City Council - Regular Meeting

Okay, we're going to go ahead and get started. I'm sorry we're a couple minutes late. Today is June 18th. I'd like to welcome everybody to the City Council regular meeting. Please rise as Buford Craig leads us in invocation, followed by our Pledge of Allegiance and the Texas Pledge, led by City Secretary Jenna Llewellyn.

Let us pray. Lord, let me not wander in vain. Let me not labor in vain. Let me not mingle with the prejudice. Let me not leave the company of the virtuous. Let me not fly into anger. Let me not stray off the path of goodness. Let me not seek for this day or for the morrow. Give me such a wealth, O Lord. Amen. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Please join me in the Texas pledge. Honor the Texas flag.

I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas, one state, under God, one and indivisible.

All right. OK, now is the time for public comments. Citizens who desire to address the council on any matter may sign up to do so prior to this meeting. Public comments will be received during this portion of the meeting. Please limit comments to three minutes. No discussion or final action will be taken by the city council. So we are going to start off with Mr. Kenneth Sanders.

My name is Kenneth Sanders.

Sir, right up to the podium. Oh, sorry. And just state your name, please.

Kenneth Sanders. That's all you want? No. Yes, sir. Okay, so I'm here, I'd like to address the home. I'm here, actually, I would like to speak on the homeless issue that we have. There will be some another day, I'm sure of that. But I represent the homeless population in this town. the addicted population in this town, the veterans, the broken homes, the broken families, and all the people that are having the issues in this town. So look, we're going to be here, we're going to do our best to change the way we're looked at and move forward. I would hope that we can do this And with that, we're all gonna rise anyway. Y'all have a good day.

Thank you, Mr. Sanders. Next is David Rowe.

Well, as usual, my preparation wasn't real good, but I'm gonna go through it anyway. It's not very structured and some of this on this isn't the same as what's on that. I tried to do a little better. my issues with the code over many years i've tried to get the area that i live in to follow better follow the stated what is stated in the code the city recently changed the trash pickup from the alley and put it out in the front I've had the alley for 40 years. I've lived there for use to get to my garage. And the city's not really requiring the properties that's around there to maintain according to what the code says. It would benefit me to have the code enforced where I can go up and down the alley without the trees rubbing on both sides of my vehicle. And I'm 82 years old, and I don't need to be cutting three blocks of alley so I can go to my garage. And it's stated. The city attorney's office gave me a printout of what the rules are, and code doesn't go by that. And it says from the curb in the front to the middle of the alley in the back is to be maintained to the same level. That's not followed. And they've even told me that they did the front yard and the backyard they didn't do that much with. That's not what it says the code is. I'd like it to be where I can use my alley. I've lived there for more than 40 years, and I want to stay there as ever. How many more I got? If anybody has any questions of what I was trying to say, I'd be happy to try to make you understand my feelings. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Rowe. Next is Rob Brandenburg, better known as the mayor of the mall.

At least that lets you know why I'm here. I'm here today to talk about the Temple Mall. My name is Rob Brandenburg, and I own three small businesses within the mall. And I probably could have brought a crowd today, but I think this room has seen enough of that recently. And the business owners could have came and would have wanted to be here today, but have elected me to speak on their behalf. I'm well aware of what the last few years have looked like for the mall, and recently was given 30 days to correct multiple violations of the fire suppression system. When I do business with the city, I must operate within business days in all areas, and the mall was given 30 days, not business days, including the Friday the notice went out after 2 p.m. on Memorial Day weekend, forfeiting four days immediately. It's my understanding that while floor and decor had stepped in at one point and was working towards repairs, the fire marshal's office was satisfied, and then floor and decor paused, stopped, and not long after, the 30-day notice was delivered. Today, more progress has been completed by newly installed mall management in 18 business days than the prior 18 months. He wanted to be here today, but there was a contract that needed to be signed before 5 o'clock today that he wouldn't have an opportunity to do until next week. So he chose to do that to keep the progress going. And that includes any contributions by Floor & Decor with that progress, progress specifically on a walkthrough today. A new panel's been installed, and there was over 60 errors on it. There's now less than five. Riser 6 had a pipe issue that's been replaced. Riser 6 is back online. Parts are on the way for a fire pump that needed a replacement component, and when that's here, it'll be three to five days to get that installed. There's more local-owned small businesses within the square footage of the Temple Mall than anywhere else in Central Texas of the same square footage. Many of the local large developmental projects in our area use the addition of, say, 30 to 50 jobs as a major positive component for its acceptance by the city and community. If the mall were to shut down, over 150 jobs would be affected, and that does not include the business owners. spoken with these business owners and most of them feel certain that they cannot survive another extended shutdown especially in this challenged economy my businesses might survive but i don't have kids or family so i can suffer while i take care of my team the other businesses cannot say the same and this network within the mall has become my family if i were to leave they would follow if they were to leave i would as well but where would that leave the property A vacant interior building, which will more than likely become a hotbed for vandals, vagrants, and thieves of all kinds. Promenade Mall in Tulsa, Oklahoma is a documented example of a mall that had its interior shut down by the city, tenants closed and left, and I do have the articles that speak to the level of liability it has become to the city of Tulsa and danger to the public. A shutdown could very well put the community that we seek to protect in a new form of more aggressive behavior and danger. We know what the last five years have looked like within the current ownership. What's different now? The property is hard-pressed to sell for redevelopment. It's too expensive and select anchors complicate it by owning their buildings and floor and decor have a long-term protected lease that grants them full control of the parking lot. Investors feel the risk is too high. Andy Weiner and Rockstep Capital showed us that. It's either revitalize and flip it or revitalize and make it profitable. Both of those options contain the word revitalize. And the current manager is the first manager that's been granted on-site authority to make financial decisions for the property, putting down deposits, signing contracts. Humbly asked conversations we have with include deep consideration for a single and final extension of preferably 30 business days, but at minimum 30 more days to remain open and continue the progress. With that, I believe we can effectively get where we need to be to bring the property up to code without eliminating jobs and businesses from our community.

Thank you, Mr. Brennan. Carolyn Riley.

Hello, everyone. Since I don't know all the names, I'll just say hi. I'm here again to keep, I'm going to keep you guys updated. I've been on the list with the city grant program for a home. On September the 10th of 2021, I was told that my house was not safe and I need to get out as soon as possible. On October the 7th, I was out of the house, I called to let the person know I'm completely out, everything is shut off. At that time, which I didn't believe it, and I'm glad I didn't, I was told we're moving you to the top of the list, because this whole process started in 2017, and I'm still waiting. On, Let's see, July the 24th of 24, I met with Nancy Glover in her office to get the floor plans for my home. At that time, she had a proposition of me taking a vacant lot that the city owned and swapping, and I take that, and the city takes mine, and they could go ahead and get started. I turned it down for two reasons. Number one, it's not a good neighborhood. There's people riding around, want to be gangsters, riding around on a bicycle with pistols hanging out of their pocket. They're just waiting for me to run over them. And then there's guys at a corner on Central, and I don't know if they're still there or not, but you stop at the stop sign, and they're trying to sell you some drugs. So why would I leave my property to go over there? So I want you guys to think. How would you feel if you were me and you've been waiting since 2017? When I got out of my house in 21, come September, the end of September, well, October the 7th, I would be out of that house for five years. I'm misplaced. I'm lucky I found a friend to stay with, but I want to go home. So I just want to keep you guys updated. And I plan on coming as often as I can just to

so you won't forget me and thank you thank you miss riley um miss glover has retired and um if you have not met rucker preston he is sitting he's just right behind you okay all right good i just want to make sure y'all connected i haven't started counting him yet okay all right and miss brindley

Thank you. I'm Neil Brinley, Temple, Texas. First off, on the consent item agenda, I do not agree with taking water from Moffett residents. Get that off my chest. I want to welcome the new fire chief, Christopher Perez. I don't know if he's here or not, but if so, I'm glad. Because I wanted to ask your opinion on data center fires. Is Temple Fire Department prepared for a fire at a hyperscale data center? I noticed y'all are wanting to buy a fire boat, but do we have the ability to put out a massive data center fire? Does Temple Fire Department have tools and water to extinguish a blaze at a data center? Or would the fire just be left to burn itself out like is often done with Tesla vehicles on highways? These are questions this mayor and city council should have asked before having the foolish idea to plan 11 plus data centers for temple, uh, that we know of there may be more. This mayor and mayor pro Tim and city council have enjoyed playing the victims in light of the deserved anger and mistrust your constituents have for you. Just to remind this body, in her last election in 2025, Ms. Walker received 358 votes to her 95 votes for her opponent. However, 3,780 district one voters want her recalled, according to the Temple Daily Telegram. In 2023, Mike Pilkington received 267 votes to Ms. Ram's 209 votes. Yet in 2026, 4,140 District 4 voters want him recalled. In 2024, Mayor Tim Davis received zero votes, while 8,100 registered voters signed a petition to recall him. These people are not victims. They are elected officials who have lost the trust of their constituents due to repeated bad decisions, especially the decision to allow tax abatements for data centers in Temple, Texas. i once again ask you to withdraw the tax abatements from meta and rowan and refuse to allow tax abatements for any future data center projects it's time to send rowan back to australia it's time for you to represent your constituents and not foreign investors and tech billionaires if you cannot do that then i'm asking you to resign

Thank you, Ms. Brindley. One of the questions you asked was about Moffitt. And I think Ms. Myers was ready to speak on that, if you could please.

I believe on the consent agenda, this is a development that is located at 11700 State Highway 317. They are looking to develop this property as an RV park. They are currently just outside of Moffitt's CCN, which stands for Certificate of Convenience and Necessity, but it means the boundaries in which they provide retail water service. They are also just outside the boundaries of Temple's CCN. So they're in the middle of an area that does not have a CCN service. So there is no specific CCN in that area. They are seeking annexation into the city of Temple. So at some point, we would have the ability to provide the exclusive retail service. The developer wants to be served by Moffett Water Supply Corporation at this time because the infrastructure available to them is much closer with Moffett Water Supply. It is over 5000 feet away from our closest six inch line. So it would require a very extensive cost to the developer in order to extend the line from the city of Temple and a much lower cost to extend the line from the water supply corporation in Moffitt. So they're seeking permission. to be able to use Moffitt Water Supply Corporation. We are required to consent to that and that's what this agenda item does is provide consent for them to be served by Moffitt Water Supply Corporation for at least a period of 10 years and then it renews for five year consecutive terms unless we want to cancel that once we have lines out in that area and we want to bring that into the retail service area of the city of Temple we have the option to do that after the initial 10 year term but it allows that development to be served currently by Moffitt Water Supply Corporation at their request because it is a much closer infrastructure for them for an RV park is Landy here Mr. Setzer Yes.

Can you briefly speak about fire at data centers and what we're doing to annually make sure that they are in compliance and monitored? Is that something you can speak to currently, or would you like more time?

I can speak briefly, but any kind of details about any specifics?

Just something brief, just assurance, please.

Okay, so annually, each data center, each suppressor, is qualified to do those inspections on the specific system?

Sorry, Landy. Just to make sure everyone online can also hear, would you mind going to the podium? Thank you for the reminder.

So just generally, there are fire suppression contractors that do a lot of the work for yearly inspections of those systems. We also go back and inspect whenever we can. But what those companies do is they ensure that those systems are working as they were designed to, as they were installed and accepted to do. So that means they're checking pumps, They're checking dry chem systems that would take care of batteries and things like that, trip systems where they wouldn't want to get water on sensitive electronics like servers or things like that. And those happen yearly or better, and it depends on which specific system that we're talking about. By state law and our adopted code, those third party companies, those third party professionals that check those systems are required to report to us and let us know the status of those systems and if there's any deficiencies in those systems. That being said, like I said earlier, we also do inspect visually when those systems are, I'm sorry, we do a full inspections when those systems are accepted. And when we when we can get back out there to inspect we do and we do when we do a secondary inspection when we do a inspection after Acceptance that's a full inspection. So we'll go and we'll check the same things that we checked for the final for the most part certain things we can't look at like stuff that's buried underground now, but I Does that help answer your question, ma'am? Absolutely.

Thank you. I appreciate it. I'm sorry to put you on the spot like that. Thank you.

Mayor Pro Tem, if I may also just add that according to the standards that you all have required of data center developers, that the developer must demonstrate that adequate fire flow, storage, access, pressure, and emergency response design are available for the project as determined by the fire marshal and applicable fire code authority. You all have adopted, I believe we're under the 2015 international fire code. So all of the buildings have to be built in accordance with those standards. The developer is required to construct on-site fire water may be required to construct on-site fire water storage tanks or other fire suppression infrastructure sized and designed to the satisfaction of fire Marshall. Filling of fire suppression tanks must be coordinated with the city and must not adversely affect system pressure, fire protection, tank levels, or the safety and integrity of the water system. Emergency access, fire lanes, gate access, turning radii, hydrant placement, fire suppression systems, and other life safety features must be approved before building permit issuance and maintained through operation. the fire department does provide fire protection services for both of our industrial parks so anything that's within the city of Temple city limits including synergy Park and the North Industrial Park is provided fire protection by our fire department I hope that helps miss Brinley sorry there's adequate fire protection

All right, we are going to close. Let's see. Public comment session is done. We're going to move on to item three. There's more pay. I'm sorry. Sorry, sorry, sorry. That's on me. Okay. So Mr. Martinez, page two. Jose Martinez. Oh, sorry, everyone.

Excuse me. Hello. I just wanted to kind of make everyone aware of a couple of things, just a few things overall that are different than recently. But also, by the way, when the last person spoke about how many votes some individuals, council persons, and so forth had gotten, I had made a calculation. I don't have all the numbers with me right now. But therefore, that 96% of those eligible to vote in Temple did not vote for you. Keep that in mind. 4% did. 96% either they voted for the other individual, the candidate, or did not vote at all. 96% are Temple residents. Now with that, something that a number of people often think about, but not that many perhaps, is the financial aspects, the economics overall. Goldman Sachs has said, in fact recently said the other day, that data centers are unproven. That's the final word from him. It's a casino economy, basically. In fact, as far as that goes, I have some statistics here. Lately, the last two or three days, Oracle has gone down 22%, Meta has gone down 15%, and Vedia down 10%, and others also as well. That's what you're facing, basically, a bubble. Scams, as I said before. A couple of other quick things. Someone in the commissioner's court said the other day something that, well, it should be seen as like the internet, for example, when it came out and all that. A number of people were excited about it and all that. Except for one thing, though. And this is something that I want to make everyone aware. The development of the internet and other inventions and whatnot and all did not cause electric rates to skyrocket. They did not cause pollution deaths. They did not say, as the data centers here say, false statements about closed water loops and whatnot, noise, for example, also, and so forth. We don't need 5,000 data centers. we wind up with the consequences of that. And in fact, as far as you council members are concerned, I haven't heard a single thing from any one of you. Not a single thing of it being eight data centers, or is it 11? And when I say that, you're still not going to answer. Of course, you're not required to answer. But you need to answer to Temple. And you're not. You're silent. So basically oh, that's another thing also as well as far as data centers are concerned when people mention about well security and whatnot all kinds of ridiculous nonsense type of things China has only about 300 they have four times the population and they are very technologically advanced by the way, they're not backward 300 I guess my time is up. And the other countries in Europe, each of them, major countries, only 400 and 500 also. We have more, twice as many as all these other countries of data centers. We don't need them.

Thank you, Mr. Martinez.

Thank you.

Next is Belinda Lara.

Good evening, everybody here. I'm Belinda Lara, and I'm a resident here in Temple. I have major concerns about the data center. I found out too late. I wasn't given a notice. I think we need to pause. Everything's going really, really fast, and it's not just one. One would have been one too many. There are four, and now I'm, I thought, Surely there can't be more. Eight, 11, that's way too many. We're gonna really exhaust everything. We cannot afford to deplete our resources. So I understand that contracts have been signed. The commission retains its absolute legal authority to enforce the rules. Contracts do not grant developers immunity from municipal codes or public accountability. The one thing that remains constant in this life is change. We're not opposed to change. Change happens all the time. What we are opposed is that the city, the state, and the nation did not change along with the data centers. So it poses a threat to our water system, to our electricity, water pollution, runoff, the list goes on. And I'm sure you've heard it all before. And I don't want to run out of time because I thought I was and now I'm just going all over the place. Air pollution, microclimate, habitat displacement, thermal defenses, it's hot today. When you put in your charger, it's hot. Imagine those rooms, it's gonna be really hot. What also changes is technology. Whatever is good today, somebody's already thinking of a new way to do the chip. maybe it's we're going to be an over development of data centers and we're going to be stuck with ghost buildings they need to be responsible i don't know what's on the contract and i want to request that i do whatever is able to be open record so that i don't go over the things that have already been um agreed upon but Abbott and Trump are already making or waking up to this fact too and now they're pulling back the reins so when this when you guys need to follow along too but if I don't know the rules apply to what's already been signed and if not I want clarity about that because um if there is a phase two that's our opportunity to jump in and modify amend the codes and so since we It's too late to stop it, but I do would like this council to hold them accountable to the utmost ability that you guys have. The Mariah Data Center has already been abandoned. The vibration, there's a noise. Noise and vibration is a health threat to us. Do I still have a little bit of time? No? so you want to finish your thought though yeah it's um it goes beyond a four to five mile radius because there's infrared sound so that does disrupt heartbeats anxiety it brings a lot of it's gonna it's too massive four more than four way too much it's gotta stop Can I give, can I request open records or do I do that separately?

Website, there's a link that you can submit an open records request on there. Chris Weidman.

Good evening. My name is Chris Sweetman. I am a resident here of Temple, and I've been here for just about 20 years. Not continuous, but 20 years. I'm here to ask for your support in improving the pedestrian and bicycle safety by connecting the sidewalks across the FM 2305, which is Adams Bridge over Loop 363. Right now, there are sidewalks on both sides of the bridge, but they simply stop. You're crossing lights, there's people turning, and there is no space to walk or ride your bike. So anyone walking, running, riding a bike, or using a mobility device has no safe way to cross. They're forced into traffic or must turn around. A bridge should connect people, not become a barrier. Temple is growing and more residents are choosing to walk, run, and bike for exercise, recreation, and transportation. We've invested in trails, parks, and sidewalks throughout our community. This missing connection prevents people from safely accessing those investments. As someone who walks in cycles regularly, I've seen firsthand how dangerous this stretch can be. It only takes one distracted driver or one person trying to squeeze onto the shoulder for a tragedy to occur. We shouldn't have to wait for someone to be seriously injured before taking action. I'm not asking for a new trail system. I'm simply asking that we complete an existing gap in our infrastructure by extending sidewalks across the bridge. This would make a meaningful difference for families, for students, runners, cyclists, and anyone who wants a safe way to get from one side of Loop 363 to the other. I respectfully ask that the city to evaluate this project, determine what would be required, and include it in future transportation planning. Thank you for your time, your service to our community, and your consideration of this important safety improvement.

Thank you, Ms. Weidman. I 100% agree with you. Larry Quick.

Thanks. My name's Larry Quick. I'm here representing Sammons. And we're probably two-thirds of the way from when the planning started until the deadline in August to get ready for a bond issuance. And I'm just hoping that we can get some reassurance sometime that we're on track. And secondly, I agree with the, I think we need to do more bike trails and things like that, sidewalks all through Temple. When we moved here, Temple had a really lousy rating on walkability, and I'm sure it's still pretty much the same way. So I'd encourage you to continue doing as much as we can to complete sidewalks in dangerous areas and or bike paths. Thanks.

Thank you, Mr. Quick. All right, page three. I'm on it now. Alice Stinson.

Good evening, City Council. My name is Elise Stinson, and I'm here today to hold up a mirror to show you what you are bringing here to this city when it comes to the data centers. As stated on templetexas.gov, part of the City Council's strategic plan is to make Temple a place you love to call home. So I want you to understand what it is you are actually building. You took an oath to faithfully execute the duties of your office, meaning your duty is to protect the people of this city, not to protect profit margins of multibillion-dollar tech giants. The EDC paints a lovely picture of tech corridors and easy tax revenue. But take a look at Morgan County, Georgia. Their local leaders were promised the exact same thing when it came to economic growth. But because of a metadata center, their residents are watching their water turn into brown-black sludge, and it's suffocating their water pipes to the point where they can't even turn on their taps. Families are hauling in bottles of water just to drink and to bathe. The utility rates have spiked 33% just to pay for the infrastructure strain. That is the future you are bringing here to Temple, Texas. And that is not a place people love to call home. And please do not say you do not have a choice after making these agreements. The other night, San Marcos City Council made agreements and voted to completely ban the data centers citywide and to protect their people and their resources. They realized that it didn't matter what promises or regulations were being made, those facilities were toxic to the people and to the environment. Right here on Bob White Road, the Rowan Digital Infrastructure is taking 707 acres of our land, and it is draining 300 megawatts of our grid. You are handing out a 15.8 million tax break for a project that literally only requires 40 permanent jobs. while the Temple families are gonna have to deal with utility strain and the environmental risk of all these data centers that you are proposing. We commonly already face droughts, our power grid already struggles, and people are already moving out of Temple because you are choosing money over the living conditions of the people who did elect you. No amount of short-term revenue will ever be able to justify ruining Temple's resources and their community. Please honor your oath and stop selling out our future. Do what Sam Marcus did and put a formal moratorium on these data centers so we really can call this a place we love to call home. Thank you.

Todd Arnold.

Good evening. My name is Todd Arnold. I live at 612 North 5th here in Temple. We've lived there for going on 27 years now. I'm here to ask this council to adopt an ordinance that would allow golf carts on low speed, low traffic streets in such areas as the North Central Historic District, the Garden District, Historic Downtown, and other areas in West Temple. After we registered, insured, and met all state requirements, we were pulled over by one of our TPD officers on our way to Trace Magalhaes, right about two blocks from my house. The officer was very polite doing his job and said it was unlawful for us to do that because we were not traveling to or from a golf course. TPD follows Texas Transportation Code Section 551.403 regarding golf cart operation in certain areas. The ordinance that I am proposing follows the code completely except for removing the words traveling to and from a golf course. And it additionally limits cart usage to streets with one lane each direction. We have several busy low-speed roads here that are multi-lane. Limiting cart uses to single lane each direction would effectively limit carts to residential streets and low-speed connectors. We as others have enjoyed using our carts to go to breakfast, dinner, run errands, and enjoy some of the wonderful events at Santa Fe Center before we knew it was unlawful. I would like to thank Mayor Pro Tem Walker for her assistance and her directions in getting me here. I've sent her a package, including a sample ordinance and a list of other Texas cities that have adopted similar ordinances. And I'd like to thank you guys at this point for your time. and your consideration and your service to the community. Thank you very much.

MS. Mr. Arnold, we've passed that information on to both legal and PD. So we'll get back with you. MR.

Thank you so much.

MS. You bet. All right. Jennifer Quick.

Good evening, my name is Jennifer Quick and I recently moved here from Oregon a couple years ago and I'm also, I have a brain injury so excuse me for not speaking I am not used to speaking in front of people. But I wanted to bring up the subject matter of safe pedestrians and safe biking. Because of my brain injury, I'm not able to drive. So I was used to Oregon, where it's very easy and safe to bike and walk around. And I was just unpleasantly surprised by here. And I think we can learn a lot from other communities that are exceptionally good at that. But there's multiple multiple areas that like like I'll be walking or biking and then all of a sudden the sidewalk just ends and then I'm like oh thinking like what how am I gonna manage that and and so there's a few times that I've had to go like into traffic like into car traffic and people are not used to people being pedestrians and bikers so it I think it's very dangerous um I used to also be a trauma ICU nurse so I just feel like it's like badness waiting to happen to not only me but my family and other community members and I just wanted to make sure that you guys are looking as well as possible of the safety of pedestrians and bikers because I think some things I mean probably things have already happened that aren't good but just I'm afraid for myself, and I'm afraid for people I know, and I just think that we could do a lot better with that. Chris also said that we have a lot of good trails and stuff, but there's nothing to link things together, like me trying to get to the grocery store, like basic stuff. I can't get from my house to the grocery store, safely so um i just wanted to bring it up to you and just have you know put a seed in your head as you're planning for public spaces and stuff like that thank you thanks for listening mr royer

Hello, I'm Joe Royer. I live in District 2. I have a lot of random thoughts and then a more coherent thought for you. 2015 fire code for data center construction before hyperscale data centers even existed. That's interesting. That code can't possibly be applicable. The RV park is having to pay for their own utility extensions, but the taxpayers are paying for the data center utility extensions is my understanding. That also seems odd. Also, the EPA has a tool called COBRA. This is not the same thing as your health insurance COBRA. And this is for evaluating the health impacts of data centers. And this is preliminary data. There's a lot more to come. But just the first two, the Meta Data Center and the Project Temple Rowan Data Center, are estimated to have more than $100 million a year in cost to the city of Temple in health impacts. And again, this is on the EPA's website. You can run through this. It takes a minute to use the tool. And I'll be collecting the data on the rest of the data centers that are currently approved to see what that actually looks like. But this is not going to make us any money. This is going to cost us a lot. But that's not what I came to talk about. I came to talk about something really curious that I noticed over the last couple months. as you are aware we did this recall attempt and we fell short on the signatures now when we first started this thing we reached out to a lot of local businesses to try and find some place that we could call like a home base or headquarters where people could come the vast majority of local businesses refused and they all said the same thing they were concerned about retaliation from the city council And that's curious. And I didn't take that as seriously as I probably should have at the time. I just thought, that's curious. And then once we started collecting signatures, we had a lot of people come in. And many of them were city employees, people that work with you, people that know you. And they also, their number one concern was retaliation from the city council. And that, I thought, was curious. And I just started listening and taking that more seriously. And a lot of people asked, well, what happens if this doesn't succeed? And so we told them, okay, if we don't get the signatures, we're going to destroy everything because we've had so many people tell us they're concerned about retaliation. And so we did. We fell well short, and so we destroyed all the petitions that we collected. And then after we announced that we fell short, we didn't make it, I noticed certain permits getting revoked and evictions being issued, and I thought that was also curious. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Royer. Mr. Corn? He stepped away. Did he want to speak more? Did I miss that? No. Oh, OK. I just thought you might have stopped. Oh, sorry. Mr. Royer, did you feel like I said? No. OK.

Hi, my name is Edward Korn. I own the Extreme Jump Adventure Park here in Temple, Texas. I've had the pleasure of talking to most of the city council here in the last week. As you know and as Rob has articulated, the mall is set to be shut down on June 22nd. We received that notice on May 22nd. Now, you can say that we were aware that there was issues with this mall. Obviously, this mall owner, we all know it's a bad mall owner. And unfortunately, what we don't want to see is that the good tenants get punished, and myself as a business owner, as well as the landowner there. For the past two years, I've received zero communication that there was any issue as far as I was needing to separate my fire suppression system from the malls. In fact, it's the opposite. I've been told that, hey, there's progress going on. Florida Corps is making progress. Things are moving along. To separate my building from the mall's building is $165,000. So over the last couple years, as we all know the strains in business, I've continued to look at what we can do to hopefully get that cost to come down. At the same token, not ignoring that it will have to happen someday. With the notice on May 22nd, I immediately said, okay, well, we've gotta go get this done. What I didn't anticipate is, Due to the issues with the mall, I've had contractors that outright even refuse to bid the job. I was far along with a local contractor, Impact, here on fire, and multiple calls, multiple calls. He probably got tired of hearing from me, and I was begging him, give me a bid. I understand it's gonna be expensive, but give me a bid so I can get this work done and save my employees' jobs. They ultimately just stopped returning my calls. Luckily, I have Cotter Fire who is still engaged with me. They're now Pie Barker. They're still engaged, but the work is gonna take me at least six weeks once we kick off. Not realizing when they originally accepted the contract or the bid from them that there was still more testing and more work to be done before we could even get to the design stage to apply for that. I understand the city council is very limited in what they can do and I appreciate all the conversations I've had with you and I'm not sure what Landy's decision is gonna be here prior to the 22nd. I'm just here to ask again for consideration for allowing an extension of time. This mall hasn't changed in two years. there really truly is no fire safety issues. There's a frustration issue with this mall owner and I understand that and I appreciate that. The issues that are there in the last 18 days, I congratulate Mr. Landy because you finally got them to move. They're actually making repairs and they're doing something. You've got me to move. I've signed that contract for $165,000 to remove us from the fire suppression system. What I don't want to do is get closed down. On average, I host 50 birthday parties for children a week. It's gonna take me six weeks minimum. So that's over 300 families with birthday parties that I will not be able to host. And in this hot time during the year of Texas, I'd hate to send them all out to the backyards where it's just gonna be too hot. Again, I appreciate your time and I appreciate your consideration as well as you, Mr. Wendy. Thank you.

Mr. Gresham. Where'd he go? He was just here. Oh, okay. Is he out there? No.

Okay, all right.

Okay, I think that is it. We have done it.

I looked up while others were speaking I believe you probably will recall because I think you were the one who identified and asked staff to submit a grant application for the project that was mentioned in the earlier public comment about the sidewalk connectivity over Adams as as council probably knows and many in the audience probably as well 2305 is a state road, so it's managed by TxDOT. We are members of the Killeen Temple Metropolitan Planning Organization, which is a process that helps local communities have a voice in how state and federal funding is spent. on state roads and how grant funds are allocated to local communities. We did submit the West Adams Avenue Bike and Pedestrian Connectivity Project, which I think does just what you were asking, to construct 10-foot sidewalks and a truss bridge adjacent to FM 2305. So it would actually go next to the current vehicular structure, just to provide safe room for both bicycles and pedestrians. It is estimated at $2.4 million, and it is on, currently in K-Tempos, what they call the long-range funded projects, so that you have the short-range funded projects, that's the best place to be, long-range funded projects, which is where this one is, and then unfunded projects. So it did score out and it's a very competitive process as y'all know, but it did score out and to get into at least the long range funded list. And we of course have three seats on that board and continue to advocate for money to come to our community. And I know that's been a high priority project. So I just wanted to give that quick update that that project has been submitted to K tempo. It did get scored out, and it is on the long-range funding list.

Thank you very much. And, Ms. Weidman, I think people like you coming forward and speaking up about it I think makes a big difference as well. So thank you for coming.

It will help us on a tempo to be able to say we've had people come and speak about it to push that project.

And I travel over there often, and every time I see someone walking, I try to –

snap a picture or something to add it to the list just because it's it it is a little bit frightening so thank you very much and thank you for the update i know you've talked to me about it several times so i just i just wanted to really want it yeah yes let you let you know that update and then i would also just remind council that we do have yeah funded and and we will be starting soon an update to our parks master plan which of course in part looks at connectivity of the trail systems both obviously within the parks but also park to park and other amenities so we'll have public participation. And if you would like to be involved in that, I know we would welcome your input and sounds like good experience. And Tracy just mentioned one other thing on the consent agenda. You just approved a resolution that authorizes me to execute what's called an advanced funding agreement with TxDOT for funding for the Georgetown Railroad phase two. or is it two or yeah it's two so we've done phase one a one b and then this is phase two so it just provides um additional trail and and pedestrian so we're slowly slowly slowly building it yes so that is the end of public comments we're going to go on to um

Well, I have a public hearing. Item number three, it is to consider adopting a resolution approving proposed amendments of the Community Development Grant 2025 through 2029 Consolidated Plan and 2025 Annual Action Plan, including an application requesting financial assistance under Section 108 Loan Guarantee Program administered by HUD as part of the CDBG program. Ms. Chopine.

Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem and Council. I presented this presentation in its entirety at the May 21st meeting, but I do have the presentation available if you would like to see it again. If not, I would ask that you start the public hearing.

Does anyone, would anyone like to see it again? We're all good? Okay, so let's open the public hearing. So at this time, I'll open public hearing on item number three. Anyone wishing to speak on this matter may do so. Please step to the podium and state your name for the record. Alan. okay hold off for that so in anyone no okay there being no further discussion I'm gonna close the public hearing I'll ask counsel if there any more questions regarding being no further discussion will entertain a motion on item number three three as it's been presented There we go. I have a motion by Councilmember Pilkington, a second by Councilmember Grant. Please vote. You hung up somewhere? Get it together, Emmons.

I vote aye.

So this item passes four to zero. Moving on to Allen's number four, a public hearing for a proposed community development block grant, 2026-2027 annual action plan and budget, including funding recommendations. Ms. Chopain again.

Good evening, everyone. I'm Brittany Chopin, a community enhancement division director. I'm here to present the 2026-2027 annual action plan. To give everyone an overview, in 1974, Congress created the Housing and Community Development Act. Title I of this act authorizes the creation of CDBG, the Community Development Block Grant, which must serve predominantly low to moderate income households. Then the area served must be at minimum 51% LMI, which is low to moderate income. The city receives community development block grant funds every year from HUD, which is the Department of Housing and Urban Development. As a recipient of these funds, we're required to produce a consolidated plan to outline goals and activities to be undertaken for a period of five years. And just includes a citizen participation plan and a fair housing plan. And then each year, we're also required to develop an annual action plan that supports the consolidated plan in addressing our goals and activities to complete. Our overall goal of these activities must meet one or more of the three national objectives with benefit low to moderate income persons, prevent, reduce, or eliminate slum and blight, and meet an urgent community development need. For our FY27 allocation, our allocation will be $757,065, which is a $39,000 increase from 2025 to 2026. Our 2026-2027 proposed projects are housing improvement, homelessness and mental health program, CDBG administration, low to moderate income demolition, and public facilities. For housing improvement program, we propose to fund $124,722 that will provide home repairs to low to moderate income citizens in Temple. for Homelessness and Mental Health Program. We'll provide a dedicated personnel to implement initiatives identified in the Homelessness and Mental Health Strategic Plan, Operation Rise, as well as supporting clients with case management that are in the tenant-based rental assistance program. And we're proposing $197,871 be allocated for this program. For LMI demolition, which will eliminate slum and blight through removal of deteriorating structures in the low to moderate income areas, we propose $50,426. And for public facilities, which will service the Section 108 guarantee loan debt during the 20-year term for the Little Flock community, we propose $279,765. Program administration, which will be for personnel operating and training costs associated with managing the program. We propose $104,281. And here's the adoption schedule. We had the public comment period started May 31st and it ends July 1st. We have our first public hearing here tonight and the second will be July 2nd. Also the proposed adoption and we do have a public meeting that will be hosted at the Jeff Hamilton building on June 30th The adopted plan must be submitted to HUD by August 15th and the fiscal year will start October 1

And that's it. Thank you, Ms. Chopain.

Council members, do you all have any questions for her? No? OK.

So I'm going to open the public hearing. At this time, I will open the public hearing on item number four. Anyone wishing to speak on this matter may do so. Please step to the podium and state your name for the record.

Allen Lytle. I live here in Temple. And as I have done every year that we have this grant, please, can't we get some more money? I mean, it's a lot of money, but it's not enough. We've already heard from someone about the homeless. They're not offering enough money for the homeless. We're not offering enough to remove the blight that's in Temple. I know it's a grant, but can't we come up with some? Because it says in this number four, it says including funding recommendations. So my funding recommendation is is that we find some money to increase the value of this grant, maybe even double it if we can. Thank you.

CHRISTIE WOODARD- Anyone else like to speak? OK, there being no further discussion, I'm going to close this public hearing. It was a public hearing only, so we're not voting on this. We're going to move on to the consent agenda. All items listed under this section are considered to be routine by the city council and may be enacted by one motion. If discussion is desired by the council, any item may be removed from the consent agenda at the request of any council member and will be considered separately. It's my understanding that we are going to remove items I and K. Anything else that needs to be removed? Nope. Okay. If not, I'm going to entertain a motion to approve the consent agenda, 5A through 5P, less items 5I and 5K. So moved. by council member grant I'll second by council member Emmons that passes four votes to zero we're gonna go back and pick up items I and K We'll do them together. Item I is consider adopting a resolution ratifying change order number five to the construction contract with Cloud Construction Company of Temple for an additional domestic water line and fire line footage related to the construction of the police training and range in the estimated amount of $78,795. And then item K is to consider adopting an ordinance authorizing a rezoning request from office two to plan development office two on 12.154 plus or minus acres in the Hilliard Crossing subdivision block one, lot one, city of Temple, Bell County, Texas, addressed as 7083 Members Parkway. Can I get a motion for both items I and K?

I move to approve item I and K. Second.

OK, I have a motion by Councilmember Grant, a second by Councilmember Immons. Please cast your vote. Passes three votes yes and one abstention. All right, moving on to the regular agenda. Number six, we have a public hearing. Consider adopting an ordinance authorizing a reasoning request from single family dwelling to plan development single family dwelling one with 5.72 plus or minus acres in the Oakwoods first extension subdivision block three, lot one, lot 11. and Out Block 468, abstract number 345, City of Temple, Bell County, Texas, addressed as 40111 Lark Trail, 4110 Wren Road, and 2409 Blue Jay Drive. Mr. Stewart.

Good evening. So this is a rezoning for the building that was previously Cater Elementary. it's located on around 5.72 acres and it's within the bird creek neighborhood and it was previously utilized as cater elementary and now it's going to be transferring ownership with that ownership change came a change in use that wasn't our normal private or public school use that's clarified in our udc so by the other uses that were similar to it or this exact use it would require like a rezoning either to a commercial zoning district or a pd Based on the zoning district that this is in, most of the neighborhood is just single family one. There is the Gateway Shopping Center to the west that has Crunch Fitness, but the local neighborhood itself is mainly single family. So to keep the nature of that neighborhood, we felt that it was best in line to have the applicant apply for a plan development to allow for this use to go into this place, but not to rezone it commercially. Here's some side photos of the location. They do have two other lots that aren't where the school is that were within the neighborhood but are adjoining that parcel. For our future development plan, this area is designated as residential and neighborhood services and that's mainly for single family detached structure development and then those associated amenities. The school served for the community and the new use is supposedly supposed to also serve the community. So the PD was to keep that residential nature while also serving the community that it's in. We did do public notification, so we sent out notices to the newspaper on June 2nd, and then we also sent 53 notices to property owners in the surrounding area. We received three notices in agreement, we received four responses in disagreement, and mostly the responses were that one had a parking concern, another one was that they just wanted to leave the building as it was, and the other ones were that they didn't want multifamily or apartment development to go here. So with our conditions, staff is recommending approval of the PD, but with our conditions, we're saying that the building stays under the base zoning of single family one zoning, but it allows for the use of the music academy and other instruction-based educational uses that are associated with the fine arts. Additionally, the two adjacent lots that are also owned by the school district that be conveyed, those will stay with the base zoning of single family one development. perimeter screening and buffering shall be applied as in accordance with the UDC of Section 7.7. Amplified sound associated with outdoor activities shall not exceed the ambient noise level at the property line as established by the City of Temple noise ordinance. And then the parking standards would match that of the public private school that it previously had, where it's one per classroom and then an additional parking space for every four seats in the auditorium, gymnasium, or other places of assembly. Uh, the planning and zoning commission on Monday also recommended approval with a vote of five to zero with one abstention. And are there any questions?

Okay. So I'm going to open the public hearing at this time. Anyone wishing to speak on the matter may do so please step to the podium and state your name for the record. Anyone. Just real quick, I think kind of like Mr. Brandenburg said about the mall, anytime something sits empty and idle, it's a cause for concern. So it's nice to see that the ISD has sold this to someone who's going to pick it up and use it for academy music. I think that's exciting, and I think it'll fit in with that area for sure.

I want to thank staff for working on this as you did. I know there was some people in disagreement, but I think we've more than covered any of their concerns there. And I've talked to some of the people in the area that have seen what we're planning, and they're satisfied with the ones I spoke with. And it's because of your work that you put into it that it's made it where it's something that everybody likes. Thank you.

All right, so we've closed the hearing. And I'm going to ask Council, let's see, to entertain a motion.

I'll make a motion. Item 6 is presented. I'll second.

OK, it was a motion by Council Member Pilkington, seconded by Mr. Emmons. Please cast your votes. And five votes to zero. Moving on to item number seven, another public hearing. Consider adopting an ordinance authoring a rezoning request from two-family dwelling to Office 1 on 0.37 plus or minus acres in the Bentley Home Addition Subdivision, block 21, lots 9 and 10, City of Temple, Bell County, Texas, addressed as 1018 East Avenue A.

Good evening. As stated, this is a rezoning request from two-family to Office 1 at 1018 East Avenue A. The property is currently located at the corner of east Avenue a and 22nd street. Um, the south of east Avenue a is zoned mixed use, but around the area is mainly two family. And then up on the, um, northern east northeastern side is Ferguson park. So this is a little over a third of an acre. Um, it was planted back in 1951. It was originally a fire station and most recently used for family promise of east bell county. The applicant is proposing to use this for New Life Community Development Center as a nonprofit hub that will have office space, meeting rooms, and training facilities for multiple nonprofits. We do feel that it meets our comprehensive plan of urban residential. Office use is a secondary appropriate commercial use type, and its low density character is consistent with the category. No new construction or change to the lot configuration is going to happen. Here are some of the concept renderings of the property. 24 notices went out to property owners within 200 feet. We did get one in response with agreement, and we did not receive any that were in disagreement. It was also published in the Temple Daily Telegram on June 2nd. Staff recommends approval of the rezoning from two family to office one. The Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval of the rezoning request with a vote to six to zero on the June 15th meeting. Are there any questions?

At this time, I'm going to open the public hearing on item number six. Anyone wishing to speak on this matter may do so. Please step to the podium and state your name for the record. It's a quiet group. Okay. There being no further discussion, I'm going to close the public hearing. And I will entertain a motion. I have a motion by Council Member Pilkington. Do we have a second?

I'll second it.

Second by council member Emmons, please cast your vote. It passes with three votes. Yes. And one abstention moving on to item number eight, another public hearing consider adopting an ordinance, approving the temple parks and rec departments, youth programs, standards of care, and approving the 2025, 2026 annual report.

Hello, Council. This is our annual report of the Standards of Care for our after-school program and our camps. And I'll have Susan Krause do the presentation.

Mayor Pro Tem, City Council, thank you for the opportunity to present to you the City of Temple Parks and Recreation Youth Program Standards of Care. I appreciate the opportunity to go over this again, even though you hear it every year. And I am Susan Krause. I'm the Recreation Division Director for Parks and Recreation. So each year we seek your approval for the program standards to maintain compliance with the Texas Health and Human Services requirements, as well as to assure quality of care for the children that we serve in our afterschool and camp programs. Let's see if I can get this to move. All right. The Texas Health and Human Services Commission regulate childcare facilities and programs in Texas. Part of this process is the adoption of rules for the minimum standards of care for licensed operations to ensure safety and quality of care for the children. But the municipality of the city of temple after school and camp programs are exempt from licensing as a municipality, but they remain to remain compliant with the HHS requirements. We have to adopt standards of care for our programs by ordinance, and we have to provide these standards to the parents. Um, we also have to inform the parents that we are not licensed by the state and we cannot advertise our programs or facilities as childcare operations. So the standards of care are unchanged from last year. They include staff to child ratios that would not exceed one staff to 20 kids, 20 children. Minimum employee qualifications would include prior experience working with children, as well as training. That would include training in youth activity programming, emergency, procedures and classroom management we also have minimum building health and safety standards that include daily inspections of the safety and cleanliness of the spaces that are used for these programs including classrooms restrooms and playgrounds and there are also mechanisms for monitoring and enforcing the standards and expectations through supervisor observations regular inspections and documentation of all of the completed tasks And there are standards that also include age requirements, which is a minimum of five years old to participate in our programs. So we strive to provide high quality and safe programs. And part of this, we feel, is making parent communication a priority. We make sure that the parents are aware that we do not have a stay license and that they can obtain these standards of care through our website, at our registration, and then we also offer parent orientations where the standards of care are available. Upon registration, an email is sent to parents that outlines the process of completing their enrollment paperwork through a system that we have is called EPAC. And finally, we do not advertise any of our programs as child care operations. So as required by the standards of care, the City of Temple conducts background checks on prospective employees. The employees are required to have first aid, CPR, and food handler certifications, and the staff must attend at least a minimum of 10 hours of training annually. Our staff who work year round will receive over 30 hours of training per year, including pre-summer training, pre-fall training, and monthly in-service training, as well as CPR, first aid, and food handlers training. The training includes policies and procedures, emergency action plans, classroom management, and program planning, as well as curriculum implementation, which includes STEM and art activities, safe indoor and outdoor games, and group projects. So this takes us a little bit to the annual report. This slide just lists all of the camp and after school locations that we utilized from the summer of last year through May of this year. And then this is an overview of our afterschool programs and our camps. The first graph is a comparison of our afterschool participation from 2425 to 2526. Overall, our participation increased from 197 students in 2425 to 226 students last year. And then the second graph is a comparison of our camp participation. from 24-25 to 25-26. And most of our out of school holiday camps did increase in participation numbers. Our summer specialty camps, which are camps that are largely provided by the Sammons and the Summit staff, have significant participation increases from 130 in the summer of 24 to 248 in the summer of 25. We've increased capacity and the popularity of these camps have increased and that's created more demand. So last summer, all of these camps were near their capacity. Um, our full day camps for summer also have had increases last summer, 300 or 2024 we had 310 and then in 2025 we had 568 and we believe that this is largely due to offering the full day camps on a weekly basis rather than requiring people sign up all at once. Um, last two years ago they would sign up and have to commit to the entire summer. so we changed that and that seems to have improved our numbers now we come to scholarships so if you look at this we do offer financial assistance to qualifying community members and these are the numbers from all the way through may of this year we've worked to make the information on assistance and the application process a little bit more accessible and we're hoping that in the future that will assist more families through scholarships and payment plans And then this year we have focused, um, on enhancing access to the delivery access to and delivery of our youth out of school programs. One significant improvement is the introduction of auto pay. This option was given to folks that signed up for our full day summer camps this year. And the feature allows families to register for all of the weeks that they want to attend at the beginning of summer without having to pay for it ahead of time. So instead of paying. The whole thing, they sign up for the weeks that they want and then they'll automatically be billed the Thursday prior to each camp. We've also begun using a system called EPAC, which is a software system that provides an accessible web-based platform to store registration documents, waivers, medical information, and emergency contacts. And this allows the staff easy check in and check out when the kids come and go as well as quick access to permissions, contact information, health information, et cetera. And then we've also worked really hard on working as a team for all of the divisions to align our youth program definitions regarding age ranges, um, classifications of the camps and camp timeframes. So all of those improvements have gone into effect this year. And so today we recommend the approval of the 2026-27 City of Temple Parks and Recreation Department's youth standards of care as they've been presented. And I'm happy to answer any questions if you have any.

Any questions for Susan? Nope. And I'm going to open up the public hearing on item number eight. Anyone wishing to speak on this matter may do so. Please step to the podium and state your name for the record. Okay. So there being no further discussion, I'm going to close the public hearing and ask council for a vote. Move item eight.

Second.

I have a motion by Councilmember Grant, a second by Councilmember Pilkington. Please cast your vote. And item number eight passes four to zero. So that's it, folks. We are done for the day. Thank you so much. We are adjourned at 621.