City Council - Regular Meeting

Before we get started, I want to um acknowledge former mayor of Sugarland, Mayor Zimmerman, being here today. Thank you for attending. Um we're going to go ahead and start with citizen comments. Do we have anyone signed up to speak? The purpose of citizen comment is to give all interested citizens the right to express their views. Everyone desiring to speak should have either signed the appropriate list in the for you or email the city clerk prior to the posted time of this meeting. Each citizen shall be give shall give his or her name in order to provide a proper record of these comments. The rules allow each person one minute to speak. A citizen may pass his or her time to another person who has requested to address council. However, no citizen remarks shall exceed three minutes in total. Either the one minute or the three minute limit may be extended by a majority vote of council. I encourage everyone to be as brief and to the point as possible. Please keep in mind council cannot discuss or deliberate on items for which public notice has not been given on the agenda. We're going to start with Crystal Sacramento sento. I was close.

No, I wouldn't be like that. Uh, please state your address for point of record. Yes. 6531 Sam Rurn, Manville, Texas 77578.

Friends, I just wanted to introduce myself to those who haven't met me yet. My name is Crystal Deon Sarmto and I am your candidate for Congress, conservative, Christian, and Republican. Daughter of an illegal immigrant who raised me as a single father in the southwest side of Houston for over 10 years and the daughter of a 50 year 50 plus year educator. And so I just wanted to come and say hello. And I'm also a council member in Manville. And you may have seen some videos online that I've been sharing because I would love for everyone to get to know me. and I would love to get to know you. So that's it. Short and brief, to the point. Thank you guys for what you're doing. God bless.

Thank you. Next, we have Aiden Ramirez, and he is having time seated to him from Ace Ellis and David Isaac. So, you're going to have a total of three minutes. Please state your address for record. Drive. Good afternoon, mayor and council. My name is Adrien Ramirez. I'm a student at Gus Memorial. Um, most of you aware of the murder that happened at Sterling prior to Christmas break. Um, most of you are parents, teachers, aunts, and uncles, and we ask for your support uh of us for students for safe schools, formerly known as Baytown student safety committee. understanding how the council works. We know we you under you work separate from the school board and we ask for your support in being that we want to be a a voice for the future of students in Baytown. Our main concern is being a part of the community for students because I believe we all believe that students don't have a voice. We want to help them in any way we can whether that's mental health want our main goal is to want to have students continue to stay in Baytown to be a part of Baytown to grow in Baytown. We believe that when the when the city helps students, the students want to help the city and we just ask for your support in that. And I do want to thank some of the council members and the chief for being at our meeting last week and um that's it. We just ask for everyone's support in that. Thank you.

Thank you.

Next we have Donnie Gregory DRG. Good evening. I'm Donnie Gregory. I live at 5121 Archway Court. I'm a lifelong Baytown resident. I'm a fourth generation uh Bay. I know we got a lot of serious issues going on in Baytown. Um but I'm just here to talk about sports. I'm a baseball coach. I own and operate uh BBA Baseball LLC. We've been in Baytown for 15 years. We put 178 local kids in the college. uh also run the uh Bay Area uh summer collegiate league where we bring um college baseball players into town during the summer and we put them in host housing and we bring scouts out to to look at them to uh either get to a bigger school or maybe transfer to a different school. So I just wanted to speak on behalf of um the youth um sports venue that we have coming up that's a kind of a big topic in the area. Um, and I get it. I I'm a I'm all about select baseball. I know that's not for some people, but for others it is. And I'm on that side that is.

Hold on one second. Um, can we get a motion to run out of time? Yeah, that was a quick three minutes. I I'll come back. It's one minute, but we can extend your time. Okay. That's what we're voting on now. Okay. So, how long? Two minutes. Okay. So, uh all in favor? Any oppose? Motion carries. You have two minutes.

Thank you very much. So, I brought a college coach with me tonight, pitching coach, recruiting coordinator from Texas Southern University. Happy making. We're uh where we're located here in Baytown. It's very we're in a bed of talent around here. There's a lot of money we can bring into this town from the uh standpoint of holding tournaments, uh bringing in college showcases. It's just it this sport is growing and growing and growing. Um they got huge facilities in Melissa, Texas and Bulmont, and Houston, Tomball. We're missing a boat if we as a city if we're not taking advantage of that because we got four high schools right here in this town. Five if you Baytown Christian. We're right next to and I'm counting Barbers Hill as part of that. We're right next to Crosby, Clear Lake, Deer Park. There's so much around here that we can use this town for. And right now, all these other kids are going outside. We got so many families and players playing ball here. They're all taking their money, staying in hotels, spending their money in restaurants, shops, and all that, and other places when we can be doing that right here in Baytown. I've been a part of it. It's growing. It's not going anywhere. It's going to continue to explode. It's a multi-million dollar industry. Um, it'd be great if Baytown could get on top of that. Um, I think that could lead into something bringing league college baseball back again. We're too big of a town not to have a our own baseball uh college when we got a college here. So, um, you know, I'm going to keep coming back and bugging you guys about it because it's very important to me. I know it's very important. a lot of people in this town. So, I want to thank you for giving me this opportunity to speak to all y'all and thank you very much.

Thank you.

There being no one else desiring to speak, this now concludes the citizen comment portion of the agenda. We are going to take 4B and 4 C out of order. We're going to take them together and move them up. Um consider a resolution authorizing the retirement and transfer of police service dog K9 Enzo to his handler, Officer Cody Dobson, pursuant of Texas Government Code, chapter 614, subchapter L, and consider a resolution authorizing the retirement and transfer of police service dog K9 big to his handler, Officer Jeff Spencer, pursuant to Texas government code, chapter 614, subchapter L. Chief Stringer.

Yes, sir. Good evening. Thank you very much for your time. Uh, Officer Spencer, would you and your partner step up here for just a minute? Officer Dodson and his his longtime K9 partner Enzo were unable to be here this evening, but uh this is Officer Spencer and K9 Big. They've worked together for quite a while. They've been incredibly impactful in uh in our efforts to protect and serve the citizens and visitors to the city of Baytown. Uh K9 Big and K9 Enzo both faithfully and honorably served the city of Baytown and the Baytown Police Department as police service dogs, assisting in law enforcement operations, officer safety, apprehension of suspects, detection work, and protection of the public, and due to their age, health, and their length of service. Both K9 Big and Enzo are no longer suitable for continued active duty as law enforcement animals and [clears throat] are deemed uh as correction and deemed uh have been dee deemed inappropriate or appropriate for retirement by the Baytown Police Department. Pursuant to Texas Government Code Chapter 614 subchapter L, the governing body of a political subdivision may enter into a contract for the transfer of a retired law enforcement animal to an eligible transfer. Officer Spencer and Officer Dodson as the assigned handlers of K9 Big and Enzo have demonstrated the appropriate care, responsibility, and dedication to the well-being of their canines throughout their service and they are the preferred and eligible transferes on Texas and and again I would just like to point out that they have been incredibly impactful in making some of the cases that we've made whether they've been large narcotic seizures or they've been significant criminal apprehensions. Uh they have served us well and they've been an incredibly active unit. Officer Spencer, thank you for all you've done. I've watched you professional. I've seen your cases and uh and the commendations that have come

up through through your your chain of command and you have every reason in the world to be proud and I hope that K9 big has a has a long and enjoyable retirement. Looks like he's already I want to go down and get a picture. We can vote on the motion. Procedures. All in favor? Well, I need a motion. I'm sorry. I need a motion. Second. All in favor? Any oppose?

Okay. Motion carries. Officer Spencer and and to other officer Dawson, I appreciate your continued support and effort with the dogs. I mean, German Shepherds are pretty active animals in the limelight, but again, a well-trained animal like that, he's going to have a good life. And and that's a major commitment, and I I salute you for that effort. I really do. Thank you so much.

Thank you. All right. One, two, three. One, two, three. I'll kiss you next

2A consider an ordinance amending chapter 86 solid wast Article four, private collection vehicles for the code of ordinances, Baytown, Texas, to revise the definition as commercial solid waste collection and implement changes to the code of ordinances. Mr. Frank Simino.

Yes. Good evening, uh, mayor and council. Um, this item was discussed at the work session in November. We reviewed uh several proposed changes to the solid waste, uh, franchise fee ordinance. I have a summary of the uh changes listed in the table here. Uh the major changes are to increase the permit fee um and add separate permits for the containers and vehicles. We're adjusting the reporting frequency and increasing the audit ability of the city to ensure higher compliance. We're [clears throat] also looking to ensure that sales taxes related to uh these services are remitted to Bay 10. Um we reviewed the implementation timeline at the work session. We're striving for complete implementation by April of this year. Uh that's all I have. Um let me know if you have any questions and staff recommends approval.

Questions? Good deal. I need a motion. question and I believe Jay you responded answered in in our work session when we discussed this. I wanted to make sure that that we were looking at both sides of this issue not only the the transporters but also the businesses to ensure that the business is required to have a licensed or franchise operator and then if you're not franchised and you're providing business there's impact there as well. Yes. So part of our audit, we would go to uh the businesses and look at their containers and if they're not permitted, we would approach that business. And

so there are repercussions if the business uses well, not to the business, but um whoever is owns that dumpster would be uh fined at that point for having a container that is not permitted. That's so we don't have any fines for the businesses that the fines are for the operator and owner of the container and and I'm going to I'm going to support I'm going to support this but I want us to look at what it would take to have an impact on the business. Is that is that correct Scott?

Yes. Uh, council, if you go to section three, which would be chapter 86, article 4, division two, page five. Page five. Um, it does make unlawful for any person to hire, retain, let, use, contract with, engage, or otherwise appoint any person who does not have a valid waste collection permit issued by the city. And then also further down, uh, it makes it illegal for a person to fail to display a current city decal. So there is an impact on this. Okay, then I'm I'm good. And then mayor, I I'll make a motion. You ready?

Let's go. I make a motion that we approve um item 2 A. Second. All in favor? I. Any oppose? Motion carries. Thank you, Mr. Thanks, Frank. B. Consider an ordinance authorizing the city of Baytown to enter into an agreement with Barker Rinker CCAT architecture PC for architectural services related to the Exxon Mobile Baytown Event Center and Sterling Municipal Library Renovation. Mr. Garrett.

Yeah, I'm I'm throwing a curveball here uh to follow the guy's baseball thing. Um I mayor and council I have received Is this up already? I have received so many questions on the Baytown Event Center, the Exon Mobile Bayon Event Center that I felt it be appropriate to run through a bunch of like information to help the council to the citizens uh to talk about how this has not been done in the vacuum, how this has been public, how this has been talked about, how citizens have been involved. Um, I want to talk about everything that I'm legally allowed to talk about. Okay? Uh, Matt, I will put out things. David, I will put out things. Thought there'd be other people here uh that I'd get a chance to say hello to, but uh I'll talk about things that have been rumored. I will talk about things that have been publicly released. I will go through the entire timeline in an effort to put everything out there that I possibly can. I this is a from in my perception and from council's per council's perception of of working on this a positive thing for Bettown. It's discouraging that it's that it's marred by negative uh aspects and negativity constantly over the past three years. And I the the crazy thing is is what I hope or what I believe will happen is when I'm get done, they'll be like, "Hey, how come you didn't say that at the very beginning?" Well, a lot of it I couldn't say at the very beginning. And it's easier to tell a story after it's

already complete, right? So, I'm going to walk through it. If there are questions, please ask me. I know that y'all hear a lot from your citizens and I'm I'm hoping this answers a lot of the questions that are out there. And with that, I'll I'll jump into it. So, I'm told that I love my spreadsheets too much and that I word dump things on my emails and and spreadsheets. And so, I was given a better way um to present things. So, I'm going to break this down into three categories. how it involves the citizens, how it involves the money and a history of the actual project and everything that the council, the staff and others including citizens have been working on and will be working on when I'm done. This does lead up to adopting the design architects for council. So, it's all part of that piece. I'll be followed by uh uh by staff and the consultant. So the biggest thing that I get and that you all have received is how come you haven't involved the citizens and I'm I'm here to show everybody that we have in 2018 or 17 when all this was being put together you had the Baytown Recreation Center feasibility study. This was a comprehensive group of citizens around the city of Baytown and their action plan which was adopted by council was to have a recreation center in 2021. Those those goals and action plans that came from that feasibility feasibility study were then put into the adopted 21 uh 2021 parks, recreation, trails, and open space master plan.

There was a community survey and other pieces that involved the citizens to put this together. again in this book that was adopted by council at a public hearing talked about a recreation center and putting things uh for the community to go be involved in. In 2022, the city of Baytown adopted a strategic plan. This all these things are online. All these things are public. This was heavily involved with uh citizens around Baytown putting things together, talking about what they want. I'm not going to go through all of it, but I did highlight on the on the presentation the public outreach that was involved. And inside the inside the plan, when you get a chance, if you go to the key initiatives and what success looks like, you can go to uh excuse me, page The first one is on page 12 under economic prosperity and I'll just read one entertainment opportunities uh to residents namely young families. If I go on pursue private development and additional commercial growth in South Baytown. If I move on in the strategic plan, I go to page 15 that has five actual action plans that were that were meeting with project vector or impact. Um, continue to invest and maintain the high quality and number of existing parks and recreational amenities throughout the city while uh while addressing any apparent uh inequities. maintain and expand properties to ena enable organized sports such as soccer, football, disc golf, pickle ball, and more. Continue to partner with Goose Creek ISD and leveraging the bicesentennial park amphitheater for

public events and entertainment. Explore possibilities uh regarding the future edition of recreational complexes throughout the city. The pieces go on, but the point here is to show that this has been a work in progress for many, many years. And I know for some that may say, "Hey, that's 2018. That's so out of this is pretty quick for government. This is I mean I know we I know that seems like a joke, but it it's not. I mean this this is pretty quick for government government because it does take time to organize pieces to get together and put a plan in place where people can be involved on uh working through things in 2023. Sorry. One thing I want to highlight with this first piece here, these things are the idea, right? It's nothing that's actually put on the ground. This is the idea of what it can be, the conceptual piece to start playing with the vision. And so once you get that vision in place, you start doing research and we put out information that builds up to that. We have public outreach through council meetings, through media that's posted to the community, on social media as well. That's been happening from 2023 to 2025. Has it been every month? Has it been every two months? No, it hasn't because while you're doing a lot of research, there's not a lot to put out. But I will tell you the first thing went out in April of 2023 about what Project Vector was. And that idea transformed into multiple ideas and I'll cover that here in a minute and which convoluted some of the process while we were working on it. But it I didn't do that. Um but it has been something that has been put out as much as we possibly can put out and has provided the opportunity up here for

citizens to speak in the in the manner that we have for the time being. And don't forget all the listening sessions and everything else that's been available for the citizens to about these things should that want to be discussed and then when you get down into the public engagement piece of the actual concrete thing that is going to happen that's what Mr. Gary will talk about here shortly. Adopting this architect and design firm is setting in in place the public engagement for the citizens. taking that vision from council's ideas and beliefs of what it what what we think it should be and start reaching out to what the left and right boundaries of hey what can we what can we practically build within the the financial resources that we have to build something and talk to the citizens and see what you say so the council can make an ultimate decision when all that is said and done a lot of this is hung up on the money and I understand that I'm not trying to act like it's not a big deal, but there's three things that play a role into what set up the entirety of the $75 million. The first thing is the state of Texas. The state of Texas has been attacking uh through policy cities around the state for many, many years. One thing that they are that they have been working on is trying to limit the city's ETJ and furthermore to try to take away the ETJ in its entirety. In doing that, it threatens the livelihood of Beethonians because what pays the majority of the revenue for this city is in the city's ETJ. It is not the houses, it is not the businesses

that are in the city of Baytown. It is everything that's in the ETJ. Can you define ETJ for folks that might not know what that is? Thank you.

So you you have two pieces. You have the big bubble of the city of Baytown. That's the actual So if anybody gets on Google right now and you look you pull up the city of Baytown as a Google map, you will see a shaded area of Baytown. You will also see donut holes in that shaded area that cover Baytown. And those doughnut holes are areas that are unincorporated parts of the of Baytown. They belong to the county. The city does not provide any services to those areas. Those just very easily to to represent are around the airport. Most of that is the the county and not part of the city. So you'll see a big bubble or donnut hole right there outside of like city of Baytown proper which would go to maybe Wallaceville Road. out to um just a little bit past 146 on the east side. That's just the city where people pay city taxes and then the city ETJ ETJ the extr territorial jurisdiction goes all the way out almost past Mount Belleview and it goes all the way out to Beach City. And so where you see all those giant warehouses and where you see all the industry partners that we have that pay the city's bills, those are actually in the city in the county. And so what the state was doing was saying, "Hey, we're make we're working slowly to say that those contracts that you have with IDAS are going to go away." Our revenue is $140 million a year. 60 plus million of that is IDAS through the through the the stuff that comes from industry. So if you take away 60 million all of a sudden you are then saying I have to compensate that by either reducing services drastically just FYI the 60 million play pays for

all police and fire. That's all that 60 million pays pays for two departments police and fire. And so we would have to raise taxes all probably up to $2 from from 69 cents that we're at to be able to pay for that $60 million. And so it was how can we be strategic about what we are doing in order to protect the livelihood of what we is paying the revenue for the city of Baytown. We had previously did it with Enterprise and we said, "Hey, that's a good model. Let's go approach Exxon and see if we can do a 212 and retain them in the city of Baytown for another 30 years. Another point that we have to look at is what the state was also doing with taxes and the philosophy that the government is working on with taxes based on what the citizens are asking for. The citizens have been asking for lower taxes in the city of Baytown. We have lowered the tax rate from north of 80 cents down to 69 cents in just a few years. Okay, that is a reduction of over million a year in revenue to the city of Baytown with that reduction. What that has done inadvertently is actually put more of the burden on the homeowner because you reduce the money that was coming from industry and you put more of the burden on the homeowner to pay uh to pay more fees, to pay higher water bills because the industry was subsidizing your water bills. And so with those two things at play, um, we had to work with industry to say, "Hey, what can we do right now to really

protect this?" And we we worked with, uh, Exxon on a 30-year agreement. And then it came to the conversation about you have $75 million. Why are you spending this extra $75 million? It's not extra. Okay, I I'm not trying to I'm not trying to misstate that. I'm not trying to lead anybody down a wrong path. It's not extra. It is part of the property tax that is reimbursed to them through the agreement. Okay. However, the only way for us to sec ure proper investment into the city of Baytown was to provide a competitive tax agreement which is the 212 and it secured $5 billion into uh our facility at Baytown. This is something that the council was aware of when we were going through these strategy discussions back in 2022. In fact, there are members up here who were very against spending the 75 million on another project in the city of Baytown. However, after we talk through those pieces of how it it's not really the 75 million for a project, and this is what's very very important for everybody to understand, without the 212, you don't have the $75 million. Okay? It's not as if we just got rid of the 212, we would then automatically have the $75 million and we wouldn't we could go spend that $75 million on something else. That's not how this works. We made an agreement with Exxon that if they put $5 billion on the ground, we will take a $75 million upfront

payment and build a facility that serves the community. That was the agreement. But if we didn't do that 212 agreement, we wouldn't have $75 million that's being talked about at all, we also wouldn't have the$5 billion additional dollars that's been committed to the city of Baytown for additional jobs. We wouldn't have the additional 13 billion of of subsidiary pieces that are being added on the east side of Baytown in Cedarport. the 13 billion of interest in in additional uh uh uh job creation or industry that's supporting what Exxon is doing on the east side of Baytown. This was a this agreement was a catalyst to spur additional growth and to spur longevity with with Exxon and other pieces staying in the city of Baytown. I'm not sure people are paying attention what's happening to in the oil industry, but it is changing. It is changing. Yes, sir.

Kind of get you that oil industry just kind of with my firm and what we do. We are the largest rebar facility manufacturer in the United States. We're a billion dollar industry. And of our three plants here between Houston and Baton Rouge, onethird of our our material goes to the LG plant in Sulford, Louisiana because a 212 agreement in Louisiana. Copers Christie has a10 billion investment from Exxon that they put in. We all know people who are driving to Sulford Louisiana to go work at that LNG because of that. These are big dollars that they're wanting to put in and improve. We I mean I don't know if people are aware but the CPIM expansion did not happen at one of the largest plants that they have, which is right here. It happened in Orange. They transferred that to Orange because it had a better tax incentive program to expand the CPM piece, right? I mean, that type of stuff. I know people here know people that are impacted by the way oil is shifting, the oil industry is shifting. We became the single best target for Exxon to place new stuff here or in their in their conglomerate. What happened since we passed this is more and more announcements of things coming in here? Lion double cell. What happened? Does anybody know what happened to Lion Del with their refinery? What happened? Right. How many other stories can we say the same thing? What's happening with Exxon? They've announced their stuff that they're shifting how they're working. Right. That's been publicly announced on refining. Was that things are shifting but because we are um strategically placed with this two

agreement we are first consideration for the city of Baytown to secure the long-term peace. What we were seeing is that Exxon's peace before this 212 agreement was staying at a constant $20 million payment and it was possibly decreasing. So instead of having this shift at or just stay here, we took this agreement because it benefited both parties. But part of that agreement was that you have to build a facility for uh community uh good. And I forget how it's named. I think Grant will say the actual name here in a minute on what it's called in in the document, but um this this was a long-term look for the city of Baytown to secure long-term jobs here and part of that agreement came with building a facility. So when we did this agreement in 2012, the original intent when it started was a green initiative museum or sorry uh 20 2022 sorry in 2022 the 212 agreement. Um uh the 2022 212 agreement started as a green initiative museum is what Exxon was was negotiating for. And if you look back at what I just said on the on the um citizen input of what it had. The mayor at the time was in the negotiations with Exxon and shifted that to an economic development piece which was later brought back to the council and the council had some imminent hauling about okay where are we at but ultimately the council at the time decided on moving forward with an economic development project and that's how it was restrategized in the negotiation of the 212

and the focus of at that point was on what I just talked about on you sports or recreation facility that can be used for the city for programming. So that kicked things off. That was December of 2022 when that was adopted. In 2023, there were a plethora of things happening and it. I don't know the word to use. I'm going to say serendipitous, but I don't know the word. In 2023, as soon as we started this, we were approached by multiple professional teams to look at using the 75 million to build an arena or to complement what they're trying to do. still meeting what we were trying to do with our youth sports or community center or programming. Still having that intent on the side, but tag teaming to what the professional support uh sports were trying to do in the city of Baytown. In 2023, there was a ton of research. There was the team, the staff was walking around, the council went to to look at some things. Uh we looked at many different venues to see what was happening with other or other sportsdriven stuff in the area. One of them was a hockey team. I know that a citizen posted about a hockey team being here. Uh that was discussed. Did it have any real legs? No, it didn't have any real legs, but it was discussed. How the citizen knew, I have no idea, but it was discussed. It is now the Salt Lake City Mammoths

that are that are playing out there. was an expansion team and um we got thumped by a person that may or may not own a basketball team u when we were trying to look at that and that stopped that. We had other professional expansion teams that we went out to California with. I know that it's the worst kept secret in Baytown of us trying to go. I have an NDA. I can't talk about who that is, so I can't go any further than that. But we did multiple meetings with very large corporations on bringing a professional football team here um and talk and and see what we can do. And that ultimately fell through because they did not want to um they did not want to put the money necessary into this. The council made it very clear when all this started that this was not to be something where we are losing money that we are not subsidizing and so everything that we were looking at had to be something that was going to be making money. Okay, that's where it evolved more into how can this other professional team or youth sports help drive a revenue piece to help compensate for some of the pieces that are happening uh to support the community programming piece. At the same time, another professional team came to talk to us. We had two professional teams competing roughly at the same time and it convoluted the me it convoluted conversation quite a bit. It al it also convoluted the conversation on where it should be. We had the north side that was being discussed and we had the south side that was being discussed.

Both of those had financially uh financially driven challenges and environmental driven challenges that when the council had to look at the hardships that that come with those, we couldn't justify paying more money to put those things up there because all of it was extremely expensive and would exceed the 75 million to be able to put those in place on both locations. Moving into 2024, the first team went away. The second team kind of continued a little bit and we had a feasibility study finished up at that point. The feasibility study talked about uh three different avenues. One is like an arena, one was like a youth sports program, and one was another like mini venue or something like that. and the arena and the mini venue showed that they were going to lose considerable money, but the hopes were that you would have economic development around this thing that would compensate for that. The council did not want to take the risk at the time and say, "Hey, we want to we want to subsidize this more." No, y'all didn't say that. Y'all said absolutely not. We don't want to take any more risk. We have other challenges that are happening especially around this time and we don't want to take on greater risk than we need.

Question. Yes sir. Um going back to the location because that's what I'm getting questions on. Okay. And I was not on counsel to where I can give at Yes sir. I don't want anyone to say that I gave misinformation. Okay. So I'm going to ask it here. Okay. You said that there were environmental reasons. Yes, sir. For the north and the south side. Was it the north or the south side that both had environmental reasons? And to clarify, hold on. Um, it was going to take more money to go in on the north side and the south side. That is correct.

And is that because of environmental reasons? Partially. Yes, sir. Partially. Okay. What what were the other things that would have raised the price on that

financial? Uh there are multiple pieces on the north side. So there were two locations that were looked at on the north side that were both uh financially uh uh not feasible to do. One location had a lot of infill that needed to happen and I believe a ballpark around 20 million bucks on infill just to just put the dirt work in to get the the uh piece where it needed to be. The other one was accompanying a private party. There were price differences on on agreement and um that ultimately would have been north of 10 million grant north of 10 million or around 10 million n or 10 million I believe that more than that. Okay. more than $10 million just to purchase the land up there. And then you would have had to do another a second private or public private partnership with that individual along with the public private partnership for MBEC itself. And so it'd be very very convoluted to do that and the council at the time did not think that that was an appropriate move.

So multiple public private partnerships. Yes sir. Got you. And that was the north side. I just wanted to be very clear

the land. So that removes all that environmental and all that other stuff was still a factor, but it removes purchasing of land. Correct. That's a huge cost. I kind of remember this. We're looking about 50 acres and I remember we were talking about it. I don't think we talked about it in council, but that's kind of it was 50 acres need to be raised 10 feet because it's in a 100redyear flood plan. That's right.

And the 20 million he's coming with that was a number I had given. I remember back then that was just for dirt. That was not for equipment. That was not for the contractor to put it. That was just for the material alone was 20 million. And that's why I was like that was a major cost to put it on the north side. So in 2020 as we continue in 2024, you know, this most of 2024 was geared around the southside, the the far south side. And um and it had extreme environmental concerns with wellheads and railroad tracks and other things that just made it just not feasible to move forward along with underground infrastructure that wasn't in place that would have upped the cost drastically. U and the private party that was working with us also did not want to put in money. Everybody looked at the 75 million as the checkbook. And um I think council was um unanimous at the time when we were looking at the southside because it seemed like a wonderful location to help uh things go. And um what citizens may not understand is that we spend a lot of time doing research in phase one and and you can be very optimistic where things are going and then you get these reports and they they shoot you in the foot after you spend all this time and dedication to going towards a thing and and you get that report back and like, hey, guess what? Either we can spend a lot more money or we're going to pivot. And this is why things have continued to to be prolonged at this point because we've had to pivot a few times based on things that come back on areas that were chosen that seemed right according to the feasibility study because the feasibility study said, "Hey, look at these places." And we did and then it turned out that it was just financially not feasible to put those in play.

Yes, sir. So, was there a feasibility study done on this current location? Um, there was not a feasibility on this current location. We had no feasibility study on this current location.

Yes, sir. So um the current location was chosen in 2025 and in 2025 we where this played out is one that we own the land. Okay. So we immediately saved more than $10 million going to this location. In addition to that, I believe the council was unanimous on choosing this location because um it was the effort and a philosophical stance to start rebuilding the southside according to the strategic plan of what I just talked about as well. And so there was a conversation around we need to put more effort on the south side because the north side is happening organically. And this was a strategic decision u based on what we had at the time to help redevelop this portion of town. And we were all working together and it's continued to move forward and it looks like it's going to be a very good thing because the city has put numerous dollars into Texas Avenue growing and that's been part of what the citizens have been asking for is redeveloping this area. It's turned into a very good partnership with Lee an additional good partnership with Lee College on their interlocal agreement which we had the public meetings on to talk about with them on on what how this can be utilized by them and how we can work together. It's turned into additional relationships with Goose Creek ISD on what can happen uh with the things that they have. It works well with the Market Street revitalization that's a rehabilitation that's going to be happening over there. It all played very well into a plan that council had adopted numerous times of fitting um of moving this portion of the town into

a a direction where there is an entertainment area so to speak and it played well with other assets the city had already put money into. And I I do want to point out one of the other questions and the reason I have this photo up here is how come you're going to put something in a flood plane. Well, we put this out earlier or in 2025. This is a public document that's been put out already. This shows you that there are areas that are in the flood plane, but the buildable area that that is not packed impacted by the flood plane, we can put the center there and not have to worry about uh extensive mitigation at the same time. And so these concerns that are being talked about, I feel they've been addressed numerous times. And I'm hoping that consolidating it like this really helps the people understand that we we do hear y'all and we are talking about these things. And so now the next step that's up there is what's coming after me to talk about the public engagement that's going to be happening. And this is where council will give a vision, a continued vision, and the citizens will start giving their input. Before we move to that mayor com

um so we've done the 75 million we've arranged that through the 212 but aside from that Exxon is still paying an annual That's correct. They're still paying their original um agreement with us which is roughly 20 million that we get every year. Yes, ma'am. That goes to the general fund. That's correct. So, it's not like they gave us the 75 million and that's it. They're still contributing an amount to the general fund. Um, aside from all of their other uh community contributions.

That's correct. Um, it is a relief that you're out here saying all of this, but I also I just want to thank the council that's up here because y'all been there, you know, mayor, I know for most of it, but everyone else has been there for the whole ride. And I just I want to bring up something that you didn't say just because it also needs to be talked about. Most of the questions that I've received from the public [clears throat] have been about location. That's been the new thing once we move past the 75 million in and the IDA. Um and I I can say that there one of the first things that was discussed um was a traffic study

and um the traffic study did not support the original southside location. And what I mean by that is it said there'd be more traffic if you were near I 10. Um, a lot of the discussion that's that's been three years ago that surrounded that um council members up here had great points about that and I mean it didn't take a rocket scientist I 10 had more traffic. However, here we are three years later, and I don't know if y'all been paying attention, but Sanjasento Bridge um has had some major issues with traffic, and it's now fixing to go into a long-term um construction period. All of my friends on the east side of town are dealing with some horrible situations almost daily coming from the Trinity River Bridge over. And so now I 10 is seeing um some things that I don't think we would have been able to see in the the feasibility study. Um and if you've driven I 10 I'm sorry 146 north coming over the Fred Hartman bridge towards Baytown. There is an exit at Texas Avenue that would go to this property. I agree that area needs some help. Hopefully this would be a catalyst to make it a little bit more appeasing. The other is that you could stay on that 146 business and also exit Decker and then head south on Decker, which will then have the new market revitalization. So, I just want to address that. I I I I think that all of us know that originally when we looked at that traffic study, it made more sense on I 10 just looking at that, the accessibility. But the last piece to that is you're all aware of Gar Road's long-term up to seven years right now. Um the expansion of that is going to it's already started and it's going to be moving. Um but there's there's a lot of things Baytown over the years has

been creating these hubs. That's our shopping district. This side is the the um the educational corridor. It is the historic side. It is the arts and entertainment district. That's what the citizens have been working towards with that strategic plan. So although I definitely think there needs to be more input, although I completely understand, y'all need to be aware now that we can can talk more openly about it, at the end of the day, this is supposed to be the the side of town that it belongs on philosophically. And that was the conversation the council did have on there was no feasibility study done down here. But there was a conversation with the council that it was a deliberate decision to move down here in an effort to grow this area with or without a feasibility study and it was deliberate because of the arts and entertainment district and piece that we own as well. So I'm ending with this. This was put out a few months ago I believe in August maybe. Is this August? Huh? Okay. Around that time. Um, this is conceptual. So, this is not set in stone. And the important thing here is to show that it fits. Um, but also to highlight that it does incorporate the library. When we started this piece, we had professional teams looking at giant arenas, had conversations about ESPN broadcasting systems being put in the arena, like gigantic projects that were, you know, unfathomable at the time because that's not what was even the idea. And it was just supposed to accompany uh the community piece that we that were still there, the programming piece. Now,

what's ired since or transpired over the last three years is that the library was brought into the conversation. And because the library was brought into the conversation, it still changes the convers or it still changes a little bit of the dialogue for council because before it was like, hey, we're not subsidizing and this needs to make money. And now that the library is incorporated, we have to say, okay, you know, the library doesn't make money. So if it's part of this, how does that play into the overall financial scenario and how does it play out? But the benefit here is that the parks recon tourism team have very similar programming that the library has. And so having a shared space allows us to share more programming uh area and be a little bit of a more efficient government in one area that people can come to. And we have this connection hub uh that connects us to the arts and entertainment district that connects us to 146. We have a baseball field that's right down the street that's incorporated into this. We have bsentennial that's incorporated into this. Uh we have the Lee College Arena. We have the Lee College Performing Arts Center. We have a proposed disc golf course at the uh at the corner of Lef Fever and and Market Street. All of this was consider Oh, sorry. The hike and bike trail that goes on the back end of this all the way from the up to hopefully at the end of this the San market marketplace. And so all of this played into something that was delivered by the council to give the amenities that the citizens have been asking for with that mayor and council. That's all I have.

I said I mean I want to thank everybody that kind of came to this. I mean, I I came on and my first executive meeting was in in January 2024 and just what I can say and I can't say there's some things, but I can't say this much. I was amazed that a local professional football franchise was talking about putting this on it with us. They have announced this week that they're going forward with this youth event on 610. They did announce that on 6:10 a.m. So, we kind of put two and two together, but I can't say the name of the team. That would have been a game changer for the city and for the work that y'all got in to get them here and talking about that. I mean, I remember the first council, everybody was all my mouth like, "What are we all? No way." Um, that would have been a game changer. They couldn't come to an agreement with that property value. At the same time during this we were working with a private developer at no cost to the city to bring a major hospital here. They couldn't come to an agreement on that property. That property is being handcuffed for the future of the city and it's nothing we can do about it at this moment. We would love to take that property

privately owned land. privately owned land and they have every right to do what they want with that land. But those two things would have changed this city. The hospital was talking about a sevenstory ambulatory unit to compete with Methodists and they couldn't come to a land agreement and we know that they're now moving down the road. We did everything we could to try to get them there to help with this project. And and it is I get that we the citizens that's where it looks the most feasible and best, but sometimes we're handicapped and can't do some of these things. It trust me, I I love that you tried to take Julia Roberts out on a date and you shot your shot and you didn't get it right. [laughter] I I get it. But we were in the final three. The final three to get that. they're down to the final two. That's amazing on those staff to put that together and work that in there because that would have been a game changer, a game changer for the city. Either one of those projects would have been able to come forward. So, I know it's it's a lot to it and and I'm glad that we're getting a $5 billion investment in the city because I'm seeing it happen other places and and those agreements are what keeps development going and keeps jobs in cities cities and keeps them growing. Any other questions? May show the rest of the agenda item. I just I think we're ready for

I just wanted to mention the council that um they talked about the strategic plan and they were supposed to the the group of citizens that were on the strategic plan. They were supposed to meet yearly and had a couple of them reach out, especially once this got made public at one of our meetings back in uh October and um I think it's important that they begin meeting again. I mean, that's that's part of that that continuation of that citizen input. Thank you.

Good evening, Mayor, council, members of the public here. um going to provide some information uh as both an update and kind of a lead in uh to the consideration of the design services contract. Um a lot of what you'll see uh is going to be repetitive and I'll touch on that uh here a little bit and also go above and beyond on a few things here. Uh since our last conversation, obviously we completed the RFQ process for the design services and prepared the proposed contract. Um we have continued our efforts to prepare for the planning and design phases. and we've continued to look at operations, how they would be um affected or what needed to be considered both in the near term and uh the long term relative to the project and the steps that would need to be taken. Uh coming up, it's um over the next six months, we'll be in that pre-esign and schematic design phases that overlaps with the visioning uh that we've discussed as well as stakeholder engagement. um for the internal organization, uh the external stakeholders that we've identified and the public in general. And obviously, we'll be providing updates as we continue um with those um [clears throat] with those tasks. And uh city manager earlier mentioned that um you know, a lot of times we're kind of in a lull here and there on some things. Um, if council does approve this contract this evening, obviously things are going to start to ramp up. Uh, considerably this is where a lot of the things first start to happen is in the design phase. You've seen this probably four uh four

or five times now. And um you know these are the main concepts that um that the project is really kind of uh leaning on. um is the development of the indoor courts um for those tournaments and the sports tourism piece. Um the incorporation of the existing library into the project as well as the use of some of that recreational space to support uh community program community programming and daily recreational use. [clears throat]

We've also talked about kind of what initially do we think we're looking at and what would we try to look at incorporating and so you'll see uh the base amenities there on the left and then the potential additional amenities there on the right. Um obviously we need the courts the locker room, the training rooms, uh the tournament and administrative offices, all of the amenities for the public [clears throat] and on the right um It' be nice for us to have additional courts, um, more meeting rooms, kitchen area, indoor playground, and a few other areas that could be used for both the sports tourism piece as well as that um, that local recreation aspect. And so, we've also talked about these kind of strategic concepts. um Baytown as a you sports destination through this facility and through the marketing of some of our other facilities as well. Uh we know that community and stakeholder engagement is going to be a key part of this process. The design itself cannot happen without um getting answers on what we're going to do, how we're going to do it, and that involves um all the stakeholders that we've talked about. We do want to promote that tourism aspect. um not necessarily people taking a vacation, but people coming from outside to have their um have their children, maybe even some of the young adults participate in tournaments, participate in some events that um would draw people to the area. looking at how to capitalize on the facility with some educational opportunities and recreational opportunities that would benefit both the uh visitors to the center as well as our residents. Um we're looking to

provide an overall quality of life enhancement and an asset that the community can utilize long term. Now, we've talked about these last two items a couple times previously. the idea of self-funded operations. Self-funded operations um is basically the direction that you all have given that you do not want to subsidize this facility on on a long-term basis. We do not want to have operational deficiencies. That's why we've talked about um looking at limiting our construction budget, generating interest income, making sure that we have a an operational model that can keep us out of the red. And so when I look when we look at those two things, you know, that's great to say, but how are we going to do it? And so as we've been kind of doing our research and going through this process, sorry um with the uh design services RFQ, you know, we want to emulate um a private sector approach that has been very successful. Um we want to look at the idea of providing a public benefit with private involvement. And when You look at that first item, public private operational partnerships. What we're talking about is really having multiple service providers that operate out of this facility that utilize this facility. So, if we have an event canled, you know, and that's the only thing that we're dependent upon for revenue, then yeah, that's going to hurt. But if we have multiple streams of revenue where we have places that are being utilized by an outside company, whether it be for um personal training, sports merchandise,

lessons, things along those lines. Having multiple revenue streams that um kind of help to support the venue and our overall sports tourism efforts, that's going to be key to our success. And you know there is a there are people out there that do it in the private sector that make money. And you know that's one of the things that we were looking for when we were trying to identify the best um design firm and the best team to help us move forward with this. The idea being is that we're going to target those service providers that are going to be complimentary to what's going on at the facility and in the community. and hopefully the profitability that comes with that that's going to help us to reinvest in not only that facility but in other areas as well. And our goal is that this facility and our overall efforts do become an economic driver for local businesses. [clears throat] And in looking at this facility and the idea of tournaments and events, it is going to be a destination specific to those things. And so I'm going to pause at um at this point. Um I'll be happy to take any questions on kind of the recap um and then I'll turn it over. But I'll pause for now if there any questions.

Yes, sir. Appreciate it, Fran. good presentation. One of the the comments that I've heard recently and and even in this discussion, we keep stressing the recreational sports activities and we kind of brush over the entertainment side. Can can you elaborate a little bit or the vision that because again sure

my concept is yeah we're looking at a youth sports type facility but also multimedia entertainment operation as well but we kind of gloss over that side of it and keep stressing the sports and the recreation side and in and in and my belief we've discussed we haven't just discussed building a real big recreation center it's it's much more than So we're we're kind of glossing over a very important part for our community that that's the entertainment issues. Can you kind of elaborate on that?

Absolutely. And that's really relevant to where we are right now in the process. You know, when we talk about this project, we don't say recreation center, we say event center. Um for a couple reasons. Number one, it's not simply going to be focused on recreational type activities. It's going to be focused on events. events include um whether it be some sort of local music performance, local um uh drama club performances, things along those lines that we can get people to utilize this facility as in as many different ways as possible. And that's a key part of the design because if we have a space that can accommodate four or five different things, we're going to try to do four or five different things there. If we can only do a basketball tournament, we're really limiting ourselves. So that's why at this point, getting that input, understanding exactly what we want to design for and what we want to have the capabilities for is really important. So yes, um that point is not lost on me or member of the team. Um the idea if um you know we're looking at uh the championship court area for example, does it always have to be basketball or volleyball? No. There's enough seating you can host events and we've seen that at a lot of the other facilities that we visited as well. that comes from the stakeholder engagement as well on things they would like and then we have to see if there's any financial feasibility to host those types of events and then council has to decide on the programming that goes with that for the ultimate design of the facility.

Yeah, we're going to want to market to the fullest extent if it's if the building and the you know the facility and our service providers are capable of doing it. We want to try to uh bring it to Baytown and um you know hopefully provide options for uh the but also to increase that revenue

and I appreciate that and I know that's the disc I'm sorry that's the discussions we've had we just need to articulate that at every opportunity because I think we get shifted and focused on the youth sports or the sports aspect and the other part kind of just gets lost in the conversation even though there's an intent to cover that we need to make sure that that is explicit that we're trying to do a multimedia type operation cover as many bases as we can with the space that's allowed. I just want to make sure we keep stressing that as well. Absolutely. And I appreciate you saying it. Yeah. Thanks,

when it comes down to entertainment. Um, well, two things. Can we go back to the picture of the whole menu? I don't think I had that in my presentation. Um, you talking about that layout that you want me to pull that back up one second. I can do that. Okay.

Buildings. That's it. So, two parts to my question. Piggybacking off of what Mike said about entertainment and we say local. Are we talking just bringing in local entertainment or how are we defining local? Well, the if I'm remembering what I said when I said it, local meaning it's an option for the local community, not necessarily only local entertainers or local teams or whatnot. But, you know, if we wanted to host the own Globe Trotters in here, you know, that's an option. Um the idea is that, you know, this will be a destination for the events,

but um the idea that it's going to benefit the local community and the area, but I don't think we'll limit ourselves to any particular service provider. Well, I just wanted that to be defined on record so that individuals won't misconrue what was said. Um on the second part of my question, incorporates existing library Are we saying that this is what it's going to look like or this is just given an example so people can have picture what could happen in the area? Uh that is yeah this is one option that uh the library itself would be incorporated into the overall footprint.

Um I think that's the you know just my opinion you know that's probably the cleanest way to approach it. It's all one footprint within the building. There's the um you know the championship court, the recreation spaces, the library um you know community destination allin one. It may end up being that the library remains a separate building but is still connected to or adjacent to some other things. But in just me speaking personally, you know, without us going through design obviously, you know, I I like I like that concept.

I just so happened to be at the library last night to some copies and um people were asking about the library. The people that were there were genuinely concerned what's going to happen with our our library. They take ownership of it. We have this it was voted the second best library in the nation back in 2020.

2020, right? That's right. And people don't they were worried that we were going to get rid of it that it would be gone. So if they tune in to the meeting, I mean tune in and watch this, they're they'll know it's not just going to be there. It may be improved, but this is an opportunity to improve something that's already great here. Yeah. So thank you for that. Yes, sir. Go ahead.

Okay. Um One of the other things that we've always looked at is to ensure that there is access to the local community uh for different things to do. So it's not going to be just for those coming out of town and those having events. So, you know, we the others that we visited, it has components for the locals to also enjoy whether it's indoors or the outdoor amenities. And so, that's something that we said we we definitely wanted to keep. And so, and that's where a lot of that community engagement will come in. It's like, how would you like, you know, um some of our amenities to be incorporated? What would you like to do every day? Um, you know, and some of those that have talked to me about it, um, talked about, well, you know, we we miss the indoor walking when we lost the mall. You know, here we could have, you know, indoor walking.

That's something that Cliff and I were just talking about uh earlier today actually.

Yeah. And I know Lee College has that as well. People can go now to Lee College and and walk around there. U but this will just be a separate amenity that they can utilize. But um since you brought up the library and you know I I know there's a lot of heart tied to the library. I'm one of those as well. And you know, we have a situation now that, you know, are we going to, you know, put in what 75,000 or possibly more to fix the existing issues at the library and then tear it down. It doesn't make sense. And so that's why we're really trying to move forward with redoing the library. And that might even come sooner than the rest. That's my speculation but only because of the situation we are in right now with the library.

In this instance, you know, the third from the bottom, profitability drives other community activities. You know, if we're successful in bringing events and bringing people here and, you know, there is a revenue stream there that allows us to do more things that we don't necessarily, you know, have to make a profit for, so to speak. And you know the whole idea you know if we have a facility that has additional resources with it you know the library is one potential user of those resources and so I think um the goal is exactly what you know a few of you have said we're going to enhance the overall experience but we're going to try to view it in such a way that you know no subsidy and that you know there's a I won't say a balance but that there is a definite place for local recreation mixed in and then the library

sir kind of going back to like you said about how we're looking at what we've done and and kudos to to Jason for bringing the idea is they talked about not when we look at the design not using all the for just this project that using a portion of it and leaving a portion to help with the the cost to maintain it and other things that we've talked about trying to keep it on that 55 to $60 million range which I appreciate that input that we had in that part. So that's the other part. I don't know if you were going to discuss that or not. Kind of where we're looking, but regarding the u interest income and and the balance. Yeah.

Of the 75. Yeah. Um and and the idea is that you know, we're starting with that assumption right now. um depending on how um how soon we can ramp up with the activity and with the revenue, you know, that may be overkill, but we're going to plan for, you know, that um revenue stream being there um for at least the first few years, see where we are and go from there. So, if there are no um anything else? Yeah.

So, if there are no other questions at this time, um I'd like to do a couple things. I want to introduce um Mr. Gary Krauss from Graham Associates. Uh he's been working uh with us along with the rest of the um owners rep team on the uh RFQ process for design services. Also, um on the line we do have representatives from BRS. Um are we uh are they able to um uh Mr. Kevin Armstrong and Miss Melissa Ford? And so I know they'll be available um to uh answer any questions, make any comments, but at this point I'll turn it over. I have more questions. Sure.

For you before you turn it over. Um, how much money was spent, uh, if any, for land acquisition for this site? Uh, there were three parcels purchased and I want to say that was about $4 million.

Okay. So, at this point, I'll turn it over uh to Mr. Krauss and um he'll walk through uh the RFQ process and um introduce the uh selected firm. All right. Thank you very much. Again, my name is Gary Krauss with Graham Associates. I I would like to start by thanking the council for allowing Graham to be involved with this process. It's an exciting project and we look forward to carrying it through. So, thank you much. uh the RFQ process. Let's step back to when it started basically in well started a long time ago, but uh in August an RFQ was sent out. Uh we had actually 70 firms respond to the RFQ and show up for the um the pre pre-proposal or preoq meeting. Uh actually some of those firms wouldn't be primes, they would be subs. So we didn't expect to have 70 submitts out of that. Uh but we did get nine uh got nine submitts uh in October and um and that's a good number. That's a good number because it gives you a good broad range of people. You know you've got good interest in the project. Um went through a an evaluation process uh between Graham and the city and uh came up with uh three firms that we brought in for interviews here uh in October. Um and uh then that that interview process again included ourselves and uh and and city staff uh 12 person evaluation group and then we end up with one firm and that was BRS uh and I'll kind of go into them and and why we selected them but uh and then since then of course they've been in the

process of putting together their proposal and that's what we're talking about tonight. All right. So, who is BRS? They are a leader in community sports and recreation. You can see by some of the numbers on this slide, they've been in business for over 50 years. Uh they've done over 350 projects. The next one's interesting. 90% of their work is in the sports recreation uh community design. Uh that that is their main line of business. and they're also involved with with the whole sports uh and recreation um industry if we would call it that. Uh so they're not just an architectural firm. Uh this is the project team that they've proposed. You can see at the top of it of course is BRS part for written through circuit and um and then below them are the the subs that we'd expect to see involved with a large architecturally driven project such as this uh MEP structural etc. Two of them I'd like to point out uh particularly uh is LT Sports uh the sports consulting group and that's kind of along the lines of the sports venue and the the the right input during the design process for that to be implemented. And then of course the library consulting group Margaret Sullivan because the library is an integral part of what we're doing. Well, on a more personal level here are the people uh Kevin, Melissa, and Mick. The three on the left, those are BRS folks. Um and then Larry Off is the sports consulting um group uh LT Sports. and then Margaret Sullivan is the library consultant.

Uh this is an interesting slide in that it shows three facilities that that they have done. Uh two of them are completed, one's under construction now. Uh two of them are in Texas. Uh the interesting part of this is that these projects are about the same size in terms of uh cost etc as we're talking about here. So it gives us an idea of some project that they've done that have been successful along those lines. Uh this is just a an give you an idea of what their overall commitment is to community sports. Uh they're involved beyond just the architectural design part and organizations, conferences, research into this whole uh market. So they don't just design it and walk away essentially. Um and then this is an interesting slide that there are 18 centers that they have done where they are working with the owners operators of those centers to get information back to them so that they can evaluate the performance of those interesting way to to look at the whole market. Okay. So that's who they are. So then what are they going to do? Okay. Uh so here are the design um services that we anticipate or the overall work services. uh starting we'll go through the timetable in a minute but starting with pre-esign project visioning again making sure that we're on the right track as far as what we're doing on the project and then of course secondly uh stakeholder involvement engagement uh the design phase itself which is fairly typical of a large architecturally designed project schematic design which is your kind of approach you know do do we want the the

thing to look like this or do we want it to look like this Um and then the schematic design is getting into the details of that. What materials are we using? What forms we're going to use? That type of thing. And then finally the construction documents is the actual set of construction drawing detail and specifications. The fourth item there under the design phase which is cost estimating is something they will do at each stage. So at the schematic at the design you're looking at the cost to make sure are we still on line with where we need to be as far as the cost is concerned. Then the construction phase of it is this is a construction management at risk and about the the area of the construction documents is when you bring that party into the play and this helps guarantee your final price and they would be involved in helping make that selection uh from that design. And then of course the other thing that the BRS would do is to make site visits during uh the construction and make sure that the uh the construction is according to design. So um this is give you an idea of uh just the whole stakeholder engagement thing that Brandt was discussing. Uh some of the components, the different parties that are involved in it. Um and when I say components different things that can occur um from social media and surveys to neighborhood or neighborhood meetings um and uh project meetings. So finally that's who they are, what they're going

to do, how long is it going to take. Okay. Uh this is kind of a simplified diagram of the project schedule. Uh you can see we're we're now in January 26 and the first the green phase of this is the one that's going to occur over the next six months which is a combination of that pre-esign effort with the stakeholder engagement and then the schematic design itself. Uh then the blue is kind of the next three months or so which is the design development the details of the project. Uh and then finally the construction documents in that orange uh circle there uh later in 2026 to do the actual construction documents and then once we get to so that brings us a year from now January 27 uh at the point of getting ready to go construction the first part would be of course the procuring that bidding part of it and then the construction itself at this point we're estimating about 20 months So the project finishes up in December of 28.

That's the process of how we got to where we are today. So any questions? Glad to address council. Um in addition to we I do I mentioned we do have the uh two representatives from BRS on the line. If um you have any questions for them as well. Before we do that, we've had we've got people that signed up to speak. I want to give them an opportunity to come give their comments also. But do we have anything for I have a question. Um, thank you for coming. Yeah.

Um, as far as your 350 projects and the 90% of course being these type of projects. Um, how often is it that y'all move forward with design without any type of feasibility stud? Yeah, this is Kevin Armstrong with BRS. Can you all hear me? Yes, sir. Excellent. Okay,

thank you. Yeah, I think that's a really good question and um I think there's a good number of projects that move forward that have a good path set for them and that you do validation of that program and what the potential functions might be in the center. um in the early part of this project or in the early part of those projects. This is a good example of that where we would be able to very early on in this process do the community engagement side of it, do listening sessions and help map out what the project can take shape and what form it will be along with kind of the programming goals that have been set forth um from the community already. Um the project in Bridgeport, West Virginia an example of that or the project in Greenville, Texas that um Brandt had up on screen. Um that the one in Greenville is a fantastic example. It's very similar to this project where we were given an initial program statement and then we did um early involvement in terms of what does that how does how do all the pieces come together to make a cohesive facility that then helps to meet those goals. and then we went back to the community and ultimately um got support from that through that process. So that's that's what we're going to be mapping out um and we're going to be working on in the very first part of this project after this council meeting should we move forward with the project be successful coming out of this that we're going to be doing those goals and how we're going to create that and then that's going to be the formation of how we move forward. Does that help to answer the question? some what did Greenville have a feasibility study to give y'all before you entered in design?

No, they did not. So, with Greenville, they had um programming goals that they mapped out for the project. They knew they wanted to have a large court sport facility that could have um six full-size basketball courts um as part of the project as well as an aquatics component. And then um a recreation fitness space and then a tenant health wellness partner space. So they had those listed as goals for the facility and then what we were able to do is help take that and synthesize that and bring it together and then be able to go back to the public to share this is from these initial goals what we're looking to create within the budget that they had allocated for that project. And from that we did listening sessions to make sure that that was being successful in terms of what the public's input would be from it.

Thank you. Thank you. Thanks. Well, my comment was going to be um is that I know we originally anticipated 2029 for completion. So, it's kind of good to see the 2028. So is that like construction administration, you know, actual groundbreaking, everything will be done by December of 2028 or is it just I I think at this point in time that's the the best guess. I mean December 28 isn't too far from 29, but Yeah.

Yeah. Carrie, I I would add to that really quickly as well is that's kind of everything moves smoothly forward and everything kind of follows in lock step throughout the process. Um, additionally, that's potentially when construction can be completed, but then there's still movein periods and things like that of getting the facility properly set up for then that opening to the public. Thank you. Anyone else? Okay. Um, thank you. We're gonna open it up for citizens comment. Uh, Miss Jones.

Please state your address.

You know it. Jean Stansky, 4601 Drifter Drive, Baytown, Texas. My office is across the street from this proposal. not looking forward to it. Um, everybody knows that this end of town is depressed. We have a high um unhoused population. Uh, we lost a food town right around the corner from my office. There are several businesses that are closed down on Poly Street, Lobit, and Decker. And this is just not a great part of town to put in a major complex. I drive Decker Drive every day and it is full of cracks and potholes that have constantly having to be fixed. If you go out the other direction down Texas Avenue, you have a two-lane bridge, no shoulders that would have to be expanded if you're going to hold an event coming or going out Texas Avenue. So, you're looking at major road reconstruction to have this kind of project, whether you're coming in Texas or you're going down Decker. So, They have to put dirt along I 10 to get a project where the hotels are. I mean, mind you, there are not viable hotels in this neighborhood. If you want your occupancy taxes to help pay for this government when Exxon isn't paying their 75 millions in taxes, you're going to lose all your occupancy taxes probably to Leaport because that'll be closer and more convenient and lesser priced hotels than the ones we actually have here in Baytown, which are on I 10. This project deserves to be on I 10. We lost out to a professional team because we didn't quit I 10. This is just a bad decision. We should not be spending $5 million for this company to give us a plan for the bad location. It's a terrible location.

And if I have any extra minutes Oh, and there was no feasibility study. I wonder why. Because it's not feasible. Can I give my last minute to um Brandon Terry? Yes. Okay.

Next we have Desiree Claws. Please state your address.

9026 Blue Starling. Um, I'm coming today as a Bayonian and a mom and a small business owner who's spent the last six years actually venturing outside of Baytown to get services that are related to growing my small business. So, when I first heard about the MBACK, my first thought was, is it going to innovate Baytown? So, there's a lot of information that came from Mr. Reynolds today and I appreciate it. So, really my biggest concern really isn't the money or the location or any of those things. It's the concept. An innovation hub in Baytown could help bring down some of the struggles that Baytown's having. For those that don't know, Baytown is one of the top 10 cities in the high that has the highest unemployment rate in the state of Texas. As a small business owner, I believe that a more of an innovation hub would help small businesses, creatives, and bring an innovative maker space for the small business community. We are also in need of meeting rooms and opportunities to build an innovative tech community possibly while partnering with Exxon Mobile would make sense. Some of the venues that I've gotten to uh be at in Houston while growing my small business such as the ION in Houston is a great example. Also, the Canon and also the Texas Medical Center Helix Park and many other venues in Houston. All our amazing innovation hubs that reside mostly in the Houston metro area. I will continue to see how this event case unfolds. But so far, what I'm hearing and what I'm seeing, it's missing the mark. The description also alone seems a little vague regarding the regional hub of youth sports, tourism, and entertainment versus an innovation hub that fosters collaboration between entrepreneurs, academics, and corporations featuring workspaces, labs, event spaces, and so on. So, I will ask you this, will this space innovate town or will it stagnate Baytown? Thank you.

right here. Joseph, good afternoon. My address is 170 North Bernett. So, I mean, I don't I think there's a small disconnect between the council and the citizens because $75 million is preposterous. How many citizens were upset at like the 10 or 12 million for the hotel and now we're going to turn around and do the exact same thing but in a bigger league. Um I don't think that the like for y'all to be liked. Y'all don't need to do anything groundbreaking or new or super cutting edge. Like we just want the basics. I want the water to be turned on when I turn on my sink. I want water to be there. I want the roads to be good enough to drive to work and I there be funding for the police so we're safe. Like all this extra stuff and I almost want to call it like a vanity project. We don't want it. We don't need it. I mean I feel like there's so many better ways we can spend the money and um you know Jason said that the north side is growing organically. There's a reason why because it's on I 10. So even if we put something down there and our event center is doing amazing, everything else around there is not going to change. The traffic, the roads, the the closeness to I 10. It's just I don't think that we need to be putting our feet in the private privatization. If there was a want or need for it, a private business would already come in here and be making money. And especially after all the citizens outrage over the hotel and the golf course, I don't know why we keep doing the same thing and the same thing and the same thing. Like I said, we don't need y'all to do anything

cutting edge for us to like you. I just want low taxes, which y'all did vote for no new revenue. I want water to be there when I turn on my sink. Want the roads to be good. And I want a good police force. That's it. Like y'all y'all don't have to do anything else. Like the bar is kind of low. Like That's really all we want. So, I mean, I know there has to be some some way to wiggle out of this or put the money in a better spot, but 75 million, like I don't think a lot of people can grasp how much that is. That's not a house. That's not a car. These are amounts of money that most people don't deal with. And I think we need to think a little bit harder before we just blow it on a cool soccer field or basketball field. I love sports, but I don't know, 75 million in a part of town that is already admittedly not growing organically just seems like a bad investment whenever the citizens have already spoken don't want these projects. We just want basics. So, thank you for your time. I really hope you all consider these things. Thank you. Next, we have I got a question. Donnie Gregory Donnie Gregory. Okay. Um, Mr. Terry, did you sign up for 8B or 2B? So, did my question is did you sign up before the council meeting started and you signed up for 8B is what is showing

and you're saying after the council meeting started you saw we were going to talk about 2B. Okay. Well, our rules say he's not able to sign up after the council meeting starts to talk about something. So, that's why But he still didn't sign up. He didn't sign up for 2B, you know.

Um I don't think we should be suspending something to allow somebody to speak. The rules are the rules. But even though it was moved, if it's an agenda item and you signed to speak on it, you can speak on it. I mean, if I'm looking at the agenda,

okay, hold on. Okay. So, when we get to 8B, you can speak on 8B. You can only speak about what that's going to be cons um concerning, but we'll talk about that when we get to it. Let me see here. And this person was taken off. All right. Well, that's everyone that signed up to speak on 2B. We have any more comments, questions, or concerns? Yeah, he is.

And so, um, we we did intend to do um some some baseball fields and grow our presence when it comes to baseball. That was one of our bond items. So we hope to address that um at a later time um as well. Is am I correct? So um we do recognize the the need to have um some better fields, better competitive fields. Um I know the mayor encountered that with some teams that wanted to come and we just couldn't turn around a field to do a a champion junior league um because it was too much. Um uh work and and we didn't have the capacity and so we recognized it then um recognize it now and so we hope to revisit that with the Gina Moretta um Russell Park um movement further.

So

um yes and I just speaking my closing comment about the the item we were just talking about um it's going to be similar to I said previously, there's always going to be a group of people that say we're not asking for this. And then there's a group of people that say we are asking for this. And uh Mr. Reynolds held up a book earlier, the strategic plan. He held up the um the the thinner I think it was a a parks the rec center. Um I know that we've had uh several citizens, I'm thinking of a few of them right now that that are that sit on that strategic team that hopefully start to meet again. Um there are people that want this. There was very long discussions and and public input. So um I'll just close with that. There's there's people that do want it.

Yeah. Um, I just want to address um, Mr. Reynold's presentation and thank you for the presentation. Um, you know, I think there's a sentiment sometimes if somebody disagrees with something, you're being negative. Um, that's not the case I've gotten working with these constituents. I've lived here for 43 years. There are people here that care about Dayton and um you know somebody who's disagreeing in something doesn't necessarily mean that they're they're they're negative means they have concerns. Um if I if somebody was jumping out of the plane with a parachute without a parachute, would it be negative to tell them that they can't jump out the plane because they don't have a parachute on? No. it it's it's it's taking the necessary make sure they take the necessary steps to protect themselves. Um I feel this is rushed. I think there's we we I know we had um an initial study back in 2018, but a lot has happened in our city and in the country since 2018. Um it's a different populace. It's a different culture. It's a different um we had co you know we had economic um ups and downs and there hasn't been a lot of of engagement to Sarah's point um to address whether do to see if we want to go for forward with this from the public um that coupled with there's no feasibility study. We're about to um invest another five million without a feasibility study on a project that we're just guessing to see if it's feasible. You that's jumping out of a plane without a shoot. Um, I really would hope that we take a step

back with what we've heard over the last few years. We've heard testimony after testimony, people having questions about the location, um, the money, where it's coming from, do we want this over the last year? Um, to say, hey, let's let's take a step back with our bond. We only 60 only 40% of our bond passed. 60% failure. There's a lot we need to step back and and say, do we want to do this with that 75 million? I am grateful for our IDAs. Our IDAs make Baytown a [clears throat] bearable place to live um without the influx of high taxes. Um I'm grateful for Exxon, what it's done for my family and um for my friends in this town. I'm just not getting a consensus of this is what what are this is what the citizens are asking for and I think with the way I feel the way the bond shaped out um that we need to step back and really look think of innovative ways or what we could do with this 75 million other than this center. Now there is a clause in our in the contract we're not talking about a contract agree renegotiated agreement with Exxon. There's a clause that allows us to use that building with on another facility. I know Jason said Exxon came to us with a um they wanted to do a science center. There was a science center on the bond a wetland center that that failed because the citizens didn't want to go to debt on that. Um maybe we can look you go look into doing that. that we could exon and ask them. Um, you know, I have it on good authority that, you know, they may not mind what we use

that way. Um but these questions I feel we need to answer before we go move forward with um any type of um design or um um any more steps to to develop this project where it's at. Um I want to ask you I'm gonna put a motion out there right now to um to table this this agreement for now with uh Baker Ranker CCAT architectural PC when it's such time we get more community engagement we need to get we need to get a feasibility study to see if this will work at this location how many seats uh would it be needed to be profitable what components would need to be profitable um you know I want to see us go as a council go to resolution to XX on can can we use that 75 million for something else to for services that we we're needing right now. We we're we're having a crumbling infrastructure. We're having you know we're talking about building fire stations um to really step back and see you know what we could do with 75 million. I know Miss Alvarado said, "Yeah, we're getting a 20 million in our general fund that that goes to for from Exxon's last uh IDA. You know, what about the future? You know, what is that $75 million look like in the future? What kind of hole is that going to punch in our budget in the future?" These are questions that need to be answered. So, I want to make a motion we table this until such time, you know, some of these things have happened. We went to Exxon to see if we can use some money on on something different and um we get more community input and we get a

feasibility study. That's the motion I'm putting out. Point of order. I made a motion [clears throat] last time. Three times, right? I need a second. on the vine. Let's go with council member district 4 and then we'll

you want to and I appreciate your comments council and I also appreciate uh city manager and staff and I'm going to read a letter from October 8th 2024 that was sent to all the council. This is from Exxon regarding the chapter 212 agreement between Exxon Mobile and the city of Baytown. Exxon Mobile was satisfied with the intent the 75 million upfront payment and the vision of the city management council to build a multi-purpose event venue with Exxon Mobile naming rights. This upfront payment payments are not intended for general use funds. We already asked that question. I asked that question when we were in tech in the at the state capital with the gentleman for Exxon. I asked that same question.

Well, there's we have help. It's my time. We have a letter that you got. I got everybody right here. What does it say? Where does it say that you will talk about? It says that they are

that these upfront payments are not intended for judgment. says satisfied with the intent. That is what it says. We all know that in a negotiation, the first person to go to negotiation will lose. I This is a $5 billion investment into the city of Baytown. That is a lot of money and that is a lot of jobs. Okay? And I understand, trust me, I get it. I get where we're coming from. And we have to also look at the cost. We're talking about 55 million to 60 million what we want to spend on that. Right now 55 million every month it cost us $200,000 more with inflation at 4%. The Federal Reserve right now has an interest rate around six and three/4ers. Construction does not happen at five at six and a quarter. It happens at 5% below. There will be a new federal tariff federal reserve this year. We all know that. And the intent is to lower the interest rate. And when the interest rate lowers, construction will begin. There will be more investment and when more investment comes it's supply and demand. We just saw Rand is the new fire station under budget. But how much?

There we go. Um we have received bids that um we do believe that the construction cost will be within the established budget. Okay.

The we just bid G road. It was how much under budget? 10 million. to do the G road the 46 million was I believe 10 million under budget who only does freeways bid on a city of Baytown project there's companies out there that are not doing construction right now supply and demand and I get it I completely understand but when we look that we've had seven years of this part and I understand the feasibility but it's they just told you that they they are going to be doing the feasibility this five million isn't a guaranteed five million this is draws okay this is not we're giving them $5 million Today we are giving them in draws. They're probably going to pull five to initial 500,000 for the initial startup of all this. But this is from start to end five million. They are going to be doing the studies. They're going to this is all what's going to start happening. This is where the community engagement begins. Okay? And I I I get it. And I talked to multiple people. I even talked to people in in everybody's district pretty much today. And I talked to someone in that did that was against it. And when I told them what we had to do and I outlined it. I'm not I completely transparent. And what they said, they're like, "You're kind of stuck into it." And I get $5 billion. That is a lot to risk because let's be realistic. That project got cancelled because of when they cut the the the funds for hydrogen because of market. They're now re restructuring because they lost a $4 billion grant from the federal. We know what just happened last week. There's going to be investments coming back into Exxon. They're going to build. They're already talking about it. It's coming. And we I'm not going to risk four That's a potential two to 4,000 jobs. If you want to risk two to 4,000 jobs for these people, I I'm still talking. If you want to risk the two to 4,000 jobs, that's that's on you.

Jason wanted to make a comment before we get too far into the piece. the council in 2025 or 24 when we bought the properties when the city bought the properties adjacent to Vector or Inbeck the council unanimously voted on that knowing that it was part of MBEC and per the contract because it's part of MBEC that it the money can only be spent on one location project. So if if the council does um open up negotiations of the contract, you would have to pay $5 million out of the general fund to pay that back to project vectors funding mechanism. So there just a nuance as part of the discussion so you understand.

Thank you.

So um thank you council member Franco and Jason because I was actually gonna make some of the same comments and and I appreciate Um I I see that you have passion uh to to ensure that we have the best solution for everyone. We we've been at this for for quite a while in terms of doing the due diligence and all of that. And I know um the hotel and and golf course keeps being brought up. We're done with that. We're done with that. We need to figure out a path forward. Um, and uh, the ideas that were brought forth by Miss Clauss, she mentioned those before and I talked to Jason about that. I like those ideas. We did have an innovation center here before and it flopped. Uh, we're now redoing the Brenson Center um, to have more of a multimedia option for our constituents. Could that run off into the event center or MBA? Absolutely. Probably the multimedia works now. Uh we can satellite in from the Brunson over to the MB back and vice versa. So the the options are very uh unlimited when it comes to design and that's why stakeholder feedback is very critical. You heard the gentleman say that they didn't do a feasibility study. So for me, that's out the window in terms of the reasoning of not moving forward because they didn't utilize a feasibility study and they're open. And I'd be curious to see what some of their revenues have been because some of the the centers that we went to, they they had to hold off on so many things because they were booked year round, including the one that we went to over

in I think it was Um, and we went to that one and and they could not move enough faster. They had to hire additional people because there were so many people wanting to Could that happen here? I don't know. And that's what the fe the um stakeholder feedback is going to look like to ensure that we capture our residents feedback to see what they want to to have within the facility. Um I agree we have to make sure that we we make it to where we're not just focusing on sports. Um, and so for me, um, I'm glad that you got it from very good authority because we've yet to hear any of that. And the same thing happened when we were going through the transportation that you had a list that none of us had, but we you had an opportunity to go before today's meeting. And maybe you did already. I'm not sure. You probably did because we all have an opportunity to talk to Jason beforehand. and and give him all of our information. Give them all the data. We never got that data from you in terms of what you got regarding transportation. We haven't heard from you yet about your um resource that told you we could renegotiate with Exxon. The conversation that I've had, not just from the letter, but just two weeks ago, is that they're happy that we're moving forward with this project. Exxon had It it wasn't just the flip of a switch with uh Mr. Aaron um strike that yeah, this is what we want. They had to go to all of their board of directors, get them all together, sign off on the agreement multiple times, get their attorneys

involved, um our attorneys involved, so it wasn't an overnight thing. and they blessed the document and that was the final. Um, so I would be curious to know who you spoke to that said, "Yeah, let's go ahead and change the agreement and without having to go back up the chain again with attorneys and board of directors that live everywhere. So, I'd be curious to know who you spoke to that said, "Yeah, you can redo the terms of the agreement. I think we're arguing two different things here. Um, I'm not asking to change the terms of agreement. I'm asking to exercise the or clause in the current agreement to use the money on something different. We don't have to reinvent the agreement. It's right here on page 19, article six. We can use the money for a multi-purpose sports center or a building, a mutual agreement, a parties uh a mutual agreement, community building. It's right here in the contract. Doesn't have to don't. There's an or clause right here. We don't have to redo the contract. We don't have to miss out on the money. It's it's just an or clause. Um and so you know, it was a former mayor who has ties to Exon Mobile who told me this information that Exon would be okay with exercising. Okay. So, you know, if that answers your question, if you're fine with that going on, you find it would not not exercising or clause. This is our way to use the money for something different. If you're fine with that, that's fine, but own it.

So, I'm going to say this and then we're going to go ahead and vote on it.

No, we're going to go ahead and vote after I speak. We're going to be We've talked about this long enough. We've already had a motion. It died on the vine. Um, and as far as someone saying that they someone who told you former mayor or not that that was the case. We have an email here. If this is a former mayor, they know exactly where city hall is, where the city manager's office is, where legals is, and they can actually go in and have a conversation. Am I right? Um, that's what it is. We had a motion go forth. The motion died on the vine. We're not going to prolong this any longer. We're going to go ahead and vote on it. If it passes, it passes. If it fails, it fails.

No. No. No. We're going to we're going to go ahead and vote the date of the original contract. We're going to go ahead and vote. Proceeding that original. I need a I need a motion. Mayor, I'll move that we approve 2B. Second. All in favor? I. Any oppose? Nay. Motion carries. 3A. Well, we're not we're not going to we're not we voted. We're done with it. 3A receive and discuss a presentation of the proposed second phase of the Bay Creek residential development. Mr. Moran.

Yes. Uh Mr. Mayor and city council members. We have Mr. actually with Cerwalk Communities who has a brief presentation on their second phase of Bay Creek which is located off of North Main across from Creek Memorial High School. Mr. Good evening, Mayor Based in Houston, Texas with a presence in Arizona, Tennessee, and now in Huntsville, Alabama. We're in all the major markets. We're based here in Houston, Texas. we've built in Baytown for quite some time. The two most recent communities are Goose Creek Landing and the newest one is Bay Creek. And what I'll be presenting to you today, um those are the neighborhoods we were in previously. I'm going to take you through a few pictures here of the current development. Um, when we bought this community, bought the land for this community, y'all had just started doing pits and we set the boundaries for pit number one. And had we known we were going to be able to buy the Union Pacific property to the north of us, we would have waited and done it all under one pit. Uh, so this is for a new pit. This is for pit number two. So this is some pictures of the existing community. This is our entrance, uh, parks, trail system. I would note that these pictures were taken last week and so they're not flowering with spring and summer foliage. Uh the site that you see in the red is the existing development. The site that you see outlined in the green is the proposed uh pit number two. Just to the

north of that is the LAR community. This is another outline. What you see shaded out is uh Bay Creek Pit number one. What you see uh that's more vibrant is Bay Creek uh pit number two. And so PID number two uh will be 59 lots in section three that are 55 foot lots and section four are 50 foot lots. This is exactly what we [clears throat] did in Bay Creek Pit number one. Focusing on pit number two again 97 50 foot lots, 59 55 foot lots. We're going to continue exactly what you've seen. Park, pedestrian, trails, playgrounds, amenity pond, additional landscaping. Um we're big on connectivity. Uh we have trails going throughout the existing pit number one. We're going to connect those trails to pit number two. So, there'll be good walking paths going by the detention ponds. Those those are wet detention ponds. There'll be fountains there, lots of landscaping. So, and if you go all the way to the left where you see section three, you'll see an orange line going through. That is a long trail going along uh from from west to east and then of course from north to south along the on the the west I'm sorry the eastern boundary. Um what you see here in regards to trees and plantings are exactly what we had in the original development agreement uh for pit number one. Lots of different uh landscaping uh amenities we're going to put in. We're going to continue the 8oot sidewalk along North Main that we have now. Uh six foot sidewalks uh on the

detention trail. Six foot sidewalks on the internal trail. This is a aerial or I guess a drone shot of one of the trails right there that goes along the spine in pit number one that we will be continuing in pit number two. um this is an example of the fencing that you're going to see. Um you're going to have a variety of different fences that will be a continuation of what you see in the current neighborhood. Uh and then we're going to have f upgraded fencing uh that'll be developed along the northern boundary and you're going to have metal fencing so uh along the lakes so residents can take advantage of of the view. Some more examples. Again, more examples of what we've done. Two different series of houses that we build. Uh these are the existing models. These are cobalts that are on our 50-foot um hot lots. And then we have the 60 foot which is a move up product. With that, that is my presentation.

Well, I appreciate you all coming in and um and building under a pit. Um I do remember when we decided to go to a hood or a pit and try to move away from muds and I appreciate you all coming in and doing what we asked and trying to do what we were trying to move away from. Yes, sir. So, um, thank you for that. I know Goose Creek Landing is a product that sold quickly. People were very happy and people are still happy being there and I'm can't wait to see how fast this development sells and what the reviews are with the homes.

Thank you, sir. We appreciate it as well. I only have one comment and that's congratulations on working with UP for them to actually give up a piece of their property. Yeah. So that's amazing.

Anyone else? Sorry. Good deal. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. 4 A. consider a resolution accepting a petition for the establishment of the Bay Creek Public Improvement District number two and setting a public hearing regarding the adv advisability of the proposed improvements. Mr. Moran.

Uh yes, Mr. Mayor. So, the proposed uh resolution is for the establishment of the uh Bay Creek Public Improvement District uh number two. um this first step if uh council decides to approve this petition um and its acceptance it does not establish the PID. However, it does authorize um staff to go ahead and begin um working on um with developer um on the development agreement. And then there's also a series of other steps that we need to take um which include the feasibility report, providing notice and publications for um public hearings, and then also returning to council for consideration um to create the district and then the service and assessment plan um that will be approved. Um each of these steps um will require um council action at that point. So there'll be a series um series of items in upcoming um council meetings um that you will have to consider um before any assessments um on the properties can be levied. Um, as a part of this item, um, tonight for your consideration, um, staff is recommending the public hearing, um, to be set, um, on the advisability for the public improvements, um, set for February 12th. And just for for clarification, PID is public improvement district, which is a f financing mechanism.

I need a motion. All in favor? I. Any opposed? Motion carries. Thank you, Mr. Moran. We're now moving on to consent agenda. Um, if no one's going to pull anything, we're going to go ahead and take A and O together. Yes, sir.

Typo on 5H. This will be a proposed ordinance, not a proposed resolution.

Good deal. Thank you. I need a motion. Motion to approve items through O. No exception. Second. All in favor? I. Any oppose? Motion carries. Now we are on to six managers report. Now before we get into that, you did speak. So, are we taking time away from your previous presentation? I'll be very brief, I promise. Thank you.

All right, mayor and council. The city of Bayon Parks Recreation [clears throat] Tourism Department recently earned several awards. Texas Recreation and Park Society traps maintenance of the year award for solar lighting project. Uh 2025 aquatics photography award for the photo titled a worry-free day at Pirates Bay. Certificate of recognition from the HAC parks and natural area awards received in collaboration with the emergency management team in the on the ground project category for the Jenkins Hallway perfect trail improvement project and honorable mention recognition from HAC parks and natural area awards in the program programming category for the city of Baytown and GCC GCC ISD's nature education program. So congrats to the departments on these achievements. Please pass that on Cliff and thank you to you and your team. Uh, I'd also like to congratulate Stephen Bradford from our public works and engineering department on recently earning his commercial driver's license. So, great job, Stephen. Frank, please pass that on to him. Mayor Council, that is all I have for this manager's report.

Good deal. 7A council member district report. Mike Lester, District 6.

Mayor, um, district, there's there's a lot of stuff going on. Uh there's a lot of technical issues going on with their east uh district wastewater treatment plant. Several phases in process there. Um stormwater crews have been out digging out the ditches and flushing drainage pipes in the district. That's easy to see because they leave a trail when they go which is great. Um I wish we could get some rain. We desperately need it. And then there was a a fun fact that I guess parks provided about the Tabs Bay disc golf course and that that uh the the I guess the DISC app tracked nearly 500,000 steps during December uh which is about 114,000 steps per week. I don't know about the rest of y'all but if I play disc golf I'd probably do the 500,000 steps in one day just chasing my frisbees down just not that good with them. So um just just a general lot going on. Uh, I appreciate the effort of Frank and his crew as far as the storm water stuff. Uh, that's near and dear to my district's heart. So, I appreciate the effort. That's it. Um, I'm going to take some privilege here and talk about our library really quick. Like I said, I stopped in yesterday to make some copies and the innovation room was full. I mean, it was packed wall to wall. Like, what is going on in there? They were doing vision boards. vision board. When I walked in, um I didn't know that was going on and someone made the comment, "So tell us without telling us, you aren't you are not following the library's Facebook page." Yeah. And they about beat me for it. Um and then they found out I didn't have a library card.

Oh yeah, that was

bad business. So um I'm here to say it took me three minutes to get my library card. I have a photo to prove it. And I just want to say kudos to our library u staff for the wonderful job that they're doing because everyone that was in there say that they reminded me as if I wasn't here that we have the best library in [clears throat] Baytown and that they enjoy the programming going on at our library. They were very kind with me walking me through the steps of getting my library card. They were gracious enough to explain to me more than once what I needed to do to pay for my copies. And um you don't even have to go to the copy machine. Once you pay for it, it magically appears. It's wonderful. I love it. Um so, thank you to the library staff for the wonderful job you all are doing. And um

did you donate to fix a toilet while you were there? I did not. But that may be something I consider to be their good graces. Um, I will say that um I I am committing to follow their Facebook page. I'm going to commit to doing what my mother had me doing when I was a young child, going there, renting VHS tapes of Disney movies. I'm going to try to rent something once a month and I will be bringing it back on time so I don't have to deal with the fine. Um, now we're going to go on. Thanks for the kind words, Mayor. I appreciate that. know the team does. We have a great team over there.

We're going to go on to eight um executive session and Mr. Terry, you did sign up to speak. So, come on up, please. You have three minutes and please state your your address and thank you for waiting around drive Baytown, Texas. I'm addressing the behavior our city manager and council's lack of action. And I don't know how we can talk about public private partnerships without the failures of our last two, specifically the golf course. And sitting here at the slideshow tonight gave me a nightmare of the presentation given on the golf course and a city manager sits up here on a slide shows the number of rounds being played and those numbers were cooked like the books of Enron. There's no way. Those were false. 100% false. Then he makes the statement, "Due to the number of rounds being played, the golf course is sustainable." Complete lie. And y'all made decisions based on that presentation. And then did you hold him accountable? Was he punished? Was anything put in his file? You all gave them a raise and an extension. You out of your mind. Then come to find out, our city charter is not being followed. He's gone through two contracts and his address is under question. If you're a proud Beethonian, your address should not be under should be crystal clear where you live. That is not the case. Are you going to enforce the rules? Are you going to abide by our city charter? What are you going to do? And again, I'm insulted. I've been here

all night and no one brought up the failures of the hotel and the failure of the golf course. Do you guys realize we are a defendant in a federal case of the golf course developer? What the heck did we promise that developer to end up in federal court? And what's the cost defending it? Is it who knows what that's going to be? It's not going to be cheap. How did this arena deal? We have issues with the EPA and the TCEQ. How did this arena deal jump that? And back to Joseph Fallen's comments. What about polluting our values and our base? How is that not a priority? That should be addressed before this freaking arena. Come on, guys. We're better than this. And Baytown deserves better. Baytown deserves better. But are we going to hold anybody accountable? And how the heck? This was supposed to be a public the discussion and now it's being moved behind closed doors. Why? Why not the transparency? Why not the accountability? We have fraud all over the place. We hired a con man to develop the golf course. Look where that got us. the hotel bleeding red ink.

That's it. And now these developments, we're going to jump to an arena. That is That is your time. Big town deserves better.

Thank you. Um, it is 9:06 p.m. We will recess into and convene an executive session preserving to government Texas government code sections 551.074 to discuss personal matters regarding the municipal court judge selection process and or 551.074 74 to discuss personal matters regarding the city manager and or 551.071 and 551.072 and or 551.087 to seek the advice of the city attorneys regarding pending or contemplated litigation. to deliberate the purchase, exchange, lease or value of real property and or to deliberate regarding economic development negotiations 10:24 p.m. and announced that in accordance with the Texas with the section 551.102 of the Texas government code, no action was taken in executive session. Having exhausted everything on this agenda, I now adjourn this meeting at 10:24 p.m. You can go home.