City Council - Regular Meeting

13th, 2026, I call this meeting to order at 6.33 p.m. At this time, if you could, please stand. I'll give the invocation. And afterwards, we'll have the Pledge of Allegiance by some members of Troop 446, the Boy Scouts. And so if you could either bow your heads or move your hats. Father, Son, Holy Spirit, Amen. Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let us so love. Where there is doubt, faith. Where there is injury, pardon. Where there is despair, hope. Where there is darkness, light. And where there is sadness, joy. Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive, It is in pardoning that we are pardoned. It is in dying that we are reborn to eternal life. Heavenly Father, watch over us. Allow us to... debate, allow us to form a reasonable discussion today and do the work that you have bestowed upon us and the grace given us. We ask you to watch over this community, those protecting us near and abroad. And we also, dear Lord, ask you to pray for our senators and federal officials, especially those of the family of recently departed Senator Graham. So in all these, we pray. Amen. I'll ask the group if they could put the numbers here.

one and indivisible.

Thank you.

This time, Madam Secretary, I believe we have all council members present. And then we're gonna move on to, I believe we have citizen comments. Mayor Pro Tem Chavarria, would you mind facilitating this portion?

Thank you, Mayor. So yes, we do have seven public comments. When I call your name, if you can proceed to the podium, you will have three minutes. Please state your name. Unless you are representing an organization, then you will have five. Julie Ballmer. Please proceed to the podium and state your name. Thank you for being here.

Hello, my name is Julie Ballmer. Good evening, my name is Julie Bulmer, and I'm here tonight on behalf of the Pearland High School Band and Color Guard, as well as the Pearland Band Booster Club. Thank you to Mayor Wilt, Mayor Pro Tem Mona Chavarria, and the entire Pearland City Council for the opportunity to speak this evening. Joining me tonight are my sister, Lisa Sheffield, my daughter, Anna, and Lisa's daughter, Sophia. Anna and Sophia are both proud members of the Pearland High School Band. Anna plays the clarinet, and Sophia plays the bass clarinet. As many of you know, the Pearland High School Band and Color Guard has been selected to march in the 100th annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. This is an incredible honor and once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our students. Pearland has a nationally recognized band program, most recently earning the title of two-time BOA South Houston Champion and a top five finish at the BOA Super Regional in San Antonio. This school year, more than 500 students will participate in the Pearland High School Band Program. To make this dream a reality, the Pearland Band Booster Club, along with our students, directors, and volunteers, will host Start Spreading the Tunes, a music bingo fundraiser at the Knights of Columbus Hall on Friday, July 31st. This adult-only event will feature dinner, drinks, music bingo, a live auction, silent auction, gift card raffle, and much more. Every dollar raised helps send our students, directors, and chaperones to New York City. Pearland is 1,635 miles from New York City. And transporting our instruments and color guard equipment requires multiple truck drivers and two 18-wheelers. As you can imagine, the costs add up quickly. We would like to publicly thank Mayor Pro Tem and Council Member Mona Chavarria and our company for purchasing a VIP table for our upcoming event. We also sincerely thank Councilman Rick Fernandez for sponsoring this fundraiser. Also, Mayor Wilts just said he will be doing some social media as well as attending our event too. Your support means so much to our students and families. So, here's how you can help. Please help us spread the word over the next couple of weeks through social media and conversations with friends, family, business owners here in the area, neighbors and colleagues. Our event is gaining momentum and we would love to fill the room. If you are able, we'd love for you to attend. We still have VIP tables of eight, individual tickets and sponsorship opportunities available. Pearland has always been a community that rallies around its students. I have witnessed the power of this community my entire life. Pearland is my hometown, and I am a proud alumnus of the Pearland Band. This is our chance to showcase not only an exceptional band program, but also the spirit, generosity, and pride of the city of Pearland on a national and international stage. We truly believe that together, our community can send the pride of Pearland to New York City and help these students experience something they will remember for the rest of their lives. For more information, please visit our website, pearlandband.org, or our Facebook page, which is Pearland HS Band. Thank you for your time, your support, and go Pearland.

Thank you. Melvin Hopkins, if you can proceed to the podium, you have three minutes. Thank you for being here.

Good evening. My name is Melvin Hopkins. Good evening, Mayor, City Council. I'm here today, and I've been a resident with Paraland for approximately 15 years, and I love my city. I do have a question that I would like to direct to the city manager, Mr. Epperson. I called in a pothole. Well, I didn't call it in. I reported it on the Pearland app at 2126 O'Day Road. And this pothole poses a safety hazard. On that road, it's a two-lane road headed southbound and northbound in between McCord and Broadway. Now, just to give you an overview of what this area looks like, That street was overlaid probably three years ago. Two years, maybe a year ago, the ditches were dredged. And these ditches are eight to 10 feet deep, with an embankment of two to three feet, okay? Some of the lane markings have faded. And what I noticed with this pothole, which has got significantly larger, drivers are driving over into the impeded lane to avoid hitting this pothole. Then the other drivers headed north are driving into the southbound lane. I witnessed near-miss head-on collisions. Now, I called this in on the 22nd of June, and I saw no markings. I saw no investigations. So I called Paraland Public Works. I spoke with Brittan, and she was very courteous. And she apologized. And what she did is informed me that they had lack of staff and they were behind. I have 30 years in city government. And I thought that was kind of strange. She said they only have four employees, four boots on the ground to handle the entire city of Pearland. And then she talked about the timelines. 15 days to get out and assess the pothole. Once the pothole is assessed, there's another 32 days to 35 days to correct the pothole. I thought the timeline was too long. It just wasn't acceptable. But when she told me there was lack of staff, I said the process is not broken. It's a budget issue. Either we need cross-training or we need to add more budget to put more boots on the ground. The city needs to be proactive and less reactive because if there's a major accident with somebody going into those ditches and it cause a loss of life, you'll have the media out there, you have the news cameras out there, and then the city will be in a reactive state. To fix a pothole that doesn't require capital improvement, this is a asphalt street.

Sir, I'm so sorry. Your time is up. I apologize. Thank you.

Thank you. So, Mr. Hopkins, if there was staff that's available, and if you could go to the lobby area, someone will accompany you there to take additional information.

Okay. All right. Thank you.

Thank you, sir.

Yeah, I'm back. Lewis Mulligan, 2907 Yorkshire Court, talking about Westminster once again. Just getting a couple of speed humps. You know, when I moved out here in 74, the population of this town was 8,400 people. Now we're almost 200,000. I mean, what could it cost to get a couple of speed humps, you know? People getting run in the ditch, walking their dogs. Little kids getting out of the school bus, people in a hurry. My neighborhood's become nothing but a cut through. These bigger neighborhoods south of my neighborhood. My neighborhood's one of the oldest in Pearland. You know, they just show no respect, barreling down that road 50 miles an hour. I've been flipped off just walking my dogs just to get to the sidewalk to go to the YMCA. Run off in the ditch. I mean, this just keeps going on, and there's nothing done. You know, the first time I spoke up out here, about two days later, y'all sent an officer out. One morning. What's one day going to do? I know he wrote two tickets that morning, because I saw him chasing them down the street to the church. I mean, you know, I've been out here since 74. This is a nice, quiet place to live. Now it's just madness. Look at Broadway. It's nothing but a gauntlet. These people are cutting through my neighborhood in a hurry to go to work just to get down because they don't want all the red lights on Broadway. You know, I noticed all these fancy light poles going up. I mean, that looks like a waste of money to me just because they're ornate and they have a fancy light bulb on them to beautify Broadway. You know, come on, guys. All I'm asking for is a couple of speed humps. Yeah, I don't mind people cutting through there, but they should show a little bit more respect. Because I guarantee you, if it was their neighborhood, they'd be up here raising hell about it. You know, and now there's public record. If somebody gets hit, apparently the city's going to get sued. One of those little kids getting out of that school bus, you know, and they drop them off right in front of my house. So... I'll keep coming up here every chance I get to visit you guys. Y'all have a good evening.

Thank you, sir.

You're welcome.

Carrie Hurd.

My name's Carrie Hurd. I'm at 1419 Blakely Grove. We moved to Texas about six years ago in 2020 from one of the top places to live in Georgia. So we had a great community and I was nervous about moving here because we had this amazing community that we came to. And I just have to give kudos. To everybody sitting up on that dais, City Council, thank you for everything you guys do to make sure that Pearland's running and is including everybody. Two weeks, three weeks, we attended two festivals over at Independence Park. So kudos to the Parks and Rec Board because everything that they've ever done is organized, it's safe, it's family-oriented, and it's just an amazing time. So thank you. And we also attended the Indian community who put on their 250th celebration, which was a beautiful, welcoming celebration. culture that I learned so much and was open to so many different things that I didn't know we even had in Pearland. So just thank you for everything you've done. My family thanks you guys because without you guys, city council, approving and going to the ends to the degree to make sure that Pearland is the safe place that we live. I can now call Pearland a home that I'm proud of to say that we are the top place to live in Texas. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Sanjita Hambardi.

Good evening. My name is Sanjita. Good evening, Mayor Quinton Wiltz, Mayor Pro Tem Mona Shaveria, council members, and fellow Pearland citizens. My name is Sanjita Hambarde, and I am a rising freshman, and I am honored to speak today on behalf of Hindu Swayamsevak Sangha, or HSS, a volunteer-driven nonprofit organization serving America and communities across Pearland. With over 267 branches nationwide and more than 85 Hindu Yuva chapters serving college campuses, HSS is dedicated to strengthening individuals, families, and communities through value-based education, leadership development, yoga and wellness, cultural enrichment, and selfless community service. Every week, our volunteers work to build not only stronger communities, but stronger individuals. Here in Pearland, HSS volunteers organize food drives, blood donation camps, neighborhood cleanups, school supply drives, free tutoring, and yoga programs that promote physical and mental well-being. We also encourage interfaith dialogue and community partnerships that bring together people of different backgrounds together with respect and understanding. One of our proudest programs, Guru Vandana, began right here in the Greater Houston area in 2008 and has since expanded to nearly 100 cities across the country. Through Raksha Bandhan, we express our gratitude to police officers, firefighters, and other first responders who serve our community. A couple weeks ago, HSS volunteers proudly helped organize the 12th International Day of Yoga and the Indian 250 Celebration across a dozen locations across Greater Houston. Under the theme Yoga for One Earth, One Health, these free sessions welcome people of every age and background while promoting healthier individuals, stronger families, and a more connected community. As a young volunteer, I've experienced firsthand how HSS develops leadership, discipline, confidence, and a lifelong commitment to serving others. Those values don't stay within our organization. They become acts of service that strengthen Pearland. As our city continues to grow as one of America's most diverse communities, we respectfully ask for your continued engagement and partnership in helping organizations like HSS reach more neighborhoods, schools, and families. Together we can create more opportunities for young people to lead through service, build stronger communities, and ensure that the spirit of volunteerism reaches every corner of Pearland. Thank you for your time, your leadership, and your service to the people of Pearland.

Thank you so much. That's all for general comments.

I just want to thank everyone for providing and taking the time to provide those comments. Now moving on to the consent agenda. I don't believe there's any items that need to be removed. So with that being said, could I have a motion? Sorry, someone move to Councilman Koza?

Certainly, Mayor. Consideration and possible action consent agenda items A through D. So moved.

Second. Motion was made by Council Member Koza, seconded by Council Member Cade.

Madam Secretary.

Member Koza.

Aye.

Member Echols.

Aye.

Mayor Pro Tem Chavarria. Aye. Member Byrum.

Aye.

Member Cade. Aye. Member Patel.

Aye.

The motion passes six to zero.

Councilmember Echols, could you present new business item number one?

Sure, my pleasure, Mayor. Consideration possible action resolution number R2026-113. So moved. Second.

Motion was made by Councilmember Echols, second by Councilmember Byrum. Staff, would you mind?

Thank you, Mayor. Good evening, Council. So there's a position available on the Brazoria Central Appraisal District Board, and that became available due to the unfortunate passing of Mr. George Sanders. So when a vacancy occurs on that board, the taxing entities that actually voted to put that person on that board are able to nominate a new candidate to fill that vacancy. THE THEN REMAINING DIRECTORS FOR THAT BOARD SELECT BY MAJORITY VOTE ONE OF THE NOMINEES TO FILL THE VACANCIES. SO THE ITEM BEFORE YOU TONIGHT IS TO CHOOSE ONE NOMINEE THAT MEETS THE BOARD ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS AS STATED IN YOUR PACKET AND MAKE THAT NOMINATION SO THEY CAN FILL THAT VACANCY. AND WE DO NEED THE RESOLUTION IS WRITTEN WITHOUT AN ACTUAL NOMINEE IN THERE SO WE'LL HAVE TO AMEND THE RESOLUTION TO ADD THE NOMINEE TO THE ACTUAL RESOLUTION.

Yes, Council Member Costa.

Thank you, Mayor. First off, I'd like to start off by saying that George Sanders filled this position for many years. His widow, Ruby, is here with us tonight, so thank you very much for his service. With that, I have sent in a supplement for a nominee this evening by the name of Chad Tooman. He's an ex-council member and has been on the ARB board as well as many other advisory boards and boards here within the city of Pearland, both with the city and with groups here in Pearland. So I'd like to nominate Chad Tooman as George Sanders' replacement.

Second. Second. There's a nomination made by Council Member Kozin, seconded by Council Member Patel. Are there any other discussion items? Councilmember Patel?

Thank you, Mayor. I would echo, on a personal note, I've known Mr. Truman for a while, wonderful man, and I think he's a fine choice, Councilmember Cozza. And so, I think this is not really any discussion or debate.

I hope not. Just clarification, Lawrence. Do you need us to word that differently?

No, sir, I understood the intent. The nomination would be what we would traditionally say, a motion to amend to include Chad Toome into it, but I understood what you meant, and I understood what seven of you seconded. Maybe only five of you.

I just wanted to make sure we were...

I would add just one small note. I see Mr. Tooman is here. If he would mind going to the podium to formally accept, that would be great.

Let's just state your name. Hello, my name is Chad Tooman, and my address is 6836...

I'll do it. Old times, man. I just feel like we need to.

So, yes, very honored for the nomination and would happily accept the nomination and add to it that I promise you'll get all your money's worth.

Oh, that was on the record. Thank you. I appreciate it.

Thank you. Chad, just save us some money.

Okay, so with that being said, I don't think there's any debate or discussion. Madam Secretary, would you mind calling for the vote?

First, we have to vote on the nomination, because that was actually a motion to amend, and then we do the final motion, the vote on the amended motion.

Lawrence, I will amend the... motion that I put on the table to add Chad Fueman.

That would be competing with Council Member Koza's motion, so we're going to resolve his first.

So we just need to vote on the amended? The amended, yeah.

Member Koza?

Aye.

Member Echols? Aye. Member Chavarria? Aye. Member Byrum?

Absolutely.

Member Cade? Aye. Member Fernandez?

Aye.

Member Patel? Aye. The motion passes 7-0.

Now this is... Yes, sir. Now it's voting on the amended motion. Yep. I'm calling. So, Madam Secretary?

Member Echols? Aye. Mayor Pro Tem Chavarria? Aye. Member Byrum? Aye. Member Cade? Aye. Member Fernandez?

Aye.

Member Patel? Aye. Member Koza?

Aye.

The motion passes 7-0.

Thank you, sir. Mayor Pro Tem Chavarria, could you present the next item number two?

Yes, thank you, Mayor. Consideration of possible action resolution R2026-110. So moved.

Second.

Motion was made by Mayor Pro Tem Chavarria, second by Councilman Fernandez. Staff, would you mind presenting this one?

Thank you, Mayor. So this item is an amendment to our professional services agreement with LAN. for the design and other associated work to develop the plans for the McCowell Road widening project between Broadway and Beltway 8. The amendment includes updates to updating the plans to TxDOT's 2024 standards, updating the drainage design to Atlas 14, acquisition services to complete the land acquisition, and new project elements necessary for coordination that we've had to do with the Clear Creek drainage project, which is being managed by Harris County Flood Control. The timeline on the project is to complete the 95% design within five months, complete the right-of-way acquisition by about this time next year. Utility relocations will then follow and be completed by mid-2028. And then TxDOT bid the project out in September of 2028. And we're looking at about two and a half to three years of construction. So we recommend approval of the amended amount of $688,097. Thank you. Thank you for that.

Any question or comments from council members? Seeing none, Madam Secretary.

Chair Pro Tem Chabudia? Aye. Member Byrum?

Aye.

Member Cade? Aye. Member Fernandez?

Aye.

Member Patel? Aye. Member Koza? Aye. Member Echols? Aye. The motion passes 7-0.

Council Member Byrum, would you mind presenting number three?

Certainly, Mr. Mayor. Consideration of possible action resolution number R2026-109. So moved. Second.

Motion was made by Council Member Barham, second by Council Member Kate. Staff, would you mind presenting this one as well?

Thank you, Mayor. This item awards a construction contract for the rehabilitation of three of our 72 lift stations. The rehabilitations address capacity and condition issues, as well as brings the three lift stations up to our current standards, including SCADA and a generator at the Riverstone Ranch lift station. It also includes bypass pumping to keep us in operation while we're under construction. We received two bids, and we're recommending awarding to the low bidder, Neary Construction. They were about 4.1% above the engineer's estimate. Neary has completed multiple projects for us in the past, and we recommend award in the amount indicated of just over $4.7 million. Thank you. Council discussion?

Council Member Patel, are they here today? Okay, thank you.

Any other questions? Council Member Cade? Okay. Sorry.

Gotcha. Council Member Cosa? Here on the bid tabulation, we had quite a big spread between 4.7 and 6.3. Do we have any insight as to what the difference, why such a big swing?

I believe our engineer that put the plans together, they did our background check, had conversations with Mary, checked references, and so, and it was in and right around where the engineer's estimate was. So, I think, you know, it's just two bids. We got one right around where we estimated, and the other one was just, for whatever reason, put their bid in, and it was much higher.

Okay. All right. That's a pretty big swing. Yeah. I was just curious. And you said this one was just slightly higher over whatever?

About 4.1 percent above the engineer's estimate. All right.

Thank you.

Are there no other questions or concerns? Madam Secretary, could you call for the vote?

Member Byrum?

Aye.

Member Cade? Aye. Member Fernandez?

Aye.

Member Patel? Aye. Member Koza?

Aye.

Member Echols? Aye. Mayor Pro Tem Chavadilla? Aye. The motion passes seven to zero.

Council Member Cade, could you present item number four, please?

Yes, Mayor. Thank you. Consideration and possible action, resolution number R2026-111. So moved. Second.

Motion was made by Council Member Cade, second by Council Member Byron. Staff?

Thank you, Mayor. So after exhausting all of our renewals for our health plans, we went out this year for a request for proposals. our health plan, our dental plan, vision plan, and our health savings and our flexible savings accounts. So after evaluation and best and final offers, we have a recommendation before you tonight. So this presentation will cover not just this item, but the next three items. We have those four different plans separated. And so we have Mr. Brent Wieger with us here tonight with Hub. They are a health care consultant at Hub. put the RFP together and we're our consultant as we work through the process of best and final offers. He's gonna walk us through the RFP itself and the recommendations and as I said, cover all four items as part of the presentation. So I'll hand it over to Mr. Wieger, thank you.

Thank you. Good evening, honorable counsel and mayor. My name is Brent Wieger. I'm with Hub International. I'm a senior vice president, and I assisted the city of Pearland along with my team to go out to market, to the entire market to bring proposals back for this item. We had a competitive process with over 22 respondents to the proposal, including some of the largest insurers in the country. It was very competitive at the end of the day, but I'm gonna give you a summary of the best and final offers on the health plan to start off, and then we'll get into dental, vision, and the other ancillary items. One of the most important items we're looking at here is the budget, and with the best and final offers, We are showing a couple options here that we went through. When we start left to right, we're talking about the health plan budget. We're showing operating revenues, operating expenses, and then finally, where our fund balance sits, and what sort of increase will be needed for the upcoming fiscal year to fund the health plan. From left to right, we also see the FY26 adopted budget, the year-to-date actuals, and the annualized actuals, along with our projection of where we're going to end up in FY26. So, our projection for FY26, we're running a little bit hotter on expenses than revenues, to the tune of about a $611,000 deficit, which will eat a little bit into our fund balance. Our ending net assets or fund balance is around $1.56 million. Our original projection for the FY27 renewal with Cigna came in at approximately, if you look at the very bottom, you'll see the increase to city of Pearland, assuming revenues and expenses match up, of approximately a 9.8%, assuming our $200,000 specific deductible level that we have today that insures every individual under the health plan. The city's responsible for the first $200,000, and then the insurance company kicks in after that. The increase to City of Pearland was just about a million dollars to renew at the $200,000 deductible level. We looked at many different alternative deductible levels and are recommending a $500,000 insurance deductible level for FY27, and that would be approximately a 6.1% increase, or $627,000 to the City of Pearland. The best and final offers from UnitedHealthcare, which is the second best option on the table after our scoring, at the $200,000 deductible level was a little bit over $1,055,000, and their $500,000 deductible level was at a little over $869,000. We are recommending to move the deductible level up to $500,000. We did look at past claims experience and the renewal, and based upon our projections of large claimants for the upcoming FY27 plan year, it made the most sense to move that deductible higher in order to create that savings to apply to the city's funding as well as employee premiums. And so overall, the increase that would be needed based upon our recommendation is 6.1%. And we'll get into what those premiums will look like in just one moment. Comparatively to the market right now, we're seeing an average increase for self-funded health plans over 14%. So, this is reflective of the savings generated through the RFP process and the plan running better than expected against other public entities at your size with self-funded health plans. We did look at alternative plan designs, and our recommendation for the upcoming year is actually to keep the plan static except for one change. There is a required change of $100 increase to the HSA individual deductible to meet IRS requirements for fiscal year 27. That is a law that we must follow, and so the individual deductible will move from $3,300 to $3,400. We did benchmark against all of our other public sector entities, which included over 80 public sector entities across the state, and the plans were very competitive. No other recommendations for increases in deductibles or out-of-pockets co-pays are recommended at this time. Last year, we did make some adjustments to increase those out-of-pockets closer to averages for other public entities. Next page is our current active employee rates. This provides you what the city funds in terms of a medical rate, the contributions, and the employee contributions as well. On the far right, you'll see the total employee contribution monthly. That's what comes out of the employee's paychecks. For example, an employee only for the HSA plan, $42.68 a month. And then you'll see per pay period, which is $21.34. So you can get an idea of what employees pay versus what the city pays. Overall, the city funds about 84.19% of the total cost of healthcare. Comparatively, our public sector benchmarks are 83.5%, so slightly above, which means the city is in a good position in terms of funding at the moment. The renewal rates, as I talked a little bit about before, renewing with Cigna would increase the rates about 6.06 percent or 6.1 percent. That was included in the budget. You'll see on the far right, the green shaded section is the total employee contributions per pay period. So, for example, for the HSA plan, $1.30 would be the increase for an employee. $18.15 would be the increase for employee plus family. That's about a 6 percent increase. And you can go all the way down the list there, and you'll see the KelseyCare plans and the increases on that end. But overall, this keeps the city's funding percentage, again, at about 84.18% matching last year's funding. Next page are the retiree funding rates. Again, the retiree funding rates are set separate from the actives. They're risk-adjusted. These rates will increase about 6.1% as well. The city does fund certain amounts based upon age and years of service, up to 100% for the KelseyCare 80. retiree-only, and 50% CalSecure AD to retiree-only as well, based upon the Rule of 80 or the Rule of 75, respectively. We are recommending renewal with Cigna. They provide the most competitive quote for the dental program. The dental program Again, covers almost all the city population, about 808 employees. Today, the city funds about 59.5% of the overall cost. Renewal would be about 9.13% in terms of the increase. The city does fund the DHMO at 100% for employee only and then passes the remainder of the cost on to dependents and also the same contribution toward the DPPO or the PPO plan at 100% for the employee and almost the remainder to the participants. The rates for the dental will be will be guaranteed for two years, so a two-year rate guarantee on these dental premiums. There will be no increase in FY28. For the vision, we are recommending a carrier change to Blue Cross Blue Shield. This will come with a rate decrease for employees, and those vision rates are guaranteed for four years. That rate reduction is shown on the next page, page 12. You'll see about a 2.9 percent reduction to those rates by moving to Blue Cross Blue Shield. This Blue Cross Blue Shield plan does have enhanced plan design and also matches the current network very closely. So, our recommendations. for the health plan are to renew with Cigna with their contract and the $500,000 deductible level. That quote is $242,000 less than UnitedHealthcare's. Cigna has agreed to hold the administrative fees flat, so no increase in administrative fees for FY27, and cap increases at 2% for FY28 and FY29. The stop loss will continue to renew annually, but we did negotiate a stronger contract with no lasers at renewal and a 45% renewal rate cap. So they can only go up to 45% renewal in case there is a very large claimant that hit the plan. In addition, Cigna's offering $538,000 in improved rebate guarantees and $187,500 in program allowances covering wellness initiatives, communications initiatives, audit services, and general operational needs. The total health plan funding rates at the $500,000 deductible level is a 6.6 percent increase that we're recommending, again, to cover that at the 84.18 percent, which is the same percentage funding as the prior year. And that, again, compares favorably to HUB's public sector benchmarks. For the dental plan, we are recommending renewal with Cigna at the 9.1% increase. We did get competitive offers from other providers, but not as strong as Cigna. Again, that'll be a two-year rate guarantee. And the dental provider network was an important component of this evaluation, and Cigna had the largest dental provider network. Voluntary Vision Program, as I said before, is going to be moving to Blue Cross Blue Shield at a rate decrease and a four-year rate guarantee. They have presented the enhanced frame and contact lens allowances, and the prior network is comparable with the city's current coverage. In your packet, we also provided the HSA and FSA Health Savings Account and Flexible Spending Account services, which we are recommending to move to INSPIRA. The current administrator, WEX, did not respond to the RFP, so that will have to be moved. There will be a reduction in administrative fees of about 25.9 percent, saving the city about $2,191 annually. And we're recommending transitioning to INSPIRA. Then finally, the Employee Assistance Program. We are recommending award to Aetna with a rate reduction of about 16.6%, saving the city about $4,200 annually, and includes a three-year rate guarantee. Aetna services closely match those of the other providers and offer a substantially stronger network than the other finalists. With that, I'll close the presentation. Be happy to answer any questions you might have. Mayor Prudhomme-Chavarria.

Thank you. Thank you so much for the presentation. So, I do have a concern regarding the stop loss going, increasing it from 200,000 to 500,000. So, what is our actual risk compared to savings?

Sure, so what we assumed in the budget was the risk associated with that move. So we looked at the city's losses over the last five years along with the current large claimants to ensure that we did not see anything within the current large claimants that would eat up all the savings to move to the $500,000 deductible. So we assumed three large claimants would hit that $500,000 deductible next year, which was a conservative number, comparatively to what you had incurred in the past. We looked at a substantial amount of data, and it was a comfortable decision for us to recommend moving to that $500,000 deductible. So that risk is included within the budget that I submitted to you.

Thank you.

Council Member Patel?

I know you said you look back five years. How many, I guess, claims do we have over 200,000? Could you just roughly tell me? Do you know?

Yes, we do. So currently, the current year, we have one over 200,000, and that's through May. Last year, we had three over 200,000. In the year prior, none. So that's the last three years.

Okay. And I'm not trying to Any of the ones that are currently at $200,000, I guess one, are we anticipating them to go over significant in the next year?

We are not. That one has completed treatment.

Okay. And then, just out of curiosity, I think I got this right. GLP-1. Right? That's the diabetic drug for weight loss. So is that being covered through these plans, or is that not being covered for employees?

It's being covered for the diabetes indication. Not for weight loss. But not for weight loss indication today.

Okay. So if an employee does get on it for weight loss, would that be covered?

For weight loss alone, it is not covered today. You have to have the diabetic... disease in order for it to be covered. So one point of clarification, and I'll let you finish.

Just be clear that when medical drugs go to trials, they receive, they put in for certain indications, and those indications had to be with diabetes. So GLP-1 was a drug that was put out for indication to fight or combat diabetes. However, several drugs have come on the market subsequently to address the secondary, I guess some would call benefit of weight loss. And so those other drugs are currently on the market. And so to piggyback to what you're asking, I think, are those other drugs which received indications for weight loss covered under the plan?

Not today.

So I guess the employee would have to cover those costs or would the city cover those costs?

The employee would have to cover the cost of those drugs. Okay, thank you so much. In their entirety.

Council Member Echols.

Thank you, Mayor. In looking over your proposal, I see $200 deductible, or $200,000. I'm going to a $500,000. Just to be clear, is that individual, individual family, or aggregate?

That's every individual within the plan has a $200,000 deductible today that the city has to fund up to until the insurance carrier will kick in and fund their claims over and above that. So we're proposing that deductible moves to $500,000 on each individual within the plan.

My only question would be is if that would be the case, if we go into a full self-insured. Because basically, if we're looking at half a million dollars per person, we've had only three people in the last three years that exceeded the 200. I would think we would be better off looking at a fully self-insured program.

We did look at a, we actually looked at even higher deductibles, looked at a million dollar deductible level and a fully self-funded plan. And there wasn't enough difference in premium rate savings that made it make sense to take the full risk. on offering no deductible. So we did evaluate that, and at this point in time, it wasn't a recommendation of ours based upon the risk that's in the market right now if a significantly large claimant hit the plan. It could have detrimental effects on the plan if you had no coverage at all. When we look at fully self-funding, that's typically reserved for groups that are 20,000 employees or above. So, this is a pretty big step to go to 500,000, and we think it's an appropriate step, short-term step, and we'll evaluate other options along the way. Okay, thank you.

Any other? Oh, Cosimo Fernandez.

Thank you, Mayor. Just clarification, this contract is good for a one-year with four one-year extensions, or is it just one year at a time?

This contract is, so for the medical, they're all different types of contracts depending upon the rate guarantees. So for this contract, it's a one year with four options to renew.

Okay, so after the first year, if we see issues, that's where we can revisit it as a city?

Absolutely.

Okay, thank you.

Council Member Patel?

Thank you, Mayor. One question. Just so I understand, and I understand where Member Echols' fear is, there is not a max stoppage, right? If we have several employees that go through this and have massive, I guess individually half a million, but let's say we have 20 of them, we may be out $10 million.

There is another layer of stop-loss that's purchased called aggregate stop-loss coverage. And so, the aggregate stop-loss coverage does protect the city in case you had a tremendous amount of claimants hit that deductible level. So, that's set at 125 percent of expected claims. So, there is a corridor of 25 percent over expected claims, and that's in totality. that protects the city in case that were to happen. What is that number? That number is... So, the claims, so the aggregate stop loss covers any claims underneath the specific deductible, okay? Because the individual, that's all covered by the insurance company. So, the aggregate stop loss, the aggregate deductible for the $500,000 plan is $16.2 million.

Okay, so the max we would be out is $16.2 in a fiscal year? For claims, correct. Okay, thank you.

Any other questions? Seeing no more questions or discussion, Madam Secretary, could you call for the vote?

Member Cade? Aye. Member Fernandez?

Aye.

Member Patel?

Aye.

Member Cosa?

Aye.

Member Echols?

Aye.

Mayor Pro Tem Chavarria? Aye. Member Byrum?

Aye.

The motion passes seven to zero.

Council Member Fernandez, could you present new business item number five?

Thank you, Mayor. Consideration of possible action, resolution number R2026-116. So moved.

Second. Motion was made by Council Member Fernandez, second by Council Member Cade. Would you please give a continuation report?

Thank you, Mayor. So Mr. Weir just covered this. This is the portion of what he covered that is the health savings account, flexible savings account, and the employee assistance program provider. So we recommend approval of this as well.

I know we covered a lot. Was there any additional questions or comments? Seeing none, Madam Secretary, could you call for the vote?

Member Fernandez?

Aye.

Member Patel? Aye. Member Koza?

Aye.

Member Echols? Aye. Mayor Patem Chavadilla? Aye. Member Byrum?

Aye.

Member Cade? Aye. The motion passes 7-0.

Council Member Patel, could you present new business item number 6, please?

Yes, Mayor, thank you. Consider impossible, number seven, correct? Six, sorry. Consider impossible action resolution number R2026-117, so moved.

Second. That was incorrect.

I apologize. R2026-115. Second.

Motion was made by Council Member Patel, seconded by Council Member Fernandez. Staff, would you present this one, please?

Sir, this is the vision benefits as previously presented. We recommend approval.

Seeing no discussion or comments or concerns, Madam Secretary, would you call for the vote?

Member Patel? Aye. Member Koza?

Aye.

Member Echols?

Aye.

Mayor Pro Tem Chavarria? Aye. Member Byrum? Aye. Member Cade? Aye. Member Fernandez?

Aye.

Motion passes 7-0.

Thank you. Council Member Fernandez, would you mind presenting number 7, please?

Thank you, Mayor. Consideration and possible action. Resolution number R2026-114. So moved.

Second.

Motion was made by Council Member Fernandez, second by Council Member Cade. Mr. Everson, would you present some clarification on staff report on that?

Thank you, Mayor. The last item associated with the presentation by Mr. Weeger, this is for the employee dental benefits, and we recommend approval.

Seeing no discussion or objection, Madam Secretary, would you call for the vote, please?

Member Fernandez?

Aye.

Member Patel? Aye. Member Koza? Aye. Member Echols? Aye. Member Pro Tem Chavadilla? Aye. Member Byrum?

Aye.

Member Cade? Aye. The motion passes 7-0.

Thank you. Moving on to other business, seeing none. Moving on to item number nine, mayor council issues for city council discussion. And so I ask that this be put on the agenda. And I wanna just first say, in recent weeks, there's been several discussion and things floating. And so in conversations with some of my colleagues here, Council Member Fernandez, Council Member Cade, Council Member Byrum, I just want to say thank you for providing some insights and clarity as to how to move forward. Discussing with City Manager Trent Epperson, it was kind of aligned through some recommendations of Council Member Fernandez that we put a discussion item regarding City Council strategic reset session for the purpose of establishing shared goals and improving working relationships. I think we all would agree that that's necessary to represent the best of Pearland and move us forward. And so what transpired after that is hopefully facilitating a workshop where we can get together and move forward as a council to work on one, reaffirming our strategic alignment as a governing body for the betterment of the city, and two, reinforcing some decorum and rules as to how we're gonna govern here. And so we aligned on this particular item. So as we discuss a council strategic reset session for the purpose of establishing shared goals and improving working relationships, I would ask my colleagues that we limit our conversations to five minutes, and I'll adhere to this five minutes. Yes, so staff and city attorney, Mr. Provins, could you also provide some context as well?

I was just curious if there were any speakers signed up for this item before council speaks. There is.

Okay.

How many do we have?

We have one, Mayor. Okay. Calvin Doe, if you proceed to the podium, you have five minutes as you are representing an organization. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you.

Three minutes. One quick second.

There you go. Good evening, everyone. I am Kelvin. My address is 13216 Lone Creek Lane. And I just want to say that it's so great to be in the presence of so many public servants right here. I'm a little bit of a public servant myself. I'm a teacher. And I used to work for an organization whose job was to recruit effective teachers. So they did a big survey. They spent millions of dollars trying to figure out what makes an effective teacher. It's not the obvious things. It's not where you graduated. It's not your content experience. And it's not your years of experience with the education system or students. It was self-reflection. That was the number one indicator of effective teacher. And I think that same value is something we come to admire in our public servants as well. I think, personally, the beauty of being a public servant is how we model to others what it looks like to reflect on our practice. When I approach every day and I think, what did I do well? And what can I do better? I see my students and my parents do the same. Now, this is really unbelievable to me because my students are three, four, and five. I teach preschool. And the most beautiful thing I get to see every year is seeing a little three-year-old come in, running around the classroom, and a couple months later, apologize for his behavior. That is amazing how children that age can engage in that kind of self-reflection. And that's why I put it out there for my students and my parents. That's why I also applaud this council for considering this item, because it provides everyone the opportunity to see how public servants dedicate themselves to reflecting and improving how they interact with one another every day. This is personally my first city council meeting. And I know for a lot of people, this is the first time they've ever been involved in city government at any level or at any time. And I think it's great that you're providing an example of how this city council is willing to talk about the issues and work with one another. Thank you, city council. Thank you, mayor. And thanks for everyone else for not just letting me speak, but listening as well. Please enjoy your evening.

Thank you, sir.

Thank you for those comments. So I'm not sure who wants to start us off, but I would ask that we limit it to five-minute discussion items. That would mean, my math is correct, about 40 minutes total. So if we could keep it to the discussion item and those comments, I think we'd all greatly appreciate it. So I'm looking. Councilman Patel, thank you for starting us off.

Thank you, Mayor. First of all, I do appreciate this time you've taken and putting some thought behind this. Let me apologize first. I think even I had to reflect on my conversation with you on this diocese while this chamber was filled with people with passion, and I used the word noise. I want to personally apologize to the citizens who did come. And again, I apologize for the word noise. It was a bad choice of words. Certainly have gotten my fair share of emails and comments. And I've addressed them personally, as many as I could. And I've said that I would do it again if they showed up or if I'm happy to meet with them. You know, I think we're in a different point on this council than we were probably eight months ago. And I think we all need to reflect where we want to go. And I will tell you, it's a difficult time when There is a lot of animosity. There's a lot of anger. And I hope today, if you do decide, Mayor, that we need to move forward. I think the eight of us, my preference would be we do an executive session. I don't think we need a strategic plan or goals. I think we just need to get to know each other better. in a more informal setting. I don't think nothing personal against everybody here. I think we just need to kind of connect ourselves. And I think that's really important. And that's my ask. My ask is, I'm happy to buy the beers and the drinks and the food. If we can just, the eight of us, sit at a table and connect on a personal level, I think that's really important. I have had my fair share with disagreements with my neighbor, and we actually ended up at a restaurant drinking a beer and talking about our family. And I think that's what's needed. And I just feel that that's really important for us to all get on that page and listen to each other and not create animosity and not lose focus from what our job is, right? Our job is for the citizens, and I think we're losing focus on that. So I'll stop there, Mary, and I appreciate the time. Thank you.

I just want to say thank you for providing the context. I'll just add maybe non alcoholic beers. And then and then, but it did sound like you mentioned in some form or fashion, a session outside whether it be a workshop or something, whatever formalized or not outside of this to be able to do so. Okay, it's a thumbs up. Councilmember Fernandez.

Thank you, Mayor. I want to first start out, and if I heard correctly, I just, and if I didn't, please let me know. When you began and you introduced this agenda item, you had alluded to that I was aware and I had suggested the workshop idea. When we spoke, I didn't know that you wanted it to be a workshop. When we spoke, I walked away believing that you wanted to have something to say to council, and you just didn't know how you wanted the title to come across on the agenda, if I remember correctly. And so, although a workshop or something similar for us to get together, I think that is a good thing because, you know, At the end of the day, we're still trying to get to know one another and get to know you and your vision of Pearland and so forth. And so my concern is I don't want to have the citizens of Pearland pay money towards a workshop. Perhaps there's other ways we can do it. If it's an executive session or like Councilmember Patel mentioned, maybe we do something differently. I think at the end of the day, I do have a couple questions just so that I can better understand your vision, your thoughts. As a workshop mayor, what's your primary purpose? What are you trying to accomplish with this workshop? Can you get me, can you kind of put it in the context of what you're wanting to do?

For the sake of time, would you mind putting out all the items that you would like to question and I'll answer them?

Sure. So basically, the purpose of the workshop what you're trying to accomplish from it, and basically put it in context, a little bit more detail on what the workshop would look like in your eyes. Because as I spoke to you about 30 minutes ago, 45 minutes ago, I didn't know that this was your approach to do a workshop. So I need a little bit just more understanding of what you're wanting to accomplish with this workshop. Thank you, Mayor.

You're most certainly welcome. And like I said, the feedback is always welcome. I'm just going to pause as we come down. Mr. Epperson, I know we had some conversations with regard to something similar that was done in the past for council. Would you care to kind of elaborate on maybe some workshop items or the context in which perhaps something like this could be facilitated? And then one more point before I turn it over to you for just some context. I think the goals and the purpose of what we're trying to accomplish, I want to put it out there that it's not particularly completely driven by myself, in that I would seek a third party to help identify, based on what has been observed, the most efficient and effective way that we can move forward. And in doing so, I think those goals could be most effectively established. So having said that, Mr. Epperson, would you be able to provide some context as to what may have been done in the past to give some additional information for the council?

Sure, so typically in January, February of each year, we do our strategic planning sessions. And a portion of that's typically spent on team building, governance, roles, responsibility, those sort of things. So I think if there were a desire to do something along those lines at this time, we can get to what that would look like. Do we wanna spend a half day, a day, Do we want to do something like Council Member Patel suggested as far as a dinner as a part of that? But I think the topics that you would typically see at something like this are, you know, what does good governance look like? What are the roles and responsibilities? Some team building portion of it, as well as I think there's been some desire to, also discuss meeting decorum and Robert's rules of order, and I think I've had some conversations with Lawrence, our city attorney, on are Robert's rules appropriate for this size and this type of body, or are there rules of decorum that are maybe more appropriate for that, and I know he's been looking into that some, but I think we could determine what that is, propose some things along those lines, and then Establish a you know an agenda along those lines so I think very similar to what we do in January February with our strategic planning session and We would want to have a professional facilitator come in and conduct that for us, somebody that does a lot of these, works with a lot of different councils on things like governance, roles, responsibilities, team building. So I think any of those approaches or those pieces of it would be something that would fill the bill if that's the desire of the body to move forward with something like this.

Thank you for the context. And Councilman Fernandez, yep.

Yeah, just one more question. So because you put the item on the agenda, so do you agree with what he's asking? Is there any other context that you wanted to add to it? That's why I was asking you, and I know you asked, you know, Trent, but I just wanted to ask you again, is there, first of all, do you agree with what he's saying? And then is there any more context that you'd like to add to it?

Yeah, absolutely. I think I definitely agree with what he's saying. And then when it gets to my turn, there's some notes and some other comments I'll add. I'm just trying to give everyone equal space. But I appreciate the question. Council Member Cade.

Thank you, Mayor. When I read this, I felt good about it, actually. I think that what happened June 22nd, None of it, well, I'll speak for myself. I wasn't at my best. I felt very contentious, if you will. Someone mentioned cost. It might have been Council Member . And I wanted to just say one thing. Most of y'all weren't on council when this happened, probably just me and Council Member Koza. We took a ratings. downgrade or Fitch ratings downgrade on our credit due to, there was more than one reason, but one of the reasons given was about the ESG, which is a rating factor, environmental, social, and governance. And ours was, we were a political risk. And a lot of that had to do with the way council appeared to the public, we had a contentious ... I don't want to single anybody out, but a contentious member of council and a dysfunctional council. Thank you, Member Patel. And we took a credit downgrade because of that. Well, how much is that going to cost if that happens again, if we don't get to a relationship where we all work together well? I also ... don't like talking about, I don't like us sitting up here and attacking each other personally. I think that cannot happen. So, I think this is a good idea. I don't know if we could ask the, Mr. Provins, can we do this in executive session? Does it have to be public?

I have not heard anything that would allow it to fit within the confines of an exec session yet, but as the item is still in work and we're still discussing it, if it fits within one of those parameters, happy to put it on the agenda as such.

You'll let us know?

Yes, ma'am, absolutely.

So that's really all I had to say. I like this idea. I like the, I want us to be a good, cohesive, a good working council, and if this helps that, then I will be for it, thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Barham.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I think it really comes down to intent of the workshop. I think we definitely need to get together as a team as far as goals and strategic planning are concerned. And that's part of our regular routine that we do first part of the year. And so I'd add to your list of questions to answer when we get there. Are you looking to revisit our strategic priorities in August or September? I guess more clarification of what you mean by goals when we get to that point of the conversation. Because I don't think we need to have another meeting before January to when we'll talk about strategic priorities and goals and planning and whatnot. I think the reality that we are, for lack of better words, kind of dancing around up here is that we had a very contentious June 22nd council meeting. And nobody wants that. And I think what we have as the elected body, when we sit up here on this dais, we are the deliberative body of our community that our citizens have said, we want you to go lead. We have an opportunity to come together as a team. And if it needs to be in another meeting, so be it. But the bottom line is, is we have to be a team. We have to come together and if there are grievances that need to be dealt with, let's deal with them. If there are problems that have been brought up or brought to the surface or whatever the case may be, they need to be dealt with and we are in a position to lead our community. If you spend any time on social media, which I would encourage everyone not to, it's absolutely just become a cesspool of communication. Consider it a giant exposed nerve that people like to just sit there and flick. That's basically what social media has become. And if you look at what our community, and I don't even know if it's people from our community, but what is being said out in the general public in relation to our community right now, it does not reflect who we are as a city of Pearland. Period, full stop. We continually talk about being the community of choice, which you mentioned during your proclamation earlier, Mr. Mayor, and we continually talk about one Pearland, and what we see people saying to one another, whether they're in our community or not, does not reflect that. That does not reflect the values of who we are, Many of us have lived here for decades. We don't treat each other that way in our community. And we have the opportunity as the leadership of our city to say, that's not how we're going to operate. And we are going to go in front of everybody and show that. So if we need to do a workshop to do that, I'm all for it. If we need to do an executive session to figure out what we need to figure out to do that, I'm all for it. Because at the end of the day, if you're here for Pearland, I'm here for you. any one of you up here. I don't care what your background is, what your philosophy is. If you're here for the betterment of our community, I'm here for you, and I'll support any efforts that we go forward in order to do that.

I appreciate that, Council Member Barnum. Mayor Pro Tem Chavarria?

Thank you, Mayor. So, definitely, I am on board for some team building. I think that is very much needed. I also think that we need to look at training on governance Robert's rules. I think we need to forge forward for the citizens of our community. They elected us here. We need to work together as a team. And so, I'm looking forward to seeing the format. And thank you so much for bringing this to our attention.

Male Speaker 1 Like I said, I've put it on here, but it was with collaboration, so I can't not take credit. It does take work. So, Council Member Echols.

Thank you, Mayor. I consider myself a team player. I consider myself someone that will tell you what you need to hear rather than something which you want to hear. Because I'll never lie to you, I'll tell you the straight up truth. And sometimes truth hurts. And quite frankly, Mary, you and I had lunch. We communicated, talked. And some of the things you told me, I later found out was not the whole truth, and that's the truth to help me God. And to me, I feel more betrayed, especially when I wanted to speak on that matter on the 22nd. After hand signals and hand signals and hand signals, I didn't get called upon to speak. It was very frustrating. And then, right previous to one of our own board meetings, I go to you and I show you a picture, and I ask you, do something. These were people that were supporting you, were mad at us council, and they sent an email to every one of us councils that, to me, what was heart-wrenching, because it doesn't depict who I am. But yet I was told, don't tell me what to do. I'm mayor. Mayor, I'm having a hard time. I can reconciliate, but as my mama used to tell me, I need to see a change. I need to see a real heart change. And that's kind of where I am, Mayor. I want to see a heart change. I want to see an apology for the way that us council on the dais have been shut down, where we couldn't talk, not called upon. Several of us council members have not been called upon during deliberation. I'm a team player, I'm for letting get this team rolling. But yet, also, as we heard just previous to our deliberation, it was comforting to hear their three-year-old came and apologized for his actions. And I guess that's really what I'm wanting to see, a heartfelt apology. And I'll go the extra mile, because I am a team player. So, I mean, not what you wanted to hear, but that's where I am.

Thank you, Councilmember. Councilmember Koza.

Thank you, Mayor. To me, this is kind of backwards. Anytime we've had a discussion item put on the table, the person that wanted the discussion item spoke first. I still sit here and am at loss for what you want out of this. because you have not spoken and you're asking to wait until the end. So I'll go ahead and say what I have to say. You know that Reverend Barnett gave me a call one day, asked me to see if you could visit with him. I tried speaking about it at our last meeting. You know what you said. At that meeting, I was offended. And it's one of those deals that I guess I'm kind of with Tommy and the fact that, you know, I am a team player. I came to this. And I told you that I was open and willing to work with you. But when you sit there and attack me and my family, and that's the truth. Reverend Barnett was here this evening, and had he been here, he could have validated what you said. And it's one of those deals that, you know, I'm willing to forgive, but it takes more than just words. it's a situation where you created a bad situation for myself. And I was more than willing to work with you and had an open mind to do so. And what I've been through, it's unacceptable. So as far as that goes, I look forward to what you have to say, and we'll see what we do from there.

Thank you, Council Member Koza.

You're welcome.

So, there were several things said, and I'll repeatedly deny those things. I've had other meetings. But with that said, a workshop would easily facilitate this. So, I appreciate both of the comments, because I think it leads credence to the very thing that I'm trying to accomplish. So, I appreciate the feedback. And so I do have some prepared statement and some words. One thing about communication is that there are things that are said, and there's two pieces because what may be said may not be understood. That's the first. And when we use terms like ask, Council Member Echols, I vividly remember there's a certain way that you ask someone and there's a certain way that you shove a phone in someone's face and say, do something. That's not a request. So as we continue, again, communication versus what is received. And I'll repeatedly say, I said nothing to defend your family because I know your mother is in the council chambers, and I would never do so. So I just want to address. You are out of order, so allow me to finish. I want to address this issue because it's been publicly raised. And I wanna make sure that we have a clear alignment to move forward. And so first, Councilman Fernandez, I did wanna wait because the apology that I do wanna give is not for the way in which I react because we all do get emotional and there's some very contentious things that happen. And I'm very passionate about serving this community in every capacity. But what I do want to apologize is personally, City Manager Epperson, there was communication, again, that works both ways, and I did receive it the wrong way, in which your ability to serve on the Transportation Policy Council, I believe I did take that the wrong way, so I do apologize. And to all my council members, there is an apology that I want to give, because I should not generalize in when I feel like I'm being discredited or disqualified in my ability to serve this community. So I apologize wholeheartedly. And then also I want to be, let me be unequivocal here, that I have never created, authorized, or promoted, encouraged, or coordinated the publication of images, memes, or online messages that are intended to disparage or demean any of my colleagues or any member of this community. Political disagreements are a part of public service, but personal attacks are not. So what concerns me is something else that deserves our attention. Content that might otherwise receive little attention becomes far more visible when public officials, even former mayors, or social media personalities who want to grow a following repeatedly repost it, discuss it, and circulate it to larger audiences. They are amplifying the same actions they claim to condemn and are putting all city council members and their livelihoods at risk. If someone genuinely believes certain content is hateful, offensive, or harmful, the responsible response is not to give it a larger audience for political advantage, social media engagement, or personal publicity. Every repost, screenshot, commentary video, and public accusation can extend the reach of that content to thousands of additional people who otherwise would never have seen it. I want to re-emphasize. Those who repeatedly recirculate and publicize offensive content should recognize they are increasing its reach. If the goal is to reduce harmful speech, amplifying it is unlikely to achieve that goal. We should all ask ourselves an important question. Who is actually increasing the problem? person who created it or the individuals who continually share them, discuss them, and use them as political content. I refuse to participate in that cycle. Our residents elected us to improve public safety, strengthen our infrastructure, manage taxpayer dollars responsibly, support economic growth, and solve problems. They did not elect us to become distributors of inflammatory social media content or to reward outrage with more attention. I will continue to judge people by their actions, not by anonymous internet posts or attempts to manufacture controversy through repeated amplification. I also believe that we all share responsibility to elevate the quality of our public discourse. That means disagreeing respectfully, challenging ideas with facts, and refusing to normalize personal attacks regardless of whom they target. I'm proud to say that several of my colleagues are working to establish great rapport and alignment on issues that will better pair land. I've always tried to focus on policy, performance, and results rather than personalities. If you or anyone else chooses to spend their time or your time amplifying divisive online content, it's your decision. But I choose to spend my time serving the people who entrusted me with this office. At the end of the day, I will not allow anonymous internet content or efforts to exploit that content for attention to distract us from the work of the community and those in the community and what they expect us to do. I remain committed to leading with integrity, treating everyone with respect, and focusing on the future of our city. That's why I wholeheartedly stand with anyone on council who support moving forward with a workshop that will better align our goals and perspectives towards building a better Pearland together and ensuring Pearland is the community of choice. And I will add this one last thing. For those who are focusing on specific internet content, Facebook, the primary means that we engage in dialogue, has removed these posts because it violates their online posting policy. So I would urge people who are sharing this to discontinue doing so because it is in violation of their said policy. So moving forward, I would just ask my colleagues to support a workshop that we can facilitate exchange of ideas to help making this community better. Before we move forward, I just want at least some type of visible show that we support this effort for a workshop, so that staff understands how to help us provide a draft agenda, and we can get together to decide who's gonna facilitate this to help us move forward. Councilman Patel, just a verbal, or if you're willing to move forward with a workshop, I would appreciate it.

We're doing a workshop, an executive session.

I haven't heard anything that would let us meet in the exec session exceptions to open government, so. Yeah, so the exceptions traditionally are going to be under personnel issues, so normally the evaluation of a particular public official or city employee, which normally would be Trent, myself, or Judge Saman. Outside of that, it's going to be real estate exceptions, it's going to be economic development, It's going to be about pending litigation or attorney-client privileged information. And then sometimes it might fall under... I want to, it's a general catch-all that's legal matters, I think is what they say. But, you know, it would have to be like, what legal issue are we looking to resolve?

Sure. Thank you, Lawrence. Mayor, I would ask, a workshop may be unnecessary. I think if we're going to do something that needs to be informal, I'm happy to meet with you guys informally. And that's where I'll leave it. Thank you.

So just to be clear, you would not be in support of a facilitated environment that would help us move forward in a workshop format?

No, ma'am. No, Mayor. I would not. I prefer just an informal meeting. I don't think we need to spend taxpayers' money on a, yeah. I'm just not in favor of that. We've already done a strategic planning.

No worries. Okay. Thank you. Councilman Fernandez.

Thank you, Mayor. Trent or Lawrence, do we have any idea of what the cost is to do a workshop?

So if we were to do like a facilitator retreat like we do in the spring, do we have a ballpark on what we've spent on those in the past? I think we can share that.

So is not to be cost prohibitive here. We know we want to meet outside. That's clear. If it is not cost prohibitive, would you be in support of that?

Yes, Mayor, I would. Thank you.

Council Member Cade?

Yes, I would also. Yes, I would. Thank you.

Council Member Byron?

I'll reiterate, I'm in support of whatever we need to do to work together as a team. In fairness, I don't know that I got any clarification on what we're trying to do. So I would like to see more information on what the actual goal of getting together. Again, if we're going to plan another session to discuss goals, we already have that in our budget for next year. So I'd like more clarification on that. But whatever we need to do to operate effectively for our city, I'm in favor.

Mayor, can I?

Absolutely, Councilor McKay.

Lawrence, are we allowed, or is there a way for council, the eight of us, to go have dinner without it being a meeting? That's what I thought, that's why.

I'm struggling with a way that you don't have to comply with the Open Meetings Act and have that posted.

But if it was posted, possible for, or whatever it is, Could the eight of us have dinner together somewhere?

Yes, ma'am. You would have to have dinner somewhere, or you could have dinner somewhere, although it would have to be a place that would allow members of the public, if they want to eat, they can eat. They don't get to sit at your table, and you do not have to pay for that. But, you know, if you met at a restaurant that had a place for the public to sit and watch y'all eat and hash that out, and they wanted to watch y'all eat and hear you hash it out, then that would be in compliance with the Open Meetings Act.

That sounds amazing. Thanks.

Council Member Byron. Council Member Byron. You said, you said, okay. Mayor Pro Temporea.

Absolutely I am in favor of some team building but more importantly some governance training is extremely important to me and I think to Council of Rules of Order. Thank you.

And just to reiterate, I think, because you mentioned it, Council Member Byrum, and I did miss that, but team building, I noted the governance, city governance, council relationship building, and the quorum and rules of order would be of the utmost on those items to cover in this session. Council Member Echols.

I'd be in for meeting informally. but I'm not for spending tax money on a workshop at this time.

Council Member Koza. Thank you, Mayor. I'd reiterate what Member Patel and Member Echols, anything that required taxpayer money, I would be against, and formal meeting, I'd be for.

And obviously, I would be for it. Okay, so I really want to thank everyone. And again, just to reiterate, I think for the general public, we see everyone's willingness to move this city forward collectively, to move past our differences in whatever form that we be. And I really respect everyone's attention here and going forward to doing the business of the city. And with that, Trent, do you have any other questions or comments regarding this item?

So, we can provide some information on what cost there may be associated if we do a facilitated, you know, we've got plenty of our own locations we can use, so there wouldn't be any cost to anything like that. But then, as far as bringing in outside facilitation, I think I would like, you know, instead of myself and my team selecting who that is, maybe have some of the council members participate in that process to determine who that is, look at the cost, and decide whether they want to do that.

While we're here, may I recommend the same team that is together to select advisory boards? I think it's myself, Mayor Pro Tem Chavarria, and Councilman Fernandez. Would you all be willing to participate? Okay, perfect.

Yes, sir. That one actually sounded like an action, and this is a discussion-only issue. So if you wanted to create a subcommittee to discuss potential future workshops, we can bring that back. At least that's what my initial thought on that is. I think that's perfect, and I think we have a willingness to do so.

Perfect. We can bring that back on the next meeting, and by that time we'll have some, we'll start getting something lined up to actually.

Some more formalized that shows clear criteria. All right, thank you. And I believe there's, if I'm not mistaken, there are no further agenda items, and if that be in the case, I will adjourn this meeting at 8.10 p.m.