City Council - Regular Meeting

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Coming up next on ECN, a regularly scheduled meeting of your Edinburgh City Council. On the Council, Mayor Omar Ochoa. Mayor Pro Tem David Salazar. Council Member Dan Diaz. Council Member Jason DeLeon. And Council Member Jerry Lozano. Sitting in as advisors, City Manager Myra Ayala and City Attorney Ben Alonso. And now live from the Edinburgh City Hall, the Edinburgh City Council.

Time is 6 p.m. on June 16th, 2026. And I call to order this regularly scheduled City Council meeting. We have all members of City Council present, with the exception of our Mayor Pro Tem David Salazar. Let us please start with a prayer. We've got Pastor David Alexander from First Baptist Church, and I just want to say thank you for being so willing all the time to come in and lead us in prayer. Honestly, we really appreciate it.

Honored to do so, Mayor. Thank you. Let's pray. Father God, we thank you so much for today. We praise you for the rain, and although we thank you so much for the kind of it is in filling our watershed. We know, Lord, it may have negatively impacted a few. And so, Lord, we pray that you would help them in whatever way that they need you to come by and just lift them out of whatever issues. Lord, we thank you for the peace in the Middle East that is on the horizon. We pray that you would continue to grant wisdom to our leadership, that whatever happens there would be to your honor and glory. Lord, we, most of all, Pray for the proceedings tonight. Everything that's said here and done here also would bring you honor and glory. That you grant wisdom to our council. That you grant wisdom to those that are presenting. Lord, we celebrate with those who have achieved. All this comes from you, and we just thank you. You are so good. Lord, we are so grateful. In Jesus' name, amen.

Council Member Diaz, could you lead us in the pledge?

It would be my privilege. I can ask everybody to please stand, place your right hand over your heart, remove all headgear unless you're on duty, face the flag, and let's say it together. I pledge 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. Thank you.

Next item on the agenda is the certification of public notice. Madam Secretary?

Yes, sir. Mayor, the meeting was posted in accordance with Texas Open Meetings Act on June 10, 2026 at 6.45 p.m., sir. All right.

Next item is the disclosure of cognitive interest. Mr. City Attorney.

Mr. Mayor, under state law, a local government official is required to disclose a substantial interest for themselves or certain family members and abstain from voting on matters related to such conflict. Are there any conflicts to disclose related to the pending matters on today's agenda? No, sir. No.

Thank you. All right. Next item are the city highlights. As I mentioned, every city council meeting, there's always a lot going on in the city of Edinburgh. It's by design. We've got a great cultural arts committee. We have great staff across the board putting on all kinds of great community events, a lot of them free. And so coming up this Saturday, a Father's Day event, Daddy and Me, occurring at the Edinburgh Municipal Pool. Come on out to that. It starts at 6 o'clock that night. Our summer concert series kicked off a few weeks ago. Completely free concerts to come out for the community to enjoy here at our amphitheater on Promenade Park. The next one will be this weekend on Saturday, June 20th. Coming up is a very special 250th celebration of the independence of our country. We are all just so, so very excited about all the festivities that will be happening across the country. But especially here in the city of Edinburgh, our Chamber of Commerce is here tonight. I'd like for you all to come up during public comments to give us a little bit more information about the festivities and the events when the time comes. But I'm introducing the idea that it's going to be amazing out at Ebony Hills Golf Course, Cookham, 4th of July, completely free event for the community to come out to enjoy food, live music, obviously the cook-off contest. There's going to be a kid zone with rides, also free for the entire family to come out and enjoy food. And of course, an epic firework show at the end of the night. So I'm very, very excited about it. I hope the entire community come out to celebrate 250th Independence Day of our country. That morning, though, is a 5K run. Don't forget. Come on out. We've been meeting, running with the mayor on Sundays at 7 a.m. at Edinburgh Municipal Park to kind of train for it. But I really anticipate or hope that the community will come out and support this 5K run as well. That same day, let's make it, you know, top to bottom, beginning to end. fantastic day so I'll leave you all to give more of the details when you come up during public comments but those are the city events next on the agenda is the mayor's report and I do have something to say I just want to take a moment to thank all of our city employees for the tremendous work that everybody did coming together for the recent rains The early warnings were that it was going to be low probability of a flood event. But literally Monday morning, the Texas emergency management system flipped that prediction to turning it to moderate risk of flooding in our area. And then by the afternoon, it was a high risk of flooding in our area. Some projections or possibilities We're up to 15 inches of rain in a single day, which would have been today, which obviously would have been catastrophic for our entire region. But even though this happened very suddenly, very quickly, public works, our utilities, our fire department, our police department, our city management, everybody jumped in and really got our emergency management plans together in a hurry, deploying assets all across the city, rolling out our plans that we have in place for just this type of event. The Edinburgh School District was a great partner in this event as well, ready to provide school buses if we needed to move people around depending on how the weather went. We had shelters ready to go. We had our emergency operations center running into the night. Just fabulous, fabulous from our city staff. Our communications department, sorry I didn't mention you all, pumping out information as fast as they could as fast as we were getting it so really just from top to bottom I want to commend the city staff and I hope you all will join me in giving them a huge round of applause please now of course this also gives us an opportunity to learn right so to the extent that we do have neighborhoods that that did have some standing water To the extent you see storm drains that had some debris in them afterwards, if there's any issues out there, I really invite the community to please report that on 311. We want to be data-driven. We want to know in an event like this where it didn't get as bad as it could have been, where were the spots in town that we need to have an eye out for next time. So please, if everybody can continue to be engaged and let us know about those areas that we need to be addressing for the next time.

all right uh so that's quick quick mayor's report but very important i think to thank the city staff for everything that they do um council anybody i just want to echo what the bear said uh in emergency situations people don't see all the work public works they are first and last responders they're the first ones there last ones to respond once everybody's our it's all done thank you for blocking off those streets that we've identified i saw one particular hotspot, just smiled as I drove by the cones, knowing that we were keeping the residents from driving through some of those areas. Thank you very much.

All right. Next item in the agenda are proclamations of recognition. We have item A. Do we have anybody from the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services here? Okay, great. So this is a proclamation recognizing June 2026 as Elder Abuse Awareness Month. If we could have the city secretary read the proclamation. And while she's doing that, City Council will come down and take some pictures with you all.

Yes, Your Mayor. Presentation proclamation recognizing June 2026 as Elder Abuse Awareness Month as requested by the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. Elder Abuse Awareness Month, June 2026. Whereas older adults and people with disabilities of diverse backgrounds contribute to the well-being of the city by working, caregiving, volunteering, and actively preserving customs, rituals, and traditions. Whereas as we age, we build momentum by accumulating knowledge, experience, insight, and wisdom from that can be shared to enrich your community. And whereas abuse of older adults and people with disabilities is a community concern affecting thousands of people across Texas. And whereas there are over 125,382 reports of abuse of older adults and people with disabilities in Texas in 2025. And whereas abuse against older adults and people with disabilities is grossly underreported because of social stigma, embarrassment, and fear. And whereas adult abuse affects men and women of all income and ability levels, all cultural and ethnic backgrounds in all communities, And whereas elder abuse is everyone's business, it's important to strengthen our efforts to prevent, report, and address elder abuse. Now, therefore, the Maine Council of the City of Edinburgh, Texas, by power vested in them by law, do hereby proclaim June 2026 as Elder Abuse Awareness Month in the City of Edinburgh and encourage everyone to work together to reduce abuse and neglect of older adults and people with disabilities.

First of all, thank you, Mayor. Ochoa and commissioners for allowing this to be the month of Elder Abuse Awareness Month in the city of Edinburgh. In a society, the values of just treatment of all people, Elder Abuse Awareness Month reminds us that elder abuse has implications for all of us. And so it's important to find the right solutions to it. Therefore, it is critical that we continue to raise awareness and take steps to in our communities, educating the public on the issue and what to do when they suspect abuse, neglect, or financial exploitation of an older adult or individuals with disabilities is crucial. The APS program will remain focused on raising awareness of elder abuse. On behalf of our program, I would like to thank all of our first responders and all our judicial partners for their continued support in helping APS carry out their mission, which is to protect older adults and people with disabilities. It is through this collaboration that we are forming public and private partnerships to identify where stronger support is needed and where existing connections must be reinforced as a central first step toward defending our community against elder abuse. Thank you.

Thank you all so much for bringing this to our attention, allowing us the opportunity to recognize this month. The city of Edinburgh does a lot to support our senior community. We've got daily programs at our El Dula Recreation Center, for example, from 8 a.m. to noon. In fact, very exciting, the city of Edinburgh was named a top 100 place to retire in the United States just recently by Investopedia, something that we're very proud of. And so we want to support our senior community. We know how important they are to us as a community, but we value everything that they've done for the decades of their lives to give back to our community as well. So thank you again for bringing this to our attention. Next item on proclamations is item B, recognizing the City of Edinburgh Conceptos Dance Ensemble as state competition winners. And I believe we've got some members of the dance ensemble here today. Come on up to the front. We'll have the city secretary read the proclamation, and we'll come down for some pictures.

Presentation of proclamation recognizing the City of Edinburgh Conceptual Dance Ensemble as the state competition winners at the 2026 South Texas College State Dance Competition. City of Edinburgh Conceptual Dance Ensemble. Whereas the City of Edinburgh Conceptual Dance Ensemble showcased exceptional talent, passion, and teamwork at the 2026 South Texas College State Dance Competition in McAllen on April 16 through 18, 2026. And whereas competing against over 900 routines in the elite pro-am category, the ensemble demonstrated tireless commitment throughout the rigorous three-day event. And whereas the team earned top honors across multiple categories, including first place in pro-am flamenco, solo duet, adults Veracruz duet, and pro-am clogging, second place in adults tamalipas, pro-am adults Veracruz, and pro-am matrakan, and a first and second and third place sweep in the pro-am large group. And whereas this success is a testament of the dedication of members Gisela Amador, Ruben Garza, Adan Gonzalez, Matthew Guerra, Carlos Guzman Jr., Iberlene Hernandez, Priscilla Huerta, Flor Lopez, Jose Marin, Lucero Medrano, Emily Mendoza, Ana Montoya, Lesa Ochoa, Ashley Quezadas, Josue Reyes, Gabriel Rios, Cecilia Rocha, Diego Rodriguez, Yair Ruiz, Pedro Sandoval, Alejandro Serna, Iridian Tienda, and Jocelyn Zapata. And whereas under the leadership of artistic directors Olga Van and Kathy Gomez, along with library and cultural arts director Leti Leija and the Edinburgh Cultural Arts Division, continues to provide vital low-cost arts programming for residents of all ages. Now, therefore, the Mayor and Council of the City of Edinburgh, Texas, by the power vested in them by law, to hear by recognized City of Edinburgh Conceptuals Dance Ensemble for their outstanding accomplishments and encourage all residents to celebrate this team's success and explore the flamenco and flotico programs offered at the Edinburgh Ace Center.

Mayor, Council, thank you for your continued support of the cultural arts programs. And for this proclamation that highlights the accomplishments of our team, the Conceptual Science Ensemble. The team is made up of 22 young artists. They were competing against 67 other teams, over 800 routines from all over the state and beyond, including Houston, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, Las Vegas, and other RGV teams. They were brought home first, second, and third places. More than awards, they are also representing Edinburgh with discipline, pride, and excellence. Some of the alumni from this program, which this year turns 15, include Josue Barajas, who's at Edinburgh North. He's a dance director there. Javier Garcia, he's now a founder and an owner of the Movement Center Dance Studio. Robert Alvarez, with the Dallas Community College Dance Faculty. Paola Cantu, she's an assistant dance director at Edinburgh High. Aaron Medrano, he's a director at Vamaya Dance Studio. Tania Ramirez, assistant director at Vamaya Dance Studio. Jennifer Lozano, oh, I'm sorry, with Jennifer Lozano. We appreciate your support for these programs that not only show the development of talent and industry professionals, but build a culture that truly draws people to our city. Thank you.

Mr. Mayor, briefly I just want to mention that I want to thank the directors, Mr. Raul Galvan and of course Kathy Gomez. They've dedicated 15 years of their life to make sure that these students have a place where they can come and continue to hone their dance skills but also to continue to later on encourage other people and inspire as they become dance instructors themselves. So we're very happy that we're able to be a part of that and Edinburgh is a place for everybody and especially a place that loves art, and we're really happy that Conceptos is here and continues to be very successful. Thank you. Thank you.

Yeah, I do want to say quickly that this is a great example of all of the cultural arts program that are going on at our ACE building. The vision for that building is for it to be an arts and culture center in addition to being a beautiful events location. But I know our classes are ramping up. We've got a lot of offerings for the community, including our Conceptos dance ensemble practicing and doing their things there. So I encourage everybody to stay informed about all of the cultural and class offerings that are happening at our ACE building.

Thank you.

Thank you. Okay, next item is public comments.

Yes, your mayor. Good evening, everyone. The Edinburgh City Council allows for a specific portion of the city council meeting to be dedicated to public comments. Public comments are limited to three minutes. I'll be taking time. Please note the public comment period is not interactive. The Council may not respond to public comments. At this time, Mayor and Council, there are four public comments. The first public comment is Brittany Sanchez. Regarding awareness, invite and invite everyone.

Good evening, Mayor and Council members. My name is Brittany Sanchez and I serve as a director of membership for the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce. I am here to speak in support of the agenda item regarding Texas Cookham High Stakes in Edinburgh. As many of you know, Texas Cookham is one of our community's premier events and this year we are proud to celebrate its 20th anniversary. This majority, this major quality of life event attracts more than 10,000 attendees to Ebony Hills Golf Course. and has become a cherished Fourth of July tradition for residents and visitors alike. This year's celebration is especially meaningful as we also commemorate America's 250th birthday. The event showcases our barbecue enthusiasts. Community spirit supports local businesses and provides a family-friendly opportunity for residents to come together and celebrate our nation's independence. We are grateful for the continued partnership and support of the City of Edinburgh and the Edinburgh Economic Development Corporation, our sponsors, and the many businesses and volunteers who helped make this event possible. We respectfully ask for your support of the agenda item before you today. For anyone interested in learning more about Texas COCOM information is available at edinburgh.com on the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce and Texas COCOM social media pages or by contacting the Chamber directly at 956-383 Thank you for your continued partnership and support. We look forward to another successful Texas Cookum and a wonderful Fourth of July celebration for our community.

Excellent. Thank you all so much.

The next public comment is Ms. Firmner-Clarity regarding taxpayers' minutes.

Councilmembers, I have been reminded that all of you are in business and are in good positions to lead our community out of the poverty that infects our region. No one wants to hear about poverty because it places a negative view on a potential as our community. Our elected officials are famous for saying, if we want it, why can't we have it? I say if you want to improve your situation in life, you need to recognize where you are, then work towards your goal. The key word is work. I do not say about selling bonds, mortgaging our homes, and getting whatever you want now. Councilmember Place 2, I can hear your brain just working. How many times I have heard you say the city needs to operate like a business. The annual city budget is $163 million. We are paying about $9 million for an existing bond. If we were to sell $275 million in bonds, our annual payment on a 30-year loan would be about $15.7 million a year. Property owners are just getting over paying their 25 taxes, so as estimating Your future tax, multiply that by 2.5 because we are still paying for the sports arena, the parks, the recreational facility, and the high-rise parking facility. Think of it, 2.5 times what you're paying now and getting nothing in return. Now, in reference to the use of the proposal $275 million bond, beautifying University Drive will have to wait until the installation of the courthouse drain line and the closing of the businesses all along the street. The estimated completion time is two or three years, as if everything goes well. In reference to the groundwater plant, three to five years, if all goes well. But the final water cost may be three to five times higher than existing cost. But the major issue is the existing exiting population, the ones with a 22% poverty cannot afford to pay anymore. So how will you plan to impact them? Also, 70% of the population with two or more workers make just under $100,000. The median household in Edinburgh is 57,568. The sad fact is that most people does not mean more people prosperity. I recommend that you start with what the people can afford rather than what you think. And again, our golf course that you're doing, talking about thousands of dollars for it, hiring a director at $100,000, and a consultant is unbelievable. So tonight I asked you to pray for Israel because she's in trouble. And now I have my three minutes for the agenda items. I'm looking at 10B. and 10C. And I was wondering, I would like for the engineer, because these are both his, to explain what this is, and how much will it cost, and who does it help? One of them is, this one is about the Ebony Hills, the drainage, and the improvement projects, and the different subdivisions or things. Can you discuss that? Because I had some people call about it. Were they in this? So I didn't know. And then on 10C, This is talking about the 2018 flood on Chapin pumps. And I wondered about it. It's talking about, I think it's going to be located at 1235 North Sugar Road. I know that the one that was on McCall and Chapin, I used to send it to our last mayor and members when it was always overflowing. So I wondered if this new thing that the city is fixing to pay for, is that going to be sufficient for all the new homes that are being built on North McCall. Just down there on Russell, I think we have some more that are coming on 17 and a half. And what we had before wasn't sufficient for what we already had. So I would like someone to explain because it's kind of a dangerous thing when the sewers run over. Thank you.

The next public comment is Leonardo Tremari. Friends of the neighborhood with overgrown grass.

Do you have handouts? You have handouts? Just leave them right there. That'll be fine.

Sorry about that.

No problem.

Okay. Good evening, Major and Counsel. My name is Leonardo Tamari, and I'm a resident in a small neighborhood called University Village by Junior and McCall. This neighborhood is not an HOA, and there is a piece of land where the fence is built right underneath the utility lines, and it's about maybe five streets long. In the regular summer heat, this patch of land dries to the point where it becomes caliche. So two years ago, I reached the city to ask for permission to plant trees, and I was told that as long as they're not too tall to mess with the electric lines, it'll be fine. I planted maybe around 20 trees by now. Some have died due to the heat, and some have been mowed by the city. I installed flags to let the crew members know that those are young trees and some have still been cut. Due to that, I reached the city again to find an agreement on what could be done to avoid the trees from being cut in the future so that both projects can coexist. Unfortunately, this was not taken well by the mowing crew and I was told that either I accept that all trees will be cut down or the city will stop mowing the area altogether. I did not pick other option because it is not in my power to make any decisions that could potentially hurt my community. The mowing crew did stop coming to the neighborhood front and due to rain, the grass is over two feet tall. I tried to reach the mowing crew manager again and he told me that the city has now moved forward to stop having to perform any maintenance on that property. Ever since the neighborhood was built more than 20 years ago, the city took care of that patch of land. Now, because of me, it's stopped. I'm sorry about that, and I'm here trying to resolve that mistake. This is now a major concern for my community because long grass under power lines can become a fire hazard. It also provides a breeding spot for mosquitoes and rats, making a health hazard for community members. I started this project trying to provide shade to walking members and bring beauty to a wasteland. I believed at the time that I took the right measures to not create any problems, But if it cannot continue, I'm willing to abandon the project altogether for the well-being of my community. But if this council allows for both projects to coexist, I'm willing to make garden beds for the trees filled with mulch and mow areas around the trees to make the crew not have to navigate in between the young trees. I do want to make an apology to any member that I have inconvenienced, and I want to thank the city council for your attention in this issue.

The next public comment is Daniel Tuttle regarding mid-year report.

Mayor, city council, nice to see you all. I'm Daniel Tuttle. I'm the interim director for Medicare EMS. We just wanted to come by and let you all know about our mid-year report. Basically, I'm just going to talk about some data points. The fire chief does receive it monthly, but we're trying to do a better understanding job at being more transparent and providing you all with this information so that you guys know exactly how we're doing in your city and how we love responding here in your area. So from January 1st to May 31st, we have been called to respond to 4,683 calls. Keep in mind, your city has a active contract with us, which covers five ambulances. They are three ALS, I'm sorry, three MICU, two ALS units. The contractual requirement is a minimum response time of 12 minutes, so that's the time that the call came into our dispatch center to arrival at scene. Out of these 4,633 calls, we have averaged a 6-minute and 34-second response time, well beneath the 12-minute average, showing that we do have our units strategically deployed across the city, ready to respond within seconds' notice. Additionally, as I mentioned, you all are contracted with five units. However, being that Edinburgh is ever-growing and many people transit through the area, we have had up to 11 active calls. So keep in mind that your first 911 comes in, your second, third, fourth, and those are all concurrent at the same time. So even with that 11th active call, we still manage to average about eight-minute response time for those calls. Additionally, as the mayor mentioned, we tried to write off of data and learn from our successes and our failures. And so looking at the data through these 4,683 calls, we were able to find that the biggest call type that comes in is a 26 card, which is a general medical sickness call. So, you know, I'm not feeling great, I can't move, things like that. So we receive those calls, respond. Shortly, or a little bit less than the 965, we're looking at a traffic collision, which is about 630 over this period of time, followed by falls, breathing problems, chest pains, and a very, very long list of pieces after that. We also have a plan to work together with the fire chief in regards to something called community paramedicine, where we've noticed that there are certain addresses that frequent 901 and they reach out very often. So within this five-month window, one specific address that I won't name here because of HIPAA concerns and so on, did reach out to us 93 times in the 150-day period. So, I mean, there's many other addresses that are similar to that nature, so we're working together to come up with a plan so that we can present to the fire department and your city as well so that we can try to be better community partners for the city. Thank you for your time.

There are no further comments, Mayor.

All right. No further comments. We'll move on to the next agenda item, which is public hearings. Under public hearings, we have items A, B, and C. I will note that all three of these items are related. It's the same developer. It's similar requests for rezoning. It's the same area. And so I propose to take up A, B, and C together in one public hearing. All right. Public hearing is now open on items A, B, and C. Anybody wishing to speak for or against this item can come forward to the podium.

Good afternoon, council members. My name is Luis Mendez with Sam's Engineering, representing the owner and developer for this track plan. I'm just here for professional purposes to answer any questions if you all have for this particular project. AS YOU MENTIONED, WE'RE ASKING FOR THE REZONING AT THIS MOMENT. WE ALREADY SUBMITTED THE PRE-ELIMINARY APPLICATION TO THE CITY DEPARTMENTS. WE HAVE ALREADY DISCUSSED PRE-DEVELOPMENT MEETINGS WITH EVERYONE, ENGINEER, PLANNING, FIRE AND ALL THAT. SO THE LAYOUT THAT BACK THEN WE SUBMITTED WITH THE REZONE KIND OF LIKE SLIGHTLY CHANGED, NOT MAJORLY. SO THERE'S NO VARIANCES AS WELL. WE'RE MEETING THE MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS FOR RESIDENTIAL. COMMERCIAL AS WELL. WE'RE PROPOSING SOME COMMERCIALS ALONG ALBERTA ROAD AND ALAZAR ROAD, SOME MAJOR ACCESS POINTS AND ALL THAT. SO AS I MENTIONED, WE ALREADY DISCUSSED WITH THE CITY DEPARTMENT AND WE'RE JUST WAITING FOR FEEDBACK FOR TWEAKING JUST HERE AND THERE ON THE DESIGN PORTION BEFORE WE MOVE FOR THE NEXT PHASE, WHICH IS THE DESIGN AND ENGINEERING CONSTRUCTION PLANS FOR IT. SO I'M HERE TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS IF YOU ALL HAD ANY.

Public hearing is still open. Any comments for or against this item? Please come forward.

Good evening, Mayor, Council, City. I'm coming in to see if we can table this item of rezoning due to some answers that I believe the community in that area still needs, meaning I believe it's a good project, I'm not against the project that's been happening. The problem that I've seen is that we're not infrastructurally ready for this amount of traffic. Meaning we've been asking for a traffic light since a couple of years already right there on Alberta and Verdon's Road. What are we gonna do about any of that traffic? I mean, it gets pretty hectic, especially during concerts. Graduations are crazy. TxDOT already approved that that we were eligible for a traffic light. We're just waiting to receive some type of funding to, I guess, continue that project. At least that's what I've been told. So I don't know how long it will take to get these answers. The other issue that we're having is what are you all going to do about Owasso Road? It's a four-way stop for over 30 years. We need improvement. Now, I understand there's four entities. There's City of Edinburgh, City of Pharr, Precinct 2, and Precinct 4. are we all ever going to get together? The citizens there don't really care who's what and where, who's doing what. They want to have that improvement. Again, I believe it's good that the project is going to happen. I'm sure it's going to bring a lot of income to the city of Edinburgh, property-wise, taxes. But I believe that this should still be tabled until we get those answers before we can rezone and pretty much then we as citizens don't have, won't have any say-so after that because once it's rezoned, then the owners expect to have something being built. They're going to be paying taxes on not agriculture anymore. They're going to be paying taxes on commercial. They're going to be paying taxes on the property, residentials, until everything gets developed. And I don't think it's fair for them to do that when they can still pay their agriculture taxes if we still don't have any type of improvement for the city. So what is the city planning to do infrastructure-wise? I believe in upgrades. I believe in growth. We did Veterans Road from Canton all the way down to the lift station. It was destroyed. It was great. I mean, it was a good cause, but there was no planning for resurfacing that road. And we're planning to do the same thing now with the traffic from those neighborhoods. Are they expecting to only travel and jump on the frontage road, but then how are they going to be able to get out if there happens to be a concert? Those are the questions I'm asking. That's the only reason we're against. I have talked to several of our neighbors. They're willing to, I mean, if I need to go and get petitions from them for it. They're elderly people. That neighborhood's been around since the 80s. They're humble. They don't like to stir anything. You know, you tell them, hey this is what's going to happen you're going to say okay fine but i believe that we need to have that type of consideration before we do anything forward again i'm not against the project i've talked to some of these guys they've actually cleared some of the stuff that other questions that i did have which is great but i'm talking more about the city what is the city going to do infrastructural wise how are you going to grow first or are we going to let them develop and then we'll figure about the rest that's all the questions are there you know, hopefully considerations that we could have. Thank you.

Chair Forsyth- Thank you. Public hearing is still open. Any comments for or against can come up. All right. Seeing nothing further, we'll close the public hearing. Is there a motion on the items? If no motion to take action, motion to suspend if you want further discussion. Mr. Make a motion to suspend the rules. Motion to suspend the rules?

Second.

Motion and a second. Anybody object to the motion? No objection. Motion passes, so we can continue to discuss. Tom? Question for you. I share your concern about that intersection on Alberta and Veterans. It's something that needs to have a light. We need to put one out there. The city's making progress on that. You are right that we've done the traffic study. We've gotten approval from TxDOT. What we need now is the funding to do the improvement to install the light. Can you speak to that a little bit, Tom?

Yes, sir. Tom Breyna, Assistant City Manager. Good evening, Mayor, City Councilman. Yes, sir. This is one of the programs that we did apply for our safety grant through TxDOT for the intersection of that. It's already been warranted. We've already submitted the paperwork for it, and there is a good chance that we will get funded for this year, but we know how long that takes. It's the same program that we did with Freddy Gonzalez and Monmac Traffic Signal. Same program that goes up, and hopefully that the holdup won't be as bad as the equipment that usually holds it up on that items. But yes, that's somewhere that we have it. We also have it in our capital improvement plan, hoping if it doesn't get funded through the grant, then we will try to fund it through our capital improvement plan throughout the years. So there is some improvements that we are looking to on this development also. The infrastructure improvement that's coming along with that, which is something that we'll present in the later future at that time. As to Owasso Road, there is talks because the city does not have any right-of-way along Owasso Road. It all belongs to the City of Pharr and Hidalgo County Precinct 4, which we've been working on and trying to assist them with that project, just like when we did the other side of Owasso. It had to be a multi-party agreement, and right now that's where they're at. We're on the discussions of improving the Owasso Road, as mentioned in the past. But, yes, that is something on there. If we had some right-of-way on that area, it would be wonderful for us so that we can make those improvements at that time, but right now we do not, and that's where we're trying to get into an agreement with the other two entities.

You're specifically talking about that four-way stop, right, that was raised over there on Owasa?

Yes, sir. The area between Raul Longoria and Veterans and all the way up to Expressway.

On that specific intersection, we don't even have the ability to put a stop sign out there because it's not within our jurisdiction? Correct.

On the one for Owasa and Veterans.

Okay. So it's not that it's a four-way jurisdiction. We literally have zero jurisdiction on that intersection. But I agree with you, right? Commissioner Torres is great. She's a wonderful advocate for the community. And I think we really should team up with them to try to push this four-way stop. It seems like an easy thing to be able to do. So I agree with you, right, that I would like to try to push that forward too.

And if I'm not mistaken, there is a blinking red light at their four-way blinking red light, which is the next step under the traffic signal. But yes. I believe Commissioner is also looking into that because on the other corner it's weird San Juan also comes into play in some sections.

Tom, could you talk about the other upgrades? I know the resident has concern with the traffic and I, you know, it's one of those, I'm glad that the developers here and the engineer talking to the neighbors, we always say talk to the neighbors, let's let them know what's happening. Whenever there's traffic counts that are lower, I know we got the warrant study and everything. I'm hoping that once they know a big project is coming, maybe they can fast track it a little more, but also talk about the infrastructure upgrades because we know that water, since it's all agriculture, sometimes the, as you know, Mr. Moynihan, you live in that area, the water runs, the fields get full. What improvements will there be there on the infrastructure where we don't see underground?

Yes, sir. This development, since it's a larger development, they would be doing a traffic impact analysis for that to determine if anything does need to. But for sure, the whole development and what we've already met with the developer on our pre-development meetings is they're adding their own drainage, their own detention ponds. They're extending water. They're extending sewer, all of that area. Within that area, there's going to be a commercial portion along Owasso, which We would now get some right-of-way ones to be dedicated for that. So we would have a section of right-of-way that would be putting on Owasa. So that way we can use for drainage or the widening of that section of Owasa. So all those would have to make, follow all the unified development code and all the improvements that are going along. So water, sewer, drainage, everything will be set within that area. And they've been following all of those requirements as the pre-developed meetings have been suggested to them.

And also, I believe the city is constructing a detention pond over on Alberta Veterans as well.

That is correct. We finalized that property acquisition, so we'll be starting construction. I believe we have it scheduled to go out for bid by the end of the summer, beginning of the fall, and hopefully we can start construction of that detention pond for the Veterans area and everything flowing to that area by the end of this year.

the with the future hope that we'll be able to put a a trail out there as well similar to what you see on the chapin pond trail yes sir and so the the warrant the intersection is what's the intersection where the light has been warranted uh they're uh veterans and alberta and what do we have there now four ways right now it's a two-way stop with a blinking uh red light east and west and that's there's no way we can upgrade that other than the light

We can run another warrant. It warranted, it skipped the process of the four-way stop, and it warranted the traffic signal.

Yeah, so, I mean, it's prime, and it's high on the city's priority list to get that out there because we know, one, right, just, you know, how dangerous it can be without that light. But this whole area, this southeast portion of our city is prime for development, and so we know we need to invest in the infrastructure out there, and we're pushing towards that.

That is correct. Yeah, and to give Mr. Mourin credit, this is something he's brought up probably two years ago. So we've talked about it a lot. And so now with the development, it just highlights the issue, right? And I'm of the thinking that now that there's going to be a development, maybe we could hopefully get everybody on board and push to fast track it versus waiting. I will tell you that in town, the one at Freddie and Monmac, that one took three years from warranting. Um, and so in my mind, do I want to wait another three? I don't know how long it'll take, but hopefully we can put some pressure, but should we wait that long to upgrade the drainage, the detention ponds, right? I kind of what's, what's best for the area. And so hopefully we can work with, with, uh, getting it, putting a little more pressure and getting fast track to address the traffic concerns.

And yes, Mr. Modine, we do hear your comments and your concerns, so we are working on it. So that's how we initiated with, along with your, with your comments and your,

So thank you for coming.

Yes, sir. Well, that's how we try to work out those areas. All right.

Any other questions, council? Thank you. Thank you. Any other discussion?

Anything from the engineer that you'd like to talk about this project, the positive impact in the area?

I was actually just wanted to get up again. I know you guys said suspended, so what does that mean?

That means we can talk about it without having a motion.

Okay. Yeah, because the only concern based on the developer side, there's a certain time frame for this project to move forward. If there's so much time delayed on this project, the thing is it can be dropped, you know, on the developer standpoint. That's where I'm heading to. I don't want to rush anything. We want to make sure that everything's been applied, all requirements, we're meeting all concerns and all that. But just to understand that there's also some negative impact towards the development, not for the developer, but for the development. Yeah, I think we understand that.

But it's pretty clear we have some things to discuss, and so I think the question is, What improvements are you planning out there?

And on the improvements, of course, it's the typical we're dedicating right away from Alberta and Owasa for adding that additional lane for this acceleration lane for Owasa. So the new tenants and the commercial have enough access to have that additional lane on the southbound of Alberta so they can get in. And the total right of way for that entrance is going to be right in the middle. it's an 80-foot wide right-of-way that we're doing. So the exit and entrance is going to be a double lane. So one to turn east, one to turn west, and then the entrance both to go southbound. And as well for Wausau, we're planning of doing two additional entrances for that same reason. The reason is to minimize the impact for the future residents at that location so they don't only have that north entrance or exit point, but they also have an alternative route to go south of both exits towards Owasa, either going east or going west. So in both sections, we're adding that additional lane to it for either deceleration lane, turning, and have sufficient time gap and distance for people to keep it safe, not just a quick stop and then suddenly You can get impact to the back or whatever, but you're going to have that shoulder as well. So that's what we're planning. That's what we spoke with the engineers as well. We did the generation worksheet that it does trigger the traffic impact analysis, and that's the major thing that we can assist as long as giving a benefit towards the project and for future residents and the existing residents for the traffic impact. As far as drainage infrastructure, of course, the requirement is you should provide detention for it. We're providing our own detention for it, storm system on the ground. Everything should be cheap flowing towards the streets that we're proposing, and everything shall be accommodated through that big detention. I think it's approximately three acres, more or less, that we're doing on detention. And, of course, we're going through the design to make sure that the calculation and requirements are being met. So the potential rainstorm event can be catched through that basin. So we're working with the city as well. We're doing back and forth a lot of talk. So just, again, just to make sure that we're doing everything correctly, right? And we are addressing all single portion of the questions or concerns that anyone may have. So that's why I'm here. So I just wanted to answer any questions if there's any question from you. I'm here if you all want to set up a meeting with us and the developer and all that, we can also assist just to have that brainstorm and you have enough background stories where everything's coming from.

Anytime I hear an investment or upgrade of infrastructure, water, sewer, drainage on the east side of town, I always get excited. Can you talk about the dollars, how much of an investment this project and the project of this size is it?

This project is approximately $25 million in overall cost. I don't know the revenues or profits and returns, but approximately it's going to be around $25 million total cost, land and construction. Construction should be around $9 million, $10 million, and so on. Additional some impact fees, electrical and all that type of fees. So that's going to be adding towards the portion of the total construction and development for this big size infrastructure. So it's around 25 million. I may be going a little bit up, but just a rough estimate. So it's a total project volume-wise.

And as planned, no variance requests, correct?

No variance. We're actually exceeding the minimum requirements. It's a big size of lots that the developer is proposing. He wants a nice community, not so crowded, ENOUGH FOR PEOPLE TO ENJOY THE COMMUNITY, THE BACKGROUND. ALSO THEY'RE WORKING TO DEVELOPING A WALKING TRAIL FOR THE COMMUNITY. THERE'S GOING TO BE A PARK AS WELL. THE DETENTION POND THEY'RE TRYING TO MAKE IT WITH A BRIDGE AND ALL THAT. THERE'S A LOT OF BACKGROUND STORIES GOING ON, YOU KNOW, ON DESIGNING PORTION, NOT JUST FOR THE INFRASTRUCTURE BUT FOR THE AMENITIES OF THIS COMMUNITY. SO THERE'S GOING TO BE A WALKING TRAIL ALONG THAT, A PARK, THERE'S A FUTURE a bridge that they're thinking. There's a few things going on. Also, a roundabout. I heard that it's going to be probably the first roundabout that City of Red River is going to be proposing. That's going to be right in the middle of the north section of the commercial side. It's a big circle that the client is trying to do kind of like a sculpture to bring tourists to either do TikToks, pictures, and all that, you know? so they can start promoting more of that area since it's going to be commercial. They're trying to envision people to come and have other than enjoying a meal or whatever it is to enjoy the ambient on the surrounding areas. And on top of that, serving the arena, any event, they can cross over, have an enjoying time. So it is something that we have been doing, chat back and forth. OK. All right.

Okay, thank you. Any other discussion? Any other questions? No, okay. Any motion for action? I'll make a motion to approve with discussion. Motion to approve items A, B, and C? Correct. Okay. There's a motion to approve and a second with discussion?

Second. All right. Mr. Mourin, I want you to know that now where this is going to happen, we'll all get on board to try and push what you've been asking for for a few years. I think the increase of revenue, the traffic, the world-widening infrastructure, I think it'll help our cause and try and get that going there.

Thank you for addressing your concerns. I personally, obviously not speaking on behalf of the council or the city, but I personally am very committed to getting a light at that intersection because I have recognized for years how important it is to get one out there. Any other discussion? Seeing no other discussion, there's a motion to approve in a second. All those in favor, raise your right hand. All those opposed, same sign. Motion passes. Next item on the agenda is public hearings routine items. Just as a reminder and an explanation, these items under routine items are placed there because the recommendation from the Planning and Zoning Commission was unanimous and the Planning and Zoning Commission's recommendation was in line with with the city's recommendation as well. And in addition to that, there were no comments received against the recommendation and the vote of the Planning and Zoning Commission. So in all, everything lines up on these to go with the city's recommendation, which has been unanimously approved and on down the line. So on items nine, A through D, will open the public hearing for comment my recommendation anybody can come to speak if they want but my recommendation is if you are not in favor of the city's recommendation please come up to speak otherwise if you are in favor of the city's recommendation uh just know there's a lot of weight behind that all right seeing no comment we will close the public hearings on items 9a through d is there a motion on these items move to approve second Well, just to be clear, is it the recommendation is a motion to... Mr. Mayor, it would be a motion to adopt the recommendations as provided by staff. Thank you. Motion to adopt the recommendation as provided by staff. Is that the motion?

Yes.

Okay. Is there a second?

Second.

All right. Motion and a second to adopt the recommendation provided by staff. Any discussion? No discussion. All those in favor of the motion, raise your right hand. All those opposed, same sign. Motion passes. Item 10, the consent agenda, A through I. Can I get a motion to approve items A through I? So I'll move with discussion. Motion to approve the discussion. Is there a second?

Second.

All right. Motion to approve and a second. Yes, go ahead.

I think Vern had a question on 10B, 10C.

Yes. Mr. Hinojosa, if you can come up and... JUST BRIEFLY DESCRIBE THESE ITEMS, B AND C, PLEASE.

GOOD EVENING, MAYOR, CITY COUNCIL, CITY ENGINEER FOR THE RECORD. FIRST ITEM, ITEM B, THIS IS FOR THE SUBDIVISIONS THAT ARE SOUTHWEST OF EBONY HILLS GOLF COURSE, SO THAT INCLUDES EBONY TERRACE NUMBER 2, THE MEADOWS GOLF CREST ESTATE, AND SLEEPY HALLOW. THIS IS A PLANNING GRANT THAT IS SUBMITTED TO THE STATE. that we're asking for $500,000, which our match would be $125,000. This would get the design and let us know exactly what we need and how we need to phase it to get it funded. The second one, it's actually for a project that's already in construction, which is for a shape and pump station. So where B and C and D are technically tied together, it's just modifying the agreement that we have with the GLO and the resolution, which is for drainage that is on the south side of the Chapin Pond. The southeast, it covers all that area.

Yeah. Let's get a little bit of detail on this just to clarify things on the Chapin Pump. I love this project. I think it's really great. Can you just kind of talk about what these pumps are going to be doing for that area?

Definitely. So the pumps, right now the project is working through gravity and we have a 72-inch line that goes into the pond and we can only, we're able only to fill the, the pond up to the level of the pipe. So with this, with the pumping, now we can fully pump to the full capacity whenever there's a major storm.

Do you remember off the top of your head, if you don't, that's fine, the gallons, the volume that these pumps can bring water into the pond?

It's been a while, but I want to say that it's going to duplicate at least what we're currently holding.

Yes. Great. Millions, millions of gallons will be able to be pumped into the pond. And so that's more water out of the street and into the pond.

Into the pond and allowing for the rest of the piping system to some sort of relief.

I'll add, Mayor, that those apartments just south of the pond with heavy rains completely inundated all the way out to Jackson and ever since the pond, it's no longer that way.

Yes, and I mean, so this services all those areas around the Chapin, Sugar, McCall, Chapin.

Everything that's south of the ponds and east of Sugar. That's the area that it helps because there's a major 72-inch line that goes into the pond. So that provides relief to that line.

Yeah, including the university as well.

Correct.

And so this project, the majority of it, the large majority of it is grant-funded, correct? Correct.

It is grant funded, the majority of it, correct.

Right, great. Grant funding into the tune of a million, a little over a million?

A total of maybe about 1.4 million, out of the top of my head, of which 1 million comes from the grant.

That's right. Okay. It's a great project. I think this was a great effort by the city to land the grant, to get the planning going, and we're this close. After these are approved, we'll be able to finally finalize this pump operation.

Right. I mean, construction continues. This is just a formality to get everything in place.

Okay, great. And then on the ebony one, again, just to point out, it's a $500,000 project, right? But 75% of that, $375,000 is coming from a grant.

Correct. And again, it's only a planning grant. That's right. Just to get it designed, get it shovel ready so that we can apply for future construction funding.

Excellent. All right. Any other questions, discussions? All right. No other questions or discussions?

Great.

We've got a motion to approve items A through I. All those in favor, raise your right hand. All those opposed? All right. Motion passes. Next item is 11, other business. Any future items requested by the council? All right. Seeing none, next item is executive session. Can I get a motion to enter executive session? So moved. Motion and a second. Any opposition to the motion? Hearing none, motion passes. We are entering executive session. Time now is 6.58 p.m.

Thank you. Item B, consultation with city attorney. Possible action regarding an agreement with MedCare EMS for ambulance services. Item C, consultation with city attorney. Possible action regarding an interlocal agreement between the City of Edinburgh and the Edinburgh Consolidated Independent School District for Fountain Park. Item D, consultation with city attorney regarding personal matters. Item E, discussion and possible action regarding the command to exchange or lease a real property. 1, Project 25. Item F, discussion and possible action regarding the purchase to exchange lease or value of real property.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Amen. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Time now is 9.02. We are exiting executive session. Can I get a motion to get back in the open?

So moved.

Second.

All right. There's a motion and a second. Any objection? Hearing none, the motion passes. We are back in the open. Mr. City Attorney, based on the discussion, is there any action required at this time?

There are two action items at this time, Mayor, the first being item 12B. At this time, I am recommending a motion authorizing the city manager to execute an agreement with MedCare EMS Incorporated as discussed in executive session.

Is there a motion? So moved. All right. There's a motion and a second. All those in favor of the motion, raise your right hand. All those opposed? All right. Motion passes. And there's a second item.

There is, Mayor. Item 12C. At this time, I am recommending a motion authorizing or I'm requesting a motion authorizing city manager to execute an agreement with the Edinburgh Consolidated Independent School District as discussed in executive session.

Is there a motion?

So moved. Second.

Motion and a second. All those in favor of the motion raise your right hand.

All those opposed.

All right. Motion passes. Any other required action at this time?

There are no further items needing action at this time.

All right. No other action at this time. All business discussed. Meeting is adjourned.