City Council - Regular Meeting

St. Anony's Cathedral Basilica. If everyone would please silence your cell phone and if you so choose, please stand and remain standing for the Pledge of Allegiance.

Father, [clears throat] I thought you were going to do the Pledge of Allegiance first. I'm sorry.

That's okay. Um, heavenly father, we give you thanks for all the blessings you've given our city and grant our leaders wisdom that seeks truth, courage that serves the common good, and humility that listens before it speaks. Help them to weigh decisions not by personal gain by what, but by what strengthens families, protects the vulnerable, and builds a future of justice and peace. Bless this city and may differences of opinion lead not to division but to deeper understanding. And let this meeting be marked by respect, clarity, and a shared commitment to serve. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Amen.

Nation under God. Have roll call, please. Mayor West present. Mayor Pro Tim Turner here. Council member Durio here. Council member Hillyard here. Council member Williams. Council member Sherwood absent. And council member Krenshaw. Thank you. Today we have two presentations and the first one will be the city of Bumont communications.

Good afternoon and happy election day. In this week's announcements, the city of Bowmont is excited to announce an upcoming surplus property auction. You can find deals on vehicles, generators, heavy equipment, and more. The online auction will run from 10:00 a.m. on March 11th through 10:00 a.m. on March 25th, and anyone is welcome to participate. For more information, visit bumont texas.gov. Check out the city of Bumont's Facebook page or scan the QR code to get started. Don't miss your chance to find some great deals while also supporting your local government. Bumont's commitment to a cleaner community continues. Our ongoing litter awareness campaign is still in full swing with signage placed throughout the city to encourage everyone to take ownership and keeping our neighborhoods, roadways, and public spaces trash-free. The reality is that litter cleanup cost the city more than $2 million each year in staffing, contractors, enforcement, and abatement efforts. Funding that could support other important services. You can help by adopting a street through the city's website, properly disposing of your trash, and encouraging others to do the same. Let's show Bulmont pride and prove we don't mess with Texas. Artists are going to paint the town as part of Mural Fest 2026. Join us March 21st and 22nd from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at Riverfront Park. Watch talented artists transform walls into vibrant works of art in real time while enjoying live music, food, and familyfriendly fun. Come celebrate creativity, culture, and community in the heart of Bont. Get ready to walk the red carpet in just three weeks from today at our annual state of the city, the Bumont Awards.

Coming soon to a theater near you, the lights dim, the red carpet rolls out, and the story [music] of a city takes center stage. Join us for the Bulmont [music] Awards, an Academy Awards style state of the city celebration. Honoring the city departments that keep Bumont running every day. Experience real accomplishments from the past year. A few laughs and a live question and answer session with city leaders all in one unforgettable [music] event. It's a program you won't want to miss. Big moments, real results, free concessions and food bites from local vendors. This [music] event is free and open to the public and everyone is invited to be a part of the celebration as we celebrate [music] the state of the city Bowmont style. Tuesday, March 24th at 11:00 a.m. inside the [music] historic Jefferson Theater. It's going to be a great event, so save the date and we'll see you Tuesday, March 24th at the Jefferson. And finally, we're excited to welcome another new business to Bulmont. Mason Muse is now open at 24:15 Calder Avenue. It's a curated lifestyle boutique and social club offering home decor and clothing along with interior design services. We stopped by to meet the two awesome sisters who own it. I'm Danielle Lindsay and my name is Melissa Lindsay and this is Mesa Muse. And it is a curated shop, a [music] design studio, and a social club. And we're just here to bring um unique and sustainable home decor and help you find your own style for your home, but also for yourself, and to bring people together to create some community. in we're very excited about what's coming to Belmont, especially here in the historical

district of Belmont. Um I think a lot of work has been put into revitalizing the area in the last few years, but businesses have been slower to open maybe than the original idea was, but now it seems like we've got an amazing original coffee shop next door. We're having a bookshop open across the street. We've [music] got bakeries and small businesses opening all up and down Calder and downtown again. So, we're very excited about having a downtown walkable experience here in Belmont where people can gather and shop and just generally [music] have something that I don't think it's had to offer before or at least hasn't had to offer in a long time. We love when we get to spotlight new business owners because we want everyone to know Bulmont is indeed open for business. And that's all for this week's announcements.

Thank you. Next, we have a presentation from Anna Mi Harris, a district engineer with Texot and also revealed this morning the pioneering women uh the latest recipient. All right. If you'll give me one moment to sign in. All right. Um, council mayor, uh, thank you for the opportunity to, uh, come before you once again to give you an update on the projects that we have, um, in our area. Um, I am not Anomihare, unfortunately. I'm Richard Bradley. Um, the assistant area engineer of the Bulmont office. Um, but what I have prepared for us today is just a quick presentation at the projects uh, we have going on um, in the city limits. So, first I'll, uh, discuss the two interchange projects that we have. Um, you know, these corridors, uh, they're more than just construction projects really. Um, you know, I 10 is Bowmont's primary east west, uh, freight corridor, uh, a key hurricane evacuation route. Um, US69 uh, provides critical access to downtown uh, and Washington Boulevard. Um so improving uh these interchanges supports freight reliability uh regional connectivity and uh long-term congestion relief. Um additionally this is uh infrastructure that is uh designed to serve Bulmont today uh and also positions it for growth tomorrow. And um then just at a glance for both of the projects um you can see that the Cardinal interchange the construction cost came just a little over $300 million uh for the East Texas

interchange, the Northern Interchange um that one came in uh a little closer to $550 million and they're both u slated for an estimated completion date of 2031 at this time. Um and of course uh just project goals in in a nutshell. Uh we're looking at widening I 10 and 69 uh adding bridge capacity, improving frontage road connectivity uh throughout both projects, modernizing the aging infrastructure, um significant drainage upgrades, uh as well as new sound walls and key areas for adjoining neighborhoods. Okay. And then specifying on the Cardinal interchange, um just a look back at what we've uh managed to complete over the last 90 days. Um, so we've completed a new frontage road bridge over the BNSF Railroad. Let me see if my mouse will show through. My mouse does not show through. I apologize. Um, well over the BNSF Railroad on 69 uh northbound, we've managed to uh we completed that frontage road bridge and we've also uh detoutored main lane traffic onto that frontage road bridge. um as we move into the next step of construction. Um we've also completed um major sanitary sewer infrastructure um throughout various sections of the project. Um we've also uh installed foundations at uh several key connector ramps. Um and additionally the uh contractor has continued working on the um westbound I 10 bridge uh near Washington Avenue. Okay. And then these pictures um really help encapsulate the the work that was recently completed and is also ongoing at this time. So the picture on the left you can see the uh new bridge elements that have been recently constructed. The picture on the right is um of the contractor actually constructing one of those new bridge elements. Okay. And again on the left, uh you can

really start to see some of the the envisioning of the project come together um through the the scale of those new bridge elements right there. Uh same with the picture on the right. Uh that is going to be the new 69 north to uh I 10 West connector. Okay. And then these two pictures uh they show the uh contractor progressing the construction of that new frontage road bridge um over the BNSF. All right. And then a quick look ahead. Uh so what we can anticipate over the next 90 days on the Cardinal interchange. Um so the 69 southbound frontage road uh over the BNSF that will continue to be constructed. Uh we're anticipating that to be completed in the coming months. Uh the new I 10 eastbound furniture road and westbound furniture road bridges over Hillbrand Bayou. Um those are continuing to be constructed as well. They'll have um more concrete pores and uh pavement tie-ins scheduled in the coming weeks as we near their completion. Uh also at various locations throughout the project, there will be ramp foundations being constructed uh and additional work being done on various other bridge elements as well. All right. And then moving on to the East Texas Interchange. So again, uh a look back at what we've completed in the last 90 days. Uh several runs of drainage upgrades have been completed along the eastbound frontage road uh between Liberty and 11th Street. Uh with that uh new concrete pavement is then uh built on top of the new drainage system as they work their way down the frontage road. um bridge foundations and structural elements were installed for several key new bridges. Uh and additionally, the first run of drainage upgrades along the westbound frontage road uh from Calder to North have been completed as well.

Okay. And then uh several more pictures as to the uh ongoing and recently completed construction. Uh you can see the picture on the left. Uh they are working on the main lanes of I 10. Uh that section between the two barriers we have in the median. Uh that is the contractor uh preparing the pavement for the next uh step in construction. The picture on the right is uh them installing some of those new uh drainage elements. On the left we can see them uh constructing another one of those uh bridge columns, another one of those bridge elements. Um similarly on the right we can see a more massive uh bridge column being constructed. Okay. And then on the left you can see them uh pouring one of those foundations for a future bridge element. And uh similarly on the right you can see them setting rebar into um one of those foundations that they've recently constructed. Okay. And then a quick look ahead as to what we can uh expect over the next 90 days or so. Um the eastbound frontage road and westbound frontage road, those are going to uh continue to be repaved and reconstructed. Uh the contractor u they're currently placing new concrete in the area now as they work their way down the frontage road. Um installation of additional drainage improvements are set to continue throughout the project and additional work will progress on several key bridge elements uh again as they progress towards their completion. All right. So, in addition to progressing the uh the day-to-day construction of the project, we've also been working at making meaningful quality of life improvements for the public. Uh several key focus areas being improvements to signals, uh fixing damaged sections of pavement, uh nighttime lighting improvements, and repairs uh for a smoother ride experience. Okay. So, uh, starting with the signal improvements, uh, towards the end of

last year, we worked very closely with the city's traffic department to make, uh, repairs to the Washington intersection at I 10. Uh, that signal had been in a stop flash condition for quite some time, and through coordination with the city, uh, the signal was restored to its current working condition. Uh, we've also worked with the city in making adjustments to the signal timing at Calder to help traffic flow more smoothly. Uh, the detection cameras were installed. You can see them at top the signal mass in the picture there. Um those cameras can greatly reduce weight times at signals. Um so we worked expeditiously to to get those installed as quickly as possible, not only at Calder, but at various other intersections um in the area as well. All right, pavement repairs. Um we asked the contractor to repair uh several large potholes and uh poor pavement sections in the mainlands. You can see in this picture uh this is one of the bad locations. Uh this is I 10 over Calder. Um and here's a picture of the repair uh that we made. So you can see that they cut out that bad pavement area uh repair the joint and pour back a much more better longerlasting uh repair here. And in addition to this location, there's also several other locations uh where we've moved into making much stronger, longerlasting repairs such as this one um all throughout the work zone to to help improve driver comfort. Okay. And then better lighting. Um driving [clears throat] through the Cardinal Drive interchange at night, I'm sure you've noticed it can get pretty dark in some areas uh along the highway. Well, we've been working on several improvements to the lighting in the interchange. Um crews began work on February 23rd uh on not only restoring service to several of the existing illumination poles, uh but also we asked them to go ahead and install several additional luminers uh that wouldn't have been installed until near the end of the project. Uh right now uh they're working on uh installing new wiring for

those poles so we'll have uh a much better nighttime experience in in very short order. Okay. And then a smoother ride. So to supplement the pavement longterm uh pavement repairs uh we've recently implemented an action plan with the contractor to more quickly identify uh track and address potholes and other pavement issues going forward. Uh this will allow us to better devise strategies on how to make better repairs to future issues. Um and we're also uh continuing to utilize a subcontractor called Skidbraider. Uh they were the team that removed the ghost striping on I 10 uh through town last year, effectively cleaning the pavement to uh to help the the real pavement markings be more visible uh and distinctive to drivers. their operation really makes a big difference uh to the public and we're continuing to utilize them to help mitigate similar issues going forward. All right. So, when these two projects are complete, um we can definitely look at uh we can expect increased corridor capacity, uh a safer, more effective evacuation route in the event of a natural disaster. um improved freight mobility, reduced traffic con uh congestion at key access points through town. Um and again, this infrastructure is being built to serve Bumont for decades, not just for today's traffic volumes. All right. And then uh the other projects that we have going on uh through the city. So we have two additional projects. Uh the picture on the left showing the pedestrian improvements project we have going on. uh that is going to be for the installation of a array of uh pedestrian safety enhancements uh including the sidewalks that you can see in the picture. Um the project stretches from pinchback all the way towards I 10. Um and we're looking at sidewalks, crosswalks, um the implementation of uh

pedestrian poles, you know, the the poles at the intersections. You push the button and it lets you know when it's safe to cross. um pedestrian curb ramps and and other safe uh pedestrian safety improvements as well um [clears throat] as part of a project that's geared towards improving safety for pedestrians. And then the project on the right uh this project hasn't quite started right just yet, but we can expect them to get started uh in the coming months. Uh this is going to be a bridge rehabilitation project. So the two bridges on College Street um Hild Debrandt Bayou close to I 10 in the picture right there and then at uh Caldwood Cutoff between Lindberg and Langenburg Road uh those two bridges are going to be involved. We we'll be doing uh repairs to both of those bridges as well as um we'll be resurfacing those bridges also with new asphalt to help uh improve the ride quality also. Sure if you've driven over those bridges they can be a little jarring at times but we're going to do away with that. All right. Now, that's all the uh substantial projects we have in the area. Um we definitely we value coordination with the city. Um and through that, our goal is partnership, not just on project delivery. Uh we are ramping up efforts on how we can better enhance driver experience through work zones and uh the interchange projects, improved lighting, uh more permanent pavement repairs, project cleanup. Um and we're also committed to maintaining open communication as work progresses. And so with that said, if there are any comments on how we can further improve our efforts, please let me know.

Councilman Turner. Well, not not necessarily a comment. I just want to say I appreciate the transparency and consistent communication. This is a relationship that wasn't like this when I first got on the council and for you guys to consistently come and give updates is wellreceived and respected throughout the community. Uh just to follow up with a comment, I just had a few residents, particularly our senior citizens. They contacted me about I know I reached out, but coming towards 69 from Port Arthur, when you're coming into Bowmont, going towards Kar Street, you notice the lane now splits off to the right.

Yes. And for people who are accustomed to going one way with the new change, maybe we can see if it's some some type of signage we can get to kind of let people know it's coming because I think it's even more of a problem at nighttime. And one of the seniors called me, you know, complaining saying, "Well, y'all changed the roads and not letting anybody know." But construction is painful. I understand that. But any type of signage we can get to kind of prep people for some of these changes that are happen, I think that'll be appreciated. Absolutely, Councilman. Uh that's definitely something we can look at and work towards implementing. Thank you. Yes,

Councilman Grshaw. Uh yes, to build on uh what uh Mayor Pro Tim Turner said, not only is uh the the periodic updates that Techtop provides a huge improvement, but uh uh Anna, since you took over um as district engineer, uh I've seen, and it's not just me, it's uh thousands of people uh here across this city have seen improvements uh in text dots uh response time, to issues that we bring to their attention. Um and uh and so we do greatly appreciate uh the improvement in service that we have seen in text dot in the last 6 months, eight months, give give or take. Um that said, u I I I still uh uh I want to bring up a couple of things that y'all are have done some great improvements with. Uh I did not realize it uh but for about 2 years we did not have lights on the interstate by the elegante. Uh we don't really know why we didn't have lights anymore but at some point they they sort of went off and we didn't have lights and now we have lights there. Uh so that's great. And that is near the area that Councilman Turner is talking about. And uh I actually uh was coming back one night last week and uh had to take that new it's the what's going to be the feeder road um overpass that you've directed traffic on to [snorts] and someone that travels that frequently uh even I was unsure that you were supposed to take that exit. So, yeah, I think we need not only uh some uh street lights or highway lights there to help illuminate that exit, but I think we need uh a sign that, you know, flashes or or something at least

temporary till people are more used to it. Um, so again, those are some things that uh that you guys have improved on and are doing well. you used the the the words earlier, driver comfort, and I will warn you, I'm not aware of anyone right now in Bulmont that's experiencing driver comfort um from one end uh of your highway projects to the other. I'm also super nervous that you're telling me y'all about to start uh a bridge construct or bridge improvements on the College Street overpass cuz I'm thinking, why don't we finish one of these other eight projects before we start on College Street overpass? But, uh, I know y'all have to do these projects in a certain amount of time and and and there's a reason why you do that. Another thing that you guys did that was, uh, really impressive before, I guess you all completed the the northbound um, uh, feeder road with the the drainage improvements and shutting down. And then before you started the other side of the freeway, uh, y'all did delay that for a few months, which I really appreciated. and and then you brought uh me and several other people in the room and explained why you needed to start that even though the other side hadn't been finished. And it had to do with the fact that the crew that specializes and putting in that drainage is here. And if we didn't use them right now and we waited another 6 months or 8 months to start that project, that crew may be reassigned to a another project in another city and it would delay the thing. So, we had to do it right then and I get that. But, uh and Tina, do you have my video? [sighs and gasps] I do want us to continue to work on improving things though, like what you're about to see here in my video. Um, I filmed this force two days ago and usually the traffic along this stretch is insane. But of course, the day that I decided to go out there and film this, there was like literally no traffic. [music] Uh, but this is of course Interstate 10 coming into Bowmont uh right before I

think the MLK exit. Um, and uh, this stretch right here, I believe it was around 8 months ago, right around the time we uh, the new council uh, came into office around May. Uh, you begin the construction here with the light flashing and the arrow where we go from three lanes to two lanes. That's been 8 months ago and it is traffic every day for people coming into Bumont uh, from around the area. every day. That thing is nothing but congestion from sun up to sun down. Uh, and what where I'm going with all this is you've shut it down uh to two lanes at one point uh and then it goes back to three and then right up here we're going to go right back to two lanes and you can start to see everybody slow down there. For eight months, we've been at two lanes in that stretch, but not once have I ever seen construction going on anywhere along that stretch of the highway that would justify why we had to take it from three lanes to two lanes. And that is one of the biggest complaints that I get is people say, "Why do they close down parts of the freeway and then don't do any work on it for a year and then we have to every day uh go through these types of delays." So, you see where that middle lane has been taken out and there's also been one I think taken out on the other side as well, but uh just so that we can and I'm not trying to put you on the spot or anything and it may not be a question you can answer, but do we know why we had to go to two lanes from three lanes and that entire stretch for 8 months without having any active working projects on that exact strip?

Yes, Councilman. So, it's it's actually a significantly complex issue. Um I figured Yeah.

Uh further down on um I 10 out near Calder Harrison and North Street, we have uh a similar setup um where you can see the a space in the median between the two barriers. Um in addition to that location, this location uh was supposed to be worked on essentially at the same time and then opened up at the same time. Uh however at the location near Calder Harrison and North um we ran into a a very complex issue um with some of the pavement around the overpasses in that area. Um and so overcoming that issue has been essentially what the what the delay has been uh in getting a redesign uh done and then getting everything uh over to the contractor to have them perform additional work.

I got you. So, uh, the original plan was that there was going to be construction going on at that part as well as the Calder and Harrison Park, but due to some unforeseen circumstances at Calder and Harrison Park, you had to delay the active construction that we would have seen when that lane was reduced on I 10. Yes, Councilman.

Uh, so, uh, I understand that and I get that. I guess where uh my constituents and where I think the majority of our city feels is once y'all then ran into that issue, why didn't you open that third lane back up? Because why have we had to deal with 8 to 6 months of sitting in this unbearable traffic delaying people 20 to 30 minutes every day to get home to their loved ones after a long day of work, you know, just because the Calder Harrison part of the project got delayed. And so again, I'm not saying that that's something that uh y'all intentionally did like, oh hey, let's just shut down this third lane and make it, you know, everyone's life more difficult. I know y'all would not ever do anything like that. But people start to wonder and they start to think, is there, you know, some sinister plot here. And of course, I know there isn't, but when I'm trying to explain to people, look, just be patient. There's this going on, there's that going on. Uh it's things like that are just hard to explain. uh especially when you have uh the insanity that we had last Friday in this city where you had to shut down the Purple Heart uh Memorial Bridge uh for what was that 8 hours uh and uh there was just complete gridlock across the entire Southeast Texas uh area. Uh and so all these old issues came up about, well, why was that lane closed uh for the third day? And I said, well, they're coming this Tuesday and so I'll ask them. And so anyway, I appreciate you explaining that. Uh but I would add that I think that in the future uh textile would do uh a service to not only themselves but to all of us if uh once they see that they're going to have the delays on the the the Calder Harrison side that they think you know what while we're going to spend the next six to eight months to do that why don't we go on and open that third lane back up so that people won't have to deal with this gridlock every day

if I may announce that that is absolutely something that we can work on uh going forward um I would like to say that this will be a lessons learned uh type of situation and we'll we'll definitely do our best to make improvements going forward. Great. Thank you. And my last comment is poor Dave Collins. Is he in the audience? Did I see him back there? Yes. Y'all aren't wearing your orange, so I can't see all this time, but uh uh I uh poor guy. I have to talk to him almost every day. Uh and people message me issues and and and so [laughter]

yeah, [clears throat] I mean, we we're talking every day. talked to him first thing this morning about an issue that was actually outside of Bulmont at Tram Road in 105 outside the city limits. But uh anyway, uh y'all do a great job. Uh the communication, not so far as the press releases. Uh y'all still do y'all have always done a great job with that, but I'm just talking about the the one-on-one communication has been greatly improved uh uh in in in recent months and and it is appreciated and has not gone unnoticed. And the people in this city tell me every day they say, "Look, we've still got a long way to go to improve things, but we do see uh improvements and we are grateful for that." So, thank you. That's all I have, mayor. Thank you. Yes, city manager.

Yeah, thank you, mayor. I too would just like like to acknowledge the text and the things that have happened since Miss Maharis has taken over. The communications and interactions with the city has greatly improved. Uh we know what they're doing. they they call us to sit down to talk through issues before they do them. So, we appreciate that and it's been a tremendous help. Uh I do have a question. You mentioned Cardinal and East Texas the estimate not estimates the cost. Well, that's three oh 307 million and 533. Yes. What were the original estimates for that? Do you know? Was that the bid? Those were the uh the original estimates. Yes, those were the estimates.

Okay. Th those were the um Yes, the estimates from the contractor. Okay. Not to be it. What What were the What was the original estimates? Do Do we know? Well, either you can get that to me later. I don't have the information with me, but I can definitely get that over to you. Thank you. That's all I had. Thanks, man. Well, thank y'all very much and appreciate y'all's uh providing this information on such a regular basis and the responsiveness really does make a difference.

Good afternoon.

Good afternoon. Uh [clears throat] so to uh further our coordination and cooperation with Texot, uh we will be presenting before council for your consideration uh item number four, which is the adoption of the 2026 municipal maintenance agreement. and it will uh this translates into contractual language the impacts for the city so that we're fully informed before uh you vote on the item. So the bottom line up front, what is a municipal maintenance agreement? And it supersedes previous agreements that we've had with Texot uh that fixes who does the maintenance, the control and supervision of highways within the city limits. Because Bowmont is has a population of over 50,000, we automatically fall into a specific tier of responsibilities under text dots rules. And uh this agreement allows the state to legally assist the city and it outlines a precise precise boundaries so that we're not duplicating efforts or paying for things that the state should cover. Um so of course uh the two parties involved is the Texas Department of Transportation and the city of Bowmont. And uh it also defines items such as our traffic control management. So on the next slide, it's kind of a vin diagram. Leave it to the engineer. Uh so the state's authority is defined in the Texas transportation code uh chapter 221 under the state highway system. And then the city's jurisdiction is identified in the Texas transportation code under chapter 311, the exclusive dominion of streets. And so we're going these these are general rules before we get off into the

actual defined highways. So in these general conditions, Tex installs the main highway signs and barriers, excuse [clears throat] me. And the city will install the offsystem approach signs and street names. Tex DOT is responsible for structural repairs on bridges, coverts, and the retaining walls. And the city is tasked with preventing unauthorized rideway encroachments. And then other traffic regulations including speed limits are established only after a traffic and engineering study has been performed to uh certain standards and criteria and then reviewed and approved by the state. So on our next slide, we begin to describe the types of infrastructure that the categories that highways in the city of Bowmont fall under. So the first one is a non-controlled access highway. So these are the ones that we use quite regularly. So Highway 90, Highway 105, Venet Road, MLK [clears throat] Parkway, Major Drive, and Westport Author Road. These are identified by the fact that there are driveways directly uh opening onto those roadways. Uh they have intersections, they have traffic signals and those types of u infrastructure. So Texot's responsibility is to maintain the travel lanes, surface and foundation, structural drainage repairs, and assisting with ice, snow, mowing if the resources are available. Meanwhile, the city is responsible to install, operate, and maintain all traffic signs, [clears throat] excuse me, maintain school safety devices, sweeping the snow and ice control, mowing, and parking restriction enforcement. The counterpart uh on the next slide is controlled access highways. These are um

identified by the fact that they have access roads, on-ramps, and off-ramps. And in these text handles the heavy lifting on the main lanes and the ramps and the city's primary focus shifts to the outer edges in forcing frontage road uh parking ordinances sweeping under the overpasses and mowing the outermost ride ofway. And so in Bumont we have of course Interstate 10 and then US Highway 69 known as Cardinal Drive and East Texas Freeway. So on our next page then we get into the special amendments uh for as they relate to our local infrastructure. Uh the first amendment is that the city will continues to agree to mow and maintain the park uh which is the Delia Harrington Park. It was a little bit confusing because it mentions business US90. It's like what where is that? Um, but this is the park that is across the street from the Foundation for Southeast Texas and the Bowmont Examiner. It's [clears throat] bounded by North Street and Harrison Street on the north and south and on the east and west boundaries is Pearl Street and Willow Street. Amendment two is uh legally transfers the operation and electrical costs of the MLK Parkway storm water lift stations to the city. And this was an item that had not been previously uh clearly defined and so now we are more clearly defining them. So these lift stations are those along MLK. Bless you. Um [clears throat] at Park Street, uh Royal East Slovaka and East Virginia. Our next amendment, amendment three, is uh the critical liability assumption for the railroad quiet zones. And this is requires the city to maintain the quiet zones at these five Union Pacific crossings. And of course, the city must

assume the full legal and financial responsibility for these safety measures. And by accepting this amendment, the city legally indemnifies text dot against damage or loss at these specific locations. And I also remind council that our current quiet zone improvements project is currently under construction at these locations. and God willing and the creek don't rise. These crossings at Keith and Todd should be fully open later today. Uh our next amendment is amendment four and that is the mowing and litter assistance. Uh despite the operational duties that the city assumes, this amendment is important. Text is formally committing to a strict schedule of mowing and litter removal across six major routes to supplement our city's resources. So with that, are there any questions? Yes, sir.

Can you please go to the last slide, Miss Tina? I know we said six mowing cycles and 12 little removal cycles, but can we be a little bit more specific because to my understanding, the city of Bowmont currently maintains the size of the freeways. And I kind of learned that when I first got on council and when we looked at the budget, I seen how much money it was costing the city to maintain that. And what the agreement was was text dot supplemented the funding that they were utilizing to do it prior to the city taking over. But one of the reasons the city took over was because the upkeep and maintenance wasn't kind of to the standards that the city of Bowmont wanted the reception of the community look. They didn't want the grass to be high. They wanted to be done regularly. So can we kind of speak to specifics of what we mean by six more cycles? Are they going to increase the funding? Are they taking over the mo themselves or or like how's that going to work so everyone up here can understand? [laughter]

Thank you. Uh yes sir. So, uh, Texttop is taking, uh, we we have a contract to do six modes and we're doing those ourselves and then each month we are picking up litter with those same contracts. So, is the city still going to be maintaining the size of the free rays in addition to what you guys are doing? Because to my understanding, the moles were supplemented and the city was doing it. And I know when we looked at the budget, Mr. Boon can kind of probably speak to it or Miss Molly, but when we looked at the budget, it was a significant amount of money we were spending in additional to the upkeep and image of our community,

right? So, yes. So, you know, according to the the MMA, uh, Texto can assist and so our assistance is through the six modes and the 12 uh litter pickups. Um, so if the city wants to continue to mow, I mean that's that's strictly up to the city. Um, but at the time I think that you came in and saw it all the additional funds. Textile was reimbursing,

but we found out we couldn't do that. So then we started the six modes. So that's why it's different. I just think maybe staff can probably look into that and give counsel and I'll start start it and Kenneet Gat might can help. They do the six they commit to the six moing cycles but we mow in addition to that to keep the city to our standards as you mentioned. So last time I checked we were continuing to mow outside of these six as much as needed as our crews would do.

There he is. And is [clears throat] this the same number? Is this a is standard across the state of Texas in terms of what's done? Actually, this is three additional bows. We normally just do three mowing cycles, you know, and we've actually increased it to six. So, we're doubling through Bumont. Well, thank you.

So, as you know, in southeast Texas, we probably have nine 10 months of warm weather. So, we have a highway division inside of parks and they continue to work on uh Interstate 10 69 throughout the year picking up litter as well as mowing. Uh we also use herbicides to spray along the highways as well too. As you know, litter is a big issue in the city of Bowmont. So, it's a continuous battle uh picking up litter as well as mowing. Uh during the winter months, we probably hit the highways uh twice a month uh from one end to the other uh both highways. Uh during your regular normal cutting season is just constantly uh them trying to keep up with everything that's out there. So in addition to those six mowing, we continue to do it every day. Someone's out there every day.

Okay. And lastly, I know the prior engineer that was over everything agreed to clearing off all the dead trees and plants on our intersections. I know he's no longer here, but while we're talking about agreements, is that still going to take place?

We actually maintain what's there now. Uh since text has really taken out quite a bit. It's not quite as much that we have to maintain, but more so on the cardinal extension. There's plantings that went in probably less than five or six years ago. So, we maintain that on a regular basis. Most of Interstate 10 uh East Texas freeway, there's not much uh plantings that are there. Hopefully in the future, Texas puts more things in to beautify the city of Bowmont. Uh, and even with those 12 uh times a year they come out to remove uh litter and what have you, I'm not going to say it doesn't help, but again, as a city, we have to try to figure out what we can do to combat litter that's in our city. Not just along our highways, but also in our residential areas as well throughout the city.

Well, just if we can, you know, I know the commitment was made years ago. I just want to make sure we're still in line to what was committed to. And I think it's important if we're not prepared to answer it today, the next meeting that they come in front of the city, maybe we can get a understanding if that's still going to take place because like like again, you know, some of those dead plants and trees, that's the image of our community and we want to make sure we keep it clean and looking healthy. That was an that wasn't and I recall the conversation that was an expressed desire by the previous district engineer

uh and it was in a meeting with the Lamar University because those plantings that uh Kenneth mentioned in uh that happened a few years ago um they were planted but they they had no real means of survival there's nothing to irrigate them

but also to the um subsequent to that was also the understanding that there are some projects coming in along the main lanes, the widening of the main lanes of Cardinal Drive. And so I don't know that there something got lost there in the translation that that we can certainly clarify with text dot that to wait until that work was going to take place. that this was within the main lanes. Uh Kenneth uh the city is obligated uh along the feeder roads and outside the feeder roads and along the non-controlled access highways, but anything within the main lanes would be uh for text. We certainly raise that question again and uh see what what guidance we can we can get from that and bring that to you.

I understand. It was just a statement that was made and I want to make sure people who weren't here are aware of it and we can make sure we follow up and see it through. Yes, sir. Councilman Krenshaw.

Uh, and this may be more of a question from the gentleman from Techtop, but when we do the litter pickup, do we do that before we mow? And the reason why I asked that is it seems like I guess maybe with the weather uh getting warmer, I've had several complaints lately. One was on the interstate and then one was off of RFD that uh we our mowers are mowing over trash and it chops it up into smaller pieces of trash and it it looked worse after they had mowed. And so when we talk about 12 litter removals and six mowing cycles, I'm just optimistic that there's coordination there that we're doing the litter pickup prior to the mowing. Uh, if I recall correctly, the discussion is, do you want to do two litter pickups per m or do you want to do one? Because with the when the grass gets high, you do the pickup. You do you're picking up what you can see, right?

And then once it's mowed, then you can see the rest of the trash and then you're going to come back out and pick it up again. That sounds like an excellent idea. Do one before, one after. So, Oh, okay. [clears throat] Great idea. Thank you. Thank you. Anybody else? Councilman Hillyard,

I just have I have a I have and since we have text here, what are we are we still looking at something at 105 and and RFD Road, some kind of something that we could put in there that, you know, we we don't have any more loss of lives. So, our our current traffic study showed that that that the consultant engineer is currently evaluating the uh the one fatality at that intersection was uh due to an impaired driver uh crossing into opposing traffic that did not have anything to do because it happened late at night. It had nothing to do with traffic congestion at that intersection. uh unless anyone else has different records but that is the only record of a fatality at that location. So I want to be clear about that. The study is an ongoing work in progress. We had a progress meeting with Walpert who is the consultant uh about two weeks ago and they are still reviewing the various options. in an earlier conversation with Texot uh did describe to them the various options that were being considered and once we have a report that we can submit to TexOT for their review then we will share that we are still on schedule to get it uh by late spring um but we are still waiting for the results of that study before we move forward.

Thank you.

Thank you Councilman. if I could just comment on that. Um, [clears throat] so if we could, uh, I had a conversation with Texad a couple of weeks ago where we discussed possibly some shortterm fixes for the RFD and 105 area. Uh, apparently at night it's extremely poorly lit and it's very difficult to pull off of RFD onto 105 at night [clears throat] in particular. And there was a chance that possibly Tech Stock could make some improvements that would not uh be cost the city anything such as additional lighting. Uh also there may be a chance they could do a dedicated lefthand turn uh there. So uh where I'm going with all this, do you think uh Molly maybe uh any of the members of the council that'd like to attend and you and uh some representatives of Techtop maybe could have a meeting within the next couple of weeks where we could all talk about some short-term uh goals that we could do. I get the traffic light maybe uh still a question and further out but I I would like to and and I'll just say it uh because I had a phone call with a very upset uh uh um neighborhood association president this morning. Uh we've been talking about a traffic light at RFD in 105 I think for for at least four years. So uh the citizens over there want to see something. So, even if I can say, "Look, there's no traffic light coming in the short term, but we are going to get you some additional street lights and we're maybe going to get you some uh some improvements there in the that center turn lane that there's all the congestion, especially in the mornings and the afternoons around 5:00. Uh that might help alleviate some of the concerns that people have. So, anyway, I would just ask that we have a meeting in the next couple months.

Council member, we can have that meeting. Great. Great. Great. Thank you. All right. Well, thank you. May I have one other question just for clarity because I know how how well council member uh AJ speaks to clarity. You you had a question about what was in theou what we're doing about tree removal whatever that you're going to be considering approval of that agreement today. So whatever is not in there [clears throat] today probably won't be in there. So you if you have some further questions about whether something's in it or not and we need to discuss it, it now would be a good time.

Well, I would feel more comfortable before I vote on it to have clarity on if we're going to continue what was discussed or if something is changing. Okay. such as the the the commitment to removing all of the dead plants and things to that magnitude on the sides of the freeway after construction. I just don't want to make an agreement right now. And you have a beautiful freeway and you have some of these dead shrubs and things of that magnitude that that's our image throughout the city.

Good afternoon. Um, yes. Um, so that isn't really part of our maintenance agreement, but I know that we we did plant those trees through what I recall as our green green ribbon project, you know, and uh those are great, you know, it brings beautifification to intersections, but there wasn't a thought of maintenance to those intersections. So, as a DE, I am committed as the previous DE was to clean those up. We can use those green ribbon uh funds to do cleanup. So, we we can we can you continue to use those funds. That's what that's what we did in the past on some of these intersections. Um, like Molly said, now we do have a a project on 69 through Lamar through the Lamar area that we would like to clean that up with with those funds, you know, but uh any any area where we did where Texto planted, we did we did the the beautifification, we are still committed to getting those cleaned up.

Okay. Thank you. You're welcome. Okay. Thank you.

All right. Thank you. Any other questions? All right. Now, at this point, uh those that came for the presentations and if you'd like to leave, now's the time to do so. And I appreciate you coming. Now, we're going to move into public comments. If uh any citizen wishes to speak, you may make public comments on the consent agenda or regular agenda items 1 through five or any other topic. The city clerk will call your name when it's your time to speak. When you approach the podium, please say your address, city, and state. If you you will have three minutes for comments. The green light will come on when you approach the podium and the red light will come on when your time is up. Uh please remember that while you're at the podium, council on the dis, we cannot respond to you at this time, but we'll have we'll follow up with you or have staff follow up with you uh afterwards. U Monty McCormick 7780 Brousard Road BA Texas [snorts] McCormack 7780 Bruce Hard Road in Bowmont. Uh the city hired a contractor to come out and dig the ditches in the north end of Bowmont and which I live on the north west end on Tram Road. And the contractor come out with two pieces of equipment, one large excavator and a small one to dig the ditches. And the big esavator was hitting limbs that overhung the ditch and breaking them off. and leave them hanging there. Then a week or a couple hours later, they'd end up falling in the ditch.

And so I did ask a city employee that was following that contractor if the contractor were going to come back and pick up these limbs that they broke and fell in the ditch. He said probably not. And then some of the ditches were not sloped when they dug them. They dug them, went down and hit that lever where the scoop and come back out. They were not sloped. You know, there's a lot of things you could have been done more professionally than what that was. And it's like they hired a trainee to do it. And the contractor's initials on the truck were MK. And there's standing water in the ditch on Brussard Road that does not drain. It's caused a big oak tree to fall across the road because it's so saturated with water and we [snorts and clears throat] don't even have rain at this time. and and also that's going to cause an environmental issues and it appears the contractor at the time was selling the dirt that were digging out of the ditches which I made a offer $25 for load and it's only a sixy truck load and that wasn't high enough and so contact them later it was like $35 a load. So anyway, I don't know how this contractor attained a contract by not putting in the proper slopes on the ditches,

taking these limbs out that they broke and selling this dirt. It's almost like they're double dipping or somebody had gave them this contract and splitting the profit. Maybe, maybe not. But anyway, there's something wrong because this contractor did not appear to be qualified to do this work. So, thank you. Thank you, Raymond Ford Jr. 4890. I think that's Brace Street B, Texas. Brace Street. [snorts]

Good afternoon, Mayor West, city council members, city manager Williams, city attorney Reed, and the rest of the city staff present here today. My name is Raymond Ford, Jr., and I serve as president and head coach of 409 Swim. On behalf of 409 Swim, I want to sincerely thank you in advance for your continued support and anticipated approval to allow our program to remain at Alice Keith Swimming Pool. 409 Swim is a competitive youth summer swim team and 501c3 nonprofit organization homebased right here in Bowmont serving athletes throughout the 409 area code. Founded in 2024, our program was created to give developing swimmers a place to train with purpose, compete with confidence, and represent their community with pride. We are not a swim we are not a swim lesson program. We are built for swimmers who want to compete. Serving ages 5 to 18, we develop speed, endurance, and mental toughness within a structured high expectation environment. Our growth, our growth reflects the strength of this partnership from 34 swimmers in 2024 to 57 in 2025 with continued expect expansion expected ahead. This program has also touched families represented in this very room. Councilwoman Sherwood's son has participated with the 49 swim since the program's inception and council son is currently on the prospective member trial list for 2026. That speaks not only to the quality of what we are building, but to the trust families place in this program. As a nonprofit, our mission is centered on access, opportun access access, opportunity, and long-term athletic development. More than a recreational team, we are strengthening the competitive swimming pipeline in Southeast Texas and preparing young athletes to represent Bowmont at the high school level and possibly beyond. Thank you for your investing. Thank you for investing in our youth, for

supporting this program, and for helping us continue to serve the children of our community at Alleski swimming pool. Thank you again for your leadership and your commitment to the families of Bowmont. Thank you.

Thank you, coach. and Charlie Crab 928 East Drive Pont, Texas. Good afternoon, Mayor West and Council. [snorts] I'm hoping I'm not getting slower and slower, but thank you for your [clears throat] your service to the city of Bulmont, our town. Uh, Mr. Williams and staff, thank you for your service. Thank you to the police department and the fire department. Thanks to their chiefs and uh for their service. Thanks to all the city employees that keep our city functioning. Mr. Williams, I may be a little uh early. Uh I want to say uh let's see what I want to say. I want to have a comment and thank you for coming to Bulmont and uh and your service. I remember at the start I made a comment on the start and uh on your salary was a little excessive. Uh but that sort of went away and you uh uh in the city uh you gave the city some good management years. Uh [clears throat]

[laughter] I have over a hundred uh world uh travel uh guides if you're interested in any of those. [laughter] I uh I prefer the uh western US with all its national parks and and then of course the the west coast is nice to travel at. [snorts and gasps] [clears throat] Okay. Let me know if you are interested in my little collection and it'll be available. Uh [sighs] anyway, have a a great retirement and all a good report by the tech and Mr. Krenshaw, Councilman Krenshaw. That was a great video on the uh uh [laughter] presentation on the highway. I appreciate you teaching me how to function on that one. And I uh I wish the uh voting for our councilman uh today and I wish him good luck moving on to greater things. And let's see. Thanks everyone for listening and uh have a good week until we meet again. Byebye.

Mayor. All right. Thank [snorts] Can I have a few more minutes since there's no one else? That was some good reports that comments we had. That was great. Move on. If there's no other public comments, we'll move into the consent agenda. And is there a motion and a second for approval of the consent agenda?

Move to approve. Second. There is a motion and a second for approval of the consent agenda. Is there any discussion? Yes, Councilman Durio. Um, I guess that's item C for the uh owner occupied minor repair program. I guess after reading it, the all those uh the buildings are already chosen that they're going to do the work. Can someone explain how they can get on the list in the future? [snorts]

Good afternoon. Our program currently does not have an open application. We are assigning 32 eligible households with this funding. We have a wait list for residents that want to be notified when the application is reopen. But because the quantity of people on that wait list exceeds 2 years of program funding, we can't we our weight list cannot be reopened. So when we get 2026 funding, we will continue to work through the existing weight list. If there are names on the list that no longer qualify for whatever reason, they will be removed and we'll continue to work through that list as funding becomes available. And when that list is within a manageable number, we will reopen the application.

How do they get qualified if you had room on the list? It's uh there are several criteria. First, you have to qualify as income eligible, meaning your household meets a certain percentage of annual median income that is considered low income for your family size. Next, you would need to own the home and have resided there at least one year. [snorts] You also need to have current insurance on the property and property taxes need to be current as well. We prioritize senior citizens for this program. Okay. Thank you. You would qualify if you weren't on council. [laughter] I don't know.

In terms of the age, that's all I was talking about. I had one other thing as well. Yes, sir. So, I guess um like the last three items uh [snorts] are about grants. Have we has the city already been approved for those grants or are we just now applying or or what? I think Chiefs is on it way but this is basically to apply. We're getting a we're applying on a deadline but go ahead chief to apply and receive is the request. Okay. I would just

the deadline is before your next council meeting. So we have to know today I think the deadline is the 16th and I think you may cancel the next meeting too. So, we'd have to know. We have to submit the uh uh resolution if y'all approve it today for us to go forward. Okay. I was just wondering, we were just voting for y'all to go get the money [snorts] already. But optimistically, we are. [clears throat] Okay. Putting it out there. That's it. Thank you, Chief. Thank you, Chief. Anything else, Councilman Durio? Not at all. All right.

Not now. Any other questions or discussion? All those in favor of approving the consent agenda, please signify by saying I. I. Any opposed? The motion is carried. Mr. City Manager, may we have the reading of item number one.

Thank you, Mayor. Council consider a resolution authorizing a payment to Lower Nature's Valley Authority which is LNVA for the 2026 annual reservation fee and it it comes with the recommendation recommendation of approval of the resolution. Is there a motion for item number one? There is a motion and a second for approval of item number one. Is there any discussion? All those in favor of approving item number one, please signify by saying I.

Any opposed? The motion is carried. Mr. City Manager, may we have the reading of item number two, please? Council consider a resolution authorizing the city manager to execute an an advanced funding agreement AFA with the Texas Department of Transportation Text for the 2025 HSIP College Street interconnect signals project and it comes with the recommendation of approval of the resolution. Is there a motion for item number two? Move to approve. Is there a second? Second. Uh, is there any discussion on item number two, [clears throat] Councilman Krenshaw?

Uh, thank you, Mayor. Uh, so, uh, one of the concerns that, uh, many people across the city seem to have is that our lights are not very well synced. Uh, and just so I'm clear, this, uh, additional funding is going to allow for more in sync traffic signals. That's correct. That is the the purpose of this program is to interconnect them all to each other to relieve congestion and improve safety. Great. And is also what's part of this uh an improvement in the College Street traffic cameras? That's part of that process.

Okay, great. Uh I had the opportunity to uh go up to the real time crime center within the last month and uh very impressive. It's like something out of a CSI uh show. Uh, so, uh, great job with the city staff and getting that up and running. Uh, and I was told I said, "If you had one thing that I could help you with, what would it be?" And they said that the cameras on College Street are outdated and particularly at night. Uh, and it makes it very difficult for them to uh to get accurate uh, readings and uh, the different things that they're trying to do with their cameras at night. And so, uh, the idea that this, uh, funding is going to help improve that is, uh, well received. Thank you.

Welcome. Thank you, Councilman. Any other questions or discussion? All those in favor of approving item number two, please signify by saying I. I. Any opposed? The motion is carried. Mr. City Manager, may we have the reading of item number three? Council consider a resolution authorizing the city manager to execute an advanced funding agreement AFA with the Texas Department of Transportation Tex for the 2025HSIP Martin Luther King Parkway interconnect signals project and it comes with the recommendation of approval of the resolution. Thank you. Is there a motion for item number three?

So move to approve. There's a motion and a second for approval of item number three. Is there any discussion? All those in favor of approving item number three, please signify by saying I. Any opposed? The motion is carried. Mr. City Manager, may we have the reading of item number four? Council consider a resolution authorizing the city manager to enter into a municipal maintenance agreement with the Texas Department of Transportation. Text dot uh and recommendation of resolution. Is there a motion for item number four? Move to approve. Is there a second? Second.

There is a motion and a second for approval of item number four. Is there any discussion? Yes, Councilman Durio. Yeah, I just wanted to um ask make sure that all the Councilman Turner's uh questions have been addressed. Yes, sir. Mr. Durio, one of the main things was just getting it on the record so we have a document something we can go back to if there's ever any confusion about what direction we were going in in the future. So, it was on the record today. That's what I was looking for. Okay.

Thank you, Councilman Durio. Uh any other comments or discussion? All those in favor of approving item number four, please signify by saying I. Any opposed? The motion is carried. Mr. City Manager, may we have the reading of item number five, please? Council to consider an ordinance amending chapter two of the city code of ordinances. And uh there's no recommendation. All right. Is there a motion for item number five? So moved. Second. There is a motion and a second. Is there any discussion on item number five?

All those in favor of approving item number five, please signify by saying I. I. Any opposed? The motion is carried. All right. With that, we are moving to council member comments and we're going to begin with Councilman Durio. Oh. Thank you, mayor. Uh just a few things. Uh for one, I wanted to remind everyone, uh tomorrow is the uh communitywide day of prayer at 6:00 at uh at Pastor Kennedy Andrews Church on Highland. Tomorrow. Yes, sir. Okay.

Yeah. And um also um hope someone would get with uh looking into Mr. McCormick's complaints about the contractor and and uh selling dirt and all that other stuff and get that straightened up. Um want to thank Mr. Ford for his uh contributions to the community. That's a that's something that was not available to a lot of folks uh kids before, you know, but now that's one other thing that they can be involved in and it's it's very positive. just want to thank you for for uh heading that up. And let's see, uh text dot report was very good. Thank you. And uh also um I got a call I got a text message Friday and I called them back on Saturday about the traffic lights at Sarah and Fourth Street and um they actually um assistant city manager Ellis actually contacted him on Saturday. Uh they said they were going to try to get somebody out there to work on it on Saturday. I don't know if they did or not, but did y'all get a chance to look at that uh earlier this or yesterday?

The technician went out there Saturday and investigated it and I've not had a final report on anything that was found and u our traffic management manager is is not in the office to save me right now. Okay, Mr. Uh the person that called was very impressed that he got a call on Saturday morning uh addressing that problem. And I just want to thank y'all cuz y'all made me look great. I appreciate it. [laughter] Thank you, Councilman Durio. That's it. Councilman Hillyard Mike.

I honestly just to echo what he I I uh at my at Acorns last night, June was there. Uh they there was some concern about the way they're grading these ditches and and how they're digging them and uh trees and stuff. They're not really paying attention. And uh like I said, if they're selling dirt, was that in the contract? [clears throat]

So the scope of work for this roadside ditching contract is to mop out the ditches. It is not to dig new ditches. that is going to be in a later phase once we initially address all of the roadside ditches and all of the driveway covers that are more more than 3 in out of grade. We're just mopping the bottoms. And so that's why we do see the complaints about the from the citizens that all they did was scrape the bottom. That's what a mop out is, is to reestablish that bottom grade. Uh they do appear to hold water because there's no grass in there uh camouflaging the presence of water that is standing. I do have an inspector in route to go look for the standing water on Brousard Road. I hope to hear back from them later today. [clears throat] The excuse me. So once they pull that material out of the bottom of the ditches, it's theirs per the terms of the contract. they can truck it back to wherever they need to truck it to. It is their property to dispose of. They're responsible for the disposal. They've been paid to remove it out of the ditches. And so, a lot of times if it's in a location that is convenient, sometimes we are able to use it uh at the landfill, but because of the high organic content, it's not a very suitable landfill cover material. So then they're stuck with what to do with this material. And so if they're disposing of it through the sale, the contract is mute on that point. It's their property once they remove it. [clears throat]

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Councilman Hillyard. Councilman Turner. Yes. Thank you, Mayor. Uh, one thing I'm concerned about is maybe in the scope of work, you know, if we do allow contractors to do work, if they knock down, display something and maybe in existence, maybe we can add that they're responsible for cleaning it up. I don't know if that's possible.

No. And that's that's another conversation that I'm having with my project manager right now, and I'll be talking to the U contractor superintendent after this as well, is they need to do a better job about that. Yeah. So, in most of our contracts, it does say that uh like we're not liable for damages that they create. Um but if it's damages on private property, obviously that citizen would have to notify because our project managers out there making sure that the work that we have them performing is done. So, it's it's kind of like a partnership, especially if it's close to someone's home. um they would need to notify that there was damage done and then essentially sometimes they file a claim with the city and we notify the um the contractor and if it's being managed um in house notify that department that hey your contractor caused this damage and it needs to be repaired. So um that language is kind of already in there does identify the city but it it's also incumbent on limb to like fix that fix that work. So, the the claim essentially would be just transferred to that person uh based on the language that's embedded in the contract.

And also, Mr. Williams, I know I can't be in day-to-day operations, but can we just follow up to get both sides of the story with the employee who said the contractor probably can do nothing about it. I want to make sure whatever information we're giving residents is accurate. And if they are responsible by contract, we make sure we hold them accountable to what they're responsible for doing. If something wasn't in those conditions, I think it needs to go back into the conditions it was prior to. Uh my second thing is Mr. Ford, uh thank you for what you do with the kids. This area floods. though you're a competitive swim team, I know you're seeing kids that you teach outside of what you do on a consistent basis and I want to make sure you know we continue to support programs like this for our youth because idle mind could be a devil's workshop and we appreciate the work you do with our kids and Mr. Crab. Thank you. Uh you actually enjoy every council meeting you come to and I appreciate you. I really do. And I just encourage everybody to get out and vote today. Thank you, Councilman Turner. Councilman Williams.

Um, yeah. Um, just want [snorts] to share this weekend my family and I attended the um, soar event at the Mcbaden Ward House. Uh, it was actually my first time to be on the property and that's really a cool place, a beautiful home and uh, but it was a great event. Uh they just had butterfly art exhibits and arts and crafts for the kids and and food and and it was well attended. And then seeing the um the new business that opened today on on Calder. It's really um kind of good to see what what's happening over there. I know there's couple of buildings that that have really gotten gotten some um upgrades over the last couple of weeks. So that that's uh a good thing for the area. So, anything we can do to stay out of their way and keep that going is is good. So, um that's it.

Thank you, Councilman Williams. Councilwoman Sherwood.

Um I I too am concerned um with whatever limbs were broken or issues that are happening. So, long as we're looking into that, good job. Uh kudos to 409 Swim. My son is um a part of that and it is super exciting to watch kids excel, grow and learn a new skill. Um Prince is stronger and he's he's faster and he's uh ex experienced a lot of endurance and built some character. And so I love that anything dealing with youth and making them better, I'm here for it. I hope to, you know, see the city partner with you and do whatever needs to be done to make sure that that program continues. Um, my son is better for it. Happy Women's History Month because we know who run the world, girls. [laughter] Um, congratulations to all the pioneering women ores that were announced today. I'm I'm super excited for them. Um, today is election day and polls are open till 7:00 p.m. And I always say vote every election every time. And congratulations to city staff cuz I want to echo what Chris Durio said, Councilman Durio said. Um, I've been getting a lot of compliments and people love Councilwoman Sherwood, so y'all make me look good. Continue the good work. It's another great day in Bowmont. Get out and vote.

Thank you, Councilwoman [clears throat] Sherwood. Councilman Grrenshaw.

Uh, yes. I want to echo, uh, I voted today. Please, uh, everyone listening, uh, go vote if you have not already. It's our, um, primary election. And, uh, congrats to all the candidates. uh Commissioner uh Turner, I mean, I'm sorry, Councilman uh Turner and uh and all all the candidates running for office is a very very very challenging and uh difficult uh process, especially this day and age uh with the uh insanity that politics has become. So, uh thank you all for u uh exercising your right to vote and please go vote if you have not already. And uh uh thank you uh Miss Beiel for uh being here. Uh the uh I'm excited about the new uh Bumont Animal uh shelter uh committee. I think we're going to do some great things and uh some new energy uh on that committee. We're not going to fix uh the issues and the challenges that we have overnight, but uh I do believe that we are going to uh to make some improvements and we're moving in the right direction. So, thank you for being here and thank you to this council for uh joining me and making those changes and uh trying to do what we can to improve uh the situation for the animals in our city. Uh that's all I have. Mayor, thank you.

Thank you, Councilman Crrenshaw. I don't have a comment, but I do have a a question for Councilman Turner. Your uh request was to follow Is that specifically to follow up with that city employee or were you looking for more uh different language in the contracts moving forward? Uh with you guys saying, the language is there. I feel good about the language just following up to make sure we hold them accountable. And Miss Molly, if you're having trouble trouble with anybody not following, I'm in full support of moving on from anybody who's not properly following the language in the contract.

I guess I I I would like to reiterate that in in cases where um it's damage done to personal property. Um, just for any citizen who's listening, if if a contractor does damage to your property or if you believe that it's a city, it's okay to contact the city attorney's office and initiate that claim because we can do the leg work to determine who that contractor was and either give you that information so that you can move forward with the proper claim or like I said, if it's managed um in house, we can figure that out to say, "Hey, this is one of our contractors and they need to go get with that project manager to get them to fix the work." But we have to kind of know like the gentleman said, we kind of have to know what that damage is and there's a there's a process for that.

Thank you. And in fairness, you know, I don't know if the contractor's aware or not. So just communication to give them opportunity to fix whatever issue we were dealing with. So just in fairness.

Yeah. And in fairness to the contractor, we need to be notified right away. Um it's the contractor's kind of wrapped up in that area. So the sooner we know, the sooner we can go out there and investigate, document the issues. so that if they file a claim or there's something that we need to do to work with that contractor, uh, bad news doesn't age well. So, you know, we try to capture that evidence and documentation so that we can take the appropriate actions, especially with the long length of a project as well because the guys who are that we work with aren't aren't on site. Our contact person isn't on site the whole time, right? They're there when our project manager is there to update them on the work. Um, so the crews on site um obviously are just there to do the work and no offense to them, but they're not going to tell on themselves. So that information needs to be reported to the city um immediately so that we can work with the people that we work with to get it fixed. Um and just prolonging it can sometimes make the situation worse. Um if it's if it's immediate, something we can fix that way. So just for anyone watching, if that's a problem, um again, they can always contact um the city attorney's office directly and we can work as a conduit to figure out who's the appropriate party. Yeah. And and in the contract there is an escalation ladder. So if if they're not satisfied with the answer that they receive from the guy that's following the contractor they're on site. I mean always call you can always call 311 and uh report that concern to the operator. They'll route the caller to public works engineering and can speak to the project manager, the project engineer, talk to me and see what we can do to provide relief. So there's all there's always other layers uh that we can do but we need to know uh if once we find out then we can take action.

Anything else? I think you've heard enough from me today. Thank you. [laughter] Nothing. City manager Boone. Nothing. Assistant city manager Ellis.

Yes, Mayor and Council. Just one update here. Uh the Bowmont Municipal Court will be running an amnesty program between March 23rd and April 10th. During this time period, defendants with active warrants would have the opportunity to voluntarily appear before the judge without being arrested and the associated warrant fees would be waved. We'll be getting more information out through our communications [clears throat] department over the coming days. And also I want to let council know that uh city staff has for the last five months we've been actually working quite a bit behind the scenes on the city's fiscal year 2025 audit. So we're near the very tail end of completing our annual audit for fiscal year 2025 hopefully by the end of this month. And we will set up a meeting with uh the audit committee. There are three council members who sit on that audit committee so that you can speak directly with the city's audit auditor on uh the fiscal year 2025 audit. And in addition, the city has started the uh fiscal year 26 or 27 through 31 capital improvement uh program. We started that last Monday. We're also working on starting the fisc year 27 budget. I know it feels like we just finished approving or adopting a budget, but we are behind the scenes right now working on the upcoming budget for fiscal year 2027. And we will get to council uh key dates so that you have those well in advance such as the dates for the work sessions that council will be asked to attend. Thank you, mayor.

Thank you, CFO.

Uh few things, mayor. Uh I too would like to congratulate the groups that were acknowledged this morning with proclamations. We did the uh crime stroppers group, the pioneering women which you acknowledge too. And uh I'm sure sure close your ears alpha [clears throat] [laughter] the deltas weren't here. Uh so we acknowledge Yeah. [clears throat and laughter] Well, it was funny to me. So,

all right. Uh, never mind. Moving on. Mayor, uh, thank you, Mr. Crap. Thank you. You're you're a Bowmont institution. You're very dear credit to this city. So, uh, keep on doing what you're doing and and we appreciate what you do for sure. Uh, election day, go vote. We encourage everybody to go vote. And we will please call any contractor that's not doing what they're supposed to do. Uh so we want to make sure that that I will say and this is not meant to anybody say AJ I'm not talking to Jew but sometimes that the dirt in those ditches you don't want that dirt. It's some of the worst stuff in town. It's it's got mud. It's got it's got cans. It's got glass and all that type of things. And typically that's why it's given to contractors to haul off cuz otherwise we just have to find a place to haul it off to. So, it's it's typically not has no value and they just haul it off. But we'll look into any complaints. Thank you, Mayor.

Yes, sir. Thank you, Mr. City Manager. Uh I just want to also thank Texto for the work that they've been doing and uh certainly enjoyed the proclamations that were given out this morning. Uh Coach Ford all your work and your commitment to the community. It's certainly appreciated and I know it's touching a lot of kids' lives and I think that program will continue to grow. Uh, and Mr. Crab, uh, little bit of history, he he coached me in the Gold Tops out of the West End Little League, and I think that was 1968. So, that's a long time ago, but it just feels like yesterday. And you were a pretty good coach. I just didn't it didn't take with me. [laughter]

Yeah, it wasn't. I tried. And, uh, tomorrow I will be speaking at Rotary for a year in review. So if any of you would like to go to the Elegante for lunch, you can hear about that. But we still have March 24th, the state of the city. So, and also uh certainly today is the day to vote and we uh encourage everyone to get out and vote and I know people talk about it a lot on social media, but the numbers don't always reflect it. So, please vote and uh best of luck to Councilman Turner. And with that, uh, the meeting is adjourned at 3:01 p.m. And if we can have that just that I said it 3:01