City Commission - Regular Meeting

Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. N. Heat. Heat.

Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat.

Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat.

Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. N.

Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat.

Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat.

Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat.

Heat. Heat. N. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat.

But it is

I mean still kind of Good elements. Good evening. Testing. Testing.

Mayor, may we begin the special works session? Yes, ma'am. Perfect. Uh this notice is a public meeting of of the city of Brownsville. Is hereby given that the city commission of the city of Brownsville, Texas in in accordance with article 5 section 12 of the charter of said city will convene a special work session meeting beginning at 4:02 p.m. is the time here in the city commission chambers on the second floor of the Brownsville city hall uh federal building located at 101 East Elizabeth Street, Brownsville, uh Cameron County, Texas 78520. We will proceed with the roll call starting with Mayor John Cowan present.

Commissioner Pedro Cardas, Gustavo Deleon, Noren Galowski, Tino Varal, Linda Mas, and Brian Martinez. No, no quorum is needed to proceed. This is a work session. Item number one um um is a discussion of the proposed unified development code of of the regulations of bars and restaurants. Okay.

All right. Uh good afternoon, uh Mr. Mayor and commissioners. Um thank you all for making the time to join us with this uh special work session that we've uh hosted uh related to the special use the upcoming UDC amendment uh to amend special use or to require special use permits for any new bars within the city. So just to kind of recap because this is where it's all coming from. Um so on January 20th, the city commission voted to approve the Midtown entertainment district overlay. Um, this was to address the cluster of alcohol serving establishments that had indirectly or directly uh led to the increase in crime. A final vote on the boundaries will be held today during this meeting. Um, and the provisions of the Midtown Entertainment District overlay address enhanced security requirements, compliance measures, and penalties for violations. So while discussing that, if you recall, um while discussing the Midtown Overlay district, uh the city commission considered proactively addressing future implications for the city. So what does this mean for future bars within the city? Um the commission also discussed the idea of additional overlays. Um but as a solution, the planning department is considering the following. Uh we are considering amending the unified development code to require all new bars to have an SUP. Um, and I'll go over the parameters in just a second, but this would apply citywide. Um, or we could also establish distance requirements through the code of ordinances. Both of these items require public hearings, but also going back to the distance requirements, you can require an SUP with distance requirements. We got two things going on. We can do the SUP with or without distance requirements, or we can just do straight distance requirements. Um, so like I said, this was modeled after the requirements for the Midtown Entertainment District overlay. Um, just, you know, kind of at a high level, it addresses the 51% rule and within restricted hours, those hours being of 12:00 a.m. to 2 a.m. It's identical to the TABC late hours permit. So essentially, once we find out someone has a TABC late hours permit, they'll

begin the SCP process uh to ensure that they're compliant. Current bars in the city would be grandfathered in and do not fall within these pro these provisions. Now again, this is outside the Midtown Entertainment District overlay. Um, an establishment will lose its non-conformity if there's a change in ownership or name, a change in building footprint, like an expansion or additional seating, um, or a change in operating hours. So, if they are closing at midnight right now and then they want to close at 2 a.m., well, then they would need the the uh new SUP uh to be in compliance. So, those provisions again, they redefine drinking establishments. Those are establishments that are receive 51% or more of the revenue from on-site alcohol consumption during the hours of 12 a.m. to 2 am. There's enhanced uh security measures with surveillance retention of 14 days um and timely compliance with Brownsville PD on records requests. There's electronic age verification. Uh there's a two- strike policy that had been discussed with the Midtown Overlay. Um, after two police incidents, an establishment will be required to provide licensed peace officers from the hours of 11 pm to 3:00 a.m. Just a reminder that we came up with an 11 p.m. to 3:00 a.m. rule or uh time frame based on the Midtown Overlay District. Um, this is because most peace officers work in four- hour shifts. And so, it just makes more sense than require them for two hours instead requiring them for four hours. Another big thing part of the SCP provision is the one-year trial period. So, every new bar will be that is approved for an SCP will be valid for one year. After that one year, the applicant will need to reapply with the planning department. The planning department will review the application and uh review any incident reports or any code violations. Um, and if there's any, then the planning department can request that the item be heard before the planning and zoning and city commission. If an establishment is determined to be in good standing, so there's no code violations, no police

incidents, um the planning director can then administratively approve the SCP free of cost to the applicant, so they can basically continue doing their business. It's important to note that upon the second application, so say an establishment were to uh open for that one year, they have x amount of police incidents, maybe a couple code violations, and we decide we need to represent this to the planning and zoning and the city commission. At that time, the commission can decide to place additional restrictions on that establishment, or they can approve it, or they can just flat out deny the request. Similar to the Midtown overlay requirements, there's penalties for non-compliance um 500 up to 500 and $2,000 for each infraction. Um and then we also uh in order to identify the establishments that are maybe not in good standing, um we've identified 15 individual arrests. um two incidents of homicide, two incidents of sales to minors, or two violations to the hours of operation, the planning director then can revoke the establishment's SUP. So if they have more than 15 arrests or more than two incidents of homicide, sales to minors, etc., then like I said, the planning department can revoke their SUP.

Well, wouldn't TABC do the same? I'm I'm not sure if they would or not. And this would give us like specific um parameters that we can say, well, you had 16 arrests, like we have grounds to to do to shut down the bar. I I have a question. Yes, sir. Two two incidents of homicide. Isn't one enough? I agree. Um if that's something that the council one is too many, uh I I don't even know what to say about that one.

That's No, that's a fair um fair assessment. I mean, that's something that can be written into to the requirements.

So, like I kind of touched on earlier, one of the additional provisions that we can require for any new SUPs are distance requirements. Um these provisions could be used to avoid these clusters uh within bars or clusters of bars within the city. Um other cities have similar distance requirements. Uh for an example, the city of Haringen um has uh SUP spacing requirements for bars. So there's a minimum of 100 feet between any existing bar or lounge. Um in addition, TABC has their own requirements of 300 ft within a church school or hospital. So they still fall under the 300 foot distance requirements. The specific distance requirements we're talking about here with the SUP is between bars. Macallen, Texas has a minimum spacing between car washes. And the city of Brownsville, we also have a spacing between gas stations where gas stations are only permitted at one per intersection. Um, so like I said, distance requirements are things that we've done in the past that other cities have done. Um, and that we're suggesting for the for this SCP. Uh, the planning department is suggesting a 150 foot buffer uh between any new bars within the city and that's with the exception of downtown. Um, the reason being that downtown has a cluster of bars. It's a little more dense. Uh, but again, that's up to the commission to decide those parameters. One of the other topics that had come up uh during our discussions with the Midtown overlay was parking. Um so council can also decide to impose minimum parking requirements that apply as part of this SCP. So any new bar would be required to have bar specific parking requirements. Currently there's one off- streetet parking space required per 250 ft of gross floor area. Um and that's the same as a restaurant here in the city of Brownsville. Um, Harling Texas has one of uh, one off- streetet parking space per 100 square feet of floor area or one parking space per each for each two seats provided in the bars, whichever is greater. City of Macallen has one off- streetet parking space

requirement per 100 square feet. So again, this is something that can be written into the new SUP um, if the council decides that there should be additional provisions for parking. Currently, this is a map. You probably have a better uh version on your screen or or in your um in your packets um just to show the bars and drinking establishments that have um late hour permits um and have food and be beverage licenses. You can see the cluster in the Midtown area and then um also in the downtown area. Um the reason we wanted to bring that slide up again, you know, is to show in downtown you generally have denser buildings. It's encouraged that way. um and um that may not be conducive to having minimum spacing requirements between bars within that specific district. So in summary, um the proposed SCP requirements would apply to all new bars citywide. Um it sets definitions for drinking establishments and restricted hours. um the enhanced security measures just like we discussed with the Midtown overlay, the one-year trial period, penalties and fines for non-compliance, and then we also asked the council to consider distance requirements and parking requirements as part of the SCP. And of course, we're available for questions. Um I wanted to keep the presentation short that way we can uh kind of facilitate this workshop.

Uh to to be correct, these are for any new bars opening up after tomorrow, right? Or the bars that are in there right now, they would be grandfathered. That's correct. Yes, sir.

All right. And here's a a better timeline just so we can get an idea of when this takes effect. Um, so the amendment for the SCP, we're having the workshop today, February 3rd. Tomorrow we'll be meeting with the downtown downtown business owners um to discuss this and present the same thing. Um, and then this will go to the planning and zoning commission on Thursday, February the 5th. If that's approved, it'll go for first reading for in front of the city commission on February 17th. And if approved on that day with no delays, um the second and final reading would go to city commission on March 3rd. So effective March 4th on an ideal timeline with no delays, this SUP would take effect. So, is this proposal with the additional provisions and such going to be a solution for I know one of the uh underlying issues was when a business owner or a plaza owner opens up the plaza and says, "I'm going to have two bars. I'm going to have five offices and a restaurant." But then turns around and then opens up more bars. I think that's where the origin of a lot of these issues stem from. So would this be providing a solution for that?

I think the distance requirements would would be that solution for that or um enhanced parking requirements, right? Um my understanding with the situation with um the Sunshine Plaza was that um it was like kind of a shared parking situation where these offices close at 5, your restaurant opens at 5:30, you can take my parking and then it just kind of you know I just want to make sure that we give the staff the resources they need that if in the case that something like that does happen that you have the appropriate action to take that. Yes, sir.

Uh two things about parking. First, I'd like to I think I was corrected after our meeting. We don't have 86 parking spots for 87. I think it was 180 some. Uh we weren't counting the ones on the back. So, sorry about that. And then number two, for downtown, you can't really use the parking part, can you? Right. Okay, that's correct. Yeah. So, our recommendation um is that the distance requirements would not apply to downtown and neither would the parking requirements. Obviously, the parking requirements downtown is uh the buildings are built to the lot lines. There's no off- streetet parking, right? Thank you. Yes, sir. What just what's the formal definition of downtown?

It would be the uh where the downtown renaissance master plan boundaries are. Um I'm not sure the official definition if it's the downtown boundary or the downtown renaissance plan boundary, but that's our downtown boundary. That's a good question. And then um you know going back to the Sunshine Plaza situation, the way that that would improve would be as these bars turn over in ownership, then they would be prevented from opening a new bar in that same space if they don't meet the district requirements.

Correct. Yeah. If if um or if a bar chooses to expand and there's a bar right next to it, do not Right. Exactly. And and that's why we want the council to consider not applying the distance requirements downtown because if you have a bar that's already within 150 ft and they want to expand or they want to improve the building, well, you know, they're not able to because they're within that distance requirement.

I still I'm just uh we're now a month later. I I still don't see how what we've asked, at least I have asked from the very first meeting, is how this can be implemented across town, not for new bars, for existing bars. The with the SCP um you know, again, it would only apply to to new bars like the other ones. I understand what they're presenting. asking why we have not been presented when we've asked how this could be applied to all bars across town.

Well, I understand he said that we have to have different overlays. I haven't seen a single overlay.

So, so the way it works, it's a complex matter anyways, right? So, on one hand, we want to address it, but we don't want to overkill it, right? Like for example in Harlingen apparently they basically were unable to open any bar ever since they passed a certain policy some years ago. So there are two parallel tools working together. one is the one that was already passed for the entertainment district which map goes to the regular city commission today but that affects only to the Pablo Gel area and it's immediat immediately affect effective and it affects all new and old uh restaurants and bars. So all existing ones will be affected by them. if they change name or ownership, they will have to apply for the citywide policy of SUPs and if they have an SUP in place and they misbehave, we have the administrative authority to revoke their permit. So eventually the bad actors so to speak will be uh ousted from the area and the area will become less dense in the number of bars per acre if you if you will. That's one way to do it. And then citywide we haven't had any nearly as many complaints as in that particular area. So that's why we didn't want to uh damage or hurt existing bars and restaurants that are just doing fine. only new bars. The the the CUP applying to new bars is to prevent from the public ones spilling over and regrouping elsewhere in in in town because in the very moment they move out and try to move in into another area is when the ACUP will come into place. So we are slowly vacating the public area while putting conditions up front in any new one. Does it make sense? But that's

that's the without me being aggressive or offensive. Um I understand what you feel that that's a punishment or hurting establishments, but if we asked since a month ago for us to see the different overlays on how this can be addressed for the entire city and this is a workshop, why was this not presented to us as an option? It is. So the kind of overlay would be this this map here. So anything that is not gray could be a single overlay if you want to consider that in which SUPs would be required.

Well, correct me if I'm wrong. You said we can't have a single overlay because we asked at the very first meeting. We said that the midtown over the entire city. Let me let me just again. We were here about a Midtown entertainment district and I said we should do this for the entire city and you said no, we cannot do this for the entire city. You'd have to have different overlays. And we said great. Can we start seeing those? And can we start having meetings with downtown business owners and different entities around town so that if it takes and I think Commissioner Cardina said if it takes 16 17 overlays, can at least we just see what that would look like. I'm not saying that I'm we're we're that that needs to happen, but I'm just confused on how we're at a workshop and we've asked for these things and now we're told that because you all don't feel that that's fair, now we we can't even be presented that option to vote on the work wasn't done for that.

Well, I I I don't know that the comment about it being fair applies. Um like I don't think that is a management or legal perspective. I think the reason why we didn't bring the overlays before you all today for the workshop was because it's very clear that you all want to do the overlays. Um if you look at the current map that's up on the screen, you I don't believe you see the Midtown district that's already been um prepared. But if you notice the as we're saying in the dream presentation, the congregation of actually where the bars are are along the original Midtown district before it was reduced in size. And so you have essentially the current Midtown district, then you have I believe along the highway you have those bars there and Palm Boulevard and then you have downtown. And so part of so this presentation is to dis discuss what um planning and zoning are wanting to do with the SUPs andor distance requirements. Right? That was one of the initial steps. The other question for commission um because there conflicting guidance, right? We came with a large Midtown district and then it was shrunk down to one street, right? And so we can create as many overlays as needed, but do you all as a commission want to see one large overlay that goes from Midtown all the way to downtown? Um, we'll have like a downtown one because some something that might work for Midtown might not work for downtown given like the parking and and the there's not a lot of restaurants. I mean, it's more restaurants than bars. It's a different type of concentration.

And so right now planning is asking if you all have any feedback for the SUP and or distance requirements. Do you want to see SUP as well as distance requirements or do you want to just see distance requirements? The reason why they're asking about the SUP is management and and legal to an extent have concerns that if we have every single bar that comes in with an application for an SUP, they're going to have to go to planning and zoning and then they're going to have to go to commission for approval, right? So, that might be a burden that they didn't have before. Like all the bar owners before them and the these type of establishments didn't have to go through that process. So, do you want to have all those applications, public hearings, etc. come to you all or would you rather just have distance requirements like the car washes where you can only have so many, you know, these type of establishments next to each other, right? So once we get that direction from you all whether if you want SUPs and or or just or distance requirements then the next step would be having presentations just using this alone we can see where we would need overlays. Um then the third discussion question would be where do you want to see your overlays?

Sure. I guess I was mistaken what this workshop was about. I mean, I went to the downtown. Exactly what was presented here today was presented to downtown owners about new restaurants, new businesses, new the argument that we've been having back and forth in these commission meetings has not been about any new establishments. It's about current establishments. Right. But I think with the

totally agree that in the future we should definitely not have the distance. I mean I I 100% don't think that a plaza uh should have 13 bars in it. I mean and and this addresses that. But I still don't see how we've moved forward in a month and where we can move forward when we sat here with bar owners with constituents and argued back and forth about hey let's just do a citywide thing about existing bars to keep people safe and not just target it. No, we can't do it. So that's when we started having the argument of let's start with a plaza. Let's start with this. Let's start with Pabl said. Let's start with the Midtown district. start with because you said it couldn't be done uh citywide. You said that that we could not just say put the whole map overlay over all the bars of Brownsville.

Correct. So if that can't be done, what options do we have? I just still don't see that. And we're a month later. So the options to do it city, sorry, mayor. The options to do it citywide would be the SUP or correct for new parks for what about existing? Can can we break out this map into two areas? downtown and non-down basically, right? And just have two overlays. That that is essentially the third question would be you have Midtown. You can expand Midtown a little bit. Can you can you expand it to everything that's not downtown on this map in color? Right. You could. There you go. You have two overlays. One for downtown. This is for new bars. No, no. This would be for existing bars.

Existing bars could do it. Perfect. That's it. That's the solution. That's but right. So, we can do that. But just keep in mind when we come for the next overlay, you know, the last one was shrunk down a lot. Um, and it included like half of the area that would have been in Midtown.

The only reason that happened, Will, is because we wanted to pass something immediately for where the the sore point is right now. Like that's that's the that is right now um the most I mean we that's the highlight like that's that's the nucleus of the of the problem. The thing is are we going to wait for this to become a problem somewhere else because before we address it like like the problem the reason this was created is because these things were not considered before by a commission. So now if it happened once okay shame on you happened twice right? So I don't want this to happen again anywhere in the city. So, how do we protect that? Not just with new bars. That's been the question that I have. Now, I don't know if the commission is going to vote with me. That's a question I have. How do we stop this from happening ever again in the city of Brownsville? Now, I get it. It was reduced. How do we amplify it? How do we amplify it for the entire city? Now, we started that one. That one plans into effect and and in my opinion, everything else can follow. But if we're a month later, then that's why we we keep getting people constituents are going to say, "Hey, you guys were arguing about trying to do this citywide, but now I mean it's a month later. We haven't even started scratching the surface of that,

right? Just to clarify, we this is a workshop. We are here to listen to you. Uh but we felt like we should provide some options. So one is going to the SUP only for new establishments or we can do a similar overlay to existing establishments but there's going to be consequences right and vetted uh right know you keep saying there's consequences I don't know what those are sir that are different than the ones we just approved and publicly sell they they could be the same yeah but that's that's a policy decision you have to tell us I that's what I've been saying but okay and the mayor I'm sorry you had a question?

No, I mean I think that's pretty clear that we could opt to do two overlays. One that's not downtown, which is everything that's in in red and and pink and everything that's blue is probably downtown or close to it, right? I don't I'm not sure. Right. You know, so that's you know, right? So will does it have to touch? Do they have to touch? Yeah. No, like does the red have to continue red or does it? because I think you had said something about uh there has to be something about the residential. It has to be 8020 or what was the Yeah, there's a percentage that it cannot include residential. So essentially I think it's 80% or 90% has to be commercial.

No, I I mean I agree with what the mayor and with what commissioner Val are saying. I think what we wanted day one is to do the whole city and what we wanted to do was to start with just I mean that was my point of view just to start with what was the big issue at the time. Um, and I mean those two strikes if we would have had this in place already would have already happened. So they happen in a weekend. So it it's going to happen fast. Um, and I don't know if anything else happened anywhere else in the city right now, but I agree we should have it in place so we can prevent it. I I do think that bringing every single bar that's going to open to the commission is going to be a headache for construction for for the loans of the people doing it and for the time frame that it's going to go through. So, I do think that we have to figure out what it could be. Um I I do know that churches and and schools there's a th00and ft. If we were to do a a a distance requirement like is stated there, I think that would really help eliminate the big issues we have. What what's happening right now, if you all haven't gone in the evening, is uh it's so many people coming out the same time. It's over a thousand people probably out of the 13 bars coming out the same time. And that's the big issue we have. If they were separated, we may not have these issues. I don't know, but it doesn't seem to be happening where the bars are a little more separated like they are. I mean, there they're just it's it's a cluster of them. So, maybe that is something we want to look into and just have it like policy. If we start bringing it in, we're going to stop construction for about 45 to 60 days, I would think. Would while they go to planning and zoning, first reading here, second reading here. It's going to be over 60 days. Um, would that be is that a good guess?

Yeah, about that. Yes.

And I don't know if we want to do that because that will really hurt construction of this. So, let's consider that when we do come up with a final answer to this and when we do go out and vote. Chief, uh, can you I I know you all have been doing operations there at this uh, location and without, you know, jeopardizing the operation that you're doing, which I think you're doing a great job. Can you tell can you kind of explain to us or tell us how many arrests more or less you have been uh getting this past weekend and since you started this uh operation because uh I I just don't see honestly since we voted on this I I don't think we've moved the dial other than Browser P doing other than Browser PD doing the job that they're doing. Uh can you explain anything to us?

Absolutely, sir. So, as you uh as you know, we we file reports on our operations. We file reports as well on offenses that have taken place. We're averaging about two arrests per night per detail. more or less a lot of these offenses are taking place within the establishment. We're conducting TABC certified uh bar checks if you would. So the offenses committed in the uh for which we are arresting for are other than anything that we've agreed on on the ordinance. Uh the fights have gone internal if you would. Yes, we have had some fights. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to identify uh from which bar they were coming from, the patrons were coming from or the suspects. Um so anyhow, so we we keep on doing our work. Um other than that, like I said, it the offenses that have taken place have been because of the work that we've been doing inside the bars and uh more so over the what it is that the ordinance has specified.

Thank you, sir. Uh counselor Uh, have we I know I asked uh I guess it was last meeting or before the one before that. Uh, have we sent a letter to the owner of the plaza? And if so, what type of response or have we gotten a response from this individual? We have not sent a letter to the owner of the plaza yet. On this evening's um commission agenda for belts and suspenders, we are bringing forward the exhibit for you all to ratify. So that we have no issues with enforcement. I mean it's in place right now, but from a boundary perspective, do we want to give anybody reason to challenge the city on it? No. So, we're bringing the exhibit forward so y'all can ratify it. Um, we had previously spoken with we had the map that Commissioner Variel had drafted for us using that planning drafted something. We showed it to Commissioner Gavan Essence. He was the one that made the motion. He tentatively has um signed off on it if you will. Um this evening once you approve that tomorrow we're sending the notices to include the map for the Midtown and putting the bar owners on notice that this is now in place for them.

And what letter what letter are we talking about?

This is the this is the notification. Previously, we had sent notifications from the police department and my office regarding the um the instances of criminal activity that was occurring out there and that we would engage the attorney general's office. This was back in late May, early June. Um my office didn't hear back from them, but I believe the chief's office, the department did have meetings with some of the bar owners. I don't know who was president at that meeting, but they talked about best practices. Um, from that meeting, we know that there was some bar owners that were required from the owners of the plaza to have um peace officers uh that are commissioned um offduty officers, county, city um to serve as security guards, if you will, um from the plaza. I myself have not heard from them. Um, I don't know if the chief has or his team. Um, but the notification that I'm talking about, the one that I believe you requested was to notify the plaza owners that this now is applicable to them. Um, it's in place and we expect compliance with it.

Is there any way you could share that letter with the other commissioners when it goes out or the ones that we sent in May? The the ones that you sent in May. Yeah. Yeah. We've previously shared it, but we'll share it again. This is the very first time I ever heard of a letter uh going out. Yes, we have we've previously shared it, but we'll definitely share it again. Uh I haven't received it. Uh and I I think it's very important that you know the commission, you know, sees it and see what we're talking about. Okay. questions or comments on

I I do have a followup for Commissioner uh Dejon. Um so you had made an important comment earlier about uh two homicides being way too much. Um so as far as our proposal that we'll take to the planning and zoning commission are you would you request that we limit that to one is my question. Say that last part again. Sure. So, you had mentioned about two homicides being too far too many. Understood. So, with our draft that we're going to present to the planning and zoning commission, to the city commission, would you like us to have it as just one homicide for grounds for revocation? That would make sense. Yes, sir. I understand. Zero. Zero would work,

but one would make sense. Two is just absolutely intolerable. Understood, sir. I just wanted to get that co clarification on that one so we can write that into the ordinance. Yes, sir.

So, so I have just real quick because I missed that exchange, but for the SUP, my understanding is direction is the SUP would inundate PNZ and commission. That's not what we want to do, right? But you do want to this is requirements regards to church, schools, daycarees, right? And from bar to bar is my understanding. Right. Um now with regards to the overlay, uh mayor, I think you had said the pink could be one overlay and the blue would be a separate overlay. Is that correct?

I mean if if that represents the downtown versus non-down areas. Yeah, that that would be the idea. Okay. So, just just I think I think what we're asking for you all to do is to figure that out, right? So, we'll figure it out because then because then you're going to come back in two weeks and a month and go, the mayor said the blue and the pink. All we're saying, you figure it out. Tell us how it can be done citywide, please. Can you all do that for us? Right. I just want to make it clear and you can However, however, you're the one who knows the laws. So 80% 20% whatever right but just to be clear it's not going to be the whole city I mean and you can see from this map

I think by by whole city he means all the commercial areas that bars could go into right and that that's what that I believe that that represents right that's correct that that map represents the zones where bars are permitted that bars could be open essentially where the bars permitted would be by the the open exactly right okay I just want to it clear. So it does address the city, right? Just okay cuz words are important. So we bring it back, but it's going to be where you see the concentration of the bars.

Could it be on every single property, every commercial property? I think that's what we're trying to get to. Just have commercial properties have that uh yeah, that stipulation on there. Yeah, that's that's what we're going to do. We're going to figure out what is residential and commercial and then carve out the district. Can you make sure you write it so planning and zoning in the future knows that when a new uh property becomes commercial, it has to fall into this as well because if not, we're going to be doing this, right? Well, it's not doing this 30 years from now.

It's not going to be based on zoning. It's going to be based on um street boundaries, right? So, looking at this right now, we can tell that a lot of this is in commercial anyways. except for the traditional neighborhood mixed use, but that's because downtown has separate overlays from the rest of the city for zoning. So, this is not an accurate representation of where a commercial actually is. I have one more question. You're you're talking about churches and that, but that's already that already has to go through when you apply for a liquor license. Uh, TABC does not allow you to have a restaurant that sells liquor close to a church, a school. Um, the only difference would be you would be adding to that on a city standpoint or or what?

I mean, and Myra can clarify, we my understanding is the old zoning ordinance had those restrictions in place. When the UDC was adopted, they were removed. That's my understanding from the distance requirements for um alcohol establishments and schools, daycarees. So So are you saying right now if I would have gone to TABC and applied for a liquor license, I could have had it right next to Pace next door? Right now? No. Correct. That's still TAC. We still check that. We still check that. It's just that our UDC is silent because there's a a state law that supersedes that. So that's why the UDC is technically silent about that, but we enforce that.

So we're just going to follow the state rules on that and add the 200, 300, 100, whatever amount of feet from door to door or from building to building. Correct. Uh if it's a different plaza, does it still is it still in 100 ft? Are we going to clear all that up? Is it from a corner of a plaza to the other corner of the plaza or how is it going to work?

Well, that's well just just to clarify, we follow what the state law says. We have to make it consistent. Now, to answer the question about prior to UDC, the UDC had the same provisions of distance requirements as we had before adopted. It has it has stayed the same because we're consistent with state law. Now the measurement is done as per state law says. There's no measurement that we where we arbitrarily say oh let's measure from door to door or corner from property to property. No state also has a provision provisions that we have to follow where uh let's say bars are measured from door to door.

Okay. Uh wet restaurants or wet establishments they're measured from corner of the property to corner of the property. there. We just follow or we mimic whatever the state language says. I I'm just trying to make sure that we don't get into a a terrible situation where we can only have one restaurant that we're calling a wet restaurant inside of one plaza. We don't I don't think that's what anybody on this commission wants to do. Um so an example that new plaza going up on that they're remodeling right now on on the expressway. One restaurant would be all that would be allowed there. That is my question because that's about about almost a mile probably I guess or or

it would be one drinking establishment. So you can have a restaurant serve alcohol close at midnight. But now you're a drinking establishment if you're deriving 51% or more of your revenue from alcohol sales between the hours of 12 a.m. to 2:00 a.m. And then the distance is something we want to debate with you. So, we just suggested 100 150 ft, but it can be 100, it can be 50. That's up to

Yeah, that that's something we really got to look into, guys, because it'd be it'd be real hard for us to be able to allow one restaurant that closes only after 12, even if they close at 12:30. Um, that would basically take up the whole plaza, and you're talking about a plaza that's probably going to have over 60, 70, 80 different businesses there. So, we have to be careful with that. Um, I think it should be door to door. But you're right now using the example of the sable the oldest. Yes, that's the one I'm I'm talking about right now. But it could be any plaza I would think because if we're going Sure. But I'm saying the example right now. Yes. We could consider we could consider um instead of putting them all together

a doortodoor kind of situation. No bar with late hours and then the food and beverage with late hours like different meaning the distance different distance between like like I do believe that the Sable like in other large cities you go to you have like a plaza. I even think Macallen by the Macallen uh convention center they have a lot of restaurants there. they stay open late, but maybe the the amount of bars that you add to that, right, that are just bar driven. They're not food and beverage. They are literally beverage. They're bars.

So, that's what I was Will, that was a question last time I had about the 51%. Um, the the 51%, you know, I I I don't understand why we're trying to invent the wheel saying 51% after 12:00. Uh it's when you apply for a liquor license, if you sell more than 51%, you have to put that sign outside your door that says 51. No. Uh you can't carry a gun in there. There's a lot of rules, right? It if if we're going to try to treat a roadhouse the same way we're going to treat a bar, I I don't see why we should do that. That's the only thing I'm scared of. I think we really have to consider and really continue to take take

that's why I I feel like we're getting caught up so in the weeds. Um why is it why aren't we just saying okay you have like two two strikes okay you're going to be under greater supervision. I don't care I mean as we grow as a city we're going to attract more wine bars more more all sorts of things. And so why do we want to control right now and and try to forecast how far each each u business and and control how people do their business? I mean, I think maybe if if they get in trouble with the chief, then then then then that sets that triggers new rules. Yeah. I'm just trying to make sure that the idea is to prevent the density that we see with the Sunshine Plaza, the 13 bars in one tiny area, right?

But but I I get it, mayor, but 13 bars, not 13 restaurants. And I and I just want to establish I agree. There's a distinction. I and I want to establish what the difference between a restaurant and a bar are because I I don't agree with that one is that they cater to a younger crowd that maybe might be more unruly, but if it was, you know, a wine bar and a jazz club and, you know, like you could probably have 13 and there would not be a problem, right? So that's hard to write rules for. I I I 100% agree what you all are saying, but we need to talk about the monkey in the room, which is Sunshine Plaza, but but that's already being taken care of. I think it's going well. So, why can't we just continue like that?

Right. Like, right. So, so they got in trouble or right, you know, um you have two incidents and and so now you need to put in more security. Um and if that's not working, then then maybe we need to then then you need to escalate it. But I don't think you have to come up with rules like, "Okay, well, we're only going to have bars every 50 feet or every 100 feet, you know." Okay. Sorry. I felt like we were just all getting caught way too much in the weeds.

No, no. I I agree with you, but I just I think it's important for us to take the time right now, even though we are being caught in the weeds, because we don't want to we don't want to have exactly that what you're saying not be able to happen in the future. Right. I think it's great to have uh entertainment districts who are responsible and I think the two strike rules is good but we have to have something over the two strike rule. What happens if it happens five times in a year? If it happens 6 10 12 I don't know what the number may be needs to revoke their license and maybe um uh PD needs to to like say no.

The issue with TABC is they don't come down. I I don't know when was the last time they came down sir. So while they don't uh come down, we can definitely reference uh and make the call if you were the petition to remove a license and have their backing go through the whole process. And I just hope we can do that and put a a number next on a paper where everybody knows and we're fair and we don't make it Yeah. We don't make it seem like we're targeting anybody. It just has to be, hey, you get five, you get two, you get six, you get whatever the number is. These are the penalties. So that's I mean I just think we should just keep it try to keep it as simple as we can and on paper. So whatever we decide, let's have it on paper. Let's say these are the strikes. Um I I love the idea of this for the future, but I think that we're really overdoing it with some of the things that are trying to be done with the I mean that one restaurant in a plaza because they're open after 12 that tough one, right? I mean that that for me it's like I think plazas need the restaurants, they need the bars, uh they need the daytime business. So let's just not try to shut it down too tight so we can't have that happening or we're going to have a lot of little small plazas instead of these larger plazas coming up. And of on top of that, if I may, if one of those plazas already have a restaurant or wet restaurant or liquor, some sort of bridge establishment, no one else could ever take place if we're taking the route of making this applicable for all existing establishments.

That's why we need to be clear. What's the official definition of a wet restaurant? 51% of their sales. It's a bar. But I think what you're saying Yeah. But no, but what I think what Commissioner Cardinas is saying is that a a establishment should we at least this is what I'm hearing and I do agree with you. If you're if your total sales are not 51% or higher, you are a restaurant, right? Correct. I'm saying yes, that is my belief. Whether you do it after hours or not, that's a that's a circumstance. Um there's still you're still a restaurant. Yeah. And the reason that that works

Yeah. The reason it works that way is if you open at 8 in the morning, right? You most of your sales are from 8 to 12, you're not going to get to the 51%. But because I'm open from 12 to 1 with a table that stayed. Yeah. And that one day that I'm open is going to trigger it. What happens to the rest of the restaurant? Nobody else can go in there. or can I do it on purpose and say I'm going to be open after 12. I'm the first one here. So you can't have any other restaurants in a plaza. And that's what I'm kind of scared that'll happen. People will take advantage of it as well. So the definition of a wet restaurant is essentially a restaurant that just serves alcohol, right? That's

a bar.

TABC. No, a bar is where it's the 51 threshold and over. Right. So they're they're they can sell food but the majority of their cells come from um alcohol sales. That's why 51% or over and they have pesticide and they have age restrictions. What we are experiencing in the public area and what um Commissioner Val would like to do throughout the rest of the city where the bars are located is we have these we call them wet restaurants local language but we have these restaurants that are allowed to have late hours permits. So they sell alcohol past midnight up until 2 am. So frequently in up Austin and Dallas area, Fort Worth, you have these areas that are like restaurants and they serve food up until like 8 or 7 and then all of a sudden they turn into a nightclub, right? And they're able to operate until past midnight when they would normally have to cease operations up to 2:00 a.m. 3:00 a.m. 4:00 a.m. in the morning. We have some savvy business owners that have decided to do this in public asel where during the day they might serve, you know, some snacks, appetizers, whatever. And then the reason why we added the 51 threshold between 12 and 2 a.m. is because that's when a lot of the problems happen with the drinking. They're not they're they're permitted to stay open later. um they don't have to do the 51% threshold because throughout the rest of the day from 8:00 a.m. if they're open at 8:00 a.m. they're serving food, but that's where a lot of the problems start coming out of is between the 12 to 2 a.m. time frame. And so we decided to define 51% threshold in the public sale ordinance um to define those that sell between 12:00 a.m. and 2:00 a.m. um Pacific

alcohol. And what I'm hearing though is you want to see immediate enforcement for those that are currently open. So we will come back with overlays for downtown, right? Keeping in mind that what might have worked for public probably might be a little bit different tweaked for the downtown area and Commissioner Viel and um Commissioner um Deleon, if I'm not mistaken, it sounded like most of the downtown bar owners already adhere to the regulations of um the public Midtown District. There's maybe one property owner who was really upset about it, but I think his was a specific case of why he was upset. Um, when it comes to zoning, that was always the other um enforcement mechanism to prevent the future public that might come in, right? Because we didn't have um the parking ratios were different. we were allowing the businesses to come in rather than sweet offices or you know your beauty shops whatever for the plaza. Um so that was the reason why planning came with options of do you want to do the sup do you want to do distance requirements like what what do you want to have in place to ensure maybe it's just parking ratios maybe we maybe the parking was fine and we just need to have like more parking requirements for these establishments um but that's that's the policy that we need from you guys. So, I mean, and right now it's to me at least it sounds like it's all over the place because we sound like we're some of us are okay with SCUPs some of but we don't want to interfere with having all those permits come in, you know, for PNZ and commission and

then with distance requirements. Some of you seem you're okay with it and some don't want to like Commissioner Kardana said they don't want to restrict the ability of a bar to come in or a wet restaurant as we define it to come in and open just because there's another bar about 500 feet away, right? And so, but this is the feedback that we need so that when we go back to the drawing board, we can come back with some kind of solution for you all. Um, and more importantly, so we can share with the downtown owners tomorrow, this is what commission has requested of us and these are the different options. Right.

But will that's where you trip me up because if tomorrow you're just meeting with the downtown bar owners, the rules for them will be different than for the rest of the city. Well, with the SUP, like if it's if if SU well depending on the direction, but the SUP and the um district requirements would be citywide, right? Um so they wouldn't be different for them. Now, the air overlay entertainment district would mirror Midtowns, but there might be some fine-tuning um with regards to how they operate because a lot of them they already comply and the area is a little bit more it's not condensed or dense as it was for public cell where they're all in the same plaza. They're actually a little bit more spread out a little bit. Um, and actually you can see here in this map they're they're a little bit more spread out versus over at public cell. Um, and also when we had as far as requirements for parking like parking lot lights, a lot of these areas don't have park uh parking lots. So to have the property owner put in lighting for something they don't own, I mean it doesn't it doesn't make sense. Um but definitely for the building operators or the owners for them to have lighting for the outside and inside the back and front cameras that'll be applicable to them. Um the security guards will be applicable. The age verification. So really the the only difference that might not be applicable is if they don't have a parking lot, right? I don't know that that makes sense.

So, let me ask um right now though there's a prohibition, right, on bars in certain areas. Like, for example, could you have could you open up a bar on um West Alton Glor in those areas? Right. I get what you're saying. There's different zonings that would permit bars. Is that what you're suggesting? So, you could Okay. Well, I Yes. If the zoning allows for it, but yes. Okay. Yeah. So, because for example in along Southmost, the only area that I knew was 14th Street where they had bars, but could you open one up um further east? Yes, if the zoning allows for it. Um it would go back to what the property is zoned for.

Okay. So, like yes, you could in theory in a commercial plaza, but if you're in the middle of a residential neighborhood, no. Right. Make sense? Well, there's residential nearby, but Okay. So, but if you did,

right, but not like smack dab in the middle. you know what I mean? Thank you. I I know we're really short on time. We just want to clarify. So, when we go back to the drawing board, um we're going to come up with the other overlays. Um we're going to propose a 150 foot distance requirement with the exception of downtown. So, the 150 ft would not apply to downtown. We're going to reduce the violations to one homicide. Um and we did not touch parking. Are we good with the parking requirements? Just not putting them into the SU and just leaving them as is, which is one for every 250 square feet of floor area. Again, some areas in town are exempt from parking because there's just no parking. Um, so are we good with that? Are we good to redraw that for you all when we represent that? I think I think options always work. Yes, sir.

Right. I think that everything you said um has been discussed, but I also think that you should say this would be for um I I do think the option should be there for us to discuss whether the establishment I I I get the difference will that you guys are trying to make. Uh, and I'll give you an example because I don't think you all want to say the names of places, but what you're what you're trying to avoid is what's going on in the sh in the sunshine strip, which is that there are certain restaurants that at a certain hour turn into a bar. What Commissioner Cardinas is saying is you have restaurants that don't do that. But if a table if you if you say from 12 to two if 51% of your sales came from alcohol. So let's just say you have three tables at a restaurant. Let's just say to use a a nonreal example. Let's say a Texas Roadhouse was familyowned and operated. didn't have to follow franchise laws and they just wanted to keep uh three tables that were just bought a steak. They got there late. They ordered some T-bone steaks and they sat there and they were just drinking a couple of beers and they didn't want to get up and they didn't want to be rude to kick them out. And Texas Roadhouse stays open till 12:30 while the per people close out their tab. But at 12 in their last call, say, 'Guys, this is the last round before you leave and they go, "Sure, we'll take a round of beers." Well, 100% of what they just sold after 12 was alcohol.

Right. Right. So, they would be considered under this a bar. They would be subject to one establishment. Right. Correct. Mhm. What we're trying to do is not it's it's a tough thing, but what's tr what we're trying to do is

is the latter and my thing where I don't get it. And Commissioner Galansky, Commissioner Galansky, I I do agree with you. If TABC were more responsible because they're not, we wouldn't have these issues in Macallen and we wouldn't have these issues in Brownsville, but they're not. And I hope that they watch this because TABC is not responsible because if they were, my my argument would be that those restaurants that sell food all day but stay open till 2 and turn it into a nightclub. The amount of alcohol sales you have would tip you over the 51%.

But what's happening is they're probably false reporting. TABC is not checking them and they're allowed to exist that way. So, we do have an issue. My only issue is I don't have the answers, but I do represent the citizens of Brownsville and people are concerned. People want to have a night life that's safe. People want to know that these rules are not punishments. They are safety nets to a city that is growing, that is going to grow all over the place. So whether you have this on the map or not, new commercial areas will pop up here in the future. We will have more bars coming. We will have more entertainment. How do we keep Brownzel safe knowing that we have to take these extra precautionary measures because whatever is doing, they're doing a terrible job at it. And if we just wash our hands with it and we allow people to get shot and stabbed and become a Kalen 17 street part two, I don't want to be part of that as a commissioner. So what we're asking you guys to do is come up with creative multiple option solutions to the problem. And what was pointed out today is that there are those if we just say an establishment after midnight that sells more than 51% of alcohol that could involve innocent just restaurants that stay open late to serve somebody their last call and that would in prohibit other entities to open within 150 ft from them. agree. I

I I totally totally agree with you, Mayor. It's 50 510 or 5:05. I want to thank you guys for for presenting today and all the comments. Yes. And I think um Thank you. Yeah. There's some direction for for the next meeting and look forward to what you guys come up with. Yes sir. Thank you guys. Thank you. Thank you. So that will adjourn the special uh work session. Yes ma'am. We are now adjourned for the work session. We will proceed into the regular meeting. May I call the meeting to order? Yes, ma'am.

Uh, notice of a public meeting is hereby giving that um that article 5 section 12 of said city of of said charter will convene at a regular meeting when on February 3rd, 2026. The time is 5:05 p.m. here in the commission chambers on the second floor of the Brownsville City Hall Old Federal Building located at 10001 East Elizabeth Street, Brownsville, Cameron County, Texas 78520. We will proceed with the roll call starting with Mayor John Cowan Jr. present. Uh, Commissioner um Aino Varat present. Naren Gansowski, Brian Martinez, present. Linda Maras, present. Gustavo Deon and Pedro Cardinas

here. We do have quorum to proceed. Uh the invocation will be led uh by by Alicia Justilian and following we will have the pledge of allegiance of the flags of the United States of of America and the state of Texas.

Good evening. Will you please join us in prayer? Our Father in heaven, we come into your presence with thanksgiving and praise you for the grace you give us. We commit to you this meeting. Lord, anoint our city officials with wisdom and bless our city, our citizens with what will take place tonight. May we not lean on our own understanding, but in all our ways acknowledge you so that you will make our path straight. In Jesus' name, amen. to United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Honor the Texas flag. I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas, one state under God, one and indivisible.

Next, we have the proclamations. Item number one is the 25th of silver uh uh anniversary for UT Health Houston School of Public Health. Would the members of the UT Health Houston School of Public Health please come forward? It is my honor alongside Mayor John Cowan to read this proclamation. A proclamation of the city commission of Brownsel, Texas recognizing 25th silver anniversary for UT Health Houston School of Public Health. Whereas the UT Houston School of Public Health in Brownsville offers graduate programs in public health led by renowned faculty and scientific research to address health issues faced by the region and is celebrating its 25th year of making a positive impact in Brownsville and the Rio Grand Valley. And whereas the campus has brought in $125 million in research and program delivery funding to our community and employed over 567 local staff and conferred over 135 graduate degrees and mentoring many high school, undergraduate, and graduate students, building the capacity of our local communities to prevent and manage chronic and infectuous diseases. And whereas the faculty and staff are committed to long-term sustainability of health research, health promotion, environmental policy, and system change to improve the health and well-being of the Brownsville and Rio Grand Valley, an area with a historical access to health with uh with little historical access to health and education care, and have been committed to partnering with the city of Brownsville as well as other regional, government, and private sector partners to create momentum and realize the positive impact of prioritizing health and addressing social detriments of

health. And whereas the impact of the UT Health Houston School of Public Health Brownsville LO location is home to Cameron County Hispanic cohort, a longitudinal longitudinal cohort study research researching the chronic diseases of over 5,000 people from Brownsville, leading to one of the largest population-based database and specimen archives in the state. And whereas the impact of the UT Health School of Public Health Brownsville location has increased local expertise in research and population health, created and sustained high academic standards for graduate education in public health, increased locally driven and representative research and prioritized trans national science to make science accessible and relevant to the community, improving the health of Brownsville and the Rio Grand Valley. Now therefore, we the members of the city commission of the city of Brownsville, Texas, by virtue of the authority vested by the charter of said city, do hereby recognize UT Health School, Houston School of Public Health on their 25th silver anniversary done on this 3rd day of February, 2026, signed mayor and city commission. Congratulations, Congratulations.

Thank you all. Thank you. We appreciate y'all.

Thank you for everything you do. Mr. Mayor, commissioners, thank you so much for the for the proclamation, for the recognition for our 25th anniversary. Um, uh, you know, longevity here in Brownsville. It really makes a difference to have you underscore the impact that we're making. You know, for 25 years, um, we have had a a focus, three-pronged focus. One is to provide the highest quality public health graduate education. The second is to provide meaningful and impactful research on public health issues that face the Rio Grand Valley. And the third is to provide impactful community service. And while I have the floor, I want to say a particular thank you to the city of Brownsville. I want to say thank you to the parks um and recreation department led by Mr. Shawn Palama. And a special thank you to the entire team at the Department of Health, Wellness,

and Animal Control led by Dr. Rodriguez. Uh our relationship, our partnership um with the city is enviable and a model for others. And so, thank you so much because your um proclamation really sets the standard and lets us know that what we're doing is on the right track. So, here's to 25 more years of working together to make Brownsville the healthiest city to live in in the Rio Grand Valley and the state. Thank you so much. The next proclamation um is to recognize National Burn uh Prevention Week.

Thank you. We can have the representatives come up. It's an honor to be presenting this proclamation for you all today. A proclamation of the city commission of Brownsville, Texas, recognizing the national burn awareness week. Whereas burn vict burn injuries continue to be significant public health concern in the United States, resulting in serious physical, emotional, and economic impacts for individuals and families. Whereas children under the age of five and working age adults are at increased risk for burn injuries which commonly results from fire and flame scalds contact with hot objects and electrical or chemical hazards many of which occur in the home and workplace. And whereas National Burn Awareness Week, an initiative of the American Burn Association, promotes education, awareness, and prevention to reduce burn injuries and improve outcomes for burn survivors with the 2026 theme burn prevention where you live, work, and play. And whereas burn prevention and response efforts in the city of Bronswire are strengthened through collaboration among courageous firefighters at the Brownsville Fire Department and healthc care professionals at DHR Health Outpatient Burn Clinic whose commitment to education, emergency response, and advanced medical care helps protect the health and safety of the community. And whereas the city commissioner of Brownsville recognizes the importance of promoting burn prevention and safety education to protect residents and reduce the incidence of burn injuries. Now therefore be it proclaimed by the city commission of the city of Brownsville, Texas that the week of February 1st through February 7th, 2026 is hereby designated as National Burn Awareness Week and the citizens of Brownsville are encouraged to observe this week through educational activities, community outreach, and burn prevention efforts done on this day, the 3rd day of February, 2026, signed by the mayor and city commission. Three.

One, two, one. You're

more than welcome to say a few words. I just want to echo really quick uh just say thank you all for your continued advocacy of this. It takes a reminder every time for us to continue to uh remember that we all should play safe and be safe and keep the community safe. So, thank you all. First and foremost, thank you for today. Uh Dr. Scubic, with the assistance of DHR Brownsville, we are going to continue to try to improve burn care for this patient population and that we hope that one day our future goal long term is to prevent any patient from leaving the valley and stay within the RGV for burn care and burn treatment. Thank you. The next proclamation is is I'm sorry.

That's fine. Well, I just want to thank you, mayor and commission, to recognize this important uh week in burn prevention. So, burn injuries are among the most painful and lifealtering emergencies that we respond to. And the hardest part is that most of them are preventable. Uh burn prevention week is a reminder of safety doesn't start when the fire engine arrives. Uh it starts at home, at work, and everyday decisions that we make. Simple actions like keeping children away from the hot uh surfaces, testing your water heaters, temperatures, practicing kitchen safety, and having working smoke alarm saves lives. Firefighters, we're very proud to respond to the people when people need us most. But our our biggest goal as a fire service is to prevent these emergencies uh before they happen. Education, awareness, and personal responsibility are our strongest tools. So with that, I thank you for the that recognition.

Next proclamation is recognizing Mr. Mike Hernandez. a proclamation of the city commission of Brownsville, Texas, recognizing Mr. Mike Ernnandez. Whereas the city of Brownsville proudly recognizes individuals whose extraordinary leadership, generosity, and commitment strengthen the fabric of our community and uplift the people of the Rio Grande Valley. And whereas Mr. Dr. Mike Hernandez has demonstrated exceptional dedication to advancing education, workforce development, and economic opportunity throughout the valley, using both his personal philanthropy, and professional resources to create lasting positive impact. And whereas Mr. Mike Hernandez was born and raised in Brownsville with family roots in Cameron County that stretch back seven generations. And whereas through his support of the Texas&M educational programs in our region, Mr. Ernnandez has helped expand access to higher education and career pathways for students in Brownsville and across the entire valley. And whereas Mr. Hernandez has further supported our community by organizing and funding numerous food drives in Brownsville, providing essential assistance to families in need. And whereas Mr. Hernandez has gen generously provided scholarships for students from the Rio Grand Valley, removing financial barriers and empowering individuals to pursue higher education. Now, therefore, we, the city commission of the city of Brownso, Texas, through the authority vested by our city charter, do hereby recognize and honor Mr. Mike Ernnandez for his

outstanding contributions to education, economic development, and community welfare in the Rio Grand Valley. Done on this third day of February, 2026. Signed, the mayor and the city commission. Congratulations. Three. One, two, three, four. One, two, three. Sorry.

Uh I just want to say thank you very much. This was uh not necessary but very much appreciated. Um I was born and raised here as you as was mentioned and I've always had a soft spot for this community uh ever since I left and just trying to help out. So, in any way I can help uh as a regent for the&m system, I'm happy to do so and I just want the best for the Brownsville community. So, thank you for this a short clip that we will show. Bear with us. The audio is working on it.

And congratulations to all the recipients. We will continue uh with the public comment period. I do want to share for the record that since our amendment to the agendas and uh minutes, we did add an acknowledgement to the form that all of the speakers that are registered will acknowledge um the section that is displayed on the screen. as well as a reminder to the speakers um that they shall not use the moment of silence as well as any uh of the filibusters and as well as to state their name and their address for the record. So they did acknowledge this section as well as the public hearing F4. The first so we do have three that were pre-registered. The first speaker is Lawrence Fernandez.

Today, and uh I'm Lawrence Fernandez. I'm the director of a 501c3 nonprofit public charity. It's History Central is the short name for it. And I want to announce that I have two grants, two small grants, an in aggregate value of $650 that I want to give to the city of Brownsville and directly to parks and recreation. And the first one is uh the there's a system of of uh surveillance that I've been contributing to for the past 10 years that I subscribe to and it has the cameras uh what you call game cameras on very strategic points and uh they transmit the images to my phone and so it's it's what you call real time. I've been involved in that as I say for about 10 years and so I'm renewing my subscription and of course dedicating that to city of Brownsville. The second item are two stonins, actually three staunchins that are similar to the ones that I put that I helped put in the city cemetery and they are uhformational staunchins telling about the La Pula Park and uh the historical uh input there as well as a botanical input for the passers by with a QR code that will link to uh a YouTube that that explains in detail those things and and I've met I've been met with very very good response from those that have utilized that. Let me go back in the history of that. In the year 2003, I uh generated a program uh here that was called save our cemeteries and it was bent on uh giving attention, public attention to our old city cemetery. One of the two of the provisions on it you're going to be well familiar with and that is uh through the efforts of city commission Alice Wilson in particular at that time uh we got the the cameras the original cameras and then we got the paving on the the pavers on the carriage path and uh and so then in the year 2013 I was uh uh assigned to

the directorship of the city cemetery uh center and I requested MIS to have have two downdrops in my office there so I could see real time what was going on in the cemetery and it it really averted so much of your nefarious acts there and it was very very successful on that and on the when I was uh uh became involved with the Laos park which was going on 20 years ago right now I was again met with the assistance from MIS to be given two cameras and then afterwards I purchased my own cameras so we have avoided so much hardship and and sorrow with that la project and I'm very very grateful to MIS and city of Brownsville for for supporting it. So there you have it. I I'm going to budget other grants in the future, but I'm so pleased to give this to this city on this park. Thank you.

The next speaker is Yolanda Spece. You'll be allowed the three minutes and please state your name and uh and the address for the record. Yolanda speech 305 West Madison. Although we're nearly a continent away from Minneapolis, it's a small world. Renee Good and Alex Prey are affecting us nearly an entire continent away. The two agents who slaughtered Prey, ooa and Gutierrez, were valley raised. I wonder where they received their training. H see this is the problem. Their training was lacking and they were trigger happy. There is a problem with this entire region. When police officers are ignorant of the law and our city leaders refuse to listen to people's concerns, that's a problem. When our city attorneys get a hold of Ken Paxton at the drop of a hat and won't let city leaders talk to citizens and their concern and hear their concerns, that's a problem. There's no proactive action and there are attorneys involved rather than communicating with residents. There's no effective and efficient communication with our citizens and it's detrimental for a lot of reasons which I won't get into. If you aren't covering a crime, covering up a crime, there's no problem with effective and efficient communication. But there sure do do seem to be a lot of abusive, uneducated, unprofessional, and rude cops around our community that do not know how to act right with residents. How can you serve us if when we come to you with our concerns, you get the cops involved or people you get the attorneys involved or people overreact or just kill us like what happened in Minneapolis. How is that serving us? You won't even listen to us without getting defensive or smile at us and then passive aggressively go but

look much like people who just say they will pray for you when we all know what that really means. it is impolite or well-wishing and it starts with an F and ends with a U. Proactive actions, effective and efficient communication, and proper training are how we evade these types of situations. And simply sending out a press release on ICE coming to town and not providing citizens with the tools to defend themselves is not effective nor efficient communication. Your job is to serve our community. allowing inappropriate behavior and rewarding incompetent police officers is not an option. Stop doing that. It isn't beneficial for our community.

Thank you for your comment.

Your time is up. Thank you. Uh Diablo uh you'll have up to three minutes and please state your name and your address for the record. is Diablo 1254 Tyler. About three years ago, I came to the city and I noticed that a woman was being prosecuted for vandalizing a mural. So, I went to see the goddamn mural and there was nothing in there. Somebody throws on lines and use colors used by the community pinks and blue pastels. So I once wondered what motivate this woman to vandalize such a garbage. I don't see any artistic value. I don't see any cultural value for the city. Later I found out that there was a Elon Musk mural. So I say okay it was a an ideology that pushed this woman to vandalize this garbage art they are elements they are values they are about eight values and eight elements of art without these tools you cannot produce art in Washington Avenue and 10th street somebody painted a large astronaut however the proportions of this astronaut they are horrible They are terribles. It is done in what they call expressionism. By the way, the Elan Mas mural is an abstract show. So it seems to me that this astronaut whoever painted they smear chocolatifies with peanut butter and they smear the whole thing. It's a

terrible thing. Brownsville from the city cities along the border. Brownsville is not recognized as a center for art. But that can be changed. My point is that downtown Brownsville is getting pretty. The rundown buildings are getting fixed. And if the city, you commissioners, mayor are going to accommodate art. So you better be careful. There are the renaissance master plan and then the fiveyear plan presented by Mr. Allen. If there is money for art, you have to be careful who you give it this monies. I also wanted to recommend that the city in any case somebody want to ask for a permit to paint a mural. Check the product first. And I also wanted to recommend that the city stop the Elan M foundation from painting shed on the city walls. Elan M isn't the Jeffrey Instin list. is a womanizer. He's a woman abuser. He cannot represent the face of Brownsville. Period. I also wanted to recommend that the citizen the util utilities war workers and cover up that astronaut. That's a disgrace for the city.

Thank you, Mr. That concludes the public comment portion. I'll turn it over to Mr. Gar for the city manager's update.

Thank you, mayor and commission. We have one item from the city manager's update tonight. We want to recognize uh some officers who did some outstanding work during the fire scene at the apartments recently. Chief Assistant City Manager Saleda will be helping with this presentation. Good evening, uh, commissioners and honorable mayor. Uh, this proclamation, a proclamation of the city commission of the, uh, Brown, Texas, honoring the bravery and service of officers, uh, Cesarinia, Marco, Ben, Court, Marcelo, Mullen Burger, Frank Bilot, and Armando Olivarez. Whereas on December 7th, 2025, a major structure fire occurred at the Palasio Realy Apartments in the city of Brownsville, posing an immediate and serious threat to the safety and well-being of serious of residents and resulting in significant damage to portion of the complex. And whereas Bronzville police officers in Senior Benton Court, Mullenberger, Billet, and Olivare were among the first responders on scene and operating outside the scope of their specialized firefighting equipment and fire and training. moved without hesitation toward the danger to protect lives. And whereas despite heavy smoke and rapidly evolving conditions, these officers courageously went door todo to alert residents of the fire ensuing individuals were aware of immediate danger and had the opportunity to evacuate. And whereas though their swift, decisive, and selfless actions, the officers assisted residents and their pets in evacuating their apartment guided them to safety during a highly chaotic and dangerous situation. And whereas these actions were carried out as part of a

coordinated team effort supported by the professional vigilance and leadership of responding Bronzo police department officers and supervisors who have secured the scene and assisted evacuations and maintain order during the emergency. And where is the actions of officers and senior Benton Court, Mullenberger, Billet, and Olivates exemplify the highest traditions of law enforcement service and reflect the Brownsville department's commitment to service from the heart, placing the safety and well-being of the community above personal risk. And whereas the city of Brownsville recognizes that such acts of bravery demonstrate not only the individual courage, professionalism, and compassion of these officers, but also reflect the strength of teamwork and the unwavering sense of duty shared across the Brownsville Police Department. Now therefore be I proclaim that the city commission of the city of Bronzville, Texas does hereby recognize and commend officers in Senior Benton Court Mullenberger Bill and and Olivaris for their bravery and decisive actions during the December 7, 2025 fire at the Balass Apartments and extends its sincere appreciation for the outstanding service and commitment to the residents of Bronzo. Thank you. One, two, three. Over here. Three. One, two, three. One more. Three.

Thank you all for the recognition. I'm Officer Frank Bilot. U on behalf of my fellow officers like to thank you all for the recognition. also like to take a moment to thank the citizens of Bronville who came together to assist their fellow citizens. The people who donated money, their time, offered their prayers, whether big or small, we want to thank all of them for what they did to help their fellow citizens. Thank you. The next portion of the agenda is the consent um agenda items items 1 through 19 to consider. I'll entertain a motion. I'll move to approve. Second.

All right, we have a motion, a second to approve the consent as listed. Any further discussion? If not, all those in favor, please say I. I. All those oppos say nay. Eyes have it. Motion carries.

Move into the public hearing portion. Item number one um is a public hearing in action on the first reading on ordinance number 235-2025-903 a reszone from the agriculture AG to the commercial a corridor to allow for the for the commercial development for an approximately 43.72 acres um out of out of the 38 point 31 acres uh out of the um out of the residue of reserve v of the via de norte a subdivision 1.53 acres out of lot one Oklahoma station subdivision number one and 3.88 acres out of the reserve A of the Oklahoma station uh subdivision number one Cameron County, Texas located at the Stillman Road uh Brownsville, Texas 78526 as shown in exhibit A in district 3.

Uh thank you. Um I'm not sure how to follow up uh with that powerful uh body cam footage. Um but we'll proceed with a reasonzoning case, right? Um so uh anyway so this is a a request to reszone from corridor commercial. Uh the current zoning of this property is agriculture. The proposed use is a commercial development and this property is fronting Stillman Road. Um so a little background on this specific parcel. Um back in uh April 7th of 2020 uh the property was reszoned to a commercial zoning designation. On December 1st of 2020, the city adopted the new unified development code. Um, and because at that time that property was vacant, it was by default zoned to agriculture. So, this is a city initiated resoning. Um, and essentially it's a correction to the UDC zoning atlas, right? It had its its commercial zoning designation and now we're reszoning it to commercial designation because that's how it was since April of 2020. Um so here you can see um you know the two different the zoning districts uh from the previous zoning ordinance and then the new one with the UDC. Um the area to the north is zone residential single family and is developed with res with single family uses. The area to the west is zone uh regional commercial. It's along the frontage. Um the area to the south is residential estate and then the area to the southeast is zoned R1 and mostly vacant. Um, so staff did notify property owners within a 200 foot radius just like we're required by state law. Um, we did get a um a letter um of concern u from the property owner to the east. Um she stated that she was concerned about the environmental impact of any type of use of how it would affect her livestock and farm operations on her property. I believe that letter is included in your packet.

As I mentioned, we uh sent out a notice public hearing uh with the exception of the one letter. We didn't receive any opposition to the request. We also posted a physical sign as required by state law. We sent out a total of 53 mail outs. And then again, you can see the zoning map. Um the area mostly residential um in all directions with the exception of the area to the immediately west which is own uh regional commercial. Here's a zoomed out version or zoomed out uh aerial footage. Uh it's directly south of the Brownsville Sports Park across the railroad tracks and directly across the expressway from the 77 flea market. Here's a more zoomed in photo so you can understand what's developed around the area. And so staff is recommending uh approval of this uh request. The request is consistent with the existing comprehensive plan and future land use plan. Um the planning and zoning uh commission recommended approval when it was first uh read back in December. In January 6 of 2026, uh the city commission tabled this item. Uh the request was to provide more information on to what type of development it was. Um, we did reach out to the property owner and she's actually bound by a non-disclosure agreement. So, she's not able to provide a site plan, but she did confirm that it would be for a used franchise car dealership. So, as we mentioned in in the previous meeting, um, you that stipulation has been adopted, right, for franchise used car dealerships, but they require specific use permit within this zoning district that we're requesting. Um, so in the event that she does decide to build a a franchise car dealership, they would have to go through the SUP process. They would have to go before planning and zoning. They would go before the city commission. And then if there's any additional stipulations, which is screening requirements, etc., um, the commission can vote to to put those. But what we're hearing tonight, what we're deciding on tonight is the reasonzoning

request to corridor commercial. Um, and again, the um, the department is recommending approval of this request. Did I hear you correctly? You said this is a request being made by the city. Yes, sir. It is a city initiated resoning and this is um back in December when we first entertained it. This is um the zoning that it turned into. We're essentially just reverting back because of UDC.

Right. Exactly. Exactly. So in on April 7th of 2020 um they had the the applicant the property owner had requested to zone the area to commercial since it was vacant by default when the UDC got amended um it or updated in um in January um the it lost its zoning designation and went to a um so we're essentially correcting that from 201 I think my qu my what my question is uh and when the when we passed the UDC and turned it back to agriculture. Was this the only property that it happened to? No, it's it's happened to multiple properties citywide. So, we're only proactively doing it.

So, yeah, we've done a lot of them in the past. Um, usually what was happening is everything that was just not being used at the time, they downgraded it. And what we've been doing in the past is we've basically gone back to where they were. But yeah, there's there's been several of them. I don't remember how many, but I think I've been involved in over two dozen of them. I think that clarifies. Thank you. Thank you.

Any questions or comments from the commission? All right. This is a public hearing, so if there's anyone here that wishes to address the commission on this item, please step forward and state your name. And just want to make note for the record for the speakers that you'll be allowed the three minutes. Um, and you shall state your name and and your address for the record.

My name is Johnny Garcia. I live at 7002 Field River Street. Um, the north side of where that property wants to be built. Uh, as I mentioned, I was here last time. I had a feeling that it was going to be turned into a car dealership, which Carlos just Carlos, right? Carlos just confirmed. So, the main thing I do have concern about that is the uh of course the night light pollution that's going to be overlapping the neighborhood. Uh since car dealerships tend to leave their lights on pretty much 24/7. Uh the wildlife and mostly the trees that possibly might be cut down going down the street. I believe it's Stillman Road. Uh, I just showed Carlos a picture of all the trees that are are down the street and that is the main main thing I'm concerned is that if a car dealership does be built there, they're going to cut those trees down. I know someone else mentioned that if they cut trees down, they're going to have to replant some new ones, but why cut these in the first place? Um, of course, if they the car dealership does go through, then they're more likely want to cut the trees off the side of the street since it's going to be blocking the car dealership's view. That's pretty much it. That's my my main main concern of those those three items. And I know earlier you mentioned u about eyes off the freeway and so on. So, I'm not sure what type of car dealership is going to want to be built there, but I already know across the street from there is they just built Jeep, Hyundai, and now they want to build a third one. I don't know what who is or what do they want to who is or what are they going to car dealership uh ownership is going to want to be built there as well. So, thank you very much. So,

thank you, sir. I I did just get clarification um on the uh where they intend to build the car dealership. It's where the area is already cleared, close to the Typton dealership. Um so their intent is to not cut down any trees, but that's what we're hearing now, right? And and of course we're today we're just hearing the resoning. Um the next time around we'll hear the SU if they apply for it and at that time there can be additional stipulations or site plan design requirements. Right. Any other comments from the public on this item? May I move to close public hearing? Second. All right. We have a motion second to close public hearing. Any further discussion? If not, all those in favor, please say I.

I. All those oppos say nay. Eyes have it. Public hearing now closed. Move to approve. Second. All right. We have a motion and a second to approve. Any further discussion? If not, all those in favor, please say I. I. All those oppose say nay. Eyes have it. Motion carries. Thank you. Uh the next portion is is items for the individual consideration. Item number one is the action on resolution number 20 uh 2026- uh 026 to authorize the amendments to the thorough plan approved on October 3rd 2023 to better align with the city's growth and the transportation needs including changes uh to the Bokeh Chica uh Boulevard Price Road Anukia Street and Southmost Road.

Mayor Commissioners, good evening. Uh, hell Garca, multi motor transportation director. Um, we have here some amendments to the thurer plan. Uh, just a reminder, the threr plan is a tool that the city uses to preserve rightaway for either new roadways or expansions. And so, as we work with developers and small businesses, we've noticed four roadways that need some improvements, some alignments to make sure that we don't uh add additional burden to the small business. And so we have Bokach Chica Road, Price Road, Anakqua and Southmost for Bokh Chica. Currently we have 120 foot of rightway. We left the 100 foot rightway with the recommended from Texot. Now that Texot is currently working on State Highway 4, their improvements will stay within the 100 foot rideway. And so we're coming for you to reduce the requirement that we're pushing on some of the developers from 100 from 120 to 100 as it currently aligns with uh text and the segment is from four corners all the way to Narangu road price road. Uh this one is currently also 120 ft. Although it made sense past uh Paredes line uh right now from the intersection uh of the expressway I69 frontage and Paredes uh does not make sense. And I'll go to the next slide. uh if we would require new development to come in, especially from those empty lots, it would really hinder uh additional right away uh that wasn't there before. And so we want to be cognizant of this. And so we're recommending to reduce it to the 80 ft uh to keep consistent with the other businesses in the area.

No, it's reducing. No, we're reducing, Commissioner. Yeah, we want to make sure that we're not asking more than what the other businesses already have in place. Um, that one would be real difficult. You have the BISD building, too, right?

Yep. Correct. An Aqua Road, the rightway will stay the same. What we're shifting is the alignment. And so, if you can see here where the center line underneath the expressway is compared to where the street is. And so this is more of a shiftment down down uh south um to make sure that it aligns with the interstate. And then the last one we have during the 2023 update um in that it was recommended to be 70. Um, now that we're looking and as a villain is growing, uh, typically this this is a state road and so Tex has it at 110 and so we're now going back and upgrading it to the 110 right away that Tex needs. Um, it hasn't disrupted any of the businesses in the areas and most of it's populated. Uh, but we wanted to make sure we make this correction now before it becomes an issue. And with that, I can take any questions. Any questions or comments from the commission? I'll entertain a motion.

Move to approve. Second. We have a motion. Second to approve. Any further discussion? If not, I'll sorry. Go ahead. A few years ago, my father and I met with you. Wasn't it like 300 ft of rideway for Southmost or? It was a portion closer to where the east loop is at, Commissioner. Yeah. Um, that's been rescended or No, that's still the same. And it's for the east loop. It's only up to the uh Mony's road.

Do I need any further discussion? All right. All those in favor, please say I. I. I. All those oppos say nay. Eyes have a motion carries. Thank you.

Passes 6 to zero. Item number two. um is the consideration and action to ratify the exhibit 8 to ordinance number 2026-1795 uh to amend the chapter 6 uh uh under the amusements and and the entertainment of the city of Brownsville's co uh code of ordinance add article 4 to establish of the midtown uh uh entertainment district along the public cassel from Morrison Road to its point of intersection uh with the frontage road uh to regulate the bars and restaurants adding adding the civil and the criminal penalties. Good evening, mayor and city commission. This is just uh an or um a ratification. The agenda item is just ratifying the boundary limits that were um motioned for at the last meeting. The ordinance is currently in place. It was published January 31st. So, it is now law. Um but we did want to just confirm so that we don't act just from assumptions. We wanted to confirm that this was the bounding area that you all had um anticipated in mind when the motion was made and second and then voted on. So, it starts up um just north of Public Casel um right before the the the ditch there. Um and then uh next slide and then goes um south if you will along Public Casel up until the frontage area. Um it includes the um couple of the the plazas that are an issue as well as other establishments as well. Um again this this is just ratifying the um overlay map to ensure that we um a staff understood that the motion was made um at the last meeting. Uh next slide. Any questions? Any

questions, comments? Okay, I'll move I'll entertain a motion here. I move to approve. Second. All right, we have a motion and a second to approve. Any further discussion? If not, all those in favor, please say I. I. All those post say nay. Eyes have a motion carries.

Items three and four is a companion item that will have just one presentation. So item number three is is an action to ratify the task order number three issued uh uh to J uh to JV. Item number four is is to approve the change order issued to JV as well regarding the runway 18 through 36 uh reconstruction management phase one at the Brownsville South Padre Island uh uh international airport. This will require two uh action items.

Good evening, mayor and commissioners. Um we are here today for you to approve a project that is completed. Uh it was not presented to city commission. However, you would have heard about it. Phase one of the reconstruction of 1836. I do have I do have uh our project engineer and manager Sebastian Dcastro from Woolberg that will go through the presentation and

good we'll go through the presentation and regarding all the work that was completed Sebastian. Hi. Can everybody hear? Yes, sir. Hi. Yes. So yes.

Um so basically past quarter three um this is about uh the Brownsville reconstruction project. We have been the engineer of contract of Brownsville 5-year on call engineer uh since 2023. Um this project um is part of our master services agreement that dates back to 2023. The project goes even farther back um to since 2019 in the airport's uh uh capital improvement plan. Um this did uh not go through city commission. It went straight to the city manager's office at the time. Um the contract for this job um is about 1.07 million. There's only $240,000 left on this project um to pay. Um this uh contract includes a revision one and a revision two. A revision one covers the construction administration of this project, the rebid supports and the full on-site coordination of phase one. Um services include Yep, I already mentioned that. Uh this work ensured the project could proceed efficiently after initial bidding and scope adjustments and again FAA um it's part of the FAAP program. Um 90% of it is funded by the FAA with 10% local match um which would be about $17,000. Uh provision two uh is coverage addressed extended construction duration and unforeseen field conditions which included weather delays, pipe changes and liquidated damages. The contractor is paying for the liquidated damages associated with the contract out of their pocket, but the rest of the um

of the cost uh is funded at 90% by the FAA, 10% locally. Um, so that's kind of the rundown on runway 1836. Um, and moving forward, the airport is aware of following the process and procedures with procurement working with legal and finance moving forward. This was just a lapse that took place before my time and individuals no longer with the airport.

Right. Any questions or comments on this item? Can we take them both at the same time or do it individually? He's asking if we can make a motion for both items. Yes, you can. Move to approve both items. Items three and four. Second. All right. We have a motion in a second. Any further discussion? If not, all those in favor, please say I. All those oppos say nay. Eyes have it. Motion carries.

Thank you. We'll move on to the board appointments uh to consider the resolution number 20 uh26-004B to appoint members to the charter review committee. These two appointments belong to Commissioner Gansonski and Deleó. So, um, because it's a big time commitment and I've asked two people and it's, I guess, a bit too ownorous, I'll appoint myself as my person. Second. All right, we have a motion and second. Any further discussion? If not, all those in favor, please say I. I. I.

All those oppos say nay. Eyes have it. Motion carried. That's so cool. Commissioner DeLeon is there. Uh, I uh appoint Vito Gatalin. Second. All right, we have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? If not, all those in favor, please say I. I. I. All those oppos say nay. Eyes have it. Motion carries. Moving on to the next appointment uh which is with uh with resolution 2026-013 to appoint or reappoint members uh to the historical uh preservation commission. This is for Commissioner Cardano.

Yes. Uh, I'll point Eduardo Vido. Second. All right, we have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? If not, all those in favor, please say I. I. I. All those oppos say nay. Eyes have it. Motion carries. The next one is uh is for resolution number 2026- 033 to appoint or reappoint members to the downtown tax reinvestment zone number three. Yeah, I'm I'm pending a response on that one. So, I'll have to move it the next one.

Okay. We'll table that to the next meeting on February 17th. Item four is to appoint members to the parks and the recreational advisory committee. This appointment goes to Commissioner Deleon per your request. Yes. I uh request to Gilbert Rodriguez. Second. We have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? If not, all those in favor, please say I. I. All those oppos say nay. Eyes have it. Motion carries. May we enter executive session? Yes, please. So move. We have a motion and a second. Uh all those in favor, please say I.

I. I. Eyes have it. Motion carries.

So the city commission will enter into executive session. Uh the time is 604 on the following items. It's close session. uh pursuant to the Texas government code sections 551.071 and 0087 uh regarding the downtown tur item two is pursuant to the Texas government code section 551.071 uh related to the drainage uh utility funds number three is section 551.071 071 and 72 uh related to the uh to the UTRGB task force of the future updates. Item number four is section 551.071 including the contemplating items related to the canary project sains inc and Frankm uh ser uh serity a division of Frankmmont insurance company five is 551.07 071 and 87 regarding the Brownsville uh Community Improvement Corporation BCIC quality of life projects. We are in executive session.

Heat. Heat.

Heat. Heat.

Heat. Heat.

Mayor, may we uh reconvene? Yes, please. Thank you. We are reconvening into open session. The time is 8:04. Uh is there any possible actions to consider? Yes, ma'am. Starting with action item number one related to the Canary Project, Sames, Inc. and Franken Month, a division of Frankenmon Insurance Company. I'll entertain a motion on the side.

Yes, I'm sorry. Um, move to authorize city manager and city attorney to number one execute a settlement agreement with Frankenmouth Insurance Company. Two, to execute a contract for construction services with Noble to complete the Canary project in the amount not to exceed 2 914, million53 and three, institute litigation against SS, Inc. to protect the city's interests. Second. All right, we have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? If not, all those in favor, please say I. I. All those opposed say nay. Eyes have it. Motion to hear.

Action item number two is related to the resolution number 2026-036 for the Brownsville uh Community Improvement Corporation, the quality of life projects. Mayor, I'll move to approve resolution number 2026-036 for $3.7 million. Second. All right, we have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? If not, all those in favor, please say I. I. All those oppos say nay. Eyes have it. Motion carries. Move to a motion and a second to adjurnn. All those in favor say I. I. Eyes have it. Meeting adjourned everyone. Thank you. We'rejourn at 8:06 p.m. Good night.