City Council - Special Meeting

Good evening, we're gonna call this Monday, June 8th, 2026, City Council Special Meeting of the City Council to order. Mrs. Wilkinson, will you please call roll?

Council Member Carter is not present. Council Member Capizzi?

Here.

Council Member Edwards? Here. Mayor Pro Tems-Bradley?

Here.

Council Member Lebowski? Here. Council Member Ryan?

Here.

And Mayor Lennards?

Here, we have a quorum. First item is consent agenda. All items listed below are considered to be routine and non-controversial by the city council and will be approved by one motion. There'll be no separate discussion of these items unless a council member or citizen so request, in which case the item will be removed from the consent agenda and considered as part of the normal order of business. Citizens must be present to pull an item. Council, are there any items you'd like to pull? Mrs. Wilkinson, have any items been pulled?

Yes, sir. There's two individuals, Angela Allen, who is present, and Angela Keller. Both have requested A through H on the consent agenda.

So all of them?

Yes, sir.

Okay. Well, being that we have interviews, unless council has an objection, I'd hate to make our interviewees wait. If y'all are okay with it, we will bump item 2A up and take that item up first so that we can get the interviews done and they don't have to sit and wait for us to work through all the items on the consent agenda. Any objection? Very good, then we will start with interview applicants and appoint three individuals to the New Braunfels Planning Commission for three at-large seats with terms ending May 31st, 2029. Mrs. Wilkinson?

Yes, sir, we have five applicants. Four of them we would ask to follow Malaya out. The first one that we're gonna interview will be Chad Nolte, who could go to the podium, please.

Mr. Mayor, I do want to at least provide some opening remarks to the council before you get started with the interview process. I'd like to really summarize sort of our board and commission process that we have undertaken at least since 2021. In 2021, the council decided to align board and commission appointments. They used to be kind of all year long on different agendas throughout the year. And then in 2021, the council decided to align those. So we now have spring appointments and fall appointments. And so, The council, at least since 2021, has been considering spring and fall appointments in special meetings since at least 2021. This is nothing new. In fact, you can go on our website, pull those agenda items, and see that special meetings is where the interviews and the appointments have been considered. Just to kind of go through a process for how we got to this point this evening, In August of 2025, the council appointed an ad hoc committee for the fall 2025 and spring 2026 board and commission appointments. In February of this year, we issued a media release announcing that we were accepting applications through March 31st for the spring appointments for boards and commissions. And then on April the 30th, the ad hoc committee met to discuss and develop the recommendations to the city council. We did not put those on the May 11th agenda. As you all know, we've had some very lengthy meetings during the month of May, very lengthy meetings. In fact, May 11th, we had the executive session discussion regarding a previous city attorney and also the runoff election and the discussion that occurred with regards to that. May 18th, we had several pre-planned presentations, some of them very lengthy, as well as an executive session item regarding the appointment of an interim city attorney. And then May 26th, we actually, as you recall, we had an executive session that actually we were not able to complete the discussion on all of those executive session items before 6 p.m. And so we then had to then finish that conversation after the regular 6 p.m. agenda. And so the reason we chose this meeting is we knew that we did not have any executive session items to present to the city council. As you know, our practice is to hold executive sessions at 5 p.m. before every regular meeting. So this provided the council the opportunity to take this time to be able to conduct those interviews and consider appointments to the spring boards and commissions. So that's why we put it on this agenda. Our outside counsel, Lee Reams, is here with us this evening. She can then address, there's been some conversation about the holdover provision of the Texas Constitution. I wanted to just kind of briefly talk about that and then we'll turn it back over to you, Mayor.

Good afternoon, Mayor and Council. Again, my name is Lee Rehm. So we were asked to look at the issue concerning the expiration of board appointments, specifically planning commission. And as they're set up, they expire at the end of May. However, under the Texas Constitution, Article 16, Section 17, individuals, whether they're elected or appointed, continue to perform their duties. They're required to continue to perform their duties of their office after the term expires. until a qualified successor is appointed, reappointed, or elected. And so those individuals remain in those offices until you have, in this case, appointed someone new.

Okay, thank you for that historical perspective and for the legal perspective. I appreciate that. Okay, so we were gonna have some of our applicants step out

I think they have. Oh, okay. I'm sorry.

Good evening, Mr. Nolte. Okay, we've got... We've got some questions here, so why don't we start on one end and we'll just, that way everybody gets a chance to participate. So Mr. Capizzi, if you wanna start with the first question and then we'll just kinda make our way down and cycle through the questions.

Good evening, Mr. Nolte. What does community sustainability mean to you?

It means a thriving community while also being controlled by the growth we've had. We've had excessive amount of growth the past, what, eight, nine years, and it's getting harder for us to contain the growth because of new state law changes past three or four years especially. Sustainable success with the community means that In my opinion, perfect world, everybody's happy, everybody's happy where they live, everybody likes where they live, everybody wants to be a part of the community. That's kind of my thought and process of that question.

Thank you.

The Planning Commission makes recommendations to the City Council on rezoning requests and decides variances from the subdivision planning ordinance. Do you anticipate any conflicts of interest that may prevent you from making an unbiased decision on items before the commission? Are you a member of any organization that might influence your decision?

No, I'm not a member of any organization that influenced my decision. When it comes to these, you have the 200-foot notification area. So if you're in that area, you can't be a part of that meeting. Oh, sorry, if it's not high enough.

Thank you. Testing, oh yeah, there you go, sorry.

A little bit higher, sorry, I'm tall. And if you're in the 200-foot notification, you can't be a part of the meeting. I have been in the 200-foot notification prior. I have recused myself, filled out the form ahead of time, had it signed AF, and recused myself during the meeting. You don't know what the future holds. You don't know where you're going to be impacted on some of these cases, so you just kind of have to go at it month by month and look at the agenda, review it carefully, and make sure you're not, have a conflict of interest of any kind, really.

Okay.

Mr. Nolte, what do you see as the role of the comprehensive plan?

The comprehensive plan, it's basically our playbook guidelines for how we want to envision growing our city. The comprehensive plan lays out our thoughts, ideas, our passions, our wants, needs of a community, and what we're looking for to grow. So if you have it in your agenda for, we always call the missing middle, If you have that growth and impact and you want that, then that should be in there. And if you don't, then it also should be stated in there that we're looking for something else, whether it be single family homes or whatnot. So that's kind of our guide, our playbook to how we want to grow this city for the next 5, 10, 15, 20 years, depending on how often it's updated and what we do with it and also what state laws are passed in that time as well.

Okay, council, any follow-up questions to those answers? Mr. Nolte, is there anything else you wanted to add?

No, not right now. Sorry, I thought we were all gonna go with each question, so kind of threw me off on that one. But all good, y'all are good.

Well, thank you, sir. You're welcome to, if you wanna sit and watch the rest of the interviews, you're certainly welcome to. Thank you.

Appreciate your responses.

Hello.

Hello, thank you for applying for boards and commission for the city of New Braunfels. And we have some questions we're just gonna ask down the line. Okay. And I'm the first question. What does community sustainability mean to you?

Community sustainability. So I'm a gardener a lot of the time, so I spend my time thinking about water a lot. So I specifically actually yesterday put in a bunch of swales in my garden so that I can conserve water. So it could become really small, like in everyone's yard, or as a community, it could be making sure we have enough open land or drainage areas. So... When we look in neighborhood platting, so that's looking at is there enough permeable land or coverage? Is there enough drainage zones or park zones and trees? Do they actually consider the trees to put them in the landscaping in the homes? And it can also be, is our economy sustainable? So that could be, is there enough jobs? Because I know our commute time average here is 27 minutes, which is kind of long. So that means a lot of people are going to San Antonio or Austin. So whenever we see commercial zones, it's like, okay, yeah, there's some parking, but that means people are driving less. So that can help our environment as a whole.

All right, thank you.

My question is, the Planning Commission makes recommendations to City Council on rezoning request and decides variances from subdivision plotting ordinance. Do you anticipate any conflict of interest that may prevent you from making any unbiased decisions on items before the commission? And are you a member of any organization that may influence your decision?

I don't see any conflict of interest as I have no financial investments. I'm just trying to make it day by day. I have family who do entrepreneurship, but it's very small or retirement. My husband's a fireman, that could put some oomph in there a little bit to consider for the city. Some teachers, I know a lot of teachers. But otherwise, other than the Master Gardeners, which is, we're really tiny, and we just like to plant things, there's really nothing I can see.

One more question for you. What do you see as the role of the comprehensive plan?

So the comprehensive plan is very large. It's very comprehensive. And it's went out to the city as a whole. So it involved people who normally wouldn't come to these meetings or don't know about them or don't have enough time. So it went out to schools or events that were fun and more interesting than these like meetings or surveys. I know a lot of people don't like to answer surveys, but if you go out and talk to them, there's more to say. So that would be the view of more citizens would get involved in that and we're seeing.

Mrs. Schaffer, is there anything else you'd like to add?

No, I'm just happy to be here and thank y'all for volunteering your time as well.

Council, any follow-up questions? All right, thank you, Ms. Schaffer.

Thank you.

Good evening, Mr. Mayor, council members. I'm Jerry Sonier. Good evening.

Thank you for applying. I appreciate it. And we're going to ask a series of questions, which I'll leave out with the first one. And that question is, what does community sustainability mean to you?

Well, I think it means that the community has done the process of keeping the city running and looked at future implementation of programs and keeping that in mind through planning and continuing to let the city grow in a way that it should be growing.

Thank you. The Planning Commission makes recommendations to City Council on rezoning requests to size variances from the subdivision planning ordinance. Do you anticipate any conflicts of interest that may prevent you from making an unbiased decision on items before the commission? That's the first question. And the second, are you a member of any organization that may influence your decisions?

The answer to both those would be no. I've been on the Planning Commission for several years and there's been no conflict. If there were with my business, I would recuse myself. I'm not a member of any committee or company that would disallow me from doing the correct thing.

Okay, what do you see as the role of the comprehensive plan?

What I see is, and have seen it for years since they started doing them here, or before they started doing it, it's a plan for the city to adhere to, not by law but by moving ahead in a planned environment and letting things take place that are already scheduled. pointed out in that plan, that plan's pretty extensive.

Okay, council, any follow-up questions? Mr. Sonja, anything you wanna add?

Just that I've been on the commission for a while, I've been chair and vice chair, and I enjoy the challenges that come before the commission. And I think I've done a good job, and I'd like to continue doing that. I appreciate you allowing me to reapply. Thank you, sir. Thank you.

Hello. Mr. Mathis.

Hello, sir. Hello. Welcome. So we're gonna ask a series of questions. I'll have the first question for you. What does community sustainability mean to you?

Community means to me is currently with the plan is aligned with both environmental uh needs of the citizens and comprehension plans so basically we can sustain the current growth without having a big negative impact on what's happening to the communities long range basically make sure it's aligned with long-range goals thank you hello hey

I have two questions. First question is the planning commission makes recommendations to city council on rezoning request and assigns variances from the subdivision planning ordinance. Do you anticipate any conflict of interest that may prevent you from making an unbiased decision on these items before the commission? And then my second question is, are you a member of any organization that may influence your decision?

Second one's no. First one, I have a question. Is that inside the city limits? I'm sorry? That first question, is that just inside the city limits? Yes. Then no, I'm not. There's been a question about I'm a real estate agent. I am not a real estate agent.

Wonderful. I appreciate the clarification. One last question for you. What do you see as the role of the comprehensive plan?

So comprehensive plan is a roadmap for the future long-term goals of the community. It's a guide that we use as commissioners when we're making decisions. A good commissioner's not gonna come in and have a preconceived notion of, he's not gonna be pro-growth, he's not gonna be anti-growth, he's gonna look at the individual plan for them and really make sure it fits with the long-term goal, which is what the comprehensive plan is. And also, you also got to look at the property rights, individual property rights. You got to balance that with the current laws that are on the books. But really, the comprehensive plan is actually the foundation for us long term of what we want to do and look like as a community. And the decisions we make today, we make sure those are aligned with that envisioning.

Council, any follow-up questions? Okay, Mr. Mathis, is there anything else you'd like to add? No, I just appreciate the opportunity to serve. That's what New Braunfels is all about.

Thank you. Thank you.

Good evening, Mr. Fain. Good evening, Mayor. We've got a few questions for you.

Good evening, sir. Good evening. I'll start out with question number one. What does community sustainability mean to you?

In terms of a municipality, I believe that that would mean that you need to manage your resources, your population, your land, et cetera, to be able to manage so that your growth does not outpace your infrastructure, your tax base needed to pay for that, et cetera. To me, that's what sustainability would be for a municipality.

Thank you, sir.

The Planning Commission recommends to City Council on rezoning request and decides variances for the subdivision planning ordinance, do you anticipate any conflicts of interest that may prevent you from making an unbiased decision on items before the commission? And are you a member of any organization that might influence your decision?

Not at all, sir.

OK.

Okay, Mr. Fain, what do you see as the role of the comprehensive plan?

I think the comprehensive plan is basically listening to the staff that are making the recommendations for, as Mr. Edwards was saying, for platting, for subdivisions, etc., bantering that around within the committee to make sure that we feel that it's good for the growth and then push that up to the council to vote on. I don't think the Planning Commission should be making any changes themselves. They should be just listening mainly to what the staff is recommending.

Okay, any follow-up questions? Okay, anything else you'd like to add? No, not at all. Appreciate y'all's time. Thank y'all very much. Thank you, sir. Okay, Mrs. Wilkinson, how?

You can open it for comment if you'd like, and then I'll do a roll call, and then we'll have a motion in a second.

Okay. Okay. We'll open this item to public hearing. If anybody would like to speak to this item, please step up to the podium, state your name, whether you're a resident, non-resident, or live in the ETJ.

My name is Angela Keller, ETJ zone, and a confirmed citizen of New Braunfels. I believe the public deserves to understand the selection process, the qualifications of the nominee, and whether other applicants were considered as transparency. That should also be brought up here at this time, not behind closed doors. I'm concerned that the public has not been provided with sufficient information about how this appointment was made or any of them. Transparency in appointments helps maintain public confidence in our boards and commissions. One has to ask themselves whether any personal or professional relationships were considered during the time of the appointment process and what steps were taken to ensure the selection was based on qualifications and the needs of the commission. Transparency is a big thing. Yes, people can go to the government New Braunfels City website and look up things, but I also know that the City of New Braunfels government Facebook page, where everybody is nowadays on social media, this page has more traffic than our New Braunfels City website, the City of New Braunfels government Facebook page. On this page, I have seen advertised for Sager Fest on February 9th, March 23rd, 27th, April 2nd, April 9th, April 10th, April 15th, 17th, 23rd, 24th, and April 25th and 30th. This is 12 times this event on Sager Fest has been posted on the Facebook City of New Braunfels government page. While there is not even one, and I repeat, not one posting of any of the open board and commission seats on this page, not even one. What happened to transparency? Where is the transparency in our local government? Mind you, I only went up to January, five months. If our local government truly cared about its citizens, they would ensure this information would be put out multiple times on multiple sites and social media to grab the citizens' attention. But that isn't their intent. Could it be that they don't want the New Braunfels citizens to apply for these positions so that they can select individuals they know personally? But that's okay. So I have to question everyone here. why these positions weren't publicly advertised and open to all qualified applicants, such as Facebook, New Braunfels City government website. Sager Fest was mentioned 12 times, 12, but not for any of these open board and commission seats on that site, not once. How many applicants were received, reviewed, and possibly put aside? We don't know, only y'all know. Would it be more appropriate for the incoming mayor and council to make appointments if the election outcome is imminent? Why were these boards and commission vacancies allowed to remain unfilled for an extended period of time? Why the rush now? Why are multiple appointments being made immediately before an election or change in administration? I believe the wonderful citizens of this city that I grew up, third generation, and my husband, whose family helped establish this town, I believe that they deserve transparency. Thank you for your time.

Marty, excuse my voice, Marty Hiles, New Braunfels resident. I want to talk about the special committee here, the meeting. It's an extraordinary procedural mechanism reserved for urgent matters that cannot wait for a regular scheduled meeting. Board and commission's appointments are governed by the ordinance of 2021-63 and occur on routine basis. Texas Government Code 551-.045 requires a special called meeting addressed an emergency or urgent public necessity defined as an imminent threat to public health, safety, or reasonable foreseeable situations. And a routine advisory appointment board is neither. So if you look at it, a city invoking a genuine emergency will post a notice two hours usually out, and this city posted it six days out, and simultaneously posted a regular meeting two minutes later. This is not an emergency action. This is actually, in a sense, a violation of state law, how you're doing this. It just amazes me how, like the last meeting you had, you just decided to cut off Marianne Lebowski and just break your parliamentary rules. So that's really what I have to say, and I just really hope that you understand that and try to work with the people and not sit there and think that you... Your good old boy system has got all the answers. We're all together here. We should be working together. Thank you.

My name is Michael French. I live in the city. Sorry. I'm going to piggyback off of... Some of what he said there. So before any votes are taken tonight, I'm raising a formal objection to the use of special called meeting for these agenda items A through H. I have reviewed the legislature posting records. The notice of tonight's special called meeting was posted on June 2nd at 4.06 p.m. The notice for tonight's regular scheduled council meeting was posted on June 2nd at 4.08, two minutes later on the same day. And both meetings were planned simultaneously. The council chose to route 26 advisory board appointments through a special called meeting posted two minutes before the regular meeting notice. This eliminates any claim that a special meeting was called before a regular meeting was unavailable. Texas Government Code Section 551.045 provides that an emergency or urgent public necessity exists only when immediate action is required because of an immediate threat to the public, public's health and safety, or a reasonably unforeseeable situation. Routine board and commission appointments that have been in process since February are neither of those things, neither of those things happen. A government body invoking a genuine emergency post meeting notices two hours out, not six days out. This council posted six days in advance and simultaneously posted a regular meeting two minutes later. This is not an emergency action, this is political scheduling. And my question for the council is to be answered before any votes are cast, what specific emergency or urgent public necessity As defined by Texas government code section 551.045 required these 26 appointees to be made at a special called meeting tonight. When a regularly scheduled council meeting was available one hour later. I'm requesting a motion to table all appointment items to next regularly scheduled meeting and that's all I got, thank you.

Good evening. Members of the Council, Mayor, I am Christina French. What's your name? I'm getting to that. I am Christina French, a resident of District 3. The following comments address agenda item C, the five appointments to the Board of Adjustment. The City of New Brunfels zoning ordinance explicitly states that the Board of Adjustment shall operate in accordance with Texas local government code sections 211.008, through 211.011. These state statutes govern Board of Adjustment member qualifications and appointment procedures independently of city policy and city charter. Before any vote on item C, I'm- I have a point of order.

Can you please hold on a second?

We're not on item C. We're addressing all items A through H?

No, we're not.

No.

Okay. But it's come up when that item is- No, I have something to address something else. I want to speak for New Brunfell residents who are not in the room tonight. The people being appointed today applied through a real process. I'm not questioning their qualifications. What I'm asking is this. How many other qualified New Brunfell residents never had a fair opportunity to be considered? Advisory boards shape how this city grows, how property rights are determined, and how public assets are managed. The people who serve on them matter. The process by which they are chosen matters. The regular council meeting is one hour away. Tabling these appointments from today should be considered and not happen until after June 13th election. Thank you.

My name is Rita McNeil-Owens. I live here in this city in District 3. I believe Mr. Spradley is my representative. I have lived in this city for 36 years and raised a daughter here who went through all of the schools, including Camel High School Canyon. And I have been, we were so in love with this city for decades, and now we are appalled at the crowding, the traffic, the thousands and thousands and thousands of extra people that are flooding the town, flooding the grocery stores. What is it, 100,000 extra people in three grocery stores? And most of all, the schools, they're exploding.

Ma'am?

Yes.

We're taking an appointment of planning commissioners.

I'm trying to give you a little bit of background of why I have such a sense of urgency about this. I'd like you to leave the application process open so more citizens for these appointments are able to apply and even be aware that they are in line and could have applied if it had been announced more openly and widely and publicized. I'm asking that a member of this council would make a motion to table all the board and commission appointment items on tonight's agenda until after the runoff election. That would be, I believe, five to ten days from now. The notice for tonight's regular meeting has already been discussed and the difficulties and the timeline problems that were created by this rushed ramming this process through. And I think our main question is, why does this have to happen tonight? I'd really like an answer to that. Oh, you guys don't have to answer anything. Well, please consider it and address it in a few minutes if you kindly would. I think every citizen here wonders, why do we have to do this tonight? It may be convenient for you, but we don't know your motives, so please enlighten us. I think that just really covers it. Thank you.

Thank you. Hold on a second. Hold on a second. Good evening. My name is Julie King, and I'm a resident of New Braunfels since 2009. I really had planned to talk tonight, but I want to speak to the two curated questions that you asked every candidate for this position. One had to do with sustainable development, and the other one had almost a pledge of allegiance to do you believe in the comprehensive plan? The pledge, just one of the small prints in the comprehensive plan which I read said, and I pointed this out at a recent meeting, to support the development of additional workforce housing units, create an incentive policy to include variances for height restrictions, density limits, parking minimums, and other requirements as well as encouraging the use of public facility corporation and tax increment financing. If this is the pledge that you have asked every candidate on the Planning and Zoning Committee to make, I would argue that, and this is part of the comprehensive plan, you are having the new planning committee members sign on to something that maybe the citizens don't all believe, given the fact that just today, New Braunfels and Georgetown were highlighted in MySA.com as the fastest growing communities in the entire state. So I only bring this up because the pledge of purity to adapt the comprehensive plan I think may be decided on June 13th. Thank you.

Hi, my name is Joyce Compton, long-time resident, first-time talker. I just wanted to say that while I was waiting in line, I thought I'd scroll the City of New Braunfels website to see the Facebook page to see if there was any mention of the applications for the city boards and commissions. And between February and March, it was mentioned four times. SO GOOD EVENING MAYOR, COUNCIL MEMBERS, AND FELLOW RESIDENTS. I'M HERE TONIGHT TO SPEAK IN SUPPORT OF THE CITY OF NEW BRONFILES PROCESS FOR APPOINTING MEMBERS TO BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS. WHILE NO SYSTEM IS EVER PERFECT, THIS PROCESS IS GOOD BECAUSE IT HELPS TO ENSURE COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT, THOUGHTFUL REVIEW, AND RESPONSIBLE SERVICE TO THE CITY. Boards and commissions play an important role in local government. They allow residents to contribute their time, expertise, and perspective to issues that directly affect our community, from planning and zoning to parks, libraries, utilities, and economic development. These bodies give citizens a voice and help council make better informed decisions. The city's appointment process is valuable because it creates a structured way for people to step forward and serve. Instead of appointments happening informally, residents have the opportunity to apply, share their background, and express interest in specific areas where they want to contribute. That does matter. It encourages public participation and opens the door for people with different experiences and skills to get involved. City council members are accountable to the public and they are the right people to evaluate applicants and make appointments based on the needs of the community. That balance, public application combined with council oversight helps preserve both openness and accountability. Strong boards and commissions need members who are committed, prepared, and ready to serve seriously. An organized appointment system helps place people where their talents can be used effectively while also allowing fresh perspectives over time. That combination strengthens the quality of advice and recommendations these boards provide. I AM CURRENTLY THE VICE CHAIR OF THE PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY BOARD. I APPLIED AFTER HAVING BEEN CHAIR OF THE NEW BRAUNFELD PARKS FOUNDATION FOR MANY YEARS AND HAPPILY I WAS APPOINTED. I HAVE SERVED THE PARKS IN SOME FASHION FOR OVER 14 YEARS. I have yet to miss a meeting, nor have I ever been late to one. I take my appointment very seriously and know that our community trusts our board, that our board will make smart decisions regarding our city's parks and recreation areas. New Braunfels' current appointment process reflects the spirit of local government at its best. Neighbors serving neighbors. It reminds us that good government is not just about elected officials, it's about residents being willing to step up, participate and help shape the future of our city. New Braunfels is growing, it's changing and facing important decisions. That makes it even more important that we maintain a fair, orderly and participatory appointment process for boards and commissions. This system we have now gives people a meaningful way to serve and help city council draw on the talents of the community. If there's any consideration of delaying appointments, might I remind you again what Robert said earlier, that these selections were made earlier this year, ahead of all of the elections.

Thank you.

Hi, my name is Amy Payne, and I just wanna say thank you City Council and Mayor for all that you do. Very quickly, I just wanna say, as somebody who's lived here for 17 years and volunteered an awful lot in the community, if you truly have interest and time in your life, you kinda seek to serve. If appointments fall into your lap, the quality of service might pose a question. That is why you apply and you guys have a great system. Thank you city council for putting that into play. I also just wanna read two things. What's an advisor? A person who provides expert recommendations, guidance in specific field and they build a relationship between the council and the community. And I think that's very important to acknowledge.

also um that's all i want to say because i think that said it very clearly thank you so much for your time randy clausen long-term resident here um i would encourage you all to delay put off the appointment to these uh committees for three reasons. Number one, should there be a change in administration after the 13 June election, it will make for an easier, smoother transition. Number two, there is no pressing city business that would be negatively affected by a delay of a week or two to make the appointments. And number three, you all are well aware that we citizens have the impression you do not listen to us. And this would be a grand opportunity for you to put that to rest by postponing these appointments. You would be sending a clear message to the citizens, we listen to you. Please postpone them.

Good evening, Council. Steven Brockman. I currently live in the ETJ. I just came up to congratulate these five that came up and answered your questions honestly, openly, and candidly with an entire room of people waiting to dump on them and the process and looking at the back of their head. That shows a lot of bravery and character on each of their parts, so thank you for doing that. Y'all represent what is good about New Braunfels, and thank you for your willingness to serve and stand up here and take that, so thank you very much.

David Warnke, District 5. I have two very quick observations. One, I listened to the questions and I listened to the answers. Two answers jumped out at me as wow. They all came from your last candidate, number six. When asked about sustainability, he actually gave an answer, which we need to make sure we don't have growth that outpaces what we can do, which is dead on and not a textbook answer. When he was asked about conflict of interest, it took him about a half second, he said none. Wow, that's what we need. Thank you.

Seeing no one else, we'll close public hearing.

I'm sorry, Mayor, it looks like we do have one more person.

Okay, what happened to our sign that said, because I've given one Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Mississippi, nobody was standing here, nobody was approaching the podium. Come on up, Mrs. Allen.

Hi, Angela Allen, I'm a resident here in New Braunfels, and I do have some things to say. I didn't know if I needed to say them now or whenever we present, when you present the A through H, but it applies to all the boards and commissions. So I guess I can go ahead now, okay. Okay, so, okay. Dear Mayor and Council, this request is not about delaying city business. A brief delay in appointing boards and commissions will not impact construction projects, bond projects, contracts, sales, or the city's fiscal responsibilities. It is simply a matter of allowing newly elected officials the opportunity to participate in appointments that may shape our community for years to come. Extending that courtesy is not only reasonable, it is the professional and ethical thing to do. If one or two new elected officials are about to take office, they should have a voice in these important decisions. There is a clear distinction between conducting essential city business and postponing discretionary appointments for a short period of time out of respect for the election process and the will of the voters. You also have a responsibility to listen to the voice of the people. Right now, one of the greatest concerns in this community is that many citizens feel that their voices are not being heard. Time and time again, they have expressed a desire for greater transparency, accountability, and responsiveness from their elected officials. I continue to pray for you, for all of you, and that this council will make decisions based on what is right, not simply on what has always been done. We've always done it this way. That is not a principle of leadership. True leaders are willing to evaluate existing practices and change them when a better, more ethical approach exists. As someone who came into politics with fresh eyes, I have seen opportunities on how to improve how our city operates. Tradition alone should never outweigh integrity or the public trust. That's what they're asking from y'all. Everyone is watching right now. The citizens of this community, they're waiting to see whether or not this council will continue to ignore their concerns or you choose to demonstrate that their voices truly matter. I'm not on their side and I'm not on your side. I'm on the side of seeing what's done what's right and I am for y'all. This decision is more than about board appointments. It is about restoring confidence in local government and showing the people of New Braunfels that ethical leadership and respect for the electoral process can still remain. I respectfully ask for you to postpone these appointments and all the newly elected officials that are gonna have seats and that they have the opportunity to fulfill the responsibilities entrusted to them by the voters. Thank you for your consideration. And I also would like to add, additionally, I would like you to immediately consider changing the current city ordinances to allow holdovers in the seats of all boards and commissions and that you would wait to fill any of these seats until the election is finished and that the new seats are elected. And since we're doing a charter review, I would like you to add this to the list, that moving forward, And I understand there's never been a runoff for the mayor. I understand that. But we're in new territory. And new territory takes new changes. And I would like you to consider, in the event that this happens again, that moving forward, that these seats that are three years, these seats would be waited upon in a holdover, like you've just said, from the Texas Constitution. It allows you to do that. And that all the boards and all the seats would be, you would wait and not compromise anything until newly elected officials fill the seats. I've gone over this a million times in my head and my heart. And you have to ask yourself, if it was you and you were fixing to get in this fresh seat, would you want them to do this for you? And the answer is yes. Thank you.

I would like to make a quick comment. There is no new elected officials until after June 13th, right? Thank you.

My name is Thomas Campbell. I'm a citizen. I'm also the one that filed a petition to review the charter on May 12th. The failure that produced the May 2nd plurality crisis began in 2021 during COVID. The Proposition A amendment extended the mayoral term from two to three years and was drafted under the city attorney's review. Excuse me.

Does this have anything to do with appointing boards or commissions? I thought it was about the...

We're just specifically addressing those candidates. No worries. If you have an opinion about the candidates or about boards and commissions specifically for this planning, that's what we're discussing now.

We're trying to appoint planning commissioners.

Planning commissioners. Yeah, all right. So I should sit down.

If you got something to say about the appointment of planning commissioners, feel free.

I got here and I didn't know if it was like in full force. I'm sorry, y'all. All right, well, you'll see me in a...

Restart the clock, please.

Could you restart the clock?

Okay, thanks.

Come on, Robert.

Hi, Lynn Thompson, 26-year resident of New Braunfels. I am actually the chairman of a committee. I'm the chairman of the cemetery committee. And these folks, I don't know if everybody knows, I did some research today. There are 30 citizen-led boards or commissions for the city of New Braunfels. There's 241 members that are committee members. And when you get on a commission, I want to speak from the view of the cemetery committee. I've been writing scripts or researching and helping them with scripts for 14 years. I've been on the board for six years. I've been the chairperson for the last three years. So we're seven members. We assist the Parks and Rec Board in matters pertaining to the New Braunfels and the Kamau Cemetery. We have volunteer cleanup days. We're raising money to build a memorial at New Braunfels Cemetery for those who are in the unmarked graves. And we currently have $90,000 sitting in that fund so that we can build this memorial. We also put on the soul searching tours yearly that raised between six and $8,000 for cemetery improvements that the city doesn't have in the budget. For example, we've recently done signs. We took away the little bricks that you could knock over. Don't ask me how I know that. that say the streets, but we've got real street signs there. We have a shaded kiosk. We have benches. The people who are on this committee are hardworking. We have meetings 10 months of the year. We recruit volunteers. We lead walking tours. We raise money to sponsor the golf carts. We have golf cart tours for the mobility challenged. And it's a hard-working board, and I don't think people realize you're not on it just to be sitting on it. There's work to do. I looked at some of the other board things. Airport, they have five members on their board. Two members have to have aviation-related experience. Arts Commission, seven members. Three are chosen from names submitted by the Greater New Braunfels Arts Council. Construction Board of Appeals, seven people from design professionals with engineering experience, a registered mechanical contractor, registered plumbing, or an electrical contractor. These are not people that you just slap them on a board and then say, go to it. You've got to know what you're doing before you go into this and have a true commitment to the city. And I feel like I've got a true commitment to the city, and so I just want you to consider this.

Thanks.

Okay. Seeing no one else, we're closing public hearing. So, Mrs. Wilkinson, how do the next steps go? Are we going to each go down the roll?

If council chooses to move forward, then I do a roll call. Yes, sir. And then we have a motion and a second.

Okay. Mayor, is it okay if council has an opportunity to address some things before we get to the vote?

We'll open debate once a motion is made, once a motion and second is made. Sure.

So I'll just go down the line and ask you for your three choices out of the five. If I could give you just a second, Mr. Capucine.

As we're doing that, I do wanna just say thank you to everybody who applied and thank you to our ad hoc committee for putting up five great candidates. I'm looking at them and struggling to, figure out which three that I want to vote for, but I do want to thank the applicants for taking the time to put in their applications and for our ad hoc committee for narrowing it down to such great candidates.

And Mayor, before I begin, I just note that the meeting's running a little long. It's getting crowded, so we're setting up the Tejas room for overflow.

Thank you.

I'll begin with Mr. Capizzi, your three, please.

Mr. Nolte, Mrs. Schaefer, and Mr. Sonja.

Council Member Edwards.

Sonja. Schaefer. Nolte.

Mayor Pro Tems Bradley.

Nolte, Sonja, and Mathis.

Council Member Lebowski.

Nolte, Sonier, and Mathis.

Council Member Ryan. Sheever, Sonier, and Mathis. And Mayor Lennarts.

Sonia, Mathis, and Fane.

One, two, three, four, five, six. Jerry's got it.

Mayor, it's Mr. Nolte, Mr. Mathis, and Sonja. And we'll need a motion, please.

I'll motion to appoint Sonja, Nolte, and Mathis, I believe is what you said, correct? Yes.

I'll second. We have a motion and a second. Any discussion?

I just have a couple of questions that was brought up from some of the discussion earlier. Mrs. Wilkinson, how many applicants did the city have for the planning of zoning? Do you know?

29. 29?

What about for the city in total?

I'd have to add them up. Did you say in total?

For all the boards and commissions coming up today.

I'd have to add them up right quick.

So then the ad hoc committee had to cipher through the 29 to bring up these five?

Yes, sir. Every application is vetted and gone through by the ad hoc committee.

And this one's for City Council. What presidents is there to postpone a special meeting? Is that normal way of doing business? What's your question, sir? There were some people asking to postpone the meeting, and I just wondered what presidents is there to establish that. Postpone appointments, I think is what you meant, right? Yes, yes, yes.

Yeah, I'm not aware of any precedents that have been set. I mean, certainly the council is at your discretion to move forward if you so wish to.

And these names for all the boards and commissions today were selected how long ago?

They were selected in April.

in April, and we've been postponing it due to?

It typically goes to council in May. Not exclusively. Excuse me, Mayor.

I think we had some people come in late because Mr. Camerino and our city attorney addressed, I think, most of the issues and questions that came up. But I think maybe some people came in and didn't hear that.

That's all the questions I have.

OK.

I just wanted to say that while we were going, while everybody was speaking, I did a little bit of research and I saw that four times it was published in the city's website and four times it was published on Facebook. And it started from February the 4th all the way to May 12th is what I counted.

Mayor and council, if I may add to that, it was also included, the notification was also included in our city e-newsletter, which is sent to approximately 66,000 email addresses each month.

I'll just make one more point. I've had the pleasure of serving on this city council elected by my fellow residents for three years. I'm not done with my term. I have served on this ad hoc committee the entire time I've been on council. It has been an extremely rewarding part to see the applicants from all districts, from all across our city and walks of life apply to these boards and commissions. So when people say we don't listen to the citizens, I am listening to every citizen and their recommendation on every board and commission because that's what they're there for. That's their purpose is to give us feedback. It is not fair for the individuals that have gone through the published documented process to apply on time, to submit their applications for us to continue to postpone this. They are dedicating their time as volunteers and we have to be fair to everybody. We cannot change the rules of this process midway. We do these frequently. I was elected for three years. That means I get to serve my entire three years. And I will continue to do that until the time I can. Because I was elected by the people to represent them. And if that's what the people don't choose next time, then we can move forward. But I still have a voice and I still represent this city. And I will not back down from making this appointment.

Thank you. Every council gets an opportunity to vote on the next set of committees, whether it's this year or next year or whenever. And so the ad hoc was created in order to whittle down the mass numbers we're seeing and also to provide some parity. Before, there were concerns before the ad hoc that everything was coming out of my district. because of qualifications. And the ad hoc has done a good job trying to make sure as many people as possible from as many districts as possible are presented as for selection and not slanted. So I think we move forward with this because ad hoc did a good job prior to the election and now we're just consummating what has been brought forward.

I just wanted to direct my questioning toward the city attorney. There were some comments and dialogue about the validity of the special meeting that we're actually having tonight in regards to these appointments. Would you care to please speak to that and clarify some of the misconceptions or confusion that there might be surrounding that?

Yes, so the statutory provisions that people are citing are about an emergency meeting, which is called without full notice. And they're very limited ability for the council to call such a meeting. this is a special meeting, which is distinguished from a emergency meeting. And so your meeting was posted as a special meeting, but it was posted with notice and in accordance with the requirements of the Open Meetings Act.

And to that point, maybe you can clarify this for us, Mr. Camerino. We do two regularly scheduled meetings every month, right? But what I have seen the entire three years I've been on council is that our council collectively dedicates an additional Monday every month so that we can get through the business of doing what we need to for the city. I mean, can you speak to the differences of those, why we do this?

Yes, absolutely. So a couple of years ago, you're right, a couple of years ago, the city council held on a regular basis two council meetings a month. However, because the business of the city has increased, the council a couple of years back decided to do what was called a special meeting or a workshop meeting. And that's the meeting that we hold in between the two regularly scheduled meetings where we bring items, particularly for presentation that will be coming up at a future agenda for the council's consideration.

Thank you for that clarification.

I'd also like to just point out and add too that this year is not unique in the sense that it is an election year. There's an election year every single year in New Braunfels, and we appoint people to boards and commissions every single year in New Braunfels at pretty much the exact same time. Each official who is elected has a responsibility to execute and carry out the business of the city, regardless of whether or not it is an election year.

Okay, any more debate? Okay, Mrs. Wilkinson, is this a roll call or is this a show of hands? Just show of hands. Okay, we have a motion and a second to appoint Chad Nolte, Jerry Sonier, and John Mathis. All in favor, raise your right hand. Motion carries unanimously. And because items A through H have been pulled, we will not have time to take them up before our regularly scheduled meeting, so we will postpone action on those until we complete our regularly scheduled meeting and take those up right afterwards. So we're going to temporarily adjourn our special meeting and we will convene our regularly scheduled meeting.

Mayor, I think it would be a motion to recess.

Okay, I'd entertain a motion to recess. I'll second. I'm sorry.

I'll make the motion. Motion to recess.

Second.

And I'll second.

Okay, Councilmember Capizzi, move to reset. And Councilmember Ryan, second. All in favor, raise your right hand. Motion carries unanimously. Okay, we are temporarily, we are resetting to the end of our. Okay, we're gonna get started with our reconvene special meeting. Mrs. Wilkinson, are you ready?

Yes.

Okay, so our consent items A through H have been pulled, so we will take them up one at a time. First one is approval of the appointment to the Airport Advisory Board of Wesley Staff.

Mr. Mayor, we do have a presentation remaining on this agenda. I was informed that it was not gonna take place tonight. Okay, well, I wasn't. Thank you very much for informing me. I appreciate that.

Sorry about that. So we're gonna take up the approval of the appointments to the Airport Advisory Board of Wesley Stamps and Kyle Kimmel for the two city resident seats with terms ending May 31st, 2029. Mrs. Wilkinson.

Yes, sir, if I can sit here where my book is. The Airport Advisory Board has one city resident seat and one ETJ seat that were up. There were 10 applicants. after the ad hoc committee reviewed those, they are recommended.

Well, I tell you what, I don't think we need to go through all the details, unless there's something significant to, so we will open this to public hearing. If anybody would like to speak to this item, please step up to the podium, state your name, whether you're a resident, non-resident, or live in the ETJ.

Obviously, I'm the one who asked y'all to pull these, so I feel compelled to give you my respect and tell you why. It doesn't change my statement earlier just as far as In this particular, well, actually, I have a few questions first. As Gail stated, there were 10 applicants. If y'all could help me understand, were these the same way, all of these seats, are they, how do y'all, how do they apply for that? Are they on the city website, kind of like the Planning Commission? Are there open times that they can apply for these seats?

Yes, all this is on the city website, but Mrs. Wilkinson will be happy to give you a summary. Okay.

Yeah, and just overall, again, what the term of them are, and again, my voice does not change. If they are three-year terms and they're starting right now, I do feel like pausing on that out of respect for the new council people and the new mayor if there is one, but.

I can speak to the application process. We opened them February 1st, and they ran through the end the 31st of March. They were advertised social media, and it was on our website. As was stated earlier, we take all the applications that come in and vet them, which means they have to meet the criteria of each board. For instance, if there's a board that says they can't be in the ETJ, then they're not applicable for that position. But once we vet them at the end of March, we put every single application available for the ad hoc committee to go through. We set up a meeting, two meetings in April if needed. This time we set up, we were able to accomplish it with one. But all the board is given the book with all of the applications for each summer board or fall for them to go through in an adequate time. usually two to three weeks prior to the ad hoc committee meeting.

And the ad hoc committee, is that one big committee, or do we have different ad hocs for each?

The ad hoc committee was, I believe, started in 21 when we changed taking the boards and commissions to council in fall and in the spring instead of on every single committee. agenda basically that we had when boards came due or terms came due. So. Can I add to that?

Mr. Capizzi and Mrs. Ryan and Mrs. Lebowski serve as the ad hoc committee.

And that's chosen every July or August and the idea behind that choosing, it's among council, is for them to serve on a fall term, the fall terms and also the spring terms and then they're chosen again amongst themselves.

I would like to add to this discussion. I'm the only one on city council that was here, and that was the previous city secretary that made that change. It was Caitlin Crowbott. Right, and so before we had the ad hoc committee, it was council get a book. of all the applications. And you sit there and have to go through one application at home, one at a time. And so the idea from the previous city secretary said, hey, maybe this can be better. She came from San Antonio and she got that idea. And we did that ad hoc committee the first time and we're able to go in the room and scroll through all the applications and narrow it down to ones that were relevant. and then those names go to city council to get approved. Otherwise, it just takes so long.

And all of the boards and committees are all, so there's only one HAWC committee? Yes, ma'am. Is that right?

And add HAWC. Add HAWC committee. Yes, and it's made up of three council members of their choosing.

Okay, and so y'all do all of these? Yes.

Well, it's twice a year.

Right, I understand, but how many appointments, I mean, or how many boards and commissions do we have total?

30.

30? So y'all do all 30?

But it's twice a year. It used to be all in one time, and the gentleman standing behind you can't even talk further than I can, but it was one big book with all of them, all 30 that needed to be filled at once. And so they split it up. and then made it a little bit more efficient. Efficiency is what we wanted.

Yeah, so it's not all 30 at one shot every time.

No, it's probably around half or so.

Okay, and most of those are, I mean, will they say individually how long the terms? I know some of them, like on D, will say 531.

Some of them are filling unexpired terms. Sometimes people move away, even pass away, or can't serve anymore. Yes, ma'am. Okay, thank you.

Wayne Peters, a resident. I just thought I'd make a clarification. I think I'm correct in this, but the ad hoc committee reviews all of the applications that come in. However, if a council member wants to have an applicant who wasn't recommended by the ad hoc committee, they can add that person to the list for a vote by all of the councils. So it's not just the ad hoc committee. If a council member wants to add somebody to that, they have that capability.

If it's a district appointment, such as transportation and traffic, the new incoming council members or seated council members choose someone in their district of their choosing. If they don't happen to be in the pool of applicants that we have, then they can recommend that they fill out an application, but they still have to go through the application process. Yes, sir.

I think the point is that if a council member, if the ad hoc committee didn't include somebody, another council member once included, that council member can ask to have them included in the process.

They can ask them to fill out an application.

I just want to clarify that because some people might be confused on that. It's not restricted to what the ad hoc committee says.

Correct. But that should be an exception and not the rule, right? We want people to apply, not go through your city council person to get.

Well, they still have to apply, but if in the pool of applicants, the ad hoc committee did not include somebody that had applied, that you could say, hey, I'd like the council to consider this person.

And for Ms. Allen's question, I think most of the committees are three-year terms. There are several that aren't that, but most of them are three-year terms.

Seeing no one else, closed public hearing. I'd entertain a motion. Ad Hoc Committee has already made their recommendations. I motion to approve item A. I'll second.

Mayor Pro Tems Bradley moves for approval. Council Member Capizzi seconds. And does this need a show of hands? Okay, all in favor, raise your right hand. Motion carries unanimously. Next up is approval of the appointment of the Arts Commission of Amy Payne to the city resident seat with the term ending May 31st, 2029, and Linda Gabbard to the Greater New Braunfels Art Council seat. recommend with a term ending May 31st, 2029. Anything to add?

Just on this one, the Arts Commission does recommend from the Greater New Braunfels Arts Commission. It's a little bit different, but they still receive the applicants or the applications that come into our office same way.

Okay, thank you. We'll open this item to public hearing. If anybody would like to speak to this item, please step up to the podium, state your name, whether you're a resident, non-resident, or live in the ETJ.

Seeing none, we'll close public hearing. I'd entertain a motion.

Ad Hoc Committee has already made the recommendations. I motion to approve item D. I second. Mayor Pro Tems Bradley moves for approval. Council Member Lebowski seconds. All in favor, raise your right hand. Motion carries unanimously. Next up is Item C, approval of the appointment of Brandon Mund, Steve Quidley, and Andrea Rampt to the Board of Adjustments for three at-large seats with terms ending May 31st, 2028, and Adam Schneider and Brad Porter for two alternate seats with terms ending May 31st, 2028. Anything to add, Mrs. Wilkinson?

Nothing unique, sir.

Okay, we'll open this item to public hearing. If anybody would like to speak to this item, please step up to the podium. State your name, whether you're a resident, non-resident, or live in the ETJ.

I just wanted to clarify rather than coming up for every single person. I had read recently in a very informative article that a lot of these people that are coming up for boards have already, especially really important ones, and I don't know, like economic development, is that on here? No. No, these are the lower level, evidently. But there have been people who have been serving already for eight consecutive years. Is there a time limit that people can serve on these boards?

Most of them, no.

But which ones have been allowed and have already served that way? Which boards? I don't know.

Mrs. Wilkinson?

I'd have to look that up. But that just seems excessive. Surely you're not going to keep, appointing and approving people year after year after year in a city of 150,000 people. The same persons, right?

There's no, there's nothing in the ordinance that says they can't keep applying.

But I can also say that there's sometimes you don't get other applicants. We do, we do, and we don't get applications. Not on all of them, but on some, there has been where we have not received applications, but I can't say this one was one of them, but I know that there is sometimes.

I'm just thinking more of the ones where there's a tremendous amount of... power involved, it starts looking like the crony system if they're in there year after year after year.

But does that have anything to do with item C? You see that on item C?

I was just trying to apply it to all the approvals tonight in general.

I can mention, Mayor, that on item C we only had six applicants.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Are you going to speak?

Angela Allen, resident of New Braunfels. I was just going to recommend, since we're fixing to go through a major charter review, that you look at that and possibly add an amendment to the charter that has some terms, term limits for these boards and commissions. It would be good something to look at. That's it.

Seeing no one else, we'll close public hearing. And actually, term limits can be set by ordinance. They do not have to be in the charter. I'd entertain a motion.

And how committee's already made these recommendations, I move to approve item C. I second.

Mayor Pro Tem Spradley moves to approve. Council Member Lebowski seconds. All in favor, raise your right hand. Motion carries unanimously. Next item is approval of the appointments of Tammy Walden and Seth Meyer to the city resident seats for the Heritage Commission with terms ending May 31st, 2029. Ms. Wilkinson, anything to add?

No, sir.

Okay, we'll open this item to public hearing. If anybody would like to speak to this item, please step up to the podium, state your name, whether you're a resident, non-resident, or live in the ETJ.

Angela Allen, resident of New Braunfels.

So I understand that you can change the city ordinance, like I stated in my first statement. I'm coming back up here to answer to you. The problem with the city ordinances is that can change based on council. So yes, I do believe that that's the first step. So if y'all can look at that, that would be great, because that's something y'all can walk away with and know that you did a great thing, at least if you're listening to the voice of the people and you feel like that's something that should be done.

Ms. Allen, you pulled item D. Do you have any specific comments on item D, though? And why did you pull that item?

You continue to do this and I'll continue to talk and I'll continue to use my voice, Bradley. I'm talking about these appointments here on D. But you're not talking specifically on the item. Okay, so let me just think of a way to do the system here. Let's see, approval of the appointment of Tammy Waldron in the city, the commission seats, the terms ending in 5-31-29. Again, I don't believe that you should be doing that right now, but if you do plan to do that right now, what I'm asking you to do is look at a city ordinance.

You know what, we can ask council, is she supposed to be sticking to this item or talking about whatever she wants?

So the public hearing is about this specific item.

Okay, then I'll come back in my communications, my citizens.

Seeing no one else, we'll close public hearing. I'd entertain a motion. Motion to approve item D. I'll second. Mayor Pro Tems Bradley moves to approve. Council Member Lebowski seconds. All in favor, raise your right hand. Motion carries unanimously. Next is approval of the appointment of the Historic Landmark Commission to John Frazier as city resident with term ending May 31st, 2029. Anything to add, Mrs. Wilkins? No, sir. We'll open this item to public hearing. If anybody would like to speak to this item, please step up to the podium, state your name, whether you're a resident, non-resident, or live in the ETJ. Seeing none, close public hearing. I'd entertain a motion. The committee's already made the recommendations. I recommend approval of item E. I'll second it. Mayor Pro Tem Spradley moves for approval. Council Member Lebowski seconds. All in favor, raise your right hand. Motion carries unanimously. Next item is approval of the appointment of Brett Bradbury and Tara Thompson to the Regional Workforce Education Alliance, or RWEA, for two vacant at-large seats with terms ending May 31st, 2028, and Eric Kennedy for one unexpired at-large seat with the term ending May 31st, 2027. Mrs. Wilkinson, anything else to add?

No, sir.

Okay, we'll open this item to public hearing. If anybody would like to speak to this item, please step up to the podium, state your name, whether you're a resident, non-resident, or live in the ETJ. Seeing none, close public hearing and entertain a motion. Motion to approve item F. I'll second. Mayor Pro Tem Spradley moves for approval. Council Member Lebowski seconds. All in favor, raise your right hand. Motion carries unanimously. Next is approval of the appointment to the Watershed Advisory Committee of Craig Wilson to the engineer seat with the term ending May 31st, 2029. Alexander Morvant to the landscape planner architect arborist seat with the term ending May 31st, 2029. John Carlo Villarreal to the HOA representative seat with the term ending May 31st, 2029. Mrs. Wilkinson, anything to add?

On this one, I noticed you didn't read the mayoral appointment, which is correct. That was misstated in the...

Right, there was a typo in there, so we will take that up later. Yes, sir.

Just to be transparent, that's why it was misstated.

We will open this to public hearing. If anybody would like to speak to this item, please step up to the podium, state your name, whether you're a resident, non-resident, or live in the ETJ. Okay.

Seeing none, we'll close public hearing.

Entertain a motion.

Motion to approve item G. Mayor, I think we need a motion to approve item G without the mayoral appointment.

Okay. Okay, I'll amend my motion to approve item G without the mayor appointment.

I'll second it.

Mayor Pro Tems Bradley moves for approval. Council Member Lebowski seconds. All in favor, raise your right hand. Motion carries unanimously. And last is approval of the appointment for the downtown board to include Gary Seals and David Knieper for the downtown property business owner seats with terms ending May 31st, 2029. Cheryl Fisher for the Brontex representative seat for a term ending May 31st, 2029. And Sarah Harper for the Schlitterbahn representative seat with a term ending May 31st, 2029. Anything to add, Mrs. Wilkinson? Okay, open this to public hearing. If anybody would like to speak to this item, please step up to the podium, state your name, whether you're resident, non-resident, or live in the ETJ.

I'm still Rita McNeil-Owens, I still am a resident, and I'm just gonna mention that we ask these things because we're trying to become informed, not trying to give you a hard time. It sounds to me as if, and I'd like to get informed about the downtown board, I'm wondering if any of these current people who are being named for that, and I assume Schlitterbahn and Brontex, downtown property that that will be relevant to the density of the traffic and various other issues in downtown which is already getting bulldozed for I believe a four level apartment complex how many of these people have served on these boards before are these all new appointees

Out of who's being appointed, Cheryl Fisher has been on the board before, and David Knooper. Cheryl, before, she's currently serving? Yeah, she is.

Some of these positions are very specific.

Yes, and Gary Seals. So for the downtown board, I assume that's gonna have something to do with traffic and new buildings, whatever. I'm just guessing. But you said David Knooper has been on there. He's currently on there? Yes, ma'am. For how long?

I would have to look that up. Do you mind just, I'm sure you have the statement of what the downtown board actually does. Can you give us that, please?

I can do that. Okay, that would be great. I just don't know if they affect the decisions on density and traffic.

It's got an unusual composition. The downtown board is composed of four members from the following with a maximum of one designated representative per entity. Comal County, Schlitterbahn Water Park, New Braunfels Chamber of Commerce, New Braunfels Convention and Visitors Bureau Board, Downtown Association, Historic Landmark Commission, Planning Commission, New Braunfels Industrial Development Corporation, 4B Board.

I'm sorry, would you repeat that last?

I will, but I'll give you a copy, too, if you'd like, ma'am. Oh, perfect, yeah. Yeah, I'll do that. five downtown property owners or representatives or business owners or representatives or residents of the downtown residential area. So it's quite different than most of the compositions on boards.

And it sounds as if they have a great deal of responsibility for big decisions, specifically like the convention center decisions. How are these appointees applying and being approved for appointment?

They're vetted according to the composition of the board. In other words, if we were looking for seats that were, for instance, with the Schlitterbahn Water Park or the Chamber of Commerce, if we don't have someone specifically that fits that criteria, we can't just fill them with, for instance, a resident. Right, they have to have had experience in that particular field.

They're very targeted qualifications.

And they're asked to run sometimes year after year, same person?

Mayor, if I could just provide a little bit of clarity. I think the question is, what are the downtown board's responsibilities? They are an advisory board providing recommendations to the city council about items or initiatives that happen within our downtown.

They don't have voting responsibility on decisions about downtown. They make recommendations. They are an advisory committee. Recommendations. That's very helpful. Thank you.

Good evening, Council. Timothy Davis, resident, District 5. Ms. Lebowski is my representative. Thank you tonight for going through all this with everybody. I have a couple things. This is regarding the issue, and then I'd like to ask a point of information if I could. But Ms. Lebowski, may I ask, did you receive the email I sent you a little bit after 4 o'clock? Did you have a chance to read it and consider? Okay, I didn't get to see the very beginning of the meeting, so if you did respond, thank you. I didn't get to see an email reply, so thank you. I won't address that or go into that because that would have been appropriate earlier. I did have a point of information could I ask about something earlier? May I have a minute to ask a point of, it's a simple point of information.

You got a question about the downtown board?

It isn't specifically, it's about the whole procedure. I don't have time to ask her to do this, but if you could ask for, grant me time to.

We've beaten a dead horse tonight over processes and procedures, so if you've got something to address about the downtown board, please do so.

This is about something tonight I would like to ask about a point of information.

If you stay on track, then you're good. May I ask about the point of information or not?

I don't know what you're gonna ask. It is about the entire procedure.

If it has to do.

It is very brief. It has to do with item H. I'm asking for just a moment to ask a simple question. Your clock is ticking. Okay, thank you. Arise point of information, seek clarification on the procedure used earlier this meeting. The body recessed the original session without specifying a definite reconvene time. The chair then announced the opening of a completely separate meeting for different business, intending to return to recessed original meeting at whatever time the new meeting was concluded. Is that correct? There was no specific time to reconvene the meeting? Am I correct?

No, we didn't know what time we were gonna get done at the original.

Exactly, so a lot of other people didn't. Okay. Okay, thank you. Appreciate it.

Okay, seeing no one else, we'll close public hearing. Ad hoc, because I already made the recommendations, I'll approve the final item, or motion for approval for the final item H. I'll second.

Mayor Pro Tems Bradley moves for approval. Council Member Lebowski seconds. All in favor, raise your right hand. Motion carries unanimously. And with that, we are adjourned.