City Council - Regular Meeting

Hello, I'm Fritzie Butler. I'm the Executive Director of the Borger Chamber of Commerce. I'm so excited to be part of this community. I've been here about seven years and I love seeing the growth

Whether you're a current business owner, downtown dreamer, or somebody with a great idea, you deserve a seat at the table.

My job is to help with any zoning questions or building safety questions that may or may not require a permit. I'm here to help you with any of your water service needs, such as turning on and off service, any billing questions you may have. We're there to help you navigate all of those systems to help you get involved in your business or promote it. So we offer complimentary services for branding, for marketing, for social media, for their website design.

Our goal with this event is to make you feel like you have a whole team of professionals right behind you wanting to make your dreams happen.

I'm here to help you with any zoning or building safety type of questions.

So I try to help keep your neighborhood safe and I try to make a difference daily. I use my knowledge as a coach to keep people safe. I look forward to seeing you at the seat of the table.

With Seat at the Table, we bring all those people into one room so you can make one stop and get the answers you need. So remember, pull up a chair, bring your questions, and leave with answers.

I'm the executive director of the Borger Chamber of Commerce. I'm so excited to be part of this community. I've been here about seven years and I love seeing the growth.

Good afternoon. Welcome to the August 4th, 6.30 p.m. City Council meeting. At this time, we will stand and have pledge and prayer.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one

Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father God, we just come to you, Father God, most of all, just thanking you, Father, and praising your name, Father, for what you do for us, Father. Father, I just thank you for all that you do for this city, Father. Father, I also just ask you to give us the courage, Father, to be good stewards with your people. resources, Father, and Father, that we would just bless citizens, Father, that have appointed us, Father. And Father God, I just ask right now, Father, for your fruits of the Spirit, Father, for peace, for joy, for love, Father, for unity, Father, for all the good, Father, that you provide us, Father. I just ask now that it overflow over this room right now, Father, that you would give us strength, courage, and peace, Father, the peace that passes everything, Father, that you would help us to understand every one of us, Father, that we would have discernment, that we would recognize, Father, each other, that we would love one another, and that we come together, Father, and just be in peace, Father. I just pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. At this time, we'll have questions and comments from any citizens, and I'll just read the information. Citizens who have indicated their desire to speak to the City Council will be heard at this time. In compliance with the Texas Open Meetings Act, unless the subject matter is on the agenda, City Council members are prevented from acting on the subject. or and may respond only with statements of factual information or existing city policy. However, city council members may refer the person making the comment to a staff member or request city staff to place the subject matter on the future open meetings agenda. Citizens are limited to three minutes for their presentation to the city council. At this time, if anyone was wanting to speak, we'll just have you come to the front, to the podium.

Hello. Mayor, members of the city council, city staff, and fellow residents, good evening to everyone.

Good evening.

And I'm here because north border and really deserves our immediate attention. And but also want to be clear that north border is not the only area of our city showing signs of long-term neglect. Across worker residents continue to see vacant buildings fire damage towns and sis and secured structures broken windows open doors overgrown lots illegal dumping deteriorated parks and vegetation consuming properties that have been allowed to decline for quite some time. North border is the clearest and most concentrated warning of what happens winter when deterioration is allowed to become normal the former shopping mall abandoned housing vacant lots and surrounding structures are not simply unattractive together they affect public safety health property values confidence and whether responsible investment will come to the area The photographs that I present tonight, and I do have a package that I would like to produce to the city, are not rumors or political talking points. They document open buildings, broken glass, graffiti, fire, and collapsed damage, abandoned materials, dense brush, high weeds, exposed equipment, and properties that appear unsecured and unmanaged. These conditions create foreseeable risk for children residents first responders neighborhood property owners in this city itself. My concerns are not new on February 24 2026 addresses and officially and regarding them all and at a roundtable meeting. I was told that the plan would include a gate around the property. and the cleaning of that surrounding area. That created a reasonable expectation that visible protective steps would be followed to secure this asset. My frustration comes from hearing that action is planned and continuing to see dangerous conditions without a clear public explanation of what was completed, what remains, who is responsible, and what is the timeline. I also want to make something unmistakably clear, asking questions and offering criticism to the city should never feel like a burden or feel like I'm not heard. On July 29th, I also want to address this. I submitted written concerns and public information requests in person and later requested preservation of any records connected to that interaction. The city has since stated in writing that no operable surveillance cameras captured my visit. I do not want to overstate the facts by claiming that record recorded evidence was lost when the city's position is that no operable camera captured the interaction. However the absence of finish that it raises legitimate operational and public trust questions. Which cameras were functioning when equipment failures were identified how outages and repairs are documented and what retention and preservation procedures apply. Because I have three minutes I'm going to just go through a few things that are really concerning If I was to ask what percentage of the city budget has been allocated to the north side of Borger, I can't find any data on that anywhere. If I was to look to see what business opportunities have been brought into the city of the Borger or any statistics where the EDC is confirmed, As I was told, well, you can find it online. I can't find it online. Do you want me to tell you why? Because the EDC website hasn't been updated since 2022. So my concerns for the community as a whole, it's not about me wanting to criticize the city because I see so many awesome things that are actually happening around me in the city. But I do not feel that we can keep looking past neighborhoods such as the north side the easiest thing yes i i wrote a post i didn't call the media he called me and he said i'm going to show up no matter what fine i've already talked to him i'm going to go ahead and let you guys know what's going on the easiest thing was to say city we dropped the ball That we, you're right. I didn't even have to be right. But visually, you could see somehow the ball has been dropped. And versus switching it and trying to put it back on it being a taxpayer issue, which it now is, if we would have addressed it 20 years ago, we know inflation was not at the level that inflation is today. So, I'm going to end with something that is just passionate to me and it's not about the buildings or the pretty you know i love the pretty i love the buildings you know it's it's visible but perception is not always reality and i ask that we stop and we look at the reality of what's going on into our communities deeper into what's going on within our communities and how it affects We may not think that it affects bringing a new investor in. All the money that we spend with the EDC thinking that somehow we're going to attract investors just by fixing Main Street or what's going on further north, it's not there. My sister got a brand-new road in Fairlands, and she ain't had no holes. It's been the best road since I was a kid. I can drive up and down it. We're on the north side where I live. There are holes, potholes, shrubbery that it sort of defies an understanding for me. It almost actually looks like an intent. And I don't know for sure what that looks like or what that intent is, but the neglect can no longer be, we can't sit by and just let go, oh yeah, we know it needs to be done. But these kids on this neighborhood, listen, it's no longer, it's a large Hispanic community. It's no longer the black community, although we have a lot of black elderly residents that are still living there and some in the population. But regardless of race, color, creed, these individuals deserve, deserve to have a park that doesn't have a 1960 slide sitting in it that will burn their poor skins. We got, what, over almost $293,000 for Heber Park, but we couldn't find 1% or 2% to put into the community. I'm just saying maybe we can, at this point in time, after bringing this to your attention, realize that we can walk and chew gum at the same time. But we have to make a genuine effort to not just see buildings, but to actually see people. I thank you for your time. And that's all I have. And I do have a package I would like to leave for you guys. And it's just so that you can bring this.

Yeah. Thank you. Thank you, Angie. Thank you. If anyone else would like to speak.

Mary Kay field I appreciate the council giving the public an opportunity to speak and I just want to say on Facebook I thoroughly enjoy the videos I have seen so much more of downtown border and even some other outskirts and so thank you very much and whoever the camera person is for that and then also the latest videos on the alley cleaning and It's a shame that my neighbors, my neighbors are pretty bad too, haven't cleaned up their own alleyways. So it was great that they came out, took care of this problem that has been neglected by individuals. And it is work. And I do know the city ordinance says that where the dumpster is, whoever lives there, That area is responsible for the dumpster cleanup. So luckily, the dumpster's in my neighbor's back alley.

But I'm the one that cleans it up.

So that's OK. But again, thank you. And again, thank you for the video. So it's good to see all sides of our great city.

Thank you. Thank you, Mary Kay. Thank you. Anyone else have anything?

talks about the widows, the orphans, the disenfranchised, the strangers, the visitors. And I think it's necessary that if a city is going to be a city, it's got to be a whole city. You have to help everyone who needs help. Too often, and I'm from Amarillo. You know what's going on in Amarillo. Downtown is it. It was it. It was the big thing when I was a boy there. And it kind of died because of the big new marketplaces. Now it's coming back. And it seems that they're spending all their money and their time saying, come see downtown Amarillo. Well, downtown is not all of it. If we want people to invest in what we're doing, they need to see the whole thing. It's necessary. Right now on the north side, we're trying to do some things. We got some curbing done. We got some lights done. We got some pavement done and those things. And that's just, that's okay. But there are places and homes that need to be knocked over. With the fire that you had here a few years ago, I'm surprised you have any type of empty property just hanging around. It burns. It burns quickly and things like that. So we got health and welfare and all that involved in this. And I'm asking that you would... Move forward on some of this stuff. Get some information. Let us know what's going on. What are you going to do on the north side? We already heard about the beautiful stuff over here. But what are you going to do on the north side? Because people are people. And what I found out about is that I understand the bigger homes over here, they pay bigger taxes. But the little homes have been paying taxes longer. So it's as important to help the little man as it does to help those who are better off. I had more but three minutes.

Thank you. Anyone else? Okay, I see.

So I would like to talk because I'm here to defend myself. And the reason I say that is I wholeheartedly feel like my department is doing everything possible that we can do. And it has spread. It has spread throughout the whole city. And the city of border cannot do everything. The people has to do it. Talking about the alley cleanup, we've been doing that. We've been doing neighborhood cleanups. We've literally worked the whole town in code enforcement cases. Benji, I've asked you to come to my office and look at that, okay? There's laws that we have to abide by before we tear down properties. A lot of manners goes into a property when it results in that. We definitely need to tear down some more structures. We know this. It's all about where we want to put our money at and still keep our town functioning. Streets, utilities, water, sewer. I mean, there's a lot to that. So I'm just up here speaking my piece because I am very proud of my department and the work that they've been doing. And I invite anybody to come in and really see the cases that we are working.

Thank you, Larry. Anyone else would like to speak?

Yeah. Now, I know the majority of you in here. And on a weekly basis, I probably drive around Borger probably more than anybody checking each community. especially my old neighborhood on Jim Hall. I mean, I go there more than just on Sundays and Wednesdays. I drive over there, I look, and, you know, we have a bunch of vacant lots. It's a bunch of houses. And like I said, we're kind of limited on how many houses we can tear down and move out of there. The vacant lots are still owned by some of the people that I knew when I was living over there. We try to get them to cut those. If they don't, the city steps in and cut those and charge them. I don't know how much they charge them, but we end up charging them when we cut the lots. Now, as far as sections of town, I drive. If I see some, I call it in. I've had many people come up to me and say, well, you need to do this. I said, well, would you call that department? No, I don't want to call them. You do it. You know, we all, if we're going to be a family, a city here in Borga, we got to work together. If you see something, you can call any one of these departments and say, hey, I've got a complaint. Call it in. If something don't happen, then call the city manager, assistant city manager, or one of your city council members and say, hey, we've got this problem that hasn't been taken care of. But a lot of times you say, well... That's your job. We elected you to do that. We can't see everything. We can't see half the things like people talking about, well, when you pave, you only pave in the risk section of town. I see Buena Vista, Cottonwood, all those roads. That's not a risk section of town. When we get ready to pay sometimes, we have a guy to check the roads to see how quick it deteriorates. That's the ones we try to hit and get as quick as we can. Matter of fact, I live on Hazelwood. I've been living over there since 1971. Nines haven't been paid, and my show is not a rich neighborhood. But we are trying to do the best job we can to serve the citizens, all of the citizens here in Borba. The shopping center over there, it wasn't ours until somebody stopped paying the taxes. Now it's done fell back on us because somebody else owned that building. Now they stopped paying the taxes. It's the city's responsibility now. And I know a lot of things, well, people got ideas, and we hope that we can get somebody eventually to move into that. Move over there. I don't know. But we are trying to serve. If you're not sure, call the code department. Say, hey, I got this person doing this. Is that legal? If you're not sure, just call them. You don't have to give your name. Just say, well, I got this concern because somebody's doing this. But do not be afraid to call. It's not going to raise your water bill or anything like that because somebody said, I don't want to call because they're going to make my bill go up. That's not going to happen. We're going to do what we can, neighbor. You can't tell me nothing about the north side. I know all about it.

Leave the mall as it is.

No. The mall, that wasn't ours. That's what I'm trying to tell you. It wasn't ours. We just got, we're trying to get control of that because when it shut down, somebody else bought that facility. And we can't, we can't, we tell them you board it up.

So now the city will format a plan and it will be revealed to the public on what your plan is.

No, right now. That's when I walked up here just after our work session. So that's coming. I know there can be some frustration from the February to today. We were going down the condemnation path when we learned that it was about to come back on back taxes. So it didn't make sense to continue down the condemnation process since we were going to get it. Thank you. I will say that if anybody's interested, if you go to the city's website, you can sign up for alerts. I would encourage all to sign up for agenda postings for the building standards committee. That's the committee that handles the substandard structures. A lot of times it's a board appointed by the council, but they are a board of citizens. They will a lot, a lot of times what shows up is the affected homeowner. And so when you've got a board of volunteer members, listen to the sob story, of the property owner and that's the only person in attendance to speak to that board, it's really hard to be forceful. So I would encourage a lot of these here when somebody else can show up and give the dissenting view, it makes the decisions a lot less different. And so a lot of that can get handled with involvement in building standards. And like I said, the easiest way is on the website. If you create an account, I know some people might not want to create an account, but it will send you an email every time we post a new agenda. And so if you've got the email, you can get that and then you can look and see what properties are on the building standards agenda so that you can give that other side of the story. And I will, Larry will probably, you know, agree, but 98% of the time, it's the property owner. That's the only person that's here on either side of that. And so it's, And I would be willing to say that's probably true in any city. That board, if the only people in the audience are support, you know, is that property owner, they're going to be a little hard. It's going to be harder on them to, you know, be tougher. So I would say with that. For those that want to know, just so that you know, next year's chip seal project is Antelope Ash, Cottonwood, Hickory, Maple, Oak, Amaryllis, Plains, Cactus, Delilah, Frontera, Estorino, Dolomita, Caliche, Buena Vista, Budaino, Caprock, Broward, Castle, Huber Avenue, Coble Street, Clayton Street, Cooley Street, and E6 Street. So there are five years planned out. We are trying to eventually

get everywhere we're playing behind and we know we're playing behind so that's the only clarifications I have thank you in speaking on the building and standards committee because it they they they are constantly working the same structure over and over. I mean they and that is exactly. I'm so thankful that he said that because it is the truth because then it come after they have condemned it. It comes to us. That is a tough call to new piece of equipment.

The the track will be a lot better. You know you're not. Running through the house with the big bucket truck like we've been doing, you'll be able to pull it down and do some things better. So we do have have some things coming.

Thank you, thank you, Pete. Is anyone else have anything? If not, then we will move on to the consent agendas. And there's item 5, 6, and 7. If there's any discussion or questions, and if not, I'll entertain a motion.

I'll make a motion. We approve consent item 5, 6, and 7. Second.

All in favor? and they pass and then item i know i couldn't see item six consider and take appropriate action on a proposed combined tax rate not to exceed point six four six five nine zero valuation and add an action item on the September 1st, 2026 agenda for introduction and then schedule a public hearing and add an action item on the September 15th, 2026 agenda for final action to adopt the fiscal year 2027 property tax rate. Mr. Spradlin.

So this starts the first step of our budget and tax rate adoption process. Of course, staff, that stuff is online already right now. The fiscal 27 proposed budget is in the financial transparency section of the website. Once you take action on this, the proposed tax rate documentation and everything will go up on the website tomorrow morning. midday, before the end of the day tomorrow, and then we will give, once you schedule the tax rates, we will give that information to the tax assessor collector who will then get those published in the newspaper. So like I said, this is just really the first step. Lots more information to come. The tax rate will not be finally adopted until September 15th. This is August 4th, so...

It's just a process. Right.

It's a process and the first acknowledgement so that everybody can go get the information that they need or ask any questions that they have. So like I said, there's not a presentation or anything this meeting. There will be lots of those forthcoming over the next couple of meetings.

Does anybody have anything? Or if not, then I'll entertain a motion.

I move to play it again with businesses.

And so a lot of the times, business owners can't start a business, purchase a building, and renovate it. So that is why we came up with the Main Street Momentum Grant. We previously had a tiers meeting where this was approved by the tiers board. This property is the Thomas Greenhouse Building, which is very historically significant to our area. It was one of the first post offices and built in 19.

You probably got mail there. Did you get mail there?

It was built in 1936. And Lisa is a great businesswoman. They serve our community and have wonderful products and are there. So we just need, because of their request for their roof, it is just to fix their roof so that no more damage continues to happen inside of the building.