City Council - Regular Meeting

Go ahead and gabble us in here. Roberto, are you ready? Council, if you'll make sure that your mics are on. [clears throat] I now call this regular council meeting of the city of Santa Fe, January 22nd, 2026 to order. And I will do roll call. Uh, Mayor Pro Tim Mars is excused. Council member Dickerson here. Council member Janette here. Council member McCain here. Council member Shrader here. We have a quorum. Thank you. And now invite our pastor. I was corrected last time. I called in my pastor. I'll now invite our pastor Brad Drake from Daypring Church to do the uh invocation and we'll do the pledges together.

Awesome. Thank you guys. All right, let's pray. Father, thank you for today. Lord, we thank you for uh your power and your presence in our lives. And Lord, that we can call on you and know that you hear us and answer us. And uh Lord, as we are about to embark on a uh maybe a difficult weekend, uh Lord, with the weather, uh we ask number one for your protection, your hand of protection on each and every one of our citizens. Uh Father, we pray especially for uh our city employees and our first responders that'll be uh working hard while we're we're all uh warm in our homes. We ask that you just give them a special measure of your grace this weekend. Uh father, keep us all safe. We pray for this meeting tonight and we pray for the leadership of our city. Uh that you give them uh your wisdom and discernment as they uh go through the process of leading this city. Uh and God, we just thank you uh that you do answer us and we thank you for your wisdom. We thank you for your pro for your protection in Jesus name. Amen.

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. Mr. Chairman,

absolutely. Thank you, Adam. All right. Well, we will go straight into item number four here, presentations and staff reports. I call upon Chief Robert Shores to give us the 2025 racial profiling report. Chief. Okay. [snorts]

Good evening, Mayor and Council.

Good evening, Chief. Before you in your packet is uh the 2025 racial profiling report for the Santa Fe Police Department. Uh Texas Occupation Code requires that our licensing uh agency through the state, Tik, the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement, that uh they collect data related to uh traffic stops. The information collected uh relates to the race, ethnicity, gender, uh if a search was conducted or not, contraband was found or not, and uh what the result of the contact was requires all that documentation in accordance with the criminal code of procedure. So, as the chief administrator of the law enforcement agency, I am required to uh compile this data uh into what is called the racial profiling report and present it to you. um forformational purposes and then also present it to TEL. File a report with TEL so that we stay in compliance with TEL questions.

Didn't look like we had any complaints of racial profiling. So, no sir. That's a good thing. Everything's in order. Yes, sir. [snorts] All right. Very good. Thank you. Thanks. Thank you, Chief. Thanks, sir.

All right. Uh, next, I'll call upon uh, Mr. Collins for our presentation of department reports. All right, Mayor Council, I'm going to jump right on in. If you'll follow along, we'll start with the municipal court update. Uh for the month of December uh we had 290 uh cases filed which is up from November which only had 208 cases filed. Uh we had 247 um warrants issued in the month of December and uh remember in the month of November that um our uh administrator was out on leave during that month. So that's why you see the the the large increase. Um the total revenues collected uh we went up for the month of December from uh 38,000 in November to roughly 42,000 uh in December. All right, we'll go to community services. Um there were 338 uh permits issued which is up from the month before. Um also we have eight new residential permits which is up from uh November as well. Um for December we collected um right over $61,000 um in fees. Um 189 inspections were completed. Um and then of course um an ongoing project uh here in the city is center the centerpoint service center. Um and they are really moving along on schedule. It's looking really good. All right. Next is uh parks in the community service community center uh December 2025 update. Uh we had three rentals uh at Reni. Uh we had four at the Weber, which is significantly up. So we took in um almost $1,200 uh in revenues from those rentals. Uh for the police department, we had uh 2,925 calls for service uh which was up uh from the month before. Um we had 43

arrest. We completed 500 traffic stops and gave 156 traffic citations. For CD, they had 55 active cases. They cleared 14 cases for the month of December. They have 26 new cases and then they um issued five warrants. For public works, um 114 segments of roads were patched um for uh December. Um uh in terms of drainage, they excavated Pine Drive from the outfall to the end of the south side of 750 ft. They did 650 ft um from the Pineh side the tower to end on the north side. They [snorts] excavated on 7th Street from Avenue L to Avenue J, 1150 ft. And then uh they excavated on Avenue S from 4 and a half to the end of the east side with 950 ft. Um and to continue on uh they did 20 uh linear feet of new coverts and they corrected 40 linear feet of coverts that needed to be corrected. Um just some of the miscellaneous, they trimmed trees on 15 different roads. I know that um I actually got um two calls up to city hall on this stating that the city did a good job and that they were actually going to start cutting their trees. They had a change of heart. So, I definitely appreciated that. Um and then 122 traffic signs were repaired or replaced. So, our guys are definitely out working. Um for the city secretary's office, they had 13 open records requests in December um which is significantly higher uh than we usually get. We had two um uh new hires at the city and then we did 41 um social media engagements. Um and then to to finish this off, I wanted the chief to introduce um our uh uh two new guys on the force if you don't mind.

Absolutely. Thank you. That's why he's in uniform tonight. got his working clothes on.

Good evening, gentlemen, mayor and council. These are the two newest hires of the Santa Fe Police Department. Um, this is officer Noi Longoria. He graduated from Alvin Community College in December and started his FTO program. Um, he is doing well on first phase and very eager and and showing a lot of spirit and heart and wanting to be here. So, we're we're glad to have him. And this is uh Ryland Watkins. Ryland Watkins came to us from Galveston Community College, graduated from their law enforcement academy also in December, has started his first phase FTO and is moving right along, doing well, showing a lot of uh uh interest in in wanting to go get things. So,

well, we're very proud of uh both of you and welcome to the team. We're glad to have you here at the city of Santa Fe. Thank you. Thank you for choosing Santa Fe. Congratulations. Thanks, guys. All right, council. Do you have any uh questions for Mr. Collins on any of the staff reports? [snorts] I know the the um sales tax snapshot um is included in our packet. Did you want to highlight anything there? Um we'll do that at the at the next um meeting. Okay. All right. Very good. Too much up.

All right. Uh on to um [clears throat] I guess we don't have any minutes to approve. Okay. U item number five, citizens comments. Any person with city related business on this not on this agenda may speak to the council. Time is limited to 3 minutes. In compliance with the Texas Open Meetings Act, the city council may not deliberate on the comments. Personal attacks will not be allowed and personnel matters should be addressed to the city manager during normal business hours. Do we have anyone here um that wants to address council? Okay. Do we have anybody on Zoom that wants to address council? No, we do not. Okay. I was I was hoping for consumer.

Hey, we can we can definitely make that change if you No, thank you. All right. I I shouldn't have kept my mouth shut. I've watched the uh we've seen the experiment. Yeah,

absolutely. Uh item number six, business, a new business, one consent agenda. Adoption of a resolution of the city council of the city of Santa Fe, Texas, adding Texas class to an authorized list of investment pools as previously adopted by the Santa Fe city council. U we already voted and approved this as part of our financial investment plan that Rudy presented to us, but we just have we didn't do it in the resolution form. Um so that's the nature of this item. And again, as consent agendas, there's not any discussion unless a council member requests it. Uh if not, then I'll entertain a motion to approve.

I move to approve the resolution authorizing participation in the Texas class to complete the addition previously approved by council in the city's finance and investment policies. Second. It's been moved and seconded to um adopt a resolution of the city of S of city council, the city of Santa Fe, Texas adding Texas class as an authorized list of investment pools. Council, is there any further discussion? Hearing none. Uh I'll do roll call. Council member Dickerson, yes. Council member Janette, yes. Council member McCain, yes. Council member Shrader, yes.

Motion passes. Thank you, gentlemen. Item number two, finance director Rudy Zapeda, public hearing regarding the revision of contract number 24-065-037-E 529 between the city of Santa Fe, Texas and the Texas General Land Office related to community development block grant mitigation um regional method of distribution program. Mr. Zapeda, take it away,

Mr. Mayor and council. Well, uh, tonight we have Megan Flynn, our from our public management, which is our grant administrator, and she's going to speak briefly on this public hearing, uh, before we open it up, uh, on the revision to contract number 24-65-37-E29 between the city of Santa Fe and the Texas General Land Office, GLLO. Um, Miss Megan,

good evening, mayor and council. So, as you know, the city has a contract with the GLO in which we performed some road rehabilitation in the north and south side of those construction projects have completed and the city actually has some remaining grant funds left over. So, we're in the process of um submitting an amendment to the GLO to try to get you guys a new um emergency generator at Rangi Park. Um, and this public hearing is just part of y'all's uh, citizen participation plan required as part of the amendment process. It's just opening it up to the public if there's any comments, concerns, questions about the amendment. Any questions from you guys on the amendment process?

Just to clarify, we had a government project that came in under budget. Yes. Shocking, but yeah. Go get a lottery ticket. [laughter] But yeah, so we'll just keep it open for a minute or two. I I know there's not really anybody here, but and then um once everything's done, y'all's minutes should just reflect no comments from uh public. But yeah, if y'all have any questions, let me know.

Okay. Thank you so much. All right, it is uh 7:13 p.m. and I now open up this public hearing period. Is there anybody that'd like to speak? All right, 7:13 p.m. close the public hearing. Next item of business, consideration and possible action. Adoption of a resolution of the No, that's not right. Oh, it's just a public hearing. There's nothing we need to There's no action that needs to be taken.

Okay. Awesome. Very good. All right. Item number three, consideration and possible action adoption of a resolution of the city council of the city of Santa Fe, Texas, approving submission of the fiscal year 2025 2026 Santa Fe Coordinated Response VOCA continuation grant application to the Texas Office of the Governor Criminal Justice Division for continued operation of the Santa Fe Resiliency Center. Mr. participate

mayor council. So uh for the past several years as you know we have u had the privilege of receiving a grant a pass through grant uh for the city uh called the voca grant and it allows us to continue to have the uh Santa Fe resiliency center um here and it uh it funds a large portion of that. Uh we do have representative here to go into their application. But we uh it's our understanding that they are receiving additional funds and in order for for this upcoming year 2627 and in order for um that to take place we just need to get um approval from the council that you're willing to uh take on that uh that extra revenue pass through. Uh there's no additional expenses to the city um than the money that we have now which is nothing. We're not getting anything more or less from this. So, ma'am,

good evening, city council. Um, do you have any questions for me? Do you know how much the amount is that you'll be receiving more than the uh 470,000 that we're getting now? I think it's a 10% increase. It is. It's a It's a 10% increase. And so, the federal government um is the one that that uh did that increase. Um, and so, uh, just to be able to, uh, for the Santa Fe Resiliency Center to, um, expand their operations, it's awesome that, uh, they were able to get this grant. And so, this is just a pass through for us. There's no cost to us for this. [snorts]

Uh, this has been going on for quite some time now. Yes. Um, and, uh, going on eight years, right? Um, yeah. At the resiliency center for five years where we're at. That's what I was saying. Sorry. Gotcha. So, uh not not a full presentation, but maybe like in in in 60 seconds, can you tell us um what uh what type of clients um are eligible to receive services?

Well, our main presence is in the um the school district and um anyone who's been impacted directly or indirectly by the shooting. Um, obviously a lot of the students that we're seeing are much younger. Um, but we take into consideration the chronic complex nature of u mass shootings and how that impacts the community. Um, the population is mainly students. We've grown a lot in the school district as they've had a bigger need. We weren't in the high school until last year. Um, and this year we've taken on more interns to serve the um the community. Uh, which helps with the match because they're interns and they're very excited. We've got six going into the schools and two employees in the schools. Um, but we we deal with a lot of trauma and it's chronic complex. So, the mass shooting has complicated things for people and how they parent and the community.

Yeah. So, so it's anybody uh you don't have to have been directly affected. It could be indirectly, right? The grant specifically directly everybody in our community was indirectly affected in some way or another. Yes, sir. We appreciate everything that y'all do, especially for our kids. Thank you. I was a a former educator in at Santa Fe High School for five and a half years, and mental health is is a real problem for our adolescence. Yes. And uh appreciate what y'all do day in and day out to to help take care of our kids. Where is the physical location of the resiliency? It's right next to Santa Fe Seafood. That's where I thought it was. That's the landmark apparently in Sonic. Across from Sonic. It's still there. Yes, sir.

Okay. cuz somebody told me it was at y'all moved over to Bay Colony or something. Oh, no. You're still there in the corner. I just left there about 45 minutes ago. How many employees do you have? It's very much still there. It's with interns just for the resiliency center. How many employees? Uh for IA al together in y'all's office. Um for Santa Fe. Okay. Okay. Um 8 n 10 11 12 13. Really? That's uh employees and interns. Good. Well, we certainly appreciate what y'all do. Thank you. Thank you for having me. And I know unfortunately with um you know the developments um that we had uh last week or earlier this week uh you know just it just rips the scab for us.

Absolutely. Um here in this community and uh so um appreciate y'all being there for us. Thank you for being there for us as well. You bet. Thank you for your support. Thank you. All right. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Mr. Beta. All right. Community Services Director, Miss George Argentine. Uh, item number four, consideration and possible action, second and final reading of an ordinance of the city of Santa Fe, Texas, repealing section two reserved. I need a motion for I'm sorry, jumping ahead. I move to approve the resolution authorizing the submission of the Santa Fe Resiliency Center grant application number 3702408 to the Office of the Governor Criminal Justice Division as presented.

Second. It's been moved and seconded to approve the resolution authorizing the submission of the Santa Fe Resiliency Center grant application number 3702408 to the office of the Governor Criminal Justice Division as presented. Council, is there any further discussion? Hearing none, would be roll call. Council member Dickerson, yes. Council member Janette, yes. Council member McCain, yes. Council member Strader, yes. Motion passes.

Sorry, just trying to speed things up a little bit for y'all here. All right, good. Item number four, consideration and possible action. Second and final reading of an ordinance of the city of Santa Fe, Texas, repealing section two reserved of chapter 6 held and sanitation and amending and renaming section 2 donation bins, donation boxes or receptacles of chapter 6 health and sanitation by adding additional definitions, regulations, enforcement of regulations and penalties, providing a repealer clause, a severability clause, and an effective date.

Good evening, mayor and council. There were only minor clerical changes uh such as spacing and then I changed the pronoun his behind community services director to there just to accurately reflect any changes we may have going forward. Um and then other than that there are no significant changes other than what was con I'm so sorry it's been a very long day. There are no significant changes other than that uh from what was presented in the January 8th meeting. Upon this final reading, after everything is published, the code enforcement officer and the fire or the fire marshall and I will start notifying all the owners of the donation bins uh that removal is required within 30 days and anything past the 30-day mark will be fined in accordance with the penalty section of the ordinance.

Any questions? How many people you have to get in contact with? A lot of the bins that we have are owned by the same people's. I think there's five organizations total, but there's more than five bins. So, we'll send the mass letters out and mark it with each location. Hopefully, they'll come pick them up. We don't want to keep them. [snorts] We're letting the property owners know as well. Yes. Correct. Okay. [snorts] All right. Very good. Council, any further questions for Miss Argentine? If not, I'll entertain a motion. I move to approve the second and final of the ordinance renaming section two reserved of chapter 6 health and sanitation and amending and renaming section two donation bins, donation boxes or receptacles as presented.

Second. It has been moved and seconded to approve the second and final reading of the ordinance um renaming section two reserved of chapter 6 held in sanitation and amending and renaming section two donation bins, donation boxes or receptacles as presented. Council, is there any further discussion? Hearing none, I'll do roll call. Council member Shrader, yes. Council member McCain, yes. Council member Janette, yes. Council member Dickerson, yes.

Motion passes. Thank you, council. And item number five, I'd request um that we uh postpone, let's see, um how we need to do that. Uh just postpone it to the next we'll just postpone it to the next council meeting. Uh we still have some details that we're working on with that. So um entertain a motion to postpone it until postponed. Postpone to the next meeting. Second. Moved and seconded. Um council member Shrader. Yes. Council member McCain. Yes. Council member Janette. Council member Dickerson. Yes. Motion passes.

All right. Uh any announcements, council. Before the next uh council meeting, I will be meeting with Ryan out there at the Center Point Dons complex and uh just looking at the drainage retention, the the new buildings, the wash racks, and just getting an update on the progress out there. And you know, I know they're ahead of schedule and uh it's getting a time frame, you know, kind of when they're going to put people in there. and I will get with you and we'll share it on either the city or whatever. Cher m and the cities. Council,

I don't [snorts] know if I'll go council on that one. Are there any other announcements? I just have one. Um I was invited um to a swearing in ceremony this morning with the precinct 2 conal's office and just wanted to highlight a couple of the things. Um, first is u that uh Deputy Bill Scott is retiring. Um, he's going to be part-time or reserve, but he's retiring. I'm sure a lot of the law enforcement officers in the room know uh, Officer Scott, but um, uh, they pulled his T-Cole record and he's at 61 years and two months of active uh, record in TCO. So, I'm all here in Galveston County. Huh. That's the other one.

Yeah. [laughter] But uh you know certainly very well thought of in this community and has served us very well and so want to wish him a a great retirement. Um uh deputy uh Danny Sendas uh left the conipal's office back in October. He's now the police chief of Bio Vista. Uh they swore in a new deputy uh officer or deputy Joe Milo. Um and so he's with the conipal's office now. And um uh then they um also um oh goodness uh come on Brandon. Brian Gateley uh Chief Deputy Brian Gaitley is also retiring. Um and so with that um constible Edinburg um promoted and swore in this morning. Um Randall Elmo Johnston as his chief deputy chief constable deputy. So, um, uh, the council's office does a lot here for us in Santa Fe and in, uh, supporting our Santa Fe PD and, uh, we certainly appreciate everything that they do, um, for us. And so, I just wanted to make sure that that everyone was aware of those, uh, changes going on at the conipal's office. Um, the other thing that I'll announce is the Chamber of Commerce is having their annual awards gayla um, next Saturday night. I believe tickets and tables are still available if you would like to attend that. Uh certainly it'll be a nice event there at the fire station. And uh uh lastly, I don't need to be the one to tell everybody that we have a little bit of weather coming in. Uh but let's talk about the four Ps. People, pets, pipes, and plants. Uh make sure that um you've got everything wrapped up and taken care of. Uh we are prepared here at the city. Uh we do have a contingency plan. um if you know from worst case scenario to best case scenario um and so uh we will roll those out as needed. Um but understand that we are prepared and we are ready to go for whatever it brings us this weekend. So stay safe, stay warm um and uh we'll be uh communicating with

um social media and also with um our mass text communication. So um that's all I got. Do there is there any dedicated warming centers just in case need be? We will have one at the justice center if we need it. Uh but I think um that's going to depend on our electrical grid and how well it it stays. And I think I think we're going to be okay. Centerpoint was very confident today in their meeting that the grid was going to be okay. [clears throat] So I don't think that we're going to be anywhere near what we dealt with in 2021. I hope not. This time, this day last year, it snowed. It did. Sure did. Yeah, we were in snow. Yep. And uh so my my almost 5-year-old son thinks that it snows every winter.

There you go. Um cuz it snowed last winter and that's the last winter he remembers. So he's waiting on the snow. All right. I'll entertain a motion to move and seconded. Thank you, gentlemen. No.