City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening everyone. It's five o'clock. I want to welcome you to uh tonight's regular called meeting of the Temple City Council for April 2nd, 2026. Uh please rise as Deputy City Secretary Liz Carowway leads us in the invocation followed by our pledge which will be led by City Secretary Jan Lule Ellen. Heavenly Father, thank you for this day and for the opportunity to gather in this place of work and per work and purpose during this Easter season. I say this prayer before you today, God, with a grateful heart as I reflect upon this resurrection weekend ahead, a time that reminds me of hope, renewal, and the promise of new life through your son, Jesus. As the stone was rolled away on that third day and light overcame darkness, I ask you, God, that you bring that same spirit of renewal into our city, our nation, and our world. Lord, lift up this city and all who call it home. Bless our neighborhoods, our families, and every citizen. May we always seek peace, extend kindness, and work together for the good of all. Where there is division, hardship, and uncertainty, God, we lean on you to bring unity, provision, and hope. I pray for our mayor, city council members, and all city leaders. Grant them wisdom, steady judgment, and a servant's heart. Help them to lead with integrity, fairness, and compassion. Also, lift up our country and those who lead it. Guide our national leaders with clarity and humility. May they pursue truth, protect freedom, and govern with a deep sense of responsibility. Father God, in a world that is all too often marked by conflict and unrest. Lord, I pray too for leaders around the world that you would guide them toward peace, cooperation, and understanding. Thank you for the hope that was born when Jesus rose. For the promise that life is stronger than death and light is stronger than darkness. And as that

promise of hope born from Easter shows us, no situation is beyond redemption. Father, help us carry that hope into every decision made and every action taken. Let that truth shape how we speak, how we listen, and how we lead both today and in the days ahead. Lord, bless this meeting and the words and actions done here today. In your holy name, I pray with this personal reflection. You Jesus are alive. You are with us and your grace is enough. Amen.

Please join me in the pledge. I pledge algiance 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. Texas. It's new since you left. Honor the Texas flag to one state. and indivisible.

I know. I think it's good, too.

All right. Next item is public comment. Citizens who wish to address the council on any matter may do so as long as you signed up prior to this meeting. Uh public comments will be received during this portion of the meeting. Please limit those comments to three minutes. If you would watch the watch the screens in front of you and u please understand that no discussion or final action will be taken by the city council. Allan, you're on the edge of your seat, so you're first. Makes

it easier for you to get up. Mayor, council, staff, my name is Alan Lidle, in case you don't know me. I live here in Temple. Thank you for the opportunity to come and address you. Before I start, yesterday um Tuesday we finished up I hope the process of uh finding a new candidate for our police chief here in Temple. And I just wanted to thank Bren and her staff. They've done a fantastic job of of for months to get down to the final four and now to the final decision. and and it's I'm not think that's really part of her job description, but she did a fantastic job of doing it and I really appreciated all the hard work they've put in. Now, what I wanted to ask about tonight, and obviously I can't you can't reply, is item G of the consent agenda is the first time I remember ever seeing one quite this expensive. $1.2 2 million to replace some uh concrete drainage boxes, but it's from an emergency fund, which means it was not planned in the budget, obviously. And I'm just, you know, curious that we actually had that much money in an emergency fund and hopefully more than that in order to accomplish these kind of things because I'm also consider worried of or concerned about the information I've been seeing about Midway Drive. I actually had the opportunity last week before last to drive down Midway Drive several times and quite honestly it's not that bad. I don't know what the big

thing about Midway Drive is. My streets worse than that. Hartrick Bluff is worse than that. Several of the streets in Temple are worse than that. So maybe we should re re-evaluate doing Midway Drive later and putting some of that money into streets that really do need it. Thank you. Does anybody while we're here want to go ahead and address the emergency uh waterline repair?

Yes, I can. Mayor, uh, just looking at the, um, agenda item or agenda narrative, it is considered an emergency construction contract because of the nature of the of the but as far as the dollars that were used to fund that, it is through in our drainage fund. there was um unused or not unused but unallocated fund balance that could be applied to that project and then there were some contingency funds to fund the amount that related to street the street part of it. So it it's not an emergency fund, but it was funding that could be rep prioritized and was available to fund that emergency repair. And due to the health and safety and the nature of is why we're asking the council to ratify it um versus seeking advanced approval,

right? And just for clarity, it actually isn't the replacement of a water line. What happened is the drainage um infrastructure collapsed and was creating a sink hole in a street. Okay, that's the drainage funds that were used to repair, right? Makes sense. So, your second comment, Alan, where'd you go about re about redoing um rep prioritizing Midway? You're just trying to start fight. That's all you're doing and we're not going to let you get involved in that. So, but thank you for your comments. Uh, next we have Sarah Royer.

Hello, I'm Sarah Royer and I live on I live in second district. Um, I came up here to tell you last time I was here we um going off the website I said that there was a 70% decrease in um I'm actually want to apologize to you. A 70% decrease in transparency for processed you know, public notices and it's actually, it wasn't on the website. It had stopped and that was just a mistake, but um it's actually gone up and I just want that on the record because I know people watch at home and they're not going to see the correction. Um it's actually a 70% increase and if there's a stall and um it's over 5,000 now, so and it used to be 3,500. So, um there's a lot more work going on at the city attorney's office and if there's any kind of issues, it's probably because you guys are overworked. So, thank you for all your hard work. Um, also I looked over all the sheriff the people that you have um for police chief and they're very wellqualified. You did a great job. Um, and I will leave data center stuff for later because happy Good Friday and thank you guys for what you're doing. I see I see your hard work. Thanks.

Thank you very much. you know, we have um we the city has hired extra staff because the the request for information every year goes up. So, um and they get very detailed and sometimes those can be hundreds or thousands of pages. So, that is that is a lot of work and Charlotte's right in the middle of that all the time. So, uh next up is Joe.

Hello, I'm Joe Royer. I live in district 2 and yeah, first off, I just want to say thank you to everybody for all the work that you do. I know this is a thankless job and uh the fact that you guys continue to do it anyway just shows me how much you love this community and I really appreciate that. Um uh and a second point that I'm not remembering right now.

Oh, that was third. But, uh, so, um, April 19th to 25th is National Volunteer Appreciation Week and I looked around on the city websites and I didn't see any sort of events or anything for that. So, I that's mainly what I'm here for. Of course, like I would love to see us put together something some sort of volunteer recognition day because we have a lot of amazing volunteers and a lot of amazing nonprofits in this town. And I really think we should, you know, celebrate these folks and and a lot of the you sitting up here are among those people that we're talking about, these amazing volunteers and and uh and nonprofit organizers. So, thank you all for everything that you do. And I would love to see if you guys want to come up with something or if there's something we can do to help. Like I would love to see some sort of volunteer recognition day coming up in the next few weeks. Thank you.

Thank you. Oh. Oh yes. And thank you for how well you've handled the growth. I just found out a few weeks ago that we're up to 98,000 people in this town and we didn't see a lot of the growing pains that you would expect from that much growth in that short of a time. So it means somebody's doing a great job. Yeah. So thank you for that. So So here's a fun fact. It's actually estimated um I think the the 98,000 was for the census, but based upon some other information, it's like 103 now. So, it's it's the growth is it's amazing. Yeah.

Uh PA Conell the third. Hello. I guess I'm going to be a regular here for a while. Uh, I'll start with last week. I was told by two different people. They personally assured me that somebody was going to call me in regards to my 1312 North Third Street address. Never, not a call, not a text, not an email, nothing. So, I had didn't I mean, it was expected, but now it's been proven. You know, I don't

You didn't You didn't receive a visit from a man uh with the code enforcement? No, sir. Not a phone call, not a text, email, a visit. No. Okay. That's interesting. I was told differently. Yep. I mean, I've I work out of town, so they would have to set it up with me to which would have been a text, a phone call, or an email. Okay. Before anything. All right. I'll follow up on that.

But I've done some research since then. And you know, looking at article 5, section 51, the table of what I can and can't do. I mean, there's so many things that I can do with my commercial uh zoning that I wouldn't be able to do to if I switched. like they almost tricked me into trading my zone for a general retail in trade for my landscaping that I've spent not that money matters but plenty of money perfecting it and it got nitpicked apart to where now like I said zoning's off the reszone's off the table now we can't do that but I've noticed that uh other addresses on the first and third street overlay have six foot fences what I want to do. They have that. Wind supply, KCTV. There's other businesses that don't have landscaping on Third Street. Quick Wrench, which is right across the street from me. They've changed owners twice that I know of. So, why weren't they made to do it? Uh, The Car Wash right up the road, has three businesses in one shop. Two of them I know have started in the last month or so because I go to the tire shop and they weren't there recently. No landscaping. So why am I being forced to do something that I'm not that I don't have to do? Article 6, section 68, non-residential interior exterior maintenance. I did not increase the gross floor area. the general circulation, privilege, landscape, screening, frontage, none of those. I have to I have to change anything online. So, why am I being made

to change this stuff and add landscaping and I don't even have to have a fence. I just wanted to, but I can't do that fence. I can do this fence. I was told I could do the six-foot fence if I did this. It's like quidd proquo. And it shouldn't be like that. I mean, the the if if someone can do it, why can't I do it? I mean, if the guy across the street from me has a six-foot fence, why can't I have a sixoot fence? If the guy on the other street doesn't have landscaping, why do I have to have landscaping? I I mean, I'm get I get nothing. And I I've I've called the new whoever took Tiffany's position. I've called twice and left voicemails. I've emailed nothing in return. I see Joseph back here. He was very helpful until I uh I said I wasn't going to reszone anymore. And then I haven't reached out to him because I was hoping that me coming here was going to get some sort of an answer, but nobody knows anything. And neither do I. I mean, because whoever I talk to, I get a different answer. I just need to know who to talk to and and I mean I I want to open a coffee shop, but all these other things that I can do are in line with what I already do. Trailer rental, trailer storage, machine storage, machine sales. I can do all of that by right. It's on the table. I don't want to do that. I don't think the historic district wants to see skid steers and trailers for sale and for rent. I don't want to do it, but I also don't want to sit here and hold a property that I can't make money off of. It's costing me a lot to not do anything with it.

So, very good. I'll I'll get to the bottom of all that. And um you said that last time. Well, I know. And I I I expected that that would have gotten done and it didn't get done in the manner that I thought that it would. So, um I'll I'll take more control of that. And I have a flash drive, but I didn't turn it in in time. So, I'll bring those pictures next at the next meeting. Okay. Thank you, CJ Gisham. Welcome to the simple.

All right, CJ Gisham. So, we're being bamboozled by this water project. this or I'm sorry, this data center. So, I filed a an open records request. I'm glad that somebody was talking about open records requests because there's a reason probably that the city doesn't want us to know what's going on because I bet you there's a lot of nefarious stuff. But, um I don't understand why the city hates openness so much. My specific request was for all contracts or contemplated contracts. And I understand that contemplated contracts are likely subject to um exception, but not contracts. And I asked for contracts between this city and the data center. What did I get? Nothing. I asked for copies of all contracts related to the data center project near Synergy Park. What did I get? Nothing. Those are public records. Why? because it's very clear. 5520222 disclosure of contracted information. Contracted information is public and must be released unless accepted from disclosure. Then I get a letter from Langan saying, "Oh, Mr. Gisham, we're going to help the city hide from you the disaster that we're going to be in this city when we put this data center up and we steal all your water and we're going to claim 5521 as trade secrets." What are they saying is trade secrets? They're saying that their pricing is trade secrets, but it says here that the exceptions and again 552022 to disclosure provided by the section that Langutan is quoting does not apply to uh any term describing the overall or total price the government body will or could potentially pay. All kinds of other things about duration,

uh identity of subcontractors, identity of the parties, none of that stuff. You guys provided me with nothing. They're providing me with nothing. Y'all should know if you had a competent city attorney that you can exempt the stuff that's exempted, but you are required within 10 days to give me what's not exempted. What have I gotten? Zero. Zero in violation of the open records act. Everyone that came in here, not a single person testified for that data center. I asked for copies of uh impact studies regarding analysis of water usage, traffic impacts, environmental impacts, general operation, generator operations, noise, and storm water mitigation. Guess what I got? Nothing. I got a letter from Langan saying, "Hey, we need to hide how much we're charging or how much we're getting or how much it's going to cost." That's what I got was a letter that's quoting a law that doesn't apply to what I'm asking for. Why is the city hiding this stuff? Why doesn't the city care that none of us want this thing here yet until we have all of these studies? And those things are so either they don't exist and the city is incompetent and negligent by not doing these studies or they do exist and you're violating the open records act because I haven't gotten anything at all. I understand that you can't give me copies of emails between members of the city council and and the data center. Those are likely protected if there's ongoing stuff. But this idea about it's a trade secret how much it costs. If there's a contract, we have a right to know under 552022 how much the city is going to pay or Oh, I'm sorry. My time's up. I'm done. Thank you.

Go ahead. Mayor, council. Um Mr. Mr. Gisham is correct that executed agreements are releasable and I'm having difficulties pulling up our actual next request to find his specific um request, but if those have not been released, those will be released. However, he uh made a very voluminous request that was subject to several exceptions. One of the requirements in the act is if a third party's um interests are implicated, we give them the right to um submit comments to the attorney general raising those exceptions. And in this case, who would those third parties be? I cannot say with certainty who those were um specifically um

but if others are involved

if other companies or um third parties are involved uh and there we we have their information and reasonably believe that it may implicate any of their rights. Um we are required to send them a notice under the Texas government code. um they are uh permitted to submit their own comments as to why they want that information withheld and then um the attorney general will rule if the city has their own objections on the city's objections but also on those third parties objections if any are raised. Um I do not believe we've gotten any um communication from the attorney general's office on this request at this time. So whenever those requests are made and those third parties are involved and you have to go to the attorney general and ask for um their interpretation, does that give an extension to the 10 days?

It's actually not a 10-day requirement. The 10-day requirement in the law is you have 10 days to raise your initial exceptions to the attorney general and then 15 days to submit your um letter with the actual attachments to the attorney general. The law actually requires that you produce promptly. um it is not defined promptly as 10 days. The 10 days is specifically to the requirement for submitting an argument to the attorney general for withholding records. Um so in the in the let's just say the event that um a record was not um being sought to be withheld um the 10 business day deadline does not necessarily apply. It just requires that the governmental body produce the records promptly. So even before going to the attorney general, that could be 25 days.

Yes, it depends on um the the size of the request uh among other things. And um we're required to take the um requests in the order that they're received. Um we can't give preferential treatment to certain requests or certain requesters. Um,