Mayor and Council - Special Meeting

Mr. Mayor, time. I'd like to call this meeting to or this special meeting to order at 5:00. Roll call, please. Mayor Jose Grialva here. Mayor Protemper Ray Shelton, present. Council member Jose Montano, here. Council member Gustavo Duraso. Council member Maria Dilman here. Council member Richard A. Costa present. City Manager Honor Kho present. City Attorney Dennis Fitz Gibbons present. City Treasurer Alejandro Martinez here. Thank you. And Mr. Mayor, I believe Mr. um your council member Duraso will be in tardy. Okay. Thank you. Item number three, persons wishing to address the council in writing or verbally on any item not on the agenda. Do we have anyone?

We do not, Mr. Mayor.

Thank you. Item four, discussion decision to call for and conduct an executive session. Item A under the authority of ARS 38-431.03 A3 4 and 7 to consider its position, instruct its representatives on how to proceed and obtain legal advice regarding the consideration of right-of-way donation north of SR-80 and Washington Avenue. Item B, under the authority of ARS 38-431.03 03 A3 4 and 7 to consider its position, instruct its representatives on how to proceed, and to obtain legal advice regarding the consideration of land donation acceptance by M andM. Morris of two parcels located in the southeast corner of Washington Avenue and Golf Course Road. Item C, under the authority of ARS 38-431.03 03 A34 and7 to consider its position, instruct its representatives, and obtain legal advice regarding the property located at 1300 North San Antonio Avenue and the bids received regarding the property. And item D, under the authority of ARS 38-431.03, A3, A4, and A7 to consider its position, instruct its representatives, and obtain legal advice regarding prospective strategic investments of real property. May I have a motion to enter into executive session?

I think I have a motion by Mr. Shelton. It's getting choppy. Hopefully it gets better for me on this end. Do uh do I have a mo motion by Mr. Shelton? Do I have a second? Second. A motion by Mr. Shelton. Second by Mr. A Costa. Any discussion hearing? None. Roll call, please. Council member Montano. Yes. Council member Duraso. Council member Shelton. Yes. Council member Dilman. Yes. Council member A Costa. Yes. Mr. Mayor. Yes. We enter into executive session at 5:02

Mr. Mayor. Yes. Uh, is everybody in? Yes. Okay. I'd like to adjourn executive session at 8:50 or 8 um Eastern Standard Time. Sorry. 5:58 p.m. Uh, next item, adjournment. Do I have a motion to adjourn um the special meeting? Is that Mr. Aosta? Well, I move that we executive session. Do I have a second? No, this is for the special meeting.

For the special meeting. So, we have a a motion from uh Council Member Montano and second from uh Council Member Shelton. Okay. Um all in favor to adjourn the special meeting, say I. I. I. Any nays? Eyes have it. We adjourn at 5:59 p.m. Thank you.

If I messed up on the timeline, remind me. Mr. Mayor, it's time.

I'd like to call this regular meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Roll call, please. Or no, let let us stand for the pledge of allegiance. Sorry. And then um followed by the invocation by Pastor Abel Salceto from the Pentecostal Lighthouse of Douglas. And after um the invocation, if the pastor could talk about his ministry and his church, his uh worship hours uh so the public could know. And um I'd like Mrs. Dilman, can you lead the pledge of allegiance, please? Sure.

Allegiance 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. Pastor,

good evening and my name is Pastor Abel Salceto and I pastor the church in Pentecostal Lighthouse, 833 East 16th Street. Let us start this meeting with a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, we come before you seeking your divine wisdom for this meeting. Grant the clarity and thoughts and discernment to make sound decisions. Help our city council members to understand the needs of others and to speak with truth and grace. May their choices reflect your will and bring about positive results. We place our trust in you and help this council to be attentive in all discussions. Let there be attention to be fix let their attention be fixed upon what really matters. Guide this council this evening to resolve disagreements with grace and understanding. May there be may their efforts be productive and pleasing as they move forward. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Amen.

I said my I I think he said I have a couple minutes. Okay. Thank you very much. Uh my name is Abel Salido. Um I am pastor of Pentecostal Lighthouse Church that has been in the city since 1982. Um we my family and I are going on 10 years since we have taken over as pastors. And uh um we enjoy this. We enjoy our community, our neighbors. And our days of service right now are Sundays only from uh 9:45 to whenever we finish noon 1. And you are all welcome. Our address is 833 East 16th Street. Um we are there. We are here for the community. Um our phone number is 520-889-5681. Anybody have any questions, any problems, any situations that we can be of help to you folks, please feel free to give us a call. If we don't answer right away, we will get back to you. And uh thank you for this opportunity. Thank you for allowing us to be here. Thank you for uh allowing us to be in your community. And uh if we can be of any service in any way, shape, or form, please feel free to reach out to us.

Thank you. Thank you, pastor. Thank you, pastor. The first pastor to give out his phone number, so kudos. Thank you. Um, item number four, roll call, please. Mayor Jose Grihalva here. Mayor Patmper Ray Shelton. Council member Jose Montano here. Council member Gustavo Duraso. Council member Maria Dilman here. Council member Richard A. Costa present. City manager present. City Attorney Dennis Fitzgiven, present. City Treasurer Alejandro Martinez, here. Thank you. Thank you. Item number five, event update.

Hi, this is what's happening at the Douglas Public Library in the month of April. As always, you can pick up a calendar just like this one here at the library, or you can follow us on Facebook and Instagram to get all of our updates. Mondays, we have relaxing activities for all ages from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. You can come color, choose an activity, and you can also make crafts. and that is from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Tuesdays we have our steam club for kids and we will be here at 3:30 every Tuesday with a different activity like a jelly bean tower recipe for success learning about how to save money activities and more. Wednesdays we have movies for kids and teens at 300 p.m. with free popcorn and juice. Story time is at 11:00 a.m. every Thursday. We will read books, sing, dance, and we will have playtime afterwards. You can come to a spring paint night for adults on the 24th of April. And to register, you can call or visit the library. All materials are included. It is also a very special month for libraries because we celebrate National Library Week from the 19th to the 25th. You can celebrate with us by coming to the library, checking out a book from our display, using any of our services, and participating in our activities. We really hope to see you here to celebrate this very special month for libraries. And if you have any questions, you can stop by the library. See you soon.

Hello from the aquatics and recreation departments. We have a lot of amazing events coming up. On April 11th, we have the 8th annual Dhill Run and Walk starting at the Border Air Museum at the airport park at 7 a.m. See the flyer for more details. Stick around after the event to celebrate America 250 with a color fight. All proceeds of this event will go toward upgrading the Border Air Museum, one of Douglas's hidden gems. Spring is in the air and you'll want to be in the water. Our awesome instructors are excited to start spring swimming lessons. Registration opened on March 30th and we still have some open spaces available. Register quickly so you don't miss this great opportunity. Ever wanted to see what it's like to be a lifeguard? Sign up for our junior lifeguard program. This program prepares kids ages 12 to 16 for future lifeguard training with 12 life-saving classes, an interactive learning environment, and volunteer opportunities. This program does not provide lifeguard, CPR, AED, or first aid certification. Classes will run from April 13th to May 8th from 5:30 to 6:30 in the afternoon on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. You can't have art without Earth. Join us at Raul Castro Park on April 22nd for another great art in the park. The youth session will be from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. and the adult session will be from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. We will have three different painting options to choose from with a limit of one item per person. This is a free event for anyone to attend. But if you want to be a vendor, there is a $5 fee to register. On Saturday, April 25th is our annual Dia Delo Nino's event at Raul Castro Park from 9 in the morning to 12:00 p.m. This is a free event for all to attend with games, food, arts, and crafts, and fun for the whole family. If you would like to be a vendor orformational booth, there is a $5 fee to register. Also on April 25th is Thundercade, a

Thunder Mountain wrestling event at Paul Huber Middle School with VIP tickets at $20 each, which includes early entrance at 3:30 p.m. for a chance to meet some of the main attraction guests. General admission is free with doors opening at 4:30 p.m. The event starts at 5:00 p.m. Join our water aerobics program for a fun, low impact workout in the pool that's easy on the joints and great for all fitness levels. Led by certified instructors, this high energy class boosts heart health, tones muscles, improves flexibility, and helps relieve stress, making it a refreshing way to reach your fitness goals. Registration begins on April 13th, and classes will run from May 4th to May 29th on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 6:00 to 6:45 in the evenings. This year, Douglas is turning 125 years old. And with the America 250 celebration, we are looking forward to an amazing Douglas Days with live music, dance performances, bed races, an awesome car show, and great food and craft vendors. Join us to celebrate Douglas's past, present, and future. The recreation department would like to say a quick thank you to Maddox and Suns for sponsoring our upcoming Douglas Days. We are looking forward to all of these great events and programs. We hope to see you there.

Thank you. Next item on the agenda, uh, mayor and council member updates andor reports. Um, Mr. Montano. Get my screen freeze. Hello. Can you hear us, M? Mayor. Yeah. Can you hear me? Yes. Okay. No. No. I couldn't hear. I didn't know if anybody was talking. I heard you though.

Speak right into your Yes. Thank you. on that.

Yes. There's a number of I really appreciate Another lot of times people

Get out there. I would like to excuse me um just congratulate Guild Mortgage for her new office space. Um I attended the uh business after dark and um there were a lot of attendees and she has a beautiful little spot and I wish her well and helping our community with mortgages and I feel too it just shows that some of these businesses have opportunities and they get to move into bigger and better spaces and um it just shows more growth for them. So, I congratulate Guild Mortgage and also I wanted to congratulate the Last Supper Museum on their third anniversary. They had a little open house and had also a lot of attendees. And uh I've said it before, if if you haven't had a chance to go in there, stop by, take a look. It's really a very very nice museum. He's done a really good job there. Um and also, if anybody's going up Dehill, we have snakes up there. I saw one yesterday just as community safety. Uh he was sunning himself. Thank God I was able to get around him, but we have wildlife now that are out there. So if you guys are doing dehill, be real careful for the wildlife. Um that's all I have.

Okay. Uh I just have a couple things real quick. Uh March 31st, I put together a meeting at the country club. Uh there was uh safety concerns at the Paria community. So we invited the former Chief Woolen and Lieutenant Lumi to talk to our residents there. Uh there are some safety concerns that are going on and they've been happening since late January as far as uh it happens early in the morning. So, the residents did attend and they did talk to Chief Foley to put some kind of a safety uh plan in place that uh you know hopefully they could catch this person that's out there causing havoc uh basically calling it a peeping tom showing up at like at 3 to 4 in the morning and flashing flashlights in their bedroom. So, so Chief Foing was able to uh talk to some of the residents and uh hopefully him and the police department will uh put together some kind of plan to protect the community just not at the Pere but throughout the city of Douglas. And also I want to give a shout out to the public works. Uh they uh Douglas literally league just uh started maybe a couple weeks ago and they did bring up a concern uh to me. So therefore I contacted Mr. Kikho to be in contact with this person that they you ever been to Little League Field on 15th Street Park. There is uh there's a stack bar there. It's a it's you know it's pretty big. But the problem was the concern is that the foul balls that are hit right over the back stop would fall right in front of the concession stand. So uh I believe Max Stop and his crew kind of built a nice cover there to protect uh the fans and especially the ones visiting Snipar. So that's all I have. Thank you.

Thank you. Um sorry about that. I Dennis and I couldn't hear you. Uh I we couldn't really hear at the beginning, but the the audio got better. Um the first update WBC uh and USA uh international boxing event was a huge success. Uh I I think we had um the the fairgrounds put up 500 seats and it was standing room only. Um WBC sponsored it the day before. So for the next one, it's going to get more. It's going to get bigger. It's going to get more advertisement, more marketing for the city, and there's already excitement building up with those gyms and those boxers uh for that opportunity. Um I I did uh just as an update, I uh I was um uh shown a post about a business and their um displeasure with uh some of the um of the rightway of the city uh when it had to do with trees. So, um I did ask legal to bring up as a future um uh agenda item uh to discuss and possible decision on on um uh giving up the right of way to them. Um I'd like to thank the Bambi Bambi Fund which they're at the old Unison building. Uh they're setting up a nonprofit there. Uh and they want to have a community event. They want to do a survey to see what the community wants. They're open to basically anything. Uh, so I did bring up maybe having uh, Energize Douglas downtown so you could get the people down there and fill up the survey and they could let look around the building uh, so they could know what what services they can offer. Uh, we had a US state department visit in Douglas. We uh, we showed them uh, sort of a uh, the presentation that we usually do and some conversation with uh, stakeholders was very good and they were very uh, impressed with Douglas. Um, I testified three times on to the state congress uh to three committees and I'm done. Thank goodness because I'm I don't like traveling. That's why I'm not there also. And that'll be a uh an

update uh later on right now. Um like to thank Awapeta for their water festival invite. They uh they really appreciated the help uh that the city has given them with donations uh on the stuff we don't really use anymore uh for for the so they could uh repurpose or reuse it out there. They had a whole water festival with um uh water games to teach uh the kids how to conserve water, how important it is it is to conserve water. Um and they had music and it was a very good time. Uh ribbon cutting for the Boys and Girls Club was a huge success. Um they're uh they're expecting to do a summer program and they might not have room right now. So, uh, staff and I were, uh, talking about possibly lending them out, um, the another part of the, uh, ACT building, call center, uh, so, uh, they could have enough room because, uh, I think the city's not going to do in a summer program. So, we want to accommodate the Boys and Girls Club as best as we can. Uh, had a lunch with the Legacy Foundation. I think Miss Dilman um, and staff were there. Uh it was a great discussion about what they do, what they've done, and how we can possibly implement some uh some some asks for for some money because we have a lot of needs out here. I want to uh again thank Synergy Home Care uh for opening up and uh allowing uh the city to throw a block party. They were very excited. They basically said we we didn't think a city would be this supportive. So uh they're very excited. they're very um open to uh really servicing the community as best as they can. So um we wish them a lot of success. Um we had a ribbon cutting uh like uh Mrs. Dilman said for uh Guild Mortgage. Um it that was a great event. We had a good discussion with Randy who works in Guild Mortgage in Sarah Vista. Um but he likes to come to Douglas. They all do. So, uh, we appreciate their business and hopefully, uh, they'll they'll have greater success than they did in the other in the other spot. They

had to move to a bigger spot even though it's in the same block, uh, just with all the success they were having. Um, I was talking to uh the the staff for the Veterans Resource Fair. Uh, the tenative date is in July and they're asking the city to to help coordinate and and help them out so to find a location and um, and see what we can do for our vets. So, it's going to uh tenatively be for 2 days. Uh so, we're going to have a a few hundred veterans come down and hopefully get haircuts, get suits, you know, help them out and whatever they need, the least we can do. Um so, he the reason I'm not there in person, uh I'm in Washington DC. Um so, uh yesterday I met with Ardent who uh they own some land around the new commercial port of entry. uh they're looking to re really develop out there and seeing what we need and seeing the progress. So, it was great catching up with them. I met with all our congressional staff yesterday also in the afternoon. Uh they were very helpful, very encouraging, and very excited about what Douglas is doing. Uh today, I was in the BBBX uh bridge uh bational bridges and border um uh conference with the state department here in Washington. Uh very exciting news and very um caught caught everybody offguard in in Arizona. Uh we had the ambassador ambassador Mo Duma mentioning just one Arizona port. Uh so the ambassador ambassador of Mexico mentioned just one port in Arizona and it was Douglas. So he's very excited. We're being talked about. Caught Nogalas and San Louis off guard. Very good. Uh but uh we were pleasantly surprised and I want to thank um Michelle Ward the US consul um in Ngalas. She's been um a cheerleader for us and so has Luc Ramirez. So they helped us out with with this with this meeting and uh getting

noticed. Um he uh they there's also big news that I was talking to Luis Ramirez about afterwards. Uh so Texas also gave some presentations uh and El Paso mentioned that the Bridges of the Americas is closing. Uh so that's going to really um hurt their weight times there. El Paso is expecting a 61% um commercial uh weight increase uh for their commercial trucks. So I I uh I asked Luis, you know, we need to get Mexico involved and see how how good that road is from El Paso to Awa Prieta. so we could bring that traffic over here and and grow and be the talk of the talk of the world at this point. That's the goal. Um so, uh it's been a very productive visit and I'm sorry I couldn't be there. Uh but, um it we're being talked about internationally and and that's a testament to uh city staff um you know, everybody that's involved. Luis Ramirez, Michelle Ward, um our congressional staff. you know, it wouldn't have been possible if we didn't have um the county supporting us, uh the state representatives supporting us, the governor supporting us. So, every everybody's in line, even the the feds, the Trump administration, Congress, they're all supporting us. We're good with everybody, Mexico. So, knock on wood. Let's keep that momentum going. So, those are my u updates. Uh item number seven, presentation of awards. Item A, Miss Douglas Day's recognition. Miss Dilman, could you take this please? Yes, mayor. Um, I attended the um Miss Douglas Day Scholarship Pageant and I felt that we needed to um introduce the new court and the new royalty since they're going to be representing Douglas for a year. And I would like you to each come up and say who you are and what

school you go to and and a little bit about yourselves. Hi. Don't be nervous. You have a whole year to do this.

Hi, my name is Haley Luna. I'm 20 years old. I actually work at Loro Catholic School. Um, I am the PE teacher. Uh, a little bit about myself. I just really like helping people. I like getting to know everybody. Um, I I'm a very shy person and I've done this before. I've was Miss Douglas Day's team before and I ran for Miss China Pablana and so I should have experience but I still get a little bit shy and I'm a little bit nervous. Um, so I really like meeting new people. I hope to get to know other people, meet new people that are coming into Douglas or maybe if I travel out of Douglas, I could represent Douglas in that way so I can meet other people. Um, I also like art. I like drawing a lot. Uh, and yeah, I'm very family oriented. I love hanging out with my family. I love hanging out with my friends. And yeah,

very nice. Congratulations.

Thank you. Hello everyone. My name is Juliet. I'm 8 years old and the school I go to, it's Ferris. And a little bit my myself. I'm really shy and my favorite color is pink. And I really like drawing and painting. And I also like hanging out with friends and family. And that's pretty much it. Thank you, Hi, my name is Dominguez. I'm 17 and I go to Douglas High School. A little bit about myself is when I grow up, I want to be an RN and a radiologist. So, I'm looking forward to that. I love meeting new people and being involved with my city. Thank you guys. Hi, good evening everybody. My name is Kayleen Moran. I am 17 years old and I have a huge passion for art and I am really excited to be showing art all over Douglas with my new title and I am now working on a project for a mural over there at Airport Park for the museum currently and we are currently going to start and that is my passion to do for now and show everything of art in Douglas Arizona. Very

thank you vibrations. Sure. Congratulations. I congratul I I think I saw Mrs. Kramer there. She's always the proud mom looking, you know, when when she has those girls up there. So, thank you for to Mrs. Kramer for putting all this together.

Yes. Thank you, Miss Kramer and Caitlyn, too. Thank you. Um, item number eight, coach's county government updates. Do we have supervisor there? Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes, mayor. Oh, she's already up there. Okay.

Yes. Hi. So, Kathleen Gomez, 2350 East 12th Street. And I have a lot of good things to talk to you about. It's great what the mayor is doing in DC because this is a really opportune time. And I'll tell you why. Well, first of all, I wanted to ask the city I would like to clear out the windows of the Coochis County building here in Douglas and put up anything that you have to do with the 125th anniversary of Douglas. So, I've already started to do that process. So, just contact me and we'll get that set up. Okay.

Thank you. um uh the screworm uh distribution center at BDI. I was able to get uh letters of support for having that from the Arizona cattle growers, the Coochis Graham Cattleman's Association, Eastern Arizona Counties, which is Hila, Graham, Apache, Greenley, Navajo, and of course, Coochis, mayors of Douglas, Bisby, and Wilcox, Hat Ranch and New Mexico, New Mexico Farm and Livestock Bureau, New Mexico Federal Lands Council, and New Mexico Stockman Magazine. all in support of putting the the sterile distribu the screworm sterile distribution center here at BDI and we were it was sent to all of our congressional leaders as well as uh Secretary Rollins from the USDA. So she's actually they all received them and actually saw something in I can't remember where it was. It was through the health department. They're actually going to move forward. I would say 99% with actually putting the money in and having that distribution center here because as you know the screworm is about 178 miles from here and it will just decimate the cattle industry in Sonota and here in Arizona and Coochis County as well as doesn't just affect cattle it affects livestock, horses, dogs and even humans. So we were successful in getting rid eradicating the screworm in the 70s. So it's going good. that'll bring some jobs and really you know help uh with the port of entry. So with that tomorrow we have two firms that have we have narrowed it down to choose for the economic or the strategic roadmap for the port of Douglas and Coochis County. We've never in Coochis County done an economic development plan. So there are two companies. One is uh Na Nison Dell Group from California and Morat Mloud from Oregon and they are going to do the strength and waknesses

of not only Douglas but Coochis County housing our image um our uh economic development what the port will do for us. It's a really an amazing amount of information with about 30 40 professionals that have done this all over the world. And so I'm excited they'll be doing this economic development p plan for the the new commercial port and how it's going to impact 191 Coochis County, the state of Arizona and the country. So this is really keen. It's really important and I'm excited about choosing somebody tomorrow to actually start the plan and they'll be coming to you all for focus groups to discuss what Douglas is, what we need, and what we're looking forward to. At the same time I just came back last week from the economic well it was done by the Arizona Commerce Authority and it was the summit on opportunity zones. So by July, each county will identify four opportunity zones. And it was an incredible group of people, everything from uh Laaza, the Chicanos for Laaza to Larasa because what happens is when you identify four opportunity zones and Douglas is considered deeply distressed, high unemployment, high poverty rates. What's happening with these opportunity zones? It gets hedge funds and wealth management comp corporations in New York to be able to offer investors a huge tax break. And when they do that in a deeply distressed area, it gives them even more tax credits. So all these people there was I don't know if you can see this about 30 people from every type of wealth development and even like I say laaza who builds homes. uh what they're called is also prestaza mentioned their excitement in opportunity zones and missionoriented

investors coming together to talk about how alternative capital can help meet the changing needs in lowincome communities. So at the same summit was a gentleman from the USDA who said that there's $50 million at the state here in Arizona and they've identified four or five counties Coochis being one of them where they want to start building affordable housing, lowincome housing and senior citizen housing. So we have right now we're kind of at this precipice. We have opportunity zones for Douglas that's going to be huge. is probably going to encompass everywhere from Douglas, Perville, Alfreda, McNeel, all over Tanakco as a deeply distressed area where investors will put their money into a fund to build hospitals to build affordable housing, economic development, and there's even um several members that were talking about historic preservation of buildings in rural communities. So being rural, being deeply distressed, if you have to be that, this is the most, this is the maximum time to do it because now there's people who want to invest. They get 30% break on their capital gains plus more tax credits when they build affordable housing. So probably in May I'll be looking to forming a housing summit for the county in which I'll invite all the municipalities especially Douglas is going to be center and key to all this in getting that 50 million part of that 50 million to build affordable housing to show a good face for these investors. And with this economic plan, what's great is it's going to show the data to investors on why it's so keen and the the roadmap or the landscape is so beneficial to them to invest. So they build hospitals. Each one of these um companies that we're looking to hire tomorrow is going to do a feasibility study for a hospital in Douglas. So that's key. And I've told you I've had

several hospitals now. not even here. TMC wants to be involved in building a hospital in Douglas with this kind of plan with the opportunity zones. This is just the perfect environment for us to promote our town and actually get economic development and do things that haven't been done before. We're in a great situation. So with that said, I I'll tell you some of the companies I talked to was Pristamos, which is a division of Chicaspora Lacaza, uh the Raza Development Fund to Caliber, a wealth development company, and that was just a few of about 50. I only had the chance to meet with about six of them, all heard about the Douglas port, the new commercial port, all excited to do something here in Douglas. So on April 29th, you all have been invited to a um April 29th 1 to3 to Benson and Coochis College where they are going to come. The Arizona Commerce Authority is going to come to talk to municipalities about how to take advantage of these opportunity zones and what you can do for your city as far as getting economic development down here. So this is just a really great deal and it's and I encourage you all to please attend. Um so having talked with that there's also um I met with the fort about the county fair. You know we've always had competition with them having a carnival in the same weekend as ours. The uh we had Nikki and two of the board members come to the fort. We met with the commander of morale welfare and recreation. They couldn't do anything this year, but next year they will definitely work to not have a carnival at the same time we have our county fair. And they're excited about being involved in the county fair this year and next year. It was amazing to me that none of them knew about the Coois County Fair. So, as part of my community enhancement, I'm going to spend about $5,000 in marketing the county fair in

the next year to see if we can't even get more participation and more vendors. And I'm trying to talk to Cox to bring in the internet into that warehouse because that's why you don't have vendors. There's no internet in that building. And I would like the city council to start thinking about ways in which you've annexed Coochis County Fairgrounds. How you can bring internet into the Coochis County Fair, which would really drive up sales, would really uh expediate, you know, the gates opening up. It just would be a plus. and you've already done it for the I think the country club and PIA estates. The next step is to include Coochis County Fairgrounds. Um, also I want to encourage you guys also to maybe possibly think of a senior citizen center here in Douglas because there's such an aging community and they have nowhere to go. Um, it's really sad as you know my mother is 92 and I know a lot of her friends there used to be somewhat of a small center and now there isn't anything. And as I see myself aging there too, there is nowhere it really for the older people in our community to go to and I would encourage the city council to start thinking of possibilities for that. Now the other thing I wanted to talk to you is about um there is in the legislature a thing called the holiday gas tax and what happens is Maricopa and Pima County buy their gas from California and in the spring they do a special blend which is very expensive. So with what's going on with gas prices, they decided they would give per Maricopa and Puma a tax break. But what happens is that impacts the her funds for both rural communities. So, if that goes through, which it was defeated in the House, but it could be attached to one of the budget uh strike bills that go in, they I went up there and and asked them, please not to do because that would actually affect your funds by

30% and the county by 30% at minimum. So, they did say that they were going to have a no harm clause for both the city and the county. So you guys will be and from what I received from Representative Griffin and FDA that you guys will still receive $153,500 a month that you get from PERF. So that's what you get every month and that won't be impacted by this tax even if it goes through. They'll probably take it from AOT money which is not really the best way to do it but they assured me that we will not be impacted by this holiday gas tax. So, if you guys have any questions, I'm willing to answer any of them. Um, please come April the 29th. It's going to be really important for the city of Douglas. As you know, I can't do anything inside the municipality, but this is going to be a key moment for you guys to whether you want historic tax uh historic tax breaks for people to be able to come and redo your your downtown to building affordable housing. This is just a an incredible opportunity for Douglas and we need to make sure that we utilize everything that we that comes before us. So, if there's no questions, thank you for giving me this time and I look forward to seeing you April the 29th. Thank you.

Thank you, Supervisor. Thank you. Already signed up, so you're going to at least see me there. Thank you. Uh item number nine, persons wishing to address the council in writing or verbally on any item not on the agenda. Do we have anyone, Miss Clerk? We do, Mr. Mayor. Um, we'll go with the first one. Yeah, go ahead and you announce them. Okay. Uh, Mr. Ael,

good evening, Mr. Mayor, members of the council. I'm just here to invite the community to two charter education sessions that are being hosted by Coochis College. There are flyers on the little table here at the entrance. They are taking place next week. This is a nonpartisan event and it's our opportunity to help educate the the citizenry of Douglas on the city charter, what a city charter is, and um how there will be ballot uh measures that are up for voting at a special election on May 19th. So, on Tuesday, April 14th, we will have one of our education sessions at the college at 12:00 p.m. and on Thursday the 16th at 5:00 p.m. we will have it here in the community at the fire department. And so, this is our um one of our many civic engagement events that we do throughout the year. We've hosted ballot measure education sessions uh throughout the county in the past. And so we're happy to do this as a nonpartisan event, not to tell people how to vote, but simply to educate them on the city charter and what the ballot measures are and what the changes would be if they would if they were to vote for yes. So the community is invited next week to one or both of those sessions and um the information is on our website and we have flyers uh right here in the room.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Diana Pacheco.

Good evening. Sorry. Good evening, Mayor and Council members. I am Diana Poacheo from 333F Avenue and I am here on behalf of the Douglas Market. I'm the market manager and I just wanted to give you a couple of updates. Um, we did finish our book drive and benefit of the Boys and Girls Club here in Douglas. And altogether's community, we were able to give them 71 books. So, thank you to everyone who was able to donate. They were so happy and grateful. Um, when they saw the amount of books, they got really surprised. They only expected a couple, but I I guess um they they're going to put them to good use. Uh, and also thank you to Diana Mangto from the Douglas Public Library because she was able to um give us a couple of book contributions from the library. So that helped out a lot as well. So thank you to Miss Diana Manker. Um, for current events, I did hand out a couple flyers. This week we will be having live music by Gita and Fernando. They're a local music group. Um, and as well as a weekly giveaway this week as well. will be at the Castro 10th Street Park uh 3:00 to 7:00 this Friday. And then next Friday, we have a bigger event. Um we have a Dia Nino um community party planned as well. So that's next Friday. And we've joined with uh different businesses and organizations to provide um activities and uh in different fun games for the kids. So, it's going to be a familyfriendly event and uh we're also having a bi live music by a local group from Coochis College called Loses Incendilos and we'll also be having um Torico dances from the Paul Huber Middle School uh the Douglas High School as well as the the Immaculate Conception Church Fodorico group as well. And just a quick thank you to the community

partners who have uh joined with us to have this special event. uh Kasakorason Suites, ABA, the Bambi Fund, and Aqua Life. They're all putting their part to make this a really great event. So, um we wouldn't be able to host this event next Friday without their help and their generosity. So, thank you to them for really um wanting to be a part of the community and wanting to have something special as well. And that is it. So, every Friday from 3:00 to 7:00 at the Rogue H Castro Park on 10th Street. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Harry Hill.

Good evening, Mayor and City Councilman. I have a problem. It's not my problem. It's the city's problem. I don't know how many people are familiar with 8th Street and Washington, the misalignment. The city went in there and striped uh east of uh Washington. They striped it. If you stand in my house, I live right on 8th of Washington on the west side. If you turn around of my house and look to the west, my house aligns with all the houses all the way at American. If you turn to the east, there's a big misalignment about I would guess 20 30 ft. They striped it and if I stand in my yard, the truck is going to run right into my yard. They're going to hit a power pole, a light pole, and maybe tear my house out. So, I don't know how you guys are going to fix that. It come to a boil when I saw them stripe it. One suggestion I got since 8 Street shouldn't be called 8 Street. It should be called Douglas Raceway because everybody speeds on that street. It's really bad, especially in the morning when people are going to school and in the evening when they're coming home. I guess the soccer women and the men just speed on that getting their kids to school. Uh I suggest that the city put a four-way stop there that might stop slow the traffic down. They don't stop, but the one that's on Washington, they just make a turn. Don't even stop at it. There's a stop sign there. Another problem we have there's I don't know if you guys are aware of this, there's two 2100 blocks. My house is 21106. You go up across the street, it's 21108.

I went to the post office and the post office says they don't assign house numbers. The local government or the or if you live in the rural area, the county assigns that. I don't know how that got screwed up, but it is screwed up. I had a problem. Called the fire department, called the amblets because I needed transportation to the emergency. They couldn't find my house. because there's they we're in the 2100 block on the other side of Washington. I realize there's only three houses in that area till you get to Los Angeles and it's it starts out. So, I don't know how they're going to fix the numbering of the house, but it's wrong. I don't know what they're going to do about the misalignment. I live in Frontier Village. It's an older building. It was planned neighborhood and everything. I don't know who did that. I think it was built in the 50s around 55 56. I don't know who approved it, who the city engineer was. I don't have a clue about that. But there is a problem there. What else do I have? And uh I thank you for listening to my bripe. But it is a problem and it's an eminent problem. There's kids that walk through that on the sidewalks and uh if you cross the other side, there's no sidewalk and uh the misalignment. It's hard to see the traffic coming and the traffic does go fast. That includes law enforcement, the border patrol that I mean that's their freeway to go east of west and Douglas. Another thing is the loud mufflers that people seem to don't care about. I looked it up. 80 dB the maximum

uh sound. That's standing next to the machine. 80 dB. Nobody enforces that. I don't know if they have a decibel meter to measure sound. I don't know. But they seem to turn the other way. Uh no straight pipes on motorcycles. against the law that was brought up and I looked it up on the internet. I don't know the city has allowances for let them have straight pipes or stuff. I don't know. It' be up to the city, but they cannot exceed or diminish the state requirements. So, thank you very much for hearing my rights. Hope something can come from it. Thank you.

Thank you. Yeah. Um staff, can um can staff help them out uh with those issues and maybe schedule a meeting for a follow-up? Yes, Mayor. Okay. Thank you. And those are the only three, Mr. Mayor.

Okay. Thank you. Item number 10, discussion decision on approval of consent agenda items. Item A, expenditures for the month of March 2026 totaling 3,116,81260. B, meet minutes for March 11th and March 30th, 2026. Item C, resolution number 26-1728, a resolution of the mayor and council of the city of Coochis County, Arizona, ratifying and granting a util utility easement to Arizona Arizona public service company for installation and maintenance for of electric lines together with a pertinent facilities and fixtures over part of the city owned parcel number 408-31-002A and authorizing the city manager to execute all necessary documents. Item D, resolution number 26-1729, a resolution of the mayor and council of the city of Douglas Coois County, Arizona, ratifying and granting a utility easement to Arizona Public Service Company for installation and maintenance of electric lines together with a pertinent facilities and fixtures over part of the city owned parcel number 408-31-002E and authorizing the city manager to execute all necessary documents. And item E, resolution number 26-1730, a resolution of the mayor and council of the Doug of the city of Douglas Coois County, Arizona, authorizing the execution of a formal sister cities agreement with the city of Ganana Sonora, Mexico for mutual cooperation between both cities and establishing establishing an effective date. May I have a motion to approve this consent agenda items?

Mayor, Mr. A Costa. I move that the mayor and council approve consent agenda items A through E. Do I have a second? Second. Motion by Mr. Aosa. Second by Mrs. Dilman. Any discussion?

Um just a a quick comment from me. I want to thank Kaneana. This is how much attention we're getting. They want to be sister cities just like Awabeta. They're already sister cities with Sarah Vista. So, um, very grateful for them to be marketing Douglas, to bringing the their people down here to shop, to eat. They don't have to travel 45 miles away if if Douglas can grow and and um and uh give them their what they like uh when they cross the border. So, thank you very much to them. If there's no other discussion, um, roll call, please. Council member Montano, yes. Council member Duraso. Council member Shelton, yes. Council member Gilman, yes. Council member A Costa. Yes. Mr. Mayor,

yes. Motion passes. Item 11, discussion decision on approvals. A first first reading of ordinance number 26-1230 an ordinance of the mayor and council of the city of Douglas Coochis County, Arizona authorizing the acceptance of donated vacant unimproved real property from Ray Mian consisting of a 6.35 acre parcel with assessors parcel number 410-12-035 in the city of Douglas coaches county Arizona establishing severability of component of ordinance and establishing an effective date thereof. of Mr. Pedrosa.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Good evening, Mayor, members of council. Mr. Ray Mihan approached the city about donating this parcel adjacent to the city's golf course and SR80. The unimproved parcel has property taxes owed currently in the amount of $33,15427 which have been acrewing since 20 uh 2008. Mr. Mian is not interested in developing the property, wants to donate it. Uh the city negotiated with Mr. Mi to accept the donation with the agreement that the property taxes owed are absorbed by the city. Uh the parcel is 6.35 acres with an assessed valuation of $36,378. The parcel is not improved, but utilities are nearby. Uh you will see a map of that parcel in your packets. The the site is zoned residential but has potential to be reszoned to offer commercial activities with its location by State Highway 80. The location of the parcel next to the golf course presents opportunities for commercial, residential, and golf course development. And the acquisition of the properties will allow the city to market developers the ability of prime real estate for development and advance the city's goals to increase population, tax revenues, and attract new businesses. that I'll take any questions. Mayor, thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Pedosa. May I have a motion to approve the placement of ordinance number 26-1230?

U Mr. I I couldn't hear that well. Can you hear? Yeah, Mr. Montano. Uh do I have a second? Second. Motion by Mr. Montano, second by Mr. Shelton. Any discussion? Hold up, Mr. Mayor. That the mayor and council approve the placement of ordinance number 26-1230 on its first reading by number. Thank you. Um, and Mr. Shelton is a is a second. Uh, any discussion hearing? None. Um, roll call, please. Council member Montano.

Yes. Council member Leso. Council member Shelton. Yes. Council member Dilman. Yes. Council member Aosta. Yes. Mr. Mayor. Yes. Motion passes. Uh can it um uh hire Mr. Duraso's microphone? I couldn't hear him at all. And go ahead, Miss Clerk. Sorry.

Thank you. and owners of the mayor and council of the city of Douglas Coochis County, Arizona authorizing the acceptance of donated vacant unimproved real property from Ray Mian consisting of a 6.35 acre parcel with assessor's parcel number 410-12-035 in the city of Doug Coochis County, Arizona establishing Sarah components of ordinance and establishing an effective date thereof. Thank you. You may have a motion to approve the first reading of ordinance number 26-1230. Mayor, Mr. Aosta, I approve that the mayor and council approve the first reading of ordinance number two 6-1230 and place it on second reading by number and title only.

Do I have a second? Second. Motion by Mr. Aosta, second by Mrs. Dilman. Any discussion? Hearing none, roll call, please. Council member Montano, yes. Council member Dresso, yes. Council member Shelton, yes. Council member Dilman, yes. Council member Aosta, yes. Mr. Mayor,

yes. Motion passes. An owners of the mayor and council of the city of Douglas Coochis County, Arizona authorizing the acceptance of donated vacant unimproved real property from Ray Mian consisting of a 6.35 acre parcel with assessors parcel number 410-12-035 in the city of Douglas Coois County, Arizona establishing several bid of components of ordinance and establishing an effective date thereof. Thank you. Uh item 12, city manager reports. Mr. Zho.

Yes. Thank you, mayor, members of the council, and community members. So, I'll start with some policy priority updates uh focused on our infrastructure. Uh our our raise grant, which is our $23.5 million uh grant for resurfacing of commercial roads, is moving along with AOT uh working that as a pass through of our grant. uh they are getting ready to send out the RFP for design within a few weeks. Uh the city has provided uh specific scope of work items for each of the streets or corridors identified in the grant application and there's a total of of nine corridors for that under the grant. Also, our Chino Road realignment, our contractor has finished the sewer line crossing of the new Chino Road alignment. Uh this sewer line will extend out west and eventually connect to the new commercial land port of entry. The sewer work was scheduled before road construction to avoid any conflict. So that uh is moving along. You may see some of that realignment work off the side um south of uh 180 and and um 191, I'm sorry, in state route 80. Also, the state route 80 wastewater and sewer extension project to uh the Coochis College and to the port of entry is officially underway with a new commercial port of entry. KN&G is the contractor for that uh project and they are working on Copper Avenue already. Uh they did have to jump over to the Chino Road uh realignment to complete the sewer tie-in ahead of that extension project. U but they're toggling back and forth this week. uh they are uh getting ready to set up the AOT require traffic control and start clearing and grabbing blue staking and utility potholeing on the A dot right ofway. Uh the third

party inspector which is QT for the city uh started the job today. So lots of activity in the community uh with contractor work and as part of these projects. Also our asphalt plant project um eight footings have been completed due to the concrete curing time that is needed to develop the required strength. Uh a crane will be scheduled for the next month to lift the plant components in place. Electrical trench and conduit is completed. Concrete pads for the panel and transformer are scheduled for next week. Uh we will be working with the manufacturer to commission those uh pieces of equipment before we get ready to um to set them off and and uh start uh our new operation there. Our uh water well number 18 uh which is located at Kazy Park or 15th Street Park is officially underway and a few weeks ahead of schedule. Uh the well is scheduled to be operational until uh late a in late August. The well 20 pre-construction conference is scheduled for April 15th uh to start the initial well shift um shaft drilling and zonal testing. Uh this is at our water campus out at Coochis College. Uh I want to thank uh Mr. Hill for bringing up uh the issues today on striping of 8th Street. Uh that was among my report that our striping equipment is finally uh underway. Uh we will certainly look at some of those uh concerns on alignment and see how we can work to resolve those. But I I learned a few things that I wasn't aware of like the um two 2100 blocks in the area. So, I think there's ways for us to work uh

on uh aligning that with you and we'll be following up with you soon to work closely with that. Also, ALEPS um ALUPS is a fueling station that's underway. They officially began work by placing a per perimeter fencing around the area of 16th Street off of Highway 80. So, it's across the street from the Veteran Memorial. um and the visitor center area and you'll notice a lot of land clearing in that section. They have obtained their grading permit and are working on final building permit permitting. Alps is a gas station/convenience store with locations in New Mexico and Texas. very well known in those states from what I understand and they claim they're very well known for their uh deep fried beef and bean burritos as well as their 24-hour service. So I hear a lot of comments about that. We also have a straight safe streets for all uh complete street study uh that's underway. It's a our consultant has been selected and we are waiting for their scope of work to bring back. But the reason I I bring that up is that'll work in alignment with our our raise uh street project and hopefully be able to combine some efforts uh for improvements in in our nine corridors of commercial streets. We're also we continue to work on downtown revitalization exposition which is a a big effort to bring resources and opportunities um to downtown merchants and u building owners to really provide resources on opportunities such as our work on historic preservation. So, I was really um intrigued by hearing so many

of the updates from uh Supervisor Gomez because some of some of these things I think really overlap. So, we'll uh talk through some of those opportunities, but Shipo is uh will be joining us along with some CDFI opportunities on low interest loans where we have some um technical uh experts coming in to talk through some different opportunities as well. And it's really an attempt to not only provide general information on what the city's been doing towards downtown revitalization, which includes the establishment of title 18 a couple of years ago for historic preservation. Uh but we continue to work towards our credential known as certified local government uh to be able to qualify for historic preservation loans. So, all of that will be more of a resource fair and we'll be working through some dates in the summertime for that. Also, back to our streetscape uh project, uh our engineering firm or architect firm, J2, uh they are reviewing all of the questions submitted regarding structural stability of historic buildings um with any of the work to the sidewalks. So we will be planning a meeting uh either alongside the expo or separately with some of our merchants to answer their questions directly uh regarding this technical topic or other related questions that have also come up regarding uh ADA compliance and the pitch of the streets. Uh we are also working with the border arts coalition on the Douglas 125 celebration alongside the America 250. Have several museum displays being planned and then uh future museum displays also for Border Air Museum with uh next year's powderpuff um derby um anniversary as well. So some really cool stuff. So,

it's really nice to know that the government center also will be opening up some of the window space for some of those exhibits. We've ordered an total, I believe, of 19 exhibits from the America 250 um mobile museum collection, but also have created uh some nice Douglas 125 history um standup uh displays as well. So, I'm I'm looking forward to um bringing them throughout the community in different places. We are also planning to display them for a period of time at the Grand Theater. I think it's a perfect opportunity to also uh come into the government center and and continue moving them along. That is my report for today. Mayor and Council,

thank you. Item 13, future agenda item request for mayor and counsel. Is there any? No. No. Yes, Mr. Shelton,

I would like it at the next meeting so so that the audience and we can all be refreshed on something. I'd like to see the progress we have made on the port of entry and what might be happening the rest of this calendar year. And um I and then I've got a personal reason why I like to not only have everybody get refreshed on what's happening. It's been so long since this has happened. Um I made a wager with somebody uh that we'll have it done, but it was a state dinner. So, I I want to make sure it's done before this other person that I can make it to the steakhouse or so forth. So, um anyway, I I let's have a short review of it once more.

Uh Mr. Mayor, Mr. Aosta, yes. On top of that, uh, you know, can we get an update as to the labor force that's out there at the port of entry and, uh, how many of them are from our Douglas area, please? Yeah. And if anything comes up, any other comments or questions, um, we have a month, so um, we'll let staff know, but yeah, for for next month. Thank you, Mr. Shelton and Mr. A Costa. Uh, no others. Uh, item 14, adjournment. Do I have a motion to adjurnn? I make a motion we adjourn. Do I have a second? I couldn't hear who that was. Mr. Montano. Yes. Yes.

Okay. Um motion by Mr. Shelton, second by Mr. Montano. All in favor say I. I. I. Any nays? Eyes have it. We adjourn at 7:07 p.m. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Dennis. All right. You guys have a nice evening. Bye. Thank you.