City - Regular Meeting

Good afternoon. Uh, regular session mayor and city council meeting 6 pm Wednesday, April 1st, 2026. City Hall council chambers call this meeting to order. Would you please rise for the pledge of allegiance? Mr. state. Would you please do us the honors to the flag of the United States of America and to the stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Thank you sir.

We go to call to public. Uh, first is uh Brenda Valenuela Los program. She's not here. Okay, we'll skip her then.

No, it was a call to the public. Yes. Uh, then we'll move on to Hilda Pint. you please come up to the podium and state your name and address, please. Three minutes. Thank you.

Here we go. Hi. Hello there and everybody. Thank you for having me here. My name is Ila Pint, 491 North Grand Avenue, Ngales, Arizona. So here today, I do appreciate the time that you have with me as we're talking about a project that already has been approved by the city's measurements and the codes of the city. At the beginning was a project to be as personal use. It was approved for personal use. We're talking about a long-term vision about structure a digital advertising display is it was already approved for personal use for the main company. I'm here in behalf of Alejandro Figeroa and the thing is that this project it has been authorized but in our long-term vision is that we can use it to promote other companies their visibility um promote other business self companies like ourselves myself I do own my own company uh my daughter owns another company so this digital display we would like to use as a long term to promote other companies in the city in the same community. Uh similar projects do already exist in Phoenix and Tukan as a tool for communication or a tools to impact the economy within the city too. Similar uh we are also committed to working with the city with providing a space for the city for announcements for the community um anything announcements alerts or any kind of information whenever you need it. So the thing is like we would I would like for you to like say that we do have it approved but we would like to open and expand the use of this display that's going to be in front of the business so any kind of comp company can see we can announce them and it's like bring more clients to our small companies in Nales Arizona that would be

okay thank you

thank you Not to be rude, but um we are we are not uh supposed to answer questions or anything during call to the public. So that's just okay. Thank you. Okay. I saw you a little hesitant. Yeah, no problem. Thank you. Next, we move to uh Cesa Lopez. Please come to the podium and state your name in three minutes, sir. fence equipment. Uh good evening community. Good evening our council. Mayor, thank you very much for all your work. Good work. Um coming here as a community member from 111 East Court Street. Also as a firstear expansion in my farm project called Santa Cruz Farm just on the edge of Noales. Uh we were able to sell 3,000 lbs of just Mexican squash in a local food purchase agreement to 8 minutes away the boys and girls club for families and to the senior center uh to the kitchens and also individually doing cool things right there. I would be remiss to say that one of the hats I wear is a Novalis unified school board member um and so you know I'm focused on students focused on the children and trying to make the community better. And in in connecting this about community, that was my introduction uh as a community member. I signed a petition about a couple months ago. And the petition, the reason I signed it because I remember there was this big noise coming from officials in about 201617. And there was a big noise coming from the community. And the noise was about at least pushing back on the big barb wire installations all over the border over and on and on again and over and on again. researchers. Imagine researchers researching barb wire with a very cheap $2 plier. I could cut through it as a human. Animals can't, right? And we live here in this desert and it's for all the children and the future generations. And

they should have animals that can cross-pollinate, that can come back and forth and so forth just like the birds and just like the the pollinators and all that. And I'm referring to presentation D, uh, where we're going to talk about the petition that a thousand border residents signed or something like that. I think plus that. And I just want you all to be like really open-minded, really, really, really open-minded and with a lot of heart. Take a stance. Let's push back on the barb wire that's really bad for business, bad for children. And I think that I could just go on for the list and list and list and list, but it looks ugly. And uh let's build some bridges in whatever way, even if it's just in proclamations or something that that that that different forms of government, whether it's state and federal, can hear Noal saying, "Hey, this isn't good for us. It's not healthy for any any of the things that I just went through, right? Our families, our community building bridges and so forth. So, instead of that, yeah, please help us build more bridges. We want that as a community. Thank you.

Thank you, sir.

Next week, excuse me. Uh, next we move to item number five, proclamations. Uh, a a library national library week. Uh Denisa Lopez, library director. Okay, I will read the proclamation. Whereas library sparks creativity, fuel imagination, and inspiring lifelong learning, offering a space where individuals of all ages can find joy through exploration and discovery. Whereas libraries serve as vibrant community hubs, connecting people to knowledge, technology, and resources while fostering civil engagements, critical thinking, and cultural en enrichment. Whereas libraries provide free and equitable access to books, digital tools, and innovation programming, ensuring that all individuals, regardless of background, have the support they need to learn, connect, and thrive. Whereas libraries partners with schools, businesses and organizations to maximize resources in increase efficiency and expand access to essential services strengthening the entire community. as library empowered job seekers, entrepreneurs and lifelong learners by providing access to resources, training and opportunities that support career growth and economic success. Whereas libraries nature young minds through story times dream programs and literacy initiatives fostering curio

of a love and learn that lasts a lifetime. Whereas libraries protect the right to read, think and explore without censorship. stand standing as champion in intellectual freedom and free expression. Whereas dedication librarians and library workers provide welcome space and inspired discovery, collaborations and creative the forall. Whereas li libraries, librarians and library workers across the country are join joining together to celebrate National Library Week under the name of the name theme find your joy. Now therefore to be it proclaimed that I, Mayor Maldonado, proclaim April 9th through 25th, 2026 as National Library Week. During this week, I encourage all residents to visit the Nogal Santa Cruz County Libraries, explore the resources, and celebrate all the way that the library helps our community find joy. Thank you. Good job. Thank you, Miss Lena. Mayor, if

I could just say something. Go ahead. Yeah. Councilwoman. Uh, Danita, is your staff here, too? Yeah. I just want to on behalf of the city council members and myself, I just want to say thank you. Thank you for the great job today and your Easter egg hunt that you held and everything you do for the kids and for the families to keep them active at the city libraries. Thank you. Thank you for the comment, Miss Montier. Thank you all staff. Great job. Next, uh, item B, mental health, uh, neurodeiversity and autism. Uh, Michelle Ramirez. Mr. Bas, you're going to read.

Uh, I'll have, uh, Renee from, um, Circles of Peace read it if you don't mind.

Thank you. Uh, good afternoon everyone. My name is Jane, uh, behavioral health coordinator with Circles of Peace. And so it says um proclamation for mental health, neurodeiversity, and autism. Whereas mental health is a fundamental aspect of overall well-being and a healthy community is built upon the foundation of emotional and psychological wellness. And whereas neurodeiversity, the natural variation in human brains in cognitive function is a source of strength and creativity. And individuals with neurode divergent conditions such as autism, ADHD, and dyslexia bring unique perspectives and abilities to our communities. And whereas stigma and discrimination against individuals with mental health conditions and neurode divergent individuals are harmful and counterproductive, hindering their ability to thrive and contribute fully to society. And whereas it is imper imperative that we foster an inclusive and supportive environment where all individuals feel valued, respected, and empowered to seek help and support when needed. Now therefore be it proclaimed that Jorge Monado, mayor of Ngales, Arizona, do hereby proclaim April as mental health and neurodyiversity awareness month in our city.

Thank you.

Mayor, if I may have real quick. Yes. Tomorrow, just a reminder that tomorrow we have the neurodeiversity event from 12:00 to 5:00. We've anticipated um not that many booths because of weather and things and the holiday. However, we've surpassed the 30 mark for our agencies and booth. There's people coming from Maricopa, Pima County, Coochis County. We also have disability law rights coming in. So, if you guys want to hang out with us tomorrow, it's a free event. There's no charge and no fees associated with this event. Thank you. Thank you. And it's from 12 to 5:00 p.m. Correct. At Tasha Park in Quebec. Yes. Thank you.

Thank you. Good job. Next, we move to item C, early childhood education awareness month. Uh, Maya Donley, school county, uh, school superintendent. Thank you, Mr. Vice Mayor, would you please do me the honors?

Thank you. Proclamation Early Childhood Education Awareness Month to raise awareness of and build public support for the importance of early childhood development and health. Whereas early childhood years are when the brain grows and develops the most. In fact, 90% of a child's brain develops by age five before they enter kindergarten. And whereas scientific research has shown that child's experiences in early years affect how their brain develops. Research has also proven that kids with quality early childhood experiences do better in school, are more likely to go to college, and have a successful career. They also tend to be healthier, demand less from the public welfare system. And whereas the goal of Santa Cruz County Superintendent Maya M. Donnelly in 2026 is to raise community awareness about the support system Santa Cruz County has for families that have children from zero to 5 years of age. And whereas early childhood education awareness month is sponsored by the Santa Cruz County School Superintendent Office. First things first, Mariposa Community Health Center, University of Arizona Family Resource Centers, Nogelis, Patagonia, and Rio Rico, Child and Family Resources Incorporated, Childc Care Resources and Referral, Nogala, Santa Cruz County Libraries, Department of Development, uh, Disabilities, Santa Cruz County, Nogalis Unified School District number one, Santa Cruz Valley Unified School District 35, Patagonia Public School District number 6 and 20, Sonoida Elementary District District number 25 and Santa Cruz

Elementary District number 28, Charter Schools, Private Schools, Child Parent Centers, Inc., Ngalis Challenger, Western and Rio Rico Head Start Centers, Preschools and Child Care Providers. And now therefore be it proclaimed that I, Jorge Maldonado, mayor of Ngales, Arizona, do hereby proa proclaim April is early childhood education awareness month.

April calendar you Nice calendar. Thank you. Next we move to uh number six uh public hearing a community development block grant uh CB CDBG funding for fiscal year 2026. May Fred from Seagull.

Good evening Mr. Mayor, members of council and uh members of the community here in Ngalis. I am Will Osborne. I am the community development program manager for Seagull. Uh we'll go into this presentation fairly directly, but I also wanted to introduce uh our community community coordinator, Maria Vias. She's been with us for just a couple of weeks as she's been a great help to us at Sego, and we're hopeful that we can continue to work with the city of Ngalas in pursuing CDBG grants. I'm getting this right here. Uh the agenda for tonight is uh to describe what CDBG is about. Uh and that is basically to help communities with housing infrastructure, the living environment and economic opportunities, allocating limited tax dollars to community and economic development needs through programs uh that are either divided regionally or competed for statewide. CDBG's uh national criteria for funding eligibility of projects that will also be covered and past city of Ngala CDBG projects. The idea also for tonight is for you in the community and for you here on on the day to get involved to get tax dollars back for the city of Ngalas through CDBG projects and your ideas for potential projects that the mayor and council can consider at the next CDBG public hearing. Uh probably in a month from now. Uh that's what we're looking for. Uh and we'll get into that right away here with the next slide. getting the right button here. I'm not sure if there's a clicker. Oh, this might be it.

Oh, okay. Yeah, just say next slide and the behind the screen the scenes. They'll do it. Okay, I'll do a little hand roll and and say next. So, go back up uh a slide, please.

Okay. No, go ahead and go to the I'm sorry. Go to the next one and then uh pop this out. We get 10, the state gets 10, just over $10 million uh in CDBG funds from HUD, the housing and urban development uh department at the federal level. And ADO, the department of housing here in the state, uh has its own budget that it pulls from that money. Uh but then it also has technical assistance funds that it uses in providing direct assistance to communities but also in providing 1% of that amount to uh councils of government which I'll talk about in just a moment uh including SIGO. We get about a million a year in the state uh for set aside for colonius uh and for those communities that are defined as colonials. Uh there's about a million and a quarter set aside for state special projects. Uh and there's a post uh ADOH retention in Colonia set aside for statewide competition which I'll go into a bit more detail in a moment. And there's about 7.5 million that are for regional account. Uh and that's to rural Arizona communities within councils of government and the councils of government provide some assistance to those communities. Go to the next slide please. Let's go to the next one. See if we can get I get to the next slide.

Next slide. Okay. Is there any way I could There we go. So, councils of government in Arizona um and the regional account CDBG uh councils of government review the CDB applications for ADOH. So even if the grant is a CDBG grant being uh allocated somewhere else that uh is not being handled by SIGA, we still would do the review on behalf of ADOH of those applications to make sure that they're ready. We provide technical assistance and guidance to locals on CDBG uh and also other uh sources of grant funding, but this is primarily for CDBG. We also help to prepare applications for you all. We communicate with and advocate for uh members of our communities uh to actually make sure that our projects are successful and continue to be funded. And through our executive board uh the council of government adopts a method of distribution for CDBG funding to maximize the impact for each jurisdiction having its turn in a rotation which I'll talk a little bit more about that too. But you can see in this map where Sego is located. We have uh Coochis, Santa Cruz, Graham, and Greenley counties down in the southeastern corner of the state. And so COGS with the rural populations and adopted methods of distribution get their share of that seven about 7 and a half million from ADOH. And the allocations are based on weighted population, poverty shares. So the larger the population and the higher level of poverty the greater amount of money that we will get uh then compared to other councils of government in the state. The other councils of government include WHOG that represents Yuma and the area

around it. Uh KAG uh central area governments that or central Arizona governments that represents uh rural Panol County and other areas uh around that part of the state. Nikk represents northern Arizona and that's like for Winslow, Flagstaff and communities around there. And then there's us. And this is the amount of money that we get. We get about 1.34 million for uh regional account funding. The other communities or the other COGS uh some of them get significantly more. Uh CAD gets less because more of their communities are actually urban and have to deal with CBG separately than for through the cog the council of government system. The types of CDBG that will be available to Ngalas include the regional account state special project and colonius. In colonius, I'll talk about that first. Colonius are designated using objective criteria to include lack of portable or drinkable water supply, lack of adequate sewage systems, and a lack of decent, safe, and sanitary housing. Colonius has to have existed prior to November 28th of 1990. There are bianual grants for Colonius of up to $2 million statewide. Uh and this year's round is available. Last year, Colonius was not available. They build up the money uh each year and release it on the even numbered years. It is a competitive grant for Colonius, but only with other qualifying colonials in Arizona. and uh they're typically limited to water, wastewater, storm water, or housing rehabilitation projects associated with residential use. Arizona has 68 qualifying colonials. The Seagull region has 37 of these. Uh Coochis County has 15, Graham County has 10, Greenley County has two, and Santa

Cruz County has 10. Colonius projects should be shovel ready. Uh the design should be 100 complete for facilities or infrastructure or at least uh the budget for such a proposal uh an application would actually include the design component in that for doing a competitive bid for design and engineering. There's also income qualified waiting lists ready for housing rehab projects. So if housing rehab uh owner occupied housing rehab was uh something that was desired, they would need to have a list of folks ready to actually submit with the application. That work has to be done up front. uh a leverage or match funding raises a score uh in competition for Colonius and also the environmental review for Colonius needs to be finished finished or completed and we select assistance all through the way communities in Santa Cruz County uh per the housing and urban development department's map uh shows that Santa Cruz County has those uh has those 10. The town of Patagonia is one of them. Uh the city of Ngalas has uh three and uh there are al also others that are in unincorporated Santa Cruz County. On to state special projects, there's annual funding available each spring. Uh the grant amounts are, I believe, up to $750,000. Uh however with state special projects uh CDBG an application competes with all rural non-entitlement Arizona communities and not entitlement means not urban by not having a population of 50,000 or more or when a community chooses to self-desate itself as Douglas did. Uh the population amount doesn't matter. They have to deal directly with HUD in order to deal with their CDBG.

ADOH ranks applications by scoring criteria. Again, shovel ready projects is what they're looking for. Uh, planning, design, and engineering activities can be tied to future phase CDBG construction. So, part of a state special projects application may be to actually do the groundwork, the the upfront work of design for another CDBG grant. There's uh funding for state special projects also is kind of like a kitty or a pot that catches in any lost funding from other po past awarded projects that have gone dormant. So if a project uh fails to have any progress for uh at least a year, but usually ADOH is looking every six months to have uh construction activity started or implementation activity. and if they see that the project hasn't moved, they'll say, "Hey, we're looking to remove this funding and put it back into the state special projects fund." And that was actually something was really happy to make sure that Ngalas didn't lose its last project funding. Uh, but it was coming down to the wire. So, we were able to get that reimbursement. Hopefully, you guys got the check. Okay. Now, the next slide, please. with regional account. Um this is non-competitive funding and the amounts are awarded in annual cycles. Uh the number of participating jurisdictions in a council of government county uh and by the agreements included are included in a method of distribution. And so in uh Santa Cruz County, Santa Cruz County itself is one of those uh that are in the distribution cycle and so is the town of Patagonia, but otherwise it's only Ngalas. So every third year uh Ngalas would be getting a regional account uh round. So the money that's available for that is a portion of that 1.34 million that Seagull gets for all communities in the four counties that we

deal with. The projects may include uh infrastructure, community facilities and parks, public and community services with a limitation on how much can be spent toward that. Uh there's also again amount of money could be spent on planning, design and engineering uh for future implementation and that's again set with the limitation. Slum and blight reduction has a could be a feature of a CDBG regional account. Uh but that blight and slum reduction actually needs to be tied to another project. So it's the idea is that you're cleaning something up, but it's not just a maintenance thing. It's something better is going to happen here. this is an opportunity to redevelop the property or totally rehabilitate it uh or replace it. Uh but that's something that some of them blight reduction is not something that just goes directly to code enforcement without any sort of expectation that something's going to follow that. Housing development and rehabilitation is another source uh or another project type that could be pursued under regional account. And so it's as you can see there's some overlap with regional account with uh Colonius and with state special projects. And so sometimes it makes sense to consider if separate applications for those things might be able to layer to provide an overall project the funding it needs. Next slide. And so the 2025 to 2027 method of distribution is where we're at. Uh we have Santa Cruz County, Graham County, Greenley County, and Coochis County. And the amounts for each county, this is an approximate. We can see the Santa Cruz County communities with each regional account cycle year is going to get about 440,000. Uh Graham County, where Safford is located, they get about 291,000. Clifton and Duncan and Greenley counties get about 100,000. And in Coochis County they get about 515 516,000 because again

they have a larger population overall but also their poverty rate is higher overall as well. and go to the next slide. And so this year's distribution expected distribution because again there may be some adjustments that ADOH will make uh based on the funding that they get in the federal budget but Ngala should get about 440,000 just a little bit over that. Clipton 100,000 and Safford would get about 291 and Wuka City about that 516,000. There are national objectives that any project that's being proposed for application would need to meet. Um the first primarily is that it would benefit low and moderate income persons in a benefit area. So like 51% of a service area's beneficiaries should have income of 80% or less of the median income for the households of the same size in the area in order to qualify outright for uh the national objective. Otherwise, the community would need to consider if there are special needs groups in the community like senior uh senior citizens are considered a special needs group. They call it limited clientele. Uh but it could also be domestic violence victims or could be folks with disabilities or challenges uh that are, you know, physical or otherwise. Uh things that are generally not considered like private sector uh private sector services. A project uh could uh if it was going to be affecting uh trying to act on slum and blight conditions would have to have uh consideration that more than 25% 25% of the properties in an area were deteriorated or abandoned. Uh and otherwise spot rehabilitation might be something where there's an immediate uh attractive nuisance or a hazard. Uh like let's say a swimming pool had uh you know swimming pool in the community. Uh

not only you know was it not able to operate but actually was you know attracting a lot of activity was causing a problem. Uh the project could also uh be an emergency situation. Urgent needs related to health and safety. So if there's a natural disaster like a flood uh or there's some other storm event uh CDBG could be uh put towards that kind of uh repair of things relating relating to that. But I do believe that the low moderate income uh marker would still be a criteria that would have to be met. Next slide please. The eligible project categories and types. talked a little bit or at least introduced the public and community facilities. Uh these are very typical and what uh Sego gets a lot from communities not only Santa Cruz County but the other counties that we work with are street improvements but it's not just the roads themselves that's a part of it uh and it's not just sidewalks but usually that's a part of it and ADA related improvements usually as a justification removing barriers to access where you already have facilities that don't uh have uh ramps that are ADA compliant uh or other conditions of the environment that don't support ADA accessibility. Those are things that we can also look at in terms of qualifying a project. Water and sewer systems, lines of stations, those are very typical projects and sometimes combined with repairing the street on top after the project's done. There's also parks improvements and community service facilities. And then in the other category is housing. Housing rehabilitation is particularly popular in our uh four counties. It's looking at existing housing, how and how to fix that stuff up. Uh new construction by an eligible

organization such as Habitat for Humanity or Grow America, those could be eligible, but typically the amounts of funding we get really doesn't amount to enough to cover the whole project, but it doesn't exclude that from being considered. Activities that support new housing construction such as land acquisition uh clearance of the land like the slum and blight uh reduction and street improvements may also be something that could be factored in as part of a housing project. Home ownership assistance in uh including down payment assistance. That's something that is an eligible activity. Again, looking at the low moderate income being a qualifier, but it would actually go to the household level. Next slide, please. public services. Uh we're not available in the private sector. Uh child care, uh job and vocational training, uh healthcare and substance abuse services and also crime prevention activities. But again, these things are usually feathered together with other uses or other activities, but these are among the public services cal uh category eligible projects. And next slide. So with eligible project categories, it's also the planning and design engineering. And we often find that this is something that our communities need help with, especially if they don't have a dedicated engineering department. Um and so also working with community development uh staff on comprehensive or general plans uh updates of those area specific plans or strategic plans let's say for a downtown uh those are also eligible activities and engineering design plans for CDBG qualifying infrastructure projects that again may be part of a particular application or it may be supporting another application. So two applications, one of them might be handling the engineering if it's very a very extensive project and maybe the other one is the actual construction, the actual construction project to follow up on that architectural and engineering plans for

CDBG for qualified building projects. Let's say there's a a food bank or some other uh public use or public related use that need to have engineering because again the the community and the organizations can't actually fund the architecture themselves. CDBG could be used for that as well. Next, the uh past Nogalas uh projects and I think I may have some of this incorrect. In fact, I'm pretty sure that I do, but what I can say is that there's the there are some of these that are correct. I think the 1904 courthouse rehab that was actually uh Santa Cruz County, but it was technically inside the city limits. Uh but there also has been a Boys and Girls Club building improvements, uh workforce investment and adult education facility enhancement, uh Ngalas innovation innovation centers, uh with commercial kitchen improvements, uh Rio Rico Street and drainage improvements. I'm pretty sure that's out in Santa Cruz County. My apologies. I know that there have been a number of uh projects here in Ngalas that are associated with the Colonius that are designated here uh that have made significant improvements for water and wastewater and storm water uh pretty close to the drainage uh that goes through the center of the city. And so um there are other projects as well. I think the most recent one that we completed here was the Camino del Soul uh phase 2 project to improve uh the streets in the area that I think are just to the just to the south and a little bit to the west of us uh going up the hill uh from a small intersection. The street improvements were uh considered also part of that, but the main things were to have water improvements under CDBG. That was actually folded together with what's called a WIFA or a water infrastructure finance authority grant uh to handle the wastewater portion. So, both of those

sources of funds came together on a project that had its initial uh stage at a meeting just like this. And that's what we're going to be asking you tonight is to come up with the ideas that you have for projects that might qualify for CDBG funding or maybe they might not. But that's okay. As long as the projects have been talked about and introduced in as much detail as possible, but maybe you don't know exactly where a project should be, but at least that we've discussed it tonight and it's on the record that that record would go forward to the next public hearing as something that you know a list of projects that the mayor and the council could consider for a resolution of application. If it's not discussed or raised tonight in your testimony, then it's not going to be a project that they could pursue. So that's why I say it's like any project you can think of and again it may somebody may not like the idea but that's not really as important as simply getting that idea out and put into the record. Another thing I will mention because I'm not sure that folks have noticed there was a signin sheet on the way in and we need to get that thing filled out. So, if you're here, I may have Maria come around with I don't know if we have a clipboard in the house somewhere. Um, but to get that signin sheet filled out, uh, please, you know, fill it out as completely as you can. Uh, and that will be part of the record that then goes to the Arizona Department of Housing for them to say you had sufficient public participation. But it also helps us to tie in too the project ideas, the things that come out. It's like if there needs to be further discussion about the detail that can be done but if the project hasn't been identified at all uh then it's not really something we can consider at that next public hearing and so with that I think if the final slide is again what project would you like to see in Ngalas and so I suggest that maybe it's open for public hearing and it could include questions and input from the mayor

council because this is your community too Mr. Mayor and Council, just to clarify a little bit, uh, uh, what I what are the total funds for the city of Ngalas, not just the county because because when you talk about county, it it we are in competition with with whatever building projects they have. Every every year for regional account, it's non-competitive. It's Ngalas's turn this year. Next year would be town of Patagonia's turn and the year after that would be Santa Cruz Countyy's turn and we only have half a million available just under it's under it's like 440,000 per regional account

and all these projects that you spoke about are going to be covered by that uh I mean it's just in the past and 10 years ago when money you know money is scarcer now and everything has gone up 10 years ago they would give us millions of dollars for a project and now you're talking about half less than half a million. Yeah. And again, it's not me making that. I know that. I know that.

But I I don't disagree with you because there are a lot of projects where again that there are some communities that have the same kinds of needs that you have here and like let's say the town of Patagonia has, but you take a community the same size as Patagonia. Well, can I may I ask what dropped down uh the the big pool of money that used to be available that's been cut down almost 100 times what it was?

I'm not really going to be able to answer that question, but I think that's a great thing to have in the record. So, just make sure that the minutes reflect that. But tonight, I think one of the other really important things for us is to identify the project ideas that the city would like to pursue, that the community of the city would like to pursue, uh, and get that stuff in the record so that it could be discussed at the next public hearing where you all will be making a decision as to this is a

My last question, who do we contact or get in communication with to see if our cogs in this southeastern part of the state, the counties, all that belong to this cog. How can we increase the funding that has drastically dropped so much? Well, in in part, you do have representation on our executive board. I believe that uh that mayor Maldonado is on the executive board. I believe even a vice chair. And so, this is not a bad idea to have that discussion and even to talk about how SEGO could approach the Arizona Department of Housing. though I'm going to tell you is that more than likely they're just kind of like hey you know we're not the ones who are choosing it's really coming down from the federal level and then there's a formula of okay this money comes to the state of Arizona for rural communities Phoenix gets its own thing Tucson gets its own thing Sierra Vista gets its own thing Coochis County gets its own thing and so does Doug city of Douglas as an example those and I think you know other cities around the state that have population of greater than 50,000 or if they themselves choose to just deal directly with HUD, they they may be able to get more money, but they're also going to have to have enough staff to handle all of the processing of everything. And that's a great challenge that folks are finding in these communities, at least the more one the ones that are rural that have chosen to be entitlement communities, they have greater access to money, but if they don't have the staff for it, it makes it harder for them to actually get applications. a final question, but you brought you brought the reason to ask another one. Uh, so we belong to the easternly quadrant or or cog of the of

southeastern Arizona.

Southeastern Arizona, but yet we're the gateway in into the United States from Mexico. We're right lined up with Sawarita and Tucson. How can we why aren't we part or how can we join that cog which probably gets a lot more money than the rural area where we're in? It's actually, as I was showing, there's a slide that actually shows the other cogs. I believe that KAG would be the I believe it would be KAG, but it might even be that Puma County has another separate COG, but it's not the same thing as us. It's it's not a rural community thing, and it's not something that we necessarily want to be part of because their requirements would have to apply. It would be like, hey, we want to make ourselves an entitlement community. If you have enough staff that are dedicated and paid well enough and have a deep bench to handle all of the facets of grant management, which I'm going to tell you is a lot. I've been traveling a lot the last couple weeks. I'm going to be traveling a lot more. And I'm glad that Maria is here because she's learning how to do this work, too. But you have to have that bench. And a lot of rural communities don't have it. And again, it probably comes down to having a discussion through SEGO. It would be having a policy position to discuss with the state legislature and also maybe with our federal representatives because ultimately the money comes or doesn't come from HUD. it comes down and that funnels down as I showed in those earlier slides that we get a share but we can compete for a greater amount of funding but the competition is set state special projects all rural communities in Arizona that are represented by COGS or I believe maybe even not represented by COGS could compete for that state special projects funding that said Colonius is where we have a

greater advantage than any another area of Arizona, including Tucson. Tucson, I think they may have some that they say are designated, but they may not actually be in competition. They're not in competition with us. The only ones in competition with us are going to be in Yuma, the area around Yuma and us. It's basically we've got like I think it said 37 or 38 of the I think 37 of the 68 colonialists are in our service area. And that's why this is a great opportunity to come up with all the ideas, including ones that maybe don't seem like the the best idea for this particular fund here or that particular fund there, but we could get that sorted out at another time. Owner occupied housing rehab may be a difficult one, but at the same time, it has like the greatest impact like to individual households who are low or low moderate income, usually seniors who need help with fixing. But it doesn't hurt our mayor to start inquiring with say the mayor of Tucson and Puma County about the possibilities of what how would they consider if no Gallas was in their cog. I mean that that doesn't hurt to start looking into it, right?

Um not sure about that. We'd have to probably talk to the executive board at the at the May at the May quarterly meeting of our executive board, but we'd hate to lose you if you wanted to go off and No, no. We we're going to take advantage of what we have right now. But I mean in the future in the future in the future just saying then you would be in competition likely if you join uh let's say up with uh a more urbanized cog you're probably looking at maybe 10 or 12 communities that you would be competing with for your regional account cycle. You'd have to wait 11 or 12 years. Okay. In Coochis County, wait three.

Each those communities wait six years. They wait six years till their next term. In uh in Greenley County, there's only two. It's just Clifton or Duncan. But what I want to look into is that how much money is is in that in this other pool compared to what we're getting when it's our turn under half a million dollars. You're also looking again at population and poverty level. Well, we have the poverty level.

Oh, I know there's all most all of our communities have that. But as I was saying, there are communities that are kind of comparable in terms of what you might think are the demographics like Duncan, for instance, and Patagonia. Patagonia gets 440,000 for eight for its if they can qualify a project by the national uh the national objective criteria, they get that much. Duncan gets 100,000. And it's because the population of the county as a whole, that whole county doesn't have a high population. They have a great daytime population that works at the Reny Mine, for instance. And those folks also make a lot of money. Well, compared to, you know, seniors and retirees and other folks, that bumps up that bumps up the uh the level so that they're not generally considered low moderate income anymore. And that is another thing that we found is that when ADOH said, "Hey, we're moving from data that used to be from the time frame of 2011 to 2015 for your low moderate income numbers

uh by household size. They moved us to 2016 to 2020 data back in the middle of 2024. And what that meant is that the application that you all had filed back in I think 2023 for commun soul phase 2 that qualified. It may or may not qualify today because the new data shows almost all of our communities with few exceptions no longer qualify outright as having 51% or more of their community as a whole or of their census block groups being 51% low moderate income. So it's like 510 or 511 households would out of a thousand would need to be making less than 80% of the area median income. That used to be true of almost all of our communities until 2024. anything filed after that, any application filed after that, we're finding that, yep, it's time to do what's called a low moderate income special survey where we provide the technical assistance to have a community provide its volunteer support or its city staff to go out and collect information about households in a beneficiary area to a specific project.

Was this influenced by the new administration the at the national level? can't really I I really I I because I don't know I I I mean it's like I what budget numbers I've seen is that we've had slight increases but it may have been that 20 years ago or 15 years ago even that it was a large amount of money back then in relative terms but the numbers I've seen is that it's all been fairly static and we keep it at the you know the method of distribution for a threeear threeyear period we're going going to probably go through an adoption in I believe next year to adopt a new method of distribution and the numbers may change and it may go up but it's probably not going to go up that much and it it is as somebody who sees projects and wants to see communities helped it is often like difficult to imagine that the projects are going to be completely funded by these things and sometimes they are. Other times you need to have some leverage that the city's general fund might put in or uh whiff as with the uh community deloul project to water infrastructure finance authority money to get another part of that project. Uh or it might be possibly USDA rural development grant funding or loan funding. So there are all other possibilities too that I don't want people to be thinking about. Well, I don't think this is just a you know this is going to work with CDBG. Getting the project out there on this list also provides you as the city with a tool to say, "Hey, our community has come forward and they've said that they want to see projects like this." And so if there's other opportunities, other funding sources, they can look at that list and say, "Here we go. We got it done. We got this information from our community. They would like to see these projects."

Okay.

Thank you, Mr. Bonia. We um we have some you know you mentioned WIFFA loans and we have some projects that we've done with WIFA and they were completed in a sense that uh WIFA will only cover 12 12 ft of paving. So we the city has to come up with the rest and paving. So we have roads right now that the WIFA they've done the infrastructure already but our streets are not finished. Is there any way uh I know the answer probably going to be no, but is there any way that we can use the CDBG funds to finish off these wiffle projects that have not really been finished?

You are correct. The answer is probably not. Though uh there are other funds that might be associated with transportation and Christopher Trees, our executive director also still handles a transportation program, transportation uh program. Um there may be some sources there again depending on the the uh classification of the street. Uh there may be some ability to use transportation improvement money to finish a street, right? Because it's a direct thing for them. WIFFA is about the water infrastructure. CBG can be but CBG could also be about helping folks repair their homes. could also be about uh revitalizing or refurbishing a school to maybe be a closed school could become a different use and maybe funding could also be used to clean up the yards at the school because they've been overgrown or something. But again, it has to be part of an overall package. It can't just be, hey, here's some money that we can get to pay, you know, pay the code enforcement to go out and clean up some stuff. It's like, no, it doesn't quite work that way unless there's already a plan that this is what's going to happen. It's just cleaning up for the sake of cleaning up. No, that's maintenance. CBG is generally not about that unless it's kind of clearing it out, getting it cleaned up and getting it ready for reuse.

Well, I started that conversation with Chris at our last meeting and Douglas uh you know, because those are shovel ready p uh projects, you know, that's going to be a Chris for trees question on on transportation transportation stuff. But again, even again, don't don't kick those ideas out of this consideration. So, got to give it a If you want to talk about improve this street, that's fine. It probably isn't going to be a CDBG funded project unless it's like, hey, fix the water and sewer infrastructure and or storm water infrastructure underneath. And what do you got to do when you're done? Well, it really should be having some other funding maybe to to cover it up, unless it's a very small project. small. Some communities have enough of a small.

We got big ones and small ones. We got a little bit of everything. So, I think we we next next meeting we I'll bring them up and see what what can be done on those. But the thing that's really important though is if you're thinking about using it for CDBG, tonight is the night. You want to definitely get those projects in the record. Okay. And again, hopefully everybody's getting their signature or they're filling out the sign-in sheets, but you guys will also fill in the sign-in sheet, too. And I think we've got a couple of sign-in sheet copies so that everybody here could sign in. Um, but yeah, all all project ideas tonight are good ideas

until we get to the decision next month or whenever it's going to be convenient for mayor and council to consider, hey, we've kind of scoped this project about how much it would cost other sources of funding that might be available. This is the one or these are the ones we want to consider for a resolution of application. But because you have Colonius here, you could also still, you know, but again, probably

state special projects is that you guys could could adopt resolutions for those other two applications because typically a regional account only allows a city or a town to do one project. That's it. One project and that's it. With a colonius, basically the same thing. Now with state special projects kind of the same thing but when you have three different application you could have three different projects

and those other projects like the state special project fund and the uh colonius those can be typically larger amounts even though you I mean you're in competition but you guys I will say that I didn't have it on the project sheet my bada but you guys actually did have a colonius project I believe in the I think they call it east quadrant that I think you may have been the only community that applied for colonius back seven eight years ago and you got 900 to $1 million of colonious funding for that project. So I but I am encouraging all of our communities to if they have a colonius to apply.

Okay, you got a question? Thank you for your presentation. Um I have just one question. Uh when is this due? Typically it was today. Oh

typically on the calendar that ADOH prints is today. But even they know that the reality is is a lot of communities are staffing challenged. They themselves staffing challenged that we're looking at uh reasonable flexibility. But the idea is is that if you're uh waiting for a drop of funding for a notice of funding availability, Colonius, CBG uh nor state special projects have actually had their NOA their notice of funding availability. We don't know. They they haven't done that and they usually will do that this month, but they might not until next month or even into June possibly. but they usually want your application in within five months of the notice of funding availability on those. With regional account, you get a little more flexibility. We prefer not to have as much flexibility as uh the city might have had in the past where the project went on for about three years and ADO was kind of like hitting us saying, "Hey, this is a dead project." And even at the end, they were they thought that the project was dead over at Camino del Soul phase two and it wasn't. it was construction was done.

Uh I was like, "Hey, let me just stop for a moment. Let's uh get things together and bring this project back on track and we were able to do that." But that's the thing is that that money could have gone off to the state special projects fund for somebody else to apply for. So thankfully it didn't happen but ADOH has been very flexible with us especially if we're making good faith effort and also that her staff is working with us too to make sure that if we need something that we get it then that really helps a lot

on the projects that um I just checked online the projects that were part of this funding are they completed like a McNab drive Perkins visi and of course Camino del Sol are they all completed to my understanding they are okay but um I have a card cards available uh I can provide my contact information to you also and follow up uh offline uh to let you know the status of those projects so most of the funding was just infrastructure most of it I checked online it went to infrastructure unfortunately right well well yeah forunately around go to like you know again where your community has

you could be more flexible with it but it all went to infrastructure program uh projects most of And again, like with some with some sources, uh you're going to be probably looking at well, if it's a Colonius grant, it's going to have to be infrastructure, water, waste water or storm water infrastructure. Yeah. To prevent the requirements reason of, hey, we've got areas where there's a lot of problems, uh backups that come from the mains or uh water quality issues or maybe complaints. Uh but there's also owner occupied housing rehabilitation which is directly to housing. Yeah. Uh state special projects there a little more flexibility there but again you're competing with everybody

which very limited amount went to that but okay thank you. Yeah welcome. Do you have a question? So this the spaces for community members to propose ideas should be heard the next time. This is this is it. This is it. This is it. So do it again. that this is the this is the opportunity. And again, if you're just like brain salad, you've got like five project ideas. That's okay. And well, I have one, but we'll have to No, I'm I'm gonna I'm gonna take a seat.

I think it would be more interesting for the community to come in on this. So, I talked about it a couple times with a couple other different sort of efforts and stuff, but it would be great to do a whole bunch of green infrastructure downtown Grand Avenue, Morly that is visible with maybe some fruit trees. Every fruit tree What do you want? Oh, get your get your name and your contact information.

I think I already said it on the record. My name is Cesar. Thank you. I think Yeah. Uh I think we we talked about it in a different space and it's very interesting to hear your presentation. Uh and so I just want to sort of open up a space uh about this. So there's a lot of redevelopment right in the future. There's a lot of visions for it. There's folks working hard. Some of them are here right in downtown and so forth. Um and uh and and I I think that we're looking at like different things happening, right? We see the arts. We see different things. We could propose something that maybe has fruit trees where children are actually educated on when to pick the right fruit. Like we don't sell it. They can just take it and we educate them at the Boys and Girls Club, at the schools and so forth, right? And we could have maybe, you know, 40 fruit trees, which if we did it right and we did it and we know some fruits actually grow here, we could actually harvest probably with those 40 fruit trees 800,000 gallons of water a year, right? That's not going into the stores or to people's houses on morally or to people's houses on Grand Avenue or businesses or something like that. And I think it would be a really nice thing in contrast to what I

Yeah. No, please. In contrast to what I spoken about, right? I was speaking earlier just to the public about like the barb wire. It's just being like really not a thing that's really doing it right except holding. But I think maybe fruit trees might be a good thing. And I can just imagine 50 fruit trees on morally and that's that's not getting rid of the sidewalk, right? That's actually fruit tree after fruit tree after fruit tree. We might even do it with the youth core, you know, from noises that uh gets trained in water harvesting and passive water harvesting and so forth. We might be able to do sever several million gallons of water when we multiply the fruit tree and where it's set right the water coefficient which is water harvesting right we might be able to do several million gallons of water just right a year and it would just beautify shape right the bus stop everywhere else

hello

just I'm just gonna put it out there. Couple things that I just came into my mind is uh one we have a clock tower downtown that is a beautiful building. The thing about the 1904 courthouse really sparked my imagination. Maybe something like that where we kind of rehab that building. I know that the American Legion owns the second floor, but wouldn't it be great if we could use some of those funds to kind of make that second floor accessible? selfish in my moment, but you know, we have tons of nonprofit zones that are open downtown now that are not ADA compliant to where we can use some of that funding. Maybe, yes, it's only half a million dollars, Mr. Doyle, but maybe it could be used to like rehab some of those sidewalks so that we can actually make them ADA compliant for all those beautiful old buildings that we have on Morty that some people may not be able to access because they they're old and need some help. But to Cesad's point, yeah, also green spaces are important and I think that that would be great if we could use some of those funds to actually plant some trees in Ogales that actually give us some shade in the summer and, you know, beautify our town. Thank you. You

Yes, sir. come up.

Yeah. And Ellen, just as you know, I don't live in Ngalas, but I really love this town. Um, and opportunities coming up. The Concini project is going to do a lot of revitalization, but only up to a certain point in the town. And I know a lot of folks will be jealous when their sidewalks and road sections aren't built up in such a manner. might be possible to use some of this money to uh extend that revitalization a degree and that would include the ADA access, you know, along those routes. And um so, uh that's just something that came to mind and it it piggybacks on what you were talking about. Um and then um I've always wanted to see Amtrak from Ngalas to Tucson. And believe it or not, I know you laugh, but everybody a lot of people talk about that and perhaps we can get that looked at. I don't know if any of this money can be used to investigate um options or opportunities. Sir,

I would say just come up with the idea once we're about the detail later. Right. Okay. Well, that's the idea and thank you for your time. Thank you, sir. Anybody else?

Nope. Okay. Uh well, you know, I think uh you know, no gall has really taken advantage of uh the colonial grant. Uh you know, the times that we've been able to use it. Uh and I think that's that's probably the biggest piece of the pie. Um but um let me know how we could you know in our next meeting how we what I need to take or if I need to take the projects or do I need to take uh uh you know what we have shovel ready on on some projects uh you know for our next executive session with a seagull. I would say it also wouldn't be inappropriate for you all up here.

Yeah. As people of Ngalas to also pitch out your own ideas because you live here, you love here. This is your place. Uh don't be afraid in this this P2 public hearing. They're going to want as many of the ideas as they can get. And maybe you've heard it from constituents. Uh and again, any idea is going to be a good idea if you're able to get funding for it. But if you don't uh you say this young fellow said you got to shoot your shot. If you don't shoot the shot, it's not going to score. Correct? So, you know, even we were talking about some things or I may have mentioned some things if any of those ideas appeal to you,

they need to still be your ideas. So, please I encourage you all before you close things to like come up with the project ideas that you'd like to see and just make sure that the that the city clerk is going to get those in the record.

Yeah. you know, basically as I I know, you know, we're very short on on soccer fields, baseball fields, and all that. uh you know where it says parks um you know we have uh a golf course what we haven't even touched that uh that uh you know it's on the streamline of hopefully uh getting worked on but uh stuff like that I think should be should be part of those projects. Um you know we need more more more sidewalks and stuff like that. Uh obviously so sewer and water uh you know we inherited an old city and and I know those projects that we have uh trouble ready that Mr. Bonia talked um you know the there were 32 projects I think we we've done six of them u and you know so there's 26 of them uh that that have to do you know a lot of them have to do with water and sewer

right but we don't only want to look in the rear view we want to look ahead places that you still have issues or that you know of and get those into the record so it's like if there's a particular streets in town that are known for having water and sewer issues. Those would be great to get put into the list or neighbor or neighborhoods.

Yeah. the the one question I was going to make uh where you mentioned I wrote it down here where you mention um down down uh on the CBG eligible projects category and types on the housing is that uh just residential uh let's see if do we have the presentation maybe it would jog my memory a little bit says housing rehabilitation, new construction by eligible organizations, habitat and humanity,

uh, grow American activities to support new housings, construction, land acquisition, clearance, and street streets improvement.

Here's here's here's a good one. Sorry to interrupt, but actually we've had contact with somebody in the last year who was asking us about whether they could get what's called LITC or low-income housing tax credit funding uh with a with a letter of commitment from SEGO like our money to pitch into the project to help make that happen. And that's not necessarily something we could do. But if the city has identified projects in town that's like, you know, increase the amount of affordable housing at uh, you know, mo closed motel or something like that, that would again be a door that's open for identifying a project. or if you have like certain places that you know this place really is uh it's done. It needs to be revitalized. It needs to be fixed up identify that tonight because that way even if it's not a CBG directly thing, it could be a LITC like low-inccome housing tax credit project. And again, you've already done the public participation to identify that project. Chief, what what street is the there? That third street the mortuary going into Kasa Lelay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That that street gets a lot of traffic because of some a very good restaurant that's in there. Yeah,

that is how it works. Okay. So, I brought it up. So, let's let's see if it's something doable there. Anything else? Uh, any comments? Thank Thank you, Will. Okay, you're welcome. That's it. Uh, we close the public hearing. No need.

Okay. Next, we move to uh Thank you, Will. are coming now Maria. Thank you also. Then uh we move to number seven presentations. Uh a Mr. Cruz welcome desert shadows middle school empowering award. Mr. Bonia.

Thank you mayor. Uh Mr. Cruz if you'd like to step up and Michelle please. Um um I want to take this time uh to uh recognize Mr. Cruz. Um and I'm going to use uh the example of my daughter. Um when my daughter transitioned from um from elementary to middle school, um the options that my daughter were given was really not not too many. So when when she went into uh desert shadows, uh both uh Beatatrice and I uh my my former wife, we realized that Megan was was her her world opened up. I remember she was um she had all these classes, remember Mr. Cruz? and and and and that one year, the first year that she was there, uh she almost went almost to a a a normal schedule. Um Megan has has her world is so different now. Uh she has she has plans now of of becoming other things. Uh but before before she started attending uh Desert Shadows with Mr. Cruz, her options were not were not were not too too there weren't too many options for my daughter. Uh but now um we were this past Saturday we were at the um Special Olympics and I saw how Megan was inter interacting with her other friends also. And um it it it was Mr. Cruz. It it takes I I like to say, you know, there's people that have a lot of

education for this. Um but it takes a special type of person to have this love for these for these children because um like I said, my daughter is totally different now. So, uh, Michelle and I were were um we were discussing, you know, uh, last year she was a recipient for the Good Samaritan Award, but we needed to, um, recognize someone in the community that that works with children with special needs. And, um, this year, uh, Mr. Cruz, um, we, mayor and council like to recognize you for your good work in this community. Thanks. something real quick. Uh, and you you heard it earlier. Hello. Uh, it's literacy. It's not me. It's literacy. It's it's you got to kids need to read. No matter what level it is, they need to read and understand. And this lexia, this graphia, this calculia and all these things that are node divergent, that's why they that's the explanation. So the answer is in science and the application of science. This very simple. So this is science applied to students and not giving up. They all need to read. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Congratulations, Mr. Cruz. Mr. Cruz, go back.

We go back so many years when my kids went to Desert Shadows and and basically I joined you, you know, teaching your the kids uh what Nogalis was and or is on the fresh produce. I always would take some fresh fruits and and vegetables so we could teach the kids what Moguel's, you know, produce and and how, you know, where it comes from and all that. And you have always been a great inspiration for the kids. So, you know, you continue to do that and I commend you for the great things you do for the kids. Uh, you know, you always invited me. I still go any if you want to invite me again. Uh but uh what you do for for the special kids is tremendous and I thank you for that.

Thank you.

Next we have uh item B South 32 Mr. Pat Razer. All right. Um, thank you, mayor, members of the council. Uh, we appreciate the opportunity to come in and provide this update. We had committed a while back to start coming back more often. Uh, we've had to push this out a few times, so appreciate you making room on the agenda tonight. Um, I've packed a lot into this, but I'll try to get through it quickly. I know you've got a long long agenda. So, I wanted to just uh for those of you that aren't able to ever come out to see the site, and we do encourage you to do that. We're still giving public tours the first Friday of every month and can accommodate other groups as needed. Just wanted to give you some pictures of what's going on at the site. We are approaching the uh peak construction workforce. Uh we have 900 people working in construction now. About 2 to 300 at any one time on site. This is what the site looks like. Um we're about 55% through the total construction program. uh still on track for the first underground mining to occur next year. Um what you see in the foreground is probably where we've had the most uh activity over the last 6 months or so since we provide the last update. That's the start of construction of the the zinc processing facility. Um couple things I want to point out on this visual that I've talked about in the past. Uh the community concerns around traffic. A lot of those major modules you see in the middle of the process plant are being fabricated offsite uh rather than on-site so that we reduce construction traffic by about 80%. Um we one of the things that area where the process plant's located there in the foreground um we're using technology to keep uh our disturbance to a minimum that side that that size plant would normally be about double that that

space. So, we've talked a lot about small footprint and small surface disturbance in the mine. Um, we'll only disturb about 700 acres over 70 years of mining. And a big part of that is how we're uh building the project to maintain a small compact footprint on site. Um, we are still anticipating uh construction going through the end of next year. Um and the two shafts uh completing end of next year and as I said initial mining underground latter part of the year. Next slide please. This is just a look from the other direction. Uh Carshaw Road would be right beneath you on the picture. So that's looking back north onto the site. Next slide please. Uh for folks that want to know what it looks like underground with the shaft development. This is um one of the two shafts. We're about 1,800 ft down on one shaft and about 1,400 feet on the other. This is what it looks like when we're lowering equipment into the shaft to develop the first mining level underground. Um, which is now complete. Um, and as I said, the first shaft will finish in about August. Next slide, please. So, a few updates. A lot of activity since the start of the year and quite a bit since the last update both at the state and federal level. There's a couple of things I just want to touch on here. Um, I believe in the last update, our state air permit had been reopened to address a few reporting and recordkeeping uh requirements that's been reissued by the state and reviewed by the federal EPA and finalized. Um, we uh we have applied for 401 water quality certification under the Federal Clean Water Act. Um, one thing I want to clarify there, there's been a lot of misinformation going around the community on this one, and I thought it was important I addressed this in the update tonight. Um, the state has decided to wave the requirement for this water quality

certification. Uh, the reason they've decided to do that is because we already have Clean Water Act permits in place. It's a bit unusual to have them in place before you seek this. Um, the thing I want to clarify is we didn't apply for a waiver. There's been a lot of information going around the community that we sought a waiver from that section 401 of the Clean Water Act. We did not. We actually applied for a water quality certification and the state has decided to wave it because of the existing clean water act permits we have in place with ADQ for the last 5 years. The big milestone on permitting was in March when the Forest Service issued the final environmental impact statement and draft record of decision uh and the Fish and Wildlife Service issued their final biological opinion on the project. We're in a 45day objection period now, which gives anyone that commented on the draft environmental impact statement the opportunity to file an objection. Uh you have to have commented on the draft to file an objection. That closes on April 20th. Uh the next two milestones in the schedule on this process is the forest service is planning a final record of decision in July um and then a notice to proceed in September. One other clarification that I'd like to make around this one where we see some misunderstanding um the mine as you've seen on the photos is in construction on private land. So this federal approval is not approving whether there's a mine or not. The mine will be built. It will be built on private land. The box on the right sort of shows the scope of the activities that would be conducted on federal land, which is the scope of this federal permitting process. So, it's really primarily the 13 38 kilovolt power line that Unisource is developing into the site, a new primary access road which will take traffic away from Patagonia and bypass that area. uh some additional surface water discharge points which are something that the

community requested to distribute the water more broadly throughout the wershed in the Patagonia Mountains, a second tailings facility and some drill pads. So really the decision the Forest Service is making here is is it a mine only on private lands or are these activities um going to be allowed on federal lands? uh some of these activities, approval of them actually improves the environmental profile of the project. So I'll give you an example. If the power lines not approved, we're generating power via compressed natural gas for the next two decades on the site. Obviously, that's higher emissions. It's more traffic to haul natural gas to the site. So approving the power line reduces emissions, takes traffic off the road. Uh the primary access road takes traffic off Harshaw Road out of the Patagonia area. and the water discharge structures were something the community asked for. So, uh it does actually result in a better outcome, but obviously um the project is well into the the development on private lands. Next slide, please. One thing that's in the final environmental impact statement that was not in the draft that's important to note, we have worked with the Forest Service and the Fish and Wildlife Service and inserted about 135 additional actions to mitigate potential impacts from the project that were not in the draft EIS. Obviously can't list them all. Um I won't go through them all but um these are some highle categories of a few of the the bigger ones uh that I did want to touch on. We've redesigned some of the facilities to avoid uh endangered plant species and cultural resources. A lot of the voluntary programs we've had in place for the last 5 years where we've been sampling seeps and springs uh community groundwater wells surface water beyond what our permits require. So these have been voluntary measures. We've now

memorialized and made a commitment in the EIS which now makes them legally enforcable. So we've taken a lot of the voluntary uh groundwater dependent ecosystem monitoring requirements or measures we'd taken and and put those into the final EIS's commitments. Um we've moved the power line to to align it with the primary access road to reduce uh disturbance. And then a couple of things on our prim the new primary access road which will come out Flux Canyon and intersect Highway 82 uh between Patagonia um and the airport. So we've put wildlife we're going to engineer wild five wildlife crossings uh on that road and also install some recreational pullout so that people recreing in the national forest can use that road as well. Um we've worked with Whipple and others uh to implement dark skies design criteria in all our surface facilities. So this is an effort to reduce any light pollution from the site. Um we had been doing that anyway uh as a a voluntary measure. We've again put that in as a commitment. Um and I talked about moving some infrastructure around. So, this is really important as we start to work on the community protection and benefits agreement because a lot of what we've been talking about on protections, we've really tried to work some of that into the final AIS to make it enforceable and this will be our basis or our starting point for that work. Next slide, please. Um, I did want to this is what that process plant on site will look like when we're done with construction. One thing that has come up in the course of both the state and federal permitting uh was concerns around dust and air emissions from the site. Um we do have a an ongoing baseline air quality program. We have monitors set up uh in the Ngalas area in the Cenoida area and in Patagonia. So we cover all transportation routes east west and the immediate community. Um they're the only

sites that are monitoring baseline air quality for metals, which is what we have heard is a primary concern from the community. Um there obviously is some other baseline air quality monitoring going on in the county, but we will have two years of baseline information uh for general air quality dust and metals from those sites. But the one thing I did want to point out um is that all of our facilities on site will be enclosed. So all of the material we mine gets crushed underground. It gets conveyed in enclosed conveyors to enclosed storage silos, processed in an enclosed environment, and the products loaded into sealed containers in an enclosed environment. And so um essentially we've designed the project so the material we're mining is never exposed to the the ambient air. And so I just wanted to give a little bit of a visual to reinforce that. But again, some of this has been been committed as well in this process. Next slide please. uh a lot of discussion in December, January around um water quality and our water treatment plant and the the work we've been doing um with the groundwater management program to manage the groundwater in and around the shafts and the mining areas. Uh I think it's uh probably well understood back in November December we have seven wells on the site that are managing groundwater coming onto the site so that we maintain a safe work environment for individuals working underground. We had two of those wells. So this is treating naturally occurring groundwater that's coming onto our site which is high in heavy metals and other uh constituents. the groundwater in and around our site, naturally occurring groundwater, does not meet any Arizona surface water quality standards. So, we built this water treatment plant about three years ago to treat that water. We had a couple of the wells where the naturally occurring antimony levels, which is a metal, were extremely high, probably double what any of the baseline water quality had said. Um, so we've spent

about half a million dollars upgrading this plant over the last 6 months. It already was capable of treating antimony and some of these other metals, but we've enhanced it to increase the treatment efficiency to another level. Um, we've just switched this on in the last month and it's working really well. We sampled the water every two hours coming into the plant and every two hours going out. Um, and haven't had any issues. So, a lot of the questions we had around this back in the December, January time frame, we talked about this facility was built to be able to adapt. We're talking about mother nature. This is naturally occurring groundwater. The quality and the metal constituents in it are going to be variable over time. We've designed a facility that can adapt uh to to meet that variability and um these upgrades are working and we know it's something that's been discussed extensively in the community and wanted to just provide that update that these upgrades have been completed and it is working. So, next slide please. Uh getting a little bit closer to here. Uh we have started construction on Centro, our remote operating center here in Ngalas. Uh really appreciate all the support and uh and help from the city and getting the permits in place so that we can get this important part of the project going. The uh access road on the north end of the site, as you see there, is already done. And with the permits we've received in the last month, we've actually started to break ground and do foundation work on the building. As we've said in the past, more than 200 people will work here at Centro rather than go out to the mine site. This is the state-of-the-art facility where we will monitor and control all of the autonomous and semi-autonomous equipment fleets that will operate underground as well as remotely operate certain fleets and the process plant. Um, and so we do expect to have that facility done sometime mid next year um and up and running. And we are um we have commenceed construction there. So just really wanted to thank the city for the

cooperation. This is going to be exciting as we start to get this. This is uh a part of the project that really is going to be next generation technology and provide a lot of opportunities for for local employment. Next slide, please. I've shown this before, but I want to just reinforce it. On top of 900 construction employees who are all living in the county, um we have ramped up to about 260 full-time employees directly working for South 32. We're starting to look to begin hiring for the operational workforce at the back end of this year. Uh so our workforce locally will double over the next 18 months. So, we'll hire another 3 to 350 people from the end of this year uh to the end of next year. Um so, that inflection point that's coming uh real soon. Um ultimately, as we've said, about 8 to 900 long-term jobs. Next slide, please. I just wanted to put this up real quick. We've talked a lot about Centro and how it enables local workforce. It will be essentially the headquarters of our operation. So it won't just be the people that are operating the underground mine. So these are the kinds of roles we will have at Centro. So all of our engineering disciplines from mining to civil electrical, mechanical, um all of our geologist, environmental scientist, hydrogeeologist, supply chain finance, all of our support functions. Uh so it's also a great opportunity for local students that go into those fields and get degrees to have long-term career opportunities back home. Um and so we did want to just show this. I think there's been a lot of questions about what other types of opportunities that will present. And I think for the collegebound uh type careers, it's going to present a real

new opportunity uh for students in the local area to come home and have a long-term career. So, we're really excited. Again, that's why it's great to see Centro progressing and and only about a year away. Next slide, please. So, we have, as I've said in the past, committed to at least 80% of the long-term workforce, existing residents of the county. We're going to have to do a lot of training to make that happen. Uh we last year signed theou with the Santa Cruz Center so that we can deliver all of the workforce training programs in Ngalas. We will not train anybody in Tucson. Everyone will be afforded the opportunity to train for these roles here. Uh so we've got a really uh good group working now with Puma Community College delivering curriculum through the Santa Cruz Center here in Ngalas. Uh as you know, we kicked off the first local workforce training program last August, an electrical program. It's the first skilled trades training program in the county. um that first cohort of 16 will graduate this August. One of the great things that um or one of the things we were concerned about most of these programs you typically do have some level of attrition, people going back to school after not having been in school for a while, going back doing math again, things like that. Um we're on track for all 16 to graduate in August. We've had no attrition and all existing residents of the county. We will hire probably most of those, but they, as we've said before, they don't pay tuition. They don't have to work for us if they want to go do something else. And we're training about double what we need long term to provide some upskilling more broadly in the community. We'll launch the second program this fall. So, this one's been in development throughout the year. It'll be an automated industrial technology certificate that will really start to target some of the skills at Centro. So we can train people that have

no mining experience in 18 months to do these roles uh at Centro and this will kind of be the start of that. So we'll launch another cohort. The size of the cohorts limited because of curriculum, equipment, facilities, but we will run subsequent cohorts to continue to um cycle people through. So folks that go through this program will get job ready skills where they could immediately go in an entry- level role. Um, so we're excited to continue to roll these out here in the county and start to think about long term what facilities we need to implement these programs more permanently. Next slide, please. So local employment is a big focus for maximizing benefit for the local community, but another one that is really critical that we've been focused on is local procurement. So in addition to hiring people locally, doing business with local Santa Cruz Countyowned businesses to the fullest extent possible also helps maximize the economic benefit of our activities. So we've been working for I think a little over a year now. I think uh Olivia came and presented our vendor readiness program to you sometime late last year in one of your meetings. So, we're partnered with the Ngala Santa Cruz County Chamber of Commerce on helping local businesses prepare uh to be able to provide goods or services to South 32 as our business grows. So, we're going to have targets about maximizing what percentage of our spend is from local Santa Cruz County owned businesses. This partnership's been very successful so far. Uh in the last year or so, we've onboarded more than 115 local vendors and businesses, local Santa Cruz County owned businesses to do business with us. If you look at the chart there, the black bar is 2025 spend by month and then total for the first quarter and the yellow is this year. So you can see we've doubled um local spend in the

local community over the last year with local businesses. This is really early stages. We expect that number to go up exponentially over time and start to look at how we support local businesses to and entrepreneurs to actually develop new businesses to support our needs as well. So, this is one we're we're quite excited about the impact it can have. Typically, in a mining operation, every permanent job generates three to four indirect jobs in the community. And that's what this is aimed at is these businesses obviously generate more economic output, but they also hire more people the more business and work they get. Next slide. I think that's it. Uh so that's the end of the update. Again, appreciate the time. Um and happy to take any questions you might have.

Council, any questions? Mr. Well, the only thing um that I want to say is uh thank you for South 32 here in our community. Uh it's really been a boost for especially our youth. They have something to look forward to. They can they can uh train. And the only thing I was going to ask what what is the starting pay uh with uh when once they're trained and is that it for all levels or so that the average salary for our 800 jobs the average will be 90,000 a year including or plus benefits. Yeah. So

some a little less some a little more but on average and that doesn't include management roles. So that's actually you know all all of the the the workers. Yeah. Yes. Thanks a lot. Go ahead. By Mr. Riceer, uh you said that uh you still have uh tours available. Uh is that for the public or just for government entities?

Yeah. So, the first Friday of every month, we offer public tours. You have to sign up, but it is available to anyone. Um and Sandra Maraga who's here who sits in our Ngalas office just next door here can help with those. Uh but yeah, there is a process to sign up, but anybody can come on the public tours. Um we also do special tours for groups that want to come uh and see a bit more. And so um just encourage council staff or anybody else if you want to come see it a little closer, we're happy to organize that. It's um the way it's taken shape now, we can actually show people. We've been talking a lot about what's different about what we're doing. Um we can actually show people now as things are starting to go up. But yeah, public tours first Friday of every month.

Okay. Thank you. That's it. Thank Thank you, Pat. Uh you know, thank you for keeping us uh aware of everything you're doing and especially the the the plus on on the permitting and all that on the water. you know, we talked a lot more than the council do, but uh I appreciate everything the mine's been doing in in this area. And hopefully, you know, with with your central, you know, any details, just feel free to let us know. Uh hopefully don't we won't have any uh you know, um parameters of stops and all that coming about. So, let us know. Thank you.

Go ahead, Mr. Do.

Yes. I guess uh you know you I just want to say uh South 32 has changed a I guess the the way we used to see mining operations. Uh I think I think uh the way your operation has taken the lead role and being proactive on the on the safety of our community and the surroundings by doing without being you know forced by say the state or anyone else or federal that that you guys have gone out there and and actually testing the air, the water and and taking so many things in consideration. It it kind of makes us feel that, you know, we're we're in a sense it brings a certain amount of gratitude from us as as uh leaders of our community that that you're taking that proactive role. So, thank you so much for bringing all these things to our to the forefront and letting us know that, you know, you're you're being very or your operation is being very considered with the community ecology uh and and uh the environment surrounding uh the mining operations. Thank you again.

Oh, thank you. Appreciate it. Thank you, sir. All right.

Thank you. Next we move to item C. No have marathon estress. Go ahead. Thank you. Thank you mayor and city council members. Um my name is Edgardo Munos um presenting Cos Movement and with me is Melissa Gos. Uh program director. So, first I want to and foremost I would like to express our sincere gratitude for the trust you placed on us during the recent Mattfest H event. By granting us the permit to manage our alcohol license, we deeply value the support. Thanks to your collaboration, we secured the permit and the event was a resounding success. So, thank you very much. And just to let you know, the funding that we made through the the sales is we're putting together um as you know, we we've been exploring different opportunities and uh like art and music. So the the the funding will be provided. We will hopefully we'll provide a a program of three months. We're still working on it uh to to do aro pueblo plo. So hopefully that's coming pretty soon. So today we also like to to take this opportunity to share the impact and relevance of the nogalis marathon and health fair to be celebrated this coming April 25th. We are currently preparing to welcome approximate 1,200 participants

with an estimate to flow.

Sorry. Oh, when is a torial flow um this is total flow of 2000 to 3,000 people during the event of which between 25% and 30% of these visitors travel mainly from cities like Tucson and other areas outside of our county. This makes this makes the event not just a celebration of physical activity but also a essential platform for promoting our city Ngales Arizona. In the most leading of the event, members of our organization actively participating events and races outside of our city. We act at as ambassadors promoting the wonderful Ngales have marathon and highlighting the best of what Ngales has to offer. We are proud to be organizing the fifth edition of this event which has pro proven to be a true community festival in addition to fostering health and social connection. It generates a positive economic impact by benefiting our local hotels, restaurants and businesses. We know as cases where local loin has reached full occupancy during the event weekend. It is important to emphasize that the resources genate generated are primarily directed towards our programs and services we offer free of charge to our community. Uh this include our summer bike camp where we have several serve about a 100 kids and youth every year in the past four years providing sometimes with safety education bicycle helmets and other resources. Seress

juice center where we offer calistania yoga, sumba and spinning classes through collaboration and serress initiative which mostly are free of cost and open to the community. Our youth program which is our point of great pride as it represent Ngales and Santa Cruz County at the state level even achieving a state championship and many more other programs that we offer. That said, we understand that new guidelines for city contribution have been established this year. How however we respectfully consider the currently assigning amount is sufficient is sufficient for an event of this magnitude. Logistics are complex and while there is a registration fee between 50% and 60% of the income is dedicated to operational costs such as awards, medals, shirts and professional timing. Furthermore, a significant portion of their registration is given away for free through social sponsorship. Many of these free entries go directly to schools. Uh in addition of this cost, we must now cover essation services such as street closure and public safety with uh an estimated expense of $3,000 to $5,000 which significantly impacts our opa operation capacity there. There's therefore we respectfully ask you to re reconsider the donation amount and as a previous years provide the city's full support just as we recognize and appreciate your ongoing collaboration

city manager Steve, you understand that? need help. She she's asking if you know for the for us uh council manager and and myself to try to adopt this as an annual race uh you know with our collaboration and support that with without us they they would not be able to do the race. Um depending on when this event takes place, we are kind of in the right time of the year to be considering requests.

Yeah. This one, this first one's April 24th, right? 25th. Yeah. 25th. Yeah. Um can you um send me an email tomorrow? Sure. Okay. be s pockin at noises and uh we'll get with the finance department and see where we're at. Okay. Okay. Sure. Thank you. Appreciate your consideration. Yes. And and obviously you're more than welcome to to hopefully participate again at at the event. See you there. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Steve. Mayor,

did you have Yes, sir. I understood they were also they were asking for the city to sponsor on an annual basis. That's I thought that was a request. Is that what you were asking that the city sponsor this event annually? Yes. That will be us. I mean that's that's

no because and the reason I I asked because this this is an event that brings tourism and every it brings people from outside to our communities and again they come and spend their money here on our hotels, our restaurants, our gas stations and and other things that they might have need of. They might even go shopping and whatnot. But it's a good event to have. you know that it kind of puts no Galos always a little more on the maps statewide and internationally. So I I don't see anything wrong with that request.

Okay. But no, mayor, but but I I want to make a recommendation. And we're having another meeting this week which is going to be uh Friday and I think there's still time to put it on the agenda uh to to okay it so it'll be covered for this month's uh activity which is in in April 25th. So if we vote on it Friday and we accept it then then it'll be covered starting this this year April 25th. So, I I' I'd like uh our city uh uh manager,

no, the manager, but but mo Yes. But but mostly I'd like to place that on the agenda with our city clerk and that way we can have an opportunity to discuss it this Friday morning and vote on it. Yes. And and uh the meeting has not been announced. Uh there's a there's a liquor license that that was uh asked for earlier and and so we'll talk about it later. I was I was just aware just like you guys today. Okay. Thank you. Yes, sir. Vice Mayor, I saw a morning meeting, but because I understand that the city's going to be closing at

at 10:00 a.m. Oh, that's what we may counsel. We could have a a remote session on Friday at 10. That is the plan. Yeah. But I think it's it's it behooves the city manager that um maybe they'll write the email so that you can figure out logistically and we could be ready for Friday so we won't ask so many questions because this they've done this every year. They know exactly what their needs are to make this happen and and so I think that it it the email should go through as soon as possible. Yes. and and if um if you could write it

make that email that you're going to send me tomorrow clear on what you're specifically requesting from the city that way it can go on the Friday agenda. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you.

Definitely. It's something that can work with the comm with the city and the community to bring, you know, sports and everything. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Melissa and thank you. Next, we move to item D, Sarah Club uh borderland presentation is what was it? Um, this is Eric and Eric is uh has asked me to put this on the agenda so he can talk a little bit about um what the Sierra Club Borderlands does for the community. Thank you for being here, Eric.

Thank you so much uh for for your time, mayor and city council. Uh this is my first time uh I get to uh address the Ngales city council, but definitely not the first time I've been in Ngales. Uh I had the opportunity to work with the community in different areas. Uh working with the food bank and now with the Sierra Club and it's just always a a joy of mine to come here because you know I'm from Mexico so I've always been able to nogal brings me a lot of childhood memories when I was coming and had the privilege to come back and forth. Uh as mentioned uh my name is Eric Messa and I coordinate the borderlands program for the Sierra Club. We are an environmental organization that is national. We are not only in Arizona, we are across the country and we have over a million members across the nation. Um so today what I kind of wanted to show you is a little bit about the work that we do in the border. Uh I also want to share with you a concern uh on a particular topic that we're working on right now. Uh raising awareness through a campaign. Uh and I also have a few ideas that I would like to share, you know, to uh bring to the through the city council. So, uh next slide, please. Um so, I don't have to tell you about the border because you are border residents and you're very familiar with how it looks out there and what kind of has brought us here to uh you know, be out there in the border. I spent a lot of time uh near the border wall documenting environmental impacts that border wall does uh to uh wildlife to uh the communities themselves and we get to see a a lot that people don't see because you know get getting out to these remote areas sometimes is not like

you know what we do you know like these are places like really far away hard to get and to be honest they don't feel very uh inviting at some places you Um, so this is a picture uh in near Douglas. You know, it's this picture actually won uh picture of the year by the National Geographic. It's called Blocked. And I think it just kind of sends a uh tells you uh a good story of how the border is not only blocking human migration, but also how it can block from the smallest residents of the border. In this case, a beautiful road runner there. Uh next slide, please. uh just kind of to provide you some context about our work. We started working on border. We created the borderlands program for the Sierra Club after uh 2008, you know, before the first Trump administration. But we definitely seen the increase of uh border wall construction during the first Trump administration as some of you are aware. And this is a picture of 2019, for example. These are all pictures taken from the same spot uh in the Oregon Pipe National Monument. The picture that you see on the top is a beautiful sonor and desert landscape with all over trees, the sawarro cactus. Next picture is a year later uh when construction start going on and all of those beautiful plants start getting bulldoed and removed and 2021 it is pretty much how it looks right now. Um do you notice any differences? Yeah. Well, the thing is like if you really pay attention to the first picture, you see how this is a beautiful desert ecosystem and you go to just two years later, it is completely different with a berm now that doesn't allow water moving through etc. The point that I

want to make with this picture is that the border is changing is changing really fast and the effects that we are creating we don't even have an idea. This is an experimental uh this is an experiment at a continental scale because the only reason and the only way they're able to get away with this construction is by waving every single environmental law that we have and this is really unfortunate because as border communities uh we pay that price. So I think it's really important to recognize that. So as these things are start happening so rapidly. This is if you want to go to the next slide. I don't know if I'm going to be able to play the videos unfortunately. Um let's see if that plays. No. I have a lot of uh have a few videos on my presentation. They're really short videos. Uh unfortunately I don't think it's going to play because you put it on PowerPoint, right? So it's and that's kind of good. I won't be able to torture it too much with like really sad images of uh wildlife just getting stuck at the border. You know, it is just we have partnered with other organizations locally like Sky Islands Alliance, Wildlands Network, Center of Biological Diversity that have the capacity to set up cameras out there and be able to document what's happening over there. And what we see over and over again is pretty much, as you can imagine, anything that is over 4 in wide, just pretty much stuck on either side of the border, you know. So in 2019, we filed a lawsuit to the federal government to try to figure out a way to give an opportunity to these animals to move, you know, because if you all of a sudden cut the um territory of uh of a certain species to be able to move freely

through the border, you're also cutting on half their chances of survival. you know, if they don't find the food and the resources they need, they're going to die, you know, and it is what we see. And so, one of the things that we created as part of this lawsuit was these small wildlife openings, which is modifications on the border wall, two inches on each side, that allows some larger creatures to move. And yes, I was really skeptical at the beginning. Uh, this is not going to work. It's about the size of a sheet of paper. But to our surprise, we start seeing a lot of animals moving through it. We see havalas moving through it. We see uh coyotes. Uh we see mountain lion moving through it. So that was a big win. We have about 80 of them in the border. And we want more. Uh so that's kind of one of the ways that we are able to mitigate the harm that the border wall does. Unfortunately, it doesn't work for all animals. So you might know here near Ngales we have black bear, we have jaws, we have other species that are super important for the ecosystem and some of them actually in uh in danger you know of you know we might lose them forever. So next slide please. Obviously what we need is some larger uh wildlife passages. Um, oh, here it is. One of the havalas using it. Isn't that handsome? So, next one, please. Uh, and that is a video of a mountain lion. Unfortunately, we won't be able to see it, but if you look, there is a different type of uh uh uh opening in the border wall. And that's what that mountain lion is using. Nature. It is very amazing if we only give it a chance. You know, that is another uh video of a mountain lion using one of these wildlife crossings. Uh I would

love to uh share a little bit more of these videos with you if you're interested to see them. But one of the things that I kind of wanted to share with you today is that now we just not facing border walls. You know, border walls, uh as you know, the Department of Homeland Security through the big beautiful bill received 46.5 billion dollars And that's enough money to wall the entire US Mexico border and in some places twice and there are plans already to do secondary border wall. So we are going the Paharito Mountain some of you are familiar with it. It's under plans to have secondary border wall. It doesn't even have a wall right now because it's so remote and it is so rough to get through there that it doesn't even really needed it. But now they're planning to do two. We can talk a little bit more why, you know, but this is the San Rafael Valley here. And on the picture on the left, San Rafael Valley is between the Wuka Mountains and the Patagonia Mountains, the headarters of the Santa Cruz River. And talking about the Santa Cruz River, that picture was taken yesterday. Uh the one on the right that is the Santa Cruz River crossing coming into the United States just uh east of Ngales. Now let me ask you a question. What is going to happen with that concertina wire when we have the monsoon season coming? Do you think that's going to hold? No. Some of you that know that the how this river runs, they know that it comes full strength. This is a picking bomb. This is an accident waiting to happen when that river runs on the monsoon season. And when we're seeing right now these events that are just creating, we have El Nino

coming this year and it's apparently and hopefully will bring more water. But all this concertina wire is going to flow down the river and probably a lot of it is going to end up half buried into the sand creating a a potential and for sure harm to pretty much any creature that steps on it including humans. So next picture please. And just so just you know like one thing is definitely very uh easy to recognize is that concertina wire you know if a 30 foot wall with rolls on the top is not stopping a human do you think one sitting on the ground is going to do it? No. The answer is no. And we all know it you know. So I think it is important to know that what we're seeing right now started in December of this last year. We had uh historical deployment of concertina wire in all the US Mexico border. 45,000 rolls of concertina wire were given to the military and department of homeland security by uh 46 million investment uh done by the government through a corporation that it is in Ohio. So it's not even pro like giving any people locally any jobs and if you start following the money which is always what I recommend this corporation that is international uh is publicly uh traded and owned 98% of those shares are owned by black rockck if you don't know black rock uh I'll suggest to Google it uh it is is going to give you some answers. So right now what we have is uh hundreds of miles of concertina wire that is just being given to the department of homeland

security and recently I talked to border patrol station here in Ngalis. He's like hey what can we do? We did uh uh we put out an action alert so people can comment and over a thousand people in the community comment against it because they know and they have seen that this hasn't really have the effects that is intended to have and border patrol told me yes I understand Eric you know but this is not something that we took a decision on this comes from above you need to talk to your uh lawmakers you know because we are just following orders and if we month even if we think that this is useless we are going to get fired and I understand that okay so this is what uh our communities are starting to look like right now uh you know I understand the concertina wire on the top but now it's like all over the floor this piece I went to the border today and it was like seriously I invite you there is like trash all over the place left over by the military or border patrol they're carelessly I mean without any care just left all these pieces sitting on the ground and where is this going to happen when it rains and the rain washes away this and somebody steps on it. So next picture please. So, Ngales is not new to this. You know, I think this has happened before. And in 2019, some of you remember uh mayor at that time uh Aruro Garino uh and the city council uh did a resolution, you know, that said that the razor wire will harm or kill anyone who scales the wall and is only found in war prisons or battle settings and should not be in downtown Ngales.

is Ngales for you a war or prison or battle setting you know and yeah I I talked to the neighbors there uh on the area I spent some time there and they said like you know in the past we saw a lot of people moving through but now the numbers have dropped so much that we don't see anybody crossing you know they have seen other different things that they have implemented that have worked even better so what is the justification I ask you all to continue to put rolls over rolls over rolls on the ground. And that's how it starts. Starts on the ground, starts on the top, goes down to the ground. And what we've seen in other communities is they put it on the other side of the street. Now, so picture there shows a is a really sad picture. It's just a kid going through it in Texas. It's a person that fell also in California. You know, like this is like I said, you know, even for the people that try to go over, it is a ticking bomb. People will get hurt and we need to do something about it. I feel like, you know, some next picture. So, that's a good question. And they said that they were planning to it if there was uh if the concertina wire was not removed and I believe that the concertina wire was removed back then. So this is how it looks right now in certain areas. Uh this is just west uh of the port of entry in a section there that it sits on the ground. But it gets much worse. You know at least that area is protected by a handrail. But if you go a little bit higher on that street, all of the concertina wire is exposed right next to the wall

that there is a kid on a bike or somebody on a motorcycle driving to there that might have a an accident. It is just really really on and it's just three layer rolls on the ground. while you also have the ones on top and when you see as a white line over there uh between the bowlers and the plates on the top that is a motion detection technology which is more than welcome you know we need to figure out what's happening so next picture it is well you know nature provide us with some uh protection itself you know I'm no designer of Photoshop or anything. But I just kind of was picturing it's like, well, what about if we plant cactus there, you know, that could be just an interesting way to explore how can we make things different? You know, think about it in a different way. We don't have to just settle with what they're giving us, which is the prison concentration camp type of look. You know, we can beautify B areas and pretty much serving the same purpose. Let me ask you a question. You will go through a wall like that of choyas and cactus and agave? No, probably not. But you know, it will also bring some other beneficial aspects. It will beautify the city. We'll bring pollinators. We'll bring birds and some of the native species that are needed of these areas. You know, more green areas. That was something that was shared earlier as well. How much needed this on the town? So, sucks. I don't know. I just wanted I didn't want to just bring a problem. I also

like, hey, let's think about an alternative here. uh that might be interesting to think about. Uh next slide, please. Uh so I think for for me personally and the thousands of people that helped me sign these comments and uh the community in general that I represent on the environmental community uh you know I'm asking the city council if they can consider you know bringing yet another resolution to remove the concertina wire that is at least at the ground level in the city limits. I am going to be talking to the uh board of supervisors about the ones outside of the city limits. I've been talking to other lawmakers. Adelita Grihalva is on board and she's been really supportive and wants to see this gone as well. So, next week we're also meeting with Senator Mark Kelly staff to uh present this issue. And this is one of the things that we would love to see from the city council. uh we would love to have your support uh to remove whatever is on the ground of this concertina wire. In another idea is like what can we do also to continue to beautify space. One of the things that we have done in other areas and we would love Ngales to spearhead the movement of bational pollinator gardens that help us bring beauty to the border and shift that narrative. Pollinator gardens are uh includes native plants that uh bring they're very low cost and low maintenance and help brings butterflies, bees and birds and all uh help us beautify in general or public spaces. Um so just wanted to throw that idea out there of how can uh we also as a city you know designate a small space. We don't need much you know 10 by 10 but

that signal of uh unity and hope you know it help us start shifting the narrative of our borders that's there is so much negative right now. uh and uh in our commitment, you know, we're not only asking, but we're also willing to support in any step of the process with we've been working with different groups here in the community designing gardens and doing this type of work for many years. And we also have a grant available of $1,000 that we are happy to uh bring into the community to create a a small pollinator garden. So, I just want to say thank you again for your time and uh let me uh present on this issue.

Thank you, Eric. You have a color, Miss Mont?

Just want to thank you, Eric. Thank you very much for um asking me to put this on the agenda. I really appreciate it. and I saw you when uh Congresswoman Adilita was here and uh you also presented this idea and uh hopefully you get their support because that's really important. Of course they the money follows. Just a minute, John. Um the money follows and that's that's what we need, right? Um does the government uh is it are they okay with us doing or you implementing that idea of the cactuses and so forth along the border? I know they're very they're very delicate about, you know, their space. Have you

Department of Homeland Security? Yeah, Homeland Security. Are they okay with you doing these gardens? That's a good question. I'm happy to present it to them. I'm meeting with the uh person from uh from Border Patrol and uh as soon as the DHS uh bill passes and they get funding again uh uh officer uh Hulen who is uh here station on

on Ngales is going to give me a tour but also this is we are also in a constant conversation with like once again you know we need to go to the higher ends. Yeah, that's why that's something that we're working on. I think uh my idea of presenting this, you know, kind of like a alternative, you know, it's just Yeah, it's a a good idea.

Yeah. And it can be done not necessarily on the ruse of a reservation but in some other areas because you know what we see in here it is just uh unfortunately uh the border you know it's being used as a sacrificial zone for these new technologies or new border security implementations now we see it with the national defense areas how it starts at the border and later gets used in other different parts of the country like DCLA and all these things. So I think it's important as border communities that we oppose these issues. Uh all all these uh things that they try to force on us because you know we are like a uh we are right here seeing it firsthand you know and I think it can only get worse if we let them.

Yeah. Well thank you. Thank you Cesat too. I know you've been very helpful. Cesat you're not asleep yet right? No you're never sleeps. you're always awake and going but thank you for the collaboration that uh you've provided to us. Thank you too. Thank you Mr. D.

Have you done some research on on the numbers uh from the past administration to this administration on illegal border crossings? And because I I' I've just by looking I've I've seen that there's not that it's dropped considerably over the years and and I think this is kind of overkill and I don't think this is what has deterred it's a change of policies and whatnot. So, uh maybe just with uh with stronger policies and enforcement that was kind of lax for a while, it probably discouraged the the new policy discourage people from coming over. Uh and so, do we really need this kind of wiring or or when when really what really discourages border crossing? cuz I you know it it's kind of hard on on the one's conscience to think that somebody fell into that type of wine trying to climb over the fence or whatever when they can pick them up right away even you know that's we were having a a real influx of immigrants trying to you know scale the walls and come over but we you know they put so much money into homeland security that the enforcement is there I mean and things have changed And it's really uh I think this is just overkill. I don't think there's no way uh unless it's it's an aggression of war or something from an invading country or something trying to come into our to our country which we would analyate right away. Uh and so so that's this is this is kind of maddening is that this doesn't go along with uh a a border area that's more for you know sustained environment ecology and everything you know uh the normal flow

of like you say jaguars are close to extinction uh and and so not only that like you said in the flooding areas that can really be lethal for our own citizens way down the river, you know, not just right there. And it might even I don't know how strong those things are, how much, but the river, Santa Cruz River, when it's flooding, I mean, it'll knock down bridges or anything that's in its way. And and if if if it if a dam builds up along that line, doesn't take a lot of a lot of time before that pressure just knocks everything down, you know, and now you have all kinds of problems. But I think those are points that that those are points that you need to bring out also that possibly things that can happen. But uh but anyway, those, you know, I'm glad you're working on it and you ought to do a little research on the numbers and and then, you know, bring those other points of things that can happen. Uh there's no sense for overkill when we have things under control. And it's when I saw mostly it's the policies that came into play that have turned the the tide on on people wanting to come over. You know, nobody wants to, you know, people are happy. A lot of people are h well at least here in Mexico. I don't know further down, but they're starting to find out that it's not so easy now to come and enjoy life here in the United States when you'reounded within the country. I think the problem that's probably the biggest problem in the country is picking up people that don't belong here and sending them back. So, you know, those are two different issues really. Uh, if you know, so check that out.

Definitely. Thank you so much, Councilman.

Do where do you get your numbers? Um, as far as how many people have died, what what is the envir environmental impact that you're talking about? Where do you get these numbers? Is this your your opinion or where do you where are you getting these numbers? Uh as far as all these environmental impacts that the the border ball is causing um I didn't give any numbers in regards to how many people is dying. Uh the numbers I gave is how much is costing us taxpayers. uh for uh there has been uh documented cases of people getting entangle and cutting themselves severely in uh the total amount that we have been able to document doesn't necessarily reflect of the amount of people that actually got cut because some of people was maybe got away. uh but you know I think for what I have seen on my research there has been at least five incidents in the entire US Mexico border people on tangle on the top of the border wall. Um and for wildlife this is very also uh recent uh like I mentioned before in December was when they start really ramping up the concertina wire in areas where there is no wall you know like tying it to the uh vehicle barriers like I show you in the San Rafael Valley which they're actually building a wall there too. So it is kind of like putting the concert in a wire before the border wall comes in in an area that according to the numbers of border patrol the number of crossings are much less than most of the other places in the border. Um so yeah I

don't really have uh I don't know which numbers do you really refer well you just said that the concertina wire is going to is causing all these types of deaths. You said it it you said it right now. So, I'm asking you where are you getting these numbers? You're talking about an environmental impact. I would agree that some of these barriers will cause some type of environmental impact, but where exactly how much, how many because then it just if you don't have the numbers to back it up in how much then it's just I guess your opinion. Uh so, how much where are you getting these numbers? Where that's that's what I'm asking. Where are you getting this information? Yeah. Uh, Mr. Councilmore, I don't think I gave any numbers of that.

Well, I know that's why I'm asking you where where where are you found? I guess let me rephrase that. How are you coming to this uh I guess conclusion that it's going to cause that it's going to cause all this deep environmental impact. Uh I will agree that downtown it is an eyesore. Uh it is a very bad eyesore uh to have that Constantino wire. As a matter of fact, we have students from the Department of Defense that come here every year in February and that's one of the things that grabs their attention is why do we have are they ask me are we at war with Mexico and we say no. I will agree that in some areas the concertina wire is overkill. Um but again my my question is where where do you draw a conclusion that there shouldn't be no Constantina wire anywhere? Well, I think uh you know just by looking at it and seeing how sharp it is and acknowledging that in some of the places that has been deployed recently we have extensive documentation of wildlife moving through uh it's just matter of time like we there has been documentation in other places like for example in Europe of animals getting tangled on the concertina wire we don't have at this moment any case documented by any of the environmental community of uh uh and thank God you know that a deer entangle on the concertina wire if that's what you're referring to but you know by looking at the situation maybe the deer is lucky enough and smart enough to don't go through it but that doesn't mean that it is uh helping in any way to the environment to create another barrier for them to move through

the landscape you've got. Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Eric. Any other questions?

And and we've gone through this, Eric. Uh you know, I know back, you know, when Garino put that uh complaint. uh you know, I was a councilman and and uh unfortunately, you know, that sometimes it's hard to tell or dictate what federal u regulations and federal uh practices are going to be at our border. You know, we do talk, you know, I talked to the the border patrol, the CBPs and all that. you know, we've told them, hey, you know, at least not in the city and stuff like that, but what they're doing right now is, you know, extreme and unfortunately, you know, it comes all from Washington and, you know, uh we just had a meeting last week uh with Border Patrol and Miss Par and myself were there and and chief and assistant and it's, you know, their criteria and and thought of is basically they uh do what they can to cross uh you know to avoid injuries of animals and stuff like that but and they're limited you know cuz their their main criteria or state of mind is from Washington is hold all you know illegal from crossing and that's humans you know but you know uh I made the question about wildlife and stuff like that and you know they're trying to do what they can with with the the little holes that you you showed right now, stuff like that, little openings like that. And, you know, discuss about the the rain. You know, when it comes, it comes. Uh, you know, there's areas where they might have to manpower the, you know, part of the wall and lift it while the rain goes by and stuff like that. Uh but you know it's

sometimes it's very hard you know for us to tell federal to what to do you know so we try we're trying.

Thank you. I appreciate it mayor and um it's uh like you mentioned you know just so you're all aware during the months of June through September the border wall is full of gaps for these storm gates that need to remain open through the monsoon season. Um, so that's an opportunity for wildlife and we have identified several areas that we hopefully they'll leave them all year long. Obviously, it's naive to think that people will not cross through there, but we uh we know that border patrol has the the things that they need on place to be able to prevent that from happening. I think it's like we saw it's important to give wildlife a chance and make sure that we uh leave this legacy of conservation also for the future generations. So, thank you for your work.

Yes. Thank you. Thank you, Eric. Mayor, legal has comment. Go ahead. Sorry about that. I this was on for a presentation only, but council can give direction on bringing something back to council if council wants to look at the prior resolution and consider bringing another one at a at the future meeting so we don't have to go to another meeting and then request it or you know so if that's is there any objection from council uh bring back

with me bringing back a a proposed resolution to try to address some of the concerns with regard to the Constantina wire on the ground within the the downtown city limits. Oh, yeah. And especially, you know, the the partials of being left uh left left there, you know, to not getting picked up and stuff like that. So, thank you. Good with that. Appreciate it. I'll get working on it. I won't be able to have it done by the special meeting on Friday, but uh that'll kind of speed things along if there's no objection.

Yes. Okay. Thank you. Next we move to item E presentation by John Blake um to consider the possible approval of the request from the Pimea Ala Historical Society to install a isosone monument at Pimea Ala or another possible location.

Thank you mayor. I also place this on the agenda. Um Mr. John Blake from Ben Ala reached out to me. Um, and uh, here's Judge Lopez and Rammon Garcia, my neighbor, uh, to give a presentation. Thank you for being here, gentlemen. Uh, thank you, mayor, council, city manager, for allowing us to come and give you some good news for a change.

We uh, are here. Well, first of all, uh I'm pinch hitting for John Blake, who was unable to come today, but we wanted to let the city council and mayor know that the uh Jewish um American Society for Historic Preservation has identified Ngales as one of the historic sites uh across the entire United States that they would like to highlight. uh because and some of us may know this and some of us may not but one of the founders of Ngales was in fact a Russian Jew who moved here via London and then New York and then Chicago and then eventually Ngales because he had heard that the railroad uh was the Sonora railroad was going to be coming up from Guimas and it was going to meet the Arizona New Mexico railroad here in Ngales and he looked at that and said there's an opportunity there. And so, uh, two brothers, um, ended up moving to Ngales. Uh, Jacob Isacson and his brother both moved here, uh, in the early well the 1800 1800s. And what they did is they homesteaded a piece of land here in our community and they built a mud hut, which became a general store. And that general store uh was the basic starting block for Nales. Now it was originally called Isaacson, which a lot of Mexicans had a lot of problems pronouncing. So a lot of it came out as Isakon. Uh but there was I believe about 150 people living here and about 10 saloons. Uh eventually uh he became one the

postmaster in Ngales and eventually then the populace of Ngales voted to change the name to Ngales which is walnut tree which was what the uh valley was known for. And uh he I believe must have been really upset by that if you could imagine the the citizens changing from uh Isacson to Ngales. and he ended up uh moving. So he packed it up and moved to San Francisco to Los Angeles and then San Francisco. Anyway, this piece of history of Jewish history has become something of interest and this society has decided to gift us a plaque, something like around the size of the one that says no cell phone uh use in the meetings. Uh it's a plaque that can be placed anywhere anywhere we would like to place it. It's completely free. They're constructing it. It takes about 12 months to construct. It will have enough room for 164 words for us to tell this story. We get to tell it as long as we confirm or at least mention that this is a Jewish American who came here and who founded the town. Um, it can it will be bilingual, so it'll be double-sided and have an English side and a Spanish side. And we can basically decide where to put it. So, we kindly wanted to ask the city to help because we are going to have to likely put it in a place where the public can see it or we'd like to put it where the public can see it, which means we'll need uh the city to let us put it up somewhere. Um, and that can be really open to public comment. It can be really anywhere. Um, for us as the historical society, it's important for us. Our mission is to tell the story to keep our history of the Pimeia Alta which goes from Tucson all the way to Magdalena. It's this uh Santa Cruz River corridor and this we feel is an important part of our history and we

would like to commemorate it accept the gift from the um this association who's willing to gift it to us and we would like to have be able to place it somewhere either where the public can see it. I will say that we do have a small plaque already that um mentions this in the Karum Park, but it's very small. It only mentions the name and the year that uh Ngalas was settled. Um this would be more encompassing of the whole story. And uh so is there anything that you wanted to add about the story? Uh ju just more detail about Isaxen when it was called Isaxen. It was called Nogalis 1880. So the two brothers, the Isixsons, what Jacob and Isaac, Isixson, uh it was everybody called it Nogalas in 1880, but Jacob um became postmaster for this small 150 per person community. And uh so the US government decided to call Nogalis Isixson. That was 1880. So three years elapsed 1883. The railroad had already met in 1882. The two railroads, the Sonora Railway from Wimus and the New Mexico and Arizona Railroad from Benson, they they meet here in 1882. But by 1883 uh the Nogalian the Isixsons in that at that time wanted a name change and like he mentioned it was hard to pronounce Isixson.

So the postmaster general renamed Isaxen Nogalis again. So it was called Isixson for almost three years. So, uh, Jerry Clinger, he's the he founded the Jewish American Association for Hisical Historical Preservation. And I think the sign is a little bit bigger than that sign. And it has like a pole. There's a website if if you Google uh Jewish American Society for Historical Preservation a week, the first thing that comes out is a Wikipedia on the history of the association. There's some pictures of some examples of some of those signs in different cities across the United States. So they're offering to have to honor Jacob and Isaac Isaxson here in Ngalas with a historical marker and they're paying for it and they just need a location for it.

Go ahead. Um, do you have an idea of where you would want to place it so everyone can

Well, some of the board members have um said in front of the old city hall building is it there's it's a large sidewalk and there there's a lot of space. Uh I I don't think it would be very I I think there's plenty of space to put it there and I think it would be appropriate place to put it. Uh I read an old article 1950s I think and I think Hansen Cisk wrote it about he wrote an article about the Isixson brothers and if my memory serves me correct and I I didn't document the date of that article. It's out there somewhere. But he thought that the the old general store was in the area of where the old via de Paris building is in that area. So I thought my personal opinion would be that would probably be a appropriate place to put it on International Street near the via old via the buddies building. But a lot of board members thought maybe in front of the old city hall building.

Okay. Mr. Do um I think your most of your board members are probably correct because even though a lot of that was the old station, the crossing over there, but now it's not that visible anymore that area of town and right here the old it's more you have a historical building. A lot of people walk and they and they walk and they go visit the museum. That's where it belongs. That's true. The um there's a space uh where the um the statue of the uh the the newspaper delivery boy. We we knocked down the the kiosk that was there.

And that's and that's that's an open space. And you know, uh, we if there's no other space, I think that you should look at that at that piece of property. I think that that would be the way the project supposedly is going to be with the port. I think uh that that would be a a a very short-term solution because it's going to probably disappear, you know, uh you know, so a lot of our board does would like to see it right in front of the museum

because it it is a a historical marker per se and it would be part of the museum experience where you would be able to go to museum, see the plaque. But I mean, I I also think that we're open to suggestions about where the city would be willing to let us put it. So, uh there's a lot of ideas out there. We know that that's something that you guys would have to be involved in. So, we just wanted to put it out there that

this is being gifted to us. We should have it in about November and when we get closer to the date, we'll need um some cooperation. By what by when do you need a uh location uh agreement, you know, between the city and the premier Ala? Is there a specific date that you need the location? We know we could put it on the agenda next month or No, no, no. The actual plaques, it takes about 12 months for it to get um done. Done. And it was announced to us back in November of last year. So we're expecting that we would get it in November of this of this year around. Okay.

Have you considered maybe at Karen Park where the original one is at of the icons? Yeah. Well, that's another thing. I don't know if the point is that we don't know if we want everything to be in Karen Park. You know what I mean? Just because we already have one plaque there and then we just put up another plaque that tells a little bit of the story of the Bidia Ala. So, it's kind of like if we put everything in one spot, you know, does it really Okay. Yeah. Go ahead, Miss Mont. Mr. City Manager, since it's going to take 12 months to to have this uh done, uh you won't be here. But

Yeah. You won't. And you're probably Yeah. And you won't be here. But if we could just have it April Fools. Yeah. But if we could have it on record and we we will is that if we can also have um both the judge and and Rammon and John Blake write an email to you and see whatever we can do to facilitate this. Uh I think as a city we we are happy to do so. They need any help in doing it either labor or whatever we can assist with because this is uh I mean we should feel lucky you know. Yeah, that's no problem at all. Thank you. If if you could uh when when you're ready to do so,

uh go ahead and contact me um by email would be best. Um because I was just thinking too, uh we would certainly like your board uh to have some priority on the location. Um, and if you have if your board gives us a a a location that you would endorse, then the only thing that we would have to do staff-wise is just to uh um probably have the police department look at that location and look at the specs on a sign just to make sure there's no safety issues, which it doesn't sound like there's going to be, but we have to do that due diligence. Other than that then uh are they going to install it too or are you going to ask for public works to install it?

Uh my understanding is that we would have need help to install it. Okay. Because I think you know that's certainly something public works can do. Yeah. Yeah. That's why I'm suggesting that we they send an email to you. Yeah. At your leisure. Please do. Very good. All right. Well, we appreciate your time consideration. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you.

Next we move to item eight uh financial report monthly a February 2026. Good evening, mayor and council. Uh, today I'm bringing the 26 2026 February financial report. Uh, this time I'm doing a little bit different. I'm not including any of the incumbrances. That way I can give you an exact uh, expenses that were done for that up to February. As you're aware, the financial report, it includes focuses on the general fund, PERF, overweight fees, sewer, water, and sanitation funds. Um, if the annual budget were spend evenly across the year, both revenues expenditures will be about 66.7% which is eight months in the year. The city's overall financial position is positive through February. uh general fund revenues are above the year-to- date budget and the expenditures are below the target budget. Um almost every fund shows revenues at or above expectations and expenditures below expectations with the water fund being the primary area to watch as revenues are not coming in as uh based on the expenditures.

Excuse me. Is is that due also to the all the hiccups we have had in in the water billing and all that? Yes, we've actually been collecting more more revenues. So, we're we're kind of bridging, you know, closing that gap that we have between revenues and expenditures and that's something I'll I'll bring it up right now once we get to that department.

So, on table A, as you can see, is a general fund. The general fund revenues total 20,245,245 which is 70.7% above the budgeted expenditures total are 19 million768,300 which is 46.5% which is below the budgeted amount. Uh general fund revenues exceed expenditures by $476,945 yearto date. Uh, one of the key variouses on table A is that uh, revenues are 1.1 a little bit $1.1 million above the year-to- date budget, which is a good thing for the city and the expenditures are 8.5 a little bit over $ 8.5 million below the year-to-day expenditure budget amount. Next, next uh, slide, please. uh local sales tax on table B. Uh we have February of this year deposits were $915,83 which is $112,000 736 higher than last year. Uh year to date we're $445,000 141 below the same uh last fiscal year. Next please. In table C, uh the expenditures for the general fund spending is at 46.5% of the budget, which is below the 66.7% straight line benchmark. Most departments are below the 66.7% as you can see on the table. These higher early expenditures are expected to level off over the remaining months and all the departments with notable variances are being monitored closely. Mayor, if I could point out on this

slide, I think the big difference between this slide, this month, and last month, as Sergio mentioned, was the incumbrances. Uh because, you know, it got my attention last month that it was showing that the the attorney's office had some 80ome percent of incumbrances. And so I I looked into that and what it was was they were showing incumbrances as all the billings that the firm may charge throughout the end of the year as an incumbrance even though those charges hadn't been earned or charged out yet. And so that's why the the incumbrances were removed because the way I looked at it was an incumbrance would be something that has been build to the city but hasn't been paid yet. not future buildings that haven't even been built to the to the city yet. So that's why, you know, and you'll see and the other thing was is for the short period of time I was the acting city manager. I wanted to look in as why was the city manager's budget so far off from the other departments as well. Um, a big portion of that was because last year when there was a interim HR uh solutions uh consultant who was brought in for a number of months, there wasn't budget capacity in the HR department. So Joel had put those costs under the city manager's budget, which also kind of artificially inflates the expenditures for that as opposed to what probably should have been done was a a budget transfer, a budget adjustment showing those expenses for the appropriate department that they were being incurred for. Um, so just wanted to clarify some of that.

Thank you. All right, next slip. Go ahead. under those is that being worked on to correct it uh so that we won't have the you know in other words over over inflated uh numbers. Oh no that that is the reason that I'm not including the incumbrances for now on that way you guys are are aware of just exact expenditures that we have through the month. I correct I suspect Mr. Doyle that there'll be some um adjustments made uh to the financial statements prior to the end of the fiscal year. Clarification.

Yeah. The the the goal is is that the actual expenditures for a department are associated with that department and not put under a different department just because of budgetary things. the the proper way for that would be to do a a budget transfer and adjustment to make sure that those numbers are applicable to that department. Yeah, that that is something that uh we were going to do the budget transfer, but it was a call from M the city manager that he request that he pay it off as budget. But see that that's what it creates is a certain haziness or kind of a blurred look I guess from So that does need to be corrected.

Oh yeah. No, but if if at the time it was requested by by the city manager that since he had that extra budget that he's going to he was going to pay for that under his department and to not put the burden on HR that didn't have the funds you

next please. And now to the HERF HERF revenues total 2,24,446 which is 75.7% of the budget. Expenditures total 1,512,19 which is 45% of the budget. Revenues exceed expenditures by $67,765. Year to date, revenues are $263,000 above the year-to-day budget and expenditures are $730,482 below year-to- date budget. Going for overweight fee revenues, uh total is $231,56, which is 77% of the budget. Expenditures total only $4,639 which is 0.5%. Revenues exceed expenditures by $226,418 year to date. The overrated revenues are $30,956 above the year-to-ate budget and the expenditures are $692,000 uh 337 below the year-to-ate budget. Next, please. Going to the sewer fund, revenues total 2,433,30, which is 74.4%. Expenditures total 1,466,560, which is 41.5%. Uh, for the silver, the revenues exceeds expenditures by 966,570 year to date. Revenues are at $251,97 above the year-to-ate budget and the

expenditures are 1,61,368 below year-to-ate budget. Next, please. The water department revenues total 2,276,521 which is 67.7%. Expenditures total 2,325,949 which is 56.2%. The expenditures exceed revenues by $49,428 yeartoday. Revenues are $35,01 above the year-to-day budget and expenditures are $435,000 below the year-to-day budget. Although the water funds show slightly higher expenditures in revenues, both the revenues and the expenditures are tracking better than their respective year-to-ate budgets.

Next, please. I got a question. Sure. Go ahead, sir. Now, the water department has been an issue. Mhm. Uh can you give us an update how it's been corrected as far as uh people when they come to make their payments that they're not being build again or or as is there more control? Is there do do you need more people out there and and and reading the meters? What what what was the problem?

Okay. So, what we've done since I've been the the interim, we've implemented on getting the the building faster out. Before it was the meter readers would get the readings, give it to the computer that would verify all the number and reinput everything manually. I implemented the once the meter readers have their their tablets out, they're doing all the readings on the spreadsheet, it's actually already live into our server. So now we're importing the file. We're not manually entering anything anymore. That's something that we got to do it. And now the sooner that the the readings are being implemented, the faster the bills go out.

So that's something that was never done. So now that we're doing that, it speeds up the process of when we can start getting out the billings and leaves less uh room for error. Are complaints dropped then? The complaints are dropping. They're still there, but that's something that we're trying to catch up because of years of how it was being done before, but eventually we're catching up. uh revenues are coming in as you can see that we're actually above the year to date now and uh hopefully how many meter readers do you have? We have two meter readers. Two? Yes. And uh do they scan it now or uh some of them are being scanned by um but most of them the majority are you know they they go in and they get their readings manually

or do enough to get all the information in on time. Yes. And it's better now because it d before they used to just take a paper, do it by hand, bring it over here, and then have to, you know, again, more room forever. And now that you have the tablets, everything's digital, connected to the server. They plug in the numbers and it's there, and once they're ready, gets uploaded to the system, sent the file to get the billing out, and it's faster. So, okay. Thank you.

Uh, next slide, please. Okay. So for sanitation department revenues total 2,8,913 which is 75.2%. Expenditures total 1,994,000 which $158 which is 53%. Revenues exceed expenditures by $114,755 year to date. Revenues are at $237,978 above year-to- date budget and the expenditures are $550 uh $141 below the year-to- date budget. For business licenses in March, we have 2,932 active business licenses, seven new licenses, one license got cancelled, and no special event uh one day licenses. And that concludes

so if you put all three water sanitation and and uh sewer we're we're above 1 million in earnings correct for the three uh yes as of February. Mhm. You're adding basically 114755 plus the 966507 570 and deducting the 49. Correct. Correct. And that that gives you over a over a million. Slightly over a million. Really, we don't have the the increased water rate issue.

Well, the thing is that you have as I as I showed you, we have $49,000 more expenditures. And I know there's some work I had a meeting with, but that's just just in water, but you know, you put them all three together because we charge basically sanitation, sewer, and water in one. But they're not in one. They're three separate enterprise funds. I know you should charge them at one bill. Yes, but there are three separate funds, not monitor different, but 49,000 is not enough to justify a a water rate hike. That's for the water department. Yeah, that the revenues affect the water department and employees and everything. Thank you.

I have a question, Mr. Currently we are spending in the water in the water department or the water enterprise fund. Uh we went through studies and how we should rate raise the rates. Uh we are currently still spending more more money than what's coming in. That correct? So you can add you can add them from top to bottom from sideways from left to right. The fact still remains that our water rate is not the right one. Correct. Right. Correct. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And just a a further comment when when we're looking at

uh particularly with the utility funds. Um you know, you're absolutely right if you're just adding and subtracting current revenues and expenditures. But um and of course I haven't been here long enough to to take the long the long view of where you're going to be in five years, but I think every year at budget time uh part part of what we have to consider is uh you know what are we going to what are we going to need to do in the next five years because um and and this is a this is an old story that I tell almost every year budget time um you know uh utilities especially wastewater utilities is like a factory okay we're producing a product our product is clean water um it's it's a building with machinery in it or buildings with machinery in them and they do wear out over time and have to be replaced. So, like I say, I haven't been around long enough to take the long view on uh on on what those utilities are going to need in the next five years or 10 years. Um, but given that average wastewater treatment plant uh has about a a 20-year life cycle before equipment starts to need to be um replaced or repaired. um you know whether you know if you're if you're looking within the next 5 years of spending a million or$2 million or $3 million on repairs and replacement then you may have to take a different look at how you set your rates.

We don't deal with a water treatment plant that's IBWC. Yeah. Well, wastewater. Okay.

Yes, Mr. D. Now that that issue is up, uh, one of the concerns that I've had is where is the money that's been lost? Uh, there's millions of dollars missing and we need to have a, uh, an actual forensic audit that make sure that we can track down that money because that money should shouldn't have disappeared. And I don't know how many years we have to go back, but if we need to do that, we need to this this council is about more transparency and accountability. And we're not doing that to our community. It's time we put things the the the the spotlight or whatever you want to call it, magnifying glass, and bring out the facts. Go and find out where the real leaks are. Not the water leaks, but the financial leaks. And once we get that adjusted then we can raise we'll know where where we are to raise rates. So let's put that as as a matter of fact let's put address that on this coming um um to start the process to start we already we already talked about getting I think you already have the basis for that council uh uh councelor we we we asked for some companies and I think now we need to address the last time you mentioned that we're having a new system coming in but that's going on forward we need to look back we need to look now and back for so many years to find out where the problem was, where it lies, what happened. We need we need to find out those things before we can start just saying let's forget that and go forward. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Wood. I don't I don't think I believe that I don't think MI millions of dollars have disappeared by theft or I think it goes back to the lack of political will or having some type of vision uh because this has been a hot potato raising the raising the water rates and when we had an opportunity and some of us weren't here when we had the opportunity back in I think it was 2016 or we can't even go back to 2012 to raise it 1.8 2.0 zero. It was the can was kicked down the street and now well it turns out that there's a bunch of millions of dollars that were lost. No, it was the lack of vision, the lack of political will because the only thing that counted was am I going to lose the vote and now we need to fix this. This is adding it in a different manner or in different ways does not alleiate or the fact that we still need to raise those rates because we are spending more money than what's coming in and that's you can cut it in any way or direction. You can make an audit, two audits, three audits and nothing is going to change.

Thank you. Any comments? or just kind of getting off topic because we're talking about the financial report, but as Mr. Doyle had had had said, yes, the the prior manager, Mr. Kramer, was looking into matters, but the council never directed or authorized or funded a forensic audit. So if you if council wants a forensic audit, then that's a council direction that council would need to put on a future agenda and have a discussion and a and a vote and direction for for the next meeting. Okay. Thank you.

Thank you. Next uh item nine, discussion item. I'd like to give the honors to uh Mr. Cesar Radus. He's got a Are you going to travel back? Yes. Okay. And we're going to jump to uh item J uh discussion possible action approving partnership between uh city of Ngalas and clever international solutions for economic development. M would you please come to the podium sir and

okay thank you. Can you turn on the mic? Right on the bottom. On the bottom. Thank you. Hello. Yes. Yes.

Oh, good evening. Thank you for taking the time to listen to my proposal. I'm currently working with other cities impacting the borders. Um uh uh my firm does uh economic development uh focus on on creating a manufacturing. We created a first the second microactory or recycling in the city of Douglas. The first one was done in the city of Phoenix. Thanks for the support of the mayor Ggo and now with mayor Grihaba. We would like to replicate it here too to the bor region and my partners are very wellknown um uh former CEO president of Natbank Kalixto Mateos. He is the one who's helping us getting the funding. Yes, there you go. Thank you. M and as you can I I'm sure that many of you know Kalixto you know from Nadbank and he's the one who's help us procuring um the grants and money through NB bank too and also we we've been um focusing on on creating an impact economic impact to the cities last week the mayor of Maldonado was a witness for the small city at Douglas with the first tournament of Mexico uh USA. Um um I had the pleasure of sharing with you all of you that the three only hotels that the city of Douglas currently have they were the three of them they were sold out. We had to reach our neighborhood of Bisby and Sierra

Vista to get some lodging for those um people that attended. Um we have um people coming from uh Las Vegas, El Paso and as well California and obviously from Maricopa, from Phoenix. So what I'm promoting here is uh sports tourism. You know, that's something that probably you council Meendes will understand because Marco is a big champion of of promoting sports uh um uh tourism and what we did there is we did the the WBC which um I have the pleasure of representing the World Boxing Council in this region in Arizona, New Mexico, part of Nevada and as well um we uh we are looking into on doing other sports like soccer and baseball. I know that Maldona already doing that, you know. Um, and golf, you mentioned golf here, you know, we we putting a golf tournament to to the city of Douglas that can be replicated here. Bring those uh heroes or champs, you know, that that can attract uh uh I say people to come and visit. The goal is to position the city of Ngales you know as a centerman too by nationally and we have done that very well and let me share a little bit my background too um I'm associating through sports because my father-in-law is the president of the Olympic committee in Mexico so I have access to the industry you know Marco has visit the offices too I make sure Marco

because um so through a sports tourism where I realized in in Phoenix um it was a decade of not having boxing. So I did the first um professional boxing match Julio Chav Jr. And what I came on that is I noticed the all the potential you know people lodging spending money going to restaurants you know not only that people there was a good opportunity for people to discover the city of Phoenix. people from Mexico that never visit Phoenix, they say this is a good opportunity to to move some of my businesses here, you know, just by coming for an attraction, they discover something that they can they could expand their businesses. So through sports, you can do you know most of the owners of the sports they are businessmen. The sports are just a hobby you know they the motion the passion. So those people you give them the opportunity to come and see the opportunity in this in these towns they will open the businesses but we need to introduce him you know and I hate to say your son because you Marco is a good champ you know on promoting you know attracting business because he recognized the opportunity of relationships if you had the relationship in in in Mexico, you can attract businesses, you know. So, that's another uh one of the the things we focus to. The other thing that uh I had to uh like I mentioned, you know, opening the first microactory in

Phoenix. Um we we working right now in the city Douglas to have the second with the collaboration of Aguapa take the benefits of the boot borders you know the collection the feed stock you know and here we're going to manufacture the final products uh we're going to focus on making products like sports items to the clubs the clumas maybe many of you knows the kumas in Mexico is professional soccer. They already asked us to to do their their their mascot, you know, on recycle products. Also, um I had a pleasure to bring in um a couple months ago big um um company that they manufacture products for Walmart. They're already selling recycled products to Walmart. So they they are partnering with us and they're interested on coming to Nales. They arranged the meeting with with uh Mayor Maldonado and they were open and they say yeah the next uh focus is to grow obviously to make to the US to get into the USM market. So, so the goal here is to get the the work to get the grant from Nadbank. the cap, the community assistant uh um program they have, it's up to 750,000 work with NATBank to do, you know, to open, you know, to to to have the city of Ngales to be the recipient of the grant and we're going to create you, the city of Ngales. They're gonna they're gonna process all the the recycling and

convert it to pellets. And this Mexican company is going to be your client. They're going to be buying you the pellets to do manufacture the the buckets, all these things they do. They sell to Walmart. They sell with the brand of Walmart with value. So that's what I'm proposing, you know, for the uh the city of Ngales to form a partnership with you and bring not only exports tourism, bring manufacturer, recycling, something that we we already did. We have the proof of concept, let's put it that way, and as well all the areas.

Go ahead, Mr. D. I'm um those pallets that are being manufactured. How does it affect Nogales or where does it come from or or what's the gain?

No, you're going to we going to process the ballots here because you know the new admin the administration we currently have has to be made in America and the grant that we're seeking is federal money is from not bank. So it has to be processed, manufactured here, we're going to shred it here, make a pellets and then once this when we palletize, we're going to sell it to our client that he's interested in bringing the man the company here. They the they sell to to Walmart. Let me just introduce this brand for

great value. Great value.

So this gentleman they already mayor Maldonado and they say yes we on to start our company here to have a footprint. Mayor Maldonado give us a tour where we can get potential feed stock to you know but we're going to need more from the neighbor Ngales. So we're going to collect that pet from Ngales get it from Ngales Sonora pack send it here and here we're going to manufacture the final product. We go the city or Ngales Arizona is going to do the pallets and going to sell it. you have already a client that's going to do these kind of products.

Would it create some jobs? Yeah, it will create some jobs. Um indirect jobs because you this company is going to is going to have employees too. The city of or noal is going to create jobs to to make the pallets and also the transportation. The goal is to sell locally here Tucson all the warmers their products. They already they have a contact already with Walmart or they Yes, they already they already selling to Walmart. So we'd be supplying Yeah. the plastic. Yeah. You will be supplying the products from here manufacturer here. Mainly noises. Let's put it that way.

Okay. But we're going to be funded by NetBank. Yes. And we seeking we currently working with like I said with Kalto Matos. He's a former CEO. He created the program. So he's he's our conduit to not back together. City of Ngalas is not spending any money. Yeah. We're not investing. City of Ngalas is at the end. No, because you getting some ground money. Do we get something in return? Yeah. A bonus.

Okay. Okay. So that that proposal and that's something that it worked beautifully in the city of Phoenix. I I got the trust of Mayor K Ggo to do this. She funded actually she put the money because she really believe in sustainability. So after I that happened I created a success story. So I mayor Douglas he say I want that. So he we working on that right now as we speak. In other words, if I recollect, Nat Bank uh needs an entity like Nogales to be able to They only Yeah. They only fund government.

They don't a nonprofit. They don't I would love they to fund me, you know. Yeah. Well, that's good. That's what that bank's for. Help international trade and and and uh also sustainability. It's a green bank infrastructure that goes along that helps both countries. And the beauty is that we have the the former CEO who used to run that bank. So also you know him personally. He's my partner. Oh. He's the he's part of the team. Okay. Yeah. Clever is Kalisto Matos, myself and Roberto. Oh. And also we were we were looking on the That's very clever. M. Yeah,

the the the mud to create the the the other the other project that they have is uh use using the at the water treatment plant. If you can change the move the using at the water treatment the the what do you call it the lost lost its name. Um, not the other one. That's my partner's colleague.

The water the water treatment plan plans to put put a a dryer already for the sludge. So the sludge and his partner Roberto from Mex from Mexico from Ketro and Mateo have also funds to help with the sludge. the sludge once it's gonna get dried they had uh they could use it mixing it with other elements uh mix it with to make uh a very inexpensive cement or gravel

and that would help the city to advance in in our paving advance in sidewalks advance and then we have the county that we could sell it to also and make and make Uh yeah, and that's something that they're also working on uh to use the sludge uh from the from the uh I IBWC plant to to create uh that um very inexpensive uh cement or or gravel. Um Yes, sir. So I I my strength with Mr. light there at the IBWC. In the past, you'd have to pay to get rid of that sludge.

Yes. Have it transported uh almost like contaminated material in a sense. They have to pay extra to go and drop it off somewhere uh up north to and so he's he's now he's involved. he's going to be involved because yes uh we so that will save him that cost and at the same time that bank is helping IBWC because they're have a certain commitment to to the international boundary water boundary commission. Yeah. Um today we have a conference call um with Kalixto to reach Chad uh what's his last name? Mintosh. back in touch. The new commissioner for IBWC

that they already know each other. They they worked before in the past. Okay. So, this has been this has been in the planning here for a while. Oh, yeah. This is we have we have a role to be able to play. He's been we're going to make some we're going to make some money and create some jobs here locally.

Yes. And obviously, you know, uh the the thing is that, you know, uh count uh city manager would work out a deal with Clever on uh you know, I say, you know, what their cost is that would would be would be easily absorbed by the the infrastructure or or the the grants that we would get from Net Bank and and uh and the business that we would bring plus now uh the the offers of bringing in even uh sports events, you know, all those all those combined would easily write off whatever they're going to sell or

let me share something else. Um yes, sir. From last Saturday, the event suddenly I got a call, hey, can you give me a room? I said, what are you talking about? Oh, because all the hotels are sold out. Not only that, I went for dinner and the lady of the restaurant, they close at five o'clock. It's taco. I don't know probably you Stephen knows the place taco something but right by the entrance of the border in Douglas because you're in that area, you know, in Douglas, right? In Douglas. Yes.

But let me share to you this. They close a fivey. We went at we didn't know the time. We went at 8 o'clock and they they were still open. And I talked to the lady. He said, "We usually say close at five, but we look at we full people, you know, and they run out of food. People they were walking in say we only had taco tacos dorados and this you want you can't come and say they they had to extend the hours because they say this is we never seen this. before you know so that's the economic impact you know when you create this kind of events you not only introducing your city you know you you you have a impact in in the businesses in the community they may rehab me you're like a hero now everybody can can't stop talking about your event everybody the population is happy you know because the impact we Uh I I have a question. I noticed you started well you went to Douglas with this and you're coming here. Uh and now it's making like you said the news.

Uh now are we going to have are we going to be considered if we okay if we join or okay your proper will that will that come here first before a mayor that I know that has always tried to take away things from Ngales is the other border mayor out there close to Yuma. Mr. This is this is what I offering it can impact any place you know. No, no, that's why I'm asking. Are we getting first crack at it before anybody else from here? What I want what what I would like to do is to

It's okay. I guess I'm really I'm sorry. I shouldn't because you might need more suppliers. I don't know. But but I'm just saying I was talking more not so much about about that. I think I think all the suppliers all the suppliers you can get uh are good uh even you know if you can get more but I was thinking more along the the sporting events that that that's what I don't want to lose because because or at least if there's enough sporting events to go around I just want to make sure that no get it fair

share. No. Uh thank you you know for your concern. No we can create a signature event you know so people the goal is to create of course one here too that people can mentally if we do the first one successfully you know which is going to be successful because these belts brings a lot of people they see the heroes Canelo everybody when you give this so we can get create one here. So for next year people will start preparing we say oh in October we need to select a date that people you can program them they they they are waiting for the event they signing up we want to get sponsors we want to get people book their hotels in advance and people wait for it you know doesn't he doesn't fight with the dog

exactly sorry I didn't I no I mean people goes, believe me, people goes where is a good, you know, tournament. Does anybody have any more questions? Go ahead, Miss Pa. That's a good presentation. Thank you. But my question is, I thought we had an agreement with the U county to do the economic development together or is that separate? This is separate. Okay. Go ahead, Miss Mont.

Mr. Estes, you knew I was going to ask. So, there is an agreement that's been done with um with you already with Douglas, and I went online to get it. Um and it's a little bit um interesting and uh detailed. Have you seen this? No. No. Okay. So, I recommend that um the attorney look at this uh contract. Well, it's not a contract yet. this proposal, if you will. I know that there's one that's been done already. Yeah. Downloaded it. Yeah. So, if I'll pass it down down to the attorney because he

he hasn't looked at it and it just it's important that they look at all these documents first before we even jump into anything. I understand. Okay. So, I'll pass it to the attorney here. Okay. And the different the different the way I work I put the liable you know because I don't want to take the a taxpayer money. Yeah. I put if you notice on that proposal put some you can deliver the deliverables. Oh yeah you did. Yeah. Yes. Yeah. So I'm also subject to to give, you know, to respond to those deliverables because I I don't want to just be a salesman, you know, without being accountable.

The bidding process we it doesn't even have a cost or any of that stuff. So we really um move to have the attorneys look at all that. Yeah. But thank you for your presentation. Go ahead, Mr. Could this be uh approved if it's approved by our attorney? Could it be approved tonight? If it's approved by you in a future date,

there's no formal agreement and I would have to look to see if there is a RFP procurement process. I don't know what Douglas went through, but typically when you enter into a service agreement with a private entity, you typically go through an RFP process to take in proposals and stuff. I would just want to make sure that we're and and we could discuss this the next meeting. Not on Friday. No, not this. The next regular meeting. No, I don't want I don't want to put this I got I got things to do Friday. I I was trying to be clever.

Yes. Okay. Okay. Just I mean I don't want to discourage uh um uh Mr. Busco and and thinking that we're we're not interested or something. Yeah. No, there shouldn't be a problem with me looking into this and having more information right and if you need any information if I did go through the process of RFP.

Yeah. So, to be honest, and uh I'm not afraid of competition. You know, I I'm proud to say that I beat nationwide proposals to the city. I got the highest grade. So, I know my my my record speaks more by itself, my deliverables, than me just selling. So that's No, no, this is a World Boxing Council. I'm proud.

It's a wrestling belt. This is this letter. It's a community. I could tell you that at the event I went to and Douglas, you know, Cesar walked up to the ring 98% of the time if he wasn't busy. But, you know, it was a great event. Uh, I think everybody, all the boxers, uh, were very happy. They all they all got, you know, belts. They all got medals. The winners got belts. They all got medals, winners and losers. And uh I think it was a great event. Uh that that was uh that

the goal is to encourage the kids to continue with the discipline and the sport. There's no losing the there's always second chance. that that was a that was an amateur event and he's got the the the knowhows how to even get a professional fights uh you know he's very well known you know he's got good contact with Mr. Sullivan, which is the WBC uh president, and then he's got good contacts with FIFA, which is u you know, a very good friend of him, which is soccer. So, I think that's another um thing that we could bring in into the city and stuff like that. Uh you know, there's it's opportunities, I think. Okay. So, you know, says that we we'll get the, you know, legal to see, you know, the paperwork and all that and hopefully we'll put it for the for the May for the May meeting.

Yes, if he could just forward me his contact information and stuff and I'll I'll get on that and I'll reach out as well to Dennis Fitzgiven. He's the city attorney for Douglas and I'm sure he's reviewed all that. So, no need to recreate the wheel and I've got a good relationship with him and I'll get some additional information. Thank you, Mr. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you all. Thank you. Thank you for waiting for

Oh, no. Thank you. I mean, I really like um you you're my radar for you know, you're on the radar and and I'm going to be honest and the board if we can do something that can impact the communities, why not? And on on those pallets that he was talking for the recycling thing, he's already talked to, you know, the the Mexican entities, you know, Magdalena Mo.

No. Well, no. He means little pellets like the little pellets are like rice. What what happens is you you you know and and when I took him on the tour, we went to to some repacking places where where they have those plastic bins that they don't know how how to dispose them. So this is a great way to dispose them and you know with with all the produce industry here you know there there's plastic crates that they don't know how to get rid of uh the RPCs and all that and and then you know but the same thing with noises and and and even everything. So

this is a plastic.

Okay. So you could say it's the raw material to build to build whatever they're going to build here. How many of you know your name? The what? your name. Oh, come on. Of course. The soccer player. Yeah. I was I was frustrated when I did the city of Phoenix first. I was so I want to be I was frustrated contact Nike and they think my me

didn't believe in my I was so suddenly I got a call from my big soccer

I need. So I call my president.

So he calls the foundation. didn't know. So I was talking with so I didn't I didn't want I said I don't need you. So I did touch everything. Yes. So we he's my to meet

and that's the commercial and this is the message of the environment and after the foot we saw Thank you. Kind of getting off topic, but I I'll give you a contact and and we'll we'll finish hopefully doing doing the contract or something. Okay. Gracias.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you much. And you should feel privileged that they want to get you in so you can get back out and back up to Phoenix in a reasonable time because they don't care about me. No. And what time I leave for Phoenix?

I do. And we did order breakfast as well with dinner.

All right. Go to the next item. Okay. Okay. Uh next next item uh a discussion and possible action update on round 30 soccer field uh improvements. Councilwoman, I I think we table Thank you. You table that here. I think we can uh we paper or take it up? We tabled it for the next meeting because uh Miss uh Okay. I make a motion to table it for the uh May meeting. Okay. All in favor?

I oppose. Uh motion to table uh item A. Uh go to item B. Discussion of possible action to clarify the city vehicle use policy regarding the use of city-owned vehicles by public officers and employees. This includes vehicles assigned for 24 hours use use limited to official city business authorized travel to and from residents and pime primary place of work and restriction on the outside the United States including the travel to Mexico. Miss Parah.

Thank you mayor. I placed the vehicle policy on the agenda just to ensure that the policy is being followed as we approve the revised version on March 5th of 2025. There are forms that need to be completed and submitted before and after the use of vehicles and all city vehicles are to be used for official business only. Part of our vehicle use policy on garing of vehicles states all city vehicles except those authorized for 24-hour use shall be parked at the end of each day in assigned city locations. No city vehicles except those authorized for 24-hour use are to be taken home at the end of the workday. And number 11, the out of state travel, outofcountry travel. No city-owned vehicles shall be used for travel outside the state of Arizona without the advanced written permission of the city manager. And all city vehicles authorized to travel into Mexico shall have separate Mexico auto insurance coverage. That's the reason I brought this up, just to make sure that we are following the policies. Thank you. So these policies are in place already.

Yes, they are. See, they've been in place. Well, they were revised in March 5th of 2025. So, what's the purpose of this? Just so we can make sure that we're following policy, Mr. Doyle. Okay. I mean, that's it's it's it's nothing new then. Okay. And at the end of it, u I don't recall the item, but it does say that the city manager has the the last final word. Correct.

And that and that was what happened when I used the vehicle. Okay. So, we're all good. I got no problem. We're good. All right. So, next item, discussion and possible action. replacing councilwoman Anna Parara with Mayor Jorge Mandona as a city council representative for the Nagos Port Authority Board. Mr. D.

Yes. Uh the reason I place this here and it's nothing u against what council Par is doing. It's again for me it's the perspective that I want to place the this on the agenda is again because the more the more the the position the title not yourself mayor Maldonado but but the title of mayor is demeaned u by taking authority or from the image. We work a lot with uh with Mexico and an international and and and we know the culture that exists over there. They respect the mayor whenever they come and do something. They they don't want a councilman to to represent if the mayor can can handle that. And and that's the reason we we live in a bicultural community. We depend a lot on Mexico tra on Mexican trade. They depend on us. And I just want to keep those standards. And even the people here locally when they hear the mayor, they figure he's the person we elected into position to lead the city and and to be the face of the city. So I placed it here so that you could have the voting authority and representing the the this council on the board of the port authority and and that's why I placed it because I think we you should resume that. It's always been that way. you should resume that position and it'll bring more respect to to our council to the city of Ngales and to the whole community and that's why I placed it. Thank you.

Go ahead. Um just a a correction. Oh, wait. We need a motion first going into discussion.

Okay. Go ahead. Uh just to clarify, I I think that position is a non- voting position, right? It's not a voting position. And um I I remember in the past administration, we had a councilman appointed to that position. Um when Mayor Maldonado came in, it was the first time that the mayor was in that position. I don't know if Mr. Doyle had was a representative of the city at at the time when you were mayor, but I know that the past administration and they had a councilman sitting in that on that uh body. And and the other thing is this is an election year and you know we're a few months away from electing a uh some it's a possibility that there's going to be four new people in this dis and uh I would like to give them the opportunity to select a member of the of the board to serve on that position. Well, that's my opinion, but uh uh as as you know, I don't I haven't heard anything uh um bad about Miss Parada sitting on that board and the mayor is always welcome to attend the Port Authority meetings and I know for a fact that if some emergency came up, the mayor would be the first person that they would contact. So that's my opinion.

Mr. Ba, I have just a question. Uh, council member uh Bara, you you still go to the meetings, right? You you are attending. I've attended all except one that I had an emergency. Okay. Thank you. Go ahead. Well, it is interesting this item on the agenda, but I was never contacted by the port authority asking me to stop to step down as a board member. And if uh Councilman Doyle has an issue with me as a council member and being a woman on the board, there's nothing I can do. But uh I'm more than qualified to represent the city of Ngalis and I want to continue as a board member with the Port Authority.

Go ahead, Mr. Do

Mayor. I don't believe I brought the woman issue into play at all. Um, and I said, all I said was that the mayor's image is vital in in cross trade and relationships with Mexico. The Port Authority has most of their business they they do trying to improve cross trade and working in relationships with Mexico. And and I think that you should have the people elected you, mayor, not us. and and uh you are the face of the city and I think that the mayor should be sitting as the the leading uh person on that board for the city. In other words, uh that's the way that's the way it's in Mexico. It's not something that I invented. It's not something I'm just trying to make sure that we have and again and I'm not talking about the qualifications of Councilwoman Parada or any other one one of us. She can still continue to go to the meetings. We're all welcome to the meetings. Uh but but what I'm saying is that you should be the one that has the author authority and is the one that that has the voting right on that board. And that's why I that's why I place it on nothing else to do with anything else. It's about defending the mayor uh position that the people of this community have elected to represent them. Uh, and I think you do a good job representing us with uh our count your counterparts and everybody and other officials there in Mexico. You've had a good relationship and I believe that that if you continue to do that, you know, you're going to you're going to bring Ngales and keep the people happy that you're being a good representative that they put in this office. And so I'm just defending the mayor's right to be

what the people expect them to be, including people that come to visit other other uh uh authority representatives, whether they be uh business people, governors or mayors from other places. You should have the respect of this council and not and this council shouldn't demean that position. That's it. Thank you, mayor. I have a comment. Go ahead. Go ahead.

Um, when we voted for for Council Member Parada, we made it a point uh for her to be the first female uh member on the on the Port Authority. Um, what was explained by Mr. Josh Rubin was that when it was needed for special occasions that the mayor was going to do that event, you know, on special occasions. So, I don't think uh Council Member Para's membership there is stealing the thunder from the mayor. Uh if anything, I still stand true to uh uh council member para being there as the first female and and as Mr. Worcus uh pointed out, I I think if uh there's a new council, uh new council members are coming in, they should have the uh the the ability or the opportunity to vote in whoever they feel is the right person. But for now, uh that's why I asked council member Parada to if she was attending the the the meetings, he said yes. I haven't heard anything negative uh to that respect. So I I I think uh Councilman Doyle, we should rethink on on how we make this decision tonight. Uh because I don't think we're going to we're going to be sending the right message, especially uh in this election cycle. So, uh, there's Mayor Maldonado when there's a big event, he's the one that's going to be in the lead regardless if she's there or not. She that was discussed with Mr. uh Josh Rubin and and I believe she uh

council council member Para agreed to that. So, um I'm I mean I'm just I don't see an issue to remove her at this at this point. Miss uh Mr. Mayor, do you have an objection? I'm sorry. I can hardly talk. Do you have are you are you reading my mind? Yeah. Do you have an objection having uh This was brought up by Mr. Doyle.

No, but I I'm asking you, do you have any objection of of her being there representing us? My my only thing it's you know it's as far as I I I saw and when the 10 years that I've been here you know supposedly was always the mayor and you know when this decision was made I was not present in that June 2025 meeting. I was in Kansas City. Uh when when council voted uh to do that, you know, when Miss Bar put this in in the agenda, I got I got no objection. I got basically, you know, I you know, I try to support the city and and be the face of the city and everywhere I go. You know, I I could tell you she's wrong. She's missed more than one meeting, but I'm not going to, you know, that's not what what I'm here for.

I know the last one she missed was was for emergency on the family, you know, but that does that does has nothing to do, you know, but uh you know, uh mayor, go ahead. I am interested. She missed more than one meeting. Has she missed more than one meeting besides this? Besides the emergency that she had uh last Tuesday, I know she's miss another meeting. Been to the meetings, Mr. I am being honest. Why? You know what's so hard about being honest? So my my question was you have no objections. So that's it.

Okay. Yeah. Any other questions?

Considering that, you know, okay, mayor, the reason I placed it again is to defend the position or title of mayor. It's not personal. It's not. But, you know, again, I get a little a little bothered when somebody says one thing and it isn't. So, uh uh you know, I never care for people that stretch the truth. But anyway, out of out of uh considering that you have no objection and that you carry yourself very well for the city of Ngalas, uh make us proud and you always show that you are the leader, you are the elected official, and you are the mayor. I'm going to since there was no second on this or anything, I'm going to go ahead and take it off, pull it out of the agenda.

Thank you, Mr. and end it there. Thank you. Okay, now we go to item D. Mr. Do we have another one? Do I need to read it before? Yeah, you can read. Uh, well, he needs to read the item because it's on the agenda. Okay, discussion. Mayor request for the a complete daily report from from councilwoman Lisa Montiel and Anna trip to the national legal cities and towns annual conference held in Washington DC from dece excuse me March 13, 2026 and March 19, 2026. M

mayor, uh when I placed this item, I didn't think we were going to have such a long agenda and uh and you know what I I'll pull out this also in the agenda. Just pull it out. Thank you, Mr. St. A motion to table. Not table remove it. Okay. Motion to remove it permanently. Uh unless somebody else wants to bring it up, but I I I'm not going to bring it up. Okay. Motion to remove. We got a second. All in favor? I oppose. Thank you, Mr. Jo.

E. Discussion and possible action placing 10,000 spending limit on the city manager or department directors. Any amount higher will need council approval. Mr. Doyle.

Yes. Uh Mayor Mayor, I guess uh I might have left something else out of this. Uh and and placing a 10,000 spending limit on the city manager or department directors and any amount hire who need council approval except for emergencies, mayor. Except for emergency. There's an emergency. They need to spend let them bring the expenses at the next meeting back where we can approve it or you know declared if it was an emergency. If it's a proven emergency well then it's uh then that's fine. You know you need to you need to spend to fix something uh whatever it takes. Uh but but if but I'm just talking about normal expenses that that uh that need to and again if you need to I I'll leave that up to the city manager not only emergency but if it needs to be spent just bring it back to us so that we can approve the expense that's all saying that was that was a a needed expense that okay

motion the motion is to to to change the wording from from except for emergency agencies and needed expenses to be approved to be approved at the following meeting. Actually, mayor, if I could go ahead. The spending limitation is in the city code. You cannot change the city code by way of motion. It would have to be done by way of ordinance. Well, okay. So, what do we need to change the city code? An ordinance. An ordinance. Okay. So, we'll draw one up then next time and see. So what would be appropriate would be is

the thing is again it $100,000 is we need to compare with other communities even in these times that's a lot of money and and I've seen uh city managers go beyond thinking that they can do anything they want up to $100,000 and and then they start misspending and we don't need that. We need more accountability. We need transparency and accountability and that's what this is about. So, we'll we'll draw the ordinance. Uh on the following would be a motion to bring an ordinance back to council. I would need

Yes. I make I'd like to make a motion to bring an ordinance back to council changing the present the present code on expenditure. Does that is that does that cover it or do I have to word it if I may? No, that's your motion. Okay, that's my motion. Do I have a second? Second, Mr. Mayor, bring it back. Yes, sir. Yeah. Um, mayor,

my understanding, and if I'm wrong, please correct me, um, it wasn't all that long ago that the limit was set at just a tick under $100,000. Is Is that more or less accurate? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Thank you. And it wasn't too long ago where there was abused also. It was January.

January. Okay. So, it's it's been in effect now for roughly three months. We're in maybe the fourth month. Um just a little benefit of my experience. Um I don't think I ever, you know, $100,000 is the same spending limit I had when I was the city manager in Winslow. Okay. never an issue. Okay. Um that might be more a function of the mayor and council and the city manager than the limit, but it also is an indication of the level of trust number one, integrity number two. Um, one of the things that that limit was extended to that degree for is the fact that um, you know, when I started out in this business in the 1980s, $10,000 was a lot of money. $10,000 is peanuts. Okay? You see some of the bills that come in for particularly equipment repairs and that sort of thing. um you know, a a lot a lot of that and Serge and I talked about that um yesterday because he came in to talk to me about this agenda item and there's a lot of bills that are normal maintenance uh normal expenditures that now exceed $10,000. It's it's it's where we live. It's where we well it's where we live in history. Okay. Um, now what Sir Joe and I did discuss was if transparency is the issue and I think it is um the transparency can be delivered to you at any time you want. Okay, two two examples. Um, on my last job,

uh, every two weeks, the mayor and council were supplied with a list of the accounts payable. Okay? Uh, the accounts payable lists every expenditure that's not payroll related that is spent in that two-eek interval. Okay? That's total transparency. Okay? You spend a dime at the hardware store, it's on the AP. Um when I was in Winslow uh we had a little bit different take on that. Council was given the check register monthly. Okay. The check register would register every check that was written by the city during that during that period of time. Again, total transparency. you're kind of tying your people's hands by putting low spending limits on ordinary expenditures that need to be made in order to um run the city from day to day, especially when you only meet once a month. Okay? Remember, you're you're the exception. You're not the rule. Most city councils meet twice a month. This one meets once. Okay?

Well, we meet here whenever we need it. So that's true, but that requires calling a special meeting and that's extra e extra red tape. So what I would suggest is that the better option would be and and you know I guess Serge Serge pro I don't know whether he prefers probably the accounts payable because that's easier to generate a report. Well well here's the report. There's nothing here. There's nothing detail. It's all in general. No, you can ask. Yeah. Yeah, check runs are Tuesday and Thursday. Every time we cut checks, we can send you email which easily can

and you'll be able to see everything that's gets spent every time except payroll. They used to include it. Well, and and that's the more common I mean for cities that I've been you know there was a rumor going around here.

Yes, it was a rumor. It was nothing established here. It wasn't reported. A certain employee all of a sudden got a double their their their whatever they were making. They they they they paid him twice more. Now they apparently that some said it was just a raise. But I want to know why the city manager can give raises to wherever he wants without passing it through the council. Uh and and those are the things that we need to bring bring screen in on and and bring accountability because nobody should be getting raises without this council's approval. That's the the fact. And so we that's another thing you need to look at. That's why we need to be transparent and accountable.

We we know we have to give account to the people in the community. They ask us things and we can't we can't tell them what's going on. Well, Mr. Doyle is a 16-year elected official before I became a city manager. I get it. Okay, I understand it completely. And you're also in the process of recruiting a new city manager.

Take that into consideration when you when you're hiring that person. And and and I'm and I'm and I'm here to tell you that, you know, there's 92 cities and towns in the state of Arizona, and like 90 of them have city or town managers. Have you heard of any town manager, any city manager being bounced because of finances? Just doesn't happen. We have a code of ethics and that includes And that includes But you're not elected. We are.

I think we're just we are just as responsible to our constituents as you are as elected officials. Well, we had trouble with In fact, I believe we are. Oh, that's uh So, anyway, that's all I have. And I'm saying it's not a uh you know not personal. It's just no no and I'm not and it's that's that's my take on it. Just like I said so that we can be accountable. We can give a response to the people that elect us. That's our responsibility and we're offering you an opportunity. You don't have to take it personal. Why would you take it personal? No, I'm not take I said please don't you take it personal.

What I'm saying is we're offering you transparency. If you want it, we'll we'll start doing it with the next check run. Thank you. Okay. Mr. D, you remove your Well, well, until until further. We'll see how this works out and then we can always put it back uh again. Sure. I guess wanted to touch base on that and uh but I mean I appreciate your concern. I really do. up and that's transparency like you said, you know, to get, you know,

and again, for that reason, I'll even u uh take out the next one because it goes along lines pretty much until we figure out what the right amount is that we need to be concerned with that or or that we're not getting uh the right information that we need to get. Uh you already said you're going to provide that information. Now, we'll I'll I'll rest my case. I'll wait for that and see how that works out. So, mayor, I'd like to hold on. Let let me read it first. Okay. Read it. Okay. So, no. So, that's that's tabled or or remove e. So, you remove your your motion, Mr. D. Yes, I removed the motion.

And then let's have a motion to remove this agenda. We that So, now I we motioned to motion to remove the item E. Correct. Yes.

All in favor? I. All oppose. Item is removed. Now F discussion and possible discussion direction possible action. Any amount from 3,00 to 9 9,999 spent by city manager or department directors during each month will be reported to the city council on the first council meeting of the following month. Mr. Considering what they told us that we'll be getting a report from finance on expenses that would cover this one also. So I I make a motion to pull it out now. Okay. Second. All in favor?

I oppose. Item is removed. Next is G. Discussion direction and possible action evaluation and performance of attorney Joe Estis and the Pierce Coleman Law Firm. Mr. Doyle. Uh just that you know I think you it's been over a year. You've been here uh uh counselor. I've been serving as the city attorney for over a year. The firm has been serving for over two years.

Yeah. And and and so I I think uh we've in the past we've uh wanted to kind of evaluate uh the attorney's office. So I think uh an evaluation form should be proper in the next month or two whenever we uh we'll we'll what I'll do is uh or unless I can open it up right now just to start uh to get a form of evaluation uh that would be fair to your department. I don't know if if you want to have any input on that. Uh,

so if you want, I can provide counsel, I can send you emails, I can provide you with samples of evaluations that have been done in other municipalities that I've I've served in uh other municipalities that have done evaluations for their legal counsel and then we can come back and try to establish a process for that evaluation. But absolutely, we would welcome an evaluation.

We'll do that. Uh, mayor, it's it's more like uh the evaluation performance uh to be done uh to work something a form or something at a future date. Uh that would be my um not recommendation, but I guess uh the the new uh motion. Mr. Mayor, I don't recall having an evaluation for attorneys for many years. I don't recall. So, is this going to be the first time we're going to start doing this? Uh, no. When I was mayor, we had it done. I don't I But I but I don't know what you've done the last few years, right? Okay.

So, you you're requesting to do u you know come up with a form to do an evaluation. That's your motion, Mr. Do. Yes. To look at and and and when when our our attorney gets uh he has has past experiences in different uh communities where you serve. So you're giving direction to to receive a evaluation form so we look at it for the future type. Yes. No no discussion no directions just direction to get the specific so that we can look at it and then and then we'll take it from there. So I think go ahead miss sorry a question for Mr. Estus.

Do you get evaluated by your firm besides the city trying to evaluate you? Do they do a a yearly or quarterly evaluation of your work of the different partners within the firm? Yes. Yeah. We meet on a regular basis and we discuss and we have annual evaluations at the end of the year with regard to performance with regard to you know assignments and different things like that. So okay. Okay. So, so my my question would be would we be evaluating you personally or the whole firm as

well I guess that that would be the question and what would need to be figured out because although I'm here personally and I'm the one who is the figurehead of the the firm not the mayor but the figurehead of the firm uh I'm not the mayor of the firm um the firm is the attorney for the city. I don't do all the work myself.

Uh you know, we are I have 10 municipal partners. So although you know the the the city retains and I'm here for the meetings for the vast majority of the time, uh as you recall in past meetings, I've had other partners show up and we uh handle that that workload together. So, it's not just me, but I am the one who's here, the one who responds to questions and things like that. So, uh, you know, trying to figure out, you know, Yes. How do you guys want? Let's, uh, let's take another look. You just threw a monkey wrench into to be in all fair in all fairness. If you've got an issue with me, Mr. Doyle, then absolutely. Let's bring it up. Um,

let's be fair. Considering that that you do represent a firm, you represent a firm that apparently has many faces of of attorneys at hand uh to serve the community. Uh, it's kind of hard to to make an evaluation based on that. Yeah. and and so mayor uh uh hope well do do you want to evaluate it based off of budget numbers because we can go

well no but you know this is uh this is something that you know we're we're we're trying to get and and and you know and and and before we weren't getting any reports from your office and stuff but now I I have I have been getting them uh through my emails and and I appreciate that. Absolutely. and and and I and I and I had placed even that item on there, which I'll probably pull out because you're starting you're starting to follow the the lead, I guess, of of what's I I I I still want to point out just real quick that the year prior to our firm taking over, the city attorney's office expended $755,000.

And that's why he's not here no more. The first year that our firm took over, we expended 434,000. Okay.

This year, we're under budget and we're going to probably expend less than 500,000. We are still providing less a a greater service with 10 attorneys for over $250,000 less. I just I think that's something that's important to point out. And there is transparency in what our firm fills out and charges and everything. Our invoices that come into the city are very transparent with regard to what the services were providing and I can tell you that I greatly appreciate working for the city of Ngalas. If I didn't, I wouldn't make all the effort to come down here.

And even I even accepted your direction to be acting city manager over my own objections. You know, I love coming down to Ngalas. I love working for the city. And again, I don't have a problem with being evaluated or or having those discussions with council. But again, it's not just me. It is a it is group effort and we love and we enjoy providing the service to the community of Ngalas.

Right. Okay. And and Duly noted u so we're going to we're going to pull that one out. Mayor uh and and again uh well we got another one. I'll just make mention. Let me read read it and then you just take it out. Uh eight, discussion, direction, and possible action on requesting report a report from the city attorney on the six the last six months such as notice of claims, lawsuits, and other permitted legal information

and and and again, mayor, thank you for reading that. And and uh and again, uh the attorney has started sending us reports that that uh that pretty much uh cover that. uh seeing that just keep coming keep the reports coming in and we're all good. Uh pull that out of the the we schedule and let's let's get ready to go home in the next 15 minutes. We we update those on a monthly basis. So you'll be getting those on a Okay. At the end. Oh, that's Well, thank you because u that that affects the next one too, mayor. Uh so do we need to make a So I So pull this out of the So the motion is to pull H and I.

Do I have a second? and I yeah seconded okay mayor we've discussed it already I want to pull that this motion out of the agenda but you're missing no we have another one gh and I huh yes what what are we missing gh and I p gh and I I got to read out Mr. Mr. Mayor Mr. Mayor, I just have a a comment. Go ahead. Just for for for uh clarification.

You you don't have to pull out the item, you know, to give direction, you know, as long as not it's not an action item, you know, we can just say, you know, if he's going to provide a report every three months or every month, you know, that's the direction that we're Yeah. So, but only I was listed for discussion direction. the other ones. But but because he's giving us already uh the reports the reports then he's already uh headed in the right direction. Go ahead. Okay.

I discussion and direction directing the city attorney on giving city council monthly reports and updates on city legal business at the city council meeting uh of every month. Mr. So again, uh the the attorney just agreed to be giving us those reports. So and you did agree. I agreed last month when you brought this up, but but now you're bringing them more more often. I mean that now you're starting to set a trend. Well, I'm doing them. Yes. Become available.

So then we're good on on that u and that just make sure direction was there and apparently it's now in effect. So seeing that we're getting these uh reports on on a regular monthly basis, uh I take that out of the the agenda. I pull it out. So item I again also removed. We've done J. Now we go. Okay. Discussion possible action approved early closure of city of Nogal's office on Friday, April 3rd, 2026 at 12 p.m. in observance of Good Friday. Miss Parah. Miss Parah.

Yes, sir. Item K, please. Yeah, I I think it's a good idea to do the half day. Is that where we're at? Yep. Yes, ma'am. At at noon. Thank you. Any discussion? All in favor? I. All oppose.

I have it. Uh item 10 liquor license a consideration possible action on liquor license number 2026-4 consideration of a recommendation to approve the insurance of a special event liquor license submitted by Jose Vasquez on behalf of the cultura artist of Ngalos Arizona for the fiesta deo event scheduled for May 2nd 2020. 26 from 5:00 p.m. to 1000 p.m.

Any discussion? All in favor? I. All oppose. Motion passes. B. Consideration possible actions of liquor license number 2026-5. consideration and of the recommendation to approve the insurance of a special event liquor license submitted by David Ree on behalf of VFW number 2066 for the VFW car show event scheduled on May 16, 2026 and July 3rd, 2026 from 10:00 a.m. to 10 p.m. Mayor.

Any discussion? All in favor? I. All oppose. Motion pass. 11. Orders. A consideration and possible action of orders number 2026-04-016. An amended order to of the city of the council of the city of Ngalas, Arizona. Amending order number 2025 dash 02- 004 accepting a grant from the Arizona Department of Public Safety through local border support funds for a NOA Police Department 24-hour operation center. a mobile data project in support of the K9 program extending the grant performance period through June 30th, 2027.

Second. Any discussion? All in favor? I. All oppose. Motion passes. I move to go into executive session. I have a second. Second. All in favor? I All in favor going in executive session. I need votes, guys. All in favor going in executive session.

I. All oppose. We're moving to executive session. Thank you. Wow. Wow.

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Wow. Wow.

Hey, Heat. Hey. Hey.

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Hey, hey, hey. Hey, hey, hey. Do we come in from executive session.

Second. All in favor? I all oppose. Next item 13, mayors and council report on current events. Uh Mr. I attended the uh special Olympics on Saturday. Mr. D.

Yes. Uh I attended uh well today I attended the the Easter egg hunt and uh before that I know we had something else going but anyway it was uh it's great to see these events in the city. It it brings the people together uh like the kids were very happy. The parents were super happy that the kids were happy and I think they they had just about as many parents as kids today. It was amazing to see that which was it's a I think we're heading in the right direction. Thank you, Mayor Miss Belendez.

Yes, we're we're having a cons two concerts on the 11th and on the 12th and it's going to be for conctoistas at the Whitman Museum. You're all invited. Uh I don't have the tickets here, but if you are interested, let me know. the tickets. Oh, the the the tickets are $30 and it goes to so it's for a good cause. Thank you. Miss Mont

on our trip to DC, we it was very successful. We got to uh go to visit uh Pelita Grihalva's office. We had a tour of the capitol as well and uh the conferences were very interesting just networking but it was it was a good trip and a good experience. Thank you vice mayor.

Okay. Uh I won't take it too long but uh the Easter hunt was I was congratulated by a lot of parents and uh you know on having more events period just more events for the kids. Uh you know uh it was a very good uh attendance um thanks to O1 for putting it out there and and everybody that participated. Um you know it was a very good good event. I think uh I was at the international state of estate with the with the with the governor in uh Phoenix uh talked to her a little bit more about coming down and visiting Ngal a little bit more. Um basically um you know let's try to work on the seagull thing. Yeah, I I actually have a SEO executive session tomorrow where I'll bring up uh you know what NALS needs and and you know I haven't I've been there in their meetings pretty much on a monthly basis. Um basically I I attended the the the boxing uh thing at in Douglas which was uh let me tell you this guy puts a great event. Hopefully we could uh negotiate and make make something work with him because what his knowledge is with professional uh sports and all that besides the having uh Kixo from Nad Bank exbang CEO uh is is a thing thing that we could do and it would help out even our neighboring uh Miguel Sonora with with the the recycling. recycling of a lot of their materials. Um, you know, that's about it. Uh, uh, just for those that don't

know, uh, Monday I fly out to Washington because, uh, we have borders and bridges by national meetings which is has to deal with with the port of entry. Uh, myself and, uh, Josh and, um, Luis Ramired and Mr. Fanning are are supposed to go. I heard that there was a question on Mr. Fanning maybe not going, but I'll I'll be in Washington uh this week. So, anything else? Uh question. Yes, ma'am. What about the meeting on Friday that we didn't know about? Is that going to be

true again? May council, there was a uh liquor license that was brought in this morning by uh Sacred Heart. I told her it was too late to submit for this agenda. Um so the their event is uh in two weeks the 19th

on the 19th. So where be you know after this uh I'm going to give uh you know talk to Miguel on on you know I think unfortunately besides the the two churches which you know I don't fight with the man upstairs um you know but they're they're the ones that have been the latest uh mo always you know so I think we got to we got to put it out. So make sure that everybody is aware that we need, you know, at least 30 days or minimum before before their events and stuff like that. So we won't be hurrying it up like like we're doing this week. tell the church no during the holy

week but but I think uh you know besides that uh you know there's there's another item that came came about which which is um so taekwondo taekwond do there they talked to Mr. Steve and myself uh they they have the taekwond do uh on the second also uh during the morning and they basically are asking for uh for the paramedics to be there because if it's it's a box there's you know contact and none of that they are okay yes for in oh for in

yes in for to have the paramedics be around that's it and then a third one with Estres. Oh yeah. And now the third one with CO Estress. And hopefully we get the email tomorrow.

I just I just want to say that sometimes these meetings that come up and if I personally don't make it to these meetings is because I also work and it's very difficult for me to to make it sometimes. And it's not because I do not want to come or because you need to send the cops the cruiser to go pick me up. You can do so. It's my law firm's right there. You know where it is? It's right there. Montia law firm. Yeah, you can go you can go there. There's a lot of attorneys there. But um but but but yeah, but it's very difficult. I and I think that that I just wanted to say that um mayor, I know you're you're busy with your little league schedule, but I want to let you know that it's very difficult um to come up with these meetings all of a sudden. I know in fairness to these people, they don't know. I know you've been there, but they don't know. Um, you know, Sacred Heart doesn't know sometimes when they need to submit things. But if we have if I happen not to be in these meetings, it's not because I don't want to. It's because I I just can't uh make it. And sometimes Zoom is not always a convenient because I'm in a meeting or, you know, with clients or something like that. I just wanted that to be on record.

It'll be optional if if I'll if you could tell me if you're going to be available here or remotely. I'll send you a link so you can join. It's gonna be Friday at what time? At 10 a.m. Friday 10. Friday. Friday at 10 a.m. I can make it. I'm sorry. See, that's uh you you might want to reach out to Judy at the housing authority. I think she has an emergency meeting coming up. So, she might be able She was thinking of next week, but you know, if you can squeeze her in on Friday, I I'll reach out tomorrow morning. And we we just need a quorum. So, we just need four. So, please don't if you can't make it, you can't make it. So, please don't don't um

Well, I can make it, but not to stay here all day. I know we're going to close at noon, so that's good. No, you're going to be here till 4. Well, so you see, so you know, you can only be

So, yes, just real quick, tying into that meeting, I just sent it out to council tonight. I sent you a legal memo with regard to the inind contribution issue. I was asked to submit that to the AG's office, but the AG's office doesn't do legal opinions for municipalities because otherwise they would be inundated with legal opinions from municipality. So we went ahead and I had had that prepared in house to provide council with a good explanation and detailed position to basically say who knows just read it and if you have any questions call me.

Do we have two items on the agenda? Brian Green and maybe housing and maybe housing. Yes sir. Okay. So, uh, it's in it's on the record. I can't make it Friday. No problem. Okay. Thank you. Neither will Lisa.

Okay. So, those of you who didn't get out here today, missed something cool because the Easter Bunny was here. I got this puppy Easter Bunny. Then I went over to the food truck to buy myself some lunch and there was a gentleman in clerical garb walking around. Um, and he came over to the same food truck that I was at. And I just looked at him and because he was he was his vestments were not what I'm used to at St. Patrick's. Okay. And so I said, "So are you a real priest?" "Yes, I am." Oh, well, he was nice about it. Okay. You sure it wasn't that funny?

It was. Yeah. Welcome back. That's it. Okay. With that said, uh any future agenda items? Nope. No. Move to adjourn this meeting. I move. All right. All in favor? I meeting adjourned. Thank you. Okay.