City Council - Regular Meeting

Welcome everyone out to the Sachse City Council meeting. Today is Monday, August 17th, 2026. The time is 631 p.m. We are called to order at 631 p.m. Next item on the agenda is item two, invocation and pledges of allegiance. I've asked Ms. Howard to offer the invocation and Ms. Buehler to lead our pledges. If you will please rise.

accounting gracious heavenly father we're grateful to be gathered here together tonight too complete the business of the city of faxing in recipe blessings upon us that will make wise decisions that will hear each other's points of view and it will treat all those here kindness and respect we're grateful for this state in this country that we have to live in all the blessings and freedoms that it affords us we're grateful for our first responders our public safety and all of our armed forces that work so hard to protect us and please ask thee to please keep them safe from harm and we ask these things in the name of thy son jesus christ amen i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands one nation under god indivisible with liberty and justice for all Honor the Texas flag. I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas, one state under God, one and indivisible.

Thank you. You may be seated. All right. Again, welcome everyone out to our meeting this evening. Our next item on the agenda is item 2B, which is recognition. Item 1 presented Texas Municipal Clerks Association, TMCA, Municipal Clerks Office Achievement of Excellence Award to the City Secretary. I would ask Ms. Granger and Ms. Storm from the TMCA to join me down front. All right, well, this is a great occasion to celebrate something that we are very proud of, and we're going to give you more details about that. This is about the city secretary's office, and specifically Ms. Granger on the award and the achievement she's accomplished. With that, I want to ask Ms. Storm from the TMCA to come say a few remarks.

So I'm going to lower this. Good evening, Mayor Bickerstaff and members of the city council. My name is Stephanie Storm, the city secretary for the city of Wylie. And I also am a trustee on the Texas Municipal Clerks Association Executive Board. Tonight, on behalf of the TMCA Executive Board, it is my honor to present the Achievement of Excellence Award to the city secretary's office. This prestigious award recognizes outstanding excellence and the effective and efficient management of resources within a municipal clerk's office. It reflects the unwavering dedication, professionalism, and hard work of the city secretary, Leah Granger. who is also the first Texas registered municipal clerk in the city of Sachse's history. This is the first time the city of Sachse has earned this recognition. For perspective, Texas has 1,224 active municipalities and only 84 earned this distinction this year. The city of Sachse is proudly among them. The city secretary's office stands as a cornerstone of integrity, transparency, and professionalism. Please join me in congratulating Leah Granger on this well-deserved honor.

Don't go anywhere, Ms. Granger. So Ms. Storm stole all my good stuff. So I jokingly like to say that Ms. Granger keeps all of us out of jail for making sure we behave and follow the rules. And she does a great job of that. She keeps us accountable. She does everything she does with integrity. And we're very appreciative of that. And I can tell you on a personal note, Leah, you have helped me become a better mayor. And I really appreciate that. Yeah, I know I speak, I don't speak on behalf of council on much, but I think I'm safe here to say that on behalf of council, we are so proud of you for this achievement that you've gotten, that you've received tonight. And we're very honored that you're here, and we are glad you are our city secretary. Congratulations, Leah. And as she always says now, back to work. Awesome. Next item on our agenda is public comment. The public is invited to address council regarding any topic not already on the agenda for action or public hearing. Comments regarding the consent agenda or any discussion only items on the agenda may be addressed during this public comment section. The time limit is three minutes per speaker. A public comment card shall be presented to the state secretary prior to the meeting. According to the Texas Open Meetings Act, council is prohibited from discussing any item not posted on the agenda but may take comments under advisement. The first card I have is Marty .

Marty Hobo, 5511 Oak Ridge Circle, Sachse, Texas.

Let's see here.

You let a contract for Winterford, Winterford, whichever one, everybody knows which one. McMahon scored quite well on their project schedule, but nowhere does it say what their project schedule is. So can somebody call me or somebody can address it and say when that road's gonna be finished? I mean, Bailey, you promised November, and I think it was done in May. So it had to rain a whole lot during the drought. So I would appreciate some information there. I'll do that one in budget. Is the city prepared if the lieutenant governor's agenda for the double nickel approach actually comes to fruition. I'm seeing a lot of blank stares. That's where, at age 55, your property taxes are going to get frozen. And this city has lived on that float for a long time. Because my taxes are going up again, as they have for 29 years. So I'll shoot Ms. Nash an email. Maybe she'll answer it. Still waiting to hear how many speed bumps were on High Ridge Alley. It's a very simple question. Ex-Mr. Lindsey was kind of shocked that y'all continued to lie about it, so you may want to let him know. And just because Jeff says it's finished, it's not. It's a simple question, and you continue to hide behind your lies. So just let me know, and then I'll post it. Um, I think that covers everything. Thank you.

Next card I have is Robert Harris.

I'm Robert Harris, 6 7 1 3 L V lane. I'm 71. I got multiple disabilities and I've asked this city council, several of your officers for reasonable accommodations and just totally ignored. Nothing happened. No accommodations whatsoever, which is against federal and state law. I've asked the Billing Permit Department eight times to allow me to build just a pole barn. Just a simple structure that I get my things out of that comply with code. Hard enough for my own good. And no. You're my guy. This won't do it for a pole barn. Yes, I have a court order to clean, remove everything in my property. That's what the court order is for. And so I took it to appeal. And they said it was lack of jurisdiction. So now it's in the fifth court of appeal. Yet other people come out and start taking my property. And I... gave them or tried to give them and your court clerk, the order's under appeal. I claimed Constitution and law, Texas law, that the code that you're trying to apply to me are void. And it hasn't been decided yet. And yet you still come out and get my property. You get all my barbecue stuff off my back porch, under my roof, on my concrete. All my barbecue, the cast iron pans, the cast grills, the stainless steel. My bag of charcoal. Antique rocker, antique chairs, some toys, two buckets of baseballs that I played with my grandson. Took my wife's bucket of bird seed. She feeds the birds. Then you get, you know, I'm trying to build a fence. You take all my concrete, all my sand, all my gravel, all my cement. You took one of my cement mixers. Just took it. And you load up eight dumpsters, nine dumpsters. I don't have any dumpsters. You put my farm tractor in a dumpster. You put them in my meal, my knee meal. That's what I did for a living for many, many years before I retired. You went to my boats, every one of my boats, and just stripped everything out of it. Trolling motors, life jackets, tackles, fishing poles, anchors, props, stripped all of it. Just took all of it. And obviously, since I had so many boats, that's what I wanted to do. Wish I can't anymore. How am I supposed to live? $200,000 worth of damage to me.

Next card I have is Mr. Tim Brooks.

Tim Brooks, Sachse, Texas. I'm here mainly to speak directly to the city council, not the mayor, not the city manager, not the city attorney. About six months ago, my wife and I came to the council to talk about street sign naming. We have stayed in constant contact with the mayor on the subject, trying to put in a standard neighborhood street naming provision. Let me read part of the last message the mayor sent to my wife on August 4th. Good morning, Ms. Brooks. I wanted to follow up regarding the street naming standard request that you and Tim presented to the city council. Following your presentation, I worked with city staff and the city attorney to better understand the technical, legal, and procedural considerations associated with your proposal. At the same time, it was important to determine whether there was sufficient interest among the city council to pursue the matter further. As part of the process, the city manager sent a follow-up email to the council specifically asking whether any council member was interested in moving forward with the request. No. I repeat, no. No council member responded with an interest in placing the matter on the agenda for discussion. Just a discussion. I know you guys wear a lot of hats, but one of your hats is to listen to the people you serve and try to resolve some of their issues. All I asked was you guys at least take it up and talk about it. I don't care what the answer was. Just talk about it. That's your job. It should be in your job description to help people. I appreciate it. I hope you guys do reconsider and do take this up and talk about street naming. We all know segregation is bad in this country. Whether it's segregation or voluntary segregation, it's not good. I appreciate it. Thank you.

Next card I have is Stephanie Murray. Is there a Stephanie Murray in the audience?

ALL RIGHT.

NEXT CARD I HAVE IS, I NEXT CARD I HAVE IS, I APOLOGIZE, WIN DU? APOLOGIZE, WIN DU? DID I GET THAT RIGHT? DID I GET THAT RIGHT?

GOOD EVENING MAYOR AND CITY GOOD EVENING MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS. COUNCIL MEMBERS. THANK YOU FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO At the neighborhood, the station in Sachse is a newer district. I'm here regarding a recurring drainage and safety issue on the sidewalk section that's directly located in front of my house. My house is located on a slight downward hill. So when it rains or when irrigation systems are run, water should naturally travel down this way until it reaches the end of the road, but the section in front of my house was not sloped correctly. One section is curved, is a little curved toward my house and then like there are two more sections that are, uh, lower than the surrounding areas. So, uh, water will pool there and from my house first until I can continue to drain at this natural way. Uh, the pooling is usually deep enough to soak my feet and a blocks access. to the neighbors and then, you know, kids getting home from school and then people trying to walk their dogs and go on a run. And I've brought up this issue to the city before, but I was informed that drainage issues are not usually covered in the city sidewalk policy, but we just received the new 2026 maintenance plan on the PID district. And I believe that that street and my property, my house, is included in the district. So my question is to ask, would the city consider addressing the drainage issue at my house? I believe in the official letter that me and my neighbor received, especially mentions that the budget will be applied towards addressing drainage issues. So my question is, will my sidewalk, not my sidewalk, the city sidewalk in front of my house be looked over? Thank you, that's my question.

Next card I have is Jane Reed.

Jane Reed, Sachse, Texas. Um, I'm trying to just take my notes. Okay. This is a budget question from last year. I sent a email to the, the budget group, Logan Thatcher, Jeff Biggerstaff and Chance Lindsay. with my own personal 2025-2026 budget request. I had several items on that list. I can go over quickly. Just a second. My printer's not working. So just a couple of things. repair the curbs in front of 2204 Cornwall Lane, Sachse, Texas. I have been asking the city since August 4th, 2022 to repair, well, the Sachse estate's four neighborhood roads. I believe it's a total of 1.79 miles of road. It's an ongoing issue. I know Cory Nisbet in a recent meeting had a slide and it had two columns of street names that needed repair. I did not see Cornwall on there. So my question is will Cornwall be considered because I've been told it would be eventually and also Will that go to the CIP or is that going to go on a new bond election? I also have a question on Ben Davis light at 78. This has been an ongoing problem. If you're coming out on Ben Davis and want to turn left at the light to get on 78, the light skips you. This has been brought up on Facebook. It's been brought up several times. What I have heard in the past, it is TxDOT. Okay, how many times do we have to reach out to TxDOT to fix that light? Because I don't, I mean, even getting here tonight, it cycled through. I had to sit through two lights so I was able to turn. So I'm just curious if there's anything y'all can do to speed that up with TxDOT to have a look at that. Thank you.

That's all the cards I have. Next item on the agenda is item B, council staff reports and updates. Item one, report on public comment from the August 3rd, 2026 city council meeting. I did have a few questions. There were a few questions and comments I would like to address from the August 3rd, 2026 meeting. Mr. Alan Smith raised a concern about concrete from the reconstructed alley extending into the easement beside his property, creating a hump that he could not safely mow. City staff contacted Mr. Smith to discuss his concerns, and those concerns have been resolved. Mr. Jay Porterfield, thank the city council and city employees for the substantial cleanup completed at 6713 Valley View Lane. Staff understands the neighborhood's continuing concerns about the remaining vehicles, boats, and personal watercraft on the property. Staff will continue addressing those conditions through the appropriate code enforcement and legal processes. I also want to join Mr. Porterfield in recognizing Christina Ramhold for her responsiveness and diligence, along with all the city employees who carried out the cleanup. Christina, there you are, back there. Thank you, Christina. Mr. Sebastian Ramirez asked about the flock camera at Bunker Hill Road and Miles Road and the availability of records related to the city's agreement for the cameras. Mr. Ramirez's request was for the grant award, grant application and budget, executed flock contract, purchase orders, invoices, council authorization, and related financial information. These records can be requested in writing through the city's public information process regarding which responsive records are available and how they may be obtained. The police department's automatic license plate reader policy is available on its webpage under transparency and includes safeguards such as a 30-day image retention, restricted access, case number requirements, and regular audits. That's all the comments I had. Anyone on council like to address any of the public comments made at the August 3rd meeting? Hearing none, we will move on. Next item on the agenda is item D2, mayor and city council announcements regarding special events, current activities, and local achievements. Anyone on council like to address the audience at this time? Ms. Buehler.

Thank you, Mayor. Good evening, everyone. Thank you for joining us in person and online. I have some Parks and Recreation announcements. The Sachse Parks and Recreation Fall and Winter Guide to Fun is now available online. Residents can browse the full lineup of fall and winter programs, classes, and events and register online at www.cityofsachse.com slash class registration. Registration is now open, so we encourage families to sign up early before spots fill up. Next up, we are calling all moms and sons ages four to 11. You're invited to saddle up for the Mother and Son Wild West Roundup on Saturday, September 5th from 3 to 5 p.m. at the Michael J. Felix Community Center. This Western-themed afternoon features bounce houses, games, crafts, prizes, and mechanical bull riding. The cost is $15 per mother-son pair with $5 each for each additional child. Put on your boots and cowboy hats and get ready for a root tootin' good time. This is always a really fun event, so I really encourage you to share with your neighbors and friends. This is a great way to come together as a community. It's a great time. Thank you.

I like how you ended that. Root tootin'. I like that.

Root tootin'.

Thank you, Ms. Buehler.

Mr. LePage. Got some animal shelter announcements. Currently, right now, this month, it's clear the shelters have price adoptions going on through the end of the month of August 31st. Stop by Sachse Animal Services at 6424 Sachse Road Monday through Saturday from 10 to 6 or call 972-675-9662 for more information. It's also HSNT Mega Adoption Event Recap there. This past Saturday, Animal Service participated in Humane Society of North Texas mega adoption event in Fort Worth, where hundreds of pets from across the region were available for adoption. We are pleased to share that two of our own came home with families, Willow and Sage, were both adopted at the event. Congratulations to Willow and Sage, and welcome to their new families. We wish them all the happiness they deserve. Which now brings us to our featured pet, All right, I got to meet Mr. Deuce with my kids this past week. Deuce has got a lot of energy. and is absolutely amazing. He was just so happy to see anybody. But he is a four-year-old pit bull mix and longest staying resident. If I'm correct, I think he's been there for two years between two different cities, patiently waiting for the right family to give him a home. He needs room to run and go. This dog is awesome. He's very playful, high energy, loves toys, running in the yard, favorite treats. He's perfectly happy entertaining himself. Deuce gets very excited when it's time to come out of his kennel with little patience and structure. He settles in well. when he's out and moving. Due to his enthusiasm and his nature, Deuce would be best with home without children under 13. A meet and greet will be required for households with other dogs. Deuce has been waiting longer than anyone else in the shelter for the second chance. With clear of the shelters, half-price adoptions running through August 31st, there has never been a better time to come and meet them. Anyone interested in meeting Deuce is encouraged to contact Sachse Animal Shelter at 972-675-9622 to schedule a meet and greet. Thank you.

Deuce does not want to have the distinction of being the longest.

Man, he is. The energy. He was jumping like... Eight feet in the cage as soon as you walked in. He's a beautiful dog, so he needs a home.

That's what you call full disclosure. Yeah. Thank you, Mr. LePage. Mr. Millsap.

As the summer runs down and school starts back, if you haven't noticed the traffic, be careful. Anyway, the library is having their Make and Mingle Squeegee Portraits event on Wednesday, which is the day after tomorrow, at 6 to 7.30 for 18 years and older, from 6 to 7.30 at the public library. They'd like for you to RSVP just so they have an idea of how much supplies to have on hand, no cost. And also, for Saturday, August the 22nd, from 2 to 3 p.m. afternoon, nice and warm weather. Teens will be, from 12 to 17, will be doing a junk journal. So if you're interested in a junk journal where you can use some recycled books and craft paper and public scraps and more on Saturday, be there. And this, again, for residents 12 to 17 years old.

Thank you, Mr. Millsap.

Any other announcements from council?

Ms. Nash.

Thank you, Mayor. Just a couple of things. I want to welcome some new hires. Maura Bolas, she's a new part-time recreation aide. And then today I was able to meet two new firefighters. Joshua Montgomery started today. He's a firefighter recruit. And Perry Hatfield also started today. He's a firefighter paramedic. And then I'd also like to do a core values recognition. as one of our core values is being neighborly. So I would like to recognize two members of our parks team, Brandon Hill and Austin Gumkowski, for going above and beyond for a couple of our Sachse residents in need. On August the 6th, an elderly couple experienced a tire blowout on the PGBT and they made their way to Heritage Park. Brandon was out mowing when he spotted them and came over to help. Austin stopped by shortly after, and together in that 100 plus degree heat, They changed the tire, got the couple on their way so they could pick up their granddaughter from her school. When the couple offered to pay them, Austin declined and said it was a service that the city is happy to provide. And he mentioned that it was the second time he had helped somebody that day. The couple reached out to the city to express their gratitude, writing, when it's 100 degrees and you're in a hurry to pick up your child at school, it's pretty traumatizing to get a flat. Brandon and Austin turned a stressful situation into a moment that reminded this family why they love living in Sachse. Thank you to both Brandon and Austin.

Thank you, Ms. Nash. I have just a couple announcements. August 11th was National Safe Digging Day. Now, August 11th is behind us. However, in the spirit of that, every day is National Safe Digging Day. And we want to take a moment and remind our residents, excuse me, that an important safety step before you start any landscaping, garden bed, fenced insulation project is call 8-1-1. 811, not the other one, at least two business days in advance. Calling 811 or visiting 811.com is free, but it's required by law and ensures underground utility lines are marked before you dig. Know what's below and call before you dig. National Safe Digging Day, again, was August 11th, but that's every day. Call 811 or go to 811.com before you dig. As you probably realize, if you've been here a long time, every September we do a peanut butter drive in conjunction with the North Texas Food Bank. This year is no different. We're going to start doing that this coming September. We're putting the details together as we speak, so we will let you know when we get closer to September what we're going to be doing. The important message is what the purpose of this drive is, is to help stock local food pantries for peanut butter. Now, you may think peanut butter is just a basic staple item, which it is, but it's very, very important to have that stocked in our local food pantries because it is a great food to have when you're in need. And so as we've done the last couple of years, we are going to participate in that. And, yes, there's a little competition among cities, so we definitely want to be out ahead of that. And so keep an eye on the city's website, our newsletter, and our social media channels for more information as we get closer. So, again, Peanut Butter Drive coming in September. ALL RIGHT, THAT'S ALL THE ANNOUNCEMENTS I HAVE. THE NEXT ITEM ON THE AGENDA IS ITEM E, CONSENT AGENDA. ITEM ONE, APPROVE THE AUGUST 3, 2026 MEETING MINUTES. ITEM TWO, APPROVE AND ADOPT A RESOLUTION AMENDING THE MASTER FEE SCHEDULE ADOPTED BY RESOLUTION R-2026-04 AMENDING PUBLIC SAFETY FEES, ENGINEERING, HEALTH AND SANITATION, FACILITY ROOM RENTAL DEPOSIT SLASH FEES, PARK RENTAL, PARK FACILITY, FACILITY RENTAL FEES, THE LORI SCHRECK SENIOR ACTIVITY CENTER, MONCO J. FELIX COMMUNITY CENTER, BUILDING PERMITS AND DEVELOPMENT SERVICE FEES, WATER RATE SCHEDULE, WATER SERVICE CONNECTION FEES, WASTEWATER RATE SCHEDULE, MUNICIPAL DRAINAGE UTILITY FEE, NEIGHBORHOOD SERVICES FEES, AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Item three, approve a resolution of the City Council of the City of Sachse, Texas, approving a negotiated settlement between the Atmos City Steering Committee, ACSC, and Atmos Energy Corp., Mid-Tex Division, regarding the company's 2026 rate review mechanism filing, declaring the existing rates to be unreasonable, adopting tariffs that reflect rate adjustments consistent with the negotiated settlement, finding the rates to be set by the attached settlement tariffs to be just and reasonable and in the public interest, approving an attachment establishing a benchmark for pensions and retiree medical benefits, requiring the company to reimburse ACSC's reasonable rate-making expenses, determining that this resolution was passed in accordance with the requirements of the Texas Open Means Act, adopting a savings clause, declaring an effective date, and requiring delivery of this resolution to the company and the ACSC's legal counsel. Item four, approve an ordinance of the city of Sachse, Texas, amending the code of ordinances by amending chapter six, titled Health and Sanitation. Article one, titled In General. Section 6-7, titled Nuisances and Vegetation, by amending paragraph 6-7C, to add clearance and visibility requirements and add provisions for the removal of dead, damaged, or diseased trees or limbs, providing a repealing clause, providing a severability clause, providing a savings clause, providing a penalty of fine not to exceed $2,000, and providing an effective date. item five authorize the city manager to award and execute the construction contract for willow for road bp-21-b03 the mcmahon contracting lp in the amount of six million one hundred nine thousand four hundred and thirteen dollars anyone on council like to remove any item off the consent agenda mr millsap i'd like to remove two three and four two three and four are removed any other items to be removed All right, hearing none, do I have a motion to approve items one and five from the consent? Mr. Prestenburg.

Yeah, I'd like to make a motion to approve items E1 and five as presented.

I have a motion to approve item E1 and E5 as presented. Do I have a second? Ms. Buehler?

Second.

Second by Ms. Buehler. Any further discussion? If not, please cash about. You're deferred, okay. Motion carries unanimously. Okay, consent agenda item number two. Approve and adopt a resolution amending the master fee schedule adopted by resolution R-2026-04 by amending public safety fees, engineering, health and sanitation, facility room rental deposit slash fees, park facility rental fees, Lori Schrenk Senior Activity Center, Michael J. Felix Community Center, building permits and development services fees, Water rate schedule, water service connection fees, wastewater rate schedule, municipal drainage utility fee, neighborhood services fees, and providing for an effective date. I think Mr. Millsap just wanted me to read that over again. But with that, Mr. Millsap, if you can request to... If you could hit your mic button to, there you go.

Mr. Milsom. Okay, on the master schedule, page 44 of it that had been presented, looking at the master schedule, I think it should be uniformly respectful of all companies, all businesses, and one of the expected looking at it, a church impact fee is $482 per square foot. But when you look at a daycare center, it's $10,958 per square foot to build a same-size building. I think that is ridiculous. Daycare services are exorbitant enough, and most of the reason we need daycare is because families are in a situation where both members have to work, and it's down to the point now that a lot of the Expenses of it, it takes one spouse's income to pay for daycare. And I think that's a ridiculously absorbent amount. Then when you get down to offices, for instance, a corporate office building only cost $1,281 per impact fee. That's a corporate office, which means there will be multiple people there using that facility, which means it'll be a bigger building. It has more utilities. But then when you get down to the fourth item on the offices, a single tenant building is $1,734 per square foot. So it's totally unrealistic. And whoever wrote this up to think that that's a fair application of impact fees for the city of Sachse. That may be why we don't have very many office buildings in Sachse, and we don't have very many small businesses come into town other than fast food and that type of stuff. So I can't support this the way it's presented at all.

Thank you, Mr. Millsap. Anyone else want to comment on this item? All right, if not, entertain motions. Ms. Buehler.

Oh, actually, I did just want to make a comment.

Oh, sure.

I wanted to thank you all for considering keeping the fees for seniors and military vets at $0. I appreciate seeing that change from last meeting.

That's it. Ms. Hours.

I will make a motion to

except item two as presented i have a motion by miss howard to approve item two a e2 is presented to have a second mr preston second second by mr pressure any further discussion yeah miss beater can we hear from city staff why that is such a which part

such as discrepancy, the point Frank brought up?

Mr. Millsap? We can.

I'm guessing it's high usage, but I'd love to hear from the expert.

I bet Mr. Robinson can help you with that.

Good evening, Council. The impact fees that were adopted by Council were based on the calculations from the city's consultant when we went through the impact fee update. As far as the individual users themselves, that's based on a service unit capacity. So when you look at the numbers, it's not a one-to-one comparison. It's based on either a square footage or the number of dwelling units or the service unit equivalent. So for example, a daycare sees a lot more traffic than a traditional office complex would. So that's where some of those numbers are going to be different.

Yes. Ms. Nash has a comment.

Yes, and Mayor and Council, these impact fees were approved by the City Council back in November of 2024. So this isn't any, I just want to make sure there's a clarification. These aren't any new impact fees. We just have to include these every time we do a master fee schedule update. But as it says in here, the state does require us to update this every five years, and we did do that in November of 24. So this is consistent with the approved plan that was done in 2024.

So the fees reflect that?

Yes, Sir.

OK. Mr Millsap.

As Matt just said, they care would see a lot more people. Yes, it would. But also I believe that a. corporate office would see a whole lot more people per unit than a single tenant. But here it is. It's not consistent in that thinking. So I feel like that this hasn't been given. Yes, it may have been approved five years ago, but it's time that we redo it, not just rubber stamp it and add an inflation factor to the dollars. And that's where we are with the financial problems right now. And I think that... we need to take time and go back and do an adequate study and not just call other cities and see what they're doing so we can follow the leader and justify it we can set our own standards and i think that's what we need to do and i think the taxpayers need to begin to realize that who's wanting willing to do that and who isn't willing to do that uh ms nash this was done in 2024 correct

yes sir and it's referenced at the top on on the page 44 that the councilman references yes so it wasn't it wasn't five years ago no sir it was in 2024. okay thank you anyone else we have a motion and a second on the floor anything any other discussion all right please cash about

It's always fun learning new stuff, right? Motion carries. Mr. Millsap voting no. Next, removed item from the consent agenda, item three, approve a resolution of the city council of the city of Sachse, Texas, approving a negotiated settlement between the city steering committee, ACSC, and Atmos Energy Corp, MedTech's division, regarding the company's 2026 rate review mechanism filing, declaring the existing rates to be unreasonable, adopting tariffs that reflect rate adjustments consistent with the negotiated settlement. finding the rates to be set by the attached settlement tariffs to be just and reasonable and in the public interest, approving an attached establishing a benchmark for pensions and retiring medical benefits, requiring a company to reimburse ACSC's reasonable rate making expenses, determining that this resolution was passed in accordance with the requirements of the Texas Open Meetings Act, adopting a savings clause, declaring an effective date, and requiring delivery of this resolution to the company and the ACSC's legal counsel. Mr. Millsap, if you'll turn your mic on, I'll turn it. Mr. Millsap.

Okay, on this one, I just had a question I think maybe clarification and typo, I hope, but that's what it is. But on page 70, when it's talking about the service rates and charges, monthly rates charge customer charge per meter. $2,304.50 per month per meter. Is that right? I think whoever negotiated this at most needs to figure out, is that right? And this is talking about, I think it's commercial customers, application applicable to industrial customers. So that's a commercial event. Right here. It's 70. 70. 70. That seems kind of a little bit exorbitant if it's $2,000 a month per meter as a flat rate, plus we have the use of gas based on volume, which is standard. And again, we need to rethink this if that be true. And the reason I'm saying it's $2,000, I even put this under my microscope at home to make sure that The dot between the two and the three was a comma, not a period. And it is a comma, so that means that amount.

It is. This is actually for industrial customers. So this is heavy industrial usage, which I actually don't even think we have any of these customers in our city. This is... We have to adopt the entire thing as presented because if we were to ever have these type of customers, but that's actually for an industrial commercial customer, which we don't have any of those customers in our city.

How big does a company have to get before they're called or when they're called industrial?

It has to do with the type of zoning that they're in and the zoning district that they're in. And industrial sales, we don't have any customers, to my knowledge, that would even be involved in that. Matt, do you know? And if you don't have the answer, it's OK.

Heavy industrial users are typically the heavy manufacturing where they're taking raw material and creating something. And as Mr. Nash pointed out, we do not have any of those users at this point.

If in reality the blood plasma company that has gone out now apparently came in, would they have been considered industrial because they're producing a product? Yes, they would be. Yes, sir. So we do have an industrial area.

Yes, but we don't have a customer currently.

And we do have properties zoned industrial.

That particular property is in a PD, but yes. Yes, they would be under industrial sales if they come online, yes. But currently, we don't have anybody that would qualify under this that's active today.

Okay. That's what I wanted to know.

Other questions or comments on this item from council? All right, hearing none, I entertain a motion. Mr. Presselberg.

Make a motion to approve item E3 as presented.

I have a motion by Mr. Prestenburg to approve item E3 as presented. Do I have a second? Ms. Buehler?

Second.

Second by Ms. Buehler. Any further discussion? Hearing none, please cash it out. Motion carries unanimously. The final item removed from the consent agenda, item 4, approve an ordinance of the City of Sachse, Texas, amending the code of ordinances by amending chapter 6, titled Health and Sanitation. Article 1, titled, in general, section 6-7, titled Nuisances and Vegetation, by amending paragraph section 6-7c, to add clearance and visibility requirements and add provisions for the removal of dead, damaged, or diseased trees or limbs, providing for a repealing clause, providing for a severability clause, providing a savings clause, providing for a penalty of fine not to exceed $2,000.00. and providing for an effective date. Mr. Millsap, if you'll... Hold on, hit your button. Got a new system here. Okay, go ahead.

Again, on page 89 of this document, We're talking about grass and weeds and says or any object on it. It shall be unlawful and declared a nuisance for an owner or property of any property within the city to permit weeds, grass or any objectionable or unsightly matter or unsightly matter to accumulate or grow to a height greater than 12 inches. upon such property within 150 feet of any property line or other property which abuts the street or right of way. Property line or other property? How far can that other property be between the city and this property is being addressed here? And the reason I'm asking that is there some areas in town where we see that there are adequately mowed adjoining the street, but only maybe 40 or 50 feet back or 20 or 30 feet back, but not 150 feet back. And so that is an inconsistency of what we're doing now. And also when we talked about this in the past, we talked about the need for safety at intersections, height of plants, minimum and maximum. We have no nothing addresses anything that says at an intersection in order to allow traffic visibility for oncoming egress or on or off how far down the street can you see because the vegetation is allowed to grow too tall we've had that problem with the a while back with the station because somebody had their grass growing up, two clumps of grass, it was way too hot, and somebody walking across the street wasn't seen and got hit. We have no address of that. We talked about the need for this, and here we're not doing it. We need to have some guidelines that says if you're standing at an intersection, you need to be able to see down the street for oncoming cars at minimum amount of distance, and that distance needs to be identified. And if you can't see, if you're standing there looking and you can't see the car coming, the guy in the car coming towards you can't see you either. And we have no safety built in for this. And this is, we're asking to approve it without the safety matter. I can't buy this. That's not good common legislation, I don't think. And I think we've talked about it. Mr. Gorfita.

Just for clarification purposes, I believe this is on. What we're adding to this ordinance is specifically what's underlined. So it's on page 2 of 4 and then 3 of 4. It's what is underlined. So that's just specifically clearance. What Council Member Millsap is referring to has been in this ordinance, which it does mirror state law. But to his point, we do have a provision elsewhere in the code. and i'll rely on staff to tell me where it is but i know it's in there that deals specifically with the visibility triangle which is what you're referring to which addresses how high things can be within that visibility triangle i don't know if that's in the yeah i was gonna say because we have a separate problem i was thinking because this is just this is just a nuisance um in the nuisance ordinance yeah all right oh okay that's right ms nash

So with regard to the second question that was brought up with the sight line visibility, that's not addressed in here. That's actually addressed in the engineering design standards because it's not a nuisance issue. It's a visibility issue relative to how we do our engineering design. And so that's already addressed in there. But if we go back and answer the first question that he had about

did you answer that joe or lauren is it do you want staff to answer that of the regulations is that correct mr milsap yeah just just a point of information it's about enforcement because really whenever you to me whenever i read this it says uh Grass in any objectionable or unsightly matter, or matter, it should be matter, but to accumulate or grow to a height greater than 12 inches upon property within 150 feet of any property line Or on such property which abuts any street right away. Alley utility easement, tub divided property or any buildings or other structures. Like I say, whenever we right now we've had this, we're just revamping it. Apparently approving it and you can drive down the street and I can show you some. Fields that have been properly mowed at the curb, maybe 4050 feet back, but not 150 feet and then others are the entire fields are having to be mowed. And I think it's inconsistent and I think that it's being enforced inconsistent and I think we need to be more realistic and forthcoming with what we're going to do and what we're expecting to be done.

Other comments from Council. Hearing none, I'll entertain a motion. Ms. Howard.

If there's no other comments, I'll make a motion to approve item four as presented.

It does get lost every now and then.

I keep closing the window.

Motion by Ms. Howard to approve item E4 as presented. Do I have a second? Mr. Pressenberg? Second. Second by Mr. Pressenberg. Any further discussion? Hearing none, please cast your ballot.

Motion carries with Mr. Millsap voting no.

Next item on the agenda is item F, action items. Item one, conduct a public hearing on the proposed 2026-2027 fiscal year budget and set a date for budget adoption. Ms. Nash.

We're back. Talk about the budget some more. So tonight is here actually really it's just to conduct the public hearing on the proposed 2026-2027 budget and to set a date for adoption. And David, if you have any other comments that you'd like to add beyond that. Hello, Mr. Baldwin.

Hello, Mayor, Council. I do have some comments with some slides here. Let's talk about where we've been in this budget process. It started on June 1st, asking for early public input on the budget. On June 15th, we had a city council meeting also where we had a budget workshop going over the preliminary budget. On the 25th of June, the mayor held a budget and burgers public engagement event. On August 3rd, we did a whole bunch of things budget, including receiving the no new revenue tax rate, the voter approval rate, and we presented the proposed budget. The proposed annual budget was available to the public online on July 31st. It was presented to council on August 3rd. It remains available at www.cityofsaxe.com forward slash budget. There are printed copies available for viewing with the city secretary and at the library. As a reminder, the property tax rate proposed in the budget is the same rate showing in coral there, the same rate as the prior year. It remains at 0.650416. That rate is well below the voter approval rate of 0.772334. And it's also below the no new revenue rate of 0.652103. Tonight, one of the items that was in the budget document was the master fee schedule. And so tonight, as part of the budget, we also Council approved the resolution for the master fee schedule. And here we are in front of you today for the public hearing. After the public hearing, staff requests that Council take action on the budget as is found in code. the calendar shows that budget adoption is scheduled for september 8th and so now would be a great opportunity for public comment thank you mr baldwin before we go to public comment questions or comments among the council

All right, we can always come back to that if we need to. Thank you, Mr. Baldwin. Ms. Granger, you can. Okay. All right, we have a couple of cards for item one. Marty Hobo.

I'm sorry, excuse me, Mayor. Would you like to open the public hearing?

I'm sorry, yes, my bad. See, that's why you got that award earlier. I declared a public, this is a public hearing. I declared a public hearing open. The time, Ms. Granger? 7.27 p.m. Public hearing is open at 7.27 p.m. That's why your microphone was on. Yes.

Okay.

Okay, the public hearing is open at 7.27 p.m. Now, Marty Hobok.

Marty Hobok, 5511 Oak Ridge Circle, Sachse, Texas, top of the hill. Going through the budget, I found a lot of items in there for landscaping. I just want to know who's in charge of landscaping. between State Highway 78 and City Hall because it's nothing but a dead zone. And it's been a dead zone for 15 years. You spent $10 million up here that Jeff thinks is the greatest investment in the world, and the landscaping looks like the Sahara Desert. Y'all managed to find money to go to the Texas Municipal League every year, 15 grand. But all we get is dead bushes and crap out there. So if you need to turn it over to Woodbridge, turn it over to Woodbridge, put it in the budget. What is the letting date for Merritt Road? From what I saw, it's up to $43 million now, and you're $8 million short. I could be wrong at that. I was just going quickly. But what is the proposed letting date for Merritt Road? You redid our peer cities. I might have missed a meeting on that, so I can shoot some emails on that. But when you look at sales tax between all of our peer cities, are we high? Are we low? Or are we at the top of the list? I have a funny feeling we're at the top of the list. But you may surprise me. And that's why I say we have the highest taxes in North City. Because if we don't compare to our peer cities, Why do we have them? Is it just so everybody else gets a higher salary? If you're going to compare to them, you get to be judged by them. Let's see. I think that's all I really found. What's the letting date for Merritt Road? When's the $8 million going to come over? Is it already budgeted? No. Let's get some landscaping around here.

Next card I have is Linda Crane.

Good evening.

Thank you.

I know I'm short. So quick questions for y'all. I'm not. just a little confused on a couple of points. On slide 22 of the deck that was in the proposed budget, there were the new cities in the peer group, and I'm curious because Dallas County and Collin County are the two cities that Sachse split into, and so when I was looking at it real quickly, two of the cities came from, and the peer group came from Dallas County, and then six of the cities came from Call came from Rockwell County, which is the wealthiest county within the state of Texas for this last year. So I'm curious really how I live in the Dallas County side. So I'm trying to figure out what the proportion, what the ranking and what the if someone could walk me through this election procedure just to help me understand kind of between those two. The second part is, did we factor in the percentage of the residents who have their taxes frozen on the property taxes, and what was the subsequent impact to that? And then third, how Governor Abbott has proposed a spending cap for local entities to include the lesser of the population and plus inflation, or 3.5%, whichever is lower. How did that factor into the budget? So I don't have any answers and I'm just trying to make sure I'm better educated into how the process occurred. But thank you very much.

Final card I have is Jane Reed.

Just a second. I'm sorry. Okay. So I may be past due on this, but I did not know if this is still time that we can turn in requests for possible budget items, or is the budget already approved? and the reason why I ask is I, um, last year I was told because I was, um, very, um, vocal well with emails and, um, on three different items. And I copied several, um, of the folks in city sexy. So they counted all those is as, um, separate emails, but I was told back on September 17th that affected immediately questions sent to city staff and city associated budget email request account will not be addressed. So I was told any questions I had for the budget, they would not be addressed and I would have to go through future requests for information through the Texas Public Information Act. Well, how can I use the Texas Public Information Act when something hasn't even happened? So I do have a few items that, like I said, that I turned in last year and they were not addressed nor they were acknowledged. And I'm gonna just, there's a very simple one on Ben Davis Railroad side. when they took away the train sound, they put a divider between, um, and that street. So, well, that was a few several years ago and it's painted yellow. I mean, it would take less than a hundred dollars to paint, repaint this medium piece. No word on that. And also it needs, um, little reflectors, but I guess that does not, it's not a hot topic in this town, but people, as you see turning, they almost hit it. I mean, I live on Cornwall. I turn on that street, I mean, all the time, and it's not good. And also, I back up with the cleanup between Ben Davis and Murphy Lane. I mean, I've lived on Cornwall since 1999. I guarantee you there are still dead branches laying along that area, and I know the railroad was supposed to do part of that, but it never gets cleaned. Thanks.

That's all the cards I have. Anyone else like to speak on this item? All right, seeing none, or seeing none, I'll close the public hearing at this time. Time is, Granger? 7.35 p.m. Public hearing is closed at 7.35 p.m. All right, questions, comments from council? Mr. Baldwin? You're just getting ready?

I just have one more slide after this when council is ready.

Okay, thank you. Questions, comments from council? It's like, ready for your slide, Mr. Bell.

Mayor and council, local government code says that at the conclusion of the public hearing, the governing body of the municipality shall take action on the proposed budget. An action item, for example, could be setting a date for the adoption of the budget. So a requested motion shows. Should council like to use that?

Thank you, Ms. Baldwin. Yes, make sure you keep that requested motion up there. Ms. Howarth.

Are we ready to move?

Even if we're not, we can have discussion afterwards.

All right, well, I'll make a motion to set the date for adoption of the budget for the September 8th City Council meeting.

Okay, I have a motion by Ms. Howarth to set the date of adoption for the budget for the September 8th City Council meeting. Do I have a second? Mr. Prestenburg?

Second.

Second by Mr. Prestenburg. Any further discussion? Hearing none, please, oh, I'm sorry, yeah, I saw you just at the last second. Mr. Presser.

Yeah, real quick, I mean, there was a lot of questions that were brought up in the hearing. Can I address one or two? Absolutely. Okay, so the competitor cities, we had a discussion about that, I don't know how long ago, maybe a year ago, where we all were presented 20 different cities. We had the old list and what we all kind of gave our spill into why we thought one was better than another. Is this city growing?

Is this one not growing?

I think we had Richardson, I think, was the former one. I don't know if it's . So there's ones that weren't growing as fast, some that were growing at higher speed, things along those lines. So we tried to take it all into consideration. Yes, I know Rockwell. as someone we strive to be sometimes too. They do things well in certain spots that we wanna mirror. But that's where we came with that list. I guess we can give you the date and go back and watch the city council meeting. But it's out there on the public record for you to view. It wasn't that fun of a discussion, but it was one that for 20 minutes it'll get you some good feedback on.

Well, I would also say, too, that as part of the legislature process, there's a lot of proposals that are at least talked about initially. THAT AREN'T SET IN LAW. SO IT'S KIND OF A NEBULOUS THING TO CONSIDER BECAUSE GOVERNOR ABBOTT AS A LOT OF OUR STATE POLITICIANS DO PROPOSE A LOT OF THINGS. SOME BECOME BILLS AND LAWS AND SOME DON'T. SO IT'S HARD TO MY TAKE ON IT IS IT'S HARD TO FACTOR THAT IN WHEN IT'S NOT LAW. SO BUT I THINK THE BROADER THING MS. CRANK TALKED ABOUT IN THE SENSE WHICH IS SOMETHING WE PROBABLY SHOULD CONSIDER, THINK ABOUT, ABSOLUTELY. AS WE HAVE SAW, HISTORY HAS ALREADY SHOWN US THAT OVER THE YEARS, THE STATE HAS SLOWLY SQUEEZED DOWN ON CITIES. I DON'T SEE THAT TREND DISCONTINUING ANYTIME SOON. SO I WOULD SAY FROM A BROADER STANDPOINT, THAT'S TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION. BUT AS FAR AS NUMBERS

yeah that's hard because it ultimately depends on what's ultimately passed or not passed by the legislature yeah and also just our staff here in the city is phenomenal and so if you have questions please feel free to you know send a question

Oh, hold on. I got to turn you on. There you go.

There we go. But our city staff is phenomenal, and so I think if you have questions, please don't hesitate to request it. Have a sit-down session with a council member. We can walk you through with some stuff, but they keep us abreast with everything that's coming up down the road, right? And the TML folks that were here earlier, they do a great job of that, too, and it's it's opened my mind because there's we cannot be experts in everything but we have experts and they all sit over there and so about different issues and so they help ease our mind when it comes to you know diving in the details and whatnot so please you know keep the questions coming but just know that we we act as far ahead as possible as the mayor was saying but we don't want to jump the gun on when a decision hasn't been made by the state district

And to piggyback on that, as far as tax rates go, our comparators today, as Mr. Hobo brought up, last year we were 11th highest in Dallas County, 12th highest if you count Collin County. Obviously, everybody hasn't set their tax rates yet, but I would anticipate we'd be somewhere close to that, nowhere near the top. Okay, anybody else on council? We have a motion and a second. Okay, hearing no other discussion, please cast your ballot.

Motion carries unanimously.

Next item on the agenda is item two, consider making appointments to the Bond 2027 committee. Ms. Nash. There you go.

Can you control it from there? That'd be amazing.

Oh, yes. I'm sorry.

My apologies.

There we go.

All right. Mayor and Council, I'll just go through this presentation rather briefly, just kind of give you a little bit of background on what we're talking about. And then, Mayor, I'll leave it up to you all to have the discussion. So there is a timeline in here for a bond 2027 program. Kind of talk a little bit about bond committee appointments and then some next steps. So in your strategic planning retreat back in February, We talked about some different options relative to pursuance of a general obligation bond in 2027. And at that time, the council gave the staff, myself, direction to at least begin exploration of this process. And so we have worked closely with our financial advisor to plan for potential debt issuance in our financial forecast. And as you recall, as part of that discussion, we were looking at it from a way to not increase the tax rate, but to be able to do it within our existing budget and tax rate that we are in currently. So we briefed the council on a potential large CIP back on August 3rd of some projects relative to infrastructure projects, but there are still more things that would need to be considered, facilities and other types of projects that we would have to look at. So this would be a potential timeline. You could possibly appoint a bond committee tonight. We made this an action item, but obviously you don't have to do that. You have plenty of time to consider it if you want to. But we thought that the first bond committee meeting would probably need to be in September, where we could give an orientation and an overview of all of our capital needs to whoever is on this committee. then simultaneously get some community feedback on priorities and what the community would like to see relative to a bond. Then in October, we'd have the second bond committee meeting where we begin to refine the project list and talk about financial scenarios relative to that. And then in October, we would refine those options and again solicit continued community input. In November, have a third bond committee meeting finalizing those recommendations. And then in November, gather that last public input. And then you'll see in December, January, there would be council presentations to be able to finalize those recommendations. And then at your February 1st city council meeting, we would have a formal recommendation to the city council regarding the calling of a bond election via resolution. So state law says for us to be able to call that election for May 1st, the last day to call a bond election for May would be February 12th, 2027. The second meeting in February would be past that date. So unless you called a special meeting, your last regular meeting would be February 1st, 2027. Between February and April, the Bond Committee would put out their efforts to let the public know what the projects are and get more information, and then would be considered on a general election on May 1st of 2027. So staff recommends that in order to continue to pursue this, you would need to appoint members to a bond 2027 committee. Those members would then be contacted to arrange for their first meeting and set the schedule for the rest of the process. And then, of course, as we did with bond 2021, we would brief the council periodically regarding progress. in preparation for you all to potentially call an election in February for May of 2027. And with that, I will leave it up to you all for discussion and direction for the staff.

Thank you, Ms. Nash. Just one point of clarification. Assuming the council does go through with this process, it is ultimately up to the council come February to decide whether to call a bond election or not. Sorry.

Yes, sir. That's correct. You could get through the end of the process and decide not to move forward.

So I just want to make sure everybody's clear that if we decide to go through this process, it doesn't necessarily mean that we would have a bond, but we'd have to figure that out. Yes, sir.

That if you wanted to do it in May, this would be the schedule that you'd need to be on.

Okay. Thank you, Ms. Nash. yeah and as far as my two cents on the committee's composition i think this is a good opportunity for our board and commission members to participate they have very limited roles very defined roles and this might be something that they want to look into to be a little bit more interesting change up the scenery for them a little bit that's that's my two cents on that uh questions or comments mr pressenberg

Hello? There we go. Hold on. This one?

There we go.

Even though it's red, it's on. It's the opposite day. Yeah, I think this is a great idea, like you had just mentioned, possibly going through the group of folks that we have in our different committees. However, you know, just from a selfish standpoint, I would like a few more days before I appoint, you know, or make a nomination.

Might want to ask him.

Yeah. Well, not just that, but have more conversations because this is important, you know, about what the next decade might look like for Sachse. I wasn't here for the – I wasn't on the council for the previous one. I was in Sachse, but I'd like to be a part of – or have a good nominee and – that's worthy of doing this and that knows full where what they're getting into too. But I think September 8th would be a good time to do that if other people agree.

Ms. Howarth.

I kind of agree to nominate folks that are currently serving on committees and commissions to get some folks that already have some familiarity with what our needs are and what we're trying to accomplish. And then if I remember correctly from the last process, when we appoint someone and once they meet, we give them a list of all the capital improvement projects and then they pick and choose and we give them a dollar amount or they come up with that. Remind me of the process.

So what happened in 2021 is the staff gave presentations on all the projects that had been talked about for a number of years that were in need and so mostly at that time it was roads and the animal shelter and so there were other projects on the list Councilwoman Buehler was on that bond committee there was a long list and then that is what that that committee did is they whittled that list down and then they understood from the direction at that time the direction was we wanted the council wanted to stay within the budget relative to what the current tax rate was so for the debt service portion of the tax rate they didn't want to go higher than that and so the committee looked at that list based on what that budget was and then came and presented that to the city council so they took that took the number that we were potentially okay with and then picked projects to fill that gap and prioritize basically what needed to be done yes

Okay. And if I remember correctly, every, all the projects that we're contemplating for this bond are roads and streets, alleys, infrastructure.

So this would also include facilities. So we would include those, because we have done preliminary facilities assessment to kind of grade our buildings, just like we grade our roads. And so we do have some facility concerns that we'll list. So it'll be more types of projects this time for discussion and consideration.

OK, thanks.

I'm sure the bond committee will help us out with that to determine what's good and what's not. Mr. Millsap.

Okay. I feel like we need to move. If we're going to do a bond project, we need to move as soon as we can. The longer we have, the more opportunity for input of citizens of the Sachse. They're going to be the ones paying for it, not us, even though, yes, I'm going to be paying taxes, too. But I would like to go ahead and move as fast as we can. I'm ready to appoint who I'm going to Actually, I've already asked if they would be willing to. I've done my homework up front, like I should have. And I'm not necessarily opposed to people who are already on committees doing it, but those are people who have already been entrenched in the mentality of the thinking process of the operations of the city. I'd like to have some new people. take an opportunity to put new people on it that pay taxes and have lived here a while and go from there. We need to move as soon as we can and I am not opposed to adding new projects that haven't already been discussed as demographics change and the future changes so we're up for national election next two years that's going to be a major change in the political dynamics of even the Sachse especially Sachse I think and And so I'm willing to I'm ready to do move today and go from there if we need to put it off for a month because we haven't done our homework. That's fine. But we knew about it. So maybe we need to if we're ready, I think we should be able to allow to present our name first and those who aren't ready as soon as they get it done. But let's have a deadline as soon as we can.

Mr LePage.

JUST KIND OF NEW TO IT, HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE WE LOOKING FOR TO BE IN THE COMMITTEE TOTAL?

It varies, but I guess the way we're looking at it right now would be one appointment for each council member, so seven.

Okay, so seven, and then how do we ensure that they're from different parts of Sachse, like not all from the Collin County side or the Garland side or, I'm sorry, the Dallas County side, just to make sure that they're I guess even so the one that you're appointing and going just to make sure they're all safeguarded and Well, that really depends on what each council member who they point.

Yeah, it could work out that way. It could not. Yeah I agree with what you're saying. Yeah, so don't want to be too heavy somewhere. Mr. Prestonburg. Oh I got you on the number. Hold on. I don't think I'd be on I'm using your normal like this Miss Granger may have to. Oh, you know, we're good.

All right. Yeah. I'm as a council member, Millsap said he's done his homework. I've done some of it, kind of like in high school. But I do, the thing is, if we do push this to the September 8th timeframe, it's not delaying anything. We're still gonna have a meeting, second meeting in September where we'll have further discussion and whatnot. But our mayor pro tem's not here as well. I just feel like it gives us a chance to do some more due diligence there. But I'm open for feedback. If we wanna do three people nominate their three and then the other, forego nominate next time, that's fine too. I just wanted to put it out there.

Ms. Buehler. I also like the idea. A reboot? Yeah, we'll pause for a second. It's a very secure door. I will turn her mic on, there we go. Yeah, if you think that'll work.

Test, test, test, test.

Watch for feedback.

Thank you, Mayor. I like the idea from nominating from our committees, too. These are people that are already serving our community. They are showing that they have an interest. So I think that's a great opportunity for them to get to experience a wider range of projects. I did serve on the committee, as Ms. Nash said, before I was a council member. And it was a great opportunity just to see all the projects across our city. I would also like to have some additional conversations with Mayor Pro Tem Frank's being out. I would like to wait for him and have let him have a nomination as well, because this is an important task and I don't think we should do that without him. So I'd like to push this one meeting. Let us all have some conversations with some committee members and then go from there.

Thank you, Mr. Buehler. OK, Mr. Granger, if someone wants to talk, would it show up? Tim, do a test real quick. Oh, yeah, okay. Did you wanna say something? Okay, I didn't know if it's a test, okay. Mr. Millsap.

We're talking about each one of the city council nominating one person. Have we really set any guidelines as how many people are going to be on the committee? And who sets those guidelines and when will they be set? So we'll have a no. And who gets to pick the other members that aren't represented by a selection from the city council?

Well, the council decides all of that. So the council could decide to appoint one per council member, two per council member, five per council member. That's really up to us. then when is that discussion going to be had so we'll know how many people to well to look at two checks well we could talk about that part we might have to put it off till october until we get those final decisions done well i can just put what i think on the record i i just think we should each appoint one that's my take but i guess we'll see what council thinks miss howard

That's just what I was gonna say on the last time I think we all appointed two and that committee was a little Unwieldy and meetings ran a little long. I think it was a little bit too big and one per council members probably I Didn't consider Any other people on that? Because I thought seven plus, you know, there's a couple of staff people that are assisting the committee. They aren't really voting members, but they're just there. That that seems a little more reasonable from, like, the discussions that we have are seven people plus some staff, that those meetings might be a little more productive and a little less time, a little less unwieldy if we stick to one rather than two.

Other comments from council on numbers or just discussion in general? Well, hold on. We've got Ms. Buehler.

Am I on?

You might as well just keep that. I see you don't like this side.

I support doing one or two members. I agree. A much larger group, it would be harder to keep on track and focus. I think a smaller committee that can do the work and see the broad picture would be better. So I would support either one or two.

And did you have another comment?

Is making the decision tonight where we pick one per council member or two per council member, is that open for action tonight?

Well, it's certainly open for discussion and action. It depends on what motions are made. Any council member can make any motion they want. Mr. Pressenberg. Are we ready for a motion? You can make motions any time you want. However, before you do that, it is an action item. So anyone in the audience like to address this item? Hearing none. Okay. Continue, Mr. President.

I'd like to make a motion on item F3 that we... F2.

Oh, yeah.

That was a lot longer. My bad. I'd like to make a motion for item F2 to push the date for nomination to September the 8th of 2026 and that all council members present one candidate for voting purposes.

I have a motion by Mr. Prestenburg to postpone action on this item to September 8th with the understanding, which could change, that we limit it to one per council member. Do I have a second? Ms. Howarth.

I was going to second.

Well, we've got to have a second. We can discuss if you have a second.

Yeah, I'll second it.

OK, now you can talk about it.

Oh, I was going to add a caveat onto that, that it'd be one per person and choose someone from an existing Board of Commission. It doesn't have to be the Board of Commission you liaison. It could be anybody that is on a Board of Commission. That wasn't the motion on the floor.

No, it's Mr. Pressenberg amenable to that. OK. So for the record, why don't you restate your motion? Hold on.

There we go. Make a motion to approve, or to make a, sorry.

To make it clean. If you want to, you can withdraw your previous motion.

I'd like to withdraw my previous motion. Okay. All right. Thank you. I'd like to make a motion to approve item F2 with the following caveats, that its vote will take place on September 8th, 2026, that every council member will present one nominee for voting purposes, and that that list of potential nominees will come from the board and commissions list.

I have a motion to have a second. Ms. Howarth?

Second.

I'm second by Ms. Howarth. Any further discussion? Hearing none, please cast your ballot. Oh, my bad.

Motion carries unanimously.

So we will hear this item again on September the 8th with those caveats. Next item on the agenda is item three, conduct a public hearing and consider the adoption of an ordinance related to the Sachse Public Improvement District number one, ratifying and conforming prior actions of the city council in connection with the district, approving an operations and maintenance service and assessment plan update for maintenance of authorized improvements within the district, which lies within the corporate limits of the city, levying assessments against the assessed property to pay for maintenance of authorized improvements Improvements within the district providing for the collection of assessments creating a charge and a lien against the assessed property providing for penalties and delinquent assessments creating a district project fund making legislative findings provided for severability and providing for an effective date mismatch.

Mayor and council, tonight you will have this public hearing as we do every year for the public improvement district number one, specifically related to the operations and maintenance service and assessment plan update. This is different from the capital PID, which you all voted on previously a few months ago. So this just relates to the O&M PID. Tonight you will see here in the audience, and you can come up to the podium, um we have a new face from p3 it is not mary petty he does not look like mary this is jordan sawyer and he is our representative from p3 and he can give you just a quick introduction and then mayor we can go ahead into the public hearing

Thank you, Miss Nash. Yeah. Thank you so much. Yeah. Jordan Sawyer. I'm the regional director for North Texas with P3 Works. As you said, I am not Mary, but I've worked with Mary for a very long time.

Tell her we say hello.

Yeah. And happy to work with you all tonight. As mentioned, the item before you is a public hearing related to the service and assessment plan for the station operation and maintenance bid. Back on August 3rd, a resolution was called that called this public hearing. Following that resolution, a notice was sent out to the homeowners, and tonight is the statutorily required public hearing in order to approve that service and assessment plan and levy those assessments. So I'm here to answer any questions. There will be a public hearing, but I just wanted to get that brief update.

Thank you, Mr. Stoyer. Before we have the public hearing, are there any questions or comments from counsel? All right, hearing none, I do, this is a public hearing, I declare the public hearing, oh, I'm sorry, the time is stranger?

8.03.

Your name, like, pops up right there and it follows me. I declare a public hearing open at, I already forgot what you said, 8.13? 8.03 p.m. 8.03 p.m., declare the public hearing open. Okay, I do have a couple cards. The first card I have is a Jobin, and I'm going to butcher your name, so I'm not even going to try. Yes. When you get up here, if you'll pronounce your name. Come on up. Yeah.

Jobin Matthew Burgess. Yeah. Sorry, my name is Jobin Matthew Burgess. Yeah. RESPECTED MAYOR, COUNCIL MEMBER, CITY MANAGER, GOOD EVENING. MY FAMILY PAYS THIS DISTRICT $2,100 A YEAR. WE STILL OWE $30,000 ON THIS ASSESSMENT. I FILED A RETURN OBJECTION WITH THE CITY SECRETARY ON FRIDAY. I HOPE YOU ALL GOT TIME TO READ IT. I WANT TO RAISE TWO THINGS TONIGHT. Both came from P3 Works, the district's administrator, in writing last week. The first point, the notice you mailed said the assessment is $0.05 per $100 of its value. It says in the notice twice. That's not what we are charged. P3 Works told me that the real rate is $0.05 plus a separate collection cost. Together, that is 12% more than what the notice says, and it has risen in the past three years. I asked P3 Works, why does the notice not say that? The written answer in that mail notice, and I'm quoting, sets for the estimate. The real figure is in the plan you are going to adopt tonight. We have mailed one number and charged another. And the number that counts is in the document that you will approve tonight. And it is at the same meeting we are supposed to object to it. My second point is my bill, which was due in January 2025, was calculated on a property value of $586,090. DallasCat, that year, had certified my property at $522,500 for that year. That's $63,590 too high. My mortgage company had paid it on February 7, 2025. I asked P3 Works about it on Friday, and they said they have to research the prior years. I still don't have an answer from them. I'm not accusing anyone of anything. P3 Works, in fact, has been quick and helpful with me this year. But if the administrator cannot see what my value was, the bill was based on, I do not believe that you should adopt this plan tonight. One last final thing, and thank you so much for the time. Everyone else in Sachse pays tax at the rate of $2.57 per 100. Your own plan document sets our rate at $3.15 per 100. That's 22% higher than everyone else. That's not an accident that was by design. I request the council respectfully to get those answers before you vote. Thank you, everyone, for your time. Thank you.

For the record mr. Varghese did submit some documentation to council which will be entered into the records And we do have mrs. Saidi he submitted a request make sure he wasn't in the audience Okay. Again. He did also submit a protest in regard to the PID and again council has a Copy of that and it'll be entered into the record Anyone else like to speak during this public hearing on this side? I Yes, sir. Come on down. If you would, state your name and city of residence.

Chris Alvarez. I live in the station, 3213 Switch. I request you guys not to make any changes to this. I do live in the station. And I know a lot of residents have said stuff on our Facebook page about making any changes or increasements. Obviously, I know this is, from my understanding, the money is coming from us to fix areas of a station where we live. And I know we also take property taxes as well too. And everybody else gets to enjoy our area. So I would prefer you guys not make any increases and use property tax money from others to make those small little increases. Cause I don't see anybody else paying these taxes except for this area. So I have noticed others, individuals moving out of the area for different reasons. I think once people realize what they're paying as opposed to other areas being a new build, they, you know, we're all kind of like, don't like that. We don't like the extra money that we're having to pay on property taxes. And then we have to pay this PID to, you know, fix the area. And that's kind of where the money's going to. So I would like you guys not to increase it. What that's going to do in my opinion is going to, it's going to force some of your residents that are currently there out, you know, The last thing you want to do is have more new people moving in, moving out of these areas because I think it's going to make the residents in that area more upset once they understand what's really going on. And like the previous gentleman said, where this money's going and the difference between, I guess, what we're seeing, you know, we're getting all these mailers. We don't see the specifics. We don't know what's really going on. And I think there's a lot of miscommunication and more details need to come out about where this money's going and how it's applied. And it's more specifics to us residents. So we know, especially the ones that are purchasing and getting into it. When I bought the property, I noticed that I didn't get much information. I didn't know what was going on. And, Now that I kind of get an understanding of it, I'm a little concerned with it. So definitely like to have more information on it before you guys vote and maybe talk a little bit more about it, where the money goes to and how it's being spent as opposed to property tax money. Thank you.

Anyone else like to address the council on this side? Come on down, Ms. Reid. If you'll state your name and city of residence.

Jane Reed, Sachse, Douglas. I apologize, and I hate to say, but I have no idea what y'all are talking about right now. Is this just for a certain area in Sachse? I mean, just reading this item up here, you can't tell who... refers to, or maybe I I'm just missing something. Um, but was this talked about previously? And, um, and I also would like to know exactly, you know, which area we're talking about. Um, and you're talking about taxes and, um, you know, our area I live in, we do not have any type of these funds, but my land tax, our whole entire neighborhood land value went up from 95,000 to 150,000 for no reason whatsoever. So, I mean, if we're talking about taxes, you know, I've got an issue with my taxes in Sachse estates. So, but I guess these are two different things. So I just need a little explanation. Thank you.

Anyone else like to address this item? All right, seeing none, I'll declare the public hearing closed. The time is, Granger? 8.12 p.m. 8.12 p.m., the public hearing is closed. Yeah. Mr. Sawyer? Yeah. If you could address some of those items.

Yeah. Yep. Absolutely, Mayor. Happy to talk through some of those. So specifically, this PID was created back in 2019. So the assessments were first levied in 2020. So it is specific to a limited area that is defined as the station public improvement district. The assessments can only be levied in that area. and can only be used within that area. So that is correct, that is a limited assessment piece and that's how these are structured. These assessments would be different from a property tax. They are tied and are a limited amount that's tied specifically to the budget that goes specifically for utilities, mowing and landscaping and streets and roadside maintenance in that area. as well as the administrative expenses that were brought up. We did receive the email and did, as Mr. Jobin mentioned, we did respond to those. The item before tonight is the 2027 levy, so the one that will be due in January of 2027. And so the 2025 piece, we will continue to work with him on that. As we worked through that original question, the estimated values that were used here are based off the preliminary values we get from the CAD. As those are finalized, those actually become the total amounts that get put into the billing roll. So we worked through that with Mr. Jobe and certainly happy to answer any other questions. We work specifically for the city, so we're always available to answer any questions there. Happy to answer any other questions. I was kind of taking a list as we were going. If there's any other ones I didn't hit there.

Yeah, and just one clarification point, the PID that was approved or created, I should say, in 2019, this is part of our annual assessment and levy. And so because we have this PID and the council at that time approved the PID, then this is part of our process to adopt this for another year.

That's correct. It's statutorily required. Chapter 272 sets forth that we have to come back every year to take these next steps.

Gotcha. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Sawyer. Absolutely. Ms. Howarth.

Okay, so we are talking about tonight the maintenance and operations part of the PID, not the INS bond repayment part, right? Correct.

That's correct.

Okay, so make sure that that's clear. Good old-fashioned PID. Is there a place that the residents of the PID can look to see how the maintenance and operations money is being spent? Is that available publicly?

So there is a specific place to see how much is due from each resident. Those dollars then come in and would be put into this district project fund. How those are spent out would be subject to, I believe, the normal city expenditure request or information there. They don't come through us.

They don't come through you. Okay. So is there a place that they can find that? Or is that in the budget on a page? No.

We do have that information and we can provide it typically that's provided that information is provided through the Property Owners Association through the station.

So because that seems from all the stuff that I've been running through that folks have been asking about that was one that kept coming up is how do they know the outgoing If that's for maintenance and operation, was it getting spent on and how can they find that? And then the other part.

And the first, and I just want to make a clarification. Friday was the first time that we received anything from residents asking about that. So we've been talking on Friday and today about how we can make sure that we can get that information.

And then there seemed to be some question about what, who maintains what within that district? Does the. M&O for the PID pay for that or does the HOA pay for that? Can we get some clarification or something put together for the residents so they can see who, I don't know, say a piece of playground equipment is broken, who do they call? Who's responsible? And that's on a website or in an email or a letter or something that we can refer people to because I'm assuming this is going to come up.

Yes, and we can work with the Property Owners Association on that to make sure that that's communicated.

All right. Thank you.

Other questions and comments from Council? If there are any Mr Millsap.

OK. Being consistent with. My colleagues comments. I think there's a lots of questions that have been addressed that haven't been adequately answered. And one thing you mentioned that it's statutory that we have this. What statue are you referring to? State law or what?

Yes, Sir. Chapter 372 of the Texas local government code.

Is a statutory requirement that we have a PID in reality?

It is required statutorily that if you have a PID and levy an assessment, you meet at least once annually to approve the annual installments for that next year.

Okay, that's if we have one. But I ask you, is it required that we have one?

The action to create one has already happened. So there's, other than a dissolving of that piece, there's not an action that you would take. Well, actually, I would say.

But is it not voted on each year to renew it?

No, sir. Just the annual installment piece.

What does it take to cancel it?

To rescind a PID? Is that your question, sir?

Yeah.

That's not on the agenda.

Well, it's not on the agenda, but I'm asking point of information.

I'm not going to vote on it.

You go ahead, Mr. Starr.

Yeah, absolutely. So Chapter 372 does set forth the steps to dissolve a PID. That would require a petition of over 50% of the landowners to be submitted. Once that petition and the PID itself was created by petition of the original landowners. So the same process to dissolve is you're pulling a petition from over half of the landowners to take that. Once that petition's submitted, it would come to City Council for consideration. The City Council is a de facto board of the PID, so it would hold the final decision to make that action.

OK, one of the comments that we being asked is the stations own marketing materials, advertise Heritage Park, splash pad, playground, amphitheater and trails are community features for this development. Heritage Park is a city of Saxes existing 34 acre public park. So basically what's being referred to, inferred, is that they're charged HOA fees, and that implies in their marketing plan that that's a benefit of theirs, and the PID does it also, benefit of theirs, but in reality these people are having to pay these funds, but anybody in SACSI can use this part. So basically they're saying that they're being charged an exorbitant fee, for no more services. And then also here it says Chapter 372 permits assessment only for improvements conferring a special benefit for the access to property. If that be true, and there are accesses for this supposedly benefit, but all the public residents in Sachse can use it, I think we're missing some part of legality here. And that needs to be addressed. So I think we need to postpone this action tonight until we get answers that we can publicly address in a meaningful way. So. Yeah.

exactly yes that's that's correct yep no and that's exactly right uh so chapter 372 again the pit is a creation of the city it is a function of the city it's not a separate third party entity that owns and operates its own equipment so in order to use the special assessments those improvements that are being built for the use of that area must be owned and operated by the city and as such those can't be you know fenced off completely locked out by being in that specific area they do provide additional benefit but certainly that is part of the requirements is under 372 they would have to be open to the general public in order to be funded through that

Well, I guess this statement then where it says permits assessments only for improvements conferred to a special benefit for the assessed property is not true. Because it provides an additional benefit.

Yes, sir.

They're obviously being assessed a fee for benefits that are only available for this property and that's not true then?

MR. Providing the special benefit is a determination that's made based on the use of that area. So that is a determination that was made back originally that these would specifically provide benefits to this area. A special benefit does not mean exclusive benefits and I don't want to go into the legal side of it too much. But that special benefit is an enhanced level of benefit, not an exclusive level.

So keyword there is not exclusive. Yes, sir. Mr. Presserberg.

Yes. I picked the right one, I think. I don't know. Yeah. First off, I think communication is just key here, right? Everything I've read through here and some of the issues or comments from our citizens, you know, just where's our money spent, things along those lines. From an exclusivity standpoint, I mean, I live across from HOA that I don't pay, but the park is right there and my kids go play. So it's just, it's part of the community good, right? None of this is a surprise to any of the residents there, right? When they bought the house, it was, whether it was clear or not to them, It was presented.

Yeah, the property code now requires that any home purchase has specific notice as part of that home purchase process, both detailing that you are in a PID, as well as every year when this annual installment is approved, it becomes part of the public record. It's filed with the county. It's actually also available on our websites that at any time someone could go on and see exactly what is owed.

Okay. I would highly encourage, I'm not saying it's on you or on us, but just... the over-communicating, you know, as Councilwoman Howarth was saying, people just want to know where the money's going, right? And we had a gentleman that came up here, said something about a sidewalk that was underwater. You know, does that fall under the PID? Does that fall under our own that we need to worry about? So it would help clarify some of those things. But I appreciate the, you know, the information you gave us. Absolutely. Yeah. Is this something that someone could prepay if they wanted to pay the whole...

So for the operation and maintenance assessment, it is based on a budget that's calculated every year. So you can always pay that amount that's due. On the capital PID that was approved at the last city council meeting, that is a one-time levy that's going to road with the entire land owned. So the earlier comment about a $30,000 assessment, and I don't know that that's the exact amount here, but that is on the capital side. That amount could be prepaid. Here you can pay off your annual installment Every year that the assessments levy, but it is based on a rolling budget. That's calculated every year. Okay. Thank you. Yes, sir

And finally, just to piggyback on Mr. Millsap's question, if you go back to 2019, the initial request was from the station to create the PID. At the time, the council could or could not have done that. Obviously, in 2019, the council did. So the request came from the station, not from us, number one. That's right. Number two is, as you stated tonight, if for some reason the PID wanted to go toward the realm of dissolvement, if you will, we couldn't do it. That would have to start with at least 50% of the residents.

That's correct. That's correct, Mayor. And it would have to start with a petition of at least 50% of the property owners that would come back to the city. If it were to be dissolved, then that would become any operation or maintenance costs out here would be part of the general fund that would be paid by the taxes collected from everybody across the area.

Yeah, from everyone in the city. Yes, sir. And from a budget perspective and probably from a tax rate perspective, we would have to absorb that.

Absolutely. Yeah, that's what this is intended to do is to tie the benefit to the payer for those assessments. Yeah.

Okay. Thank you, Ms. Sawyer. Absolutely. Ms. Howards.

And if the PID moved forward with all those bonds that were passed to build the infrastructure and the streets and the stuff that the folks live on, would it also have to be paid back?

No. No, that would be a separate. That's technically under a separate PID, the capital PID. Yes, ma'am.

Oh, my goodness.

I touched it. That's the capital pit. This is the operations and maintenance pit. So the capital pit that has all the debt associated with it, that can't be untangled.

And that's where most that $30,000 number in theory is tied to. And that can't go anywhere.

Right.

The only thing we could maybe do something about is this maintenance and operations. Right.

If the residents, to his point, 50% more vote to do that, then yes.

But that's this much.

That's the five cents, right?

Yeah, this much of that much.

Yeah, that's the approximately five cents.

So most of the cost is the bonds for the infrastructure in the district.

Yes, ma'am. Which has already been in place, and as you said, we're paid through bonds that are secure by us.

And sitting there on the ground in concrete and sewer pipe. Yes, ma'am. Okay.

Or as we like to say, we're married to that. Okay. Any other questions for Mr. Sawyer or staff? Okay, thank you, Mr. Stoyer. Absolutely. This is an action item, so we do need, if there's some more discussion, we do need a motion. Ms. Howard?

I'll make a motion to approve item F3 as presented.

I have a motion by Ms. Howard to approve item F3 as presented. Do I have a second? Mr. Prestenburg?

Second.

I think about which one to talk into. Second by Mr. Prestenburg. Any further discussion? Hearing none, please cast your ballot. Motion carries. Mr. Millsap voting no. Next item on the agenda is adjournment. The time is greater. 8.26 p.m. We are adjourned at 8.26 p.m.