City Council - Regular Meeting

I only know where one person stands and that's me and I'm in the middle.

I'll beat you. You scoot in. One, two, three. One, two, three. One more. [Music] all my time today.

Sure. I'm I'm I'm s worely almost said good morning. Good morning.

I wish we were all in a Disney. We're going to come back to So now The one with circle the lights just string straight down. Yeah. I think that would work.

Ask that question how to do it. Okay. Oh gosh. Right. Come up here and say hello to everybody again. You sir again.

Sir, how are you? I'm doing good to see you. He's the one that

How is King related to Excuse me.

2 minute warning. 2 minute warning. fast. Thank you. probably just felt

one One minute. One minute. It is 6 o'clock October 21st, 2025 and I call to order the regular city council meeting for the city of Congress, Texas. Please note we do have a quorum present. Uh please join me in the invocation tonight. Lord, we just come to you now. We just thank you for the opportunity to serve the opportunity to serve our fellow man, the citizens of commerce and surrounding areas. We just play pray Lord for our meeting tonight that uh it will be an honor of you that uh we will make the best decisions based on the best information that we have. We look forward to our meeting tonight. We just pray all these things in your name, Jesus name. Amen. We also have the honor of uh having the soccer coach Emily Shipman and the undefeated 2025 lasers for 13U uh here tonight. So, congratulations gentlemen. Appreciate you being here tonight. Uh not everybody is here, but with the team includes Ryder Escorn, please raise your hand like you won the Academy Award. Thank you very much. Uh, Skylin Gomez, Cade Lidle, Maddox Lidle, Mason

McKenzie, Romeo Rodriguez, Abram Shipman, SA Centi, Gavin Smith, and Kase Smith. Thank you, gentlemen. Uh, their next game is tomorrow, October 22nd at 6 PM at the Eddie Moore Sports Complex and will feature a glow-in-the-dark theme. We encourage everyone to come out and show their support as they continue their incredible season. Please join us in the pledge of allegiance.

I pledge algiance to the flag of the 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.

Thank you, gentlemen. Appreciate you being here tonight and good luck on your game tomorrow. Thank you very much. [Applause] Item four on our agenda tonight, council, is a presentation to the city council by members of the public. Uh it is a threem minute limit per person. Um I have one card tonight uh from Mr. Rob Ford. Please come forward, Mr. Ford. Provide your address if you will, please. 10002 North Neil Street. Um, couple things, some are old, couple are new. Um, if anybody looks on the uh everything commerce page about a week, 10 days ago, there were some things about the hospital, the one we don't have access to anymore. I asked everyone up here, y'all are representing the city, if y'all are aware that that was going to close. Was there any efforts made for the taxpayers to get a reduction on the hospital tax? That should be looked into. We don't have access. They built a brand new one. And I'm hoping wherever the TV is, they built a brand new one in Roy City, but they say they lost money here. And then they spent $1.6 million to have a deal with the college so they could have advertising. Now,

y'all may not like me, and that doesn't bother me. I pay my taxes. I have a concern about this city. But I ask that y'all do your job. Don't just be a minion and approve everything and then go on about your everyday business. It's important. Two, uh, department managers, i.e. public waters, parks and recreation. I was in the new subdivision about three weeks ago on my bike. Two gentlemen, waters truck working on I don't know checking lines or something. It was the platform had been laid out for a house 100 yards away. There's another guy. City of commerce. Window rolled up on his phone. Vehicle running. That's our anybody that lives in commerce. That's our tax dollars. He wouldn't do tapped on the door. Well, I'm waiting for them to get finished. Turn your truck off. I mean, this is common sense. And when I bring up the managers, I don't know what they do, but maybe they need to go out and surprise some people and make sure that they're complying with what's going on. And then I want to read something here. Do we want to have our future decided and given to us by others or do we want to shape, influence, and create our own? Anybody recognize that? Vision statement.

The city of commerce will be vibrant, self- sustaining community. where families can put down roots and dirt and grass of rural rural settling, raise their children safely, pursue a quality education, and still have access to the amenities of the DFW area. Mission statement, we work together to build and maintain a community of the highest quality for the present and future. values responsive meeting citizens needs in a timely manner. Do you know how long we've been talking about North Neil? Come February, it'll be three years and we still have the issues. And like I've said before, I'm not asking you to spend any money. I'm not asking you to, you know, just focus on that because it hasn't happened the last two and almost two and a half years. But one truck going down that street is one too many. We've accepted the fact that the trailer's coming out, but every delivery vehicle, anything through traffic needs to be stopped. And I know this is a sore, you know, it's sore with me. I would wish and hope that y'all would start addressing this. You put the stop sign up. I saw a lieutenant out there. You know, he said he got reports, complaints. Well, it was 9:30, 10:00. That's not when people are speeding through there and running the stop sign. It's when they're going to work in the morning and it's when they're getting off in the afternoon. And the only way that can be fixed is if

you, you know, monitor it at that time. So, I appreciate it. I hope this is absorbed with some of y'all. You know, I'm part of the community, too. One of our biggest problems is we don't have enough people like myself and Frank Higgins to come up here and address it. So, anybody that's watching or listening, attend the next meeting. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Ford. I have a second card tonight from uh Jeff Hilton uh representing the Hunt Regional Executive Board. Okay.

Start out with I am a member of the Hunt Regional Executive Board. I'm not speaking for them.

I need to make that pretty clear. I'm an upset citizen of of commerce. Been here for a long time. Uh so basically let me uh well tell you what happened. The ERS in commerce and Quinnland closed. They were put in as part of the budget. We didn't really know it until the night of the vote. Uh the other representative and I voted against passing the budget because we knew it would lead to the closure. I pointed out that people would die. I mean, I'm old, have heart problems as as a lot of people here are. Then you have students, I mean, then you have, you know, drugs and all that stuff. And it's 20, 30 minutes or an hour or two can make a difference between life and death. So, I pointed that out. I uh also requested a delay in the vote until representatives from the community could be informed on why and have a chance to speak. And basically I was gled down and uh they took the vote anyway. It was 7 to2 with the two commas representatives voting against passing the budget. Quinnland had no representation. So anyway, I have these brochures. There's u the board meets on the fourth Tuesday of every month and they uh at the opening it's at 5:36 floor in the Greenville Hospital. Everybody can speak for for three minutes, you know, civily and uh everybody's allowed to do that. the more people that show up the the

better. And uh I guess to you all, did the hospital ever call any of you? So, okay. We did not know about it.

Oh, you're right. Okay. Well, they said they would the day that they closed it. They said, you know, the big six and y'all are part of that. So, I mean, the fact you weren't informed pisses me off even more, you know. So anyway, if you're not okay with this, come talk to them. It doesn't do that much good to talk among yourselves. You need to go to the hospital and and and tell them about it. And even if you agree with it, you know, it's definitely a financial thing. You're losing money. But I, you know, that's not a reason to put people's lives in jeopardy. I don't think I've been a pharmacist 50 years. I went into it to help people. I became a member of the board to help people and quite frankly I I failed y'all. I didn't wasn't able to convince anybody and I apologize to everybody.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Hilton. Appreciate your time. There's I hand these out at the door. They're If you if you would like, Jeff, you can put them on the table right here. We'll tell everybody in the audience that they can pick them up from the table at the end of our meeting tonight.

Okay, that's all the public comments I have tonight. Mr. Lisby, would you like to respond to any of those comments? Uh, yes. Thank you, Mayor. Uh, Jeff and Rob, both of y'all, thank you for your comments. Um uh and the uh hospital did not reach out to us in advance of that vote. Um but the day of the closure uh Lee BS did come to city hall and sit down and visit with me for about 20 minutes letting me know after the fact. Uh so we didn't know in advance. Um and so there was not really much action that we could have taken in advance. I didn't know

exactly if if the board members didn't know in advance. Uh that that's probably the same for all of us.

And and I'm going to interject. I'm sorry. This is my first meeting with you, but the Open Meeting Act allows basically a monologue for public comments. And the only response would be we can put that on an uh an agenda. We can direct you to staff offline or sidebar conference. but no dialogue if that makes sense to you. And I apologize that I have to I don't know another way to do it. Um I try to get you to your yes as opposed to saying no. But bless their hearts. That's the legislaturator's rules. And um you can put it on an agenda. You can direct um staff to meet with an individual. And that's kind of how that works. Okay. Sorry. We'll follow our council. Uh within our agenda, we typically have a a staff report at the end. Um and so um we'll take our council. Thank you.

All right. Thank you, council. Next item on the agenda is the consent agenda. I would before we vote on the consent agenda, I would like Mr. Lesby to comment on 5.2.2.

Uh thank you, mayor. Um the uh property tax process generally requires uh two independent entities to work. Uh one is an appraisal district that establishes the appraised value of the property and they operate independent and separate from uh the taxing entity in this case which is the city that adopts a tax rate. Um and so the city has no role in the appraisal process and the appraisal district has no role in setting the tax rate. Uh for many years, uh the appraisal district of every county uh consisted of a board and the appraisal board uh was made up of members that were appointed by the taxing entities uh within that county. And so each entity had a set number of votes that they could cast uh for the appointment of someone to represent their community. A few years back, state law made some changes and now the membership of the appraisal board consists of some appointed members and some elected members. And so the appraisal board now is a mix of both appointed officials and elected officials. And so through the process of appointing members to the board, each taxing entity is given a proratic share of votes based on how much valuation they have within the county or the appraisal district. And so item 5.2.2 uh is us nominating and allocating our votes to the representative uh that speaks on our behalf uh in the appraisal process. And so that is the subject of 5.2.2. Any questions for Mr. Liby? Also, council 5.2.3 motion authorizing the appointment of Dick King to the Commerce Housing Authority. I would like to table that until I have the opportunity to do a little bit more research and discussion with the Commerce Housing Authority. Can I get a motion to table, please?

So moved. Second. We have a motion to table. All in favor say I. Any oppose like sign. Thank you very much. Now, council, let's vote on the consent agenda. Are there any questions on any of the other items on the consent agenda tonight? There being none, may I have a motion? I move that we accept a consent agenda. Second. We have a motion in a second. All in favor say I. I.

Any oppose? Like sign. Motion carries. Thank you. The next item on our agenda tonight, item six, is council comments. An opportunity to uh speak to the public on these specific topics we have here on the agenda. Councilman Henry, anything? I just thanks to everyone that had anything to do with Lark Bash. It was, I think, a success. All right. Thank you, Councilman Mueller. I agree that the bash went along quite well this year. Councilman Thompson. Councilman Ays,

I would just like to take a minute to just uh mention the Commerce Hunt County Ways of Glory. It's uh the sixth annual uh event this year that the Commerce Rotary Club puts on to honor veterans and first responders. You might remember last year we moved the venue to the median in between what used to be the child care center in Highway 24. 300 plus American flags fly there, each one representing a veteran, a first responder. And that's coming up again. Uh the flags will be out on the 8th of November with an opening ceremony that day at 3:00 and they will be up through the 15th of November. It's a it's a great event and uh just wanted to let you be aware of that.

Thank you, Councilman Harris. Appreciate that. Item seven, council, uh, discussion and possible action on a resolution by the city council of the city of Commerce, Texas, approving a master services and purchasing agreement for the purchase of body cameras from Axon Enterprises in an amount not to exceed $144,32.62 and authorizing the city manager or his designate to sign and execute any necessary documentation. Courtley Weatherford, chief of police.

Good evening. Thank you, councel. So, this entire project is to replace the body cams and dash cams of the Commerce Police Department. So, we're talking about 15 body warn cameras for patrol officers, investigators, um, and any others that would need that through their course of duties and then also nine incar dash cameras. Um, but this project is going to be phased in over five years. So that total of the 144 is over a fiveyear period. Um but that also includes the purchase of the equipment, replacement of the body cams at the two and a half year mark because they get pretty rough and tough and worn and then the the data solutions and the uh software that goes with the use of that equipment for that fiveyear period. Um, so in all it would be the 15 body cams, the nine dash cams, the storage and the software to operate those systems correctly.

Are there any questions for Chief Weatherford?

Thank you, Chief. May I have a motion? I move that we uh accept the uh resolution by the city council uh to purchase in the purchase agreement for the purchase of body cameras from Axon Enterprise not to exceed $144,3262 uh as authorized by the city manager. Second. We have a motion and a second. All in favor say I.

Any opposed like sign? Motion carries. Thank you. The next item is discussion and possible action on a resolution to deny Encore Electric Delivery Company LLC's proposed increase in revenue and its proposed changes to rates. Mr. Lisby, city manager,

mayor, council, thank you for the opportunity to present this um as part of the franchise authority that the city has for electric and gas utilities. uh when they change rates or charge rates to our customers within our jurisdiction, we have some degree of input in that process. Um generally they notify us of an attempt to uh raise those rates and then we can either agree or we can uh disagree and when we disagree it then goes through a mediation process with the public utilities commission. we are aggregated with a a purchasing cooperative and so our voice is added to the total voice of a lot of other entities. Uh and so what ends up happening through that mediation is what they ask for gets reduced to some smaller amount because of the u negotiating power of our aggregate purchasing cooperative. Uh but that starts with us denying the request uh to change rates within our jurisdiction and that's what this resolution does.

Okay, any questions for Mr. publicity. There being none, may I have a motion? I move that we deny the Encore Electric Delivery Company LLC's proposed increase in revenue and his proposed changes in rates. Second. We have a motion and a second. All in favor say I. I.

Any opposed? Like sign. Motion carries. Thank you. Item nine, discussion of possible action on a resolution authorizing an energy and construction services contract with Snyder Electric regarding improvements at the wastewater treatment plant in an amount not to exceed $6 million and authorizing the city manager to execute any necessary documentation. Mr. Lisby, city manager.

Mayor, council, uh this is a major milestone uh in a project that has been working on and coming for over a year. Thanks to the the team with Snyder Electric. Uh as we have wrapped up most of the major improvements that were necessary at our water treatment plant uh to restore that plant to its full production capacity, uh we now have moved to the wastewater treatment plant. Molly, if you could go to that image. Um and so uh for any given community uh to treat the water and wastewater flows of that community that is it exists today and as it is potentially going to grow and move into the future. Uh you have to pay attention to the capacity of those plants to treat those flows both that exist today and are projected into the future. Uh and so our wastewater treatment plant on paper has a capacity of 2 million gallons a day uh of treatment flows. Uh on an average day flow right now it will have 650,000 to 750,000 gallons of flow per day. So our treatment plant should have plenty of capacity for commerce as it exists today and as it grows into the future. However, uh due to multiple decades of deferred maintenance, uh many of the systems within that treatment plant do not operate as they were designed uh or they don't operate efficiently. Um and so there are actually three different projects going on uh at the wastewater treatment plant right now. In conjunction, those three will restore the plant to its rated capacity. uh this project is only dealing with the things that are in the green uh part of the diagram uh on the screen, but just briefly for review, at the head of the plant, everything in that red uh

rectangle is what we consider to be the pre-treatment process. And so as wastewater flow comes in, uh there's a series of screens that the flow has to go through, imagine a metal mesh of smaller and smaller uh diameter holes. Uh and the intent is to remove as much trash and solids from those wastewater flows as possible. That trash is then removed, dewatered, and sent to a landfill. And so the systems within that area, one of those systems has failed. So there's two systems. One of them has failed. Uh the TCQ has uh given us uh a notice of violation and a set amount of time to repair that. That work is happening and has been authorized separately from the contract that you've got today. Once the wastewater flows through that red rectangle, it then moves into the primary treatment process. Wastewater treatment is biological in nature uh in that there are distinct sets of bacteria that are cultivated and used in the treatment process. And so at the top of that green rectangle are a series of aerration basins. Uh and the bacteria in order to survive must live in an oxygenated or airrated environment. Um and so those basins have been operating for probably 60 to 70 years without any significant maintenance or replacement. Uh and the airflow systems are failing. Um and and not providing enough oxygen that the bacteria need. And so that reduces the volume of water that we can take through those basins and maintain compliance with the state. So our rated capacity should be 2 million gallons a day. Our actual production capacity is 900,000 to a million gallons a day. So our plant operates at half of its needed capacity because of the restrictions of those

aeration basins. The project that is anticipated with in this contract before you uh is to rehab and replace that aation equipment uh and restore those aation basins back to uh their full capacity. Then beyond the aeration basin uh it goes through uh a series of clarifiers that requires movement of sludge. This project also improves uh the equipment necessary for moving the sludge around. And then finally how we dewater and remove that sludge from the treatment process. And so there's three treatment process anticipated within this contract uh that once those are successfully rehabbed, it will restore the full capacity of this treatment plant and allow for commerce to operate and grow for a substantial amount of time. Um the type of contract that we're using uh is an energy and construction services contract. Uh it is a unique instrument uh in that uh your more traditional construction project is a design bid build. You bring in a series of engineers, they design the solution, then you bid it out, then you build it and hope it works. Uh the energy services construction approach uh allows us to come in and evaluate the energy consumption of these processes uh and determine new and replacement technology for these old systems that are more energy efficient. Um and because of the improved energy efficiency, you will see operating savings within that plant. uh a traditional esco or energy services uh contract uh is is going to anticipate that the savings that you have will be greater than the debt service that you have for the improvement. So in theory an esco project should pay for itself by the improvement in energy efficiency. We've said from the very beginning this is not a project in which the energy

savings will be greater than the cost of of the project. However, uh this project is is designed and this contract is written in a way that the energy savings that we do realize because of the improved efficiency will reduce the cost that the rate payers bear for making this happen. And so the reality is we had to spend $6 million to fix this plant whether we liked it or not. By going this route, we are helping reduce the cost of that project to our rateayers by improving the efficiency of this plant process uh and working it into the contract. And so there are some guarantees uh that we will realize some level of energy efficiency savings that helps reduce the cost of the capital project. But then also uh the contract is written in a way that the construction will have a guaranteed maximum price. Uh so that as we we are still in design, design isn't 100% finished yet, but we're going to go ahead and release the construction contract with a guaranteed maximum price amount. Uh so that if the cost of the project ends up exceeding that guaranteed amount, the contractor has to help eat the cost of that uh cost overrun. uh if we come in underneath uh the cost of that guaranteed maximum price then there's a mechanism in which we can save uh money and then share some of that savings with uh the contractor. So it incentivizes them to complete the design in a cost-effective way and then construct and deliver the design uh in a way to meet or come in underneath that guaranteed maximum price. Uh we have uh a great deal of confidence uh in the $6 million number that was there. The last thing I want to point out is when you do a construction project with a guaranteed maximum price, uh, one of the ways you keep cost down and you help meet your schedule is you will release

procurement, uh, packages during the design process. And so in tonight's contract that we're asking for approval, it establishes a budget and a guaranteed maximum price of $6 million. But then we're also going to release what's called procurement GMP number one. Uh and so we already know the pumps that are necessary. We already know the size of the motors that are necessary. Uh there's certain mechanical pieces of equipment that if we order them today, they're not on a shelf for us to go pick up at the store tomorrow. We order them and then there's a long lead time while those mechanical equipments are built and delivered. And so we're going to go ahead or we're proposing to go ahead and place the order for those mechanical items now. Even though we're not completely finished with design and we're not going to move dirt tomorrow, we're not ready to start construction, but we want to go ahead and start those mechanical systems in the production line so that they get here when we need them so that we can install them and we're not sitting around waiting for that equipment to show. Uh so this is authorizing the construction project with Schneider Electric as the general contractor. It's also authorizing procurement GMP number one. And so in this contract, GMP number one has a value of $2,467,164. And the guarantee is those mechanical systems will be delivered and ready at or under that price. Uh the balance then remaining of that $6 million is approximately 3.5 million. But that final number will come back to you as a final GMP release so that we know what the final number is uh that is under contract for construction. Uh the intent is to be under construction in the next calendar year uh and hopefully uh get this plant uh back at its rated capacity before we see uh much more substantial

development both residential and commercial in our community. uh many communities in Texas have had to stop development because they've exceeded the capacity of their wastewater plants. We don't want to find ourselves in that scenario. And so this is a contract uh that is a major step in restoring the capacity of our wastewater plant and preserving our ability to support development uh in this community and the area around us. Be happy to answer any questions. Mayor, any questions for Mr. L? There being none, may I have a motion? And

we move to pass the resolution authorizing an energy and construction service contract with Snider Electric regarding improvements at the wastewater treatment plant in the amount not to exceed $6 million and authorizing the city manager to execute any necessary documentation. We have a motion in the second. All in favor say I. I.

Any opposed like sign? Motion carries. Thank you. Next item is a second reading discussion of possible action on an ordinance for a conditional use permit by Kendall Stanhouse for Stanhouse Automotive allowing for an auto repair garage for the property located at 2307 Live Oak Street, Commerce, Texas. Property ID 23159 legal description AO219 Kurland William Track 7 Acres 1.996 GB District. Mr. Harper, community development director.

Good evening, council. Um 2307 live oak street uh has um submitted an application for a conditional use permit. Um in general business auto repair garage requires a conditional use permit. Um at the time when PNZ heard this, they had no uh conditions to add to it. Um they did uh recommend approval. Staff still recommends approval of the conditional use at this location and the uh minimum requirements will be uh in the building and CO inspections pending approval of council

council. Any comments? I just understand that you're not what was the motion that we had before concerning this on our first read we were talking about having what the issue was is about uh for parking and

I believe the the the motion in the language from the first reading uh was that we would approve it with adding the condition of some privacy fence or screening some visual screening along the front uh so that the the parking doesn't become uh visually distracting to people on the on the highway. There's been some subsequent question about the need for visual screening. And so we actually have the version from the first reading that requires that privacy fence and visual screening. And we have a version that approves it with just a requirement for fencing and the fencing already exists. So there's an option that removes that privacy fence visual screen. And then there's an option that still leaves that in. So there's kind of two directions the council can go on this second reading. That would be the final approval.

And at our first one, we did not know, you know, we had not been had not received any of the information before. So after the meeting, we went out because my concern was for the visual concern of the neighborhood and everything. And the fence is there. It's already taken out. So, it goes back to the what I'm proposing is go back to the original um conditional to approve the conditional permit without the condition without the solid the solid fence. Correct.

Any other comments from the council? This does require a public hearing. So, at 6:35 I open the public hearing. Is there anybody in the audience that wishes to address the council on this topic? particular topic on this particular topic. There being none, at 6:36, I close the public hearing. Council, may I have a motion? Make a motion we pass on second reading. Second.

We have a motion in a second. All in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Like sign. Motion carries. Thank you. Item 11, second reading, discussion of possible action on an ordinance authorizing a resoning application by Duch Young for Joyfulness Property and Holdings LLC for a change in the general business to A2 apartment dwelling district 2 for the property located at Highway 24, Commerce, Texas. Property ID 36218, legal description A1033, Thompson C, track 32, acres 2.29. Mr. Harbor, director of community development.

So, property 36218 uh is a reszone from general business to A2. A2's apartment dwelling district 2. It's required to be it a mobile home park is required to be in apartment dwelling district 2. Um per the city ordinance and there was there is no change in in the approval that uh staff recommended and PNZ recommended. And as you can see right there, the front part of that property is has a flood plane issues. So the the natural use of that property would be to make it A2 and extend that mobile home. Uh like I like stated before, um most of this will be found out in civil plans uh when they're submitted. Um and you had minutes for the last P&Z minute and the consent agenda. Well, any questions for Mr. Harper? This requires a public hearing. So, at 6:37, I open the public hearing. Is there anybody in the audience that wishes to address the council on this topic?

If you're going to address the topic, please come to the podium and speak in the microphone. I'm Douche Young and uh uh I own the the park. Uh I bought the original 8.673 acre park June the 22nd in 2020. At that time it was on the tax roll at $160,890. And with that park, I got five manufactured homes that by my standards were unlivable. And I spent about 3,000 each getting them to Malloy landfill and uh disposed up properly. Um and I had one water meter for the whole park. Since 2020, the 16890 on the tax roll now looks like 1.3 million. the one meter now looks like 40 meters with another seven coming in the next couple of weeks. And u and I don't want to be in front of the council without just uh talking how great Miss Rita, Mr. Joe, and howdy been to work with through the years while we've been getting this thing cleaned up and looking a lot better than it did.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. J. Well, I guess I'll retract uh if he's done that kind of improvements on the park and uh hopefully uh if he continues as a mobile home facility that they uh make sure that they're nice and I don't have an issue with it at all. So, thank you. Is there anybody else in the audience that wishes to address this topic? There being none, at 6:40, I close the public hearing. Council may have a motion. Move we pass on second reading.

Second. We have a motion and second. All in favor say I. Any oppose like to sign? Motion carries. Thank you. Next item is the city manager report. Uh Mr. Lisby,

mayor, council, thank you. Um, speaking with my good friend Robin here, uh, with within each meeting, uh, during the city manager report, we do have an opportunity to talk about operational issues to update the council and let you know about things that are going on, um, in in a public and open form format. And sometimes those operational issues align with the comments that have been made. Um, and so had wanted to talk some about what's going on with the hospital district and the closure. Uh anyway, uh because it does have some very direct operational impacts uh to your city staff and your city team. Uh while we were notified in advance and we technically don't have any jurisdiction or influence within that separate taxing entity, uh we do have a voice and we do try to exercise that voice. Uh when Mr. Lee BS came uh to visit with me. Uh one of the things that I asked him and that we talked about um and I I don't want to startle or alarm people, but these are the kinds of situations in which we anticipate when we're doing emergency management planning, when when we're thinking about how our first responders are going to handle uh emergency responses. Uh and so prior to the closing of the Commerce ER, uh assume we unfortunately get a 911 call of someone having a heart attack. Uh generally speaking, our fire department is the first on the scene. We're usually there within 3 and 1/2 minutes of that 911 call. No matter where they are in commerce, we're usually on scene within 3 and 1/2 minutes. Uh our staff then begins life-saving measures. Uh, generally the ambulance shows up shortly after that, usually about 5 minutes after the call. Uh, we're usually there first. The ambulance usually shows up very quickly after that. We then hand

off life safety procedures. Uh, they then load and transport that individual at the time to the ER that is located in Commerce, uh, which generally would be within 5 minutes of of their arrival. you're rolling into an emergency room and getting all of the help you need in the case of that heart attack. Uh then in that scenario, assume shortly after that, we get a second 911 call for a second individual having a heart attack. Once again, our fire department shows up in about 3 and 1/2 minutes, begins life-saving activities. The ambulance then shows up a couple minutes after that. that second heart attack is back in the ER within 10 to 15 minutes of that original 911 call. Now, in our current environment, u without an ER located here, that first heart attack call happens. Our fire department is there within three and a half minutes and they begin life-saving activities. The ambulance shows up a couple minutes later, so within 5 minutes, uh you've got all the assistance you need on the ground. uh they load you up in the medic truck and then it's a 20 minute drive to get to the ER. Uh and so instead of that patient being in the emergency room within 10 to 15 minutes, uh they're now in an emergency room within 30 to 45 minutes and and those minutes matter. But the bigger problem and the question that I asked Mr. BS is the second heart attack call because now our ambulance is sitting in Greenville. is no longer sending in commerce. And so when the second heart attack call comes in, our fire department responds. They're there within three and a half minutes. They start life-saving procedures and they have to maintain those life-saving procedures for at least 15 to 20 minutes waiting for the second ambulance to roll into town. Then that patient gets loaded. It's another 20 minutes to the hospital. So that second heart attack

call is probably an hour to an hour and a half away from being in an emergency room. After that, if there's a third heart attack call, there there is no ambulance. Uh and and that is a reality that that frightens us and it concerns me on behalf of our fire department because under our current staffing model and the equipment we have, they can show up in three and a half minutes. They can start life-saving procedures for that patient. and we are more than qualified to keep that patient alive until the ambulance gets there. We then hand them off to a higher degree of medical care um and and medication that's available through that ambulance. And so we consistently save lives in that scenario. Now, our reality is going to be our firefighters are going to show up, start life-saving procedures, and they're going to have to try to maintain life saving procedures while waiting on that second ambulance. Um, and our staffing and our equipment level isn't necessarily designed to do that. We will do everything we can to keep that patient alive, but there is a higher degree of risk for that second heart attack patient. And that's the scenario I gave to Mr. BS. Unfortunately, his response is, well, we hadn't thought about that. Um and and so we've begun negotiations with the hospital district so that when the first ambulance rolls, a replacement ambulance automatically comes into our community. But we we need an ambulance in our community at all times if at all possible so that we can maintain the level of response. It will still take 20 minutes to get them to the Greenville ER, but it's that second or third call uh that concerns us uh and will directly impact our first responders and their ability to keep patients alive. Um and so we don't have the final answer yet, but we're pushing hard to make sure we always have an ambulance in town uh to

serve our customers. Do we need to do an assessment on the equipment that we have and the training that we have and the staff that we have? I' I've asked Fire Chief Baxon to start that process. Uh and so he's working with AMR uh the the ambulance provider uh to make sure that we've got what we need to sustain uh that patient until they can arrive. We're making that assessment now.

Okay. Uh it's possible that we'll need to procure some equipment or at least get the hospital to work with us to have that equipment uh so that we can keep those subsequent patients alive. Uh and so there's a very real impact to the citizens of commerce and while we were not notified in advance since that news came out, we've been working and in talking with the hospital district to to try to make sure we can provide the highest level of life-saving care available to us. Um and we're still working on we'll let you know what those final uh resolutions will be. Um and so uh we we have not taken this quietly. Um but uh there's limits to the authority and the impact we have in that jurisdiction. Um and so that's one of the main updates that I wanted to give you in terms of how our operations are impacted by this move with the hospital.

Thank you.

Um Jet Good evening, Mayor and Council. Um, we're going to take a look first at our quarterly investment report. Um, so, oh, sorry, I didn't know I was at the end. So, um, at the quarterly investment report, this investment report looks a lot different than it has over the last couple of quarters. Uh, and that is because as of September, we now have three investment accounts. These are investment accounts that are in investment pools. Um the first one is going to be our logic investment pool. This is only for reserve fund balance. Um I looked at uh 25% of our budget expenses for the general fund and determined that was pretty close to $2 million. and I transferred that from a local bank account into this investment pool um where it is earning about 4.3%. Um that changes every month of course but as of September it was 4.3. Uh you can see we've already gotten interest of about $6,000 there. Um the other two accounts are Techstar um investment pools and these are directly related to the most recent bond issuance that we had. Um that was funded in August, August 12th to be exact. And I split it between water and sewer and INS debt. This will give us some visibility into tracking our funds and how it's spent while earning a higher degree of interest to hopefully cover the interest

payments that we have to make. You know, as it goes on, you will see these amounts decrease because as we expend the funds, I will transfer the funds out of here back into our clearing account to cover the expenses. um in October I will be doing that for the uh ladder truck expense and then some other reimbursement funds that we have related to the Eddie Moore uh complex. Um if you'll remember, it's been a while, but we did a reimbursement resolution for those expenses and so I still have to go through the steps of reimbursing ourselves. Um, but that will happen on a more what is the word I'm thinking of?

Recurring.

Recurring basis. Going back to property tax, now that our fiscal year has come to an end, we're in the process of closing out the fiscal year. That usually takes me about 3 months. Um, but as of September 2025, we reached about 99.8% 8% of our budgeted funds for our property tax revenue. I would call that even. Um, typically we hit about our budgeted property tax because we have a very strong uh community that pays the taxes and pays their property tax. Our delinquent taxes are not that high in the grand scheme of things. So, um, as we go through closing out the fiscal year, we'll do some approvals, we'll do some write offs, those types of things. But in the grand scheme of things, this is where we're ending the fiscal year for property tax. Looking at sales tax, we actually surpassed our budget for sales tax by 2.9%. Um and we even surpassed what we received last year. Um and so this is very positive. Um we're still having um annual sales tax rebates. Uh we currently have two that are active. One is for Bloomfield Homes and one is for Tractor Supply. Tractor Supply is halfway through. um it was either five years or $200,000 and they've hit about $57,000 in rebates and they're halfway done. Um the other one is Bloomfield Homes and that agreement is just that we are um they list us as the receiving city. So we receive 100% of that sales tax and then

we rebate a portion of it back. So when we're looking at um our overall categories, there wasn't um any kind of anomalies. We still saw an increase in our construction compared to prior years, but overall September was very positive. When we look at our retail, um there were no anomalies. Uh it was a strong month for September. It was a strong month for um most of our large vendors. Okay. When we look at accommodation and food services, it was a higher month in September, but what I've noticed is we had some that were lower than normal and we had some that were higher than normal. So, it's almost like they net each other out and we very close to where we were September last year when it comes to accommodation and food services. Um, the last thing and it's not on here that I want to share with you is our uh aviation fuel sales. Uh, we have been live for about 30 days with our new fuel tank out at the air out the air out at the airport. Um, and we've sold about a,000 gallons of AB fuel and reached almost $5,000 in revenue. That's exciting. I will take it John and I will take any kind of revenue that's coming into the airport. So, I just wanted to share that little tidbit with you. Thank you.

Thank you, Miss Campbell.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. As a reminder, we currently have basketball youth registration going on. Um it's typical of our parks and recck program. We wrap up one sport, so we're finishing soccer season this week and we're kicking off um basketball season soon. So, registration, uh make sure you get the kiddos registered by October 27th. You can do so by visiting commerce recreation.com or stop by city hall. as part of our clean commerce campaign. We are about to release a new one for 2026 and 2027, but section C is up next uh on October 29th, 2025. That's a Wednesday. So, you can put bulk trash curbside the weekend prior to that, which is this coming weekend, I believe. Yes. For trash pickup. Commerce Public Library is hosting its first ever pumpkin patch. If you haven't been by, we encourage you to stop by the library. They have tons of beautiful pumpkins out there. They're open daily from 10:00 a.m. till 6 pm from October 12th all the way through Halloween day, October 31st. So, if you haven't stopped by yet, be sure and stop by and get a pumpkin. That's all I have.

We do also want to notify the the public if they choose to go after hours and help themselves to pumpkins. Uh we have cameras on scene uh and so they need to smile for the camera while they're helping themselves to pumpkins that aren't theirs. Um and so uh just putting public on notice smile you're on the camera. Um personal updates. Uh a couple items to go over. Um as as you recall uh Mason, our community engagement specialist, uh had an opportunity to move on and we wished her well. Uh we're currently taking applications and preparing for interviews for some strong candidates to assume that role. But until they get up and running, uh I would anticipate a reduction in the volume and quantity of material that we put out. Um Molly's doing a fantastic job of keeping us running, but we also have uh other tasks. So if you see a reduction in the volume of content, it's because we're looking for Mason's replacement, even though she is somewhat replaceable. irreplaceable. Wow, that came out. That came out really bad. Um uh additionally, um we've got uh a vacancy in the street department uh for the supervisor that leads that street crew. Uh and so we're going to be looking hopefully for an experience manager that's got uh some history uh building and maintaining streets to lead that crew. Uh and then finally, we're currently uh taking applications uh for a second animal control officer. Uh as you know, uh our our longtime acco brand uh left us to to make a career change and we hope and wish for his best uh future there. And so we're looking for someone that has some experience running and operating an animal shelter. Uh and so that position uh is currently open and we're hoping to take uh get somebody uh in that has some good experience there. Uh finally, I just want to

express my gratitude to the leadership team that we have developed here uh within the city. Uh I was able to take some time off uh this month. Uh I went home to see my dad, which I don't get to do very often. Uh he very quickly put me to work building fence and I have the the blisters to prove it. Uh keyboards don't cause blisters apparently. Uh but fencing does. Uh but it was a fantastic opportunity for me to unplug and go hang out with my dad. It was very refreshing and I had complete confidence uh in the leadership team here that they could handle anything uh that took place. Uh and it is a great position to be in as an organization to have such a strong leadership team and I am incredibly grateful uh for their heart and passion for this community. Uh and with that, mayor, I I don't have any other updates. All

right. Thank you, Mr. Liz. Meet Council. We do not have a need for an executive session tonight. So, I just need a motion to adjourn. I'm sorry. Council may have a motion to adjurnn. Move. Second. All in favor say I. I. Sign. Motion carries. At 658. We are adjourned. Thank you.