City Council - Regular Meeting

30 seconds until we go live. Council members, your mics are now 5 4 3 2 Good evening everyone. Welcome to our council meeting for Tuesday, April the 7th. Miss Hilbert, will you please call roll? Yes, sir. Councilman Deagarza, I am present. Councilman KD here. Councilwoman Butler, present. Councilwoman Scott here. Mayor Pro Tim Young here. Councilman Lofrren here.

And Mayor Crocker here. If you would please rise and join me for the pledges followed by a moment of silence 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.

I aliance to thee Texas one state one and indivisible. Thank you. Please be seated.

All right. Welcome everyone. Good to see a full house this evening. One quick housekeeping item. We will be pulling item D3. Um not just from the consent agenda, but we are pulling it from the agend uh agenda in its entirety. and that will come back at a later meeting. So, with that done, then let's jump into um section B1, announcements and reminders. Mr. Garza, good evening. What do you have for us this evening? Good evening, mayor and council. I have several announcements for you this evening. On behalf of the communications department, the newest episode of the city's town talk podcast featuring fire chief George Gomez is out now on YouTube and Spotify. In this episode, Chief Gomez shares stories from his 33-year career, talks about the new public safety headquarters, and discusses all the ways his department keeps residents safe. Get ready to have your burning questions answered.

I see what you did there.

Hey, I I just read this stuff. Uh on behalf of Environmental Services, uh sponsorships and tickets are available for Keep Victoria Beautiful's Earth Day picnic fundraiser on Wednesday, April 22nd from 6:00 to 8:30 p.m. at K's Grove on the campus of Texas A&M University Victoria. Funds from this event support KBB's beautifification grant program and public arts initiatives. For more information, visit keepvictoria beautiful.org. In addition, KBB spring trash off cleanup will take place on Saturday, May 2nd from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. Volunteers will meet in the Target parking lot and work in teams cleaning up major roadways throughout Victoria. Sign up to volunteer at keep victori.org. On behalf of the parks department, we're excited to once again host the American Junior Golf Association tournament at our golf course from April 9th through 12th. This event will feature 96 of the top junior golfers ages 12 through 19 from across the country. The tournament is part of the AJGA preview series designed to provide emerging players with the opportunity to gain national level competitive experience and build their standing for future events. This marks the fourth consecutive year Riverside has partnered with AJGA, reinforcing the city of Victoria's commitment to junior golf development and youth sports. Discover Victoria is the title sponsor for the event that is expected to bring 150 plus visitors to the area generating economic impact for local hotels, restaurants, and businesses. In addition, Riverside Park will host the Grossbeck Sports Car Club Riverside Park Time Trial on Saturday and Sunday, April 18th and 19th, featuring a 1.45 mile road course with a mix of classic, modern, and custom race cars competing against the clock. The free family-friendly event will also include local food, drink, and merchandise vendors along alongside the opportunity to see unique vehicles and meet drivers up close. Lastly, the parks and recreation department is inviting schools, churches, clubs, and other

groups to be a part of helping Victoria stay beautiful through the department's new adopt the park program. Parks and Recreation will provide trash bags, safety vests, and other supplies to be used during the cleanups. Adopters are asked to clean their chosen park once per month for a minimum of one year. After the group has completed a six-month trial period, parks and recreation will post the sign at the park recognizing the group's adoption of the park. Volunteers can visit victoriax.gov/adoptark to apply and view more information. And that is all the announcements I have for this evening. Mayor.

All right. Thank you very much. We will move into public and employee recognitions. We have quite a few this evening. So we'll start with a proclamation for child abuse awareness month. Miss Hillberg.

Yes sir. Whereas child abuse and neglect is a serious crisis affecting every segment of our community resulting in 1213 reports of abuse and neglect in the city of Victoria in the year 2025 and 119 children within Victoria County were placed in foster care. And addressing this crisis requires input and action from everyone. And whereas our children are our most valuable resource and will shape the future of Texas. And whereas child abuse can have lot long-term psycholog psychological and emotional and physical effects that have lasting consequences for victims of abuse. And whereas protective factors are conditions that reduce or eliminate risk and promote the social, emotional, and developmental well-being of children. And whereas effective child abuse prevention activities succeed because of the partnerships created between child welfare professionals, education, health, community, and faith-based organizations, businesses, law enforcement agencies, and families. And whereas communities must make every effort to promote programs and activities that create strong and thriving children and families. Whereas we acknowledge that we must work together as a community to increase awareness about child abuse and contribute to promoting the social and emotional well-being of children and families in a safe, stable and nurturing environment. And whereas prevention remains the best defense for our children and families. Now therefore, I, Dwayne Crocker, mayor of this Victoria, City of Victoria, Texas, do hereby proclaim April 2026 as National Child Abuse Awareness and Prevention Month in the City of Victoria and urge all citizens to recognize this month by dedicating themselves to improving the quality of life for all children and their families and encourage all residents to participate in the GoBlue Day on Friday, April 10th, 2026.

Good evening, mayor, council members, and community members. My name is Megan Gum. I'm the executive director of Hobo South Texas Children's Advocacy Center. We want to thank you for this proclamation recognizing April's Child Abuse Awareness Month. Your support helps shine a light on an issue that impacts children right here in our community. In 2025, Hobosal Texas conducted 155 forensic interviews and provided over 1,80 trauma focused therapy sessions. 119 children were placed in foster care. Each number represents a child who needed safety, support, and someone to believe them. And the reality is one in six children in Texas will experience sexual abuse before their 18th birthday. We believe protecting children is a shared responsibility through education and outreach. We empower our community. If they see something, say something. We are honored to partner with Victoria Police Department, the district attorney's office, the DFPS, mental health, sane nurses, co-jint investigations in crimes against children. It helps strengthen the outcome of these cases, promote healing for the families, and it strengthens our our uh community. Early intervention is critical. It reduces trauma. It helps break the cycle of abuse. We're proud to stand alongside our fellow child welfare agencies. You see everybody in the blue, CASA, we have belong. We have Texas home visiting. We are all committed equally to pro protecting children and strengthening families and the month of April helps us

to enhance that outreach. We noticed an 11% increase last year during this time in reports of child abuse. And again, that's empowering the community to report if they see something. So together, we can be their voice, their support, and their light. Thank you.

Thank you for the important work y'all do with in our community. We much appreciate it. Thank you. All right, moving on then to item 2B. We have a proclamation for just serve, Miss Hilbert. Whereas firm whereas we firmly believe that the values of compassion, empathy and community support are the foundation of the united harmonious society and fosters connections that transcend differences. And whereas the strength and prosperity of cities, towns, and villages are based in the willingness of residents to serve and uplift one another. And whereas we acknowledge the profound impact that can be achieved when we extend a helping hand to our neighbors, lifting them up and collectively working to improve lives. And whereas the nature or the nurture and a cultivating and giving within our soces that volunteerism is not just a duty, but a source of personal fulfillment and community strength. And as we work side by side with and learn from each other, mutual understanding increases misconceptions um can be corrected and new friendships are built. And whereas we urge all citizens to care for one another, volunteers and engage volunteer and engage in acts of service and kindness that contribute to our city's betterment and its inhabitants well-being regardless of background or belief. And whereas we recognize justserve.org or as a valuable comprehensive resource connecting volunteers with the opportunities to give of themselves. Whereas Victoria, Texas has joined a growing list of supporters, including the president of the National League of Cities and hundreds of leaders to date in making a commitment to volunteerism. Now therefore, I, Dwayne Crocker, mayor of Victoria, Texas, celebrate the contributions of many volunteers in Victoria who have given their time to our many worthy organizations and encourage residents to engage in volunteer opportunities for the benefit of our city.

Honorable mayor, Councilman, it's a great uh pleasure for me to be here today and um to be able to celebrate something really great. I know you guys listen to a lot of complaints and have to solve a lot of problems and so this is an opportunity to celebrate. Um just to tell you a little bit about just serve a little bit more than what you know. Um just serve city award is a is a municipality that has formally committed that was for formally committed to promoting and supporting volunteerism. This these cities that have this award have demonstrated exceptional dedication to promoting and supporting volunteerism, creating a culture of service that uplifts individuals, strengthens neighborhoods, and builds lasting connections. This award has only been given only been awarded to seven cities in the state of Texas, including Houston and Arlington. In the United States, only 104 uh have received this award and this is al also a worldwide award of which 117 have been given out. Uh it's been recognized by the National League of Cities and so you guys are in a a very um high level group of cities. We like to thank you for that. Um, once again, Just Serve is an organization that helps volunteers find opportunities to to provide services to their own community. It uses websites and phone apps to connect volunteers to community projects. and in on the city side and keep Victoria Beautiful. It's an education nonprofit organization that promotes community involvement in the

beautifification and preservation of the Victoria of Victoria's natural environment. And so we we feel like it's a wonderful marriage between the two has been very successful and we just like to celebrate this great achievement that you and your staff have achieved. Thank you very much. Well, thank you. We're very honored by the recognition and we appreciate y'all being here tonight. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Um, we have next a proclamation for National Community Development Week. Miss Hilberg.

Yes, sir. Whereas the city of Victoria recognizes the importance of community development in fostering vibrant and resilient communities. And whereas the week of April 16th through 10th, 2026 has been designated as national community development week by the national comm community development association to celebrate community development block grant program. And whereas the CDBG program provides local governments with the resources required to meet the me meet the needs of low to moderate income families and individuals within their communities. And whereas CDBG funds are used by thousands of nonprofit organizations throughout the nation to address pressing neighborhood and human service needs while promoting sustainability. And whereas the CDBG program provides annu annual funding and flexibility to local communities to assist in providing decent, safe and sanitary housing, a suitable living environment, and economic opportunities to low to moderate income families and individuals. And whereas the city of Victoria has used CDBG funds to fund various public service activities, public facility projects, and infrastructure projects and park improvement projects. And whereas the city of Victoria remains committed to leveraging federal resources through the CDBG program to implement innovative activities and projects while building a more prosperous future for all residents. Now therefore, I Dwayne Crocker, mayor of the city of Victoria, proclaim the week of April 6 through 10th, 2026 as National Community Development Week in Victoria, Texas. Thank you, Mayoril.

Thank you, mayor and council. Um, we really appreciate y'all's continued support for the CDBG program and understand the importance of this funding for our for us as a city as well as our um, subreients. They do a lot of hard work. Um, there's a lot of hard work that does go into the CDBG program, but it's a lot of good work. So, thank you so much for y'all's continued support. Thank you for all that y'all do. All right, we will move now into our Keep Victoria Beautiful beautifification award for April. Good evening. How are you? Fantastic. How are you guys?

Good. Good. Welcome. Thank you. Um before I get started with the award, I just want to say uh thank you again to Rick and Karen Perkins, Chris Olsen, and everybody who's involved with Just Serve um in um giving this uh Just Serve City award to Victoria. We're looking forward to continued relationship with you guys. So, thank you. Um, so I just turned 50 and reading glasses are fantastic.

Doesn't get any better. Thank you. Um, so I am so honored tonight to present this beautifification award. And I wanted to uh give you guys a little bit of history of Our Lady of Victory in general, the um the parish, the church, and the ca the cathedral center itself. So in November of 1955, fundraising began among local Catholics for the acquisition of land for a parish church. The 20 acres of land were actually donated uh from the estate of Tom and Martin Oconor. Tom O'Conor Jr. provided the funds for the church and dedicated the church in memory of his wife Juny B. Okconor. Um the church our lady of victory was completed in summer 1958 and in 1982 it was designated as the cathedral church when the dascese of Victoria in Texas was established. The cathedral center itself was dedicated on uh September 20th of 2017 and it is a facility for religious, social and educational functions with the primary objective being a gathering place for OOLV parish and school functions. They also host wedding receptions, meetings, social and civic events and the like. And this property caught the eye of Keep Victoria beautiful because look at all the green space that they've added to this enormous parking lot. And this photo doesn't even capture there's more trees along the um the right side of the photo. It's just it's really really a beautiful piece of property and it's really wellkept and it really is a little gem right there at the um you know corner of uh airline and Lent there. And so this evening I am uh

honored to present this award to Justin Matias of OOLV and I'd like to um you know you guys join me in recognizing him.

Good evening. Welcome.

Good evening Mayor. Thank you councel. Thank you to Miss Bird and her team. OLV school and church are honored to be recognized. A lot of hard work and dedication have went into preserving the current OOLV Cathedral Center and property. The grounds and the surrounding facilities take routine maintenance and upgrades. This cannot be accomplished without the support of our maintenance team and our dedicated parishioners over the years. We'd also like to thank our partners with UHV, now Texas A&M Victoria, for being great neighbors over the past few years and helping us showcase this property. Most of you may know OOLV as a school and church. However, the Cathedral Center that you saw in the picture also serves St. Vincent Depal and we also serve the Emmas Counseling Center. So, our mission is for the community. It goes well beyond the church and school. We thank you for recognizing our commitment to our community and the city and generations of Victoria residents will forever remember this property for how it has evolved since the 1950s. So we thank you for recognizing Our Lady of Victory School and Parish and thank you for having us tonight.

Welldeserved recognition. It looks great. Thanks for being here. All right, Mr. Garza, I believe we have at least one more uh public and employee recognition this evening. Yes, I have several actually. Okay, good.

Um and so there's uh a retirement and some promotions that I that that I'll speak to, but before I get to those, um I want to recognize uh Craig Christensen. He's not pictured. He's standing in the back. Where'd he go? There he is. Um he's an accommodation inspector one for us. He recently earned his residential building inspector certification from the international code council last week. This is the first certification required for new building inspectors. Craig joined the city in November of last year after the retirement of a longtime inspector and he's already proving he can easily feel fill those shoes. And so Craig, thank you so much for your dedication to our community. Uh, in addition, uh, Ashley Strebble, our communication and public affairs director, recently completed the William King Cole leadership series hosted by the Texas City Management Association. This program brings together local government professionals from across Texas to strengthen leadership, collaboration, and organizational effectiveness. The program covered topics such as strategic communication, human resources, ethics, economic development, budgeting, and city management, including the history of the profession. This type of training helps ensure our communication efforts remain aligned with the broader goals and operation of the city. And more importantly, she got to meet some of my mentors at the at this place. And so, I hope that they didn't give her any uh you know, any bad info about me to use against me later. Um, but Ashley, thank you so much for your dedication as well. And so, I'll get to our promotions. Um, Jonathan Cervantes, who uh is pictured here and he's here as well, actually. So, Jonathan, thank you for standing. Uh, was recently promoted to general foreman for streets and drainage on March 16th. Jonathan began his career with the city of Victoria as a street maintenance worker in March of 2020. Starting on a patch crew where he

learned the fundamentals of road repair. During this time, he earned his class B CDL and expanded his skills. Jonathan later moved to the great all crew, gaining more experience and strengthening his ability to work as part of a team. Jonathan's hard work led to a promotion to crew leader where he spent three years developing leadership skill skills and overseeing daily operations. In his new role, Jonathan continues to lead by example and strive for excellence. Jonathan, congratulations. And so now get to um a a great announcement, I think, bittersweet announcement. I'm not sure. Uh but for those that are unaware, we recently um celebrated last week the retirement of Wanda North. Um and so I want to ask her to at minimum stand if you don't mind, Wanda. Um, yeah. I'm going to read you a couple of remarks that that I verbalized at her retirement ceremony um or event, party, social, whatever you want to call it, uh, last week. Wanda began her journey with the city on September 11th, 1984 as a personnel specialist. And over the years, her dedication and talent led her through key roles, including payroll coordinator, HR generalist, HR manager, and most recently, assistant director of human resources. Through her career, Wanda has led our payroll and benefit functions with excellence, ensuring our employees and retirees were always taken care of. And there was quite a bit of retirees that actually came to the social last week. And I think that just speaks volumes to Wanda. Uh we had um our former HR director here as well as Charmele, our former city manager. Um all of whom um express very similar sentiments. She has brought a level of customer service, positivity, and genuine care that truly set the standard for our department. Wanda has always been one of

the city's biggest advocates. Supportive, encouraging, and someone people could count on. Her impact reaches far beyond her title. She has helped shape the experience of so many employees throughout the years, literally thousands. While she will be greatly missed, this next chapter is one she has absolutely earned. Wanda, we are so grateful for your years of dedication, your leadership, and the legacy you leave behind. We wish you nothing but happiness, relaxation, and all the best in your well-deserved retirement. The wonder I I tried to ask her to say a few words, but she doesn't work for us anymore, so she doesn't have to do anything I say. Um but in light of her retirement um that's also creates uh an opportunity. And so as part of uh tonight's announcements, I also would like to announce um a couple of promotions within the HR department. Um I want to announce uh uh uh the promotion of Brian Haney to assistant director of human resources. Uh Brian brings over 30 years of leadership experience, including serving in the United States Navy and his tenure with the city as a risk manager. Since joining the city, Brian has led key initiatives in risk management, safety, workers compensation, and human resource operations, supporting over 500 employees. He is known for his strong leadership, strategic mindset, and ability to translate complex challenges into effective results driven solutions. Brian's background in program management, employee relations, compliance, and organizational development, combined with his commitment to service positions him well to support the continued growth and success of our workforce. So, Brian, congratulations. In addition, uh, Caitlyn Randall has

been promoted to operations supervisor within our human resources department. Caitlyn has been a dedicated member of the HR team, serving as senior payroll benefits specialist, where she has played a key role in ensuring accurate payroll processing, benefits administration, and compliance with federal, state, and local regulations. Known for her attention to detail, strong customer service, and commitment to supporting employees, Caitlyn has consistently contributed to efficient HR operations and a positive employee experience. Her ability to collaborate across departments and manage critical processes positions her well to oversee daily HR operations and support the continued success of the organization. Caitlyn's promotion reflects her proven performance, leadership potential, and dedication to excellence in service to our organization. So, Caitlyn, congratulations. That is all I have for this evening, mayor. All right. Thank you, Mr. Garz. Obviously, lots going on in the city. So, all good stuff and congrats to all, particularly Miss North on her retirement. All right. Moving on then on the agenda. Do we have any items for council this evening? Anyone have anything? No. Okay. We will jump into Sunnis's communication. I have one card this evening and it is from uh Michael Vandere.

Mr. Vandro, welcome.

Um good evening, council mayor. Uh I'm Michael Vandro. I live at 21107 North Ben Jordan. Uh this is a child abuse awareness month and I just wanted to talk to you about something that's very sketchy. Uh in Victoria there's two large homeless camps that's living by the Victoria Independent School District and one carries a big old machete about this big, you know, and I don't know why they're living there. They're living uh by the railroad, you know, and there's a big uh rocks blocking them and stuff. And I I wish someone could uh speak to the superintendent, you know, at the Victoria Independent School District and tell her because that that's a very dangerous situation. And I don't even know if that's legal to be uh sleeping on the by the railroad tracks cuz if a train derailed or something, it could kill those homeless people. But I wish they could relocate that homeless camp somewhere else but not by the school. Well, I don't know if you remember in Patty Welder, someone allegedly exposed themselves to a little girl at Patty Welder and uh chased her in a car and the police department did solve it and capture him and he got the maximum penalty 10 years, you know, and there's more sex offenders, you know, in Victoria and the county. And it's not just children. You know, some of them rape elderly people. And the phone number to CPS and that's with elderly people is 1 800252-5400. But I do wish someone could take care of that homeless camp, you know, by the Victoria Independent School District because that's a very dangerous scenario. I I don't know if the superintendent or anyone knows about it, but you see them going back and forth on that railroad toward the school. And I

wish someone could take care of it. And we also have problems with people living at the car wash by the Salvation Army. And I tried to call the owner, but there's no phone number. There's no address. There's no name of the business. So, I don't know who owns the business. I don't know the address. I don't know the name of it. But it's kind of hard. And he owes me 75 cents, too. You know, he took my money and stuff. I I want Could Could you pay me, Mr. Crocker? You know, I want my 75 cents, but I I can't get it because I don't know his phone number. I don't know his address. I don't know his name. And the vacant house is by the Salvation Army. They're littered and stuff. And that red room business, you know, it's all trashed out. I wish someone could hire a contractor to take care of it. Okay, using my three minutes. Thanks and have a good evening.

Thank you, Mr. Vonda. All right, moving on then uh down the agenda. We have no items for public hearings. We will jump to the consent agenda. And as a reminder, we have pulled item D3 from the agenda. Miss Hillberg, will you please read the consent agenda? Yes, sir. Item D1 is the adoption of minutes of the regular meeting held on March 17, 2026. Item D2 is a resolution authorizing the city's acceptance of real property located at 108 North Ben Jordan from Callum Investments LLC, a Texas limited liability company for the benefit and public use of the city of Victoria. And item D4 is a resolution approving an amendment to the 380 agreement with Victoria Exchange Development LP to amend the scope of work.

Thank you, Miss Hilberg. Do I have a motion on the consent agenda as read? Motion to approve consent agenda as read. Second. Got a motion, a second. All in favor say I. I. Any opposed? And consent agenda passes. Mr. Mayor, while we were not supposed to have any comment, I would like to uh issue a thank you to the uh the company making a donation to the city. Yes, very much so. All right, moving then to our action items. We'll begin with action item E1. Miss Hillick. Yes, sir. Item E1 is a resolution supporting local educational institutions and workforce development in connection with the city's growing Victoria initiative.

Okay, this was placed on the agenda at my request. Um I don't have a presentation for you this evening but um you know as you're are aware uh on March 12th we held our held our Victoria our growing Victoria summit um with a heavy focus on education and the importance of education our community um not only just from a community growth standpoint but also just from a a workforce standpoint from a quality of life standpoint um really focused on how important our schools are. And I'm talking about public schools, private schools, uh from K12, um to Victoria College to our trainingmies and obviously Texas&M Victoria. And so um I had requested uh that this item be placed on the agenda just as a followup to that to really I guess emphasize and cap and so so show support from the city for our educational institutions. So, this resolution is a little bit um we don't normally do this, but I'd like to read this resolution because I think it's important that people um kind of understand where we're coming from on this. So, this is a resolution supporting local educational institutions and workforce development in connection with the city's growing Victoria initiative. So whereas on March 12th, 2026, the city of Victoria held the inaugural Growing Victoria Summit, whereas Growing Victoria is an initiative that was established last year in response to our lack of growth and its threat to our community's long-term financial sustainability and our effort to enhance livability in Victoria. Whereas the initiative aims to tackle this challenge by focusing on retail recruitment, small business development, quality of life, workforce development, and housing development. Whereas the Growing Victoria summit was established as a way to help educate our community stakeholders on this challenge

and the various initiatives underway to help address it. Whereas as part of that summit, the city recognizes the importance of strong and successful educational institutions and opportunities as it relates to workforce development and the future growth of Victoria. And whereas the city encourages all citizens to support our local educational institutions both public and private from K through 12 to Victoria College to Texas&M University Victoria. Now therefore, be it resolved by the city council of the city of Victoria, one, that city council hereby supports local educational institutions, both public and private, from K12 to Victoria College to Texas A&M University Victoria, and two, this resolution shall be shall become effective immediately upon adoption. So with that, I think um this is a a great followup to our summit and uh hopefully a a strong message to our community that the importance of education within our community.

With that, I move to approve item E1. I second it. All right, a motion and a second. Any discussion or comment? Thank you. If it's very well read, very good. Thank you. Uh with that then, all in favor of the resolution, please indicate by saying I. I. Any opposed? And the resolution passes. Thank you very much. Uh, moving on then to item E2, Miss Hilbert. Yes, sir. Item E2 is a resolution naming the city's community center the Gary Moses Community Center and declaring an effective date.

Thank you, Miss Hilbert. Again, I'll take the lead on this one. As I announced at the summit, um this was I think kind of an easy decision for for uh for us to to rename our community center after somebody who really has been the heart of our community. Has done so much in terms of our community getting together uh not just at the community center but uh throughout our community um in uh various uh events uh community organizations. I'm pretty sure um if you ask Gary, he'll tell you he taught everybody in town. Um you know, probably more than once. So, you know, he's just been such a a an impact on the community. Um as the uh we refer to it as the AIM is the unofficial lifetime mayor of Victoria. And I think that's a well-earned title. And so, uh through this resolution um well, I'll just read it. So this is a res a resolution naming the city's community center the Gary Moses Community Center and declaring an effective date. So whereas on March 12th, 2026, Mayor Dwayne Crocker announced the city intent to rename the existing community center the Gary Moses Community Center. Whereas the community has shown overwhelming support for this initiative. Whereas Gary Moses, known as Brother Gary to the citizens of Victoria, has dedicated his life to the promotion of our city, its citizens, local events, and the people of the surrounding region. Whereas, not only has he educated many youth in Victoria during his 37-year career as a US and Texas history teacher at Patty Welder, but more importantly has shown his caring and compassion for each of them and instilled in them pride in our community. Whereas to many, Gary Moses is the unofficial lifetime mayor of the city of Victoria and through his grecarious nature has brought many people together and impacted countless

residents through his love of people and community. Now therefore be it resolved by the city council of the city of Victoria that the city council hereby names the community center the Gary Moses community center and this resolution shall become effective immediately upon adoption. So with that, do I have any motions with respect to this resolution? Motion to approve. I second it. All right. A motion. Great pleasure that I'd like to make the motion and second it. I think we all want to make the motion. So put it down as all of us. Any discussion or comment on this? Now I think this is probably the most popular thing we'll do. So

very much. Very, very good. So all in favor say I. I. Any opposed? All right. Welldeserved accolades for brother Gary. All right. Moving on then to section F. Uh we'll begin our city manager reports. And Mr. Garza, I will turn it over to you for item F1. I think we have a special guest this evening.

We sure do. So we have two city manager reports uh for you this evening. The first is a presentation from our superintendent, Michila Colaso. And so she'll provide an overview of, of course, the upcoming bond program. Um, as she, you know, makes her way to the podium to give her presentation, I want to remind you that this presentation is strictlyformational, strictly factual. You know, as you know, the city u can't take a formal position. However, we do think it's important that the public be educated and informed on what the bond package includes, and so we invited her to provide that information for us this evening. So, Miss Miss Kleso, welcome Esco. Thank you for being here. Thank you.

Good evening, Mayor Crocker, members of city council. It's an honor to be here. I want to start by also thanking you and commending you for the growing Victoria summit which highlighted and prioritized education. And we know that education is paramount to a thriving city. with that. Um, we have an upcoming bond um, in the May election and I'm going to take us back about a year. We did the ribbon cutting for Mission Valley and Mission Valley prior to that is one of the oldest established schools in the city in the state of Texas. as we were doing the ribbon cutting um and I was speaking to the audience there um we talked about how the students in Mission Valley would be exposed to and part of this thriving community with this brand new school and we also said that what we wanted to see was that regardless of a student's zip code regardless of which corner of Victoria they lived in that every single student should be educated in a facility of that caliber. the Mission Valley School um the bond had a bond oversight committee. So, our board made a decision to open up applications for members of the city to apply to be part of a bond action committee. We received quite a few applications. Every board member selected six citizens that would serve and then we had a plus one in there. So, we have 43 members of a bond action committee that helped start this new bond process that we are currently engaged in. The committee started meeting in June, met multiple times. We started with a $30 million bond package to take care of primarily the 2010 bills which were East

West, Shalomarcade, Tourist, the Fine Arts Center, and the aquatic center. As the committee started looking at needs, doing tours, etc., the the bond grew over time and we landed with um a bond that has 11 projects that impacts 18 schools and we're at a $240 million bond proposal. Um so I'm going to just share a little bit. Um many people in here have um been part of a presentation. At one point the board unan unanimously approved the bond package. It's one proposition only and it's all for instructional facilities. It has 11 capital improvement projects that impact 18 campuses across the district. I talked about the bond action committee and they continue to work with us to help define and move this work. If approved, the bonds can only be used for authorized capital projects that we're talking about, although there's some latitude in how we fund other projects should the need arise if they're related to instruction. Um, this is I'll have some handouts that everyone can pick up, but this basically shows us the 11 bond projects that I'm going to go through rather quickly. So, why why this bond? The goal was to modernize all instructional facilities. Our the average age of our facilities is 48 years old. We have many campuses that are 75 76 years old that need um improvements and facility upgrades. Um it included asset improvements for the 2010 bills which are the campuses and facilities that I just talked about which need major component upgrades. Those were our newer schools which are

now 16 years old. If we think about that, we're also going to be right sizing from 14 elementary schools to 12 elementary schools. And people may ask why the both of these two campuses have major infrastructure issues. In addition to that, over the last 10 years, we've lost 2,000 students um in enrollment and um about 200 students a year. What we see is that students are not leaving us because we can track them. However, the birth rates are declining. So, when we look at ages 5 to 12, we have fewer students in those grade ranges, which means it makes sense for us to downsize and rightsize those two schools. In doing so, we reduce insurance costs and utility costs. The insurance costs for BISD run about $4.6 million a year. Utility costs run about $3.6 6 million a year. So, we're looking at how we save funds, and become good stewards of public funds as well. Doing this would also reduce administrative and operation costs, maintenance, roads, and ground costs. We're maximizing some of our facilities that have been underutilized. We had a committee that helped us look at that work as well. And then we're going to reduce ongoing facility repairs and expenditures over time with the bond. So the first right sizing is Shields Elementary. I'm showing you some pictures here of that campus. Campus built in 1954 about a little over 75 years old. You see the rerouting of the plumbing on the roof. You see all the roofing issues and the underground plumbing issues. The last one, the last picture in the bottom is a current issue and we have a new one that has emerged since then. So, we have uh probably a five foot hole um where we're looking at um how we're going to solve the plumbing

issues that we currently have. Next one is Okconor Elementary. Okconor Elementary has a grease trap issue. We have a one-year extension from the city to get that fixed. And then we have major underground plumbing issues along with some other uh facility infrastructure needs. This campus is also about 75 years old. So project number one is going to be Taus Elementary. What we will be doing um with this project is combining Okconor and Taurus Elementary which are very close in proximity. Taurus Elementary was originally built for about 550 students. We have about 320 students there right now. So there is room to expand that. We would be adding on additional classrooms, parking lot, um addition to the cafeteria, playground expansion, and some other things to accommodate a little bit of growth um for that campus. Again, right sizing Taurus and Okconor together. Project number two is Vickers Elementary. We have some portable classrooms there. If you look at number one on the picture, we would be adding some classroom additions there. a new facade in office area and reconfiguring the existing offices for instruction with small classrooms like speech dyslexia and those kinds of things. Um the chiller system at Vickers Elementary is over 30 years old and um it is failing as well. So we would be replacing the chil the chiller system and then converting the existing mechanical room into staff restrooms. there is only one adult restroom in the entire school. We will also be um resurfacing and expanding the parking lot so that student pickup happens on the grounds rather than on the street as it currently does.

Here you see a couple of pictures of Vickers Elementary, the chiller, and then you can see that it has a partial roof that is new, but the rest of the roof needs to be um replaced. We get into project three which is Patty Welder Middle School. When the bond action committee met, they talked about two legacy campuses that they wanted to preserve. One was Patty Welder and the other one was the current STEM middle school, the old Victoria High campus. So for this one, we would be talking about complete modernization and asset improvement. It needs a partial roof, HVAC, electrical, plumbing, and then it currently has a nonfunctional wing, which is the number one on the right hand side. There are eight classrooms there. The plan for this facility is to turn it into a performing arts academy. So, those eight classrooms would be converted to dance, music, um, all of the theater arts type classrooms that we would need. The cafeteria and kitchen need renovation. On number two, we would also be resurfacing the parking lot and expanding it. What you see here are some of the pictures for Patty Welder. So, if we're looking at the curtain wall, which are the windows, those are um initial curtain wall system. If we look at the bottom picture on the left, um the campus is structurally sound. There is a small part in the entrance where the foundation needs to be repaired. It needs an additional roof and then it also need that's the wing on the right side um in the bottom that needs to be upgraded. Project four is Smith STEM Academy. So Smith STEM Academy is a block away from

STEM Middle School. They are both STEM schools and they align with East. So we have a a full feeder pattern. STEM Elementary, Smith STEM and then East High School has the STEM program. We would be relocating Smith STEM Academy from its current location to this building on the STEM middle school complex. So this is the building on Morgi Street and that 56 classroom building would be converted into the Smith STEM Academy and you see a rendition of that what that might look like in the bottom. So we're adding a new entry with an elevator to make sure that it's ADA accessible. We're adding safety and fire suppression system upgrades, playground, gym, cafeteria, and those kinds of things. This was less than building a brand new elementary at the existing site which we did have the land to do. This is what we envision that students actually have full STEM experiences in a facility that does exactly that. This is what that current building looks like inside. a little dismal. However, as we've talked to architects and engineers, it is solid concrete and structurally sound.

Ma, when I was running around this campus in the 80s, that was the new building. It's still called It's obviously not so new anymore. Yes, it's still referred to as the new building. Built in 1980ish.

All right. So, STEM middle school is project number five. And you can see it's the V of STEM middle school which is Sam Houston and Mori Street. Full modernization of that campus windows again the curtain wall roof HVAC electrical and plumbing. We would be renovating the existing library and cafeteria. They would have a new facade with a covered entry because it doesn't have a covered entry. Um safety and fire suppression upgrades. And then the courtyard floods. And we'll show you pictures of what that looks like. I was talking to somebody else today and they said, "I went to high school there and it used to flood then." So it does. Um if we look at the pictures here on the top, you see the existing curtain wall. All those window systems would be replaced to align with the 56 classroom so that it becomes one cohesive complex. You see in the bottom the facade, the entry as you come in, there would be a covered area that's not covered. You see the plumbing issues and how those are um clamped at this point. And then at the bottom right, you see the flooding that happens. Students have to leave this building to get to the cafeteria. So they walk through that water when it's raining. Projects number 6A and 6B I'm going to tie together. Those are the two Southside schools. We're talking about Hopkins Elementary and Dudley Elementary. There were initial conversations about combining those two schools. We had too many students to do that. The ultimate decision from the bond action committee was to keep those campuses separate. Hopkins Elementary would be um receiving a brand new elementary school similar to the floor plan that we currently use with Shalomar and Taus. So, we'd be saving on architectural plans by using that existing plan that the district already

owns. We would then have north side, southeast side at Taurus, and southside with the same floor plan districtwide. This building or school would be built at the existing Hopkins side site. So, you see the campus at the top in gray. You see the parking lot and then the district owns all that property between Hopkins and the Boys and Girls Club. We would be building the campus right there and um building the campus while we w wouldn't disrupt operations with Hopkins um eventually demolish the old Hopkins school which you'll see in just a minute. Then we get into pictures here that show us Hopkins Elementary. Again, this campus is, I believe, 76 years old. Dudley Elementary has um the main building, building one that you see is the oldest building. It's a small cafeteria, very, very small. And then it has um office and a few classrooms there. The other buildings that you see on the outside are newer. Those were built in the 80s and 90s. Everything's relative as we talk here. And so those other buildings are still in good shape. What would happen at Dudley is we're replac building A which is number one all that complex. We can do that. The architects have for have fitted it to say we can do that construction while still operating the school. We would come back then and demolish building A when it's complete. Number two over there is redoing the parking lot. So this is uh Dudley Elementary. You see the difference? If you look at the top picture on the right, that's the old building. If you look at the left, you

can see the newer buildings. The bottom picture shows you the existing kitchen and the cafeteria is what's right next to that. So the kitchen and the cafeteria are almost about the same size. they would get a brand new cafeteria with an auditorium. Project seven is asset improvement for the 2010 schools. So here we're talking about Victoria East West Cage Shalomar and the fine arts center. Taurus is not on here because that was part of project one. At Victoria East and Victoria West, we would be adding an additional traffic exit for both of those. We've had conversations with text dot already and they have preliminarily approved um those exits and we have some plans that support that. For those two exits, they would come off of the student parking lot. At west, it would come off the parking lot onto 87 with a protected right turn. At east, it would come off the student parking lot with a right turn onto the access road at the loop. All of these campuses and facilities that you see here um would get HVAC upgrades, electrical, plumbing, and roof. We um worked with the architects to go back and they hired thermal engineers. They went back and looked at the entire campus to determine which parts of the roofs needed to be replaced, all of it or some of it. So, they identified partial areas that need replacement, which we'll do with the bond. Um, and they're starting the service warranty again for us as that happens. Rather than replacing the entire roof at substantial cost, the performing arts center, the perimeter walls or the envelope of that building, there's water seeping in that needs to be repaired. Project 8 is asset improvement for the

other campuses. Here we're talking about Aloe, Dillion, Roland, and Howell. for Aloe Elementary. If you look at that bottom picture, you see that real tall chimney. It has structural issues. That chimney needs to come down. We would be replacing it, if you look at the left picture at the bottom, with a new entrance and facade, expanding the office area because it's very, very small. We would also resurface um the parking lot here. Some of the electrical needs to be upgraded. You can't see the picture there, but there are some electrical upgrades that need to happen. When Harvey um when Harvey occurred here, most of the roof was replaced. There's just a small section at that school that needs to be redone. Delon Elementary, on the other hand, um the roof is 26 years old. Um so that campus would receive a brand new roof and some modernization. Roland Elementary. There are that campus is still functional. The issues there are with drop off and pickup. We would be rerouting drop off and pickup behind the school from Liry Lane to Mockingbird Lane. It would go straight back behind the school rather than the backup that currently happens on Liry Lane uh between Roland and Howell Middle School. And then Howell Middle School has a $3 million plumbing issue all under the school. What you see there on the lefthand picture and the others as well is standing water. The plumbing has been clamped in multiple areas. The more you clamp, the more it breaks. So $3 million to um replplum the entire school. Then we get into demolitions. Um Stro I'm going to talk about Strowman last.

Shields um would be demolished. It's one of the schools that we're right sizing. O' Conor would get demolished again. Hopkins would would be demolished when the new school is built. And then Dudley would get demolished with building A. Strowman on the other hand um has been closed for five years. The district has been paying about $520,000 a year for insurance, utility, and and the maintenance costs for the last 5 years. That's about 2.5 million that has been spent for a campus that is host holding currently our technology department which can be moved our connection center which can be moved and then we have part of uh VSA we have about 150 students there and we have another location that we can move them to. All of this includes full demolition, abatement, and then mole remediation for Strowman. And then projects 10 and 11 are the security enhancements as we add new buildings. Of course, there's new cameras, door access, those kinds of things that have to be included. And then the district has already done some LED lighting enhancements. The bond would cover LED lighting districtwide, which we know contributes to significant savings on utility costs. So, here I just want to share a couple of tax scenarios um that we've been talking about with the community. If my home is appraised at 140,000 or less, the state currently has 140,000 homestead exemption. So there would be zero tax increase for me as a homeowner. If my home is appraised at 240,000 with the 140,000 homestead exemption,

there's a h 100,000 taxable value left. At 21 cents, it would be $210 a year or $1,750 a month for that home. Scenario three is 340,000 home appraised home value. 140,000 homestead exemption would leave a $200,000 taxable value. which equates to about $420 a year or $35 a month. 65 or older, there's generally not a tax increase. Um, but again, we suggest that people talk to the appraisal district just to make sure that that is accurate for them. And then just a couple of quick comparisons as we look at the 2017 bond compared to the current bond. They were about the same amount in 2017. You can see that the combined tax rate was $1.26. They had a 7 cent increase at the time which took that um combined tax rate to $133. In 2017, the average home value was 151,000. They had a homestead exemption at the time of 25,000 which left 126,000 taxable value. Taxes for that homeowner were 1596. If I take that seven cent increase at a $133 per $100 value, the taxes would have been 1,684. This uh proposed bond, we have the lowest tax rate we've had in 30 years because of some things that the taxes that fell off of the roll and also because of compression. Um, our total combined tax rate is 80 cents. With a 21 cents, it would be a$11. The average home value today is 239,000. Homestead exemption is 140,000, which

leaves a taxable value of 99,000. Taxes for this home are 798. Add the 21 cents and it takes it up to,07 or about$,739 a month. $17.39 a month. So, we share this to show um new tax rates, lowest tax rate we've ever had. Um the homestead exemption is different. The state is also talking about moving from 140,000 homestead exemption to 180,000, which would lower the taxes more. We can't we don't know what's going to happen with that, but that is part of the discussion. Um, we have a community mailout that's going out this week. We have a newspaper that we have put together that details all of this and more. And this newspaper will be mailed out to every citizen in Victoria. Um, so they should be receiving those in the next few days.

That's a lot of information. It is. And I gave you the Reader Digest version. We We appreciate understand. Yes. Thank you very much. I know that you guys have put a lot of work into this, not only your staff, but I see uh board president Patton back there. Welcome, sir. Uh I know there's been a lot of work. The bond action committee uh I know put in a lot of work on this and um we certainly appreciate you coming tonight and giving that information. Thank you for the opportunity.

Absolutely. Thank you so much. We'll keep it going with our second presentation for this evening. Uh Joel Novasad, our CVB director, will be providing an update on our short-term rental registration program. Joel, good evening, Mr. Novasad. Welcome.

Good evening. Good evening, Mayor and Council. Thanks for having me. So, I am happy to present this evening a short presentation about a project that we've been working on for quite some time now. Um, and this is in relation to short-term rentals in Victoria. A lot of people know that as just Airbnbs or a Verbbo. Um, and we have uh I have some stats about uh our short-term rentals and and that might surprise you. So, some background on this. Uh, the state of Texas has actually collected hotel occupancy tax for short-term rentals since 2017. Um, now the state only collects it for themselves. When they established this at the time, they required local governments to set up their own process for collecting hotel occupancy taxes. An attempt was made by our finance department at the time. Uh but as you'll see shortly, there weren't that many short-term rentals here in 2017. Um and some of them responded by just saying they're not going to have a short-term rental anymore. Um we determined been looking at, you know, feedback from uh a number of our tourism partners uh to make another attempt to collect hotel occupancy taxes and and trying a a very measured and and deliberate approach with with the owners. So, people book those through platforms like Airbnb and Verbbo, and there's more listings than you might think, 42 in City Limits. Um, services. Uh, I've had some great, uh, uh, de demos with staff of a company called AirDNA. Uh, they have partnerships with Airbnb and Verbbo and can provide stats, uh, that track short-term rental listings and performance. Um, and compared to some of the other services out there, that's a pretty modest subscription fee. So if we move forward uh with this program, those kind of services could be invaluable invaluable to us. So in looking at uh the most recent stats we had uh for recent full month we had my most recent demo with AirDNA, uh our short-term rentals did almost 75,000 in revenue just in the month of February. Um their average daily rate is pretty comparable to some of our higherend hotel

properties here. And uh we get, like I mentioned, 42 available listings. Um, and uh that you can see right here on this graph uh the growth. You see 2017 to the far left side of the graph and uh fewer than 10 short-term rentals listings. Now we have over 40. Um so we see the trend and that they're growing. You know, we recognize of course with the uh growing of Victoria initiative, the uh new Texas A&M University Victoria that we could really see these listings continue to grow in the coming years. Um, then you see here the revenue that has been uh uh that these short-term rentals have listed uh over the past few years. And you've seen that grow to uh over $800,000, whereas it was well below um probably around lower than $100,000 just a couple of years ago. So, we're not only seeing the number, but we're seeing the revenue go up.

And then available listings by nights, uh by room type. You might think it might just be people renting out one room at their house, but you can see there's quite a number of full properties on there. Actually, a three-bedroom property is a majority of our listings here in Victoria. So, how did we come about this? How did we work on this? Um, I myself worked very closely with Allison Lacy, our city attorney, and Annette Pon, our fire marshal. We had several virtual meetings with Airbnb representatives. uh they were very complimentary of our approach in this um in taking you know time uh to communicate with short-term rental owners to consider all the ins and outs of a potential program and we research what other cities have done. There's many other cities in in Texas that have done this. Um I'm sure my staff has heard me say bass droprop a lot of times as we've been working through this. uh but they are a program that I identified as as having something I'd like to to craft a a program for us after. So, we had um a big part of what we did was communication with short-term rental owners. We had a couple of workshop listening sessions this fall. Um we had uh six uh property owners and some of them represented multiple properties show up. Um, and while they were a little guarded at first as we talked through more through more of the potential program, they really warmed up to the idea. Um, and those, you know, we don't have the contact information of the of the short-term rental owners, right? We relied on Airbnb to get those out uh that information on the uh listening sessions because if you go to Airbnb, you can't even see the exact location of a short-term rental until you actually book it, right? Um we discussed this initiative at our tourism advisory board meeting a couple of times. Um comm continued communication with Airbnb staff and again had those uh demonstrations recently with AirDNA. So what are the program details? Well we would have a very nominal permanent fee

$25. Many other cities especially larger ones San Antonio is $450. Houston Dallas or Houston Austin uh around 300. The most expensive one I found was Shady Shores at $1,500 in the Dallas Metroplex area. Uh so it's a very modest fee. Uh of course they will be required to collect and collect and remit hotel occupancy taxes to the city of Victoria and uh those I've been insured by air Airbnb and Verbbo that those would be um reflective on on the booking when somebody was was booking that there would be hotel taxes. Uh, and they must submit their property to inspection by the city fire marshal. And Annette was kind enough to provide these for me what they would specifically be looking at. Uh, but at least one operable emergency escape uh in each bedroom. Um, so something like an unobstructed window or something like that. They must have a working smoke detector in each bedroom and one on each level in the hallway. They must provide a working carbon monoxide detector, but only if there's any gas appliances appliances on the property. They must provide a fire extinguisher on every floor and a clear evacuation plans in case of a fire. So, the benefits to the city, this levels the playing field. You know, these short-term rentals do have an advantage over hotels and boutique properties. We have the in on Main, the Rosalie guest quarters that are charging and collecting and remitting hot taxes. Um, registration ensures city staff knows what properties are short-term rentals. Increases safety. Police and fire know as well. Um, and in inspections ensure visitors to Victoria receiving a safe location to stay. In my research, there's been, you know, a couple of cities out there where folks stayed at a a short-term rental that may have not been registered with the city inspected and accidents that happen. Uh, benefits to the short-term rentals, we made sure to, you know, express this to them, is that we can list their properties on Discover Victoria, Texas website and market them. you know, right now we can't have any formal relationship with them because they have

a business advantage over the folks who are paying the hotel motel taxes like our hotels. Uh we can send group business to them. So, when an event's coming into town, um whether it's sporting or conferences or meetings, and then the last point really interested our short-term rental owners when we had our workshops, uh connecting them with local businesses and organizations that bring in workers, a lot of their businesses, hospitals, Victoria ISD, colleges, petrochemical plants, uh we can be a sort of sales staff for them. You know, a lot of these folks, it's passive income. They're not wanting to spend a bunch of time trying to sell their property. you know, we can make those connections, help make those connections for them. So, the timeline for this, um, April 21st, next city council meeting would be the first reading. Second and third reading would be the May 5th city council meeting. Uh, after ordinance goes into effect, the short-term rental owners would have 30 days to complete necessary steps. And then the registration process and permitting would be handled through convention and visitors bureau. Property owners non-compliance will be addressed in coordination with the city legal department. Um, and at this time I can answer any questions you might have

on the 30 days. Um, is if that has to be inspected by the fire marshall, right? We can amend that. Yeah. Yeah. That these are still malleable things. Okay. Right. And they and they all may not necessarily come up right at the exact same time either. Fair. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. We understand it's a new program and we're going to grant some leeway in that. you know, we're not I think the only thing I'll add, Joe, if you don't mind, is sure,

you know, we're trying to keep it as simple as possible since it is a new concept for us. Um, I participated in one of the meetings um that Joe referenced in, you know, there there are certainly um most of the of the folks that have Airbnbs in our community, like Joe mentioned, it's passive income, right? They might only have one property. in some larger communities or more tourist centric communities, you kind of have people that own, you know, quite a bit of properties that that's literally their that's their job, right? And we have one or two of those here, but for the most part, it's it's it's folks that aren't doing this for a living. And so, they're also learning about programs like this for the first time. Um, there was an individual, for example, in one of the meetings had said, I think he owned properties in Corpus. And so he was familiar with with programs like this because they have one in corpus. But most of the people this is their first exposure to it which is why we want to keep it as simple as possible. Um however um we recognize that there are um implications that could potentially arise over time because they've ris they've come up in other places. Right. One of the benefits of us sort of being late to the game in adopting something like this is that we're able to observe challenges that other cities faced in implementing these and things that happened over time. And so one of the ones that's become common is that in certain areas where having an Airbnb has become um um common, you limit it. And so San Antonio, for example, there can only be so many Airbnbs per neighborhood or per street. and they kind of try and control right some of that because as you can imagine sometimes near let's say a university campus or uh some kind of destination if you have an influx right of visitors it could potentially pose you know traffic issues in the evening or other safety issues and so I mentioned that just as an example of there's opportunities later down the line to potentially

address issues that might arise in time but for Now, we want to keep it as simple as possible and focus on the public safety element of it, hence the heavy involvement of the fire marshall's office. Very good. Thank you for that additional info. Are there any questions about this at this point? I know there may be more once we actually see the ordinance itself, the draft, which we will before the next meeting and really get into the meat of it. So, all right. Thank you very much. Appreciate the information. Mr. Garza, is that it for your reports this evening? Yes, sir. And we do have an executive session.

Yes. All right. Well, we will take a short uh 10-minute break and then we will uh reconvene into executive session. The city council recess for executive session on the 7th day of April, 2026 at 6:15 p.m. Subject matters as follows. Texas government code 551.087, 551.072, and 551.0715. 55 something.