is there a motion to adjourn so moved there's a motion and a second to adjourn the meeting all in favor anyone opposed in the meeting for the El Paso Downtown Development Corporation for December 13 2022 is adjourned at 11 o'clock am is there a motion to reconvene the regular city council meeting there's a motion in a second to reconvene the regular city council meeting all in favor all right anyone opposed the meeting is back in session at 11 o'clock A.M can we go to agenda item 45. yes sir thank you item number 45 . it's uh the frontier discussion in action on funding source for Frontera road closures and traffic study thank you Good Morning America Rodriguez with the Capital Improvements Department we don't have a formal presentation today just a quick update we were able to meet with some staff from Sunland Park yesterday to you know just give them an update as we were directed to do so and continue that coordination additionally we are working with the Metropolitan planning organization to allocate some funding through our formal funding process through the mpo for a sort of more broad West Side Transportation study that would focus on congestion within the the area of this proposed subdivision from Sunland Park as well as some other larger Transportation projects that are going on in that area we also worked with our office of management and budget to identify a funding source so really today what we're looking for is action to to move forward with the traffic study and proposed improvements that we presented at the last council meeting or sorry council meeting before last and that funding source would be the non-departmental contingency funds okay um is there anyone signed up for public comment on this item yes sir we do have four members of the public that signed up to speak on this item all right can we hear them at this time Mr Prime yes sir the first person is Delirious montagnas Berrios followed by Rita Payton Craig Matthews and Susan Martinez good morning Mommy you have three minutes thank you good morning city council mayor step out um one of the things that I wanted to say was uh I was very appreciative of the traffic study but I don't think that it encompassed everything that I need to Encompass for us to be able to move forward with development on that area number one I saw the traffic study that it talks about Frontera wrote that it's uh near us 62 180 on Montana Avenue I don't know who wrote that I don't know if it's a typo that's something that needs to be looked into second of all the daily traffic is very unrealistic and is very uneven if you have uh let's say 50 cars living in the house one of those houses in the residential area in the morning obviously you have 50 cars coming back in the afternoon or at some point so I don't think that it's realistic and it isn't even the developer was talking about Solomon Park using the property taxes money to pay for the services that were required for those houses and those families um that is incorrect my property taxes are almost forty five hundred dollars and my street doesn't have any lights in the community both of the roads are uh non-paved so the the developing the developer assuming that Solomon Park is going to use that money I don't think that we can take that heart um he's talking about uh maybe 400 400 000 houses in that area uh not in the wildest dreams uh for this Crush full disclosure my property was 350 000 and it's actually one area so those property lots are going to be between 1 4 and 1 6. so in my um in my opinion the developers misrepresenting the project for the City of New Mexico to actually pass it uh something that I offered to the developer was to extend my property to the left all the way down to the Boy Scouts he wanted five million dollars and in reality he actually purchased it for 2 million uh something that maybe the city and the county can consider is maybe investing in the land um something else that they could do is redo Frontera and address the traffic and something else that we haven't looked at it's there's something called memorandum of understandings between the EMS the fire department and the El Paso Police Department and as a police officer I can tell you if I was in El Paso and there's an emergency for example at my Ranch and there's a gate there I cannot provide the Emergency Services necessary so now we're talking about lawsuits not just for me as a business owner but for the city of El Paso because you close the road thank you thank you the next speaker is Rita Payton followed by Craig Matthews and Susan Martinez good morning you have three minutes good morning and City Council Members Amir thank you for your work for you and your staff on the issues related to Frontera my name is Rita Payton I'm district one I live on Boy Scout Lane this last week we were able to meet with a developer and in addition to finding out that he is not the owner to Simply an agent he is citing most of his information from a study that was done in 2008 by SLI engineering with some updates and he says there's very little traffic because there's only 243 cars that enter that area but we're talking the very last 200 yards of Frontera also in the same study at the end near Donovan there are actually 2029 eastbound clicks heading towards Donovan and 1918 westbound clicks that are done between seven and nine in the morning as a resident in that area of 4 000 Clicks in less than two hours seems like a lot of traffic He also mentioned that in the study they cite that it's very near Montana which Montana is at UTEP where it begins near UTEP and heads East it is nowhere near that area so we have some definite issues with that study in I sent the forwarded the study as well as the summary of the conversation to our representative Mr swashbine and basically he says that he the overall gist is that they will make no concessions or compromises on that development and it is his opinion that it is illegal to close any part of those shared roads but he also stated that he believes there's going to be a roundabout on embryon Frontera as well as designated right turn Lanes at Donovan and we've worked very hard with the Rhodes commission as well as our representatives and you and we have heard nothing of any of these things as well as the widening of Frontera that they are using to base that development on so we just asked that please keep working with Southern Park officials so that everybody's on the same page with the same information and the first step is obviously this study that you have commissioned and that we are all looking forward to the results on more updated thank you the next speaker is Craig Matthews Craig Matthews Susan Martinez is joining virtually Ms Martinez star six please to unmute your telephone good morning you have three minutes can you hear me yes ma'am yes thank you very much yes uh my name is Susan Martinez I'm president of Zach white neighborhood association and we're a member of the El Paso neighborhood Coalition and we're very proud to be members we recognize the importance of neighborhoods and the vital things that a good neighborhood and a safe neighborhood and a healthy neighborhood provides with a backbone of the city and we want to keep it that way if you stop and think about all these things that are being talked about around about on Emory and Frontera consider the closeness of the railroad tracks consider that hunting our road is less than a mile long consider that we already have all the statistics that Rita just finished giving you about the numbers of vehicles that already Traverse from Tera Road consider that you've got 240 units coming from this developer who's apparently not the developer but just an agent this is for the state of New Mexico think about all those things think about all the things that New Mexico has on the table right now that Sunland Park specifically has on the table for future projects now is the time please consider all that stuff now is the time for Sunland Park New Mexico to develop their own infrastructure for fire for police force streets for traffic flow for sewer and water for all the things that a healthy Community needs to have in order to grow successfully now is the time to put those types of plans into action and clothes from data road because Frontera does not need to be widened it's on the 2009 traffic study that city council approved our city council you guys approved it it's a one lane going a one lane coming we're the Texas residents that use that road daily and we want to keep it that way that's why we live where we live my property taxes are over nine thousand dollars and I've lived there over 35 years that is my lifetime investment so please consider all those things and please continue to work with Sunland Park and guide them because they need guidance and assistance to develop a healthy infrastructure you guys all have the talent to do that we've seen it we've seen all the wonderful things that you've done for El Paso I don't want to look down on Sunland Park New Mexico but I do want them to wake up and see the beauty of developing a sound infrastructure for everything that they need we need all of that we need this region to become a wonderful healthy successful region so thank you Marion city mayor and city council thank you especially to all the city council members um and especially to the West Side ones it's almost unclear that both cecili saraga and Peter schwartstein are leaving city council because they're the ones that have guided us through this more than anything thank you representative Molina for taking the time to come out and see the area that we're talking about thank you for all city council for all of your support but please thank you all you guys and all the thank you thank you very much mayor Pro tem that concludes public comment on this item thank you um so I think a couple things were were brought up that I don't really think are actually um truthful um and I just want to ask for some clarification um from Joaquin um can you can you address this idea of of widening a Frontera is that identified in in any plans that we've had or or or being discussed at this time so widening of the entire length of Frontera is not something that's identified in any of the previous studies or plans the only study that was conducted by the city is the 2008 Upper Valley traffic study which I think has been shared um uh previously through the you know to with the residents I think the study that has some errors is actually a study that was conducted by a private uh company on behalf of the developer as part of their submittal to Sunland Park but again no no plans to widen the entire length of Frontera that 2008 study conducted by the city did recommend some improvements one of which was the widening of Frontera at the intersection of Doniphan simply to add a dedicated right to turn lane at the signal additionally there was a recommendation for a roundabout at Emory M Frontera but again these are recommendations from a very old and outdated study we don't currently have updated traffic counts so what we're asking for today in addition to funds for future construction of the closures that have been proposed is to authorize us to use some funding to do a traffic study that includes updated traffic accounts will probably include some updated recommendations in regards to you know the roundabout and the dedicated right turn lane and other things that we'll look at based on you know our understanding of what the scope of work should be and based on what we've heard today and what we've heard of previous Council meetings as far as what that study needs to look at it needs to take into account okay and then can you also talk about as as part of this motion today what specific items would occur in terms of in terms of traffic traffic safety in the area concerning the public health safety and Welfare of of the community and residents in both in both communities so in terms of timing we really need to start with the traffic study that's going to be where a lot of safety concerns are going to be addressed and analyzed so that when we do move forward with construction we can ensure that the design of any future improvements takes into account the results and outcomes of that study and so what would what would be funded as part of this motion today um to study and subsequent design and construction and that's what's the design and construction specifically just so that it's cleared to the public into the neighborhood or the diagonal diverter at Frontera um and the New Mexico Texas border um as well as the emergency access closures um at the three other streets that we identified uh previously okay um so I I strongly urge my colleagues to to pass this today there's a lot of concern I think from residents of both communities that we are being forced to listen to and pay attention to the larger issue as well is that Sunland Park in our community as a whole is going through a lot of dynamic growth we know that there's expansion at the Port of Entry at Santa Teresa with a new 55 million dollar Saint Francis extension as well as you know the further development of Sunland Park as an entertainment Regional Entertainment destination as well so I think it's really important that we continue to work with um Sunland Park but also make sure that we set a precedence that we're also going to look out for the public health safety and Welfare of our communities here and so with that I would like to make a motion to approve at this time staff's recommendations I'll check with it but I also have a comment okay um yes we have representative molinar and then if anybody else would like to speak thank you mayor Pro tem uh walking great job thank you very much for this information but uh what is the actual how many streets I know you mentioned the streets have already been previously named but you have a figure on how many streets are going to be involved in this traffic study um in this study specifically we'll look at Frontera front that is the only the only access to Donovan so it's really the only um the only through route for this entire neighborhood and that's part of why we need to do this study um so traffic counts will probably be taken at the very least along Frontera we'll also look at Futurity drive going into Sunland Park New Mexico and that's really just so that we have a better understanding of uh of what the impact of closure might be to those cert to the surrounding Road Network okay and uh do you know more or less a time is there going to be a two-week study a 30-day study I'm I'm not entirely sure that that will depend as we begin to develop the scope further um and identify uh consultant to uh to do that depending on you know their workload will will uh we'll come back with that but we will ultimately come back with the results of that traffic study prior to moving forward with any designer construction okay thank you sir that's all I have mayor and I'll read in the into the record here just so it's clear so the motion is made to instruct the city manager allocate up to two hundred thousand dollars from non-dovemental contingency non-departmental contingency funds for traffic study and subsequent design and construction of necessary infrastructure to close Frontier Road and other roads at the Texas New Mexico border that may be impacted by additional traffic generated by the proposed Sun River Estates subdivision city managers further instructed to present results of study to council before moving forward with the design and constructions contemplating this motion um city managers authorized undertaken the budget transfers and send any documents required to effectuate the intent of this motion just so I'm clear in terms of City management and City staff so this would not start the construct Council would have to then go back to approve again the construction of these uh of these safety of these Street improvements I don't know that they would need to take action again to approve representative Schwartzman but just in the you know entrance of transparency I think it's important that we come and present the results of that traffic study um at this public forum of council before moving forward with that design and construction so I'm trying to see clarification because what what I want to leave here today is knowing that we're doing a traffic study it's going to be looking not just at this issue but others relating to um our traffic with Sunland Park in New Mexico but that that there's no doubt that we would be moving forward with these traffic improvements regardless of of how this study turns out and so I don't know if there's a question for our City attorney or what to understand what this language specifically is saying in the second to last sentence Joaquin can you can you repeat the language in regards to the second to last sentence no uh so the city managers further instructed to present results of the study to council before moving forward with design and construction as contemplated in this motion okay it's a representative a short time what is what is the concern that you have with the language I just want to make sure that that for the neighbor for the concerned Neighbors in Sunland Park and in El Paso Texas that they know that this Council action today means that we're moving forward with these with these Street improvements so that's the intent of the language well I guess the the language I guess what we can do would it be okay would it be all right if we just not include that sentence sir city managers further instructed to present results of study to council and just it's that before moving forward design and construction is contemplated in this motion your concern is to not bring it to come you want to bring it to council the study bringing back to council but I would feel more comfortable and I'm assuming that the residents would feel more comfortable knowing that the action taken today is going to move forward irregardless of future councils with these Street improvements for public health safety and Welfare right so for purposes of council making an informed decision however and in order to protect the the city we would need to know the findings in terms of how we were going to move forward in order to further justify the closing of the street if that's what the study comes forward with does that make sense well we're planning on looking at yes Mr manager the way if you don't mind no go ahead the the way I read this is if the council takes action for the funding source for the closures for Frontera Road and traffic study then that's what we would do to me the item is posted if Council takes action we would have to identify funding for from Theta road closures and the traffic study now the traffic study should have come first because that'll tell us what roads need to be closed so that's I wouldn't say confusing but I might be misleading with the way it the way the the item has been with the caption reads but the study would have to come first in order to determine which roads need to be closed okay um representative Hernandez I I was trying to follow what was happening uh so uh just you know from my perspective I I would agree that a traffic study would need to be conducted first I'm happy to support a traffic study anything that comes from that I would like to carefully look at again as I mentioned in the past this Council has already put together a process for Capital Improvement projects there is a lot of needs city-wide and while I recognize that this is a potential for a new development I do want to respect the process because I also have to report back to my constituents on their request which they have waited for years and sometimes even decades and so I'm going to support a traffic study today I won't support an allocation of funding or not anticipate I'm not understanding what the traffic study will come and what it will recognize as a need I need to carefully look at that as a part of this upcoming budget process and capital projects so I just wanted to share that I'm not sure what your motion is but I just wanted to share share that for for the members of the public clarifying what what president Fernandez is saying is in order for the council to move forward with any potential findings we would need to have a further discussion about that study presents right and it's what city managers saying on representative nunz is also saying that if we have the ability to close those streets there needs to be findings about what the study said and did in order to implement that that's what the language here provides for and it also this the the action here today also allocates funds for the closures and the improvements of the streets as well it I believe it allocates funds to to start the the study and then we will move forward with the study showing what it did and then moving forward whatever is going to be implemented from the study so Joaquin just help me understand the item here today and the language posted would both cover the funding for a study as well as for the street improvements correct so the 200 000 would cover uh I believe our estimate was around sixty thousand dollars for the traffic study um and then uh 130 140 000 for really the the lowest end uh improvements that would effectuate that closure so the the diagonal diverter um as well as the the three uh emergency access gates um but it's important that that study be conducted first and this is you know why the motion language included sort of that checkpoint with Council the study May identify other improvements that we didn't account for in our initial cost estimate it may identify other roadways that will be impacted where other improvements may be necessary it may identify other technological requirements of the emergency access gates that we have not accounted for so that's why we're really pushing for the study to be conducted first report back to council with the results of that study before we move on to design in case the what's being allocated today you know doesn't cover doesn't cover all of it or in case it's not responsive to the results of the study okay I just wanted to clarify that and I do think that it's important I you know again this is something that um is of significant concern and also sets a really important precedence as well in terms of looking out for the public health safety and Welfare of our communities as well representative anello yeah I mean I would agree that I think that I would support a study um I don't know that I'm in hearing joaquin's explanation and understanding that there's about a hundred and forty thousand dollars that he thinks could cover some things without a full understanding without a design without knowing the impact of even that 140 000 if that would even make a significant impact on what the community is asking for um I also think just in in talking about process the way things are done in process design and awarding contracts to do work correct me if I'm wrong Mr Neiman that's not normally how we kind of fund those things and so I would I would be comfortable supporting the design um and you would you know have my support in future remembering that this is an important project to the community and seeing it through after that study is done I'm sorry I said design I meant study um I mean from what I understand City staff has has identified a source of funding for this I think we've heard now for the better part of two months about a lot of significant concerns from residents um in in this community in the community of New Mexico and I do think it's important to pass this language as is today to send a clear message and to hopefully come up with a better resolution quite simply this part of town cannot take the impact of this proposed development as is and so I would again encourage on behalf of the residents of district one in the city of El Paso as well the city of Summit Park strongly urge the support of my fellow council members on this passing this item today with that I don't see any other questions can we call the question at this time mayor Tim and the motion is as you write it into the record correct thank you the motion was made and read into the record by mayor Pro tem shorts Mine seconded by representative molinar to approve for item number 45 on that motion call for the vote what was the amendment what was the emotion the full motion can you read that into the record the motion was made to instruct the city manager to allocate up to 200 000 from non-departmental contingency funds her traffic study and subsequent design and construction of necessary infrastructure to close Frontera Road and other roads at the Texas New Mexico border that may be impacted by additional traffic generated by the proposed Sun River Estates subdivision city manager is further instructed to present results of study to council before moving forward with design and construction as contemplated in this Motion City manager is authorized to undertake any budget transfers and sign any documents required to effectuate the intent of this motion so the way I want to understand is the allocation of funding and the design yes the voting session is open Council yes ma'am the motion is made to instruct the city manager to allocate up to two hundred thousand dollars per non-departmental contingency funds per traffic study and subsequent design and construction of necessary infrastructure to close Frontera Road and other roads at the Texas New Mexico border that may be impacted by additional traffic generated by the proposed Sun River Estates subdivision city manager is further instructed to present results of study to council before moving forward with design and construction as contemplated in this Motion City manager is authorized to undertake any budget transfers and sign any documents required to effectuate the intent of this motion in the voting session and the motion fails five to two representative shorts by Molly not voting I Representatives anello Hernandez Salcido Rodriguez Rivera the motion fails well it's good to know that we're looking out for the public health safety and Welfare of our community can we go to agenda item 20 at this time item 20 yes sir agenda item 20 is discussion in action to adopt section 510 emergency responder communication coverage as originally stated in the 2021 international fire code to Title IX health and safety chapter 9.52.070.10 fire preventing code of the city of El Paso city code and this item was submitted by mayor Pro tem Shortline uh yes there has been a number of issues that we have relating towards looking at how we can improve um safety of construction in our community we know that technology improves as well but there's also a number of situations and opportunities that we have to ensure that our First Responders are kept in a safe way a number of that is emergency responder communication coverage within new construction and buildings there is best practices within cities to look at improving those first responder systems and this is an opportunity to codify that as well wanted to see if there was anybody signed up on this that could help illuminate some of the concerns being raised by the community at this time yes sir there was two members of the public that signed up to speak on item 20. we have Scott Adkins followed by Rick McSwain good morning sir you have three minutes good morning mayor Pro Temp and Council and thank you for this opportunity to speak to you my name is Scott Adkins and I'm president and CEO of pyracom systems a local company established in 1997 focused on Life Safety and Security Systems I'm here today to speak to item 20 on the agenda discussion and action to adopt section 510 of the 2021 international fire code which addresses emergency responder systems a quick background on the need and importance of this item more and more often we are finding that police and fire Radio Systems do not work in large facilities that have been constructed over the last decade why newer building materials such as low E glass that are designed for Energy Efficiency are great for keeping a building cool but are actually blocking the radio signals desperately needed by First Responders which means that when our First Responders are dispatched to respond to an emergency they could be walking into a building where their communication lines are completely cut off putting emergency responders in the lives of the people they're there to protect at risk the solution is emergency responder systems emergency responder systems are designed to take the police and fire radio signal from the roof of the building and boost that signal throughout the building overcoming the issue of the energy efficient building materials blocking those signals these are well-established systems regulated by the FCC and produced by dozens of manufacturers the technology has been around for a long time but the need has never been greater and we will continue to have an increase of this need as buildings become more energy efficient the current city code gives the fire department the authority to require these systems and over approximately the last year they have been enforcing them and rightfully so as we have seen firsthand the need for these systems we have walked newly constructed buildings conducting surveys of the first responder Radio Systems and found dead spots throughout the facility several of the surveys we have done we walked with PD and fire department Representatives who tested their radios as we walk and confirmed their radios would not work unfortunately the latest draft proposal adopting the 2021 international fire code into the city Charter proposes to remove and not to enforce the section relative to emergency responder communication coverage what is before you today is to keep this section with the latest updates provided in 2021 international fire code what is before you today is to not abandon our First Responders but to continue to protect them and the public they serve I strongly support and hope that you will adopt section 510 of the 2021 international fire code AS originally written into the El Paso city code thank you very much thank you the next speaker is Rick McSwain Rick McSwain mayor Pro tem that concludes public comment on this item thank you um representative vanilla uh yeah I think I was just wondering if Chief killings or someone else from staff would like to respond explain help us out a little bit here thank you chief good morning morning Council mayor potem uh Chief Jonathan killings El Paso Fire Department for the record uh so as part of the 2021 international fire code adoption for the ordinance adoption uh the El Paso Fire Department as we do with all all sections and chapters of the international fire code we take into consideration uh the the risk and the benefits from each one of those sections and and what they bring to our community that's why the entire fire code is not just adopted and taken into every Community there's there's certain things that are specific to to each community so within our community we've taken action on improving the communication systems that we operate for our First Responders in the region and those actions uh are in the form of the upgrades to the Motorola system that we've seen the fire department using um our radios are capable of not only transmitting and receiving off of land-based uh uh radio transmission but also from LTE service so um with that with those improvements we've overcome a lot of the dead spots not only in businesses and residents or I'm sorry not only in businesses uh around the community but also large residents uh and also outdoor areas that that we've had some areas traditionally where we have communication issues so the the solution that we employed by improving the radio communications not only addresses the issues that we have with these large structures uh that are being constructed and and um creating a challenge for communications but also addresses the other challenges that we have throughout our community the El Paso Fire Department has also invested in six uh DVRs which are digital vehicle repeaters which we uh in case we are having trouble with not only land base but also our LTE signals those systems come out they're attached to our our Battalion units in strategically located throughout all parts of town they stand it up and they boost the signal from the from the Battalion unit versus passing that cost off to the building owner and hoping that that building has been upgraded and has the system in place so we've taken the um the issue of first responder safety and put it in the hands of of our organization and we make sure that we maintain that and we know exactly what we're walking into the new radios that we've got we've done multiple testing and they have successfully overcome the challenges that we have in known areas uh throughout throughout Town PD is also in the process of upgrading we've done multiple trainings with the police department one just yesterday on the DVR system and how they can use that and take advantage of that system and boosting that signal when they need it and it's readily available for them and then other first responder agencies throughout the county and the city have also taken advantage of the Motorola system upgrades thank you to United some questions um so what would be I understand that y'all have decided to solve this problem on your own um which is always better because you just you're removing any risk that could potentially happen but I I'm just trying to understand why we would not also want um developers to do their work as well and make sure that we like all the boxes are checked um and so I I don't know if you can answer this I know that from what you've said we've spent a significant amount of money upgrading our radios do you at all have like a projected cost of what these improvements to buildings could be to developers so the the cost of those systems are dependent upon a multitude of different factors they have to be analyzed you know square footage of the building the the the the level that the system needs to be boosted um but they are not inexpensive systems they're they're they're very expensive systems and I believe that and we haven't really just completely disregarded the the or the that chapter we've put it off as a as a to to be able to really evaluate the impact that that the improvements that we've made are going to have and that we're not unnecessarily putting a burden on on developers and business owners because that ordinance not only is for new construction it's for existing so we'd have to go back and and retrofit buildings that are already established and and it would have an impact on on businesses across the community I mean yeah and again I just I I understand that y'all have utilized grants to update that radio system which needed to happen anyways um so that's not a burden to the taxpayer at all but um I just would it would be awful if we you know we're sometimes in a situation where it still didn't work in a building because of these codes um and so you said you're right now you're in you're evaluating kind of the impacts of this code how are you getting those metrics so when we when we first purchased the Radio Systems we took them out and we conducted um studies uh and and tests with that radio and the DVR we've conducted training with multiple agencies so in of the active shooter trainings that involve multiple agencies will bring those DVRs in we we boost the signal and then we evaluate it through the after Action reviews uh and and see if any if there was any issues with the radio uh Communications equipment outside of uh personnel and um procedural impacts okay and you're doing that with like a small sampling or with like every building so with the with the El Paso Fire Department our radios are deployed city-wide so we can we we're constantly evaluating our radio capabilities with that so that's a city-wide evaluation and then uh we regularly train on these multi-agency events throughout the year uh through through office of emergency management um and and uh so that there it's tested quite regularly it's not something that we're doing with a small sample set and and all the responding agencies that operate in this community participate in those events and uh does the El Paso fire department or police department to your knowledge use the um like First Responders Network I think it's an ATT Network we're no longer using that correct no ma'am the fire department does not I can't speak to PD that's right um yeah I mean I still I I feel like this is still you know a good thing but um if I don't want to just approve something today without a lot of uh a lot of information and not kind of understanding because what you're saying it's every building in the city that would have to do this um so I don't know if you have kind of recommendations on how we can move forward it's not every building in the city it's based on evaluations that are done that would determine whether or not that building would have to have a system installed um but yeah it's it would be quite extensive I I'm confused about that because the way that I read this language does not state that buildings would have to be retrofitted specifically about new construction we've already seen five new hotels constructed and refurbished in the last five years in downtown El Paso alone there's a tremendous boom with nearshorn warehouse space and others throughout the city as well and I don't understand why we would be doing our community disservice by not looking over the next five years of expected growth in this community to do everything we can to keep to keep firefighters and First Responders and police officers safe in our community so everything that I understand is that this is about the next five years in new construction not about retrofitting existing buildings if we were to adopt 510 if you look at 5.1 that addresses the new construction if you look at 510.2 that that addresses the existing construction portion okay yeah I mean I want to go back to my time I think that's where I'm having the trouble because um those codes are not in the backup so I cannot look at them myself is there a way Chief to write it in which we are only focusing on new construction over the next five years uh that that that's also a consideration when we present the the um the city ordinance uh adopting the international fire code that can be considered and we can't adopt this right now right because it has to be done by ordinance so the direction today would just be have you come back and present that to us for adoption and which time we could then read the language and so I'm okay with that and so because that involves a lot of conversations with us and you coming back with that language I will second the motion today um with the understanding that I do want to just continue having the conversation and really learn more about this but thank you for the information I really appreciate it thank you I had some questions uh if Mr Atkins could come up I I just want to understand a little bit more about these changes with um is this better for you representative Rivera thank you so much I'm so I'm so sorry now I know your yours on what they were sir um thank you representative Rivera thank you um no I just uh help us understand because one of the things that's concerning to me is that there's a significant change now with how we're building in terms of these energy efficient windows that you're seeing has really impacted and provided the need for these for for these first responder systems being required in new construction especially with LED certification energy efficient windows and others can you talk a little bit about that to help us understand yeah 100 and so absolutely applaud the efforts of the fire department the council everyone they've done to invest in this technology but the reality is from a building perspective the technology is advancing incredibly fast as well so that energy efficient especially Low e-glass Blocks that one of the things that was mentioned is both the radio but also LTE and utilizing LTE well you walk into a lot of newly constructed buildings your cell phone signal is not working as well that transition from 3G to 4G to 5G is more bandwidth faster but it's your short little radio rave and the joke in the industry is that 5G can be blocked by a piece of cardboard the reality is it's going to continue to be an issue and so yes absolutely the the technology improvements are fantastic but having this ability to say hey if it's not working is there another system that we can rely upon to put in place for our First Responders is where I think the need is so okay and then um the other the other question that I had was so the the changes both with the technology of how the how the responses are has been changed as well as with the buildings and how we're constructing them so um it makes sense that with some of the new construction we'd be looking at something like this as well right yeah 100 and if you look at the other cities in Texas Austin is the only one I'm aware of that's adopted code that's actually going after existing buildings Houston San Antonio your other major cities are focused on new construction and and I 100 agree that that's where we should be looking at is that new construction that's where you're having the issues and again it's the it's the energy efficient building materials that are blocking the signals both radio waves and sell signals and what other what other cities that you're aware of have adopted this this 2021 international fire code the the I mean a vast majority of the major cities in the United States have done that but I know specifically in Texas uh Houston San Antonio and Austin have okay I just I guess my my concern would be waiting five more years to look at adopting like that when we're anticipating further growth representative as I just saw that you had your your virtual hand up I don't have a question for him if in case you need to wrap up okay yep thank you thank you very much okay thank you um so just based on the language as written it says to adopt um and so I'm just curious is the intent to explore or or is the language posted to adopt as what you're seeking to so record with my in understanding a little bit more about this my intent was to make sure that we were looking at at having this future this uh future fire code city code have this adopted there but I also think too if the will of the council is is discussion action to um engage with relevant stakeholders and departments to look to look at adopting or for further research I feel that that would be something that would be positive as well important clarification something like this would have to be adopted by ordinance I think that's the chief killing side so we wouldn't be able to adopt today based on this item what we would be doing is directing staff to write out the ordinance and have those conversations that's correct so we've been working on both the fire code and the building code we plan on putting that package together and bringing you some eyes on that in January in the new year so we will be bringing that but that's the entire revision so that'll include building fire code and all parts of it so we will be bringing that back in in we're looking towards the end of January we'll give you an updated timeline once we do get it all packaged together okay and mayor pretend could you restate your revised motion if you intend to revise yeah I mean I guess it would be a discussion action to direct staff to craft language um to graph language in the updated city code ordinance to adopt section 510 emergency responder communication coverage is originally say in the 2021 international fire code to Title 9 chapter 9.52.07010 and to continue to engage in additional Outreach education and conversations with relevant stakeholders and departments Community stakeholders and departments and my second can remain on that and again my my overarching concern with this is that um when these revisions are going to be presented in January that we give our community the opportunity to to have the next five years um not as as a test case with this new technology but to give ourselves the opportunity to adopt uh best practice as we've seen other large and small communities throughout Texas and the United States relating towards first responder safety and building code representative Rivera sir thank you um I would have to ask a few questions but as far as as this matter is concerned um I I have to take a page out of referral's book because I have some brief on this I wasn't briefed as to what was taking place from either side of the of the fence so I I really can't make a decision on this I need to know what is the cost available uh or upgrade I need to know what the cost is to the developer I need to know what uh entails the existing facilities to upgrade these issues so if you could postpone it I would appreciate it so I think one of the things is is that the the item is to again to direct staff to continue the conversations it's not about adopting it today and I also think part of that would be to seek to clarify for ex for new construction I would I would like I'd still like a breaking before I would um even want to adopt it today but uh thank you for your information representative Salcido thank you mayor pretempt um as well I I kind of have a lot of questions for this um you're mentioning right now that it this is just for conversation yeah for it to so to have a conversation about it nothing is solidified um in the future something will be well from what I understand from from staff is that we're looking at January to adopt the revised and updated building code correct yes sir we're still finalizing the ordinance that we're going to bring to council and that you would all be briefed on of course before it would be brought to council and then it would be brought in January or early February so the really the intent of this item here today is to again highlight and Elevate the concerns that are expressed from the community relating towards this one Pacific provision which would not require um these Emer these emergency responder communication systems in new construction specifically the questions relating towards new construction and so I think that as this item is presented and being brought back up and this code is being there it's important that that we're able to go and again direct staff to look at having those conversations about how to make sure that that these things can be considered thoughtfully moving forward with the initial adoption in January so what we can do is we can bring it forward in a work session in January so we can discuss all of the ordinance changes before we actually bring it to council for the first and second reading of the ordinance adoption so we'll do that so we can get a work session we can brief everybody on on all the code revisions but this one as well as all the other changes we're looking at and what we're looking at adopting for the next cycle hey chief is uh January too early do you all need to make it let's just in the first quarter that's it we'll we'll focus to the first quarter we'll make sure we get that back we'll bring it in a work session like I said prior to bringing the ordinance adoption okay um one thing I would think is important as part of an item here is is to direct staff to continue conversations with relevant Community stakeholders and departments about specifically the 2021 international fire code to title 19 um the specifically section 510 of the emergency responder communication coverage for new construction in El Paso again not adopting it but to continue the Outreach with the community and relevant stakeholders that uh that makes me a lot comfortable we'll have the discussion and then at that point in time we'll make the decision for the audience thank you so is there anybody else has any so I'll restate the motion here is for discussion action for um to direct staff to continue Communications and Outreach and engagement with relevant stakeholders Community Partners and relevant departments towards discussions relating to section 510 emergency responder communication coverage for the upcoming El Paso city code representative maneloy you still second that motion yes ma'am thank you of course there's a motion question well that will that supersede the dot right now as I understand it that we didn't amend it that was the clarification so that's yeah thank you yes sir it cannot happen as stated okay but right now it's just to direct thank you yes sir want to make sure so the motion was made by mayor Pope Tim schwartzbein and read into the record seconded by representative anello for item number 20 on that motion call for the vote and the voting session and the motion passes unanimously um really quick uh representative Rodriguez made a quick uh request if we could just hear agenda item 29 instead of 29th mayor protem my my 29 is the first reading of an ordinance I was just saying if we could do all the first series okay we could do the first ring of the ordinances very quick I didn't this is the introduction of ordinances beginning on page 10. this is uh per items 29 and 30. second second there is public comment on item 29 mayor potem would you like me to call public comment is typically not taken on the first reading of ordinances it's up to council if you would like to can I say something really quick sure um I just know we we've noticed you all are here I don't want you all to think that you your presence didn't make a difference um this is like we mentioned just the first reading and your opportunity for you all to speak um will be in on January 3rd I'm sorry on January 3rd but I mean if you all feel compelled and you really want to speak on it um I would make a motion to suspend the rules for you second and per the Texas open meetings ACT public comment is can be taken on these items okay so we have two members of the public that signed up to speak Stephanie Truax followed by Carlos Alarcon so there's a motion and second to allow public comment on item 29 all in favor yes we have Miss Stephanie Chux I don't see her phone number in teams Carlos Alarcon good morning everybody thank you very much for allocating this time and and granting us the opportunity to talk on behalf of of this item if I can ask just real quick everybody that's here supporting our organization if I can have you guys stand up real quick please that just uh you know a quick demonstration of of what we're trying to do for the community um we have had the opportunity to talk to a multitude of of the city Representatives along with the mayor and of course Tommy Gonzalez um once again you know we want to focus that our goal is to make sure that we provide a needed service to the community particularly because as you see you know our city is growing rapidly there's a surges of of individuals coming into our city that need some kind of medical care and we just want to make sure that we focus on being an additional resource along with all the staff that that is here and and the community and family and friends that that support us so thank you very much for granting us the time we look forward to January 3rd for a positive response and and allowing us to work alongside under the direction of El Paso Fire Department and along with other contributors such as other private ambulance companies in the region thank you very much for the time that concludes public comment on this item the motion was made by representative Rivera seconded by representative Salcido and this is to approve the first reading of ordinances these are items 29 and 30. on that motion call for the vote in the voting session and the motion passes unanimously mayor Pro tem short spine not present would Council like to take the items that would move from the regular agenda to a prompt consent to regular at this time we have yes ma'am it's time for a call to the public the El Paso City's council is a local government body charged with serving all of the citizens of the city and the meetings must be focused on the meeting at charge the City Council meetings are public meetings under the Texas open meetings ACT public comment is an accommodation and not a requirement of city council all persons in attendance are expected to displace Civility and Decor that is respectful to other persons without the use of insulting propane threatening or abusive language public comment will not be used for personal attacks against a person or group's character or Integrity which are not pertinent to City business nor May any member of the public use this foreign for political statements or campaigning please note that during call to the public the city council may not deliberate or decide any subject that is not on the agenda however Council May propose that a topic brought forth be posted on a future agenda this afternoon we have two members of the public that sign up to speak the first person is Miss Wally Schick I don't I don't see Miss check Rita Gallup Miss gallup's topic is custom home built problems at 6191 Franklin dub good afternoon ma'am you have three minutes don't stop my time yet no man okay uh good afternoon I'm ready when uh yes ma'am go ahead uh good afternoon less of our times we moved to El Paso my husband is diabetic he buy a new house so he don't have to deal with Academy many issues and liver lies peaceful our problems start three months after we move we have a leak and the life future was halfway full of water later the kitchen cabinets start building down the Builder sent somebody to fix it he broke one of the doors and replaced it differently my side door I'm sorry and the balcony Stars sink my Windows start crooked I tried to fix her with that slide door with a witch hems and put a stucco in molding I start they have to fix it right I realize we need to have make sure the house is not moving my husband called the Builder again after we had the second time lick the water summoned the ceiling so bad and I have to open the ceiling to run the water the bathroom cabinets are crooked tile crack tile loose I can feel the wind through the window and when I'm in the pantry we went to the city office asking for help they sent somebody to the house they tell us the Builder and then they get together does not happen after too many calls to Run Road we send my husband a lease for the Builder architect to get a report Mr ponds come to the house confirmed something was wrong they took our house print he said he will have the reporting one two weeks that never happened I don't want my husband healthy have issues for this so I tried to be patient by now I'm very frustrated I decide to go to doctor Road my surprise he said the Builder use inspector doesn't belongs to this office I need a builder architect report and maybe he will help in us we try for more than a year to get somebody and no luck my husband he is 70 years old and I am a seven years old too we just want to make our house safe and to be the house we pay for it I belong to the district one I wish somebody helping us money made people happy but be proud of the work make people sleep pretty good God bless you and happy holidays everybody this is the pictures of my house I live in like this for like two years more in a year and a half I've been have my ceiling open so this is be in my house thank you Council that concludes call to the public this afternoon um mayor Pro tem um before my assumptions that we would recess we could recess but I'd like to make a motion to reconsider item number 45. can we recess at this time until one o'clock I really I really do uh feel it's appropriate for members of council to hear this question mayor Pro tem so with all your respect if we could recess till one o'clock that would be great okay we have a motion which item is this okay there's a motion and a second to reconsider item 45. all in favor yes I'll take a roll call this is to reconsider item 45 mayor Pro tem shorts fine nay representative anello I'm sorry what is this one this is to reconsider item 45. aye Hernandez yes molinar yes Salcido bye Rodriguez yeah Rivera hi and the motion passes we're on item number 45 and this is discussion in action on funding source for Frontera road closures and traffic so I want to just be very clear about the item that the council voted on because I think it should be clear and stated for the record that this Council voted against funding of a study as well as funding that would have to be later approved by the results of that study I do not think it's appropriate at this time to reconsider this item with what I am anticipating is to to fund only a study I think it's important to go and fund the study as well as having funds there for that this is a clear present in health and safety danger for this community and by the equivocation and waffling of this community of this Council by only approving a study at this time sends a very wrong message I think to Our Community Partners as well and so respectfully I would like it if we could just leave this item as is um and if the council would like to bring up funding a forest study in the new year then so be it but I'd want to be on the record that I think it was important that the item and the the motion as discussed by City staff stay as is as well as the the vote by Council uh representative uh Rodriguez followed by representative Hernandez thank you so I just want to say you know there's a lot of studies that I also need in District Six and I think that that's why like representative Hernandez has mentioned earlier we do have a process and I would really like it if we can respect that process right and not try to make it pin us against the public and say we don't care for them we absolutely care for them that is why we ran and we are their representation but there is a process um it's this whole thing that's happening in on Frontera Road I think does warrant a study but again we need to go through the proper channels to find the allocation for the funding so that's all I have to say thank you represent Hernandez thank you um and uh just to kind of recap I I don't disagree with you um representative Rodriguez as I mentioned initially I I'm certainly in favor of a study I think funding and study is appropriate um the we made that suggestion it it didn't make it to the final motion so I'd like to read a new Motion in the study and I'll just give one example to members of the public when we had some issues in the Far East Side similar to what's happening in the in the far west side and the fringes of our community there was a clear need to expand Montwood and and even potentially whitening it and working with several partners and the action the council took then is that let's do the study let's do a master plan and then let's go through the appropriate channels of seeking the necessary funds because it may be that it's not enough funds um and it may be that it may require a more extensive Capital project and so so that we can wholly um make sure that the the traffic study is Guided by these budgetary requests which is I think it's a fair compromise and while I understand uh representative schwarzbein um you know the the initial motion didn't respond I don't want to leave here today with members of the public feeling like their concerns and their weeks of of advocacy at city council has gone unheard and so with with all respect and concern from your for your constituents as well I moved to instruct the city manager to allocate up to eighty thousand dollars from non-departmental contingency funds for a traffic study to analyze the impact of additional traffic generated by the proposed Sun River Estates subdivision on front Road and other roads on the Texas New Mexico border city manager is further instructed to present results of study once available to council city managers authorized to undertake any budget transfers and sign any documents required to effectuate the intent of this motion that's the motion representative Salcido thank you mayor pretempt this is actually a very important issue you know it talks about public safety and I I do I'm in support of having the study done I think it's important for us to know the study before we're allocating dollars and I know there's a process so similar to again what representative Hernandez said at the study of monwood we we first initiated the study and then we found the allocation of the the funds so um I I wouldn't want this item to die like it did earlier just want to make sure that we get the study so we know how to properly approach it as we look at our next projects that we got coming up so I'm in I am in support of doing that so I sick in the motion I think it's important to understand that the item that was killed by the council earlier there was going to be after the study and ability for the council to approve any funding for this item that's what the item did it approved a study as well as set aside of non-uh non-dis uh General funds for this but any funds that would have been but spent for construction would have had to have a future Council to approve it and I think that this What's Happening Here is a bit unfortunate a little bit of posturing I don't support it I support the original item I think that it's important to have that there so that it's a clear message again to the community as well as to the city of Sunland Park the intentions and commitment for public health safety and Welfare of this Council on behalf of the city of El Paso and its residents um representative Rodriguez um it was like 68 or something like that and so just to provide some room for contingency so it's up to the language doesn't say that you have to use the 80 000 but it's up to 80 000 in the event that the traffic study exceeds the uh expected because these are estimations right um and city manager do you think that that's an appropriate I guess amount yeah that does give some wiggle room um so yes I I do the staff has estimated it to be under 70 but that does give us some latitude okay so I also support your emotion representative and on this thank you um did you ask me to repeat the motion what'd you say Port you oh thank you okay is there anybody else at this time could you repeat your motionless representative Hernandez could you repeat your motion um the motion is made to instruct the city manager to allocate up to 80 000 from non-demartimental contingency funds for traffic study to analyze the impact of additional traffic generated by the proposed Sun River Estates subdivision on Frontera Road and other roads on the Texas New Mexico border city managers further instructed to present results of study once available to council city managers authorized to undertake any budget transfers and sign any documents required to effectuate the intent of this motion thank you and I just have one final question for the City attorney did the previous motion that was killed by this Council um did it commit funds at that point or would have had to go back for further Council approval of any funds for construction of Road improvements so so the prior item read um motion made by the made to instruct the city manager to allocate up to 200 000. from non-departmental contingency funds for the traffic study and subsequent design and construction of necessary infrastructure so the the concern I think that the council was was voting on was the two hundred thousand dollar cap since they knew that the traffic study was going to be between 60 and 80 000 so it was um setting aside two hundred thousand dollars for the design and construction but not just the study but the sentence that you did not read says city managers further instructed to present results has said to council B4 moving forward with design and construction as contemplated this motion correct so any any funding that would have been secured from non-demarleton non-departmental contingency funds for traffic study and consigning construction would have had to go on to a future Council for approval correct correct the book again I think that the issue in drafting the motion was allocating up to 200 000 so the council was approving that expense and then Council was going to have an opportunity to review the findings prior to moving forward with the project and again my my contention again is the concern about sending a clear message to the city of Sunland Park and our community about our commitment towards a public health safety and Welfare of our community and so I just want to stay on the record that I will not be supporting a city Only the original the original motion that count that City staff had supported and recommended was one that I was in support of and that my community as well was in support of as well and with that I'd like to call the question I did receive a request for from espario's requesting to speak a second time okay yes Council okay vegetarians so there's a motion and a second to alarm is Barrios to speak a second time all in favor and you want to post go ahead Miss Mary I wish that Rita would have stayed here um I wanted to thank the city council for reconsidering the study because I am the only one in addition to Richard that lives on the New Mexico side the rest of the the residents live in El Paso um I am not opposed on the on the study I think that it will give a lot of information to the council and you know sitting here it really proves that there is democracy I do not want to see emotion done somebody's second it and every single council member say yeah that's not what the computer what the community wants um and I agree with Miss Hernandez you know we should do that we should do the study and they make a decision considering the study because if not what is the purpose of doing the study might as well just close the streets and then save sixty thousand dollars to the constituents so I just wanted to say thank you uh I know that you did a lot of work on this Peter but there are some things that I did not agree on the first motion made and that's all I wanted to say and and just to clarify again it just clarify again the first motion did not did not um commit funds without further Council approval so I just think that's important state and and Miss if you could just come up for one second so no no I I ma'am I just have a quick question so you said you're currently a resident in New Mexico or in Texas no I have two homes homes to make it clear for the record I live in Texas I purchased a residence for my mom and dad they cannot reside there because they do not have the medical the medical services needed okay and New Mexico does not have them okay thank you thank you there is a motion made by representative Hernandez and read into the record seconded by representative Salcido on item number 45 on that motion call for the vote in the voting session the motion passes six to one mayor Pro tem short spine voting nay Representatives anello Hernandez Salcido Rodriguez the motion carries a motion to recess at one o'clock thank you there's a motion in a second Teresa says the city council meeting until one o'clock all in favor yes anyone opposed the motion passes the meeting is in recess at 12 19 and will reconvene at one o'clock I don't believe so many Harris Miss Prine I got to opportunity to smile is there is there a motion there's a motion in a second to recombine the regular city council meeting all in paper anyone opposed the meeting is back in session at 101 pm mayor would you like to go to item nine that was moved to the regular agenda yes ma'am thank you item nine is a resolution that the Mary Frances kiesling Park master plan report be adopted as a master plan document for the future of improvements and development to be addressed in phasiness funding becomes available good morning mayor and counselor good afternoon members of the council Ben Fife for the record managing director cultural Affairs and Recreation it will please bring up the presentation okay yes sit is bringing up the presentation uh I just would like to acknowledge that a tremendous amount of work and collaboration went into this particular planning project it's my first with the parks department and I will say I was just incredibly impressed with due diligence and professionalism of the Capital Improvements department and I think the new Elevate EP initiative which creates a holistic opportunity for us to really think about plans not as separate components but really as part of a holistic comprehensive way to view the future of our community um so it if you can go to the next slide please there are a number of Partners here Parks and Recreation and specifically our public affairs uh coordinator the parks planning division I've already mentioned Elevate EP and then I will allow uh for Apollonia to uh to take over the rest of the presentation and introduce the Consulting Partners but I would also just like to extend thanks and gratitude for mayor Pro tem Peter schwartzbein who was really incredibly involved through every step of this process he was a really great cheerleader for this ensuring that we had a lot of community support and lastly just thanking the members of the community who came out time and time again throughout the many touch points in which people were allowed to provide input on this park in one of the fastest growing parts of El Paso so apanonia thank you um good afternoon mayor council Apollonia Roldan Urban Design manager with capital Improvement Department um can we put the presentation so talking about a little bit sorry can we go back thank you um talking about the project team as Ben mentioned this was a team collaborative effort we work really closely with Parks and Recreation Department and as he mentioned also we used our in-house elevateep.com as our engagement platform tool our consultants for this master plan concept was asakura Robinson which they are an architectural firm who specializes in planning Urban Design landscape and also in community engagement and our cost estimating Consulting with vermilions so the project our overview this was an eight-month process we began early in April of this year this project timeline was broken into four categories understand engage Envision and act throughout each phase we strategically plan project goals and tasks the understand phase consistently full of a sorry about that chapter five for those of you that are steady Ortiz I'm sorry there's a hot mic please make sure go ahead okay thank you we begin our community engagement process back in June we had different types of Engagement methods which wanted to ensure that we would capture as much input and involvement from the community as you can see we had our first stakeholder meeting with our neighborhood associations and we also wanted to capture different types of stakeholder perspectives which led us to open an online application on our website elevateep.com for the community to apply and be part of the Murray Francis steering committee for the Murray Francis steering committee we had a total of 17 members and while we were planning and coordinating our upcoming first open house event we launched an online survey and also an online interactive map of the park where the community were were able to drop an icon onto the map and be able to make a comment we also sent out mailers to all the residents sorry Council this is my first time here you're doing such a good job right now you're doing such a good job can I can I point a point of order uh I just want to say that Apollonia was has been instrumental with all the community engagement they were able to to do this at a time where a lot of residents came out it was outside um he did such a great job um in doing that and working one-on-one and we're really excited about the only reason why I took this off is because I was so incredibly impressed with Apollonia and the rest of the team with Daniela Quezada and Ben Fife and all of all of the folks here that helped make this happen so thank you so much for taking the time to present this thanks okay um so going back our Mary Francis steering committee was a total of 17 members um while we were planning and coordinating our upcoming first open house event at the park we launched an online survey and also a live interactive map where the community and the residents were able to drop an icon onto the map and make a commenter suggestion of what the improvements they wanted to see on the park um we also mailed out um uh invitation to the residents a one mile radius from the park and where they also had a QR code access to to have access on the online survey and in the attractor map um then we opened this was open for two weeks we approximately received 175 comments from the online and the interactive map and then in July we hosted our first in-person public engagement event and we had a really great turnout we received over 500 comments from the community with phase one engagement we understood how people utilize a park and what type of improvements are needed we received over 800 plus comments throughout this phase which led us to the four project goals the cultivated Inspire activated invigorate flow and connect and Wellness for phase two Community engagement very similar to phase one we use the same methodology we began to define a future Park Vision master plan after reviewing and documenting all the community input from phase one our Consultants developed two master plan draft Concepts we repeated the same process by sending out again a mailer to the residents who live a mile radius from the park we held our second in-person Community engagement on the park in August and also again for the community members that were not able to attend our open house event we had an online version available for open public input to the Greater Community at Large the community was able to make any suggestions or comments on the preferred master plan and finally we ended our community engagement process with our stakeholder meetings for final input we had over 150 comments and more than 400 comments in our in-person event so the overall Community engagement results again as I mentioned we had a really great turnout from the community more than 3 000 people participated this was an extremely successful engagement process that helped us understand the needs of the park we also had a huge participation from the pickleball community most of the park users wish that the park could be more than just an access point to the river trail so the main key takeaways from the community-led design this park is about how can we start to reimagine the space as a multi-generational park so our four project goals cultivate and Inspire which are the opportunity to create programming storytelling wayfinding that is relevant to the ecological features of this area the history of agriculture the activating invigorate the opportunity to bring modern technology into the site that can Bridge science culture and history encourage Recreation for multiple users and age groups flow and connect the opportunity to bring people to the park and to connect people within the park and wellness creating an intentional program that provides places for emotional social and active well-being so in here in the summary here's a quick snapshot of the seven total events for our community engagement plan that included stakeholder meetings online interaction and in-person events we accomplish all our engagement in using our Capital planning website elevateep.com so what have we learned from the community what elements and recreational opportunities and type of play do you see happening in this park these were the top responses from our community shade structures sport courts dog parks soft surface Trails the images below also show example of different ways that we engage with our community we also had activities for kids where they were able to participate by building their own Park so how does all this tie into the Mary Francis kiesling Park a quick aerial view of the existing conditions showing only a small Playground open flexible Fields a parking lot and access to the river trail from this aerial view it's pretty evident that the park definitely is in need of improvements to this newly developed residential area and surrounding community it's a blank slate that creates a great opportunity to reimagine this park so here's a final big vision of the plan where you can see how the different amenities have been laid out by tying into some of the existing infrastructure such as the existing trailhead um next to the river and part of the existing road is being rerouted for better connectivity pedestrian safety is also being addressed to include additional crosswalks the master plan is also being broken into four different zones which will also accommodate sufficient parking in zone one we are proposing the new hybrid Community Center taking advantage of the beautiful iconic views proposing an observation deck and placing the building adjacent to the existing Trailhead but also keeping in mind the separation from the adjacent residential homes surrounding the new community center are different types of programming such as the flex Plaza Learning Gardens and an exterior Amphitheater we also have a pump track next to the existing Trailhead and a desert Garden that would serve as a buffer and also as storm water management in zone two tying into our project Wellness goals this area is being proposed to have a playground area with shading adjacent to the playground is an outdoor gym and a small Splash Pad these amenities are to include open lawn spaces with shelters and restrooms and while a continuation of the Desert Garden serving as a buffer to the residents and also to the main road while also serving as storm water management here's a perspective view of the Desert Garden that's being proposed that is tying into the existing trailhead zone three is really dedicated to sport courts we are proposing eight dedicated pickleball courts two tennis courts and one basketball court with dedicated parking and restrooms again a buffer adjacent to the residential area to reduce any noise in zone four we heard from the community the need for a dog park showing three designated areas one for small dogs one from large and one for rotational and maintenance this would also include a flat field Flex area size for two fields but that can also show an opportunity for other types of Park programming events zone four also includes a larger parking area from the residential area here we're showing a children's playground perspective with the children's playground we have an opportunity to start to introduce topography in the form of low Hills and burns to add nature and Hill play but also addressing Water Management so in this Slide the master plan is broken into four implementation phases over a 10-year rollout plan as funding becomes available phase one shown in red is really going to address the immediate needs and focusing what will have the greatest impacts and taking advantage of the existing infrastructure such as the existing Road and the trailhead this would include the dog parks the dedicated pickleball courts restrooms parking and also adding a ramp that is ADA Compliant to access the river trail phase two will focus on playground facilities outdoor Wellness programming and desert Gardens and phase three will have the new hybrid Community Center and the final Road segment and phase four will include the remaining sport courts and flexible lawn space to include exterior Amphitheater the pump tract and the continuing of the desert Gardens that would also serve for water management so for staff recommendations one that the Mary Frances kiesling Park master plan report is attached here too to be adopted two that the city manager or in his Destiny is authorized to begin implementation of the Mary Francis kiesling Park master plan report in a manner generally consistent with the recommended strategies and policies contained therein and generally consisted with the recommended implementation phases and three that the adoption of the Mary Francis kissing master plan report shall not commit to the city of El Paso to specific funding levels or implementation strategies but shall provide guidance for the city's vision for the enhancement of this park this concludes a presentation thank you so Council as you can see Apollonia did a fantastic job and yeah thank you we encourage a lot of our staff that in different positions throughout the organization to come and present to city council some do get nervous but I always tell them you're the subject matter expert you've done all the work just go in there and say what you what you've what you've talked about and what you've done just talk about what you've done and so she did that incredibly and I always tell them that I know it's a Deus it can be intimidating but you you know what you're talking about and come in and give that presentation so I just wanted to say that to apologia that we're very proud of you did a really good job and you did a great job you didn't seem nervous at all you did really good thank you for the presentation and it was uh very Intel detailed so you did a great job thank you for that mayor Pro Temp yes um thank you mayor and uh thank you Apollonia again so um full disclosure when I was an instructor at the Texas Tech College of architecture Apollonia was one of my students at the Union uh Depot building and she was very gifted in photography and communicating and it's really great to see you here and flourish with the city and everything that you're doing she's been amazing on this project along with the rest of City staff and so I want to thank you again for this presentation I just wanted to point out uh for Council that this this Mary Francis keyson Park is a project that is much needed within the community I know that um we all look out over our our specific districts passionately but it's important to understand that within this part of the city um basically the far Northwest Upper Valley uh bounded between Doniphan and the Rio Grande Borderland to the north and Country Club to the South and West Side Drive to the West there are no City facilities outside of this park and a small linear path along our craft road which is now a major thoroughfare for cross National transportation from the San Andreas support of Entry as well as the Union Pacific Intermodal rail yard so this is really a stranded asset Mary Francisco Park this the idea and the phases with this I think again are really taking into account listening to the community and the concerns but also offers amenities that we see in other neighborhoods for example the hybrid Community Center is really something that it doesn't exist on this part the closest Community Center to this area is the Don Haskins Community Center offer wrestler and High Ridge which is probably close to seven miles away and Crosses I-10 Doniphan in the river as well hybrid Community Center is something we see in the chamizal community center also in the vallebaco community center as well in other districts in other parts of town believe it or not it should be something that this part of the city also looks at having as well and in terms of funding for this this was one of the original items that was discussed as part of the community progress Bond back during the original conversation looking at improvements for Memorial Park as well as Mary Francis Keystone park Council if you recall we went and paired down the funding for that that Bond initiative but as we know with the changes in the state legislation um Bond projects and the ability for cities to fund them will increasingly be happening and my hope and and dream is that this project in future Bond initiatives from this Council that this would be brought to the voters to look at implementing for um for the city as well this is a again an area that does not have a lot of these um a lot of these opportunities and assets and would be something great for the city of El Paso I think the other thing too to note can you bring up the slide that shows the connectivity to the to the Rio Grande Trail so I think it's just that one so I just want to make note that the paso del Norte trail system that we have the city-wide trail system actually connects to this proposed Improvement to Mayor Franciscan Park currently if you notice directly on the river is the Rio Grande Trail it's probably the northern and most western point of the Paso de Norte trail system so really what you're looking at is an opportunity is creating a Terminus and an attraction that anybody from the city that wants to take the Paso Norte trail system would be able to encounter and engage with so I think this is really something great for our community and great for our city and again I I do hope my wish is that that Council will look at including this on a future Bond presentation again to bond initiative to let voters approve and decide how they would like to invest in this community moving forward Abalone again thank you again for this great presentation Daniella thank you again for your staff and Mr Fife um I hope your cough feels better and thank you again um this was really a great exercise Sam Rodriguez as well um in City Management in in this this plan being being brought out and uh hopefully being adopted today and with that I'd like to make a motion to approve there's a motion made by mayor Pro tem shorts Mine seconded by representative Rivera to approve the resolution on item nine combat motion call for the vote in the voting session the motion passes unanimously representative Rodriguez not present the next item that was moved from thank you again thank you Apollonia the next item that was moved from consent to regular is item number 19 and this is the award of solicitation to 2023-0097 Tom Lee lower Park dock Park to Keystone GC LLC second there's a motion made by representative Canelo seconded by mayor Poe Tim Shortline to approve item number 19. I don't know if there's is there a presentation with this never mind I just wanted I just that's fine I just wanted to to point out that this is on part of lower Townley park for those that know it's on the corner of Schuster and Brown Street um it's right it's about probably a five minute walk from Sierra Medical Center and some of the other medical facilities this originally was uh part of District one's cdbg allocation from I believe the 2019 year and really came about from listening to a lot of concerns from residents within the West Central and Central uh parts of the district outside of this the closest dog park is on Red Road and or on High Ridge and then I think the other one to the east is Album Parks so this takes a part of um part of the park that is unutilized it's literally across the street from the parking lot and creates two small dog runs as well and as an aside This was um slightly up the hill from where my father's office was as well and so it also gives me a lot of Solace to know that one of his favorite things was his pets and his dogs throughout the years and so knowing that these areas are there together makes me very happy and so um very excited to see the cdbg funds for district one being used for this thank you sure the motion is a second yes mayor there's a motion and a second to approve on that motion call for the vote in the voting session the motion passes unanimously representative Rodriguez not present that brings us to item number 21 and this is to discuss updates on sister cities International initiatives for El Paso and this is Mayor Pro tem shortstein's item thank you mayor um it if you could bring up the presentation uh great so um I just wanted to to brief be very brief in updating Council relating to some of the initiatives that we've worked on over the last year with our sister cities program um both in terms of near and foreign looking at ways forward with how to engage our sister city Partnerships so next slide one of the first things that we were involved with was being one of the the co-host cities next slide with the U.S Mexico sister cities Mayors Community Summit this brought close to 80 Mayors from across the United States and Mexico together to focus on the ways that our two cities work where our countries work through our City's next slide one of the ways that we did that was through a number of different panels and discussions but we also featured a new sister city signing between para Escuela and El Paso Texas with mayor liser partaking in an all Mayors panel as well as a live sister city signing for those that have the ability to attend it was a very amazing opportunity to see it and our sister city agreement with parasku Hill will be looking at increasing tourism and trade opportunities between both of our Cities next slide we had a our city staff from multiple departments were represented on different departments in particular economic development director Elizabeth Triggs was on a resiliency design and economic development panel with members of San Diego Tijuana and other major cities as well and that on the left side is a number of our delegation including co-chair of the summit Mario porras the bi-national director of the opacity Community Foundation as well as JJ Childress with Microsoft being one of the main sponsors of the presentation as well next slide recently I just returned from Israel next slide as per invitation to uh participate in the muni World Expo this is a city-led conference by the Federation local authorities which is essentially the national league of cities of Israeli cities the conference brought Mayors from across the world over 200 Mayors to look at ways of innovation technology and promoting economic development through Israeli cities and other cities as well the keynote address was presented by President Herzog of Israel and next slide I had the opportunity to participate as a panel with the foreign minister of Uganda as well as the Director of the Rashi Foundation which is a tech and incubator ecosystem non-profit in Tel Aviv and they were actually going to be arriving in Arizona in the first quarter of 2023 and they're looking to possibly visit El Paso to see some of the initiatives that we're working on within our Tech and Innovation spaces with our universities and our other industry clusters the panel that I was on was called Municipal impact on local ecosystems creating Global impact and essentially the the panel was uh was really looking at ways to create sustainable ecosystems to lead to economic growth and communal growth and the highlight of what I had the opportunity to communicate was that our city throughout these years of dealing with multiple crises and challenges has been able to stick and execute to our strategic plan and offer resiliency and strategies of success in essence what our community can show the rest of the world is how to chew gum and walk at the same time and we've seen it with dealing with the terrorist attack on August 3rd we've seen it with dealing with ongoing migrant crisis in 2017 to up till very till today um and what our community has done by this city and by the city management was show the ability to execute to stick to a strategic plan and to help this community in ways both big and small next slide as part of this I also had an opportunity to engage with a leader-only panel with president herzogman is able to give him a great book as a gift of destination El Paso of discover El Paso which was a really great opportunity next slide also as part of the trip I had an opportunity to visit our sister city of hedera Israel on the the mayor's table he has the key to the city that was presented by mayor liser back in 2015 and they were very fond of meeting with us next slide so this is a picture of mayor uh nahin Ben Haim um who is currently the interim mayor of hedera um you can see the picture on the left he's wearing one of our pickaxes this is a gift from UTEP as well as throwing up his picks up and his new newest favorite hat which is a 915 hat as well one of the things that next slide that is to be of note for opportunities for engagement with our sister city of hedera into the future uh next slide please I.T um are two two notes of interest um I don't know what happened so one of the the things you'll see me pointing out on the left is the site of the desalination plant that's located in hedera Israel hedera contains the only desalination plant um in Israel and one of the few in the Middle East there's a lot of opportunities for technology exchange and other experiences with that in addition to that next slide um is also hederas is the site of the technodora the technodora is an experiential Children's Museum focusing on science technology and Innovation um very very similar to our um to La nube and what we're constructing here in downtown El Paso as well and so the executive director of the technodore is very interested in learning more about it and so hopefully there's an opportunity to look at an engagement in exchange with that and finally as part of the trip was also a number of Engagement opportunities with other cities we had a really great really great conversation with members of Jerusalem on the picture of the left is a picture of the mayor of Jerusalem Moshe Leon as well as a picture of their vice mayor Flor Hasam Nahum floors family originally is from Tangier Morocco for those who are familiar with Morocco Tangier and other cities in the north have a lot of Spanish dominance in fact she was completely fluent in Spanish I was very interested to learn about ways to engage El Paso in in forward in particular Hebrew University is currently building out a tech and Innovation Hub focusing on cyber security biotech as well as other Advanced manufacturing initiatives a 400 000 square foot project in the heart of Jerusalem focusing on high-tech and sustaining systems UTEP is interested in looking at a faculty and student exchange with Israel and so um Miss Nahum her portfolios focusing on international relations and education and hopefully we'll be continuing these projects about Exchange in the future as well and so next slide so what's next currently we are working on our sister city agreement with we've already signed re-signed with Chihuahua as well as our engagement with ciudad Juarez you can see a picture on the left this is from the 2020 U.S Mexico mayor Summit a very successful Summit that we all co-hosted here and had an opportunity to explore and then also looking at ways to engage as well with our new sister cities as well one of the opportunities I think Council we have too to engage is for is solidifying our relationship with Schneider Electric through assist or city signing with their corporate headquarters in Royal mamaso in France we've seen many other cities throughout the United States work with their sister cities to solidify opportunities for engagement and with that I do want to give a small gift to our mayor from the the mayor of hedera foreign and then this is hand and thank you you're welcome and so that is all the presentations the updates I have I also would like to note in the spirit of international relations and opportunities that the score between Argentina and Croatia and the semifinals the World Cup is now 3-0 Argentina so vamos vamos thank you again Council thank you and thank you again for representing us and with that Miss Prine yes sir the next item is number 26. and this is discussion and action to direct city manager to ask an advocate I'm sorry this is to direct the city manager to work with a metropolitan planning organization in po Texas Department of Transportation Tech stock the county of El Paso another applicable Regional Partners to study congestion in East El Paso to identify an appropriate study area and transportation analysis Zone and develop a plan to identify strategies and potential capital projects to mitigate congestion and accommodate future growth in the East El Paso planning area and this item was submitted by representative Salcido representative thank you mayor um you know I have lived in District Five now I think going about 17 years and I have seen this area grow and I know with this growth also came a lot of pains and then a lot of the planning didn't quite catch up and that was very very clear to me so it remains no secret there's still a lot of traffic issues in District Five and I really really want to work with our partners that we have in anybody that has to do with transportation in order for us to be able to mitigate alleviate the traffic issues we have in District Five I heard it in you know my campaign Trail but more importantly I also live it every day getting stuck as you're getting out of District Five and coming back home it's about an hour just to go to and from so this is definitely a thing that I need we need to have a study done and I I really wanted to bring that forth to this Council because I know that traffic it affects everybody in El Paso but since the area grew the most it was just never really planned for so I do want to my motion does say to direct the city manager to work with the Metropolitan planning organization the Texas Department of Transportation in the county of El Paso in other applicable Regional Partners to study congestion in East El Paso to identify an appropriate study area and transportation analysis Zone and develop a plan to identify strategies and potential capital projects to mitigate congestion and accommodate future growth in the East El Paso planning area so that is my my motion and with that being said I have a motion to approve I'll second it thank you yes sir the motion was made by representative Salcido seconded by representative Rivera to approve the action on item 26 on that motion call for the vote in the voting session the motion passes unanimously representative Rodriguez not present we now turn to page number 10 item number 28 and this is presentation and discussion on El Paso Animal Services Animal Care attendance 27 was deleted with a revisions I have a quick question Ms Prime is there any way we can reconsider the first ring ordinances I was I was not available I'd like to vote on them what number foreign it was 29 and 30 because 31 and 32 were dead so is there a motion to reconsider representative that I make the motion to reconsider there's a motion and a second to reconsider the first reading of ordinances these are items 29 and 30 all in favor anyone opposed we're back on the first reading of ordinances 29 and 30. second there's a motion made by representative anello seconded by mayor potem schwarzbein to approve the introduction of 29 and 30. on that motion call for the vote in the voting session the motion passes unanimously representative Rodriguez not present item number 28 is presentation and discussion on El Paso Animal Services Animal Care attendance good afternoon mayor council Adan Parra from animal services for the record I'll be talking to you all today about the our Animal Care attendance I'd like to bring some light to to that subsect of staff that we have there at the shelter they are the the heart of the shelter and I always say probably the the the hardest working in the entire city of El Paso they have they definitely have a tough job on the daily and we'd like to bring some light to what it is that they do for us so we'll talk about our aca's a couple of pro projects that we've done there at the shelter and some of the Partnerships that we have So within the shelter we've got these these five different operations that they that are Animal Care attendants we call them acas they do everything from adoptions operations Foster all of the intake of the pets that come to the shelter and our caps program which is community and pet support the first group of acas is that very hard tough working group of of Animal Care attendance that we have you know they start their day at 5 a.m uh feeding and watering all of the pets in our care and um then they they continue to clean all of those kennels of the average of 1 000 pets in our care over the course of the year um you know that husband husbandry and cleaning is their primary function but they also assist us with those items that are listed there care Bean uh you know the primary item on on that list they are they're the first set of eyes that that we have as a as a shelter they let us know if there's anything wrong with any of the pets they get to know the pets on a first name basis a lot of times and um they really take the time to care for and and provide everything that they can to the to the cats and dogs in our care they also assist with those Lost Pet walkthroughs if somebody's coming to the shelter trying to find their Lost Pet they walk them through whether it's a cat cat or dog they walk them through the different areas and a system and trying to find their pet you know like like I said they know a lot of the pets in our population so they'll ask um the pet parent hey what does he look like does he have spots does he have a sudden color pattern and oftentimes they they're able to know all right that that dog's actually and be building number 15. they get to know the pets in our care that well our acas also assist in adoptions matchmaking is their number one function but they also do a lot of counseling they assist with some of that husbandry and cleaning and Foster flips is another big one for us those Fosters that are actually fell in love with the pet in their in their care and they don't want to just terminate the Foster period they actually decide to adopt and those foster flips is another primary function that they do we're also out at the Petco's the cats at the zoo which is um uh been a huge success and our Mission Valley adoption center down in Socorro by speaking Rock they also assist with uh to our two big events every year which is our empty the shelter and clear the shelter those are those are our biggest events in the year and and they're key in keeping the shelter up to uh up to Snuff with what it looks like and and also you know the movement of the animals throughout the shelter our foster acas they provide counseling supplies and assist with the movement of animals through the shelter of course we want to get them out of the shelter and into homes whether the temporary or not in in the most expedient manner possible so they assist with that they also schedule vaccines and treatments for those fet those pets that are in Foster and schedule surgeries facilitate the adoptions or transfers to another entity or or party and they educate on that neonatal care you see that Mama with kittens there on the bottom right uh their their primary function is to get those mamas out to phosphorus and as possible whether they're cats or dogs intake and cap switches community and pet support acas they assist with vaccines and microchips and documentation of all of the animals that come into our facility um they process animals whether they're from the officers trucks or those that are coming in as as Strays through our side door and they've assist with pet wellness clinics our Pet Pantry and our surrender prevention and counseling which is uh you know trying to keep every pet with their family trying to get the root of the issue as to why they want to surrender their pet whether it's a resource whether it's a money issue we tried to provide the the as many resources possible to keep those pets with their families we've got a couple pictures there of one of our on the left is one of our Pet Pantry recipients and on the right is actually a dog named Pedro who went through our Lost Pet process his owner actually filed a a lost report on our website and following our all of our processes we were able to um reunite uh Pedro with his with his pet parent in a in a timely fashion there at the bottom you'll see some of our numbers uh top row being the number of animals that are coming in from the field and this is just this year alone and the others are those that have shown up at the shelter whether it's a um you know a good Samaritan or or otherwise these actually have been received in person at the shelter so nearing 14 000 animals on the year for 2022. here's a look at at what our average monthly inventory looks like we are hovering right at about a thousand animals every from month to month uh that's that's what all of our Animal Care attendants have to have to care for on a daily basis and a lot of them do it with a lot of Pride and and compassion um our Animal Care attendants are very dedicated to what they do we are fully staffed now I'm glad to say at this point in time and um you know we will continue to try to keep that staff on board keep the morale High and um continue to have that that flow of employees through through animal services that bottom grade dotted Dash is the 2020 numbers you'll see those are significantly lower than um where we're at now but that's that's our goal that's where we want to be and um and that that allows a safer environment for those staff in our uh that work for us here's a couple of improvements that we've done on the right you'll see we made some improvements to our laundry room previously we only had we had two washers and one dryer so we were always waiting on that dryer to finish before we could get all of the laundry done since then on the bottom there you'll see that we've put in um two washers and two big big dryers so that we can have that you know make it easier on the employees uh have a better environment for the for the pets in our care to live in providing that bedding that they need at this time of the year when it gets colder and um just make the processes a lot easier on the left there we built an awning over our dog Terrace and we also made some drainage improvements to that area as well that provides for a safer work environment as well for the for the Animal Care attendants uh these are our Partnerships you heard my colleague Michelle Anderson speak on these last week a lot of those Partnerships that are formed through that volunteer program we make use of in operations as well uh you know we're currently trying to work with El Paso County so that we can get some of their trustees to animal services and help us out with that cleaning that that is so much needed Municipal Court sends us people that have to do their community service hours they help us with laundry and scooping of kennels and then the other um organizations like the school districts the Civic groups the rescue Runners are instrumental on Sundays they help us clear out an entire building of the facility so that our employees can do the cleaning more comfortably and more efficiently when those rescue Runners are there on the weekends and lastly I'd like to mention that Winterfest we're out there every night on during Winterfest those adoptions have been going phenomenally and uh pretty much each night that we take animals out there they all get adopted I think last week we took eight dogs and only one came back to the shelter so Winterfest has been a huge hit for us and we're also down at our Mission Valley our Mission Valley adoption center down by speaking Rock we're out there on the weekends as well Friday Saturday and Sunday so that members of the community in that area of town can can go out and adopt from us as well and that concludes my presentation thank you represent mullinar thank you very much Mr Mayor and sir thank you very much for your presentation besides having a huge heart the Love of Animals what else is required of an animal care attendant uh not much we don't require a lot of experience we encourage everybody to apply that position is actually open on a continuous basis through the city website we provide all the training necessary and we welcome anybody to to actually apply who who enjoys working with animals and after they receive the training are they like certified as a certain level or is there a certain criteria that they receive as far as a name or classification or anything like that no we don't have a certification in in this industry as far as you know animal care but they you know they are welcome to pursue other other positions within our department such as Animal Protection Officer adoptions uh even super supervisory positions um but don't know to answer your question there's not a certification and these are full-time part-time positions or just uh the majority are full-time I think we have about two to three part-time positions that are staffed at the zoo they only work Friday Saturday and Sunday but the majority that we have open are our full-time positions thank you very much sir appreciate it thank you thank you thank you very much for your presentation and we do have public comment on this item please thank you sir we have Mr Ron Cuomo followed by Barbara Valencia good afternoon Mr Como you have three minutes sir good afternoon ma'am so here we are again another city council meeting I want to point out some facts there's three of us in this room that were part of the no kill plan from beginning to end you Mr Mayor Barbara and I I want to point out some more facts in the no kill plan there was no turning away Strays which is done constantly by our shelter killing Strays in the shelter for room is not on the no kill Planet approximately 2 800 Strays have been killed by the president present upper management which is not on the no kill plan these programs we keep talking about finder to Foster all these programs they are not part of the no kill plan all the things that are being used by El Paso animal services are part of the Haas program from beginning to end and we're tired of it yeah we're tired of hearing you're on the no kill plan when they're not even close it's time we hold everybody accountable for what they say as a taxpayer as a citizen as an animal Advocate I'm tired of the comments coming out of our shelter that are purely fictional the comments like we're overcrowded because of owner surrenders there are over 400 less owners surrender to 2022 than it was in 2019. we need to stop the how can I say lie without being saying like the fictional comments that come from upper management and the poor situation a thousand animals at a shelter that was designed for 400 or 450. the fact that this city has grown and grown and grown and you all all day long that's all I've heard today from all of you is how we've grown what have you done for our shelter you haven't done anything you haven't hired a qualified director you haven't kept them accountable for what they're doing we have Strays on the streets we have people being attacked at mobile home parks because they were called and they wouldn't come out and take care of the strays enough is enough and not tomorrow today we need to fix the issues today every single day we are the biggest backyard breeders in El Paso history is the city of El Paso you need to fix the problem and I mean today we're only going to make more Strays and more disease tomorrow we need a qualified director who actually fits thank you you've reached the limit and in the future your comments must be directed at the presentation that's on the agenda on the topics under the presentation that are on the agenda sir the next speaker is Barbara Valencia and and let's make sure when we address we address the council please thank you it's fine but no no please sure thank you okay no no sir is there another is there another person signed up yes there is another speaker and it's Barbara Valencia is Loretta Hyde also signed up however she had to leave so we'll we'll move to Barbara Valencia look at me when I talk because of Mr kamau was talking everybody except Mr molinards have her down we were doing something else yes ma'am you got three minutes please ma'am thank you thank you good afternoon ma'am you have three minutes in the 2015 audit of animal services one of the biggest issues brought to light was the inaccurate shelter reports he was he was talking about documentation in his in his report there which are official government documents and that it needed to be fixed immediately earlier this year I spoke to you about continued inaccuracies for the 2021 shelter reports here I am today because nothing has changed from January through October of 2022 the shelter reports are still not showing as true and accurate and an example is January 22 22 beginning number of animals is 2413 ending at number is 2542. so February's beginning number should be 2542. instead it is 2448 that's 94 unaccounted animals and the ending number is 2542 the exact same number is januaries that is a duplicate number for seven years Animal Services have failed to produce true and accurate reports the current director like the previous directors can come up with excuses for why these government reports are not accurate but the fact is there is no excuse for this we all know about the modeling death of a dog by another dog at Animal Services earlier this year one dog came in and it was documented on the dog's record that the dog was showing signs of aggression towards other dogs and needed to be housed separately until further evaluation and assessment could be done on the dog for whatever reason the aggressive dog was housed in a kennel with another dog resulting in the morning death of that other dog within hours of the modeling death a staff member altered the aggressive dog's records records by removing all documentation of the aggressive behavior from that dog and they removed it from that dog's record since Animal Services is a city entity these animals records are official government records as well Texas penal code section 37.10 tampering with governmental records a person commits an offense if he knowingly makes a false injury or false alteration of a governmental record like this dog's record that can be a felony with 10 years up to 10 years in prison and a ten thousand dollar fine also to make presenter use any record document or thing with knowledge of the falsity and with intent that it'd be taken as a genuine government record like our shelter reports Animal Services is in violation of both the current director was made aware of the alternate of this dog's record yet he has allowed the staff member to continue overseeing record-keeping of animal records at Animal Services the city states the values of El Paso are Integrity respect Excellence accountability and people it's time to hold the director and the staff member members accountable it is the taxpayer's right and expectation to have true and accurate government reports and that no government record is illegally or otherwise altered in any way thank you mayor that concludes public comment on this item thank you the next item on the agenda is item number 33. and this is discussion in action that the city council ratify the award of sports officials and assigners solicitation number 2023-0245 in the amount of six hundred and twenty one thousand seven hundred dollars to Daniel Padilla and at the city council Awards Sports officials and assigners solicitation 2023-0245 for a one-year period there is a motion made by mayor Pro tem Shortline seconded by representative Rivera to approve on that motion call for the vote in the voting session the motion passes unanimously representative Rodriguez not present the next item is number 34. and this is a public hearing on an ordinance authorizing the issuance of city of El Paso Texas General obligation bonds series 2023 in one or more series living A continuing direct annual ad valorem tax for the payment of such bonds and result resolving other matters which are necessary to effectuate such issuance no one has signed up to speak on this public hearing move to approve there's a motion made by representative Hernandez seconded by representative Rivera to approve ment just hold on one second representative hi Robert I just wanted to confirm that there is no significant changes to any of the terms or any of that that we haven't got over before no so you'll find you'll find the parameters within the presentation also include in the ordinance that's been attached that's what you want to provincial okay thank you and there's going to be a future presentation in January Santa Margaritas to come back with the actual rollout plan of the actual projects this is the ordinance you're approving the ordinance today to report with the issuance for the Community progress Bond remember they searched GEOS not CEOs correct this is the voter approved for the community approved on November 8th Edition we want to get moving on them some of them are streets and a majority of them are streets and we want to just get a head start and not have any administrative process to slow us up approved by the voters yes sir thank you for that Mr Prime yes sir there's a motion made by representative Hernandez seconded by representative Rivera to approve item 34. on that motion call for the vote in the voting session and the motion passes unanimously representative Rodriguez not present the next item is number 35 and this is a public hearing on a Norman's granting a special permit to allow for parking spaces serving another property and reduction of lot size at 77.50 Gateway East Boulevard and there's no public comment on this item there's a motion made by representative Hernandez seconded by representative Rivera to approve item 35. on that motion call for the vote voting session is open in the voting session and the motion passes unanimously next item is number 36. and this is a public hearing on an ordinance changing the zoning from R4 residential to A2 apartment this is a 8835 Neptune Street proof there's a motion made by representative anello seconded by representative molinar there's no public comment on the item on that motion call for the vote in the voting session the motion passes unanimously mayor Pro tem short swine not present item number 37 is a public hearing on an ordinance changing the zoning from RF Ranch and farm to M2 heavy manufacturing at one zero zero zero one South Side Road motion to approve there's a motion made by representative Rivera seconded by representative Molina to approve item 37 there's no public comment call for the vote in the voting session and the motion passes unanimously item 38 is a public hearing on an ordinance changing the zoning from R4 residential and C2 commercial to C3 commercial and imposing conditions at 8641 Gateway South Boulevard move to approve so motion made by representative Manilow second and by representative Molina to approve item 38 there's no public comment on that motion call for the vote in the voting session the motion passes unanimously mayor Pro tem shorts fine not present the next item is number 40 and this is a public hearing on an ordinance amending Title II administrating a Personnel chapter 2.64 city employees pension fund to allow the city to make the required employee participant contributions motion no proof there's a motion made by representative Salcido seconded by representative Molina to approve there's no public comment on this item on that motion call for the vote mode and voting session is open on item 40. in the voting session and the motion passes unanimously thank you Miss Frank yes sir thank you item 41 is discussion in action on a resolution that the city manager be authorized to sign a chapter 380 economic development program agreement between the city of El Paso and Miguel Villanueva and Julio Villanueva second there is a motion made by representative Rivera seconded by mayor Pro tem shorts fine to approve item 41. on that motion call for the vote in the voting session and the motion passes unanimously item 42 is discussion in action on a resolution to authorize the director of Aviation to sign and submit a Grant application and related documentation to the Federal Aviation Administration sec there's a motion made by representative anello seconded by representative Rivera to approve item 42. on that motion call for the vote in the voting session and the motion passes unanimously item number 44 is discussion in action on a resolution that the city reviewed and approves the issuance of the unlimited tax bond series 2023 by Paseo Del Este Municipal Utility District number one move to approve there's a motion made by representative Hernandez seconded by representative Canelo to approve item 44. on that motion call for the vote in the voting session and the motion passes unanimously item 46 is discussion in action of a resolution approving the proposed rate schedule number p e b c Dash a public electric vehicle charging rate as a pilot program can we get a presentation for us here's one for me yes oh okay all right good afternoon mayor and Council uh Ian Vogel strategic Partnerships for the record I am here to give you an operational assessment and recommendation on this resolution so I will be going over uh some background ones on the city electrification initiative so far some potential benefits of uh increasing the number of EVS in the community I'll talk a little bit about the case some ongoing considerations at the PC uh and a little bit about where these proposed charging stations are before the operational recommendation so a little bit on some ongoing City electrification initiative so the city has been working with El Paso Electric on increasing the number of charging stations particularly in the downtown area for over a year now there are other organizations that have been involved such as the DMD and destination El Paso but we we really have been leading the way as a city and trying to increase these charging stations as they they do form a significant barrier towards uh people considering EV adoption and around the same time the city started discussions with General Motors on forming a potential partnership to also try to increase the number of EVS in the community and that culminated in an mou that we signed in the spring of 2022. uh that mou covers three particular areas of project development that is charging stations uh also carbon footprinting for our Advanced manufacturing sector and the development of an EV enhanced micro Grid at the airport and then just to build on the story of the the city pursuing electric vehicle programs we were awarded a grant back in the fall for 8.8 million to invest in 50 Paratransit vehicles so some of the potential benefits of EVS why do we care uh EV uptake will reduce greenhouse gases and I think more importantly for our community will have a significant impact on local pollution as we start to replace gasoline vehicles um we as a city are are actually adopting EVS pretty aggressively we had a 51 growth over last year uh the year before we also had 50 growth uh some of that growth is limited by the availability of EVS in the not just in the community but really in the country due to supply chain issues but many more EVS are expected to come on the market next year we anticipate we'll see either the same or larger growth coming up in in the next year we El Paso Electric has received interest from several property owners who aren't interested interested in having charging stations on multi-family housing uh uh well charging stations available for multi-family housing units one of the big challenges in owning an EV is if you live in an apartment you may not have access to a charging station and so having these charging stations located on uh apartment parking lots is going to be a big boost for people being able to consider owning electric vehicles uh one of the more exciting developments then this is really kind of the the reason behind the mou with uh with GM is that you know the comments been made in the past we we have a strong push for advanced Manufacturing in our community and a lot of that focus is on Aerospace and defense uh EV manufacturing is a huge opportunity for our community and we think that growing this relationship with GM is a is a really strong way to to build a pathway towards being part of the supply chains which brings us to the current rate case so uh El Paso Electric uh submitted an application to charge a special rate on charging stations that they would own back in late September this is a pilot program so 20 stations only the idea is the El Paso Electric would own and operate charging stations um so this rate would be designed to cover the costs of infrastructure uh it would not be passed on to EP ratepayers so that's the important distinction here uh it would only be charged to electric vehicle owners who choose to use El Paso Electric charging stations uh the requested rate is 10 cents per minute or six dollars an hour there is also an idle rate that would be charged for electric vehicles who have completed their charging but are continuing to occupy one of the spaces uh the ultimate goal of putting more charging stations as I mentioned earlier is to encourage EV adoption and by helping people feel comfortable there's this concept of range anxiety and being able to see more charging stations particularly in downtown will help encourage EV adoption uh the Public Utility Commission is currently considering a similar case to this and that's Entergy uh vertically integrated utility in East Texas and the question is should they vertically integrated utility own and operate charging stations it's a little bit different from our case here in that their case is not a pilot this is to answer the question overall of whether they can do so or not and one of the questions is whether this creates a monopolistic situation with Entergy uh it's important to note that some national charging station operators such as chargepoint which is one of the big names in the industry are supporting entergy's case and the reason they're supporting it is because we are nowhere near reaching the number of chargings and I'm sure you've seen it in the news we're nowhere near reaching the number of charging stations we need in this country to support uh the EV growth that we need and so as long as they do not create a monopolistic environment and they provide equal assistance to all other Market entrants uh chargepoint supports entergy's case I'll also note that as per the resolution epe has committed to responsibly disposing of their charging stations in the event that there's a poor outcome for Entergy uh here at the city we've undergone a little bit of a market analysis to see uh whether we would anticipate a negative uh Market interaction if El Paso Electric were to own and operate charging stations uh as you can see up there really the important column to note is on the far right the per minute equivalent of charging per minute and as you can see uh El Paso electrics rate is not the lowest so it's not really undercutting the market it's not the highest so and we're only talking 20 stations really the the opportunity we have here is to collect data from this pilot and see what the impact is if any and hopefully the impact we're seeing is growth in EVs and growth and charging stations not the opposite some of the proposed locations there are some locations proposed at the convention center two that will be in the public right-of-way are going to be located on Franklin Street and Cincinnati they will be replacing parking meters and for that El Paso Electric has committed to reimbursing the city for lost parking meter Revenue uh the interesting thing here is again there there are very few charging stations that are visible uh the two uh most well-known charging stations I think in downtown are at West star in the parking lot uh and at the Wells Fargo parking lot and those are not the most accessible you have to pay to get into the parking lot to begin with there is a charging station over at dead Beach that's a Tesla charging station so it's not quite as accessible but Tesla is converting or providing a converter for other vehicles to start charging at their stations so that shouldn't be a huge impediment moving forward for our charging station growth uh and so that concludes the presentation now we have asked El Paso Electric to have Representatives here available they are behind me to answer any questions you might have uh specifically regarding the rate or the entity case for that matter uh but because of the impact this would have on furthering EV adoption the operational recommendation would be to approve the resolution to adopt this charging rate thank you representative Hernandez thank you mayor you mentioned the Lost revenues can you describe with the agreement entails for the term of the Lost revenues reimbursements by El Paso lecture to the city of El Paso so I can get you the exact information on on what uh the reimbursement amount would be I don't know it off the top of my head but those numbers were provided by uh by International Bridges so they're the exact numbers that we expect to lose as a result so I want to say it's on the range of between two and five thousand dollars it's not a matter of like term it's a matter of total proceeds that are lost it's estimated loss proceeds and it'll be paid up front okay um I'm perhaps maybe I don't understand and this is where I might need your help uh Mrs Neiman as it relates to like a pilot program rate what could you tell me the puc um is there is there a future Ray case that we can expect from EV charging stations I'm just trying to understand like the regulation components right so so what Ian was explaining to you is on the Entergy case Entergy has filed the case at the puc to ask whether or not a utility company should be in the business of providing electric vehicle charging stations so I think that we would get more information based on the decision from the puc whether or not they would be allowed to create a monopoly because then otherwise right if they are the Monopoly only they can provide it then it would be probably folded in through a rate case or some sort of mechanism to oversee that type of operation the reason that we are proposing that the project move forward is because we don't expect a decision from that case until June of 2023 and we think that this is this is an excellent program we've structured it and you said June of this year of next year 2023 I mean 2023. so in about six months or so okay but because it's a pilot program what we've we've considered what could happen in the Entergy case and then we've structured in a way that the city would be able to not lose out on if the case goes their way or our way the industry's way in terms of them being the Monopoly or as opposed to having to be competitive it doesn't it doesn't hold the city liable or on the hook for any of those costs so that is yet to be determined so if the puc says this is this is only going to be for an electric utility to do then we're likely going to see it fold in through some sort of mechanism that is regulated through the puc which may be a rate case or a separate type of filing so just that you understand yes no you answered my question yeah they filed an application with the city of El Paso so they've been they didn't file at the puc because you all have original jurisdiction so this is well within your Authority because we have nothing established at the puc so is it only for El Paso Electric since we're original jurisdiction yes um excuse me but all those other private vendors can do it on their own personal accountability from what my understanding in you would tell you more I think that most EV charging stations are on private property and they're being operated independently of us or El Paso Electric who's their regulator or is there an application process for a personal private property to put these stations in do we there's like it's kind of like a gray area it's it's like a it's one of your bundles of sticks it's a property owner hey I now want to make money off of providing an EV charging station and I can make money off of it so you know it's a private property right at this point so the only the only thing I'll mention is um I I do have some hesitation here not because I don't want to see more EV stations is because of the precedent it could set and I I do want to add some clarifying questions um based on what you said Mrs Neiman the first thing that comes to my mind is that we need to re-look at our legislative agenda as it relates to this issue on EV stations and whose jurisdiction will it be municipalities or cities or another state department that would receive applications whatever may be there needs to be a mechanism as as you mentioned technology is evolving and in this case technology has evolved in superseded policy and so that's why I'm concerned with precedence my my concern about precedence is that there could be an unintended consequence as a result of approving this pilot program because I'm always thinking about worst case scenario worst case scenario for me would be that we are inadvertently through this action saying that we're okay with this rate we're okay with this proposed charge from El Paso Electric could we be unintentionally unintentionally creating a great for our passwords if that's the direction that the puct would take in the future so so part of the language and the resolution that you all are are proposing is to approve the Tariff so there is going to be um notice to the public that amends the current Turf tariff that is being charged to add this type of charge to our tariff but it's exclusively a pilot program so we were cognizant of these types of questions that you're asking and that's why we're watching the Entergy case and El Paso Electric is doing the same thing so they filed directly with us had El Paso Electric done the opposite and gone directly to the puc I think we would be in a different posture today so so this is El Paso Electric coming to the city under our original jurisdiction and saying let's try this out and then we've worked the language into the document for the pilot program and the resolution that protects the city's interest in the event that the Entergy case goes the other way and then we would allow us to go back and say okay now where are we at are the the station's going to come out and then we have to go to the puc and they have exclusive jurisdiction those are questions that are still being worked out at the state level I don't want to unintentionally approve a class okay this is not approval of a class you can will a passive electric um if this pilot program is approved is there any intention from El Paso Electric and you all can can answer this question if you can is it your is it El Paso Electric's intention to use this as a case study to determine whether or not this could be a baseline for a future rate so I don't I don't want a baseline to be created and then and then you go from there up my preference would be the rate is also a pilot it shouldn't be a starting point but rather it should be a starting point for future increases in in those rates but could vary going back and forth up and down if necessary yes ma'am I'd like to introduce myself my name is James Pleasant I work at El Paso Electric in the electrification department uh I would just like to point out that we already have electric vehicle rates for our residential commercial customers what we're proposing to today is just for El Paso Electric owned charging stations so this would not affect any other rate class or any other customer this is just a policy on our own infrastructure and I'd also like to say that these charging stations it's just a pilot program it's only going to be for 20 stations so we're not going to do any more any less and it's just basically so that way site host can go ahead and have this opportunity who maybe don't have The Upfront income to go ahead and go with a third party vendor and so we want to provide the solution to them as well and then so this Baseline in terms of this pilot um is it El Paso Electric's intention to use this to say this is where our starting point should be for future rate cases and future classes of charges again for only El Paso Electric owned charging stations we already currently have rate classes here and I even printed one out if anybody would like to see but basically would you like to see it yes yes okay there's only one city clerk and she'll make sure that they all get them thank you and I'm sorry did you finish your thought because um oh you're gonna go look for more uh okay so I wasn't sure if you wanted to finish that thought um these are you'll have to explain what I'm looking at it's a so representative we're not creating a rake case everybody knows what rate they fall into this is not creating that it's a tariff to establishes how much they can charge at the local level okay we're agreeing to what the fee will be to charge for this on our right-of-way with their use of our property and so like I guess so the so the facts and circumstances of this specific pilot program and the reason why this tariff is 10 cents is what I saw is um because it's only being proposed for this pilot program so El Paso Electric is not intending to use this same proposed tariff city-wide or other programs no ma'am okay that 10 cents was only derived from the cost of these charging stations and if you look at the Tariff that I just passed you these are for residential and Commercial customers they have an opportunity to basically it would only charge them about one cent per kilowatt hour if they were to charge their vehicle from Midnight to 8 A.M and uh I know ours is a per minute charge instead of per kilowatt hour but if you were to transfer that 10 cents to per kilowatt hour that would actually be 79 cents per kilow whatever so one of the biggest things that they're actually um debating about and that energy case is they don't want uh utilities to undermine the market and the biggest thing is they want to know how the cost recovery is going to be we don't want to charge any of the rate payers for these charging stations or the cost occurred for them we only want to charge the customers who are using these stations so that way it's basically a self-sufficient program okay just wanted to hear you say that on record thank you for your yes for your response they're actually printing more copies right now but I can go ahead and give one of these copies to thank you and then just to wrap up my thoughts um I'm happy to approve this today with clear understanding that this is just a pilot program that this is not setting any future precedence for any future rate cases or any future tariffs and solely for that reason I will support this uh very small pilot program and I wish the best of luck and I'm very excited to have that collaboration with the past election because I do believe that there is a lot of value when we work together to provide a unique service to our community as we're seeing Evolution Evolution and technology so I appreciate you all being here and working with the city of El Paso thank you yes ma'am thank you so much thank you representative Hernandez mayor potem yes um so one question I have and I think some of the issues that representative Hernandez brought up or some of the ones that I brought up yesterday specifically that this is ipso facto creating creating a new rake case and creating a surcharge that El Paso lecture could have similar to the thirty dollars of surcharge we have for distributor generation currently um so I I Echo I echo my colleague sentiment with that um I'm I'm still very concerned I mean I know that I know it said that this is a pilot program it won't be sending a precedence but once we go and say that we're charging 10 cents per kilowatt whatever it is that's going to be in the books is something that this Council approved and we are the regulating entity for a regulated Monopoly known as El Paso Electric so I just again have a lot of concerns um it's going to be up for this Council to look at and fight for in the future but I I do have some questions number one is when are I guess when are you bringing this up to the renewable energy advisory committee so I take your point that uh the the renewable energy Council wants to be involved in in climate action uh related matters and so we we can bring it to their attention as as early as the next meeting okay I just think it's important that we understand staff and Council that this committee that we have there is is there to give us guidance towards enter towards renewable energy related matters and so bringing this to them after we vote on it doesn't sit very well so I think it's really important that as as we continue to look at ways to grow renewable energy in this community to more importantly grow a green energy economy in this community focusing on our stated industry clusters of Green Technology and renewable and resilient technologies that we seek genuine input from them so that's good to hear the other question is it's on slide four it says EV manufacturer is a huge opportunity for our Advanced manufacturing sector so how does how does this initiative actually help you view manufacturing are these are these EV Chargers being built in this area is the anticipation we'd be building these like how does it you know is the idea that the more Chargers the more electric cars are in the area that help us understand that statement yes so so first of all I apologize for for any confusion on this the partnership with GM and I think being aggressive on initiatives to enhance the growth of EVS in the community are how we will get on the map in terms of EV Manufacturing in fact we've asked GM up front how do we get a factory here and uh the mou is Step it's step one so I didn't mean to imply that charging stations themselves would lead to manufacturing but the overall initiative is meant to capture the attention of the industry if you will okay um what is this sort of second phase I mean there's how many Chargers are part of this first cohort so this is 20 charging stations so uh as per data from the Department of energy we need about 150 charging stations by 2025 in order to adequately meet demand so we're at about 77 if we add another 20 to that from El Paso Electric and these 77 I want to say at least 50 percent have come on board as of the last 12 months so with with the private sector growth and these coming from El Paso Electric we're actually on track to meet that that Target what are we doing to engage private I mean I know that this initiative with GM El Paso Electric in the city but what is the data showing for those existing EV Chargers that are here without any governmental Assistance or support do we have any idea data understanding why those are installed how they're installed and the costs that are bored by the private sector I think that's a great question for El Paso Electric do you have that information excuse me sir can you please uh restate the question my question is there's already existing EV Chargers in this community what is the data show about how they're being installed why they're being installed and the cost of the private sector for those what is the research that y'all are doing that points to the EV charger adoption from the private sector without government assistance like this program right so I will say that 80 of all charging is actually done at home and so when you have a large community that live in multi-unit dwellings uh all these charging stations that have been put out have been put in public settings but as of yet we don't really have any AD multi-unit dwellings and so that's one of the main targets that we wanted to provide a benefit to and that's actually some of the the entities that have reached out to us to them it's a hassle it's a large business cost and a lot of project management and a lot of the time it's basically these third-party vendors just coming in saying here you go get it implemented get it started and so with this program we wanted to kind of help encourage that so that way we can bring more charging stations to the areas where they need the most impact so what does the data show about the existing ones because you start off with 80 but for that 20 of people that are not charging at home right what is the data show about where they're going and why most of those people who are actually charging outside of the 80 they're actually doing long distance traveling and that's what they do what they call level three or DC fast charging stations the stations that we're implementing are not DC fast charging stations we're putting in level two stations that means they have a slower charge you can get about 30 to 40 miles per hour plug-in and so that would be good for someone who has their daily commute for about 40 miles a day after about an hour or two plug-in they're ready to start the commute again if you have a DC fast charging station it could be anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes yet that's not there one very expensive so somebody that somebody that would be somebody that would be parking on Franklin and Oregon to plug it in they would need to wait one or two hours to have this charger so really this is there for somebody that has a business nearby or is in an office or something like that it could be for that too it could be for workplace or it could be for residents or it could be for the multi-unit dwelling most people who do get an electric vehicle choose to go that level two route because if you go level one you're only going to get about five to ten miles and the level one is basically a 120 volt Outlet same thing you'd use for your cell phone and five to ten miles per hour that would mean you'd have to plug in for what four to eight hours to get that 40 miles back one of the most visible areas that we have in our community in terms of in terms of visibility from the community relate towards community centers and our library system what are the plans for looking at EV chargers at those kind of facilities in the future as of right now we're just looking at our pilot project we're looking at anybody who would like to partner with us if you guys had any interest for these community centers I think that would be a good location to put them at especially at these activity centers where people are staying for one to two hours they can bring the whole family that could be a good opportunity but as of right now we we're really just looking for the rate to get approved for the entities that are interested that we can get started with right away for example we asked to do four locations with the city two at destination El Paso which they're very on board they've already signed a side host agreement with us seeing that this EV rate does get approved and then we also propose to put one here in the downtown district and one at Cincinnati Street in uptown so I think it would make a lot of sense to do it I don't know if we have any unanimity from the rest of council but I think about our community centers and our libraries these are facilities that people tend to spend at least an hour at a time whether they're going to the gym or they're going to the library for a read and ride so I hope that our city management can look at at ways to engage if this if this is a success to look at having EV Chargers in those areas I think about doors front door and library for example on Red Road it's extremely visible from one of our our higher used arterials in fact it's one of our top 50 materials believe it or not so that would seem to be a great opportunity to do that have there been any discussions relating to that internally with the city that you're aware of Mr Vogue so far we've only discussed those four locations the two at the convention center and and the ones on the public right-of-way uh the reason being that we're trying to get a critical mass of charging stations in the downtown area but there's no reason we couldn't pursue uh looking at some of those other locations is there any data that shows the highest use of of electric vehicles in the city there is so there is data as far as how many electric vehicles there are registered per zip code um in terms of where they congregate no so what is what are the highest ZIP codes of UV adoption currently because I would I think that would help to Define where to put these EV charges relating to libraries community centers and other other Municipal institutions it's going to be predominantly within District One it would be really great to have some EV Chargers in some of those district one facilities like Doris and Doran library or the West Side Community Center with the only dog park in district one in the west side if I may sir in conversations with General Motors previously they're looking at not only where the highest concentrations of current ownership are but they also are looking at guaranteeing Equity of access across our community because Equity is incredibly important not only for those who have now but wanting to make sure that we get everybody converted over and so they're looking at that and when I have seen some of the initial data that has been gathered um looking at not only again where we are now but where we're going in the future and making sure that all eight districts are covered with some with some access moving forward so we have a lot of data that's going to be very exciting I think to share in the future and again Equity is an incredibly important aspect absolutely to this integration into our city and how did that Equity data inform Cincinnati Street Franklin and Oregon Street and downtown without any I'm not speaking for El Paso Electric right now I'm talking about the work that we're doing with General Motors moving forward so I can't speak to El Paso electrics pilot program I'm talking about the overall approach that we're looking at through the mou moving forward for the entire city thank you mayor Pro Tim so I'll show thank you he can answer the question we got representative Salcido and then we can come back to you after represent ronella representative thank you mayor um mentioned you don't know how many cars there is that are electric in El Paso uh so the County does have an exact number I believe it's uh 26 it's approximately 2600 registered electric vehicles in El Paso and do you know that by ZIP code where they're at located so that data is available I don't have it to it and so I know that you mentioned that most of them will be in district one no so so according to so the breakdown of those 2600 uh the vast majority of those are in district one uh I should mention that right now uh electric vehicles are are mostly purchased by people who want to be kind of on the bleeding edge of of new cars uh the Next Generation what's coming in the next year or so are going to be much more accessible vehicles and so I I something on the order of over 45 new models I I looked it up out of curiosity Hyundai's got at least two models that are going to be very affordable that's when you're going to see an explosion of more of your common car purchaser going out and considering an electric vehicle so you're going to see that spread out which is why in conversations that we've had with El Paso Electric they are open for the pilot to putting One charging station in each district perfect yeah that's actually what I was thinking about like as you look at it as a whole you know you have 7936 most condensed District 7938 the fast is growing and so I don't want you all to miss out and and getting really a good read on your pilot program make sure it's Equitable and then distributed around El Paso also another question I have is how many of how many are going to be part of this pilot program how many stations two at the convention center uh one on Franklin Street one on Cincinnati so four total four total total and as far as um the profits or that you know you're going to be charging so have you all gave it so much thought of what you'll be using that money for uh it's it's not meant to be profitable it's meant to be cost recovery I you can correct me if I'm wrong I don't think they expect to make money off of this pilot at all is it are though the profits or the money that's been made going to be used for expenditures of infrastructure to basically sustain the UVS the stations okay okay perfect so my only questions thank you thank you very much what's a time length of the pilot program there's no proposed timeline that the project is only up to 20 stations as of right now we were just looking to do four with the city and then um to expand with other entities until we get that 20. um we we plan to as soon as this EV rate gets approved by the Council of course uh Implement right away and then hopefully have you know maybe all 20 done by next year in 2023. so there's no time frame for the pilot program no sir so it could be 10 years and it still be a pilot program um as of right now the way it's written yes until we get up well that doesn't seem to be a pilot program then pilot program should have some type of timeline the station's lifespan are expected to be anywhere from five to ten years so as soon as we put the station in that's most likely the agreement we would have with the site host to see if they'd want to do the five or ten year two years Shane well I think we need to specify that so if we have the lifetime that maybe whatever maybe and it goes down will you have the opportunity to replace it under the pilot program those conditions weren't specified in this tariff or those conditions weren't brought up but if there was cost recovery on the station enough for a replacement that's something that we'd be more than happy to consider especially to keep up with any sort of changing technology should we have those type of guidelines on a pilot program so and this is just my opinion uh within the next five to ten years I think there's going to be a lot more conversation at the state level at the federal level I think a lot of these issues will be resolved by then it could be uh no that would be by tomorrow but tonight can I that'll be by tomorrow yeah the so the pilot program is also based on a special privileged license which are limited in time mayor so it's not a forever item that would be allowed on our right of ways that was my question so they are limited in time based on the length of the special privilege license but I'll get that information to you shortly so there's so what's the timeline on it I'm asking that question oh okay I'm sorry thank you for that while we're doing that that was all I had so I'll go uh to represent Rivera oh I'm sorry representative anello then Roberta thanks um yeah Carla I was I was going to ask about um those and it's a you know it's it's hard to get up here and not have the details of these things I mean I know there are things that you all have gone over multiple times with each other um but that's where the council is supposed to come in as a part of this conversation and people making these decisions um and I do think that El Paso Electric should have their respect for this Council to understand that these are the details that we do need um but so we're in the process of negotiation negotiating the special privilege license which would be a separate process right so you're being asked to approve the resolution to enter into a pilot program and then the actual way of getting it in the right-of-way will be through a special privilege license the current negotiations is a limit up to three years did you want to say anything mayor no okay um thank you Carla for that and so a little bit up to three years okay my question is regards to the rates so your charging rates essentially to cover the cost of equipment um there's a good chance that you in three years or within the life of that equipment will generate Revenue and so what is the plan for the excess Revenue without password Electric realistically speaking this is not a profit bearing to get the cost recovery in 10 years would be great we do want self-sufficiency in this if we do get more funding from these stations it would probably be to grow the program if we got city council approval but you have no plan right now there's nothing on paper and no no part of this agreement that says what would happen with excess funds no plan because to be perfectly honest with you the charging stations aren't really the profitable business and that's most likely the reason why there hasn't been a lot of charging stations within our area well I understand that but I think it's a regulated utility and Company you need to put those things on paper to understand where those profits will go before they start I agree with you you probably won't make one but you could and those are the kind of things that I would like to understand before approving something like this I think a lot of my questions have been covered I did want to just kind of echo what Tracy Jerome said and and kind of some things you both have said throughout the presentation right these stations are that should be Equitable we're looking at the future of charging these the majority of people I assume that have electric vehicles now have their own charging station at their homes you can look through this community and determine which communities or what constituents who purchase electric vehicles do probably have stations of their own homes and I think looking at areas that were is really not wouldn't be the norm is what we should be looking at I also think representative support has a great point about using those at Rec Centers and libraries and I think something that happens a lot in the city is people don't travel to other parts of the city to go to libraries or to go to rec centers and it would be great if we had one like at the Thomas all rec center and people from the east and west side who've probably never been down there might travel there you know bring their kids to charge their car and see what a beautiful neighborhood and a beautiful rec center that is and so I think this is yeah and so I think it's a great opportunity to try and you know bring people from other parts of the city to a place that they probably wouldn't go um that's all I have thank you very much thank you thank you can you repeat that answer Miss Newman please so so the special privileged licenses will be coming back to council the the the discussions are a negotiation of how long they can be on the right-of-way right now we're at three years how many three years okay so there is a time and that doesn't need to be right into the record that's so so let me back up so you're only approving right you are going to have another public hearing to discuss the special privilege license which we'll discuss the specific locations of where these are going to go in so this is the first step in the pilot program is you approving us moving forward and then you will be coming forward when they approve or decide where they're going to be located those are going to have special privileged licenses because they're in the right of way s to the right of way so when will the three-year time limit be from the company and they'll have a three-year time limit correct okay so that okay that's good and that'll be in the records during that time of that conversation it'll be done by or two readings and the special privilege will be approved by county Council that's when you'll see him perfect thank you for researching that for US Representative thank you mayor uh along those lines from Stephen that you were talking about right now uh let's say Council future Council in three years doesn't approve it most of us that are here now will be gone but also what will what will uh those I think the mayor asked a good question what will happen to that space if it's not approved so if I if I may Elizabeth Triggs is on the call so she's also involved in the project in terms of what the special privilege I can't hear it sorry Council no site conversations please thank you Miss Roy so I'll defer your question uh representative to Elizabeth Triggs I think she's working on the special privilege license portion of it good afternoon representative Rivera if you can just repeat your question for me one more time that will help very much yes ma'am after those three years say for example the future Council here uh the future Council that's in here doesn't approve that or or doesn't agree with that anymore what will happen to those charging stations uh will they be uh well they still remain be allowed to exist or or removed no sir they'll have to be removed so all of our special privilege licenses come with a clause in them that once the the contract period ends that the applicant in this case El Paso Electric is responsible for for removing their equipment charging stations and repairing the right-of-way to the way that it was before and I would anticipate because where the two proposed locations are are replacing two meters we would replace meters in the event that a future Council decided not to renew the contract okay thank you for that and if you go to slide eight I've got a couple questions on that one where you all uh where EP is a will be allowed to to uh take parking meters uh spaces how how many how many or do you anticipate to take if you can answer it sir or Miss Triggs so it'll be five parking spaces uh it's three at the Cincinnati location to at the Franklin location and who and how will you determine how the city will be reimbursed who makes that determination uh the location yeah because the locations were reached through mutual discussions with El Paso Electric for what would be the easiest in terms of infrastructure I believe yeah I think the question if you if I may sir if I if I may Mr Rivera the question was about reimbursement uh to the city to to make the city whole for the loss of the of the entire meters you know or the the parking the parking meter fees and you know that that's overseen by the bridges department so the bridges department international Bridges overseas parking they have done an assessment of what those costs would be and my understanding is the cost the estimated loss for during the the time that the franchise agreement will be granted will be paid to the City by El Paso Electric up front correct front and what's the percentage how you determine the percentage that will be they would they I think that my understanding is they've done a study on what that usage would normally be and they've extrapolated from what they they anticipate what the usage would be if those meter if those metered spaces were available for parking and there's an agreed tariff um or an agreed charge that is that is going to be paid up front by El Paso Electric and let's say it does get approved does it remain for the remainder of the uh the lifetime of that contract they've made the assessment for the period of time for the initial for the the the the the initial agreement period which is three years and so that that three-year amount of money will be paid up front to the city okay and after those three years and after those three years the license would have to be re-granted and for the for the infrastructure to remain if if it weren't granted then they would have to remove the charging stations The Meters would go back and then it would it would continue to be a parking metered space if not then the new agreement would it would include reimbursement again from or an upfront payment from from El Paso Electric to make the city whole for that that loss of Revenue that anticipated loss of Revenue thank you man thank you that that makes it clear yes sir the only other thing sir I would ask is is do these charging stations what's their lifetime life their life expectancy is anywhere from five to ten years so so after five to ten years when you have to come and replace them or upgrade them who's going to absorb the cost there uh of past electric when we did the 10 cents per minute that was also incorporated into the cost the cost of installation and the cost of decommissioning and if I recall right that is that going to be passed on to the rate payer no sir none of the costs from this project would pass the rate pairs only the drivers who utilize these stations okay thank you thank you mayor thank you sir representative Rodriguez followed by representative molinar thank you and just to follow up with his question um in in the future the after the pilot program is done who's gonna pay for those um assuming it succeeds who's going to pay for the stations at that point who's going to pay for the state can you yeah so after so you're saying that they last five to ten years right now the ratepayers are not going to be paying any of it but let's say that this is a successful pilot program in the future after the five or ten years you know where where not the program necessarily ends but where the station doesn't work anymore um again assuming that the pilot program works who's going to pay for the stations at that point additional stations future stations yes that's right any addition to any stations around the city who would be any additional decisions not the ones that are already here for this pilot program up to the 20 uh no rate pairs will pay for these stations but after that if we try to propose another pilot program is what you're asking no like if the pilot program succeeds right and let's see the pilot program succeeds right in three years you have three years to to use the right of ways but it succeeds I don't think you're going you're probably going to come back and say hey it succeeded um can we renew to add more time because it's probably going to cost us more money to move these stations so you'll probably be renewing at that point and the pilot program I'm assuming will be over but the stations themselves only last five to ten years right when they need to be replaced in the future assuming that the pilot program succeeds right who's going to pay for them at that point I see what you're saying at that point assuming we've recovered the costs on the stations the only thing would be o m at that point and then I think we have verbiage in the special privilege license about with the side host if they'd want to take over ownership of those stations or if they just want us to remove them at that point so we're still going over the special privilege license so we can't necessarily answer all of those questions just yet as a phase one we're just trying to get uh the EV rate approved so that way we can actually get some sort of cost recovery not from the rate pairs but only from the people who participate in this program so representative Rodriguez to give you a more inclusive answer the the applicants would come back with a new application to extend the pilot program into a permanent program right excuse me sir they're paid by usage they usually paid by usage right and so how much does each Station cost The Net Present Value the average for each station is about eighty thousand dollars for the lifespan of the station eighty eighty thousand yes ma'am eighty thousand and it lasts five to ten years yes ma'am um can you break that down per assuming so they cost about what um so the station I'm just doing rough numbers at the top of my head I guess the the station would probably be anywhere from ten to fifteen thousand dollars the installation could probably like another 10 to 20 000 then you have to pay for the um ongoing and maintenance fees servicing and maintenance and then you also have to pay for these stations their network stations which means they you could connect them to the internet and pull the data from the station so that way you could read about the usage and whatnot and these stations um excuse me these stations those require kind of like a cell phone plan if you will those Network fees and then you know the cost of electricity to actually power the station and that would I think that's more or less all the class involved with those and then any sort of Permitting or anything like that with designs and installation and who's going to be servicing and maintaining maintaining them El Paso Electric El Paso Electric so you all have I guess people that that are educated on how to fix these oh I'm sorry a subcontractor excuse me it'll be our responsibility to make sure that they're maintained but we'll be going through a subcontry okay so there'll be I guess properly trained people that will be correct working on those stations and we and technically you don't necessarily know what that maintenance fee would be and servicing them yes they a lot of these stations come with maintenance maintenance plans and so you know I think they range anywhere from like about a thousand to two thousand dollars per year and the maintenance work can cover things um as a faulty circuit or maybe a damaged cord so they do have plans with the stations to cover any sort of Maintenance and this is per station right per station yes okay um and then sorry I can't hear you um so I guess my the point I'm trying to make is that it seems like these are very expensive and big responsibilities um I understand that they're not intended to necessarily make any money but again I fear that at some point it's going to affect the ratepayers whether it might not be during the for the next three years during the pilot but soon enough it will and still I mean I'm always looking out for for my constituents and their pockets for me you know that this isn't a good project and it's something that I can't support but thank you Molina thank you mayor welcome to city council sir can you please repeat your name and lift the mic a little bit up so oh excuse me my name is James Pleasant I work at El Paso Electric in the electrification department okay great thank you welcome and so how many vehicles electric vehicles are in the El Paso Electric Fleet and the El Paso Electric Fleet we have about seven percent of our fleet vehicles electrified sir seven percent yes sir seven percent out of how many I believe it's about four to five hundred Vehicles sir okay is there room for expansion for that um yes sir we've there would be interest in in electrifying our Fleet okay and expanding the electrification of our Fleet Mr vogelby do you know how many uh charging stations are at the Paso International Airport right now uh not off not offhand okay do you know if um the rental companies or the Paso International Airport rent out electrical vehicles uh no I don't have that answer do you know we have anyone in our December three years director of the report I can answer that question for you um so right now um there is a rental car company that is moving forward and and setting up um the electric electric charging stations for the electrification of a fleet we are currently working under the mou with GM um on a microgrid that's going to outfit the rental car center um with more charges stations to include potentially uh solar um and battery storage for that facility that will Electrify working closely with the rental car companies so we have you know one one rental car is already moving forward with that and as an airport we are massive finding the electrification of that facility as we speak uh within the public areas um we are we have approximately four electric charging stations but we do have a master plan uh where we have um outlined in one megawatt solar farm at our short-term rental car facility that would also house electric charging stations as part of that service that will be provided in our parking facilities and Mr Rodriguez by any chance do you know what the utilization rate is at the four charging stations at the airport um it is very minimal at this time representative okay they do not know it off the top of my head okay what I'm trying to get to Sir um Mr voglery and the gentleman sir is that we have it already you have charger stations and yes I understand there's going to be projection in the future for more additional Vehicles throughout El Paso County besides the ones that are currently registered in El Paso County but um you know what's what's what are we doing well and what are we trying to achieve here in this in this um proposal here in this market right now I'm still trying to correlate what is is happening and what is not happening and so you say there's going to be a three-year time period okay so um what what how are we going to examine that that hey so many people are charging so many hours so many times the time of day the day of the week I'm sure you're going to collect all that data and you'll analyze that button do you have room for that all that yes that is a part of the the resolution the El Paso Electric will collect that information and report it to City Council on an annual basis okay and also sir um as far as El Paso Electric are you doing any other type of Outreach to I'm going to call it um entities within El Paso that have fleets let's just say for example the different independent school districts Texas Gas besides us the city the county and the state of Texas or anything like that um Yes actually we have and so we've uh helped with letter of support so that way fleet vehicles for Socorro ISD and even Sun Metro can go ahead and get grants which they've been awarded so they could actually Electrify their fleet vehicles um this is part of our Outreach commit customer education Outreach so that way we could help anybody who wants to Electrify their feet they could learn about the the challenges and the barriers and one of them being a lack of infrastructure and just that's that's basically what the pilot project here is for and our resolution we have talked about no other rate pairs paying for this program and we really hope that you guys take that into consideration when when making your vote on this all right I look forward to thank you that's all I have thank you rep shimogolinar now let's get this straight the charging units itself are not going to be paid by the the rate payers is going to be paid when people use it they'll pay for the charging of their vehicle correct whether they go to XYZ that has some out there with the airport uh some of the restaurants I've noticed now starting to have it the users of the restaurant don't pay for it but the users of the equipment will pay for use to charge their vehicle yes sir so only people utilizing these stations and the Stations from just this program uh will be paying for the cost that's not the right pair of the user not the right pair just the user it's in our resolution thank you for that yes sir representative mayor Pro Tem gesundheit thank you um so obviously a very strong proponent of sustainable renewable energy I think that it's again not just something that's good for the environment it is a great opportunity for our economy and I want to make sure that we position ourselves for as much success as possible so my concern with with these four spaces is that I don't really understand why we're picking these locations and my concern is that a future Council comes in we have a report next year and we're showing that the anticipated numbers for use is much lower than we thought because of where we're putting this initial pilot program and so any future phase two phase threes or full-on program is going to be stunted by that so I guess help me understand really why we're picking these four spaces so one thing that I want to point out is the resolution does not determine the locations we can continue to have conversations about what the optimal locations should be for these charging stations the original conversation was around increasing the in the density around downtown and my understanding is that the two locations that have been selected for uh public right-of-way are the ones that there were the least amount of challenges in terms of getting them up and running quickly there were other locations that were proposed for public right-of-way and they didn't work out for some reason or another but there is interest in locating some of these charging stations on the street where people can see them that said we're not limited to that the there is the option to locate them at other places okay and then the other the other question is so help me understand very clearly who is going to be responsible for the maintenance and operation because it you know I see initiatives whether it's a grant or it's a pilot program or something thing and it gets installed and then three years later five years later it's all faded it's all messed up I mean think about the Walk It Out El Paso do you remember those those the way finding for like walking around downtown and it's like you still see them and they're like halfway faded into Oblivion so like would hate to see that where we have these charging stations and they're battered or they get defaced or through use through use or the sun they get you know corroded and Faded so who is actually going to be responsible for making sure that these things if they get broken if they get damaged just by the weather the elements that they get maintained and that they get fixed for for the pilot program for these 20 stations that is 100 entirely El Paso Electric okay and what assurances do we have from El Paso Electric that these are going to be maintained in in an appropriate way and not just like well we you know we there's no funds in the budget to maintain them so we'll get to it when we get to it not that we have other institutions that do that in our community I think these are some of the items that are currently being addressed in the special privilege license where we're working with you guys now okay and then to answer your question about those first four locations again it is a pilot project up to 20 so there's still room for growth and um keep in mind we did propose this um about a year ago back in August of 2021 and we worked with some City departments um with Camino Real or the crrma excuse me downtown Management District um two uh kind of vet these four beginning locations but we could always have conversations uh as mentioned earlier to extend this out to other districts I really think if you're looking at this up to 20 I really think it makes sense to look at some of the the high like the most trafficked community and Library centers as as potential other phases if it's looking up to 20. and I think that's also a lens to also look from Equity as well now granted district one um only has one Community Center and only as one library but there's a way to look at it again through a multiple of lenses but I think those City facilities whether it's libraries whether it's rec centers or community centers those are all fairly visible within all of our districts so that should just be something there and then the last question representative Salcido brought it up and not to belabor the point but where does so if if God willing these things become a success and there's a lot of usage on them where does the additional funding go to and is is El Paso Electric have a projected profit from this pilot project with their tariffs on these these Chargers as of right now there's no projected profit from this program if there's a lot heavier utilization then that would mean there could be a possibility as of right now it's more just breaking even on the stations and even in our resolution we've agreed that all costs will be incurred by El Paso Electric and will not be put onto the rate pairs and this is a risk that the electric company is willing to take that will not affect the rate payers so we're looking at a situation where if there's additional funds it hasn't been defined within this agreement where they go to for profit not as of yet this could be determined in the special privilege license so the special privilege license has to come up after we approve this today correct this was just more for step one bring it to City council's approval for the actual cost recovery not from the rate payers but from only the utilization of the charging stations and then what the special privilege license going into I guess more of the Weeds about uh some of the responsibilities and the logistics Behind These stations thank you member thank you representative thank you mayor I just have uh just a few just two questions and then two questions is all we have um so does the well I know that the the item we're not discussing is really not the special privilege license correct correct but but I think I just want to go ahead and ask is that prohibit any other competitor or a private company to come also be able to provide the service it does not okay and so so what you're proposing is that if another company comes and asks we want a pilot program to be on your right-of-way you could do that say that again when you're not giving an exclusive to Apostle electric to use our right-of-way to put electric charging stations okay so this is open to anybody that wants to put up charging stations on a right-of-way and then they just come before the city and ask for a special privilege license in order to to do that correct okay perfect and then also in this special privilege we could also address how some of that profit is used or utilized if it and if so it makes profit but is that something that can be added on that was your question again if if anybody get signs that like a special privilege um contract with us and are we able to determine where those profits get allocated meaning in regards to the opacity it goes back to infrastructure or so traditionally we charge a special privileged license based on the value of the property that they're using Elizabeth Triggs may have more information on how we structure some of the special privileged licenses because it's usually for like a bike rack or a bench you know so it's not something that generates profit so this would be so this would be something different but I'll defer to Elizabeth I don't know if she's still on am Elizabeth tricks here with economic development um I think the the easiest way to think about a special privilege is um sort of like a um a lease agreement uh just for for leasing our public right-of-way and so um what Miss Neiman mentioned about um how we determine the charge what what we do is we typically look at um the value of the property that we're leasing on the right of way um and that's really what the special privilege is limited to um is the gentleman from El Paso Electric stated they don't anticipate profit from this pilot program um I think if it's successful um and you know there there is a discussion to put more charges in in excess of the 20 that are being talked about under this current pilot program then we would look more closely at the profit and I think that would be a discussion that would be appropriate to have when we're working with El Paso Electric on setting the Tariff um that's outside of the pilot program I don't think that the special privilege would be the appropriate place to do that okay thank you so much thank you and of course the private sector as long as they're not going on right away you can put them on and they don't these the Chargers themselves do not need a special permit to be installed it's just where they're going to be going so thank you for that and with that we have a a motion in a second no sir I'd like to make a motion to approve and I think this is a positive project overall for our community obviously with a lot of questions but that's okay that just shows the passion and concern for renewable in our community okay so now we have a motion yes sir the motion was made by mayor Pro tem shorts fine seconded by representative anello to approve item number 46. on that motion call for the vote in the voting session the motion passes six two one representative Rodriguez voting represented to the short fine Canelo Hernandez molinar Salcido Rivera voting I the motion passes would that be your last motion to prove sir or what would that be your last motion to approve now received me on the 23rd and we got another resolution the 23rd at 4 P.M right because we do understand that on the 23rd we do not have to have a quorum but we do have two people well we do need a quorum now mayor no someone told us we didn't mayor Pro tem added an item yesterday he added a resolution so because we have additional no it's Friday at 6 p.m can we do it at 4 P.M the county cannot give us the runoff election results until they tally the mail-in ballots which are due at 5 pm on that Friday December 23rd now for some reason we don't have a quorum can we take to validate the election or not because there are two items put together the canvassing can and we only need two members of council to Canada put together and we need a quorum to have the meeting or can we have the cabin scene of the votes just if we do not have a quorum the canvassing can be made with two members of council however since they there's another item added on the agenda we do need a full Quorum of counsel for the resolution I have a question if if the mayor Pro tem puts a proclamation versus a resolution would we need a quorum that would be a non-action item well I'm gonna let y'all figure that out together so we can do that due to health reasons I'm letting you know now that I'm I will not be available well I'm saying that's what I wanted to make sure that because it is on a Friday night at 6 PM now what's your what was your resolution that you wanted to do uh the resolution was similar to the others it was to honor the Borderland mountain bikers Association yeah so let's shoot a proclamation I know which one you're talking about reach out to your office who's going to be there anybody anybody representative and I have already committed to make sure I will be there as well sir even though it is on the side so we'll just make sure we'll do a proclamation to make sure may we have a motion to adjourn this meeting some moved I would like to see mayor Pro tem make that motion uh I would like to make a motion to adjourn I also would like to wish uh godspeed to represent Rivera as well thank you bye there's a motion and a second to adjourn the regular city council meeting all in favor anyone opposed in the meeting for Tuesday December 13th 2022 is adjourned at 3 20