Planning and Zoning Commission - Regular Meeting

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Hello, my name is Elizabeth Cruz, Grants and Special Projects Compliance Officer for the City of Socorro. Thank you for joining today's meeting. Before our meeting begins, we would like to remind our guests to please remove all hats and silence all electronic devices. No disruptive behaviors or outbursts will be tolerated and violators are subject to ejection or possible prosecution.

Hola, mi nombre es Judy Rodriguez, Planeadora de la Ciudad de Socorro. Gracias por participar en la reunión de hoy. Antes de que comience la reunión, quisiera recordarle a nuestros invitados favor de quitarse los sombreros y silenciar todo dispositivo electrónico. No se tolerará ningún comportamiento perturbador ni exabrupto y los infractores estarán sujetos a expulsión y posible procesamiento.

Good afternoon, everybody. This is the Planning and Zoning Commission of the City of Socorro, Texas. It is September 1st, 2026, 532 p.m. We call this meeting to order.

Good afternoon. Establishment of quorum. Andrew Royals?

Here.

David Estrada?

Here.

Osvaldo Reza? Absent. Yolanda Rodriguez? Absent. Rafael Carrillo? Absent. Isidro Torres?

Here.

We have a quorum with three commissioners present. Item number three, open forum. Alfredo, do we have anyone that would like to speak?

Not at the moment.

Thank you. Item number four, consent agenda. Do I have a motion?

Make a motion to approve.

Second.

I have a motion made by Andrew Arroyo, second by Ciro Torres to approve. All those in favor of the motion?

Aye.

Any nays? Any abstain? Motion carried. Regular agenda. Item number five, public hearing request for a proposed amendment to the City of Socorro's master plan and rezoning of a portion of track 1A and 1B, track 1A3, track 1B-1, and 1E1, and track 1A1 and 1E2. And 1B3, Block 26, Socorro Grand, located on Vineyard Road, Socorro, Texas, El Paso County, Texas, from A1 Agricultural to R2 Medium Density Residential. Mr. Arroyos?

Yes, good afternoon, everybody. We will open public hearing at 5.33.

We have no speakers that would like to speak.

So we will close public hearing at 5.33. Thank you.

Item number six, consider and take action on the proposed amendment to the City of Socorro's master plan and rezoning of a portion of track 1A, 1B, track 1A3, track 1B1, and 1E1, and track 1A1 and 1B3, block 26, Socorro Grand, located on Vineyard Road, City of Socorro, El Paso County, Texas, from A1 Agricultural to R2 Medium Density Residential. Mr. Ruiz.

Thank you, Miriam. Good evening, chair and members of the commission. Diego Ruiz, planner with the city of Socorro. We will be continuing with the rezoning requests of the property located at Vineyard Road. This rezoning request repaints to tract 1A, 1B, and 1E, now known as tracts 1A1, 1A3, 1B1, 1B3, and 1E1. Block 26 of Socorro Grant. The owner of the property is Enrique Escobar and is represented by Jorge Azcarate of CEA Group. The property consists of approximately 21.47 acres. It is currently zoned A1, which allows for agricultural use and it is vacant. Summary of the request is to rezone the property from A1 agricultural to R2 medium density residential to allow for residential development. Staff recommends approval for the rezoning request. Here's the zoning map. The property is outlined with a red line and it's colored green to signify the agricultural zone. Similarly, the surrounding properties share the same zone along with the couple residential zones. Here's the future land use map showing the subsequent zones. According to the Socorro 2040 Comprehensive Plan, the future land use designation for this area is agricultural. Here's the aerial image. The aerial image provides context to the surrounding area. The property being located close to the intersection of Socorro Road and Vineyard Road across the street from the Tiguat Reservation. Here's the site picture. Sorry, these images show the current condition of the property. And this is the view from the front of the property from Vineyard Road. Here is the public notice map currently shown. It illustrates the surrounding properties on a 200 foot radius to which they were sent the following public notice letter shown here. there was no opposition or support for this request. Here's the conceptual plan. The conceptual plan proposes 84 lots ranging approximately 7,000 to 17,000 square feet in a 21-acre lot subdivision with two entry streets connected to Vineyard Road. Summary of the request is for approval of the rezoning of a property from A1 agricultural to R2 medium density residential to allow for a residential development. At the moment, staff and the applicant are available to answer any questions.

I don't have any questions.

I have one question. Just looking ahead, I guess, is Vineyard Road built for that sort of vehicular traffic, like once those homes are there?

Sorry, could you repeat the question?

If Vineyard Road is built for that sort of vacant traffic once that residential development is built?

To our knowledge, when we went there, the road was paved. There wasn't sidewalks or anything like that, but it did have asphalt pavement.

so it's a vineyard is a two-lane road right i think it's a two-lane what's uh like what's the width on that what's uh what's the width on that road for allowable future expansion on it and we're just looking at the rezoning at this point right right correct i'm just curious i drive by there all the time but it's an old farm road it's been forever but okay and then So I'm curious on the width and then just remind me, what's the minimum on R2 lot size? What's the minimum lot size in R2?

Minimum lot sizes with public ponding is 6,000 square feet and with on-lot ponding is 10,000. Okay.

So, I mean, I'm good. I'm curious as to the width, but that'll come up.

I guess just as a follow-up to that question is like, what does the city, Would the city then prioritize this in another department to equip Vineyard Road for that sort of traffic? Because I drive by there all the time, too, and it's just, it's tight. The light on Socorro Road takes forever if you're turning left. I'm just curious, like, I guess I would be curious on what... Because I know we're just focusing on the rezoning, but I guess it's outside of this item would be what sort of priority would then the Vineyard Road take in the future once those homes are built? Because to me, it just is a very small road. It would be a headache for those residents.

Any other questions? No? I'd like to make a motion to approve for every plan.

All those in favor of the motion?

Aye.

Any nays? I'm sorry. I have a motion made by Andrew Arroyo, second by Isidro Torres to approve. All those in favor of the motion?

Aye.

Any nays? Any abstain? Motion carried. For the record, Mr. Osvaldo Reza joined us at 5.36 p.m. Item number seven, considering take action on the proposed approval of a replat for Mission Trail Estates, replat L being a replat of lot 10, block 22, Mission Trail Estates, located at 401 Borrego Road, San Elisario, Texas. Ms. Rodriguez?

Thank you, Miriam. Good evening, Chairman, Commissioners. Julia Rodriguez planning with the city of Socorro. The next item on the agenda is item number seven, and this is a request for Mission Trail State's . Let's start with an overview of the property. General information, the property is located at 401 Borreo Road. Legal description is a reply to block 10, block 22, mission trail states. The property owners are Fernando and Elsa Briseño, who are represented by Gerardo Garcia from Gareda Engineering. The lot is almost 0.48 acres in size. There's no zoning since this property is located within the Socorro, city of Socorro's two mile ETJ. And the current land use is residential. The summary of this request is for approval of a REPLA for Mission Trail States, REPLA L, and staff recommends approval for this REPLA request. Next is the zoning map where the subject property is outlined in light blue and shaded in purple, indicating that the property is located within the Socorro's two mile ETJ. This is an aerial image of the subject property, outlined in light blue. The property has frontage along Borrego Road with Piedras Negras Street to the north and Maya Pan Road to the west. The surrounding areas primarily develop with the residential properties and existing structures. And the property currently contains two duplexes and one carport. These are views of the property from Borrego Road. And the one at the bottom is from the intersection from Borrego Road and Piedras Negras Street. followed by the original Mission Trail States Plat, recorded in April 1987. And here the property, the subject property is outlined in yellow. This is a replat that was submitted by the applicant, showing the proposed layout and topography of the property. This is an enlarged view of the replat. The Mission Trail States proposes two lots, lot one with about 10,416 square feet with frontage to Piedras Negras Drive, and lot two with about 10,488 square feet with frontage to Borrego Road. The application, or the applicant is proposing lot one for single family residential use, and lot two, the existing multi-family use. Since this replat is located within the Socorro's two mile ETJ, the replat was required to be reviewed and approved by El Paso County, and it has already received county approval. Regarding the irrigation easement on lot number one, as staff confirmed with El Paso County Water Improvement District number one, that they have no objection to the proposed REAP that the property does not have any water rights and does not have any access to a community ditch. And once again, the summary of this request, this request is for approval of a RIPLA for Mission Trail States, RIP.L. And at this time, the applicant, Mr. Garcia and Mr. Gallo, they're available to call and staff for any questions you may have.

Thank you.

I don't have any questions.

I'll point out that lot two will end up with four separate units, right? It's two duplexes?

Correct.

So that tool will end up with four units on 10,000 square feet.

Correct.

And they're existing already, so.

They're existing.

All right, I'm good.

Move to approve. Second.

I have a motion made by Isidro Torres, second by Andrew Arroyos to approve. All those in favor of the motion?

Aye.

Any nays? Any abstain? Motion carried. Thank you. Item number eight, presentation and discussion on the City of Socorro's economic development programs and initiatives available to attract, retain, and support businesses within the city. Ms. Valadez?

Good afternoon, Planning and Zoning Commissioners. My name is Alejandra Valadez, City Development Director for the City of Socorro. And I do have a presentation for you all. I'll try not to speak too much and allow you all to ask any questions that you might have on the slides. All right. As you know, our mission here in the city of Socorro is to collaborate with our citizens in order to provide the most outstanding municipal services possible. We work as an economic development office under the direction of our city council and also the supporting commissions like the Planning and Zoning Commission. So all of our actions must be in alignment with city council and Planning and Zoning Commission votes and actions as well. Next slide please. So just an overview, and I have this information here because we provide this information to a lot of different other entities as well. including partners and investors. Our city is growing. We're now up to approximately 39,000 residents. We do have approximately 850 registered businesses here in Socorro. So that seems like a really, really big number, but we feel like we're not capturing all of the businesses out there. There's still quite a number of businesses that have not registered here with the city of Socorro. And so part of our job is also to bring some of those businesses into registration and compliance. Next slide please. Our community is growing and we're seeing a lot more population that is moving into the area that is a little bit younger than we're used to seeing. Next slide please. For our average annual wages, it's approximately $46,000. compared to approximately $47,000 for El Paso County, and significantly lower than the state of Texas. So per worker, that's approximately $69,000 annually. Next slide, please. Our office is a grants and special projects department. Our office has a broad portfolio of activities. We focus on securing grant funding for the city of Socorro. We also focus on supporting our other departments with special projects. We also assist with nonprofit development. And then lastly, our economic recovery, economic development activities fall under the special projects. Next slide, please. This office was, this department was created in 2018. Next slide, please. And since then, we've grown our portfolio to approximately $67, $68 million in grants and special revenues projects. Next slide, please. Most of those $68 million are related to transportation projects, mainly because transportation projects are very expensive, so that's where we get the majority of our funding. But we do have projects that are related to quality of life, public transportation, public safety, and cybersecurity. Next slide, please. This is an example of one of our major projects, the Rehabilitation, that would be one of our quality of life projects. We've received quite a bit of funding for this project, but the total cost of the project is approximately $37, $38 million, so we're gonna continue to work on it throughout the years. Next slide, please. And this is a slide that shows some of the major transportation projects that our department works on, including some that are still in development and that you'll see coming up. Next slide, please. And lastly, we do have a stormwater project up here on Onion Field. That one should be coming into construction soon. Next slide, please. But today, talking about economic recovery, economic development, we're gonna talk a little bit about some of the programs and projects that we have ongoing. Next slide, please. Our economic recovery office was established in 2022 thanks to a grant from the federal government. This was funds that were released by the federal government because of the COVID-19 pandemic. So initially, our goal was to help our small businesses recover from the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. If you recall, a lot of our businesses shut down. they had to close, they did not have the same revenue streams as they did before the pandemic, and so our initial efforts were focused on that. Since then, we've been able to partner with Workforce Solutions Borderplex, the Small Business Administration, Project VIDA, UTEP, A&M, Texas A&M, and several other partners to bring this office into what it is today. Next slide, please. So for business support, some of the business support activities that we do are related to education. We do have monthly small business training workshops and academies. This week we're hosting the Bidding Academy at the Chayo Apodaca Community Center. So they've been there Tuesdays and Thursdays and we have a calendar every month of workshops that we do offer there at the Chayo Apodaca Community Center. We also offer one-on-one technical assistance. So if you call our office, you can get an appointment with us and sit down. We can talk about what your needs are and try to find you resources that you would need if you're a small business owner or an entrepreneur here in Socorro. Next slide, please. We also do workforce development through a partnership with Workforce Solutions Borderplex. Workforce Solutions Borderplex has been able to assign a representative to be at the Chayuapadaca Community Centers. They are there, I believe, on Tuesdays and Thursdays all day. So anybody from Socorro that's looking for a job can go there and they can assist with finding a job, putting together your resume, all of that. They also provide employer services. So if there's a small business in Socorro that's looking for employees, they would be able to assist with matching job seekers with employers. We also host on-site job fairs at the Chayo Podaca Community Center. WEWIN has been doing their job fairs there at the Chayo Center. And I think this is their fourth, I believe, job fair that they've had there. So people are starting to get to know the Chayo Community Center as a place where you can find a job. Next slide, please. For our business support activities, we also do networking events. We have our monthly SoCo breakfast. It's a very popular event, and we invite all of our small business owners and entrepreneur to visit that event. The goal is to help our small business communities kind of form partnerships between each other, get to know other business owners, share tips, and then also connect with our resource partners. So Small Business Administration is also there, Project Vida representatives are also there, and then typically our elected officials also attend these meetings. So hopefully small business owners are able to communicate directly with our mayor, with our city council members, and kind of talk through some of the issues that they're having And our goal is just to create that supportive ecosystem of small businesses. We also have our annual Socorro Business Summit and our annual International Women's Day event, which is very popular and everybody has a good time while also networking and getting the word out on their small businesses. For business retention, we also try to provide access to resources. Our economic recovery coordinator, Mr. Jose Quinones, does do monthly business visits. He also has a very good digital newsletter, so when you register here with the city of Socorro, we actually get your information and we start sending you our email newsletter. And it has all of our upcoming programming, workshops, training events, and networking events as well. We also have Project Vida and Border Community Capital representatives there on site at the Chayo Apodaca Community Center. That's an example of the calendar that we have on a weekly basis. So if you want to talk to a Project Vida representative one-on-one, you're able to do so here in Socorro at the Chayo Community Center. Project Vida has their microenterprise technical assistance program. So they're able to provide technical assistance, micro-loans at times, and depending on what funding they have available, they have a suite of resources that they can provide. And then Board of Community Capital is our new partner. They are there at the Achayo-Apodeoca Community Center once a month, but they're looking to expand and coming into the center on a weekly basis. This schedule, we're always improving it, and it's always subject to change. But if you join, connect with us, you'll be able to get all of these updates through our newsletter.

Next slide, please.

Our next for business attraction, we have our foreign trade zone. In 2023, the city of Socorro established its very own foreign trade zone facility. and establish its first active site. So if you see the map on the right hand side, the outline in red and our ETJ comprise our foreign trade zone boundaries. That doesn't mean that the whole area has an active foreign trade zone, but it means that the city of Socorro can market itself to companies and let them know, hey, we have this very good tool to help your business, and if you come establish your business here in Socorro, you may be able to get some of the FTZ benefits. So an FTZ active site is an area where there are special customs procedures. At times, you can delay the time when you have to pay your customs duty on certain products, There's all kinds of regulations that go into it, but this allows us to market the city of Socorro as a business-friendly town.

Next slide.

We also have our Chapter 380 Economic Development Policy. Our Economic Development Policy is a program established by the Texas legislature under the Chapter 380 and it allows us to provide economic development incentives based on two main reasons. The size of the private investment and the number of quality jobs. So within those, as long as we're meeting those two requirements, the city of Socorro's economic development policy also provides incentives based on quality jobs. What we define as quality jobs is jobs that are paying at the median county wage rate or above. So right now for 2026, I believe the median county wage rate was $18.9 per hour approximately. So if a company comes in and is looking for incentives, the first thing they need to meet is to make sure that they're paying at least those $18.9 per hour or above. The next category is the business type. We have a list of business types that we are looking to incentivize, and they include restaurants, bed and breakfasts, entertainment centers, all of those wonderful things that we're missing in Socorro that we really want to attract into our community. And you can go ahead and see the full list. If you go to our website, it's available for the public to see. The next category is capital intensive. This means that they are making a big, big investment into our community. By big, under that category, we mean between $20 million and $250 million. That's how big those investments would qualify you under that category. And then the last one is our existing businesses or homegrown business category. This is meant to incentivize businesses that are here in Socorro already or have grown in Socorro and maybe want to expand. The minimum investment to get an incentive under that category is only $250,000. So it's not a lot. And so even our smaller businesses are able to take advantage of our Chapter 380 incentive policy. Next slide, please. We also do investor visits about maybe quarterly, and we want to show investors why Socorro is different, why this is a beautiful place not only to open a business, but to have your workers come and live, to have them experience a historic community full of wonderful restaurants, breweries, and shops that you can come and really have a good life. So we do these investor visits, we take them to the big logistics centers and show them the potential there. We take them to some of the areas in the mission trail. We take them to the Purisima mission so they know a little bit about our city and our history. And hopefully they come back and invest in Socorro when their business plan is ready and when they're ready to invest.

Next slide, please.

And then lastly, this is more of an attraction tool. We also have our transportation reinvestment zone, and that TRZ is located along the Nuevo Hueco Tanks Road area. That transportation reinvestment zone allows the city to capture some of the incremental value of the properties along Nuevo Hueco Tanks Road and reinvest them in transportation projects. And so funds from this TRZ are what is going to help the extension of the Nuevo Ecotanks Road from North Loop down to Alameda. That's a project that you're going to be seeing in construction. And so that tool was able to offset the costs of that big, big project. Next slide, please. So in conclusion, Socorro stands out. We're very proud of Socorro. We have our Chapter 380 policy. We have our foreign trade zone. We do a lot to help our small businesses, and we try to do the best that we can with the limited resources that we can by partnering with other organizations that maybe we can bring here into Socorro. Next slide. And that is all I have for you all. Thank you very much. We have our QR code. If you scan that QR code, it'll take you to our economic development webpage. And our phone number, that's our office number. If you know of a small business owner, an entrepreneur, anybody that's interested in coming to the city of Socorro, they can go ahead and give us a call. We'll take their call and schedule an appointment and start getting them connected with all of the training and workshops and networking events that we have. I'm not sure if you all have any questions.

But first, just congratulations to you and your wonderful team and all the City of Socorro staff for all this wonderful work. From 2018 to now, I think it's amazing success. And you can see it. You can see it, you know, being a lifelong resident, seeing all the wonderful work and progress that we've seen over the past few years. So first, congratulations to you. Thank you very much.

It's a team. Yes.

Congratulations to you all. Just in terms of the labor force size in Socorro, the 16,000, was that referencing people that worked in Socorro?

Yes. Can we go back to that? It's slide number two, I believe, or number three. So that number, the one before... That number may seem small, but that is because that number represents people that are of a certain age and are engaging in the labor force. It doesn't count people that are not looking for jobs. So that's why I don't know.

But it's people of the 38,000 that work, not necessarily work in Socorro, but work.

Yes, are able to work. and are either employed or looking for a job.

That's right. Thank you again. Congratulations, too.

Thank you.

Do we have, is this available online to the public, or is this presentation yours, what you provide, or what you use personally?

No, no, we provide it. I think this is like the... fifth time that I've given this presentation, but we can post it, certainly post it online so that you all are able to access it. Tomorrow morning, I will post it, and it will be in our economic development webpage.

Okay, so we can use this if we're out there?

Absolutely, yes. We encourage it. Show off Socorro wherever you go.

Okay. And then, on the small business, a minimum amount of $250,000? Can you, I kinda lost you there a little bit, but. Yes. Can you explain that a little bit more?

Yes, absolutely. So under our Chapter 380 Economic Development Policy, we are able to provide incentives, right? The way we do incentives is through a rebate. And usually it's either a property, um, property tax rebate or a personal property tax rebate. And we are also do able to do sales tax rebates under our policy. So if a business is interested, that is here in Socorro homegrown businesses is interested in expanding their business. Maybe they're adding a second building, or maybe they're investing in equipment because they wanna distribute their product outside of Socorro, and they're investing at least $250,000, they may be eligible for our incentive, under our incentive policy. The way that we typically work is we meet with the business that's interested in that incentive, we ask them to submit an application, and based off of that application, we can tell you what you're eligible for, what you're not eligible for, After that, we proceed to brief our council, make sure that our council is supportive of the project, and we go through a whole process. We do a lot of homework on these Chapter 380 agreements, but at the end of the day, once we enter into an agreement, the business then has to provide documentation of having made that investment, that $250,000 investment, for them to get the rebate. That's typically... boilerplate how it works. There's a lot of details, but if you give us a call, again, any business that's interested, if they give us a call, we'll sit down with them and kind of explain how the program works.

Okay. Do you get any pushback that maybe the 250 isn't, it's a little bit too big of a number for a smaller startup, mom and pop? Yes. Because this is 250, maybe somebody already up and running, but it might be doable, but...

Yes, I think we haven't really had a successful applicant under that homegrown section, and I think it may be because the $250,000 may be too high. We do revise our Chapter 380 policy at least once a year, and we are due on our updates to our policy for this year. That's one of the areas that we're still considering internally. And the reason that we have to really be careful is because we don't want to incentivize every project. We want to make sure that it's a good project, that there's going to be an investment into the community, that there's going to be jobs. And so it's kind of like a balancing act. But yes, we have gotten that feedback that $250,000 is a little too high for most businesses. So I think it's going to be... It's gonna be a conversation, for sure, to see where the right amount is to justify the incentive. And we can still prove that it'll have a benefit to the whole community.

Yeah. Okay. And then, finally, regarding the FTZ, so that attracts warehouses, right? the decisions that come before us here are, and usually in front of people, the public is here to protest against warehousing. So can you give us the city's point of view or your point of view or in general on something that we can say that's a pro for saying, look, this is a reason that Socorro wants Right. Or is open to warehouses coming in so that we can use that as our decision making.

Yes, good point. Mr. Alfredo, can you go to the FTZ page? I don't know if I added it here.

Let's see.

Right there. Okay. So the foreign trade zone doesn't really incentivize logistics centers. So the purpose of the foreign trade zone is to incentivize businesses that would operate outside of the United States to kind of incentivize to come into the United States, right? So if you're selling an iPhone, for example, and it costs you more to import that iPhone into the United States, you're not going to set up shop here in the United States, right? You're going to set up shop somewhere else in Asia, Taiwan, China, where it's cheaper to manufacture the product. You're going to try to figure out how to reduce your customs fees, right? So the purpose of the FTZ is to create a special zone where we can reduce the duties that are due or delay the duties that are due on certain products. So for that to work, you have to be a type of business, right? You have to have a type of product. And not all the warehouses and not all of the logistics centers that you're seeing popping up are even eligible to take advantage of the foreign trade zone. So it really incentivizes a very specific kind of industry to come here to Socorro. And those are the industries that would benefit from getting a delayed in their customs duties or what they call an inverted customs fee. There's all kinds of things that they can take advantage of, but it has to be a specific type of business. So it doesn't really incentivize just a random warehouse somewhere. And I think the public is really upset about the number of warehouses and logistics centers that are coming up everywhere. Most of those haven't even approached us for an FDZ application because they wouldn't benefit from the program. So we do have, that is an attraction tool, but it's an attraction tool for a very specific type of industry. I don't know if that helps.

Yeah, it does. And so what If it's not the FTZ, then what's driving warehousing to come in? And maybe right outside Socorro, like for example, right along Loop 375, close to I-10, and then further up Loop 375. What's driving the warehouses?

Yes. Unfortunately, those are global trends that are affecting communities all across the United States, and specifically along the border. There are big, big changes in the way that we manufacture products, that we impose tariffs on products that are driving these big, big changes. And a lot of those are beyond what the city of Socorro or even city council staff can control, right? So unfortunately, the logistics centers and the warehouses are coming. We're not inviting every type of warehouse, any random logistics center. We're really trying to focus on two things, investments that bring quality jobs and investments that are going to benefit our community, right? So we're going after restaurants. Just like I talked about in our incentive policy, those are the things that we're aggressively trying to bring into Socorro because that's what the community wants and says they would benefit from, right? Theater, a restaurant, things for the kids to do, pickleball courts, things like that. But it's more of a global trend that we're seeing with those logistics centers. And I wish I had the answer, but unfortunately I don't. Okay. But at least on our part, we're committed to making sure that we incentivize the right project, that we put out tools that are gonna incentivize the right type of development, and that we only bring back projects that have good paying jobs, that are going to benefit the community, and that the community really is asking for. I hope that makes sense.

Okay. Well, thank you. I'm almost there, I guess. Yeah, it's okay. I'm looking to be able to say, like, tell my neighbor, look, this is how warehousing benefits Socorro. It doesn't mean that me personally, I'm pro or for or against, right? I'm still trying to decide, okay, what's the benefit in general, but I'm just, like, pros and cons, but I want to be able to say this is the viewpoint that the city has, and these are the pros that warehousing is bringing to Socorro. and that's why we should maybe consider voting yes and being more open to it. That's what I'm trying to, and I can't get down to maybe three good pros that benefit Socorro. Personally, I can think of some, but for the benefit. People say jobs, construction jobs, this, that, everything, but I wanna see what the Socorro point of view is.

Yes, yeah, I don't envy your position, because I know you all are the public-facing front of our city, and you all have kind of that responsibility of communicating with the public, so do we. But I just wanted to point out, on the map, you see where that star is? That is the only location where we have an FTZ active site, and where we have a Chapter 380 agreement. The city has not incentivized any other logistics center, warehouse, any other of those big buildings that you're seeing come up throughout the city, only right there on that little dot.

And that's the Wiwin, how do you pronounce it?

Maersk is our only foreign trade zone active site, and Wiwin is our chapter 3 agreement that was just announced this past week. And the reason why those were moved forward was because Maersk actually qualified for the program under our FDZ guidelines, and then WeWin qualified under our Chapter 380 policy, and they are bringing 2,000 jobs, high-paying jobs, meeting at least $19 an hour or above, or $18.9 and above.

What are they building? What are they manufacturing?

So they are a cloud manufacturing facility. They supply a lot of the components that are going to go into our AI technology. So they build them there. So that's why they're a little bit more higher paying jobs because they're manufacturing jobs. And we're hoping that some of those jobs eventually make their way here to Socorro residents and that regardless of whether they're Socorro residents, they're shopping in Socorro and they're investing in our local businesses and all of that.

Okay. Okay, good, interesting, thank you. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Hope you all have a good night.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Item number nine, planning and zoning commissioner's report.

David? No, well, thank you for having her come out. Very informative, thank you. I know this goes back a couple other meetings, so thank you for having her come out.

I've got a quick question that goes back to you. As far as planning and zoning, I know that's a question that David keeps asking, what are the pros that we can tell? are CISO co-residents, right? Is there any advice or any pointers that you can lead us to write or guide us to, you know, when we talk to somebody?

We can put something together, but one item off the top of my head would just be diversification. Well, it's a lot of them, all of a sudden, planned correctly in the right spaces, they can be beneficial.

Right, so if you can help us with that, just on your guys' thoughts, I think that would help us out a lot.

Sounds very good.

Thank you.

I remember going back to that one meeting we had when city council was here. Yes. Yeah, and so one of the comments was tax revenue from warehousing. I don't know who said it or what context, but there was a comment on tax revenue that warehousing provides the city. And a long tied in with that comment was either we accept the warehousing for tax revenue or increase taxes on single family homes. And so that's the only time I heard it, but nobody else has brought it up, but those are key. I mean, property taxes affect a lot of different things in addition to upsetting people, right? I think it's a pro and con. Are we gonna take warehousing or raise taxes?

I think I heard something about 70% on the resident and 30 was on the commercial. Something like that, but yeah.

Yeah, that idea of diversification. one of the programs that alejandra just went over there are a number of businesses that we're trying to attract we don't have a hospital we don't have maybe bigger box retail so going through that list you can see that there's other types of businesses that we need but for right now it seems like

So that's one key point that we can, I mean, you know, the more businesses come in, the lower, I guess we can tell, property taxes should be in the city's quota, right?

Right, because then we'll be paying, we'll be getting, not just getting higher valuation on those commercial properties, but also if they're retail and business, then we'll also be getting sales tax from the from those businesses. So, yes, that would eventually be able to balance things out.

So I don't think we get any pushback, I guess, or questions on like commercial centers or retail, but it's just the warehouses. You know, and and so that's so far, I mean, that's the only reason I could think of, like you're saying, yeah, is to answer your question, because there's tax revenue. We get warehousing to raise your taxes.

Anything else? Okay. Item number 10, planning and zoning department report. Ms. Camilo.

Thank you, Marianne. I just have two items, an update on the Moon Road railroad crossing closing. They did change that to a new date, September the 2nd through the 4th. So those two days you will need to find another route These improvements that the railroad is doing to their tracks is the first step in completing the improvements for the safety project that was approved for this crossing back in 2023. We are also inviting everyone to take part in a survey. You can currently find links to the survey on our social media. This is a solid waste and services survey. The city council approved staff move forward with a solid waste feasibility study to see if it would be in the city's best interest to start their own solid waste department. So we encourage everyone to share that link, answer that survey, and provide some input into this important project for the city. Thank you.

So it would take over instead of Lower Valley, it would be Socorro, right?

Correct.

Okay.

And that would... And Lower Valley Water bills... for waste collection, right, in our water bill?

So Lower Valley Water District currently operates water services, sewer services, and solid waste within the city of Socorro, along with the rest of its district boundary.

And so you're saying that Socorro's contemplating going into the solid waste management?

Correct.

For free.

Let's see what the feasibility study says.

And there's a link to where we can go post our opinions. Say that again? Say there's a link where we can go.

Yes, on the social media page.

And we can give our comments on there and all that, right?

Of course, yes.

Okay. Well, I mean, we got our water bill. No use on the house, right? And it's 80 bucks. And I'm like, yeah, because most of it is fixed cost. Part of it is sewer, water, sewer and waste collection. It doesn't go down. It's like a minimum fee on it. But, I mean, they do pick up the trash.

All righty. Thank you. Item number 11, considering to take action on the adjournment of this meeting. Do I have a motion?

Make a motion to adjourn. Second.

I have a motion made by Andrew Arroyo, second by Isidro Torres to approve. All those in favor of the motion?

Aye.

Any nays? Any abstain? Motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 6.24 PM. Thank you.