City Council - Regular Meeting

Heat. Heat. N. Heat. Heat.

Hello, my name is Isabella Perez, recreation leader for the city of Sakoro. Thank you for joining today's meeting. Before the meeting begins, we would like to remind our guests to remove all hats and silence all electronic devices. No disruptive behavior or outburst will be tolerated and violates are subject to ejection and possible prosecution. is Judy Rodriguez. Uh, welcome everybody to the March 5th, 2026 regular Soro City Council meeting. Uh, we're going to go ahead and begin our meeting. And, uh, we'll start with the call to order. Um, I call this meeting to order at 604. I'm sorry. And then we have some very, very special guests with us today and they're going to lead us in the pledge of allegiance and a moment of silence. And these students are from HD Hilly Elementary School. So, if you could all please stand for the pledge of allegiance. I aliance 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 aliance to thee, Texas. One state under God. One and indivisible.

Thank you all. Before you all head back uh back home to do homework, we want to recognize you all with some certificates on behalf of the city of Sakoro and the Sakoro city council. So, when you hear your names, uh, we we'd like to all shake your hands. And if you guys would let us take a picture with you all, would that be okay? All right. Messiah Castillo,

Sophia Ruiz, Daniela Valdez. Thank you and Diana Viz. And I have Martin Kas in the middle.

I'm sorry. At this time, can we have teachers, principles get in the group photo? Teachers, principles, Did you guys want to join your students? Thank you all so much. Let's go ahead and establish quorum at this time.

Reges, yes. Sister Near here. Alejandro Garcia here. Mayor Rudy Cruz here. Gina Corder here. Roz, present. Mayor, we have a Thank you. Uh, we're going to go ahead and move into agenda item number four, which is public comment. Mayor, we have one speaker, David Rosenberg. Mr. Rosenberg, you have three minutes.

Can you hear me? Oh, there it is. Yes. Distinguished city council, appreciate the time to uh speak a little bit about uh why why I'm here. Uh I uh I don't actually live here. I live in the state of California. However, um my company uh Everance Wealth has recently partnered and become a vendor of uh the city of school district. Um, so I wanted to come and represent myself in front of uh your distinguished uh city council, let you know uh why we're here and um a little bit about um what we do. You know, one thing I ran into uh Mr. Rudy Cruz here uh right before I walked in. And one thing that he said was uh that wealth and revenue and um some of the things that are necessary to build a great city are at a little bit of a lack. And one reason why um I've kind of devoted uh my life to education in the financial realm is because I saw the lack with my family. You know, we didn't grow up rich. We didn't grow up in a place that was massively educated in what to do with money or retirement or any of these different um types of topics. You know, it wasn't something that people usually talk about. But it's something that we wanted to bring to the forefront because I believe that the current system that many Americans um especially here in the state of Texas are lacking in is proper things to allow them to retire not with a fixed income but with a growing one. And I feel like the education is definitely there especially in the age of technology. The problem is people that are here to help break.

Is this is this is that better? Okay. Was that not coming through very clear? Now it's coming really clear. Sorry about that. Hi there. Um thank you for that. I lost my train of thought. So it's okay. It's all right. Don't even worry about it. It's okay. Uh one of the realities of uh why we're here is to help people bridge that gap. Okay, we're here talking to the city of Sakoro um to let you know that we've become a vendor again for the school district um that there are other areas of government employment that potentially need a second look. Um I'm a big fan of retirement and current systems. I don't believe that there's any one way to do it, but I do believe that there is a combination. Uh and I do believe that the current retirement system needs um a bit of an update. You know, our world is changing, technology is changing. If you don't change with the times, you get left behind. And I don't believe that the people of Sakoro want to be left behind, especially when you want to move forward. And it starts one community at a time.

Mr. Wilsonberg, you Yes, ma'am. Oh, thank you for your That was it. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Mr. Nevada, can you please turn on your microphone a little button? Just make sure it's right. No, your microphone is Okay. Awesome. Thank you. Anyone? That's it. Right. We just s All right. Awesome. Mayor, uh, at this time I would like to move item 38 and 39 um right after our public um comments. There was a motion and second

and a second to move items 38 and 39 up on the list. So, um, all those in favor say I. I. I. That motion carries. We're going to jump to agenda items uh 38. And this is the uh discussion and action to approve the appointment of Isidro Torres to the planning and zoning commission place seven. Motion. Motion to approve. Second. There's been a motion and second. All those in favor say I. I.

Okay. At this time, we can now move into agenda item 39, which is the swearing in of our newly appointed commissioner, Mr. And then can we have staff swear I'm

in right Please Congratulations.

Thank you.

Okay, moving on to uh consent agenda. Motion to consent agenda. Second motion to approve. Motion to approve consent agenda. Second. There's been a motion and second to approve the consent agenda. All in favor say I. I. That motion carries. Miss Keen, I'm sorry. Can you please he speak to into the microphone? Yes, sir. Thank you. Do you want anyone else to speak into the mic before we move forward with the meeting? No, I think everyone else is fine, sir. All right. So, we need everybody to speak into the mic just to make sure that we address the complaints that the citizens have been addressing over and over for them to be able to hear us through our YouTube channels.

Can you hear me now? I can hear you, sir.

All right. Okay. So, we're going to move over to the uh regular agenda. These are public hearing and ordinances. And we'll begin with agenda item number 21. This is a public hearing of an ordinance for the proposed amendment to the city of Sakoro's master plan and resoning of lot 3, block 13, Alamemeda Estates replat located at 10387 Mansana Road, Sakoro, Texas from R1 single family residential to R2 medium density residential to allow two existing dwellings and a variance from section 46-262 error requirements sub 2D to allow a reduced rear yard setback of 3 ft instead of the 20 foot setback requirements on the rear dwelling. It's 6:17 p.m. and the public hearing is now open.

No speakers.

As there are no speakers, we're going to go ahead and close the public hearing at 6:17 p.m. as well. The next item is agenda item 22. This is the second reading and adoption of an ordinance for the proposed amendment to the city of Sakoro's master plan and resoning of lot 3, block 13, Alamemeda estates replat located at 10387 Mansana road, Tokoro, Texas, from R1 single family residential to R2 medium density residential to allow two existing dwellings and a variance from the section 46-262 area requirements sub 2D to allow a reduced rear yard setback of 3 ft instead of the 20 foot setback requirements on the rear dwelling.

Motion to approve. Second.

Thank you, mayor and council. Loren Kimo, city planner. Item um on the agenda 10387s Road resoning request. The property uh owner, Roelio Science Jr. Lot size is 13,783 square ft. The zoning is R1 single family residential and the current land use is residential. The future sub uh land use map designates the area as suburban residential. In summary, the request is for approval of a resoning of a property from R1 to R2 to allow two existing dwellings and a variance request for a reduced rear yard setback for the second dwelling on the property. Staff recommends approval of the resoning and variance request. The planning and zoning commission voted for approval unanimously with three members present at their February 3rd planning and zoning commission meeting. The next slide is a zoning map showing the R1 single family residential and the surrounding R1 properties. The next slide is a future land use map of also suburban residential. The subdivision map of the Alamemeda Estates replat originally had 100 uh and now currently has 180 157 R1 residential lots, six R2 residential lots and four R3 residential lots and there are four vacant lots in the Alamea states replat

subdivision. This plat was originally recorded in um 19 in June of 1973. The aerial image shows the two property the two homes on the single lot and the mix of residential surrounding the property. These photographs were taken from Mansana Road. On the top left you can clearly the house at the uh front of the property and on the bottom right you can see the property uh dwelling in the rear. Public notices were sent to property owners within 200 ft. No correspondence was received either in favor or against the request and no speakers at the public hearing. This is the site plan showing the two properties and the rear property request for the variance. With that, staff can answer any questions. Uh but in summary, the request is for approval of a resoning of a property from single family residential to medium density residential to allow the two existing dwellings and a variance from section 46 to 62 to allow for the reduced yard setback of 3 ft instead of the 20 foot required.

Thank you. Thank you, Miss Kim. Do uh any members of council have any questions? No, sir. Further discussion on this one here? So, just real quick, um the the three-foot yard set back is is because that dwelling was already built years ago. And

yes, the front building was built in ' 87 and the rear building according to central appraisal district records was built in 1993. And because our ordinances have changed now and and we've added the 20 foot set back, it wouldn't necessarily comply with something like that, right? Which is why they're requesting the variance. Okay. All right. I don't have any other questions. Uh there was a motion and second. All those in favor say I. I.

And that motion carries. Um we're on agenda item number 23. And for any residents that that um want to see what we're looking at and what we're reading, you can pick up a copy of um of the agenda items back back there if there's any particular one that you want to see. Agenda item number 23 is the public hearing of an ordinance for approval of a master plan resubmission section 38-7.11 master plan changes for Sakoro Logistics Center being Sakoro Logistics Unit One. Sakora Logistics Center unit 2, Sakora Logistics Center Unit 3, all of track 7A, portions of tracks 23, 456 and 8A, portions of Mesa Spur Drain, all within block 5. Sakoto grant located at the Sakoro Logistics Lane and Sakorto Distribution Drive, Sakoro, Texas to allow for industrial development. It's now 6:23 p.m. and public hearing is now open.

No speakers, ma'am. As there are no speakers, we're going to go ahead and close the public hearing at 6:23 p.m. as well. Agenda item number 24. This is the second reading and adoption of an ordinance for approval of a master plan resubmission section 38-7.11 master plan changes for Sako Logistics Center being Sakoro Logistics Unit One, Sakoro Logistics Center Unit 2, Sakoro Logistics Center unit 3, all of track 7A, portions of tracks 23, 4,56 and 8A. portions of Mesa Spur Drain all within block five Sakoro grant located at Sakuro Logistics Lane and Sakoro distribution drive Sakoro Texas to allow for industrial development.

Motion to approve. Second.

Uh thank you mayor and councel. The next item is a resubmission of the Sakor Logistics Center master plan. The property owner is Sakor Logistics Lands 2 LLC. Their representative is present to answer any questions. Should council have any and their engineer is Jorge Graeda of CA Group. The property is 316 acres in size and the zoning is ICMUD with one pending agricultural reszoning that is on your agenda today. The current land use is industrial and vacant. The future land use map designates this area as industrial commercial mixeduse. In summary, the request is for approval a of a master plan resubmission for the Sacru Logistics Industrial uh center. Staff recommends approval of the request and the planning and zoning commission voted for approval for yes, zero, no, and zero abstensions at their March 3rd meeting. The zoning map shows the ICMUD in purple and the one pending agricultural resoning which you will hear hear shortly. The aerial image shows the constructed buildings uh one through five of the Sakoral Logistics master plan and the vacant lot on the other side of the Mesa drain, the former Mesa drain. These are taken uh on at sites throughout the master plan area, the original master plan. And then the next slide is the resubmission. They are adding the property that was is to be heard today.

uh the IV tract and the serat tract which you heard uh city council had heard and approved previously. So the area in red is the area that's being added to the Sakor Logistics master plan. In summary, the request is for approval of a master plan resubmission for Sakora Logistics Center. And with that, staff can answer any questions and again the representatives are here to answer any questions as well. Any members of council have any questions or further discussion on this item? No, sir. Okay. There was a motion and second. All those in favor say I. I. That motion carries.

Agenda item number 25. This is the public hearing of an ordinance for the approval of a replat for Baba unit one replat B subdivision being a replat of lot two block two Baba unit 1 subdivision and located at 10301 Desert Oak Court El Paso County Texas and it's 6:27 p.m. Public hearing is now open.

No speakers. As there are no speakers, we'll go ahead and close the public hearing at 6:27 p.m. as well. Agenda item number 26. This is the second reading and adoption of an ordinance for the approval of a replat for Baba unit one replat B subdivision being a replat of lot 2, block 2, Baba unit one subdivision and located at 10301 Desert Oak Court, El Paso County, Texas. Motion to approve.

Second. Thank you, mayor and councel. The next item is Baba unit 1 subdivision rellat B. Uh the property is located at 10301 Desert Oak Court. The property owner uh Vimal Vaka and the representative George Hul with SLI Engineering. The property is a little over two and a half acres in size. It has no zoning as it is in the city of Sakuro's two-mile ETJ and the uh current land use is uh under construction. The uh request is for approval of a replat of Baba unit one replat B to divide the larger lot into two. Staff recommends approval of the request and the planning and zoning commission voted for approval. Three yes, zero, no, and zero abstensions at their February 3rd meeting. An updated aerial shows the existing uh construction that's underway of the new hotel. And you, as you can see, it just absuts the city of Soral city limits. These are photographs of the property taken from Desert Oak Drive, the hotel that is currently under construction, and They the applicant uh saw that there was an opportunity to uh spit in a small commercial use on the property as well and that is why they are requesting the repl. Uh this is the original plat with the one lot and the division that's being proposed through this replat. In summary, the request is uh for approval of a reflat for Baba unit one. Um

for Baba unit one, reflat B. With that, staff can answer any questions. Thank you, Miss Kamudo. Uh do any members of council have any questions or further discussion on this item? No. Okay, sir. There was a motion and second. All those in favor say I. I. And that motion carries.

Agenda item number 27. This is a public hearing of an ordinance requested by the Texas Department of Transportation to reduce the speed limit on Horizon Boulevard uh FM 1281 from North Loop Drive to FM76 to the city limits at Interstate Highway 10 from 50 miles an hour to 45 miles per hour. It's 6:30 p.m. and public hearing is now open. No speakers, mayor.

No speakers. Thank you. Thank you. We're going to go ahead and close the public hearing at 6:30 p.m. as well. Agenda item 28. This is the second reading and adoption of an ordinance requested by the Texas Department of Transportation to reduce the speed limit on Horizon Boulevard, FM 1281 from North Loop Drive, FM76 to the city limits at Interstate Highway 10 from 50 miles an hour to 45 miles per hour. Motion to approve. Second.

Thank you, mayor and councel. Uh, Textot reached out to the city of Sakoro after conducting a traffic study on Horizon Boulevard from North Loop to Asencion Street and they recommend reducing the speed limit from 50 miles per hour to 45 miles per hour within the city of Sakoro city limits. This uh change is necessary u and needs um council uh changed through a municipal ordinance. Staff recommends approval of the request. The next slide shows the map. There are se currently sections of Horizon. I'm Horizon Boulevard that are 45 and sections that are 50. So this would provide for a uniform speed limit on Horizon Boulevard. with that staff can answer any questions.

So from from North Loop all the way to I 10, we'll be traveling at 45 miles per hour now. Correct. Okay. And I believe that's the case already for once we're coming down from let's say McDonald's that dip right there that's where it changes into 45. And so so now we're just changing it from the above all 45 really. Okay. Uh, Miss Kimo, uh, should should we adopt this tonight and and ordinance changes pass, does the text stop provide a timeline from well when they'll be able to start um switching out the signs? We can request that. Uh, okay. Right. Um, anyone

and provide uh public notification through the social media so that people are aware. I was going to say we had to notify the public letting them know because I don't want them complaining when chief pulls them over and they get a ticket. because now it's 45. Well, ask me why I know that changed there. We're not going there. All right. Do any members of council or speeders have any other comments or questions on this item? No, sir. No. That was a motion and second. All those in favor say I. I. I. And that motion carries. Okay. Agenda item. Open vote. You know this.

Yeah, I know. We're going to move on to uh item 29, which is the public hearing of an ordinance for the proposed amendment to the city of Sakoro's master plan and reszoning of track 5 block 5 Soro grant located at Sakoro distribution drive Soro, Texas from A1 agricultural tomud or industrial commercial mixuse district and a variance request from section 46-451 uh general regul ulations height requirements to allow a 50 foot maximum allowable building height instead of the 45 foot maximum height limitation to allow for distribution and warehouse facilities and public hearing is now open at 6:33 p.m.

No speakers may okay as there are no speakers we're going to go ahead and close the public hearing at 6:34 p.m. And we're moving into agenda item number 30. This is the second reading and adoption of an ordinance for the proposed amendment to the city of Sakoro's master plan and resoning of track 5 block 5 SOTO grant located at Sakoro distribution drive Sakoro Texas from A1 agricultural to ICMUD industrial commercial mixeduse district and a variance request from section 46-451 general regulations height requirements to allow a 50- foot maximum allowable building height instead of the 45 foot maximum height limit. limitation to allow for the distribution and warehouse facilities.

Motion to approve. Second.

Thank you, mayor and councel. Item 30 for your consideration is the reszoning that I had mentioned in the previous uh item. The property owner is Ben IBLtD and the his representatives of Coral Logistics Land 2 LLC who is present to answer any questions that you might have. The lot is just under 19 acres in size and currently zoned R A1 agricultural. The current land use is vacant and the future land use map designates the area as industrial commercial mixed use. In summary, the request is for approval of a resoning of a property from agricultural to industrial commercial mixed use and a variance to allow a 50- foot maximum allowable building height instead of the 45 foot maximum height limitation that is currently um in our ordinance and this would allow for the construction of uh industrial uh warehouse facilities. Staff recommends approval of the request and the planning and zoning commission voted for approval at their March 3rd meeting uh with four yeses, zero nos, and zero abstensions. Uh the zoning map depicts the applicant property highlighted in yellow, green for agricultural and purple for all the surrounding uh ICMUD. And this is at the edge of the city limits. The future land use map showing the IC MU zoning. The aerial image shows the vacant undeveloped land and the vacant area surrounding it. And just to the bottom left, the industrial uh buildings of Sakura logistics. These are photographs of the property taken from Sakuro Distribution Drive.

Public notice was sent out to property owners within 200 ft. No correspondence was received either in favor or against the item and no one spoke either in favor or against at the public hearing. This is the concept plan showing the building on the property and a snippet from the development plan showing the industrial building and the adjacent private ponds and parking. In summary, the request is for approval of a resoning for a property from A1 agricultural to ICME industrial commercial mixeduse and a variance request from section 46451 general regulations of subdivisions height requirements to allow a 50 foot maximum allowable height instead of the 45 maximum height limitation to allow for distribution and warehouse facilities. And again, that uh staff can answer any questions and the representative is also in attendance to answer any questions that you might have.

Any members of council have any questions? No, sir. M Mr. Ivy here with us today? No. No. His representative from Sakuro Logistics Land 2 LLC. This is Ben Ivy the the owner his representative comes from the family generation of farmers, right? From what I understand, just wanted to ask Mr. Ivy why why he doesn't want to farm anymore. Um, but there was a motion and second on the table. All those in favor say I. I. That motion carries. Thank you.

Agenda item number 31. This is the public hearing of an ordinance approving a preliminary plat and final plat for the Sakoro Logistics Center unit 5 subdivision being all of track 7A. a portion of tracks six and 8A and a portion of Mesa spur drain all within block five. Sooto grant El Paso County, Texas according to the reservey of said Sakoto grant made by El Paso County, Texas for tax purposes and a portion of lot one block 2 SKO logistics center unit 2 Soroto Texas. It's 6:39 p.m. and the public hearing is now open.

No speakers. Thank you. As there are no speakers, we're going to go ahead and close the public hearing at 6:39 p.m. as well. Agenda item number 32. This is the second reading and adoption of an ordinance approving a preliminary plat and a final plat for the Sakoro Logistics Center unit 5 subdivision being all of track 7A, a portion of track 6 and 8A and a portion of Mesa Spur drain all within block 5 SKO grant El Paso County, Texas. According to the reservey of said Sakoro grant made by El Paso County, Texas for the tax purposes and a portion of lot one block two Sakuro logistics center unit to Sakoro, Texas. Motion to approve. Second.

Thank you, mayor and councel. This property is located on Sakoro Distribution Drive. The owner is Sakoro Logistics Lands 2 and Land 3 LLC. their representatives CA group and they are in attendance to answer qu any questions that you might have. The lot is 33 uh just under just a little over 33 acres in size. It is zoned ICMUD. It is currently vacant and the future land use map for the area designates it as industrial industrial commercial mixed use. The request is for approval of a preliminary flat and final flat for Sakoro Logistics Center unit 5. Staff recommends approval of the request and the planning and zoning commission voted for approval of four to zero with no extensions at their March 3rd meeting. The zoning map shows the area that will be will encompass logistics unit 5. The aerial shows the vacant land and the adjacent vacant land and developing logistics center. This is a photograph taken from Sakura Distribution Drive, the preliminary plat and final plat showing the two lots. And the plat exhibit shows the Soral logistics unit five property in relation to the new plat and addition to the Sor Logistics master

plan. In summary, the request is for approval of a preliminary and final plat for Soral Logistics Center Unifi. With that, staff can answer any questions and again the representatives are here to answer any questions as well. Do any members of council have any questions for this item? I have a question. Uh just for clarity, it this is the area that is adjacent to the current one on new tanks, right? Yes. It's it's in the behind that area. Like I can go back to the Yes, please. to the master plan. Well, maybe I can just do it real quick. And I have it here. I I I was just wanting some clarity on the area.

A good image that includes uh where the interstate is on the top right and no tanks on the bottom. Okay. This is the reasoning that you just approved and the land that's cleared is where the unit five, right? That was all our agricultural back in the day. Yes. Okay. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Any other questions or comments? No, sir. There was a motion and second. All those in favor say I. I. That motion carries. Thank you, Miss Kamito.

We're going to move into the grants department. And with agenda item number 33, this is the discussion and action to approve supplemental number seven to work authorization number three under contract 22-07-01 with Kamacho Hernandez and Associates LLC for the Sparks Royo drainage improvement project to allow for additional surveying work. For this project, there's an increase of $15,856 to the maximum amount payable under this contract. Motion to approve. Second.

Good afternoon, mayor and council. Alejandra Lades, city development director. We're requesting your approval on this supplemental that will increase the cost of the project by approximately $15,000. As you recall, the Sparks AO A Royoyo drainage project has been identified since 2017 as a priority to mitigate some of the flooding that occurs around the Sparks area. Um, in 2022, the city of Sakura secured approximately $10 million in financial assistance from the Texas Water Development Board and and the city did commit a million dollars from its federal allocation under ARPA. In 2022, Kamacho Hernandez and Associates began engineering design of the of the Sparks Aoyo project. Right now, we're at the property acquisition phase and in order to reduce the cost of acquisition, we need to go back and do additional surveying work so that they can reduce the footprint of the project. Um, the additional $15,000 is going to help us reduce our property acquisition costs from approximately a million dollars closer to $400,000. Hopefully, we can cover that with a lot of the funding that we've already secured. Um, at this time, if you have any questions, I can answer those.

Any questions on this item? No, sir. Comments? No. Got a got a comment. So you're saying that we might be able to get the the whole 15,000 through the ARPA funding? No. So this is a cost that the city has to incur through its general fund. And I do believe that we do have some cost savings in our general uh fund budget that could be able to could cover that. this money will not be able to recover but we are able the work that is done with uh those funds is going to help us reduce the cost of the acquisition of properties u hopefully to a level that can be covered by the grant

thank you any further discussion or comments on this one here no okay there was a motion and second all those in favor say I that motion carries agenda item 34 this is the discussion and action to approve the city of Sakoro's title 6 program in compliance with federal transit administration guidelines. Motion to approve. Second.

Good afternoon, mayor and council. Um, as you know, title six of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits the discrimination based on race, color, and national origin in any program or activity that is receiving federal financial assistance. As you know, the city of Sakoro is interested in becoming a direct recipient of Federal Transit Administration funds to fund our microtransit program. Um, in order for us to be eligible for those funds, we do need to update our civil rights policy. Our CI civil rights policy um has not been updated since 2014. And this updated policy will take care of all of those requirements, including uh outlining complaint procedures, uh where people can call if they feel that they have been discriminated against, any language uh accommodations that need to happen, public trans public participation plan, and we also designate redd designate our title six coordinator, which is Miss Carol. Is that it?

That is all. Okay. Are there any uh questions on this item here or any comments? No. Thank you for taking care of that. Thank you. Appreciate it. Thank you. There was a a motion and second. All those in favor say I. I. Motion carries. Agenda item number 35. This is the discussion and action to approve the city of Sakoro's updated purchasing policy. Motion to approve. Second.

Good afternoon, mayor and council. We bring these updates to our purchasing policy to you for the same uh purpose as the civil rights uh title six updates. This is so that the city of Sakoro is eligible to receive federal transit administration funds and also to make sure that our policies align with what they call the uniform guidance which is the federal requirements for all federal contracts and federal awards. Um the updated policy addresses a lot of of items where we weren't quite aligning with the federal requirements um such as the micro purchase threshold, updated procurement uh formal procurement uh policies, required contract provisions for federally funded contracts, vendor suspension and devar dearment verifications um and conflict of interest. additional requirements there. Um I it is important for me to let you all know that there may be additional uh updates to this policy as we are continuing to review and consolidate our policies to make sure that we have the most up-to-date um documents for when we receive additional funds. Awesome.

This um I guess it's in addition to our current uh procurement policy, but it's it's to make sure that we're in compliance with like the federal acquisition of of how we are hiring certain contractors. Correct. Things like that. Yes. For example, the the department verification, it'll now be part of our processes. uh before we enter into a contract with any uh vendor, we need to check that they haven't been debarred or have some kind of issue with the federal government. So Okay. Yeah. Very well. So, mayor, it's it's an it's an amendment to the current policy. Policy, right? Okay.

Thanks. Um does anyone have any other questions or comments? Uh that was a motion and second. All those in favor say I. I. That motion carries. Thank you, Miss Valdes. Agenda item number 36. This is the discussion and action to approve an event permit for the Taco and Food Fest at 10179 Sakoro Road on Saturday, March 28th, 2026 from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. Motion to approve. Second.

Thank you, Mayor and Council. The event permit was submitted to the planning and zoning department for the event to be held at the cast.

Item 36. This is to approve an event permit for the Taco and Food Fest at 10179 Saporo Road. The applicants were Alyssa Henson and Anthony Henson. The event will take place uh with your approvals Saturday, March 28th uh from 2 2:00 p.m. to 10 p.m. The planning and zoning staff recommends approval. This is the site map that was presented along with the application showing where the event will take place and parking availability. If that staff can answer any questions.

Any questions or comments on this item? No. Okay, that was a motion and second. All those in favor say I.

I. That motion carries. The next item is agenda item number 37. This is the discussion and action regarding the petition to release the following real property from the city of Sakoros ETJ approximately 85 square miles 544.56 acres and on the El Paso central appraisal district property IDs listed as 23965 319758 17887138-521 73093 189708169232 352355 28447 328033 73921378441 406712 739201 78910 280855 111-896 144735 300093645 5539 151312 366 628 219854 101451 and 2133 326

Motion to approve. Mayor and Council, this is a release request from the city of Sakoral ZTJ. The properties that mayor uh um read into record are the properties that are being are requesting to be released from the ETJ. As you recall, you may recall from having heard previous ETJ release requests. Uh these properties uh have the legislation changed uh pretty much allowing them to be released as long as they satisfy the requirements. These individual applications were requests were sent in and these are from the property owners and there is no and they satisfy the requirements to be released from the city of Sakoro ZTJ.

Do any members of council have any questions on this item here? No sir. No. Okay. There was a motion and second. All those in favor say I.

I. That motion carries. Thank you. I'm looking for my uh backup for agenda item 40. All right, we'll just speak from the heart. Agenda item number 40 is the discussion and possible action to increase the municipal property tax exemption for the homeowners ages 65 and older within the city of Sakoro, Texas, and to consider the adoption of a property tax freeze on the residents homestead of qualifying homeowners ages 65 and older in accordance with the applicable Texas law.

Motion to approve. Second. So, thank you. Yeah, maybe heard. Good evening, council. Jim Martinez, city attorney. I simply wanted to clarify that as the mayor announced as he read the agenda item, that was precisely correct, but it there's an error in what we published. Uh the mayor used the term the to consider the adoption of a property tax freeze. That's the correct phrase. As we published it, it said to consider the adoption of a property tax free. Just an error. complete you fixed it.

And Mr. Martinez, thanks for pointing that out because a lot of folks would may have assumed that they're they're going to be just taxfree of paying property tax, but we can't we can't do that. Um, so you all are uh are familiar with the the rise of goods and services and and for a lot of our residents here in Sakoro that are homeowners and 65 and over. I think that uh it's it's quite difficult for them. Uh the last thing that I want to see is for our residents having to pick and choose between paying utility bills or or or putting food on the table or having to pay for taxes. And the last thing that I also want to see is for our elderly folk to get taxed out of their homes. I want to make sure that they can hold on to those homes for as long as they live and and hopefully one day pass it on to um their son or their daughter or grandkids and and and provide some type of inheritance. and for many more reasons. I just think that this is something that um city of Sakur and I wish that our our um officials and counterparts throughout the county would would follow in our lead to bring some type of tax relief for uh our elderly and maybe one day we can see some tax relief for the rest of us taxpaying residents here in the county. But I think this is a good start. we can direct our staff to uh research and see what the financial impact might look like here for the city of Sakoro. But ultimately uh my main goal here is to increase that tax exemption for our elderly. And if we can um potentially adopt a a tax freeze under applicable Texas law, then so be it. But this item here is just for uh staff to go ahead and begin uh researching what that would look like. Mr. Garcia,

uh just to make clear, uh this is great. We just want to make sure that our counterparts in the district, the school district, uh also could follow our lead. Uh but right now, I'd say like budgets for the the school districts is very very tight, but a lot of has to do with our school district school districts that also have a lot to do with property taxes. And I hope they can uh somehow follow our lead or Rudy's lead uh to do this as well and that would make it even u a stronger uh motion for that. Uh but yeah, because it's not just the city uh our surrounding school districts as well um have big play a big part into our taxes and hopefully we can work together to to alleviate some of that uh property tax for our elderly. Thank you.

Thank you. Agreed. Mayor, well, I understand that tax increase is inevitable and but for our residents who are on a budget and on a fixed income, this would dearly help everybody. So, I think uh this is the right the right route for us to go. Thank you for your comments. Yes, it is

a comment. I still got only five more years to go to pay his taxes. My my concern is staff will come back and give us the financial impact on the rest of the residents that are not over 65, right?

Yeah. So, what we'll be directing staff to do tonight is um they'll they'll get with um with the administrative uh department that run the El Paso County Appraisal District. And what they'll do is they'll run numbers. They they'll conduct an analysis and they're going to pull information as to how many residents, qualifying homeowners, uh 65 and over own their home in the city of Sakoro. And if we want to increase the tax exemption because they already have a tax exemption right now, but if we choose to raise it so that the they're paying they're getting taxed less on the the value of their home, they'll come back with different options. So maybe for example, staff will come back and say, "Look, if we increase the tax exemption for Sakoro residents 65 and over that are homeowners to 10,000, this is what the financial impact will look like. 15, 20, 30,000, whatever we decide. This is what the financial impact. And what I mean by financial impact, it it means technically the amount of money that the city wouldn't be able to collect uh providing that we we we move forward with the tax exemption. If if that makes sense. Does that make sense, Mr. Martinez?

Uh yes, sir, it does. If that is council's intent, though, I would recommend that the motion be amended. The motion was simply to approve the item. If it's council's intent to instruct your your attorneys and your administration to research the item and report back with options and effects. You should say should amend that item and then Yes, sir.

Um you'll see that there's also language in there uh to also um research the uh tax freeze. So, keeping keeping taxes where they're at for for the uh residents 65 and over that own homes here in Sakoro. that could also be uh another option. I I I favor the the tax exemption increase because if it's something that maybe in the following year or two, we can come back and say, you know what, let's increase it another 10. Let's increase it another 10,000. Or if we decide to pick a number tomorrow and say, you know what, we're going to raise it by 20 uh,000, the tax exemption. Um we can do 10 this year, we can do 10 next year. Um, but I'd like to see what the numbers look like uh first before we can move forward on something like this. So,

yeah, I'd like to make amend my motion to research to have our um staff and attorneys research on and amending our tax exempt for our 65 and older uh residents of the city of Sakoro. Return to council proposals. A return to council with proposals. Second to second. Okay. There's been a a motion and a second to amend the current item so that the staff can research the increase of a municipal property tax exemption for homeowners ages 65 and older within the city of Sooto, Texas, and have staff report back. There was a motion and second. All those in favor say I.

I.

That motion carries. Thank you, councel. Agenda item number 41. This is the discussion and action to direct staff to research the financial impact to the city's budget for the creation of a GoFundMe account to help Sakoro families affected by fires, floods, or natural disasters. The fund will provide financial support to residents struggling to rebuild their homes and lives. So this year I attended the National Conference of Mayors in Washington DC and I got to meet with some people from the uh GoFundMe uh government accounts and and I I was kind of curious and asked them how does it work? Where has it been used? and they had a display and a presentation and they've shown that, you know, a lot of times when uh when residents in our community, they they experience natural disasters, maybe maybe a large tree fell on their home and and and damaged their their roof or or even here in Sakuro, we've seen it. We've seen it a few times uh in the past year where uh residential homes have burned down and the families they try they try uh the GoFundMe account and I'll be real honest with you, we we lived in an underserved population where a lot of our residents they they they spent their entire lives building their home and then something like this happens and some of our homeowners unfortunately they don't have they don't have insurance policies to cover to cover these things. and um they don't have the financial means to rebuild and it's it becomes very difficult for them. So my idea of of creating this GoFundMe is is not is not meant just for any type of uh disaster or any type of event. It

would have to be one that uh that would be a qualifying one. And the reason why I wanted the city to establish something like this was because I think the city can or has a farther reach rather than just an individual resident setting up a GoFundMe account. Well, how many people can they really reach? I'm trying to involve the community and I'm trying to engage our community to to to help in in these times of need. Um, but again, I think that this is also an item that we would have to amend for our staff to research first because I'd like to put my my staff in contact with the government relations people of GoFundMe so that they can talk and understand how it would work. Now, if there is a financial impact that the council doesn't agree to or they see that it's something that, you know, we we may not favor at this time, then so be it. But at least I'd like to have the staff research what what what could it be? You know that that

I just have a question on on for Mr. Martinez. How would how is there any liability for the city in in doing something like this? You know, I would hate to think that somebody a dollar is missing or something were to happen. Would there be any liability? I I think that's a very serious concern. I've started to research the issue. I have not done enough research that I can definitively tell you yes, there is there's ex likelihood that you'll get sued. There will be some kind of claim against you. But it's obviously a concern anytime you have a a governmental entity administering a fund of any form that ultimately benefits you a handful or even in single individual residents.

Right. That's my only concern. Um because if something were to go missing or and it falls liability falls on us. I know Mr. uh recruits uh talk to those people in DC. So, but that is my only concern with this because $1 missing, $2 missing. I mean, that that's that'll cause a mess. But

you make you bring up a valid a valid point and I I I agree with you and understand where you're coming from. I feel that should should the should our staff research it first? Maybe maybe GoFundMe comes back and says, "You know what? We manage the account. You guys just provide us the information and tell us this is the family that's in that's in need. Their home burned down. This is their goal. But GoFundMe is going to manage the account. That way the liability is completely taken off the backs of the city and and we can we can share information through our uh our portals or dissemination of information on on different platforms. Um maybe that might be the outcome. And if that's something that the that the that GoFundMe comes back with, then maybe that's another option. But I just wanted to explore at this time, not necessarily take action on it today, but just the the action item would be to have staff at least research it.

Yes, it's definitely a situation because it's my understanding with a GoFundMe there is the the person who organizes it gets a percentage of that money. And so we don't want to mislead the community as far as well, somebody's making personal gains out of it. Um so it will it and then if if that person organizes me organizing it is making profit and as mayor suggested let's say the GoFundMe company decides to organize it does that mean that they get that profit that percentage from where the the constituents are adding money to? So yes, I I think it it would open doors for a mis misleading uh issues. Therefore, I think a lot of research would be needed for that. Although it's a great idea because our constituents do need that support. um we've had issues, we've had uh hazards happen this year alone and so you know our our constituents would benefit from it.

So I'd like to make a motion to approve and direct staff to research uh this and make bring us back a presentation uh especially with liabilities towards the city about doing this certain project. Okay. Okay. So, there's been a a motion and second to amend this item in order for staff to research and bring back that information and talk more about how the GoFundMe account would function uh within our local government. So, no amendment is needed because the item is to direct staff is to direct staff already. Okay. So, there was a motion and second on the table. All those in favor say I. I. Any oppose or abstain?

That motion carries. Do we have any items posted for? We have one item. 42 45 45. Do we need to delete 42, 43, and 44? Motion to delete items 42 to 44. Second. There's been a motion to delete items 42, 43, and 44. All those in favor say I. I. Motion to go into executive. Second. There's been a motion to go into executive. uh session. All those in favor say I. I. I. That motion carries. Uh we're going to now retire into executive session at 7:10 p.m.

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Hey, hey, hey. It's 7:44 p.m. And we're now back in regular session of the March 5th, 2026 Sakoro City Council meeting.

Uh after discussion of item 45, does council have a motion? Motion to approve staff recommendation in executive. Second. There's been a motion and second. All those in favor say I. I. I. Okay, that motion carries. Um do I have a motion, Mr. Martinez? No. Motion to adjurnn. Second. There's a motion and second to adjurnn. All those in favor say I. That motion carries. This meeting ends at 7:45 p.m. Thank you.