City Council - Regular Meeting

I will go ahead and call to order our February 26th, 2026 City of Long View City Council meeting. Uh we are always excited to see a lot of people here in chambers. So, thank you all for taking time out of your schedule to be with us for whatever reason you are here tonight. You are always welcome back. We are glad to have people here. Um, first we will have our invocation and pledge that will be led by Grace Henderson with Operation True North. If you will please rise.

Please join me in prayer. Heavenly Father, we come before you tonight with gratitude for the opportunity to gather in service to our community. We thank you for the leaders seated here and for the responsibility they carry. Grant them wisdom beyond their own understanding, clarity in decision-making, and unity of purpose as they work for the good of this city. Lord, we lift up the men and women who serve others every day. Our veterans, active duty service members, first responders, medical workers, and their families. Strengthen them physically, emotionally, and spiritually. May we be a city that not only honors service with words, but with action. We ask for your blessing over our first responders, city employees, business owners, families, and every resident represented here tonight. Strengthen the bonds of this community and help us work together for the common good. We ask that you grant peace to those struggling silently and bring comfort to homes carrying stress, exhaustion, or grief. May all that is said and done in this meeting bring honor to you and hope to our city. In your name we pray. Amen.

Amen. Thank you guys. Oh, no. Privilege first. Hey, Joanna. Hi. I pledge [clears throat] algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you guys. Uh, next on our agenda is citizen comment. I do not have any speaker cards. Is there anyone that would like to speak and then fill out a card after speaking? I'm sorry.

You want to take a minute? I just want to thank the city council. I was driving down my streets marbly and Bertson and they look so good. The city's working on them and they looking good. I hadn't seen them like that in a long time. And I just want to let you know we appreciate everything you do and God bless y'all. Thank you.

Thank you, Morris. [applause] Thank you, Miss Wilidge. We love a compliment and we appreciate you sharing. Uh, next on our agenda is a presentation from East Texas Council of Governments with Long View's regional designation as a veteranfriendly community. I'll ask uh, Mr. David Cleveland, who is the president CEO of Etco to come on up with that presentation.

Thank you, Mayor. It's really great to be with you tonight and uh I have my colleague, the special projects director with East Texas Council of Governments, David Scott, with me as well. Um it's always exciting for me to present in front of my home council. You know, I' I've been a longtime resident here, as has been David, and we're proud to be uh residents here in Long View, Texas. Tonight is especially exciting uh far more for the city of Long View though and that uh you all have been selected to be awarded the Veteransfriendly Community Award. You are only the third community in all of East Texas to receive this award.

Awesome. And it is a relatively new award. This is the second round or the second year. But the fact that you are easily in the top uh three to receive this award is a credit to this community because when you hear what David uh shares with you in a few minutes about how difficult it is to get um this designation, I think you'll have an even more uh distinct appreciation for the achievement uh that you all can uh celebrate tonight. Um, so, um, but there is two things that I wanted to mention real quick. When it comes to veterans, uh, for us, for the East Texas Council of Governments, this is not something we take lightly. You might know um that we obviously as the council of governments have a special relationship with uh men and women throughout the region that lay it they lay their lives on the line for us every day whether it's first responders uh and police, fire, and so forth. Um they they deserve uh not only the tip of our hat, but as much support and encouragement as we can give them. Well, veterans are right in there, too. And I would also include senior citizens in the mix. These are all very special populations to us. But any of you that have veterans uh a veteran family member or have served in the armed forces, man, these men and women literally put their lives on the line for us every day. And if it hadn't been for their um sacrifice, we wouldn't be here today enjoying an open public meeting to conduct the the business of the city of Long View. So, uh we take this very seriously. Um this isn't our first foray as a council of governments into veteran services. Uh

we've been offering free rides to veterans on the go bus for years. We have a veteran um uh uh a veterans hiring preference. Uh so basically that means if you got a candidate for employ to uh get a job here at ETCOG if all things being equal and you're the veteran, the veteran gets the job. We also have the veterans directed care program to keep veterans in the community and uh as productive as possible for as long as possible. And now we have this program as well. That's right.

So, we're really excited about it. And uh for more information about the vet the the uh veteran friendly community award. I want to introduce David Scott to you. This is the guy by the way and I just want to give him public credit for this. Um I hired him in the first job. I think this is the first job I gave him is this is David. This is something that's so important for our region. I want you to take this on as your first priority and within six to eight months,

we had a program ready to go. So, I give you David Scott, can you tell the council a little bit more about this? [applause] Thank you. Well, first, good evening and thank you for having us and I promise I'll be brief because I see you all have a full agenda tonight. So, uh, Mr. Cling was absolutely right. Uh this was my first assignment when I came on to ECOG. And what we did was we looked around the state to see exactly what veteran friendly meant to different communities. And we created a program that was scalable to urban and rural. It doesn't matter the size or population. This program basically will fit any community that wishes to participate. There's no fee. There's nothing for it. It's just basically an opportunity for communities to showcase what they're doing today for their veterans. And it serves as a mechanism to showcase what they're doing as well as look for areas for improvement. And that's what this whole program was about is continuous improvement because we'll come back in two or three years and say, "Hey, Long View. Hey, Tyler. Hey, Quit. Hey, Winssboro. Hey, San Antonio. What are you doing since you got the award? What programs are we having? What can we do to help you?" And then we start linking these programs together all for the sake of making our lives, the lives for our veterans and the quality of life better for them. So this was not an easy application uh to do it. It was not intentionally designed that way. It just kind of took a life of itself. But we need letters of intent from elected officials. Uh we ask for demographics. We look for how many veterans are currently in your population at this time. And then we explore all the services, transportation, education, health care, uh residents, uh discounts at restaurants and stores. We look at uh training programs, vocational programs. We look at the levels of veterans who are serving at the top in the uh public sector. We're looking in the private sector and we're just giving them an opportunity to report back to us is why they should be a veteran friendly community. Uh that also includes, you know, parks, recreation, it includes, if you can think of it, we we threw it in there. Uh so I had several communities start the application. They're always

great at the gate. Okay? They're always great. First September, I get all these calls. they have 60 days to do it because uh just like any city government after Thanksgiving there's kind of a lull on activity till after New Year's. So that gives us time to grade the papers and get a committee together and we had three submitted two uh completed the application satisfactorily with the with the review committee that we created and it was uh Long View was number three uh for for the whole program. Last year it was two other cities. this year. Y'all came out on top for uh this year and I can honestly say and I share the sentiments of the review committee that it was a stellar application. Everything that went in there that showcases what we're doing in the city of Long View was present and everyone in this room should be very proud of our community this evening. And please give yourselves a round of applause because [applause] I didn't write it. I just graded it. So, at this time, we would like to ask uh the mayor to come up here and formally

Yes. I actually can I say just one thing real quick. Thank you David and David. I want to say a special special couple of thank yous. Uh Vern really spearheaded uh putting in our application and handled everything. He has a real heart for veterans and is the head of Oceans Behavioral. Um I also want to thank uh Operation True North who serves veterans in our community. What I was uh surprised and excited about is that these services already exist. So, we're being awarded for work that is already happening from volunteers and committed people in our community that are loving and serving veterans. And it is, you're right, a springing board to doing more together. So, I would actually like to invite everybody that is here for this reason to come on up and we're going to take a photo together with this designation, please. So, that's Vern, that's true north, that's anybody that is here because of this. And I think there's a whole row right there, too. Come on up. Anybody that wants to be in the picture?

Yep. Yeah. Here. [laughter] I'm gonna have you in the gray right there. Sorry. You [clears throat]

I'm trying to get you in the middle so I can see your face. I'm sorry. Three, two, one. Perfect. [applause]

Thank you, sir. Okay, we have lots of fun things tonight. Next on our agenda is presentation of a proclamation recognizing today, February 26th, 2026, as Pineree Pirate Day here in Long View. If you are a Pine Tree Pirate and here for this, please come on up. We're going to do this one all together. I know Dererick and Sydney want to come up. Jody, you can come on up too if you want to. Everybody can come up.

How are you? Thank you for being here. I'm Thank you so much for being here.

Yes. You want to go first? I appreciate uh Marius Shahar and I appreciate coach Bachmann being here and I want to congratulate these guys. Uh coach Bachmann, he's been at Pine Tree with Coach Lane as assistant. This is his

make sure decade and and so and what I really appreciate about coach is you know they have a they have a saying win with winners and just doing things the right way and these kids had a very competitive very tough district this year and just kept working hard and getting better and competing throughout the year. It was a lot of fun for the excitement and I want to congratulate him and these guys. This is the very first team in Pine Tree history to compete in the third round of the playoffs. Congratulations, coach. [applause] [applause]

Very exciting. So, we wanted to invite you guys here tonight to just celebrate your accomplishments. Thank you, coach, for being here. This is a representation of the entire team, which is obviously lots more of you, but we're so glad you're here. And I want to celebrate tonight your sports accomplishments, but more importantly, who you are learning to be through participating in team sports. the responsibility, the integrity, the professionalism. That's what we want for our young people here and we're so proud of everything that you do to represent WY and to do it well. Uh it is my privilege to honor the Pineree School football team who has demonstrated exceptional perseverance, athletic excellence, and sportsmanship throughout the 2025 season. Under the guidance of head coach Jason Bachmann, the Pirates fostered a culture of hard work and commitment characterized by yearround dedication in the weight room and a steadfast focus on the process. The 2025 Pirates accomplished the most significant playoff run in the program's 89year history, reaching the third round and inspiring the entire Long View community with their resolve and talent. The Pineree Pirates are hereby commended for their historic 2025 season. Their dedication to excellence both on and off the field serves as a testament to their character and brings great honor to the city of Long View and to the Pineree School District. It is now therefore my privilege as mayor of the city of Long View to proclaim today, February 26th, 2026 as the Pineree Pirate Celebration Day here in the city of Long View. Congratulations, guys. [applause and cheering]

[applause]

Three, two, one. [applause]

Why we got to be in line? You do. Not yet. Got it.

Thank you. We're gonna uh skip C for right now and go to presentation item D, which is a presentation of a donation by Atmas Energy to the city of Long View in support of the America 250 celebration. I'd like to welcome Darwin Winfield with Atmas to bring us a giant check. It's a giant check, but you know, hopefully the dollars will go I know they're going to go to the right place. So, uh again, thank you, mayor. My name is Darwin Winfield. I'm manager of public affairs here with Atmas Energy, and it's a pleasure to uh be able to present this check and to partner with the city as well as the county as we get ready to celebrate America 250. One of the things or several of the things that we are focused on, uh here at Atmos Energy is childhood literacy. And as uh this program is going to be able to support the programs uh in regards to a contest and an essay about America 250 asking asking folks to participate who turn their papers in to uh uh talk about what America means to them. Also another portion of it is arts. In order for uh our children also to be able to excel in our communities, art is also very important. not just reading but also the arts whether in this particular case it'll be drawing and that type of thing but of course music band and all those type of things are are very instrumental in helping our kids become better students. So we at Atmas Energy are pleased to be able to participate in sponsoring the art and essay contest that'll be taking place during America 250 events here in town and uh thank you very much for the opportunity.

Thank you. Come on up here Darl Photo. [applause] I'll stay. Talk to you all soon. Yeah, I want to say thank you to Atmas for their contribution. Also, uh we are still looking for America 250 partners. So, if you have an idea for something that we could use, if you'd like to sponsor a contest like that, uh we want to hear from you. We would like for you to be involved. Uh, next on our agenda is presentation and program update on project 365 with our chief of police, Mr. Anthony Boone.

Good evening, mayor, council, Mrs. Hagen Buer. So, let's talk a little bit about project 365. If I say National Night Out, everyone in the room probably raise your hand and say, "I have heard of National Night Out." What people may not know is National Night Out is actually a project under the National Association of Town Watch, NATW. And uh National Night Out before it was National Night Out actually began in the late '7s. And then in 1984, it was officially established as a national program through NATW. And uh 10 years later in 1994, Project 365 was also created by NATW as well. And so basically what that was to do is astronaut out was wanting to communities to know each other, get neighbors to actually talk to each other and then get neighbors to know their first responders in their communities. um project 365 wanted to take a little bit deeper dive and then kind of look uh areas that needed a little extra assistance and how could you go about doing that throughout the year and then celebrate the accomplishments at the end of the uh at the end of the year which is actually they look at the end of the year being the first Tuesday of October when we celebrate National Night Out. So that's kind of a little bit of the history um for Long View Police Department. We actually found through documentation that project 365 or also had the name Renew goes back to actually 2009 and maybe even earlier than that, but we know for sure 2009. And uh the only years I know for sure that we have missed were 20 and 21 obviously because of COVID. Um in 2022 we got it kicked back off again. And this is actually this award came about in 2024 but for what we did in 2023 and this is from the Texas Crime Prevention Association. And it says, "Each year at the annual conference, Texas Crime Prevention Association will present awards for each category to members uh to members, agencies, and volunteers who have who have achieved and made the most substantial contributions to the field of crime prevention to the Texas Crime Prevention Association. And as you can see there, in 2024, we received small agency. Don't don't be too bothered by that. Small

agencies considered 100,000 under 100,000 for population. So, we were uh very pleased to get that in 2024 for our work in 2023. And to look at some of our past projects and actually you'll know you'll understand this a little bit more and actually probably most of our council members already do. Um the PD may lead this, but we're really just the tip of the spear. It it takes all of these directors that you see sitting over here to make this work each year. I really hate that that on that last slide in the award actually says to Long View Police Department because it really should be to the city of Long View between our volunteers, all the different uh departments with inside the city and even the um outside help that comes in. Even we have uh church youth groups when they come in the summertime, they help in our project 365 areas as well. Uh so over the last several years, you can look at the maps and see in 2022 uh we worked uh the Birdie Park area. 2023 was east uh side of town with east 80 kind of the alpine to eastman road 2024 uh young to bird song marly to MLK area and then this past year in the Ingram Park area and just to give you some figures um and we really were only able to track this well starting in 2023 we actually recovered 16.2 2 tons of junk and litter uh in that area with over 300 volunteers. In 2024, we collected 24 tons of junk. Uh we had 350 volunteers and we removed 500 tires from that area. In 2025, we collected 30 tons of junk and debris. Uh had 150 volunteers, and don't don't be discouraged by that. That was actually because of a storm event and had to do a last minute change. So, we were still thankful to have 150. And we also um with the help of SWEPCO again partners even outside of the normal we we partner with other people outside the city as well. Uh 17 street lights were were

repaired and replaced uh during that project as well. But again, it's uh it's every department helping out on this. We are the organizers as the police department, but the fire department assists. They help with batteries being replaced. Red Cross assists with getting new smoke alarms for residents. Um animal control. Uh they assist Keep Long View Beautiful. Couldn't do it without them. Definitely can't do without development services and public works. So they have the equipment. They help us pick up uh the debris and what the the volunteers cannot cannot actually move. So this year we're looking at our location. It's actually in the north of the I20 corridor there between Estis Parkway to basically Eastman Road and then south of uh Pitman Street there. And some of the concerns that we we have seen and we talked as a command staff and talked with our our PAR police area representative supervisor. Uh it's an area that we've had some shots fired calls. Uh we've had some some shootings occur. In fact, I was talking to one of the residents just before I came up here and talking about certain times of the year, the amount of shots fired that can be heard and so forth. And then there's also quite a few mattresses and trash that just been thrown out in that area that this isn't any fault to the residents. This is other people coming through there and just dumping out things. So, u we see it as a an area that they can definitely benefit from this. And looking at if I can find it real quick. Looking at one of the the statements in our I20 corridor small area study uh by Freeze and Nichols from a few years ago talked about in stakeholder interviews talking about that specific area. There are pockets within the surrounding neighborhood that have charm, but the neighborhoods as a whole need some attention in order to thrive. So we're hoping again, not as a police department, but as a catalyst for this, we can actually help that area kind of thrive a little bit again. And then we actually had something new this year. We've always just kind of we do what we do. You do what you always

done because that's what you've always done, right? I'm very appreciative of Officer Johnson. He had the idea of wanting to actually have a community meeting first. We had that last Monday and we got some ideas. Some of the things that were on the list we already thought would be on the list, but they also had some other ideas for us. And we hope that we can all work together and uh we'll have a big National Night Out party down there later this year. And um I'm pretty excited about this project. With that, I'd be happy to answer any questions.

That's great. Thank you, Chief. Questions, comments? Oh, go ahead. Uh, what were some of the issues? Because I I mean, I was there, but I want to bring up some of the issues that what their most concerns, the most priority for them. We've got animals at large was probably number one. A lot of concerns about that. Prostitution was talked about. um water drainage, abandoned vehicles, uh talked about even uh police and community relations, and definitely some of our officers need to have an out of car experience and get out and visit with some neighbors and get to know people a little bit better. Uh there was also concerns about one of the apartment complexes in the town as or excuse me in that area as well. So that was some of the highlights.

Thank you. Yes, ma'am. Good. Thank you to those that attended that meeting. Derek, did you have a question? I just wanted to comment on that. I know 2022 was that uh area in around Birdie Park and we had National Night out there and really uh at that time and that was a big uh big boom for that area as far as the uh making that that attendance there for National Night Out and then also just the the way we take care of that.

When you can I'm sorry, sir. just when you can just fix the street lights though and get all the trash out of there, get the mattresses off the side of the road, get the tires removed, it just that alone starts to change the dynamics of a neighborhood and so forth and really helps to start cleaning it up. But yeah, Birdie Park was a great great success in Pine Tree was great with partnering with us on that.

Thank you. Good question. I just want to say um glad to see that y'all doing the community meeting. I think that's a key point and you get community support and that helps y'all do a better job with um the what y'all are trying to achieve there. So, thank you for doing that. Richard's work. Thanks.

I want to echo what uh Mr. Connley said because I know when Birdie Park and there's a sense of pride that goes with it that lasts longer than just 2022. You I drive through there still quite often uh just looking and you can see it clean. And a big thing that our people in our community needs to understand as much as I know Chief Boon and I talked about this the other day is the communication. Don't be afraid to step out, wave police officer down, hey, this is where we need help. And I I know street lights and uh stray dogs are important, but it's also comm a great communication uh between our officers and the other departments within the city. That's the only way this becomes successful. And uh I know I I approached him right at the last minute. And I said, "Hey, can we get some information on how much things have changed and went down in these neighborhoods since it's happened?" Because I know I've sat down with Chief Boon before and definitely the numbers within with crime is going down in the city of Long View all over. And it's kind of it's astounding to see

and I know a lot of people say, "Man, I see more crime on Facebook and things like this on the Ring [clears throat] cameras." Yes, sir. Well, over 50% of the people have a Ring camera. You go back 15 years ago, that wasn't the case. So you are going to see a lot more things happening. But the thing about it is we're being proactive in what we're doing. And I think this program 365 and what we're trying to do for that neighborhood and those people, it's going to be successful with direct communication and not just within the city, but we need it from the people that is in the in that neighborhood as well. And just because you're in whether in Birdie Park or in District 5 or District 4, reach out to us. if you see problems, let us get ahead of this rather than, hey, this is an area we need to focus on. But thank you and thank you for the time the other day and your officers.

Yes, sir. Yeah, absolutely. Go ahead, Ray. Yeah, Chief Boon, I just wanted to thank you and par officer Johnson for coming out setting that up. Um, I was there that night. There was a lot of difficult questions thrown your way and some that were off script. And I just want to congratulate you guys for handling that professionally and the way you, you know, addressed all of the people there, answered their questions, and then even when you couldn't, you know, you were willing to meet with them afterward and or later on that week. So, thank you again for coming out for that.

Yes, absolutely. We all get better when we work together. And I love I've said a couple of times that later this year I'd like to relaunch our small area task force for I20. So, this is a great lead into that. Great focus on the area. Um, I20 is a wasted resource for us. So, looking at building up the strong neighborhood there and then moving on to figuring out how we can better take advantage of that. Very excited about. So, thank you very much, Chief.

Thank you all. I am going to go back to our presentation agenda item C. I think our honore has arrived. Yes. Good. Hi, Sam. Uh this is uh presentation item C. Presentation of a proclamation recognizing February 26th, 2026 as Sam Shot, Nca Woman of the Year. Come on up.

I know. [applause] And she wasn't late. She was taking care of business. [laughter] After I get done reading this, you will know this young lady takes care of business day in and day out. Listen up because this is amazing. First off, February 26, 2026, Sam Shots woman of the year celebration date. And by the way, that's the NCAA woman of the year, not women. She was the one. Yeah, [laughter]

they better have a lot of applause after all you've done. Whereas Samshot has been named the NCAA Woman of the Year, a prestigious honor established in 1991 to recognize female student athletes who excel in athletics, academics, and community service. And whereas Samshot demonstrated unparalleled dedication at UT Tyler, playing a program record 235 games, achieving a 327 career batting average, and earning the 2025 elite 90 award for the highest GPA at the final site of competition. And whereas her commitment extends beyond the field through her pursuit of a doctorate of medicine at UT Tyler School of Medicine for the class of 2029 and her selfless volunteer work with Refuge International in Guatemala as well as local initiative like Special Olympics and East Texas Food Bank. And whereas Samshot represents the essence of excellence and resilience and extraordinary character, we honor her as a role model who embodies the principles of Title 9, motivating future generations to chase their dreams with kindness, appreciation, and unwavering dedication to others. Now therefore, as a representative for Bar Shahara, do hereby proclaim the day of February 26, 2026, Samshot NCAA woman of the year celebration day, the city of Long View. [applause] [applause]

That's what I'm talking about. [applause] [laughter]

There you go. Congratulations.

And if you want to know what your daughter should grow up to be like, one with those aspirations. Congratulations again. So, yep. Thank you guys very much. [applause] Next on our agenda is some community recognition. Uh, this is a real fun night recognizing special people in our community. I am going to ask Aaron Dudley and Sunny Wilson to come on up front with me. Thank you guys for being here so that we can honor your contribution to just good people in our community. I think so special that we have just people that may not know each other but that will step out and love and serve on a minute notice when they see a need. So we're here for that tonight. Um so everybody else knows what we're talking about. On January 30th, 2026, a city sanitation truck was involved in a serious crash on Straight Lane. The situation was high risk involving an unstable vehicle in a nearby gas man. Two residents, Aaron Dudley and Sunny Wilson, took immediate decisive action that prevented a significantly worse outcome. Aaron Dudley, emergency coordination. After being alerted to a medical emergency by the truck's passenger, Steve Brewer, Aaron acted as a primary dispatcher. She alerted 911, provided critical updates to responding units in real time, and later took the initiative to collect neighborhood surveillance footage to help investigators reconstruct reconstruct the crash. Sunny Wilson, life-saving medical care. A registered nurse, Sunny rushed to the scene upon hearing the impact. At great personal risk, she entered the truck while it was precariously balanced on a hillside, held on by troops. She did this without knowing if the brakes were set or if the vegetation would hold the vehicle weight. Wilson monitored the driver's vitals and breathing until medics arrived. Her presence was vital. Had the truck truck shifted an additional 30 ft, it would have struck an exposed 4in gas

ring likely causing a rupture. Both women acted with remarkable selflessness and courage. They were under no obligation to assist. Yet, they stepped into a dangerous scene to protect a city employee and their neighborhood. We want to say thank you. You are what makes Long Beach special, and we are so proud and so grateful for your action.

[applause] [applause] [applause]

What a fun meeting. We should do all meetings like this. Uh, next on our agenda is our consent agenda. Are there items that council would like to pull off for discussion or get further information? I saw Derek's hand first. What you got? Just a K. K. All right, Sydney, what would you like?

A start with a A C C E F. Okay. I I

feel like we're in wheel of fortune right now. [laughter] K. I got K. N O O. Okay. And R. Okay. Is that all of them? I mean, is that all? No, we got a lot of alphabet out there.

No, he's covering with me. Good. Okay, we're going to we're going to start with a that is Miss Bonnie Hubard. Consider a resolution that authorized the city to apply for a grant from the Petco Love Foundation. Yes, Petco Love is one of the organizations that continuously, thankfully, gives us grants and we are continuing to apply. Is

this the same company that has a Petco store here? It is in Long View. Yes, sir. All right. I think my primary question on this one, it has to do with C also. where you're looking for a grant in the amount of 500,000 from Texas Health and Human Services for open enrollment program to support spay and neutering functions of animals. Currently, I understand we charge for spay and neutering.

Uh we currently have a spay it forward program where we administer vouchers for citizens to go to a vet to be able to spay and neuter their own animals. This would assist in funding that. We at the shelter currently do not spay and neuter owned animals,

but this so both of these items 100,000 we're applying for and the 500,000 would u encourage or grant or enlarge that program for that purpose. Uh the 100,000 through Petco love is for animal health and that is for our isolated dogs that have upper respiratory infections, things of that sort. um to enhance the medical side

and then the 500 would be for spay and neutering or is it for general also? It is for spay and neuter. Um actually this morning we received word that the state closed the application period two months early. Um but there is we are anticipating it to reopen. So going ahead and approving tonight would allow us to immediate immediately apply when it reopens if approved.

Okay. Thank you. Uh then item E, a resolution waving penalties and interest for delinquent property tax. Mr. Robert Ray, that was Sydney also. Yes, sir. I'm getting a little personal here. I think it would be in the interest of the council to know who is receiving this um waving penalty of their delinquent taxes. This is a corporation called Nanda Estates uh bought the property and uh it was not properly the appraisal district indicated that they failed to um properly show the sale and so um they were not sent Nanda Properties was not sent a tax bill for 2024 and then incurred penalties and interest for late payment. So this would wave just the penalties and interest. They would of course still pay the taxes.

Okay, good. So they uh they still pay the taxes, but all this this waves the penalty and interest. That's it. That's correct. Okay. And this is a apartment project or something. Or is it this is a a single family home I believe or on um it's it's uh up there Ray Creek Estates if you you know where that is on North Judson Road up there off of North Jud. just I just

wanted to see who this was applied for. Thank you, Robert. Uh moving on to F. Consider a resolution with support for an application to the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs that is under Mr. Michael Shirley. Yes, thank you. This is uh asking for a resolution supporting their application. The project location is on Toller Road. uh if you're familiar with where Toller Road uh Super One there on Loop 21 adjacent to there there's a a tank site and then right next to that where the future Branch Street right ofway alignment is just between there and the park property is where this would be located. uh it would be for a senior type facility and as y'all are are familiar with these types of projects they they provide a great resource for our community and and hopefully we'll be successful with getting this we have been successful in the past

these um I guess my question is first off the 9% is that the additional what what does the 9% refer to? So there there's a whole formula. It's it's kind of misleading. It's not that they get 9%, but that's what the the program is called. What it does is it allows them to they award a tax credit that they can then go and sell and then use that as equity into the program to help

build a better project and provide um rents at a at a reduced rate. Yeah, we have several here. There's one uh off North Loop in the middle of the loop and then but anyway, there's several here in town. Yes,

they're very nice projects. My question is 10 years down the road, uh, do they change ownerships or who who maintains the ownership over the life of it and who's responsible for keeping them up and in and that's one of the the great benefits of the program is that they're highly restricted and I believe and and they can correct me if I'm wrong. I believe they're required to own them for like 18 to 20 years. Okay? So it's not that they go in and that they're developers, they're operators. They go in, they build it, and they have to own it and maintain it and operate it. So, they're in in it for the long haul.

Good. Okay. That was my uh concern about the longevity. Yes. My I believe on the form it said elderly. It didn't say retired or whatever. Is there an age limit like 55 is the bottom and going up or do we have Okay.

Yeah. It's age or I think it's 55 and older I think. Okay. Yeah. All right. Go ahead. Um Yeah. Do you have an I appreciate you being here, Mr. Shirley. Is there any idea how large I mean how many how many uh residences could could this establish with that center? How many how many uh at least how many apartments units?

Yes, I think and I'm trying to remember offhand was it 80? Yeah, 80 to 100 units right in there is what their application is for. There's I love I love the addition and that there's been a lot of that's a area where uh obviously pickle ball courts will soon be there's been a lot of activity in

having that that area um and using that park areas. It's nice. I hope that's a great addition. Thanks. Yes. Yeah, we've certainly benefited from those projects in town. with just for some clarity too, their their name initially when they came through was the reserve, but we already have several reserves like here and so they just we got an email right before the council meeting that they moved to change the name for the long to view senior loss. So

great. Yeah. And this was a project I believe it was last year they made an application and and we supported as well. They just weren't uh weren't awarded the uh tax credits at the state level. So Okay. because it's a it's a highly competitive program and it's not just Long View, it's in the region. So that's Tyler, Texas.

Um and so but I think this year I believe there's only two applications in the pre pre-application process. So we have a really good shot of getting this one. We're visit veteran designated now. So [laughter] that's right. Yes. There's only three of those, too. Well, thank you for bringing that project to Long B. We appreciate it. Yes. Thank you, Michael. Uh, I will move on to item I. Consider a resolution awarding contracts to Southern Grounds Maintenance. That's with Mr. John Albertson. Hello. This uh contract uh would award the mowing services for all of our city facilities as well as our trails uh and medians. Uh we did an RFP process that we went through that finance performed for us. Um and we reviewed all of the applicants and Southern Grounds was the winner after we went through the review process. So

is this a new provider or current? No, it would be the same provider as what we had prior. I've had a lot of good compliments about the trail maintenance. So that's why I asked. Uh John, would this also include from the edge of the asphalt, from the edge of the street up to the property owner? I mean the the side of the streets or is that a city responsibility?

That is on a rideway contract which is a separate contract that will be up later this year. Okay, that's a different contract. Rightways. Yes, sir. Okay. And I know when we're talking, not to nitpick, but uh big complaint that I've had [clears throat] from people, you know, is some of our walkways and I'm I'm even getting away from parks now, which I know is different, but hey, can we have the areas blown off? Uh sometime we had some gravel up on them, but leaving grass on them. I mean, we do a good job making it look good. Let's just finish that last little piece of the job. I want to make sure that that's uh

that is a point that we intend to focus on with that contractor for our rideaways uh this year. uh and we will address that especially when we go through that contract process. Borman Trail is in is in very good shape. Are we currently doing that or was this a program that somebody else had previously?

Uh Borman Trail that's uh just work that our parks staff have taken on. Uh it's things that we have made a focus on trying to improve uh over the last couple of years. You should make sure and take credit for that. Mr. Albertson has focused on making we're getting lots of compliments on that.

Yes. We have a great staff. Yes, they're very good. What would be the difference in Sorry to interrupt you. What will be the difference in this and our actual city employees that maintain our parks? So, this is using a contractor. Uh it's been this way for several years. Uh this this was in place, I think, if I remember correctly, since 2015 uh that we've had this contract. And ultimately it was a cost savings in order to do that. Uh if we were to pull our staff to dedicate towards mowing, uh we would have one, we would have to have more staff obviously at this point. Um and that cost would be much higher than being able to outsource it by the time that you consider all of your supplies and materials that you would need uh for equipment and maintenance.

Okay. Good efficiency. Yes. Thank you, John. I'm sorry. Okay. So I noticed on here so there wasn't so was the process different because I didn't see any prices. Usually y'all have the prices of the bids from the other compet was it was the process different? Did y'all use a different matrix on this one?

The process was the same uh that we've used previous years with the RFP. Uh and we have those prices. Uh this was not the lowest price based on the RFP. However, we went through and reviewed based on work plan, experience, qualifications, uh history working with us, and then we also considered their equipment that they owned currently uh and what they would be able to get financed for. Uh that was one big piece that decided actually why we ended up uh choosing the company that we chose as a committee. Uh was because they're ready to serve us, whereas others would require several months to be able to build up to the point that they could serve us. How long is this contract?

The contract has uh five years to renew. So, it's an option to renew uh each year. So, but they get a fiveyear contract, but we have an option to opt out each year. Yes, ma'am. And so, with this um and this is kind of directed towards you, do Robert Ray. Um so, how are we able to not go with the lowest bid on this one? So, state law does require a competitive process, but it offers us um a couple of options. One option is the traditional bidding process, but another is uh that would has been available to cities for several years now is the request for proposals process. And as part of that, you put out um instead of an invitation to bid, you put out a similar document, but it says these are the categories we're going to grade and here grade you on each each submission on and here's the weight we're going to give to each category. And one of those categories has to be price, but it's not the only category. So you don't have to go with the lowest price in an RFP situation.

Okay. So Shannon to answer I think what she's referring to is like if it's over a million dollars it falls under a different requirement like yes so so public works contracts and then also contracts over I think it's one and a half million now but uh they fall under stricter rules a different a different process

yeah because this one is for 858,000 and some change so I was just trying to figure out how we got around that and what that number was like John is saying like to where we don't go with the lowest bid and then a contract that's offered for five with with a five-year option.

Yes. So, um we actually do that even with our um even with our bid contracts. They have um when we say five-year option, what we mean is there's a one-year term and then it may be renewed up to four times each for an additional one year. So, it could be a total of five years. But that means, as you suggested, at the end of each year, the city has the option to go, you know, this is not working for us for whatever reason and uh and uh just not renew.

And so with this, we if we do it this way, does that mean it doesn't come back to council that y'all can just John, that's for you, that y'all can just go ahead and renew at any time without counsel? Yes, ma'am. We would be able we would have the ability to be able to remove or renew that. Uh but we go through a process every year uh to make sure that they're meeting the standard that we want them to meet. Uh and we also have annual meetings with that contractor to review uh their uh production.

Thank you. Go ahead, Derek. I got Derek first. Yeah. Obviously, John, this is a extensive amount of money. Is it um is it a has that rate and this may be Angela is this been like an increase recent like with inflation that 8858,000 is compared to other years. Do we have a price comparison how much that's normally cost annually?

This is within our budget that we have in uh this year's budget. uh it did go up and we did go back out um and we removed five mowing cycles from our facility uh all of our facilities in order to be able to bring it within our budget that we have existing. So we have already reduced that number uh in order to get where we're in budget.

Thank you. Gotcha. Go ahead. I was just going to u say here on the uh mowing service park trails medium facilities it shows uh six different bidders u one two from long view one from hallsville then one from Dallas and bulmont but also it shows so you had six people bidding on it also shows on the evaluation of those biders for who would receive the award 30% work plan 30% experience qualification reference ES 10% currently owned equipment and plan purchases. Years back, I think the looking at their equipment is very important because I've seen people years back that thought they'd get a big contract and go out and buy new equipment. They didn't do it.

Yeah. You know, they had a bunch of old wore out rough stuff and they got the money and put it in their pocket and just tried to do it a patchwork. And so the equipment then uh 20% is cost of service, actual cost. in 10% is responsiveness to complying with RFP requirements. So I think there's quite a bit what was it one two three four five different categories you know that they consider which I think is very good where you're not locked in where you have to take the the low bidder in other words you've got other criteria here that you can review

to to get the best operator the best performer for the job. Yeah. Yeah. I agree. I feel like this is an area I've heard complaints about in the past and I am currently receiving compliments. So, I am happy to be able to award it to someone that is doing a good job. I agree. Okay. Thanks, John.

Thank you. Uh moving on to item K. Consider a resolution that authorizes the city manager to execute anou between Long View ISD and the city of Long View Police Department uh for LISD to form a police department. Hey, Chief Boon. Yes, ma'am. And also with us this evening Keep your seat for now, chief. But, uh, assistant former assistant chief Ben Kemper, now chief of, uh, security right now at Long ViewD. And with the passing of this and a few more hurdles, I believe it will be chief of police for LISD PD. So, basically on thisou, it is required uh, TCO requires it of LID. They have to any of the agencies that the jurisdictions they fall within have to have anou with them. Um and that TCole Texas Commission of Law Enforcement requires it of the new forming agency because it is actually required by the in the Texas education code. It's 37.081 and it states a school district police department and the law enforcement agencies with which it is overlapping jurisdiction shall enter a memorandum of understanding that outlines the reasonable communication and coordination of efforts between the department and the agencies. So basically it's he has already received this from the sheriff's office from great county sheriff's office and uh he needs that from the city of Long View to to move forward.

Great questions coming. How many officers uh will they be at different schools or just at the high school or where will the officers be? I believe between school marshals and and officers, they're going to have them at all campuses. And of course, Long View ISTD runs in Greg County, south of Long View, through Long View, and then has a campus north of RC limits as well, back in Gray County again.

All right. Well, these officers have the authority to arrest and detain somebody. They're they're peace officers. So, they will have that? Yes, sir. And I don't know how his actual staffing numbers are if you want more information. No, I was just curious. But they will have the authority to arrest and detain somebody.

Yeah, this the staff will be mixed between the the marshals and the and the peace officers, but they will be licensed Texas peace officers. Great. As a mother with two students on the Long View ISD high school campus, I am excited about that. And thank you, Chief Keer, for kicking this off and making this happen. And we've got a good relationship with all of our campuses or all of our school districts and we've had school resource officers there for for years and years. Uh even with this, even though they'll move to having their own ISD PD, uh we'll still be augmenting uh some of their staff as well. They'll still hire off duty officers and uh on larger operations and major events. Uh we'll still assist them and Greg County will assist them as well with those those events as they come.

Great. Do you have a comment, Derek? Yeah, just as an educator, I appreciate Chief Boone. Keeping kids safe, it's number one priority. Thank you. Thank you so much, Chief. Uh, moving on to item O, consider a resolution authorizing the city manager to enter into an agreement with Tex DOT for a transportation set aside project for the south side of Cotton Street. Mr. Keith Bonds, interim director of public works. Yeah, this project's basically a grant from the Texas Department of Transportation allow them to fund the construction of the sidewalks on the south side of Cotton Street from uh Green to Mod Cobb.

Perfect. Keith, was this something we had previously talked about doing and we just couldn't get it? Couldn't come up with the money or Yeah, we've had the project uh as part of the 2018 bond election and u it's both sides of Cotton Street. So, Tech Dots is going to do the south side. The city's still going to be responsible to the north side.

Does this mean we will do the north side or this may be? Oh, we will. Yes, sir. Okay, good. Good. All right. Thank you. Perfect. Thank you, Keith. Uh, item R, consider a resolution authorizing and directing the city manager to execute any necessary documents for the purchase of one paratransit vehicle to replace a current unit. Mr. Scott Lewis, who looks like Miss Laura Hill.

Yes. Yes, ma'am. What is a paratransit vehicle? It's a bus with a lift on it that we use for curbside. We would come to somebody's home on an appointment basis and take them to medical appointments.

To medical appointments. Yes. It says here, and I don't understand, uh, with our um, state of Oklahoma interlocal agreement. Uh, first time I've ever seen that. Um, you are aware of how complex the transit system is. So, we're funded by the Federal Transportation Administration and Tex DOT. Tex DOT has an agreement or sorry, the state has an agreement with the state of Oklahoma. We're buying this vehicle through that agreement.

Okay. But we have to have your approval because Long View Transit is our service and it will be a new vehicle. It will be a brand new one. Okay. Thank you. Excellent. Thank you so much, Laura. Okay. Um, those are all the items that were requested. I would like to note just item S, which is an ordinance cancelling the District 4 general election and declaring unopposed candidate Councilman John Newstead as elected for his second term. Congratulations, John.

Very exciting. Any other items we want to discuss or do I have a motion maybe from Sydney who asked for all the ones to discuss to approve? [laughter] Yes, I have a motion from Sydney to approve the consent. Do I have a second? Second. All in favor, please say I.

Any opposed? Consent is approved. We will move on to action items. Action item A is a public hearing that will be held to consider M26-01, which is an ordinance updating the UDC to delegate certain approval responsibilities related to platting. Miss Angela Choy.

Thank you very much. Um so in 2023 uh Texas law house Bill 3699 significantly expanded the city's authority allowing city council along with planning and zoning commission to delegate subdividing or what we call platting approval to city staff uh like the city planner for administrative efficiency. uh delegating subdivision approval authority to the city planner promotes uh administrative efficiency and aligns with local procedures with state law. So currently if a developer comes in with a uh subdivision plat uh staff would do an administrative approval and then wait for planning and zoning commission to approve their plat. Um, so with this uh amendment to the UDC that staff is requesting, that would cut out of that time of the developer having to wait to go to planning and zoning commission. Uh, per state law, per the uh, state law, they're required by law to approve plat. So plats that meet the city's requirements, they are required by state law to approve it. Um, so really it's more of a rubber stamp than anything. And so with that, I'd be happy to any answer any questions. Uh, planning and zoning commission along with staff, we do recommend approval of this uh, recommendation.

Perfect. Sounds more efficient and we appreciate it. Any questions for Miss Troy? So, this this will reduce some of the time and paperwork. Is that what you're saying? Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Um, it will reduce it pretty pretty drastically. Okay. when you're coming here for the changing of the zoning because if there's already buildings in those that you're changing like retail to residential that still requires council or is that something that could be

Yes, sir. That still requires two public hearings. One in front of planning and zoning commission and one in uh in front of city council. This is just division of land only. Okay. Awesome. Thank you. Thank you. Do I have a motion to approve? Oh, I'm sorry. I need to open a public hearing. I will open a public hearing. I do not have any comment cards. Anyone like to speak in favor in opposition? Seeing none, I will close the public hearing and ask for a motion.

Move to approve. Thank you. Have a motion and a second. All in favor, please say I. I. I. I. Any opposed? Uh, action item is approved. Thank you, Mr. Troy. I know. I know. Been quiet all too long. Uh we'll move on to action item B, which is to consider a resolution which approves and authorizes the city manager to negotiate and execute an agreement between the city of Long View and Safe Haven Baby Boxes regarding the acquisition, installation, and monitoring of a newborn safety device and approving and authorizing the city manager to negotiate and execute an agreement between the city of Long View and Hannah House Ministries regarding the participation of Hannah House Ministries in said acquisition, installation, and monitoring. Miss Maryanne Hagen Bucher, assistant city manager.

Thank you, Mayor. Uh, good evening, mayor and council. This item was brought to us by Hannah House, a local nonprofit uh, organization that works with young expectant women in our area. Uh, they approached us, asked us to follow the safe haven laws that are on the books. Uh, Texas Family Code Chapter 262 is what those are. Those laws allow uh organizations like municipalities to put a newborn safety device box at a fire station uh because that fire station is um available 247 365. Uh so these safety device boxes allow someone to place a baby in there anonymously and know that that baby will immediately uh receive medical care and attention. Uh the safety device box would be installed at if if approved tonight would be installed at station two on Eastman Road. It will be a um heated and cooled box depending on the weather and it will have an alarm that would sound if someone were to place a baby in there. Uh the u with this item tonight we are asking council to approve two separate agreements. One is between the city and Safe Haven Baby Box Inc. that is the um contract that would allow us to purchase the safety device box and they would also come uh back with some education as well. Uh and then the second agreement would be between the city and Hannah House. Hannah House has graciously uh volunteered to pay for all of the costs associated with the purchase of the box, the installation of the box, the ongoing uh alarm fee, and then the ongoing maintenance cost. Uh so there would be no cost to the city to do this. Um I want to take a moment to thank Melanie Wright, the executive director from Hannah House. She is in the audience

tonight. She is the person who brought this first to us and she was so patient as our fire department, our engineering department, and our uh facility services department worked together to get us to this point uh to bring this in front of you all tonight. So with that, I will answer any questions.

Thank you, Marian. I did want to ask Melanie if she'd like to take the opportunity to just say any I did warn you ahead of time. You don't have to, but if you'd like to say something, we just wanted to make sure and acknowledge uh the contribution and willingness to make a rather large monetary donation from Hannah House. Yes. Well, those of you that know me that I won't talk long because I get emotional, but um this is a passion of mine for a long time and on behalf of Hannah House, we just want to say thank you to the city of Long View for working with us and um we're ready to get this going, but thank you.

Thank you. Thank you so much. I thought Derrick had go for it. Yeah, I think I think thank Melanie from Hannah House like to welcome Maryanne to the [laughter] to the front of front of the room. But uh do think this seems like a great plan. How do how do we uh make sure our community how do we advertise this? How does how do the people in the community know that it's available?

So that actually is part of the contract with Safe Haven. They will do marketing as well and then we will do marketing and I'm certain that Hannah House will too. Very good. Yeah. Thank you. Absolutely. Questions, comments, discussion? Oh, Sydney. Um, this is a pretty serious matter.

Very serious. Does it facilitate the mother getting rid of the child? uh it would allow someone who were was going to abandon a newborn to do it in a safe manner, which I think is particularly relevant given that we've recently uh had LPD arrest a mother who abandoned a child who was not found alive. Um so it does give them that opportunity. I would not say that it encourages anyone to do that in any way, but it does allow someone who has made that unfortunate decision to do it in a way that would allow the baby to thrive and survive. What about taking it to a hospital?

I think the issue, and I would let Melanie speak to this, but I assume the issue would be criminal prosecution. Um, and you know, the threat of criminal prosecution. Um, just speaking from experience in what we do at Hannah House, a lot of our women come from situations um that are very dangerous um obviously with trafficking and cults and so forth. And at the end of the day, they want to remain anonymous and they want this baby to have a chance for life. And so, um, they don't want to be seen at the hospital. They don't want to be seen by anybody. So, these safe haven baby boxes allow that complete. Um,

when you say not seen, uh, the fire station where this would be placed, isn't that fire station open 24 hours a day? Yes, sir. Yes. that this birth mother or this mother will be able to drop this baby off if she she chooses and then have time to get away before the alarms are going off.

There's no communication in what is the u penalty for um leaving you said before they didn't want to they didn't want to have prosecution. What kind of penalty or law are they facing if they would take this baby to a hospital and drop it off at the front door of the hospital?

I can't answer that. I'm on the police department side, but I can tell you they don't want to be known in the situation. Um, I know it's happened before, but like I said, there are women that do not want to be known for any reason um for this baby's safety. That's all I don't know how to

Yeah, it's an unfortunate situation. Yeah. And certainly wouldn't be something we would expect to hopefully ever happen, honestly. But it has happened here in Long View and it had a unfortunate consequence. We would just like to have life, you know, saving options available for these women.

Would this be at one box at one fire station? Is that what we're talking about? Yes, sir. Which fire station? Fire station two on Eastman Road. Okay. Um, it's a pretty serious subject. Um, I mean, it's it's a you know, it's just it's the life of a individual, life of a child, and depending on how you're going to start that life off.

Sure. I would hope that this would give someone a chance that may not have it, but certainly no one is encouraging use of the box. It is an alternative maybe when someone has no other alternatives. Um, I'm not sure if you're able to speak on this, but I have seen some research on the safety boxes and it's prominent in a lot of major cities and I don't know if you're able to speak on the statistics of them and the survival rate of the kids that are placed in the safety boxes, but you know, I I guess I'm with Sydney. It's unfortunate that, [snorts] you know, our little community of Long View has kind of come to a situation where we have to embrace some big city decisions. Um, but preserving a baby's life should always be number one. And I know that this is an avenue in order for us to do that. And it's also an avenue for that mother, as you mentioned, that's been through a lot of difficult situations to be able to enter this with no judgment because that's the biggest part. And that's also the reflection of how we lose a lot of young

babies is because the mother is afraid of the ridicule and the judgment that comes with it. So, um, Mr. Allen, it's a new age thing and it's it's happening everywhere else and, you know, we have it here and I think it's an opportunity to help save a a baby's life.

Absolutely. to to tie this back to help my framework and I go, you know, I think of scripture and I go to Moses, right? And they carry the baby. She's in a situation where she won't like the baby will be killed or prosecuted. So then she puts it in the river and then luckily the baby's saved and that's a safe like so that's a situation that I think a lot of these are looking at. It's not a way of a mother abandoning a child. It's a situation where the that bringing them into life may not be safe for them or for the mother to do so.

Absolutely. And I love I love your um story there. That is so true though. Um these mothers, it's not that they don't want these babies. It's that for the baby's safety and for their situation that they're in that they know that they need to choose a different, you know, a different course. Um and it's just an option for them and it's life, you know, it's life- saving.

So, uh what happens to the baby? The alarm goes off and they call CPS and house. Excuse me. I didn't hear what happened. So once the alarm so once the child is the infant is placed in the safe haven in box the mother has a certain time and I don't believe I don't remember if it's 30 or 60 seconds to walk away and get out of the picture um and then that alarm will start going off and then the fire department will get that baby in under two minutes and then take it to the do hospital where CPS and Hannah House will meet them there and um

do you u you say Hannah House will meet them there? In other words, does Hannah House take responsibility for this just born baby? Well, it's there's numerous parties involved. CP has CPS has to be a part of that as well. Child protection services. Correct. And um since there would go to a ready and waiting family um through foster to adopt.

Do we have ready waiting families? Yes, sir. We do have. Okay. Thank you, Melanie. I move to approve. Thank you. I have a motion. Do I have a second?

Second. Have a motion and a second. All in favor, please say I. Any opposed? Item is approved. Thank you so much, Melanie. Thank you very much, Melanie. Um, we will move on to items of community interest. And we'll start with Mr. Connley. Uh I first just want to congratulate again Mr. Wade by district champion basketball team for Pine Tree and they will play tomorrow. Coach Rogers and that team just won uh Tuesday night and they'll play tomorrow night against Paris and Tex Arcana if you guys are looking for something entertainment and drive up norththeast to to Texas Arcana and there'll be a basketball game happening there. Good luck to good luck to the Pirates

basketball team was here tonight. Maybe maybe [laughter] good luck to the Pirates. And next, I'm so honored to announce and have in my presence the uh trophy that we've earned all of us for the water tank of the year.

Hey, runner up. Runner up. [laughter] Runner up. Runner up. Runner up. Runner up. Sorry for the buildup on that, but the runner [laughter] up. But there are uh I am uh I was asked to we have the enjoy the view water tank and uh I'd appreciate Richard is uh either Richard or maybe Chat GBT has this eloquent uh article that I'm going to read here and the city of Long View, Texas celebrates its vibrant arts and cultural scene with a newly painted 1 million gallon water tower adorned with a guitar music musical motifs and the slogan enjoy the view. The design reflects Long View's museums, local festivals, and creative spirit. Finished with TMX series 700 hydrooflon, the tank's colorful exterior will shine, will stay bright and protected for years to come, perfectly capturing the energy of East Texas. Tank of the year runner up. And uh there I noticed there are all the water tanks in this calendar. We were in the calendar and there seems to be I've counted I think there's only maybe five that are from that are cities from Texas and we are the month of May this year 2026 and uh also Richard I appreciate his he's a much uh better long view historian than myself and May 17th 1871 was actually the uh first day of Long View's existence and so being in the month of May we're very happy and we are the tank of the year runner up. Congratulations, Long View. [laughter]

That's all. Thank you. Okay, Miss Moore. Uh, yes. So, we I had my first town hall meeting when last week. Last week. Last week. And it was very good. I want to thank all the citizens that came in and br input. Always feel free to participate in any town hall meeting, any meeting. And I will say this that anytime a citizen has a comment about anything whether good or bad we have to take it and we have to do do better as a city to make sure that we're addressing all the needs of our citizens. And I will say this that um none of the none is scripted. These people are coming in. They're coming in with true concerns from their heart and for their quality of life. Um also I want to talk about Black History Month. This is Black History Month. Foster Middle School will be having a program tomorrow. Where Elementary had one today. Foster Middle School will be celebrating theirs tomorrow starting at 5:30.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Wade. Yes. [sighs] So, on Tuesday, I was uh driving down MLK and I noticed a little uh small incident happening on side the road. Mariana, Marina, play the video.

I was driving by. There was a small little fire. I got a hold of FD at Lone View's finest, the fire department. I started battling it right here. It started spreading. We got the fire department here. They're right there. And we're putting it out. It's automatically happening right now on the scene. Thank you. [laughter]

So, unlike Miss Dudley and Miss Wilson from earlier, I saw the fire happening. I called Chief Grimes. He didn't answer. I FaceTimed Chief Grimes. He still didn't answer. [laughter] Then I tried to figure out the phone number to the illustrious station number three, which is on MLK. They didn't answer. They hung up on me at first cuz they didn't understand what I was saying. So I sprung into action and I started fighting the fire myself. I called them back and then next thing you know, you see them whirling down the street coming down MLK and we saved the day together. Me and Long View Fire Department. THANK YOU GUYS. [laughter]

[applause] YOU DO KNOW ABOUT 911, [laughter] you know. It was right down the street. I was right there. Don't need to call 911 for that. You know, they have a non-emergency number. Well, I called [laughter] the non-emergency number. Chief Grimes was my non-emergency number.

All right, John, you're up. Awesome. Like a trailer for an action movie. An action hero. Yes. I know. I got Columbia News Journal is gonna be calling now KLTV. I think you got [laughter] I'll give you a story after.

Awesome. Um, so one, you know, as Kristen said, the mayor said, um, how we wish we had like these meetings all the time and it's great and I really just want to highlight really two of these things on here. you know, uh, Vern Reneer who put together the process, the application to become a veteran designated community and then also Melanie Wright with Hannah House. Like these are community-led and driven initiatives uh, for the citizens of Long View and uh, it's because they love the the community and everything. So, I really want to just highlight that and just honor them and honor the all the people in the community. Chief Boone said it with, you know, National Night Out and everything else. we it's it's all of us. It's everybody here that's taking a a care and a love and an interest in the community that they serve uh is why we are uh thriving and just appreciate uh this everybody so much for that and so it's really just warm my heart. Um also with that, you know, I also want to say a deep thank you to District 4 for your trust in me and uh I'm honored to serve for another three years. Thank you.

Congratulations. And also Maryanne, thank you for being up here. We appreciate you, too. [laughter] Thanks, John. Jody. All right. Uh, first thing we've got, uh, can you spot what's wrong there? And if you're thinking of the amphibian that's in the, uh, water, you're wrong. It's lifeguards. And, uh, I want everybody to realize, don't just think about, uh, high school students, you know, teenagers during the summer, which is a great avenue, you know, so if you know students, get out there. But if you got college students coming back into town or if you even if you're an adult who says, "Hey, I've got the summer off from teaching. I want to get involved." We'd love to have your help. Uh parks and recreation. I know getting lifeguards is a huge deal. And we will be pool operational this summer. Right, John? Yes, sir.

Can I hear that a little bit louder? Okay. All right. [laughter] louder. Next thing I want to do, I want to recognize Spring Hill been recognized by the educational results partnership for the 2025 honor role uh for high academic achievement and student success. Their intermediate and junior high were also recognized as honor roll schools, placing them among the top performing schools in Texas. So, congratulations Spring Hill and their administration and their board for backing them up. Um, I thought Ry was going to steal my thunder here, but I wanted to say thank you to Long View Fire Department. They had a busy weekend. They had a lot going on. Uh, you probably seen it in the papers. You've seen it on the news, but you guys did a great job. Thank you for your action. And it's it's not just my job because that's what I do as a fireman, but going above and beyond and uh making sure people are safe, get out, and taking care of business. Thank you. Great job, Sydney.

Uh, yes. I want to say thank you again to the Pine Tree football team. That's wonderful what y'all were able to do. We might get ahead of Long View one of these days. All right. [laughter] One of the items that we overlooked here. I want to thank our financial secretary, Miss Angela, for what she does, for taking care of our money and investing it and getting the good rate of return that she's consistently got for us. I just want to say thank you for managing our money. Good

job, Angela. Okay. Do you have anything? I do not. Okay. Uh I have a couple of items. Want to remind everybody that our boards and commissions applications are currently open through the end of March. Uh this is a really important way for our citizens to engage, have their voice heard, be involved in what's happening in the city. Um you hear first what's happening and uh this is your way to contribute. So please consider doing that. The kite festival, wildly popular kite festival is returning March 11th at Lear Park. You can learn more at our uh website longview.govkite. /kite. Um, this happens out at Lar Parks. Beautiful day, lots of families out there, lots of fun, other things to do. Please join us for that. Uh, America 250, please mark your calendars and join us for what will be the kickoff of our America 250 celebrations, which will be a parade on April 11th. If you would like to participate in this parade, the applications are due by February 28th. That is two days from now. So, please get on top of that on our website there back2250. And finally, uh I am again collecting peanut butter. Um so, if you are interested in helping, Jars of Love peanut butter drive is now open. This is a drive conducted by Long View Regional Medical Center who is collecting peanut butter with a goal of 4,000 jars to support Long View Community Ministries, which is our local food bank uh located downtown. Um, there is of course, as you know, a real need to feed people in our community who have insecurity with food. So, please consider participating. Your generous donations can help us March 3rd through the 24th. And you can drop off sites at Long View Police Department, Long View City Hall, and other city facilities. Um, if you will check out the website there. So,

are we competing against? We are not competing against anybody. They're scared of us now. So, uh, no. Uh, we are competing against ourselves. Bring all your peanut butter. But thank you guys very much. We love and appreciate you and we'll see you next time.