City Council - Regular Meeting

We do have a quorum of council members present. So the meeting is now called to order. First order of business is our chaplain prayer and pledges. Um I see no chap. Chief, are you coming forward to offer prayer for us? It's okay with you. It's fine with me. Yes.

Will you lead us in pledges, too, please, sir? All right. Thank you. Will you bow with me real quick? Uh, Father God, I just thank you for this opportunity for us to be here today to work on uh local government business. I just ask that you give guidance to our leaders and and as we walk through the the challenges of of government and just uh as we celebrate uh some of the fire department, appreciate all that they do. Just ask that you be with all the first responders as they're out there working and and just ask for blessings be upon St. Angelo and guide us throughout our path. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

Amen. We'll start with the American flag. 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, Chief. We have good We have one recognition today. Uh it is the recognition of the St. Angelo Fire Department receiving the Texas Fire Chief's Association best practices designation. I'm going to turn it over to Chief Brody and his guest. Morning, Mayor Pro Tim Council. I appreciate your time uh allowing us to uh talk about this uh awesome event this morning. My name is Scott Collard. Uh I am a colleague of Pete Broies and I also serve on the Texas Fire Chiefs Association board. So we just want to recognize this momentous. All right. So a little background about uh the best practices program. So, it was developed by the Texas Fire Chiefs Association uh to encourage fire departments across the state uh to seek continual improvement uh in the services to their local communities. Uh the comprehensive program consists of 12 chapters uh containing 114 subcategories. Uh they define the best practices that are typical service areas provided by a fire department. This program is applicable to all career, combination, and volunteer department organizations alike. Uh the Texas Fire Chiefs uh encourages fire departments to pursue this third party uh designation by completing the performance requirements outlined in the program. Uh this will prove to be a challenging but worthwhile uh endeavor for organizations pursuing the designation. The Texas fire chiefs work closely with progressive fire officers throughout the state of Texas and create a program that

defines a pathway uh to organizational excellence. Uh this ultimately enhances firefighter safety, uh long-term planning, standard operating guidelines, deployment analysis, risk management, and other department and other administrative functions. Uh while most communities believe that their fire department is excellent, uh with this program, elected officials, city managers, fire chiefs, and citizens can now verify this belief, uh through this best practices designation, it is preferred that an independent third party determines that if an organization functions at a defined level of excellence, the Texas Fire Chief's Best Practices Program provides a pathway for fire department to push its level of service to a status of excellence that is then validated ated by independent experts. The designation demonstrates to all customers of these organizations that their fire department is among the very best in the Texas Fire Service. So, it's obvious that uh Chief Brody has a San Angelo Fire Department uh focused on excellence uh in all facets of their programs and services. Uh the level of commitment and professionalism uh witnessed uh by our evaluators uh throughout the department is a testament to the culture uh created by the professional leadership of the organization. Uh the members of the department have clearly demonstrated ownership of the best practices program. St. Angelo utilizes this program as an internal and external validation tool for staying current and proactive for the betterment of the organization and the community alike. City council and community can be proud that they have leadership within their fire department that strives for excellence. Uh this was evident in all aspects of the site visit. St. Angelo sets the bar high and is an example for others to follow. Uh this the accomplishment obtained within the current administration is commendable achieving and maintaining an ISO1 and

now becoming just 37th best practice recognized fire department in Texas. That's high level of service achievement and performance expectations require great attention to detail, administrative support and coordination. Uh many of the command staff uh seated over here uh they wear multiple hats and they have a lot of assigned duties and I certainly want to commend you for your efforts uh and dedication to service and obtaining this best practice designation. Uh Chief Brody and his team are committed to continuous improvements and achieving excellent through the best practices program. Brody have Texas Fire Chiefs Association. Congratulations, [applause]

Chief. Chief Brody. Yes, sir. You want to ask some of your or all of your folks to come up there and be be with you? Okay. All right. Good. Okay. You've got the script.

Thank you, mayor. Thank you for reminding me. So, uh, wow. It's, uh, it's hard to believe I'm standing up here today. So, when we sat out on this adventure more than two years ago, um, one of my favorite sayings is start with the end in mind. And I pictured this day over two and a half years ago. And to finally be here is an honor. So, without further ado, uh, mayor, council, uh, city manager, and all members of our community, thank you for this opportunity to be standing here. Um, on behalf of the men and women of the St. Angel Fire Department, it's an absolute honor to accept this award from the Texas Fire Chiefs Association. Um, unfortunately, I cannot accept it because I didn't do this. Members of my team did this. My staff did this. And I would like to welcome them up here to accept this award with me. So, Chief Fischer, Chief Sanders, Chief Garza, Chief Patterson, Chief Wright, Fire Marshall, Billy Clemens, Captain Huffman, Captain Milsap, Captain Hunt, Lieutenant McGomery, Lieutenant Hughes, Lieutenant Brian, Mason Matthews, and Josh Kemp. Please join us. So, as y'all can tell, it it took a lot of people to make this happen. Uh, Chief Collard mentioned that there's 100 or there's 13 different chapters or and 114 different points, different submissions that we have to be perfect on and they're heavily scrutinized, scrutinized, and analyzed by this committee. This isn't a rubber stamp because they're putting Texas Fire Chiefs is putting their name on it. It has to mean something. So um uh this designation represent represents a voluntary independent evaluation of how the fire department operates as an organization. It's examining leadership, financial accountability, training, safety, emergency response, and long-term planning. Um earning this designation confirms that the St. Angel

Fire Department meets nationally recognized standards and is committed to continuous improvement. St. Angel is the only only the 37th department in the state of Texas to achieve this recognition. Uh that accomplish accomplishment belongs to our firefighters, our officers, our civilian staff, and our administrative team who demonstrated professionalism and accountability every single day. Most importantly, this designation benefits our citizens. It affirms responsible stewardship of taxpayer resources, proact proactive risk management, and a consistent, reliable emergency service. It also reinforces to our reinforces our commitment to firefighter safety, which directly impacts the quality of service we deliver to our community. So, I want to thank city council, city leadership for your continued support and trust. This achievement would not be possible without your investment in training, equipment, staffing, and long-term planning. Uh, combined with our ISL1 rating, the highest fire protection classifi classification rating you can achieve, um, this designation confirms that St. Angel Fire Department is not only operationally elite on the emergency scene, but also professionally and physically sound and how we serve our city. This is a confirmation to our citizens. I have been telling council and city staff that you have a big-time big city fire department right here in smalltown St. Angelo. This is an outside um valuation that what I've been telling the community and our leadership is true. So, thank you for your support. Thank you for allowing us the privilege to serve this community. That's all. Thank you. Chief Brody and to all to all your your folks up here with you. We appreciate you guys. Uh we appreciate what you do

for us every day. Um I have heard it said and have witnessed it not with my eyes but through through friends. If uh someone needs their life saved, if you guys get there, get your hands on whomever, you'll save their life. I can be a a witness. uh and give testimony to that. You you did it to two of my friends. Thank you. We will move into our public comment section now. Members of the public may raise issues or concerns not listed on the regular agenda during this time. To participate, please sign in with the city clerk prior to the beginning of the meeting. Speakers will be called in the order they signed in. When speaking, citizens must speak from the podium. address all comments to the dis. Please begin by stating your name uh address or single member district number in which you live and limit the your remarks to three minutes or less. Barbara, do we have public comment?

Yes, sir. RC. [clears throat] RC.

No RC. Number two, Richard Simmons. I'm sorry, Summers. Mr. Summers,

my name is Richard Summers and I'm in District 2, mayor, council members, city staff, and fellow constituents. I'm speaking today as a San Angelo resident and constituent concerned with process and transparency and sanctity of the public record. Yesterday on the public record, the mayor indicated that the question of whether to defer approval of the January 13, 2026 council meeting minutes would be referred to the city attorney for council advisement. I support that referral. At moments like this, the city attorney's role is not merely advisory, but custodial, protecting the integrity of the public record, the credibility of council action, and the public's trust in lawful process. I trust that legal sought-after guidance will reflect those obligations that it will help the council choose the course that best serves transparency, accuracy, and the long-term interests of the city of St. Angelo. Additionally, given that a city initiated attorney general review concerning the scope of records and analyses subject to disclosure under open records law remains ongoing, approving the January 13 minutes at this time risks finalizing a public record before the scope has been clarified and that should be of a special concern to legal as well as to all parties public or private that are involved. If the attorney general determines that additional materials or analysis fall within the scope of required disclosure, approving the minutes now would lock in incomplete or misleading records at precisely the moment when procedural care and transparency are most needed. For that reason, I respectfully request that the council defer approval of the January 13 minutes until the attorney general has responded and any guidance regarding scope and disclosure has been considered and implemented. I raise this request in the spirit of sufficiently safeguarding public confidence, protecting the council's long-term interests, and serving the best interests of the city of St. Angel and

its residents. Finally, a scoped attorney general review of disputed public information request does not suspend the city's legal obligation under the Texas Public Information Act to promptly release records that are not claimed as exempt once the applicable response period has lapsed. It has for both of my requests. Nor do personal absences relieve the city of that obligation to produce FOIA records when competent subordinate staff remain on duty and able to produce those records through rolling release. Accordingly, I respectfully request that all currently non-disputed records responsive to my uh pending data center TPI request be released without further delay. If that release does not occur, it is incumbent upon Heather Stassy, the uh city clerk, to explain immediately and on the record what prevents disclosure. Now, that basis can no longer be statutory. So, continued unwarranted delay or shrinking silence would be inconsistent with the plain language and structure of the Texas Public Information Act. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Thank you, Mr. Summers. Someone else. Barbara, Heather Wy.

Good morning.

Good morning. My name is Heather Wy and I am a resident of District 3. I'm speaking today about St. Angelo's infrastructure capacity, specifically water and electricity, regarding the Skybox data center. Globally, we have entered an era of water bankruptcy, which means that we consume more water than what can be replenished. Worrying about water comes naturally to West Texans. This is not an unrealistic worry. 60% of Texas water use comes from aquafers, a finite resource. One can't help but think of the Hickory Aquafer Project, which will bring in water to the city in addition to the water we receive from OIV. Currently, per the city's own website, if we received no rainfall or runoff, we would have 69 months or 5 years of water left on our own without assistance from these sources. I worry that because of the Hickory project, the city council feels that there is no issue in bringing in Skybox or any other companies in the same industry because right now we do have the water to support them. Skybox plans to build a large data center in St. Angelo and a project of this scale raises very obvious questions about their water usage, power demand, and grid reliability. We are a region that faces extreme heat during the summer, and we have long-term water planning challenges. Texas has seen a boom in data centers, and this will undoubtedly affect citizens, especially when it comes to the cost of electricity. Abalene's data center uses enough power for 1 million four-bedroom homes in the US. And that statement comes from Oracle's founder, Larry Ellison. I know their campus is larger than the proposed project here. The city's website says data centers only build where capacity exists. So, how much electricity will this facility use and how will that cost affect St. Angelo residents? I want to know what detailed analysis has been completed or will be completed regarding the impacts for St. Angelo and the surrounding area and when will these analyses be made available for public review. A necessary part of responsible

planning is including an understanding of infrastructure capability. Asking these questions is not speculative or alarmist, especially for a facility that operates continuously or at a high load. I respectfully ask that the city council clarify what studies exist, what has been consulted, and what remains to be done. And I look forward to knowing when the public will be informed before any further commitments are made to Skybox. Thank you.

Thank you, Miss Wy. Mark Jackson. My name is Mark Jackson and I'm a resident of District 3. Um, mayor, council members, and city staff, my comments today concern transparency and scope related to the Skybox data center. On January 13th, this council made a resoning decision with significant long-term implications for St. Angelo. Yet, members of the public still do not know what analyses, studies, or supporting materials were relied upon by the city staff or council in reaching that decision. I am asking a simple question. What various sources inform this decision? and when will those materials be made available to the public under the applicable open records law. This is not about opposition to or in support for the Skybox data center. It is about understanding. Public trust depends on knowing whether decisions of this magnitude were based on thorough documented analyses or on a process more vague and speculative. I respectfully ask that the city publicly identify the materials relied upon and provide a clear timeline for their disclosure so the public can engage meaningfully and responsibly in any future dialogue. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Thank you, Mr. Jackson.

[clears throat] Andrew Durkston Andrew Dirkson Mr. Dirkson. Okay. Next. Douglas Long. Douglas Long.

Douglas Long, single member, District 3. Good morning, mayor, city council members, city staff. My comment today concerns the data center and how this project will be used, not just what it is called. There are important distinctions between a generic data center and facilities used for high performance data or HPC. These include cryptocurrency mining and or large language models, AI or artificial intelligence. These other uses can have materially detrimental impacts on power, water, noise, and quality of life. I am asking whether zoning conditions or other enforcable safeguards will prohibit or strictly regulate such other HPC uses. I believe that clear enforcable boundaries protect both the city and her residents from unintended consequences. I respectfully request that the city address this question of other HPC uses crypto mining and AI in the public record. Finally, I wish to clarify for the record that an AG review applies only to disputed materials. Records not clarified as exempt remain subject to prompt release under the Texas Public Information Act. I respectfully ask that such non-disputed records be released without delay. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Long. Jamal Schumpert.

Jamal Shumpert, SMD3. Uh, I'm not sure which ones you're going to pull on a consent item, a consent agenda item, but I'm I'm going to talk about K for sure. Um I I looked at the documents. I don't know where the city is going to either cap the ends or put in a looping system for that sewer system. I'm not sure what they're going to do with the part that you know you abandon it. Then it's your part and then on the other side of that school is it's their part. So what are we going to do with our part? How much will it cost? And furthermore, are we sure we want to approve them to rebuild a school with taxpayer bond money on top of a sewer easement that used to be a working sewer? If I'm correct, uh, it just seems that was not well thought out. And considering that there are a lot of apartments in the area, you're going to take that sewer easement way. I don't I don't I don't think you actually should take the sewer easement. It may it cause more stank from all the area. Uh cuz I saw you going from 2 in pipes to 6 in pipes to 8 in pipes. It just that seemed to me like y'all not y'all but the school board and those people who made the decision are making a mockery of the citizens in that area. Calling them garbage and trash. Put a sewer system up under the school that's just just built brand new built by tax dollars we passed the bond with. That's that's not bad planning. That's bad people. Uh, I don't want y'all to be a part of them. Um, I think y'all are much better. Try to distance yourself from your partnerships with these people. I'm I'm finding out some some awful things about our school. Um, and another one, the investment policy. Uh, what we're investing in 1A, which which is not too bad. I guess you can go all the way down to B's. Uh, but we were like a 3A rated place. I think we should probably try to

invest in some 3A, but they might not be as useful anymore because of all the private credit rating being downgraded and and all the issues in that market. I I'm Tina know. Uh but yeah, and could we possibly get a look at the invest the actual portfolio of what those securities might be made of? That would that would be great for me. Uh, I actually do trade stocks and do a lot of stuff with stocks and want to know just how well our audits have came out on some of our government bonds cuz some of the assets on some of these governments don't meet what they bonded up for. That's not our case though. Um, anyway, I've talked enough. Uh, wish you guys good luck. Uh, I'll save all the bad stuff for Tom. Thank y'all.

Thank you, Mr. Shepard. Pam Hammer.

Good morning. Uh my name is Pam Hammer and I serve as the executive director at Habitat for Humanity at 401 North Chadburn. Um I'm here today to uh I'm also involved before I start on my spill. I'm also involved with the Concho Valley long-term recovery team. Um, and I'm here today uh to respectfully ask the city council to extend a decision made shortly after the July 4th flood that devastated a large portion of our community to continue waving the permit fees uh for repairs needed to restore the flood damaged homes. Um, Habitatu for Humanity is currently uh helping to fund electrical repairs uh in the city for for that damage. To date, we've spent nearly $45,000 in repairs, which includes materials and discounted labor. Um, the average cost per home is approximately $2,600, but that doesn't count if it is a complete rewire. Those homes are about $6,000 to repair. Uh and again that's discounted labor fees. Um we have completed 15 homes. Uh we have seven more in progress and so far my electrician alone has had to pull only five permits. But that doesn't include the other electricians in town. Nor does it include uh HVAC, plumbing, um concrete, anything else that needs to be permits need to be pulled for. Uh but more importantly, I want to share with you three stories of people that we have helped. Uh the city of St. Angelo has helped everybody that's been involved with the long-term recovery. Um one of them is an older woman who was out of electricity. And I say that part of her electric worked in her home and part didn't. So if she plugged in her

refrigerator, her air conditioner didn't work. Um she is disabled. She's on a uh fixed income and she has uh diabetes and her medicine had to be kept mostly in an asht chest until we were able to get there a couple of months down the road. Um the next one was a woman and her child who had disabilities of her own. She worked at the hospital. She's a single mom and she was devastated. She didn't know what to do, where to go. She she was in the process of applying for all of this help to several different agencies and in the middle of trying to clean out her home and figure out what she was going to do and where her child and her were going to live until her home was restored. Uh she had a heart attack um in her 40s. Uh, so when my electrician and I showed up at her home, um, she was so eternally grateful because as y'all know, once you muck and gut, once you tear out that sheetrock, the next thing that needs to happen is the electrical needs to be looked at to make sure it's okay. The next one was

Miss Hammer, thank you for your comments. Oh, you're welcome. That's your three minutes. This concludes public comment. No more. We will now close public comment. Then we have no more signed up for public comment. Um we will go now to our consent agenda and we'll go down the the row here and see if any council members have any consent uh items on consent they want to pull. Uh I'll start down here. Tommy, just a question just for clarification. Let's talk about item A. Get some direction from Yeah. So, I was going to ask uh for the minutes be pulled, not necessarily for the reasons uh one of the commenters said, but there are some corrections we're looking at. And so, okay,

if you could pull those. All right. So, we will pull item A off and not be voting on item A. So, just th those will come back on our next agenda. Correct, Brandon? Okay. So, the minutes have been pulled uh from from the this consent agenda. Um, okay. We'll go down the row here. Joe, you have anything you want to pull? No. Harry? Well, based on comments we've heard from some of the constituents, I'd like to pull J, K, and L. Okay. Okay. I don't have anything to pull besides those. Okay. Same as

Carrie, Karen, Mary. H, and K. Okay. So, we are pulling items H, J, K, and L. I would entertain a motion to approve everything uh with the exception of H, J, K, and L. And A and A. Correct. I move to approve. Second. Have a motion by Patrick, second by Harry. All in favor say I. I.

Any opposed? Motion carries. Six. passes 6. Okay, we will pull item H. Consider approving a request from the Concho Valley qualified traffic services to increase fees for funeral escort services in the city of St. Angelo. Do we have I know Heather's not here. Can you speak to that? Yes, she did brief me a little bit on this. All right. Uh they have had an increase on their insurance. So they're wanting to increase their fees to up just $100 for each of the services.

Okay. So it's it's going up from six I'm sorry from $550 to 650 and then from 650 to 750. And it's due to the insurance increases. Okay. And just to add to that, the reason this comes to y'all is because there's an ordinance requirement um saying that council has to approve uh rate increases for these escort services. Okay. All right. That answer your question, Mary. Uh Barbara, what does that two rates that are 650 and 750? What's the difference between those? Um two destinations and three destinations. How long has this been at the

I'm sorry. How long is this been in effect for um trying to think how to say it? How long has it been 66 650? Um is it that that is that is the fee going going forward for for 2026? Last year for 2025 it was 550 for two destinations. How how long has the 550 been in uh for one year? One year. I'm sorry. No, no, no. For two years. Two years I think. For two years. Okay. So, it was it was in it was for 550 for 2024 and 2025. Good deal. Thank you. Other questions on item H. Have any public comment on item H? Barbara?

No, sir. Okay. Entertain a motion for approval of item H. So, motion by Harry. Second. Second. Second by Mary. All those in favor say I.

Any opposed? Motion passes 6-0. Now we will go to item J. Consider a resolution extending resolution 2025-075 waving the imposition and collection of certain building permit fees to repair structures within the designated area due to the damages caused by the July 4th flood event for an additional 180 days. Mr. Vanoi.

Good. Good morning, Mayor Pro Tim, city council, M Mr. Valenuela. So, this item came to us um as we've been working with those volunteer groups and contractors uh that are still working in the recovery area. We know that the the fee um waiver is getting close to expiring and we believe it was the intent of city council to continue to help the citizens with those areas that are in the flood the July 4th flood uh area with their fees. So, this is just simply extending those fee waiverss for an additional 180 days to allow those volunteer groups and contractors to pull permits without a fee, continue to do the good work that they're doing out in those areas and get folks back into their homes. Any questions for me?

I was going to say, yes, I think that gives a lot of clarification. So, thank you. I appreciate that. I have a quick question. Um, I mean, I'm 100% for it for all the flood affected victims. Do we have any safeguards um to keep from saying somebody going in buying a house and trying to flip it and getting all their fees waved?

Well, we do work with the the volunteer groups and we've been working with our emergency management and so we've got some very good maps to determine whether they truly were in the flood area or not. Uh if worst case scenario, we'll go and do a site visit with them. Uh but usually it is the uh current property owner that comes forward with the uh volunteer group that says, "Hey, we're needing to pull an electrical permit or we're needing to pull a full demo permit." And so we have some safeguards there. Uh we have not seen anybody try to take advantage of that at this time and we we certainly believe we have some safeguards to prevent it. Perfect. Thank you. Other questions for Mr. Vanoi? I move to approve.

Move to approve. Uh, I'm going to Patrick made the motion that Harry seconds. All in favor say I. I. Any opposed? None opposed. Passes 6 to zero. Item K, consider a resolution approving the release of 15 foot wide sanitary sewer easement [snorts] being 15 feet by 400 ft acres. That reads oddly. Um, 15 ft by 400 ft acres within lot one, block one, section one, McGill Elementary School addition.

Yes, sir. Again, I believe you're right that acres is just an extra word in there that we don't need. Yeah. [laughter]

Uh there probably was a a designation of how much acreage that is of the 15 by 400, but this is on the McGill Elementary School campus. They we the city do have a sewer main and an easement to access that sewer main on campus. As the um the school district uh this is phase two of their project. You know, phase one was a couple of years ago where they added the the gym and the structures to the south part of that. Now they're going back to this northern part of the property. The plat that came through to replplat this area uh has a rerouted sewer main that goes through public rightway and part of this is to go through and just go through the development steps. The condition of this easement, one of the conditions is they must have the sewer main rerouted and in place. It must be inspected. It must be um adopted and accepted by our engineering services before they can start building over this easement. and the easement is truly released, they will have to file a release document through um our legal department that goes to the county to release that actual area so they can build over the top of it. So, this is just one of the development steps for them to continue to work on that campus area there. With that, I'll be happy to answer any questions.

Questions for Aaron? Yeah. One Erin, what has the school board's input been on this? I mean, I assume we're working in tandem. Well, we're working with their um with their firm uh Park Hill that has do doing the design and the architecture and we're also working with their civil engineer uh on this which has been S uh SKG here locally. Uh we've done a number of development pre-development meetings with them. Uh and so they're, you know, they're guided by their chain of command over o over on the on the school district side, but we've been working directly with those companies to work through this process. Have they uh brought up any concerns, questions, or anything?

Well, we've we've worked back and forth on site concerns uh trying to um alleviate traffic concerns, sidewalk concerns, utility concerns, trying to make sure the campus is going to work not only for SASD, but the neighborhood and the city as well. I was it was hard to understand, Jamal, what we didn't have the closed captioning today. So a lot of a lot that you said Jerome I mean Jamal I didn't understand um

a a lot of these processes are are done within house. They're not necessarily at a planning commission uh or another board where you see plans and things like that. It's through the site plan and the plat process. And so there there are times that there that the citizens just don't know what they don't know. And so I I appreciate Mr. Schumer coming forward and just asking the questions. Well, thank you Erin and Jamal. Other questions for Aaron on this? We have any public comment on item K? I'd entertain a motion for motion by Harry. Second by Karen. All those in favor say I.

I. Any opposed? Hearing none. Motion passes 6. We'll move to uh consent item agenda item L. Consider resolutions approving the investment policies for the city of St. Angelo Lake Nazworthy Trust and Development Corporation Funds. Miss Derski, good morning.

Good morning. Tina Derski, assistant city manager and former director of finance. Um Mr. Thomas, you pulled this item. Did you have questions or just kind of wanted an explanation of what it was? I only because the constituent asked to for further clarification. Now, I may say that Mr. Heert and I both sit on the investment uh oversight committee and we've reviewed these things previous. So, it's just not city staff looking at this. It is other volunteers. We're not the only uh volunteers. there are some uh people from outside of this uh dis that that that also volunteer on that. So we've reviewed this uh I just want people to understand that uh people have looked at this already before it came to city council.

Yes sir. And um all of our policies are in accordance with the public funds investment act which emphasizes um safety, liquidity and yield in that order. Um, and of course, like you said, this does go before the investment oversight committee as well before we bring it to city council for approval. Um, we do approve these policies on an annual basis. Um, we also do have an invest investment advisor, um, meter public investments that helps us through all of our investments as well and gives us recommendations. Other comments, questions for Tina?

I do, Tina. Um, in most investments, length of stay is better than anything, right? If you're long-term looking in the stock market, you leave it in the longer, it'll grow more in general. It depends on where the market is heading. Yes. Yes. But but over Yeah. And so that's what we have to we have to watch for. We can't leave ours longterm. We can't leave something for years, right? Right. Because again, that that second criteria being liquidity, we have to watch very carefully for what projects we have coming up. you know what liquidity we'll need and monitor our cash flows very closely. Um so on that our increasing the maximum I guess that helps us a little bit but we still can't go over a year with any of our investments. That's right. Yes sir.

But that still gives us plenty of liquidating in case uh another CO error or something like that happen. We could still right be able to access what we need. Yes sir. Thank you. You're welcome. Other questions for Tina. Move to approve. Motion to approve. Second. A motion by Harry. Second by Joe. All those in favor say I. I. Thank you.

Any opposed? None 6. Okay, that concludes our consent agenda. We will move to our regular agenda. Item A, consider resolutions of general support for the construction of affordable housing projects as part of the 2026 annual lowincome housing tax credit program for Crestwood Terrace Apartments located at 3130 West Boulevard. Morning, Miss Bloss.

Good morning, Council Daniel. Um, I'm here again with another lowincome housing tax credit application. Um this is a proposed project that we'll um need the resolution of support for so they can move forward with the application process. And Michael Beard is here to present to y'all. All right.

Morning mayor, council members. My name is Michael Beard with Bedco Consulting and this is a proposed historic rehabilitation of an existing apartment community that's here in St. Angelo located at 3130 West Bureard. Uh it was built in the 1960s and we have already pre received a preliminary determination of eligibility for registration on the historic register with the state and federal level. What that would mean is that uh should we get this award, we would do our renovation in accordance and within the requirements of that historic preservation criteria. So it would it would really bring the asset back to as much of its original character as it could it originally had while updating all the uh scope to modern efficiencies and amenities. Um we actually brought this before council a couple years ago and received unanimous support for those that were here before. Uh since then, getting this historic designation and getting one of the point categories on the QAP removed that limited the amount of credits that we can get for this region have allowed us to increase our scope by double. So, we will now be able to put in over $100,000 per unit in hard cost alone within this rehabilitation. Now, that would obviously be spread across exterior and innovate in and interior as needed. But that's a huge win because if we would have gotten this a couple of years ago, we would not be able to do what we could do now. So, I think that's really great for the city. Uh really, I'm here to answer questions for those that aren't familiar about what the program is, how it works. Uh I can tell you that we are in first place in 12 urban right now. So, that means if y'all want this, you're going to get it. the 80 unit development given it's a tax credit program this is you know a federal tax credit that's bought by an investor they they invest

into the development and so you have a lower perm rate uh or a perm loan amount that's how you are able to rent rent this at an affordable level uh this developer received two awards last year and we're on track to to uh hopefully get five this year and Big Spring was one of those awards so we're very much interested in this general area of the state. So, questions for Mr. Beard. Can we get Angela to come back up? Angela. Yes, sir. I want the public to understand that the

I turn it on, they turn it off. [laughter] want the public to understand this process and and because they've seen other developers come before this council and and ask for support that there's only going to be one that gets the support in this general area which I understand also takes in uh Midland Odessa maybe Abalene I don't know whatever that suggestion is. So would you explain that a little bit better a little broader?

Yes. So there is as many applicants can go into the process and it's a point-based process. So the more that you have the more points that you get and it is for regional. So there's one per region and I do believe okay he can tell you more about the region but yes

yeah so this is the uh competitive tax credits which are scoring criteria based and the support at the local level is one of the highest scoring criteria San Angelo falls in region 12 urban which you are absolutely correct is in competition with Midland and Odessa in particular those are the three major met uh major cities in 12 urban uh like she said as many applicants can apply, but there's only enough credits for one award per year. And so to get to that top spot is really just the only way that you even have a shot. Like we were here two years ago and we were in second place and we knew we wouldn't win. It was just that the the competitor, they're very good at what they do. Y'all now have an asset under construction that we lost to a couple years ago. So it it's highly competitive and uh because of that there's a lot of stakeholders in this process. You know, you're going to have an investor that that looks after this. You're going to have the state agency that looks after this. Uh we don't want to go in cities that don't want us. And that's why the the statute at the state level requires you to get support to really become competitive. Well, I think this is great, but I want the citizens to understand that multiple people can apply for this, but there's only going to be one award.

Yes, that's correct. And our our support with with the resolution is as utmost important to their application. Yes. Yes. And I thought I when I saw this on the agenda, I thought we've seen this before. I I I recognize you, sir. Yes. [laughter] I'm not sure whether that's good or bad. Other questions for Angela or Mr. Beard? Um, this project, would it help housing affordability in St. Angelo?

Yeah. So, one of the slides actually shows, uh, obviously this is what you would possibly consider a naturally affordable asset given its current condition, which is, you know, it needs repair. Oh, I hope that he put the rents on here back. Yes. So the way that this program will work is if you get an award, all the affordable units cannot go above 60% of area median income as far as the rent goes. So the rent will be 30% of that 60% income level. So if your income goes up, the rent will go up. If it doesn't, it won't. And you also have to back out what we call a utility allowance. Uh so when we are having that rent level calculation, we have to say what are the tenants going to be responsible as far as paying utilities. You know, is it going to be electric? Are they going to have to pay water and all that? And then we have to back out an aotment for that as well, which is generally about $80 to $120. He does not have the rents on here. I'm so sorry. Uh if I get your email, I can send that to you. Uh, I generally put the rents on here, but they are published and you can just go to the HUD's website or TDHCA's website and look up Tom Green County St. Angelo and it'll show you the rent and income levels uh for this area right now and that's updated every year.

Um, looking at some of the captions there. Is this something they're trying to renovate and then sell and then the

No, no. So, this is a long-term hold. The tax credits are earned over 10 years, but the minimum affordability period is over 15 years. And we're actually electing for an extended affordability period that will uh bring it out to 45 years. And this is going to be recorded at the county level on the parcel that'll dictate the affordability restrictions, the supportive services requirements, the minimum amenities. So, we're basically everything that we're promising to the state agency to bring forth a competitive application is going to get dictated in what's called a land use restriction agreement at the county level. And the state agency will use that when they audit compliance on a bi-annual basis to man to ensure that we're we're doing everything that we promised we would. So, uh yeah, this is a long-term hold asset. The investors are in it. When I say investor, it's usually a bank. uh they're in it for the minimum 15 years, the developers in it for the minimum 15 years and generally longer than that. And what they generally do is they want to reposition it after that because they'll they'll need a new influx of renovations or or rehab or whatever. So, these are long-term hold assets.

So, it should help that, but also fix up the the building in general and just the the niceness of the apartment. So,

Oh, yeah. Yeah. I mean, like I said, we're just in hard cost alone, we're now able to increase our scope to over $100,000 per unit. And I mean, the total development cost on this is it's going to be significant. Uh we're going to be projecting to bring in about 100 to 150 subs during the renovation process. We're going to try a minimum displacement. Uh what we'll do is what's called a rolling rehab. So, we'll relocate the existing uh occupants to concentrate vacant units as much as possible on a building by building basis and then we'll rehab those buildings and and turn them over and and the those that are qualified. So, that's the big question mark is we'll have to review those that are currently qualified that they could stay and if they if they aren't, we would be given a notice of non-renewal and we would we would allocate funds to to help them with that moving process in the event that they don't qualify. So it is the intent of the program to minimize displacement as much as possible and and help those and not create an undue burden.

When will we all know on this project?

Uh so our full app is due the end of the month. We are currently in first place and what that means is if we can get all the points, we will remain in first place. No one could jump us. We've already reviewed the region. uh awards are recommended in July and between March and and July is when they do the full underwriting and review and and ensure that you're eligible for the award. So mid July, we would know we're getting this. We'd have to be done completely with this by the end of 2018. Given this is a rehab, that would it would not take that long. Uh we we project the historical commission can create delays the depending on what you replace, like if you're going to replace windows and whatnot. uh supply and and finding product that is of a matching historical kind of equivalent could create a delta but we cannot foresee more than a absolute 12-month buildout. We we should be able to get this done but within six to 12 months of close.

Okay. Thank you. Other questions? We have any public comment on item A on the regular agenda? I would entertain a motion then. So move motion to approve by Harry second by Patrick. Okay. Okay. Patrick. All right. All in favor say I. I.

Any opposed? Hearing none. Motion passes 6. Okay. On to item B, discussion and possible action to apply for two and a half million dollar FAA notice of funding. I I think we missed a public comment.

Sorry. We good? We're good. We're good. We're good. Okay. When we start over on item B, discussion, possible action to apply for $2.5 million FAA notice of funding opportunity for the design of new air traffic control tower at St. Angelo Regional Airport, airport director Justin Fletcher. Good morning, sir.

Uh, mayor prom council, Mr. Venuela. Justin Fletcher, airport director here in St. Angelo. wanted to have a discussion with you this morning and uh request possible direction on a notice of funding opportunity from the FAA on the design of a new air traffic control tower out at the airport. Uh in January, the FAA released a $120 million notice of funding opportunity for federal contract tower program. Our air traffic control tower falls under the FCT, the federal contract tower program. And uh this program would if we proceed forward with an application for funding this would proceed with the design airspace analysis and sighting study of a new air traffic control tower. Uh our tower was constructed in the 1950s and it has started to show its age. Uh we're having some facility issues. We have 1980s radio equipment that has to communicate with modern digital equipment which provides its own operational issues. Uh we also had the issue of an air traffic controller had a medical episode in the tower and uh fire rescue responded and they had to carry that individual down the the the stairways and resuscitating him at each landing on the stairwell. Uh we do not have any ADA compliance in our current tower and obviously that's been an issue in the past with that medical episode. Uh thank goodness he survived. Uh so my intent today is to discuss our tower is eligible uh for the $120 million in funding, but there are a couple of risks ahead of us if we proceed down the path. Um the first risk being if if we proceed we're awarded funding and we go through the design and engineering process uh and we find where the project goes idle for whatever reason we don't push forward the initiative of developing a tower the FA could request reimbursement of the funds. Uh so if the FA finds that we haven't put in a good faith effort to continue pushing the project forward they could request reimbursement of the

$2.5 million. Uh so I think that's a very slim chance. Uh I would recommend that we uh employ our congressional representatives from the start. Uh I preemptively reached out to Congressman Fluger's office last week and I spoke with Thomas, their transportation specialist, and he's he's standing by ready to support us on our funding application. They're ready to submit a letter of support. I previously had letters of support from Mayor Gunther when she held the mayor's office. uh Kosa DC, Angelo State University, uh Goodfellow Air Force Base. There's a lot of local support for the replacement of our air traffic control tower. And I think if we put fresh dates, we get fresh signatures on those letters of support, that'll go a long way with our funding application to the FAA. I'm willing to answer any questions you all may have.

Too bad we don't have our pilot here, right? [laughter] he would literally take off uh [clears throat] with this. It seems to me it is worth our investment um to to pursue this just because number one, the age of the tower. Yes. Uh number two, it it seems to me we are trying to uh continually improve our airport. This would be a huge step in the right direction in my opinion. So I I am I am fully supportive of this. Um, council. Um, anybody have questions for Mr. Fletcher? Mary, go ahead.

So, you named letters of support, contact with various agencies and entities. Um, I assume all of those fall into the category of good faith efforts. Is there anything else that might be called good faith efforts?

Working with our project manager with the FAA, uh, making sure that we keep them uh, educated as we progress through the process. uh the FA they're good they're good partners to have when you're developing an airport and they understand the complexities of managing an airport but also the complexities that these construction projects have and so navigating that process from the very beginning with our project manager uh and making sure that they're invested in the project as well and to be fairly honest he reached out to me the day after the no was issued he said Justin are you guys going for this money this year I said yes sir we want to go for it uh so he's he's on board with Justin, what what would be something besides force majour the any problems that would stall or delay this project that would activate that possible refund?

Uh like I mentioned, just the project going idle, the city, the airport not pushing the project forward. Uh we need to be very communicative, especially when it comes to funding. uh working with our project manager on how we're going to fund this project. Uh luckily because this is an FCT project, there are multiple funding sources that are available to us. If this was an FA sponsored tower, it would be a little more difficult, but fortunately for us, it's an FCT tower. So, we have not only do we have the AIG, airport infrastructure grant, we have ATP, the airport terminal program. There's also our entitlement dollars, discretionary dollars, local dollars if we can work with the city on finding a funding source. Uh we need to be very communicative with our FA project manager on how we're going to fund the project and push it forward.

So we don't foresee any purposeful stalls on I do not. No ma'am, I do not. It would seem counterproductive to get the money and then sit on it. There is that the transparency is the risk involved and I wanted to make sure that you guys were educated on that risk before I continued with our consultants in the FA down the path. Uh this is a $15 million investment. Uh from from design to completion, it would be a $15 million project and it would modernize our air traffic control tower and it would be a solid investment for everyone that utilizes the airport. Good deal. Thank you, Justin. Harry,

I think this is a great thing, Justin. Uh, I'm going to be careful on how I pose this question so I'm not outside of this agenda item, but we would not be able to build this if it was not for this possibility of these these grants. Is that correct? Yes, sir. That is correct. I have a constituent that called me yesterday and said, "Why don't we do more for the airport without getting involved with with federal money?" And I it was difficult for me to answer that question except that majority of the improvements at the airport come from grants. Okay. Very good. That is correct.

Joe, do you have just curious and you may or may not be able to speak on this. Let's say Abalene. How is there a tower newer than ours? How about Midland Odessa? Do you know specifically for Abalene? They're an FAA tower. So they fall under, like I mentioned, they fall under a different set of guidelines and rules. We being an FCT tower, it does open up some freedom of funding opportunities for us. Gotcha. I just know some of the surrounding towns have better opportunities and so I would hope this might open us up to different opportunities as well. I I do honestly believe we're in a good spot. We would compete very well. Cool. I can't see you not pushing the project forward, Justin. For some reason, that just doesn't enter my mind.

We're going to go to work. Yes, sir. Yeah. Other questions, comments? Um Justin on this? So the two and a half million we'd be responsible for just 500,000 if if that's the part we'd have to refund if we did not go through with it or No, it would be the the 2 and a.5 million, the full if it sits idle and the FA could come back for full reimbursement of 2 and a.5 million. I I'm going to kind of reiterate, but I think that's something we definitely have to u watch and make sure we're on our toes about. That's that's not in insignificant. Yes, sir.

Um will this So, one thing we've talked about over the past several years is we've lost as many takeoff and landings from from military, things like that. Would this help us get some of those back?

We are actually in the process of uh regaining that loss of military activity. Uh, Midland Approach has begun staffing. They've increased their employment numbers in their their radar department and the TR what we call the TCON, the terminal radar approach control facility there in Midland. So, they have more bodies in front of radar scopes working the San Angelo sector. And so, if we've had more military takeoffs and landings recently, uh, they're buying fuel. Uh, so it's a good thing. It is on the uptick, but having the tower is a is a huge bonus when it comes to military. Uh we had special operations training last week at the airport and having the tower there uh facilitates the special operations and the training needs that the military has. It's a huge benefit to us.

That's all I got. Thank you. Justin, what when we're talking about pushing the project forward in in terms of a day-to-day type operational endeavor for you, what what what does pushing it forward look like so that it doesn't go dormant? uh becoming an advocate for the project, like I mentioned, working with our FA project manager, uh working with uh the city, keeping the city apprised of any uh any funding obligations that we're going to have. Uh on the other side of this design phase, if we get to construction, what does that construction phase look like? And what does what do those dollars look like? I wish I had an answer for you today, but I don't. Uh it is a $15 million investment. Uh so making sure we're working with the city um our development partners, the FAA, and just to keep the process engaged.

Okay. All right. Other questions or comments?

I do want to mention uh that it's actually an effort on our end. You know, I know that Justin does a really great job of getting a hold of representatives, but we do the same at the at the city manager's office to make sure that we stay on top of that. Um clarification wise, I just want to make sure I believe I miss for a couple of my council members. So, it is $2.5 million. It's not $500,000 if we're short. I understood it was $500,000. So, even with a 2.5, the risk associated with it, you feel pretty good, Justin, as far as uh receiving and then moving forward with it. And I do, too. And I really do think it's something that we need to move forward with as well. But I just wanted to make sure that you made that clarification. Thank you for that. But it's $2.5 million a case. $2.5 million. Yes, sir.

Okay. I still feel good about that, though. Yes, sir. May maybe we know people that can help us find money. Uh yeah, other questions, comments from council for Justin. Barbara, do we have any public comment on that item? I move to approve. We have a motion to approve by Patrick. Second by Karen. All those in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Hearing none. Motion carries. Passes 6.

Thank you, council. Thank you, Justin. Item C, consider authorizing an order renewing the declaration of disaster issued by the mayor and extended by city council related to the severe storm and flash flooding event that occurred on July 4th, 2025. Mr. Dyson,

thank you. Uh, this is an item to renew the local disaster declaration. Uh what we found towards the end of January that there's still significant development ongoing. Uh in talking to Aaron, uh we expect upwards of 50 homes that will be through the planning and development process in the form of demolitions, rebuilds, renovations, things of that nature. And we're looking for ways to uh expedite accommodate that planning and development that'll have to occur um and exploring ways to do that. But I think the first step is ensuring that we have this disaster declaration in place. It allows some flexibility through the mayor's authority in our ordinance um to vary or suspend some ordinance requirements, but again, we're still looking at how to actually go about that. Um the at the state level, the governor has continued to uh renew the state declaration and that was last done January 17th and I think we expect that that will uh continue to occur monthtomonth for a while now. So we're actually asking on this one, the previous ones have been 90 days. We're asking that this one be for 180 days, but of course we'll continue to evaluate that and can always bring it back and um amend or terminate that if needed.

Very good. Questions for Brandon? Any public comment on that item? Jamal Schumpert. Okay. Did he leave? I think he left. Mr. Shumpert, are you here? You out in the hall? Okay, move to approve. We have a motion to approve by Patrick. Second. Second by Joe. All those in favor say I. I.

Any opposed? Hearing none. Motion passes 6. Okay, we will move into close session under section 551.071 0712 consultation with an attorney when a governmental body seeks the advice of its attorney on a matter in which the duty of the attorney to the governmental body under the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct of the State Bar of Texas clearly conflicts with this chapter regarding the Skybox Data Cent's contract. We will return when we conclude our executive session.

What time is it? We are coming out of executive session at 10:33 a.m. this morning. There are no announcements coming out of executive session. So we will go to item B on the uh agenda. Consider approving various board nominations. Animal shelter advisory committee. Jonathan Garcia, single member of district 2 to a first term ending January 2028. Construction board of adjustments and appeals. Chris Kinsey SMD2 to a third term ending February 2028. Economic development corporation Rick Mantou the mayor to a third term. Matt Lewis, single member district 2 to a first full term. Both those ending February 2028 zoning board of adjustment Ken Roberts alternate one uh mayor pro Tim to an expired term to end January 2027. May I have a motion to approve?

Have a motion Harry, second by Joe. All in favor say I. I. Any opposed? None. Motion carries 6. Okay. Okay. Item C, any announcements and any consideration of future agenda items. Council, I think the next council meeting is an evening. That is correct. Next council meeting, February 17th, is an evening meeting. 5:30 5:30 p.m. in this room. Um, you look like you were going to say something. I do, but you said council. So, I just zipped it and it council g ahead. Sorry.

Okay. Uh, I do want to bring up some dates. I know the mayor's not here, but um I had mentioned wanting to do a workshop. This is probably one of the the earliest we've done a workshop in quite a while, but we want to really get a good jump on uh especially the budget as we have discussions. So, I have some dates that I like for you to write down and Michelle will be calling to kind of coordinate and make sure that we have that date. Uh that workshop and the workshop will be addressing revenues. uh what we need to do to really address and and and increase those revenues, but also expenditures, what we need to do to reduce reduce those expenditures and also efficiency. So, the directors will be uh presenting to city council, you know, what they've been working on and uh we're really excited about that, really looking forward to it. But the dates are February 23rd. It's still going to be for one day, but February 2 through 23rd through the 27th, one of those dates. March 6th, which is a Friday after a council meeting, or March 9th through the 13th. Again, just one of those days. So, Michelle, we'll be reaching out to y'all to schedule that and coordinate that.

Okay. All right. Everybody get the dates? Yes, sir. All right. Good. Uh, anybody else have anything future agenda? Okay. I'd entertain a motion to adjurnn. Moved. Or did you have something here? Joe made a motion to adjurnn. Harry had a second. Okay. All in favor say I. I. Any opposed? We are adjourned at 10:36