City Council - Regular Meeting

yeah it's all on gis they do it for all the different counties

Well, we're in the architects council, not the east Texas council.

You ready? All right, it is six o'clock. We'll bring this meeting, the Mount Vernon City Council to order. We'll start off with . So we'll start off with invocation. Mark, Mary, would one of you grab that, please?

Heavenly Father, thank you again for the rain that we've got and the wonderful town we have, Lord, and just watch over us tonight as we... Go through the different resolutions that we have and help decision-making that we continue to be good stewards of the taxpayer money and continue to bless us. In the name of our prayer, amen.

We will start off with the citizen participation. First off, we'll start with this. The Texas Open Meetings Act prohibits council from responding to any comments other than to refer to a future agenda, to an existing policy, or to make a statement of factual information. Claims against the city, council, employees, as well as individual personnel appeals are not appropriate for citizens forum.

All right. So we're gonna start off with citizens participation.

Ms. Truesdale, would you like to start? You have three minutes.

So I'm Charlotte Truesdale, I live 1896 in Mount Vernon, and I'm just here to express appreciation to the city for all the cooperation and collaboration at our recent Carry the Load event. It was our second community event, we had a great turnout, and it could not have happened the way it did without the participation of our police department and fire department and all the planning that went into it. I know that Cassidy Weston is no longer in the same position, but she was a really big help in getting this thing off the ground and helping us do what we needed to do. Carry the Load is very impressed with our community in general, but also with the event that we've had the last two years. and they've already reached out to us again to see about next year. So we don't have a date yet, but I especially wanted to say a special thanks to those who came out and participated on that day and walked with us. So to Greg and to Sally and to Martin, thank you so much for coming out and walking with us, and we hope you'll come back and bring someone else next year. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Charlie. Next is Krista Shield? Shield? Okay. You have three minutes.

All right, thank you. I'm Krista Shield, and I've had a tour of your beautiful city by my friend Robinette Bannister today. And usually when I attend a city council meeting across the state of Texas, we do a pledge to the Texas flag. I'd love to see you do that here. Actually, I brought you a street naming proclamation tonight that we've had passed in other cities in Texas, including Josephine, where they're trying to build the Mecca of the West, or the epicenter for Islam in North America. I actually am the Texas director for RARE Foundation, Rise, Align, Ignite, Reclaim, And we've brought the documentation to our Governor Abbott and Attorney General Paxton that opened criminal investigations against East Plano Islamic Center because they are doing business for Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood. And so we got the designations from our Governor and Attorney General to designate care in the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist organizations and transnational criminal organizations as well as Rare Foundation is responsible for the Sharia Free America Caucus and now we have a Sharia Free Texas Caucus and it is a top priority in our next legislative session for a reason. This street naming proclamation to be made a city ordinance is setting up a firewall against Muslim communities coming in, setting up their mosques and developments because they've been naming their streets after Islamic conquerors in their battles and after verses in the Quran that talk about killing the infidel. So this street naming proclamation sets you up in your city so that no street can ever be named after anything that is anti-American or anti-Western culture.

Let me pass that off to you.

And if you're thinking, well, we don't currently have a mosque, Krista, so we're safe. Well, let me tell you the reason I'm here tonight is because they've been spreading out to small towns and rural communities. And in their own words of these Islamic leaders, they have said that this is a political expansion in order to dominate. It's about conquest. They have been land banking, buying hospitals, buying urgent cares, buying preschools and day cares. And what we've seen happen just down the road in Paris, Texas, is a takeover of a hospital and building a new hospital that's owned by Muslims. 90% of the medical students, from what I've been told, at Paris Regional, are Muslims. They've already instituted halal in the cafeteria and are trying to get it reinstituted. Also, not too far down the road in Tyler, Texas, their largest of the three mosques is run by a man who does financial business for the government of Egypt. That's not called a place of worship. That's called an embassy, and there are parameters around that. We also have, not too far down the road in McKinney, Texas, one of at least two Sharia tribunals run by another imam who is doing business for the government of Egypt. We also have, and you'll see this happening down the road, in Sulphur Springs. They have an Islamic association. Within that association, right now, they are doing a fundraiser to build the larger mosque, because right now it's a set of trailers on a piece of property. But what's happening is, is Ustad Mohammed Bajor, One man who is an imam who's been all over the state of Texas, including Frisco's new Islamic center that their city council unfortunately just passed with Quad City Mosque. That man is so dangerous that the UK that's been practically taken over by a Sharia won't even allow him in their country. But he's right here fundraising for these types of mosques. please follow rare, R-A-I-R, foundation.com, and Amy Meck, M-E-K, in our substack for more information, and I've left you my phone number in this paper here tonight, and I appreciate your time. Thank you.

Thank you. All right. Is Robinette here? Robinette? Awesome. Miss next is Miss Robinette Bannister, so you've got three minutes.

Thank you, sir. Mm-hmm. Okay, put a name with a face. My name is Robinette Bannister. This is my hometown. My folks have been here for generations. I love Mount Vernon dearly. I think some of you on the city council know me well. You know my deep love for Mount Vernon. I just want to start with a few points tonight that has kind of come to my attention and I've spoken with miss Angie about some of it I've tried to reach out to the City Council and everybody through email it's been a couple of months now almost just a few days for short of a couple of months that your email addresses are incorrect Ms. Bailey's email is incorrect. Mr. Huddison's email is incorrect. There is no email for you, Mr. Ostertag. There's no email for Ms. Sally Yang. So if anybody, not just me, but anyone wants to reach out to you, it gets kicked back. There's no way for them to email you, which we all know, is a preferred form of communication is very efficient, not just for me, but for you all too. I ask that you look into that, and for the good of the citizens of Mount Vernon, have that rectified as soon as possible. Also a concern that I addressed, whenever this meeting was called, or should I say recalled, rescheduled, I reached out concerning a change. I had gone back on the agendas over 2026, 2025, 2024, and just kind of quickly went and opened the agendas and noticed a change from your former secretary to your current secretary that is not being listed online for the time and date stamp. And I have been told that I'm wrong, but according to the Texas Open Meetings Act, the date and time stamp has to be on both the public, whenever you post that on the window, but also on your website. That is transparency. I know transparency is something that was a lot of speak focus and please you know abide by those so the people in Mount Vernon and other places know when your meetings are going to be held because not everybody can walk by the City Hall and see that posted we are a data electronic civilization now also can I encourage you to please get a code enforcement officer in place as soon as possible there are lots of issues that not just i'm aware of i don't even reside here i i work in this region i'm through here on a regular basis i spend my money here i spend my energy here i always will to the day i die because i will be buried somewhere in either curly or mount vernon because that's where my families are we've always been from here i'm very proud to be for mount vernon i think it's a wonderful place to be wonderful place to promote i do what i can to drive people that i know in organizations i know here i want them to come to a beautiful town but code enforcement is where that starts please get a code enforcement officer and i thank you for your service each one of you and everything that you do and um i guess that's my time i don't see a timer but that's probably close to three minutes thank you for hearing me out thank you

all right we'll move on to the items to be considered uh for number one is we're going to consider uh interlocal agreement with uh architects council of government for nine uh 9-1-1 addressing services yes mayor we have some guests here from the architects council of governments to speak on that

all the way from Texarkana.

All the way from Texarkana. Good evening, Mayor, and the members of the City Council. My name is Rhea Allen, and I am the 911 Program Director for the RTX Council of Governments, where we oversee the 911 network implementation. We oversee the equipment installation. We have a GIS program. Under the GIS program falls addressing, and we have public education. Franklin County Sheriff's Office is one of our public safety answering points. And a couple of months ago, I say a couple, maybe a month ago, we were contacted by the city secretary in reference to some addressing services. Currently we address for some of the cities within our region, maybe about 15, 15 cities. in our region where we have taken over the addressing authority for that. The state of Texas has mandated that we ensure that there's data accuracy in a 911 map. Because of that, we already address in the rural areas, Franklin County included, So some of the cities that may not have the manpower, may not have the GIS knowledge on how to work a map, have contacted us and asked us to take over those services for them, Mount Vernon being one. So I'm here to answer any questions that you may have in reference to an interlocal agreement. This will be at no cost to the cities. because you are helping us ensure the data accuracy of our maps. And I'm just here to answer any questions you may have in relation to that. We do start off with an audit where we will go through and we will map the city. We will compare it to the current data that we do have in the map. Then we will go from there, we go and we contact the city and say these are the discrepancies that we found according to our addressing guidelines. We work with you to ensure that we change those. We work with the residents to get those changed. We did do sort of an assessment of the city of Mount Vernon, and we rarely found any major errors that we have found in some of our smaller cities. So that's a good thing. From there, we will create a database for the city. The city can use it for their purposes, but it's all a part of our 911 database. And we will start taking over addressing for any new addresses that come from this point forward, should you agree to enter into the interlocal agreement with us.

and i'm here to answer any questions that you may have how does that work as far as like the addressing authority and i'm just gonna i just had an experience with this in another town okay um we have a business and we bought the property next door to us and we replanted it okay and so the addresses skipped like four addresses within two buildings so is that something that they that a business or someone will contact you about those addresses and what would that process look like?

Yes, they would. We are used to that and it is part of our guideline that we do skip to allow for advancement. So for example, if your address is 100, and historically this building has been 100, now I wanna sub, lease it out, well then the next address to the building next to you may be 103, that leaves no room for any additional addresses. So we try to make sure that we're leaving spaces to allow for advancement. May come years after us, after we're gone, but we wanna make sure that that's there so that you're not readdressing a whole block as a result of having addresses side by side.

So in a case where like, I don't know, I own my own house and three properties down the line, and there's no addresses there. Would that whole block be readdressed?

And do they do they would have to? What does that process?

What does that process look like? Like, how long does it take? What would that process look like?

It will take a couple of days for us to come up with a solution for that. It does sometimes require that the other addresses do change. We have seen in some cities where they had a half's addresses, A's and B's, we try to steer away from that, but we do try to consider the ramifications, the ripple effect of changing everybody down that road because you would have to change your records, your banking information.

That's what they say, you have to get deeds redone.

Sometimes they do have to do that if the addresses are that close. So that would be what we would come back to the city with and say, actually our GIS manager is here, this is William Wagner, and Alan is here with us as well, and they work on that. So if they see any of those, he did find a couple of those that were kind of in consecutive order, but left no room for advancement in the city, and then we would come to the city, give our solutions to that, and then you would decide on whether or not what you want to do with that if you want to readdress four or five addresses or if you want to do halves or if you want to go through and do the a's and the b's but we do recommend that every address is skipped to allow for the advancement because that what leads to this problem that you're talking about right now so i think i heard something you said just want to be clear so

when it when you find something like that you bring it back to the city for the city to make a decision on what they want to do and then you you process forward with that that's right and then from there if the agreement is that um you enter into interlocal agreement with adcog then we have to contact the citizens

to let them know, give them the chance to come to a meeting and possibly say what their concerns are, because it is a lot to have to change your address. And we run into that a lot, but just to let them know that this is coming forward. So we would ask the city to even send out a notification that this is a process. We're going through an audit. You may or may not be asked to change your address as a result, but it is in the best interest of public safety. And...

So one last question along those lines. how many areas you said you've kind of looked through Mount Vernon? Are there any specific like hotspots where you see those problems? And if so, like not detailed, but like how many of them? Like two blocks, one block, 12 blocks?

we haven't done a complete assessment i did ask william to kind of skim through the city to see if you're seeing any problem points that is the exact problem that he is seeing within the city is that there's no room for advancement if you want to build a structure right behind your home and maybe you know like you said sublet it out there's no room for an address so then we need to change the address he did make out some copies just to kind of give you some reference points of what we're seeing. Again, like I said, it's not a major problem. We've had cities, we've had to readdress the whole town, but we're not seeing that here. That is the kind of issue that we're seeing. If you want a copy of those, he can.

I'm just curious, like the process, because like I said, if there's a lot of it that has to be done, not saying we wouldn't do this, but that does have a cost associated to it, maybe not to the city or to you, but to the homeowner, it would have a cost associated to that to get that done.

Yes.

And if we're requiring them to do that, I'm just curious how much of it you've seen and maybe you're not prepared to answer that today.

We've seen a lot of it. I've been with this. I've been with our city. Yeah, not within your city, but within other cities that I can give you as a point of reference and you're right. It does. It is painstaking to some residents. What we do is we give them official documentation so that there's no cost incurred to them to have to change their addresses it's just time consuming and it does take time for you to finally see it on google maps for all of your addressing to change so i would like to speak to any resident that you would have to and to let them know this is what it's going to entail it's going to take some time but you should have the right to say no We still have to represent what's on the ground, whether it's out of sequence or not. We have to still put that in the 911 map. We still have to put it up to our ESI, our Emergency Services Internet, for call routing, and it has to depict what's on the ground. We then make, we exception code it, because the state system sends it back as an error if we were to go ahead and address out of sequence. But we would accept your code in our map, give the reasons why. We can even say the resident refused. We just have to give, of course, them the notification. If you refuse to change your address, you are at risk for X, Y, and Z.

Thank you.

I have a question I know that we've had some issues with the postal service and the addresses there so there are some addresses that are here that have the same address but they're on a north or south or east or west and they're not actually implemented on the GPS system for the postal office Have you seen that here or would that be corrected?

Yes, that would be a part of our audit. we have to ensure that we have dispatchable locations when it comes to the 911 addresses. When an address is assigned by our office, we send that to the post office. So that would also be a part of our auditing process. We would say these roads don't have a suffix directional or a post directional. The true address is 125 North Washington. And so we try to ensure that every single address is addressed correctly according to the guidelines because our system will throw it back as an error too if it sees

any type of duplication yeah because i've i've checked a couple of times on texas dot if you try to type in certain addresses it won't pop up but as according to how we have our addresses here but the dot has it different where it does have a north or south or east or west so

and that is the addressing schema am i correct what i'm saying there so we try to make sure that that is all correct once we're done with the audit you've come to agreement on the ones that you want to change that you don't want to change with exception coded we'll send all of that information to the postal service then they take it up to their clearinghouse from there so we have found that we are helping some processes and sometimes we really do find messes that we have to navigate through okay thank you

how long does it take to update our who utilizes the active 911 pain drops and through our CAD system and all of that?

Well, of course, this is the foundation of why our program even exists is for the 911 call center. So the 911 map. We use the VESTA system, which is used at Franklin County Sheriff's Office. We are contacted occasionally by the CAD vendor who Franklin County has decided to use. They use our mapping data. our mapping data to proffer up and to populate their CAD system maps. So we're contacted quite often. Joe Shadbolt is the PSAP manager there, and so out of all of our 13 PSAPs, he makes sure that Mount Vernon, Henry, I see this error, this needs to be corrected, we rely a lot on our PSAP and our PSAP managers to tell us if they see any errors. Because they're basically our boots on the ground to let us know. And so from the time, to your question, from the time we receive an error till we get it to Merle or to, I'm sorry not to Merle, Merle sends it over to William or over to Allen, that time, that process could be a couple of days to a week. on that, but the mass change is gonna be a lot longer, but usually when we do an address in our 911 map and they do those pushes, how often do you do a push to a PSAP?

Roughly weekly.

So they get the updates weekly, and we can do them more frequently upon request if we need to, but roughly weekly we have seen that, and it's happening with a new address. So even if there's a new build going in, that point is on the map before the house is even built. Okay, so we make sure that we get that updated, so that's what we do weekly as far as getting the information. And it's done remotely, so from our offices in Texarkana, we're able to push that data, that's actually what Alan does, he'll push the data up to the PSAP so that they have the most accurate data.

One more question. You said that it could be time consuming to the residents. Is there a process that they are helped out?

We've actually had to, from, sometimes they have no problem with the letter that we give them, the address change. We make sure that in that letter, the old address is referenced, the new address is referenced, that it's through no fault of their own, and that it's in the best interest of public safety. Usually, they have no problem changing their deeds, their banking information, their licenses. With that letter, they're not charged for it. But for those who have multiple properties or things tied to the address, I have found that sometimes it takes a lot longer we'll get calls from agencies from banks asking us to verify that information and we do it on our end and send them anything that they need okay just to validate yeah is this for just the city or the city in the county We already are the addressing authority for the county. So we've been doing that for decades for the county. With the Next Generation 911 initiative, when the state decided that we're gonna start using address points to now route a call, then it became our responsibility to ensure that all of the data was accurate And so we've been working with some of the cities and we found that some of the cities didn't have GIS people that could make sure, they didn't have the time to even make sure that the schema was correct. And so we're now offering the services. We have a great team. They've done very good. We went from two cities and now, like you said, we're up to 15, 16. Should you guys approve it tonight?

So when you say there's no cost to the city, you're paid through the carriers, through a local fee?

Yes, basically through the 911 service fee. Every phone bill, every fax line has a 911 service fee that's sent up to the state and that's how our program is funded through 911 service fees and how this program would be funded in this project.

Everybody good? Any questions?

Feel free to call us anytime. The example that I sent over of the interlocal agreement, I apologize, had an error. I think our last agreement may have been with a city in Red River County. So we will update that information. It will be sent electronically for signatures should you decide to go into an agreement. And I'll say this, too. If you do decide to not go into an agreement, we will still be in contact. It's still a partnership to say, okay, we are still seeing these errors that are coming back to us. It's just your responsibility to fix those. and get that information to us.

I actually do have one other question. When it talks about the confidentiality and proprietary information, it says all materials submitted to RPC becomes public property. There's never really any private information that's provided to you, is there?

Well, we like to ensure the privacy of who lives in that home. So for our 911 maps, we may have the owner information and the occupant information. So we're making sure that we're not giving that particular information out where the 911 call center may have it. If we're ever asked for address points, we could say this is what the address is at this point, but we won't give the owner information along with it. So we scrub it any time we're asked for any type of information, who owns the property and all that, if it comes from us.

Well, thank you.

Thank you.

Thanks. Very helpful.

All right.

Do I have a motion to move forward with this?

A motion. Second.

second all in favor all right thank you all right uh number two consider an ordinance number 2026-05 adopting and implementing a school zone in the area of rutherford street and school lane angie would you bring up the map on this please

former superintendent and Craig Watson the superintendent approached us about a month ago describing the need for a school zone on Rutherford Street there's a ton of kids that walk across Rutherford to go to school especially since that's how you get into the junior high school now and they asked for our help in establishing a school zone So we have worked with them and Chad has taken the TxDOT standards for school zones and laid it all out and we came up with a cost estimate for it and they wanted the school zone before school started and that's one of the reasons we're meeting tonight because school starts the second week of August. And we have to order all of the equipment to do this and have the paving striper come out and do this. The school is going to pay for it. But we're going to kind of coordinate the installation of the equipment and make sure that everything gets done according to the design that is laid out here, which is in accordance with TxDOT standards. And Chad didn't like to talk, but you want to walk us through this because I'm not. This is fine. Everybody knows pretty well.

Basically, we're going to have all the crosswalks repainted. There'll be a solid white line at the actual flashing lights for the school zone. As far as textile is concerned, I had to space them out. I got 200, 200, and 100. So our school zone, basically, I think it's going to be... I think it's 1,200 feet, something like that. We're not gonna go past Miller. We'll have all the crosswalks done at Miller. There'll be flashing pedestrian signs at the crosswalks. I'm just waiting on the programmable blinking lights for the school, the actual school zone. Everything else is being shipped as we speak.

Are they going to start the flashing before Miller or right at Miller?

You're going to slow it down to 20, correct? Yes, it's going to go down to 20.

And you're going to start the 20 at Miller?

200 feet past Miller.

To the east.

The only reason I say that is because a lot of kids cross right there at Miller. I'll have flashing lights there. okay but that's not what the school but the 20 won't start until after to the to the west side that's right and that's according to text dot yeah okay text dot says basically if you started too far out that's right ignore it that's right they figured out the more you expand it the less people actually obey the school zone so they don't want you to stretch it out too far okay but there will

No, I understand. I just know a lot of kids go up Miller that way, especially after school. Just seeing them.

for the implementation of this I haven't talked to Lee about this but Craig Watson has talked to their school PD and they will help you know the first few weeks make sure that this gets top priority with your presence and their presence there

do i have a motion motion second second all right all in favor all right all right all right number three consider a water leak adjustment for the business located at 104 houston street in mount vernon

This is at Joy Street Academy. It was unoccupied, and there was a leak, and I got hit with a big water bill. a reduction of about 50%. We base that on their average billing over a six month period. And it's staff recommendation that the council do this. By ordinance, the council is the only entity that actually can grant these adjustments. So it would be our recommendation to go ahead and do this.

i got a motion i'll make a motion all right second second all right all in favor all right all right all right number four uh request to be placed on the agenda citizen jared turner has requested to address the city council regarding current permitting procedure

It's easier if I just read what I've got here. I'd like to say good evening to everybody. Thank you for Let me speak here tonight, and I provide an issue with a written proposal containing recommendations and support and documentation. Tonight I'd like to discuss several policy improvements that I believe will strengthen Mount Vernon's permitting, inspection, and code enforcement process while protecting public safety, preserving property values, and improving public confidence in local government. I believe Mount Vernon does not have a building code problem. We have an enforcement problem. Before I continue, I want to make one thing clear. My comments are not directed at anyone personally. It's not a personal issue, it's a personnel issue. I appreciate the work that city employees do every day, and I recognize they can only be successful when they have the time, staffing, resources, and administrative support necessary to carry out the responsibilities entrusted to them. My purpose tonight is to discuss policies, procedures, staffing, and consistent enforcement, not individuals. The city has adopted building codes and ordinances for one reason, to protect the health, safety and welfare of our community. Those ordinances establish minimum standards for construction, occupancy and property maintenance. They protect homeowners, tenants, businesses and neighborhoods alike. However, ordinances only have their intended purposes when they are administered fairly, consistently and without exception. As Mount Vernon continues to grow, the responsibilities placed upon code enforcement continue to grow as well. New residential construction, commercial development, remodeling projects, nuisance property enforcement, rental property oversight, abandoned structures, and upcoming infrastructure improvements all require professional oversight. These responsibilities have evolved into a full-time function. I respectfully encourage council to evaluate their city's current staffing structure is adequate to meet these growing demands. In my opinion, code enforcement should be a full-time position supported by a dedicated administrative assistant. Administrative support would allow inspectors to spend more time in the field conducting inspections, monitoring projects, responding to citizen concerns, informing ordinances, while permit processing, scheduling, record management, and public inquiries are handled entirely in the office. Strong code enforcement is not an expense. It's an investment in public safety. neighborhood preservation responsible development and the long-term value of every property in our community the permitting process should be the foundation of that investment a building permit should represent more than then authorization to begin construction. Before a permit is issued, there should be a clearly defined scope of work, complete documentation, and confirmation that the proposed project complies with applicable ordinances. In most cases, preliminary inspection should occur before the permit is issued to ensure proposed work actually reflects existing site conditions. Permits should also promptly be displayed at every job site where they can vary, where they can be clearly visible to the public street. Visible permits improve transparency, simplify inspections, and ensure neighboring property owners that work is being performed under an approved permit. Equality, important as an inspection process itself. The purpose of inspection is not merely to verify that work has been completed. Its purpose is to ensure that the construction complies with adopted building, electrical, plumbing, mechanical, fire, and life safety codes before the project goes to the next stage. While technology can be a valuable tool, there is no substitute for an inspector physically evaluating the property. Video inspections may be appropriate in limited circumstances, but they cannot reliably identify structural movement, foundation deficiencies, moisture intrusion, concealed electrical hazards improper framing or numerous other conditions that affect public safety on-site inspections should remain the standard whenever practical construction major remodeling new construction and site renovation projects should also be required to maintain basic job site standards permits should require an on-site bulk trash container to prevent construction debris from accumulating on the property A portable restroom should be available for workers of job site deems necessary. In addition, projects that subject to stormwater regulations should demonstrate compliance with all applicable stormwater pollution prevention plan, or SWP3, requirements before work begins throughout and throughout construction. proper erosion and sediment controls help prevent mud debris and pollutants from entering streets drainage systems and neighboring properties these simple requirements help construction sites clean safe and respectful surrounding property owners while protecting the city's infrastructure The city already has an ordinance addressing certificates of occupancy. It's Article 8, Section 5-161, Subsection 2, requires a new certificate of occupancy inspection whenever a rental, HUD, or foreclosed residence becomes vacant before it may be occupied again. It also makes it unlawful to occupy, rent, lease, or otherwise allow occupancy of those properties without first obtaining new current certificate of occupancy. My concern is not the ordinance. My concern is consistent enforcement. A certificate of occupancy should represent that the property has been thoroughly inspected and found to comply with all applicable building, electrical, plumbing, mechanical, fire, and life safety codes before anyone occupies it. Whether the occupant is a homeowner or a tenant, every family deserves to know the home is safe and meets the city's minimum standards. Finally, I ask that adopted building codes be enforced consistently and equally. Selective enforcement undermines public confidence, places responsible property owners at a disadvantage, and weakens the purpose of city ordinances. I respectfully ask the city council to direct city staff to review cities permitting inspection certificate of occupancy stormwater compliance and code enforcement procedures and return with a specific recommendations to improve these processes those recommendations should include permitting standards inspection requirements staffing needs certificate of occupancy enforcement construction site standards and the consistent application of cities adopted building codes Mount Vernon already has many of these ordinances necessary to protect its citizens. The opportunity before us is to strengthen the way these ordinances are implemented. Our community deserves the permitting process that is thorough, an inspection process that is meaningful, and a code enforcement program that is transparent, accountable, and applied fairly to everyone. Thank you for your time. Anybody have any questions? Because I talk a lot.

Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you.