City Council - Regular Meeting

It is 6.30 and I'm calling to order our Elgin City Council meeting for July 7th, 2026. And we will begin with our roll call. And we'll begin with Mayor Pro Tem Love.

Love here.

Mayfield here.

Krim here.

Pena here.

McShann here.

Hymas here.

Gibson here. Silva here.

And we'll ask for a motion for an excuse for Tiffany. She's there with a family matter, so she won't be here tonight.

I'll make a motion to approve. And I'll second.

It's been moved and seconded. We'll begin with Mayor Pro Tem Love.

Love, yes. Mayfield, yes. Cremia. Pena, yes.

McShann, yes.

Hymas, yes.

Gibson, yes. Silva, yes.

We'll now have our invocation.

In the name of the Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Heavenly Father. We thank you for the privilege of gathering here today to serve our city. We ask that you grant our mayor, city manager, and city council wisdom, understanding, and clear judgment as we conduct the business of our city. Bless our first responders, police, and all who work to keep our residents safe and informed. May the decisions made in this room today promote justice, unity, and the common good for all who call this city home. Open our minds and hearts to listen to one another with respect and compassion. We ask this for the betterment of our entire community. In Jesus' most precious name we pray, amen.

Amen. We'll stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America,

We now have our public comment. And we have Molly Alexander.

Being mayor and council and city manager, thank you for your service to our community. It's not unnoticed all the time and effort you do to lead this community. I'm Molly Alexander. I've lived in Elgin since 1990. I was Elgin's second main street manager. I currently live downtown and own the business Elgin Dry Goods. I'm here tonight because of a personal passion. I wrote the first city grant to purchase Morris Hospital to turn it into Morris Park and the community swimming pool. Over the years, all of us who've worked hard to improve the pool, add extra activities and amenities, kind of joined in terms of caring about that place. It was not easy in 1991 for the community to come together and build its first swimming pool, as you can imagine. There were differences that had to be brought together through community engagement and nurturing the fact that this was for our kids. And first and foremost, it was for the kids of Elgin. Today, as an avid swimmer in the pool, I'm concerned. The pool hours are being cut. We no longer are open on Mondays. The hours for swim time, while similar, really are lessened because of lap swim and aerobic swim before they're open for kids and families. It used to be $2 to swim last year. It's $5 to swim this year. Now, while I know we need to increase our fees to more than double it for a family of four to swim is really, really expensive. I know we're not aware of everything that's happening when you're serving like you all, but I really wanted to make sure that we lean in to these kinds of important amenities. We don't back away from them because we could really grow have swim lessons, help people build community at the pool. We don't even have any shade other than standing umbrellas. It's not that we finished this pool, we've just begun. It shouldn't be one pool. We should think of what Taylor's done or what Georgetown or Round Rock, while they might have more of a city budget, they have aspirations for building more amenities for our kids. If we think about summertime, particularly, how much downtime there is for a child, helping them learn to swim, building new friends. I don't know, but for me, when I was growing up, it was the pool in the summertime where I hung out. It's where I made my friends. I became a national champion swimmer. So I was in the Junior Olympics. But it was that community pool that helped me learn about that passion. My second moment of reflection tonight is about the recreation center. Great center. Just worried that we're not leaning into it. It used to only be closed three days a year. Most of the staff are part-time, but now we're closed on city holidays. So think about it. You're not working on Emancipation Day, and your kids aren't maybe in school, but it's closed. It used to be open. Thank you very much for the moment tonight.

Thank you.

Our announcements.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. Tonight's announcements highlight our community's growth in active summer programming. Elgin Public Library has officially earned state accreditation for fiscal year 2027. This achievement brings more state funding to Elgin, unlocks major discounts on digital services, and lowers our city's operational expenses. Most importantly, it gives our residents free statewide access to other public libraries across Texas. We are also celebrating July as Parks and Recreation Month with free community events hosted every Friday. Family Field Day this Friday, July 10th from six to eight p.m. at Elgin Memorial Park. Also meet the Parks and Recreation Department next Friday, July 17th from five to seven at the Elgin Recreation Center. That concludes tonight's announcements, thank you.

And the city manager's report.

Mr. Mayor, thank you. Tonight, I'll be bringing up Mr. Michael Gonzalez.

Evening, Council. Michael Gonzalez, Director of Public Works. Tonight I just wanted to bring you an update on the flood mitigation project that's happening in two different areas covered by one specific grant. The staff commonly referred to it as the D270 grant, but it's essentially Harvey flood mitigation funds that are happening, that are being installed in two kind of areas that are prone to flooding. I'm going to try to get to the first slide. So that's what County Line Road looked like just before we closed it down. The picture's actually taken from October, but if you guys remember, it's just that single two-lane roadway. What this grant is intending to do is to mitigate It's still going to rain, it's still going to have those impacts, but the project in its design is anticipated to move floodwaters underneath the road instead of on top and in the bar ditch. That's why the grant was successful in getting those funds in the first place. Along those same lines, it's an opportunity to kind of expand the roadway. We wouldn't just put in those storm culverts and then not think of the transportation needs that need to happen around that. So as of today, earlier today, it's about 1,400 feet of those storm boxes that were installed, and they look kind of similar to this. That's one of the inlets that's down there. Progress continues to move. In this area particularly, and also on Kennedy Street, the native soils there hold a lot of water, and so some of the challenges that we're finding, that the contractors are finding in this area, is that you just gotta move that water out of the way before you can put those storm boxes in there. Takes time, and the crew's working along to kind of get to that. Total length in this section's phase is going to be around 2,700 square feet, and it's really expanding. It's kind of pushing all those lanes out. So four lanes, two northbound and two southbound with a median and a turn lane in the middle. That's kind of some of the progress that's happening out there on Caroline Road this afternoon. There's another photo of it and what it used to look like, two-lane road, and now we've got it tore up on either side, but those culverts, storm boxes, are on the side there. Just more installation. So the work that's happened since the roadway closed up until now is two things. It's storm box installation and then work in the subgrade. And that takes quite a while. Once those two are complete, we see the project kind of coming alive more, developing those lanes on the other side. Just more of Catalan Road. Here's some of that groundwater that we're experiencing or that the contractors are experiencing. So as it's coming out of the Blackland Prairie, it's seeping onto the roadway. We're just trying to find different areas to put that so the storm boxes can continue to be installed. Rainwater that happened several weeks ago is still coming onto the project. Here's Kennedy Street side by side of what it looks like and what it looks like now. We're working down on Brenham Street. You may have seen that posted recently. So we completed, the contractor completed storm boxes installed on Central Avenue. That roadway is back open. The same similar thing is going to happen over on Brenham Street, just down at the end of this photo. Here's the infrastructure that we had before, as you guys remember. The crew commonly refers to it as tin horn. It's that corrugated steel pipe that's underneath there. It was in a state of failure. So now upgraded to the concrete storm boxes. Here's what that looked like. The city went and acquired that land, purchased it, right, to install a storm retention pond that's on this side. And the contractor is digging that out and installing it. Here's after the tin horn was taken out. and the concrete culverts will be going in and have been put in on the central side. As you can see on the left, that's what the existing infrastructure looks like, which is completely fine given Elgin's history of where we were. Now that the town is kind of growing and we see more storm events, this is intended to handle it. Just as a funny, interesting photo, that's brick down there. That's Elgin brick down at the bottom. And that was a common practice in areas where you needed some fill, is to go and get, you know, crushed up bricks from whoever had them, most likely the brick plant, and then kind of use them as native fill. And the tin horn's up there at the top of that one. And then here's a human for reference. That's an inspector casing up there doing it. So those are right now underneath Central Avenue. Just to date, there's around 60 working days that the crew has completed so far and around 258 that they have to get to the end of the year. That hard end of the construction timeline is important for us to meet grant requirements. It's also important for the contractor to meet performance requirements. Three outstanding pay applications. two outstanding pay applications. One has been paid by the city, they have three. Two more are under review right now. Brings us just around two million dollars in pay that's been applied to the project. And we have about eight million still left as part of this grant. In those working days, we're around 20% working through the progress, but this is an important thing to note. This is really what we call the discovery phase of seeing what's under the ground, right? All this surveying has taken place, which is really important. A lot of this stuff was put in the ground before survey equipment. was real kind of common and elegant. And so just today on Brenham Street, we're working with the designers, we're working with the contractors to figure out who goes up, who goes down, how do we make sure that these storm boxes are aligned and they go in. We also keep critical infrastructure that's there in the ground. The city has gone out ahead and said we'll help in any way that we can to relocate these lines as long as it keeps progress kind of moving on. Additional challenges, notwithstanding with the weather, is all these other franchise utilities that have every right to exist within the right of way to provide you service to your home. We have to kindly but firmly ask them to move out the way, get over here, and those conversations are ongoing daily with the designers, with the contractors, and just pressing them as hard, as firm as we can to make sure they move out of the way in a timely fashion. That's my last photo on the progress side, but just wanted to provide you with that update this evening just from the city manager's report.

So, Mike, if everything goes well, we're looking at, for the County Line Road, we're looking at December? Is that right?

That's right. Yeah. We're working backwards from that date to make sure it absolutely is open later part of December. Now, we have confidence that they're going to make that timeline. As long as the weather holds, right?

As far as the contractors that own the utilities or other services that they're providing, have we had any issues with any of them pushing back?

No, they're not in a position to push back against the city. Of course, they'll try, but you know what you guys need to get? You need to get yourself a bow over there. Just follow you around. Get you a bow over here, and that can put some pressure on you. We work together great as a team, but I definitely lean on him for the muscle part. That's good. Thank you. All right, guys. Thanks so much. We'll be back up in a bit. Thanks, Michael.

So the notice of city manager's appointment to the Texas City Manager's Association for Ethics Committee. He didn't want to toot his own horn. No.

No, but I think this is good for the public. I did notify the city council as a council, but I was fortunate enough to have the Texas City Managers Association put me on, assigned me, elect me to be on the ethics committee. I think on the next page is we have a couple different things. I don't know if we put any graphics on it, but. So amongst the different cities what this committee does essentially is that it reviews cases of violations by not only city managers but assistant city managers or anyone that has an application in for Texas City Managers Association and so we've got a very strong ethics code and so it's done by experienced and a wide range of different experiences make up this committee and there's one per region and so I was fortunate to be on region 10's nomination board and so I can bring you know not only experience but more importantly the name of Elgin to the table and so we can keep a concept and keep it at the state level and also hopefully be put in for some national things and just as this council hopefully will and not just I but our team is much smarter than me and so they'll be receiving some nominations and accolades pretty soon as well I expect. So I think this was good for us. It shows our commitment towards ethics as you all already progressed in that respect. But I'm bound by about four different codes. ICMA, TCMA, TML. City of Elgin. City of Elgin.

Look around us.

We got them up here. So that's all I wanted to mention. Just so our community knows as well.

Congratulations. Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay, next we have on our consent agenda the City Council meeting for March 17th, June 16th, the appointment for Nikki Richardson on Main Street Board, appointment for Stephanie Ross on Main Street Board, and appointment for Ryan Green on the Historic Review Board. Do we have anything?

Not?

I entertain a motion. I make a motion to approve.

I second.

It's been moved and seconded. We'll begin with Mayor Pro Tem Love. Love, yes. Mayfield, yes.

Creme, yes.

Pena, yes. McShann, yes. Hymas, yes.

Gibson, yes.

Silva, yes.

All right, our first new business, a discussion and possible action regarding the donation of land of the Mary Christian Burleson Homestead by Mary Christian Burleson Foundation.

Good evening, council and mayor. I'm Reagan Anderson. I'm a recreation program manager. Back in April, the Mary Christian Burleson Foundation put this agenda item on the agenda in an effort to donate the Mary Christian Burleson homestead to the city. At that time, council tabled as more information was needed. I've met with other communities who have taken historical homes on as parks and looked into some of the pricing that would be required to make this land suitable to be a park. First off, the additional acreage on top of future incoming park lands as a triad would raise the need for a new FTE position within the grounds team, labor one, pay grade 14, to help keep the park up to our standards. Total to make it safe and accessible is $30,000, $7,000 of which will come with the property. The city would then need to fund the remaining $23,000 from the general fund, specifically the building maintenance fund and park amenities fund. It would need to be budgeted for next year to make sure that we can keep it maintained. And again, this will cover the amount to make the property safe and accessible as a park and does not include anything inside the house. I believe we have some pictures. So this is the property as is right now, taken today. You can see the house there and the property surrounded by it. And this is pictures from inside the house. So the $30,000 is, again, just to include, to make the property safe and accessible. It does not include anything with inside the house at all. It's just to be able to get us onto the property.

Regan if you could step back to the outside photo. So what you're saying is that to make safe would be some sort of security fencing, wrought iron perhaps, something decorative?

Correct. So in that $30,000, we were looking at putting a fence around the house so people can come up to it, look at it, see how cool it is, all that kind of fun stuff, as well as there's two wells on the property to fill those in and make sure that nobody happens to be walking around and falls into the wells. Also within that $30,000 is a couple of things just to make the the park up to our standards in terms of Landscaping trail maintenance it is on a trail Signage as well a nice sign explaining what the house is all that kind of stuff a sign that Says this is a city park a sign that shows the trail access and all that kind of stuff is also within that $30,000

What we'd envision, I mean, budget was standing and how we can work this through, but one is to secure the property and so that we'd have something visually appealing, something that you can walk up to and maybe even have a historic marker that gives a beautiful explanation of the significance of the facility while still having the Outside part of it, which is a park system that that is the city's with a walking trail and then the other piece also is that we have right now an agreement with the school district and that could come with a possible agreement for possibly some parking if if available and But we believe that there's some abilities that we can work with the school district to do some things with this. I'm not suggesting financially, but this would put some guardrails as to exposure of the council and that's what I was trying to discuss first is to say if the intent was to go anything further, we would have to find that money if we wanted to step inside and start making those improvements. We don't have an assessment yet as to what that would cost or look like. I know Mr. Jake's with us today. He'll probably give us a quick assessment of that. But at the very least I believe if the foundation is willing to go ahead and work with us with these parameters we at least staff would be willing to step forward and saying that we would be able to work this if budget allows us because this will be a minor maintenance item because it would be

uh cutting of grass within the um within the facility area because i don't envision a big fencing large fencing area that would be closer to the home correct yeah i measured it out at i believe five yards from each wall of the house so there'd be five yards from the side of the house fence on all four sides

So when we had this discussion back in April, my understanding was, Jake gave us a presentation that this was to take ownership of the home itself, and now we're looking at the land, it says, specifically.

I remember it, the home and the land.

Yeah, that's what I'm saying, it's changed. For me, it was the home earlier, now we're talking about the home and the land.

So I think Jake is nodding to say both.

Yeah, I remember it as both, the home and the land. But I think my thing is, where did $30,000 come from? Because you say small, but that's not small. And if it's a donation to the city, I mean, obviously, we would probably, if it was to turn into a park, it obviously wouldn't be anytime soon. Again, because of budget, we would have to take in community input regarding, is it actually going to be the type of park that you're looking or envisioning it to be? Like, if it's going to be a park with a walking trail, what type of park would that be? So the $30,000 is not little. I'd imagine. Yeah.

Well what I guess what I'm trying to say is for the part of the facility and maybe I should bifurcate or make split what we're trying to do here. What I want to make sure we're talking about for the Mary Burleson is that the property itself and the fencing Is one part when we take possession if we take possession? There's one thing that has to happen as well And that's the bigger piece which is the filling of those wells that and that was quoted and that was quoted at 6400 right and so you got two wells so that's gonna is that that's both that's both that's both 3200 each right and so for me it would be your fencing cost of Approximately

Fencing approximately $8,000 if we're looking at the fancy wrought iron.

So let's just say the keys are turned over. You got $8,000 to secure it. You got to fill the well. So you're going to do $15,000 at the drop of a hat. The outer portion, that is the park system, is already a park system.

Yeah, there's already... So the ISD owns the property on the opposite three sides that the road's not on. And there's a trail that goes through their property and just happens to cut through this property as well. So it would just really be connecting to that trail.

So what Reagan is... And I would probably do it if I were him trying to add on to the park system by adding on the trail to what what I'm focusing now though is really just the Requirements to be able to take possessions to make it safe secure and those two big items are gonna be the two lifts Unless somebody knows how else to do that financially. I think Jake had mentioned that there was some remaining pennies that are in there, but there would be some fiscal, and monies that need to be. Now I was also remembering the conversation too with Jake and the conversation was also that this didn't need to happen you know at latest year end. To me sounds like it could also be discussed by budget which is honestly going to be this month. And so I think in there was, I'm gonna put you on the spot, but I'm gonna put you on the spot. He said 7,000 in the account. And so if we're looking at ponying up $8,000 to take possession of the property, That's one piece of it. Now to add FTEs to do the mowing, I'm not taking that leap yet because I'm not gonna consider that as part of this. All we're doing is we're closing it, we're fencing it, we're putting up a sign. As you're using the current trail facility, you can walk up to this facility. You can go and see what it is, the historical relevance to it, and keep on your journey and make this part of a walking trail journey that we would be able to add on or not as the council sees fit. As it speaks to this specifically, I think we just focus on that. This is really, I think, when we hone in on it, brass tacks, that's really what it looks like today.

So what we're talking about is a minimum just basically to secure it and that sort of thing. Because you and I have had a discussion about the house itself and I want to make sure before we spend a lot of money on it that we're spending money that best serves our community. And we've talked about, I know a lot of people don't necessarily support the idea, but visibility-wise, would it be better in another location? And we've talked about that. But that's a discussion we can have further down the road, as long as, like you said, we can secure it.

And Council, again, just as everything else that you all do, it's always based on your priorities. And this could be an item we take up in the next couple of weeks when we start talking about budget. And so while I know we would like to move on it ourselves and just have a decision just to keep this ball moving, I think a steady hand and a clear mind as to where these expenses are coming from is smart business too. So we do have an opportunity to maybe go through this month, see the numbers, see what we're talking about in budget, because I'm already seeing some preliminary numbers and let's put everything before you guys so that you can make a decision as well. If you're clearly.

Right now we're talking about 16,000.

Yes, ma'am.

Yes, ma'am. But they got 7,000 in the bank. We would just have to come up with the second part because the main priority is the fence and the wells. And the wells.

Yes, ma'am.

And so, I mean, it's a good thing to have, to have as part of the community. It's been here. It's history. I think, like you said, we need to look at budget as well, but preserving it so far with what they have in the bank account, if we can... Y'all know some people who can work with 7,000 to get a fence and some wells done. The land is being donated, right?

That's what Jake says. Come on, man.

What I look at is mainly the wells. I'm not worried about the fence. I'm worried about the wells and some kit.

Yeah, that's what you're talking about, sealing them up. Yes. Seal those. But we need the fence to put around the house to ensure nobody's going in the house.

The house is also something that needs to be sealed up.

So the fence is necessary for insurance purposes and things like that. We do need the fence just as much.

If we take ownership of it, we assume some liability then.

Correct. So the fence is a must.

I don't think our attorney, Mr. Mark, would allow us to take possession without having the proper due diligence on safety and security. He wouldn't allow us to take possession of the properties until we check all the boxes. We can talk more.

Well, we need to talk budget. So that's the first discussion we need to have, right? And understand what the implications are to take it on. I will always put that in front of you. Yeah.

So what I'm hearing is that y'all want to wait on this until we go through the budget and then make that decision?

What kind of timeline are we under? Yeah, I was going to say, where are we at now? If we don't take possession of it tonight, what happens?

I'm not going to lie. MCB's in a pinch. We would love y'all to take possession tonight. And it is the house and the land and the $7,000 is dependent upon y'all taking possession tonight because we have bills. We mow the grass. We secure everything. We have insurance. We have all these things and stuff. So yeah, bills are coming due.

So what you're saying next month could be $6,000.

Maybe even less with the insurance coming due at the end of July and whatnot.

It is July.

It is.

Well, I'm not going to say we don't have a choice, but I don't think we can pass it up in terms of it's such an important part of our history. It's the first house built here, 1847, and her family alone is such a historic. So I make a motion we take ownership of it.

And I'll say.

Okay, it's been moved and seconded. And we'll begin with Council Member Krim.

Krim, yes.

Pena, yes. McShann, yes. Hymas, yes. Gibson, yes.

Silva, yes.

Love, yes. Mayfield, yes. Motion carries.

Thank you very much.

All right, the next one we have is a resolution of the city of Elgin. Texas authorizing the city manager to finalize and execute an agreement between the city of Elgin and the Elgin Historical Association Incorporated for the operation and partnership of the Elgin Union Depot.

evening council michael gonzalez director of public works not the main street manager but it was important that she went home this evening to kind of take care of her health what we do have before you this evening is agreement between the city and the elgin historical association the agreement should be in your packet but what i'd like to draw your attention to is down there in the whereas line five Establish a cooperative partnership whereas the city retains operational control and the association provides programming and advisory support just transition between We have we have an agreement with the Elgin Historical Association In fact, they're represented here tonight to move forward with this agreement but what this establishes is just the ground rules for us to be Living in and talking about that cooperative partnership how the museum progresses in the future is really up to this this cooperative partnership. We want to make sure that we have an agreement with them first, bringing this agreement to you. Now we can start to hammer out the details. And that's what we have before you tonight.

And this just as mayor, I'm sorry, just real quick, just establishes a basic typical museum operation where we do have the association donors that come and donate or lending I should say through agreements that we have between us for a period of time or even a straight up donation but that would be through an agreement like other you know, traveling museums have of sorts, right? So, um, this formalizes that, but it also takes the burden of, of fundraising and, you know, trying to fundraise the, to, to pay basic bills, which I, you know, for us, it's a city owned facility. So it just makes a lot of sense. Um, so I know there's a question also, uh, I know, uh, when it was presented before that have been some questions also of staffing, how that would work out. So I will say, um, We will be talking a little bit about some ideas during budget, but what I can say, we do have a full slate of volunteers and even some staff that can play some roles even immediately now that could walk in. But we have been inundated with people that are willing and wanting to be out there during these times to be able to help transition. and so we are ready to go we're ready to partner and both parties have looked at this our attorney has looked at this obviously the association has looked at this and they've gone to the board they've signed now it's on our side to be able to go ahead and move forward with this and get this going and and see how best we can make this into a wonderful museum with some great stuff and for the next many years so that put staffing we would have the responsibility for staffing right so we'd be able to select accept volunteers to Without a doubt. And we have some some criteria some metrics we run that through our H.R. systems. And so that that is a role that we play without a doubt. And but they're still partners with us. They still remain a key role. They play a key role especially with the museum pieces. But all of that should be us anyway. The citizens own the museum. And so it's just, I think, smart business for us to do that and so that we can consistently be out there on the days of possibly the Thursday, Friday, Saturdays, and Sundays. When people are visiting, those hours when they're here, we could be out there. not putting on the backs of you know volunteers that are trying to do everything always. That's that's not fair. And so that's why we stepped in and said let's us take an active role in this. We should own the museum. So if we're going to do that, put skin in the game. And that's that's what we're trying to do here. So there's no fiscal impact and we're going to bring some ideas to you for the new year. And I would say if there's anything possibly, it's going to be maybe a part time or even a full time administrative assistant to be at the front desk. And if that doesn't work because of budget, we have other ways to do this. It's just like this Mary Burleson, but I think even much more critical, critically important is this museum that carries much more history. And so just the same way that You know, I think we should cherish that building. This museum really should get cherished. So we're able to do a lot of things internally with our own employees and a lot of volunteers that are already calling us to want to work for us or help volunteer there. In fact, I do have a standing phone call with someone who works in Austin as an elected official that's calling the president of UT for an archivist. So an intern that'll work for us free of charge from the University of Texas. Nice.

And I understand we have a very experienced young man that is completely into the history of trains and the history of Belgians, people who wanted to volunteer as well.

We just need people with the love of the history of Belgin, and you'd be in the right place.

We also have an email too that the city manager and I received from Brenda Brinsville, vice president. And in here she says the EHA has operated the museum starting with an empty building to the community museum and is today. It is part of the community and deserves to be something the city is proud of and wants to go forth with it. She wants to also make for sure that everybody knows and the public that this is the they're in total agreement. And this is to let them know the next step in providing community with a viable and active city of Elgin Union Depot Museum. So they are on board with what we've got going. And it's just a matter of us saying yay.

And with any, obviously any contract or any agreement, if things do not go as planned, either party can separate any time.

Okay.

And is this a true shared responsibility or is there somebody who is somewhat a little has a little bit more authority than.

So the city retains most authority and I would say probably 90 90 percent 95 percent while the donation portions of the museum pieces come from our shared partners here with the historical side. They do have a board that they will maintain And so that they'll share their knowledge and experience with us. But all of the operational settings, everything of those sorts are within the contract. We had, again, our city attorney make sure all that was checked off. And it went back and forth. There were some things that they wanted to see in there. We agreed that was great. And we sent some things back to them. And they approved as well. So it wasn't a... You know, just a quick collaborative thing. It went back and forth a couple times to make sure everybody got what they needed, and I think we got a winner.

I think it's just one really important component of what we've talked about recently with kind of a makeover of downtown and preserving our history. I mean, you know, once it goes away, it's gone away. So, again, I kind of like the Mary Christian Burleson House. I think it's such a vital part of our history and a major component. I make a motion that we follow through with the contract.

And I'll second it. It's been moved and seconded and... We will begin with Council Member Krim.

Krim, yes.

Pena, yes. McShann, yes. Hymas, yes.

Gibson, yes.

Silva, yes.

Love, yes. Mayfield, yes. All right, our next one is an ordinance for the City Council of the City of Elgin, Texas, exercising the authority expressing granted by article... nine of the Elgin Home Rule Charter to repeal a voter approved initiative ordinance making legislative findings providing for the repeal, providing a savings clause, and providing a severability clause, and providing an effective date.

Mark. Thank you, Mayor. So, Council.

Oh, you got it. I just want to make sure your mic was on. Okay. Thank you.

They can't hear you.

It'd be my fault I'm clumsy. That'd be your defense.

so what you have before you uh mayor and council tonight is a ordinance uh that would repeal the voter initiative uh ordinance that came before you or the council in november of 2022 it was a petition uh that was presented under your charter you had to put that onto the ballot It went on to the ballot it passed the you were subsequently sued by the Attorney General because of the legality of that ordinance there are the you know, it's it's a violation of state law And so under your charter, you cannot repeal a voter initiative ordinance for a period of two years. And so this was November 2022. So obviously, more than two years have passed. So now under your charter, you are able repeal that ordinance again this this ordinance is still in litigation with the Attorney General's office and some of the representatives of a group that is promoting these these ordinances but if this ordinance is repealed it would essentially make that lawsuit moot because there would be no ordinance to challenge so I can answer any questions my question is just if

to people who started the petition come back. We'll have to put it on the ballot all over again.

there i'd have to see the ordinance and i can't answer that that in an affirmative yes i think there's some other legal questions that would have to be addressed depending on the form and wording of that ordinance there could be a new petition that could be similar or and that could come before you and then it would go to the voters and then you would make a decision as to whether you would adopt that ordinance and that's where some of those legal questions could come up That's the question.

And Mark, what would the fallout be if we didn't repeal it?

Well, if you didn't repeal it, I mean, the lawsuit will continue. It's at the Supreme Court right now. And so there's going to be additional briefing. I can't answer for it from a legal perspective, you know, predict what would happen there. But this would, you know, I think there's consensus from the police department and your legal advice that this ordinance does violate state law. And so... We've already taken it off the books as well. Let me add that. By agreement with the Attorney General, we have taken it off the books. And so it does not appear in your code of ordinances. So this would just be a clean up. We put to rest any question as to whether or not this ordinance exists and is enforceable.

So it's off the books, but the repercussions could be if we do nothing, the Supreme Court could rule against us, right?

We have entered into an agreement with the Attorney General to basically not enforce the ordinance, take it off the books. The interveners, the group that is promoting some of these ordinances, has intervened into the lawsuit and basically argued that the agreement is not enforceable in its current form. I'm getting inside of some legal technical things here and maybe some things we don't need to probably discuss in open session. But this would just put any questions and the intervenors claims also are essentially null and void because you have repealed the ordinance per your charter. You are allowed to do that.

and remember that the ordinance was against state law.

Right, and that's, yeah, that was my, kind of my point, as far as, yeah.

And if we don't do anything, and you have to keep going to court, we gotta keep paying you.

That's how it works.

Not me in particular, we have an attorney, an appellate attorney that's doing it, but yes, you will continue to incur legal fees, that's correct.

Well, I make a motion to approve. I'll second.

All right, it's been moved and seconded, and we'll begin with Mayor Pro Tem Love. Love, yes.

Mayfield, yes.

Crimm, yes.

Pena, yes. McShann, yes. Hymas, yes.

Gibson, yes. Silva, yes.

Okay, our next one is a resolution of the city of Elgin authorizing the city manager to execute the polling location, reservation, confirmation, and reserving this Elgin Recreational Center as the polling location for the November 3rd, 2026 general election.

Good evening, Council. So this is similar to something that we did for the March 3rd primary. What we have been asked to do by Bastrop County is to allow Bastrop County to use the Elgin Rec Center as a voting location in addition to the other voting location. And this would only be for election day. So they would be delivering on Monday, November 2nd. We'd have election day on November 3rd, seven to seven. And then they would pick up on Wednesday the fourth. The idea is to disrupt the rec center, like the least amount we possibly can. And I believe Reagan said it went well for the March 3rd primary. but for early voting, you would still be at North Bastrop County Community Annex. For election day, you would then have two locations.

I think that's good, because last time them lines was down the street.

And were down the road. Yes. Yeah.

The intention is to better serve the voters.

Yes.

Yeah, I'll make a motion to approve.

I'll second. OK, it's been moved and seconded. And we'll begin with Councilmember Silver.

Silva, yes.

Love, yes.

Mayfield, yes.

Creme, yes.

Pena, yes. McShann, yes.

Hymas, yes. Gibson, yes.

It is 7-17 and we're going to an executive session. We'll adjourn from our public meeting during this meeting and convene executive session pursuant to Chapter 551 of the Texas Government Code to discuss any matter as specifically listed on the agenda and or as permitted by Chapter 551 of the Texas Government Code. The City Council will convene into executive session pursuant to Section 551.071 consultation with attorney for a consultation with attorney regarding legal issues and potential agreements involving emergency services district number three. It is 7.45 and we're reconvening from our executive session and no action was taken.

We'll be taken.

I would like to make an announcement.

I want to thank the mayor for our retreat. All the food that you made was excellent.

True, true.

Excellent. All righty.

It is 746, and we are adjourned. Thank you.