[00:00:17] IT'S BEEN GOOD EVENING EVERYBODY, THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE TONIGHT IS TUESDAY, JULY 2, 2024 AND CITY COUNCIL HAS A QUORUM PRESENT INSIDE THE COUNCIL CHAMBERS. AS AUTHORIZED BY SECTION 05771 OF THE TEXAS GOVERNMENT CODE THIS MEETING WILL BE CONVENED INTO CLOSED EXECUTIVE SESSION FOR THE PURPOSE OF SEEKING CONFIDENTIAL LEGAL ADVICE FROM THE CITY ATTORNEY ON ANY AGENDA ITEM HEARING IN THE CITY OF BRALETTE REALIGNED THE REGULAR SESSION OR CALL THE EXECUTIVE SESSION OR ORDER OF BUSINESS ANYTIME PRIOR TO ADJOURNMENT. AND FOR IN PERSON COMMENTS REQUEST TO SPEAK FORMS AND INSTRUCTIONS ARE AVAILABLE INSIDE THE DOOR RIGHT OVER THERE IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBERS, AND BEFORE WE CONTINUE WE LIKE TO HAVE AN INVOCATION. YOU MAY STAND IF YOU WISH TO JOIN AND THEN AFTER WE HAVE THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE AND TONIGHT WILL BE O PASTOR CUSTOM HUDDLESTON. >> COUNSEL, LET'S BOW OUR HEADS TOGETHER. HEAVENLY FATHER, AS WE AND OUR ELECTED LEADERS GATHER TONIGHT, WE BLESS THE CITY OF BRALETTE AND WE SEEK HIS PROSPERITY. WE SEEK TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE ISSUES AND CONCERNS THAT CONFRONT OUR CITY AND HOW THE GOSPEL COMPELS US TO RESPOND AS FAITH FULL CITIZENS IN OUR COMMUNITY. WHAT I ASK THAT YOU WOULD BE WITH THE COUNCIL, KEEP THEM IN PHYSICAL HEALTH, KEEP THEM STRONG, FOCUSED ON THE TASK BEFORE THEM. TURNED THEIR HEARTS TO YOU, O LORD. HELP THEM TO GUIDE AND GUARD AND GOVERN OUR CITY, WONDERFUL CITY, AND CLEARLY AND HONESTLY LEAD US WELL . THEY REALIZE THEIR NEED FOR YOU, YOUR WISDOM AND YOUR DIRECTION. HEAVENLY FATHER, MAY THEY HEAR YOUR VOICE AS THEY MAKE THEIR DECISIONS AND MADE A FOLLOW YOUR GUIDANCE. LORD MAYDAY HAVE A PASSION FOR THE PEOPLE OF ROWLETT, FOR TRUTH AND FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS FOR WHAT WE KNOW THAT YOU SAID AS A LEADER WE MUST BE A SERVANT. CONTINUE TO INSTILL IN THEM A SPIRIT OF OUTSTANDING LEADERSAND ALL THAT THEY DO. PROTECT THEM. MAY THEY BE OBEDIENT TO YOUR WILL. MADE THEIR EVERY DECISION BE RIGHTEOUS IN YOUR SITE FOR OUR BENEFIT AND FOR YOUR GLORY. IN JESUS MIGHTY NAME WE PRAY, AMEN. >> THANK YOU, AND NOW FOR THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE. 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. >> NOW THE TEXAS FLAG. >> HONOR THE TEXAS FLAG. I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THEE, TEXAS, ONE STATE UNDER GOD, ONE AND INDIVISIBLE . >> THANK YOU AND NOW BE SEATED. [4A. Presentation of Rowlett Veterans Recognition Program certificate to Veteran Leon Johnson. ] >> ALL RIGHT. OUR FIRST EXCITING ITEM OF THE NIGHT IS ITEM FOR A PRESENTATION OF ROWLETT VETERANS RECOGNITION PROGRAM SIGNIFICANT CERTIFICATE TO VETERAN LEON JOHNSON AND PRESENTING THIS WILL BE COUNCILMEMBER BOWERS AND I THINK CHRIS KOSER IS HERE WITH THE VETERANS RESOURCE AND OUTREACH CENTER. SO COME ON UP. >> JUST AS A LITTLE BACKGROUND INFORMATION, THE CITY INSTITUTED THIS PROGRAM, THE VETERAN RECOGNITION PROGRAM, IN 2017, IN ORDER TO SHOW APPRECIATION TO THOSE MEMBERS IN OUR COMMUNITY WHO HAVE DEDICATED THEIR TIME AND SERVICE TO OUR NATION. ASSISTING WITH THE SELECTION IN RECOGNITION OF HONOREES IS THE VETERANS RESOURCE AND OUTREACH CENTER, THE V ROCK, THE RELIC VETERANS RECOGNITION PROGRAM ALSO HELPS BRING AWARENESS TO VETERANS ISSUES IN OUR COMMUNITY. WHAT IS BEING DONE AND WHAT IS STILL NEEDED. MAYOR MARGOLIS IS HONORED TO CONTINUE FORMALLY RECOGNIZING THE TRENDS OF ALL AGES AND BRANCHES OF THE SERVICE AT CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS. THIS IS THE 33RD VETERAN TO BE RECOGNIZED AND HIS NAME IS LEON JOHNSON. HE SERVES AS A COMMAND SERGEANT MAJOR IN THE U.S. ARMY FOR 27 YEARS. >> THANK YOU. >> CHRIS? THERE YOU GO. >> PARDON? I THOUGHT WE DID THAT LAST. WE'LL DO THAT LAST, OKAY. >> ALL RIGHT, GOOD EVENING, EVERYBODY. AS ANOTHER MONTH HAS PASSED WE ARE DEFINITELY HONORED WITH MR. JOHNSON HERE, WHO'S BEEN QUITE BUSY. WE ARE OBVIOUSLY A COUPLE MONTHS BEHIND SCHEDULE THIS TIME AS HE WAS DUE TO BE RECOGNIZED A COUPLE OF MONTHS AGO, BUT HE IS HERE NOW AND WE ARE FOREVER BLESSED FOR THIS ONE. I TELL YOU, THIS IS A NOTE FOR THE NEXT RECOGNITION. WE'LL HAVE ANOTHER ONE ON THE NEXT CITY COUNCIL MEETING AS WELL, TO MAKE UP FOR OUR LOST TIME. HE'S HERE. SO THAT BEING SAID, TONIGHT WE ARE HERE TO RECOGNIZE AND HONOR THE SERVICE AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF COMMAND SERGEANT MAJOR LEON JOHNSON. [00:05:06] MR. JOHNSON ENLISTED IN THE UNITED STATES ARMY ON JANUARY 9, 1990. HE ATTENDED BASIC COMBAT TRAINING IN FORT KNOX, KENTUCKY, AND RECEIVED ADVANCED INDIVIDUAL TRAINING AS A COMBAT MEDIC AT FORT SAM HOUSTON, TEXAS. HIS MILITARY ASSIGNMENTS INCLUDE THAT AND YOU SHOULD KNOW THAT THEY ARE VERY EXTENSIVE AND THERE'S A LOT OF ONES THAT I HAD TO KIND OF TAKE OUT A LOT OF THOSE NUMBERS, BECAUSE IT WAS A LOT OF THEM. AND I MEAN A LOT OF THEM. BUT I WILL TELL YOU HIS ASSIGNMENTS WERE AT FORT STEWART, FORT DRUM, FORT KNOX, FORT RUCKER, FORT CAMPBELL, FORT BENNING, HE WAS ALSO AT THE HUNTER ARMY AIRFIELD, THE TRIPPER ARMY MEDICAL CENTER IN PANAMA AND IN KOREA. IF YOU CAN IMAGINE ALL THE THINGS THAT WENT BETWEEN ALL THOSE THINGS, IT WAS AN AWFUL LOT OF IT. HIS AWARDS AND DECORATIONS INCLUDE THE BRONZE STAR MEDAL, THE LEGION OF MERIT MEDAL, THE MERITORIOUS SERVICE MEDAL, EIGHTH AWARD. ARMY COMMENDATION MEDAL, TENSE AWARD. ARMY ACHIEVEMENT MEDAL, EIGHTH AWARD. THE GOOD CONDUCT MEDAL, NINTH AWARD. THE NATIONAL DEFENSE SERVICE MEDAL WITH BRONZE STAR DEVICE, THE SOUTHWEST ASIA MEDAL WITH THREE BRONZE STARS POINT THE HUMANITARIAN SERVICE MEDAL, THE NCO PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT RIDDEN, NUMBER FOUR DEVICE. THE MILITARY OCCUPATIONAL VOLUNTEER SERVICE MEDAL, OVERSEAS RIDDEN NUMBER THREE DEVICE. ARMY SERVICE RIBBON, KUWAIT LIBERATION MEDAL FROM SAUDI ARABIA. THE KUWAIT DURATION MEDAL FROM KUWAIT. THE IRAQI CAMPAIGN MEDAL WITH TWO BRONZE STARS. THE GLOBAL WAR ON TERRORISM SERVICE MEDAL AND THE KOREAN DEFENSE SERVICE MEDAL. HIS SPECIAL SKILL BADGES INCLUDE THE COMBAT MEDICAL FIELD BADGE, THE EXPERT FIELD MEDICAL BADGE, THE FLIGHT MEDIC CREWMEMBER BADGE. THE PARACHUTIST BADGE, THE AIR ASSAULT BADGE AND THE DRILL SERGEANT BADGE. OBVIOUSLY YOU CAN TELL WHAT HIS BACKGROUND WAS, OBVIOUSLY IN THE MEDICAL FIELD. SO WOW, VERY DISTINGUISHED. MR. JOHNSON IS THE RECIPIENT OF THE PRESTIGIOUS -- AND I WANTED TO ASK YOU, IS IT THE AME EDD? WHAT DOES THAT STAND FOR? >> AMED, SIR. >> AMED, ORDER OF MILITARY MEDICAL. COLONEL, THIS IS A VERY PRESTIGIOUS AWARD TO RECEIVE. THE SERGEANT AUDIE MURPHY CLUB AND THE ORDER OF ST. MICHAEL'S INFANTRY AWARD, AND HE WAS INDUCTED BY THE GOVERNOR OF ALABAMA AS AN HONORARY COLONEL FOR THE STATE. >> THAT'S RIGHT. >> MR. JOHNSON IS MARRIED TO THERESE AND HAS THREE SONS, TAYLOR, BLAKE AND LEON. MR. JOHNSON AND HIS FAMILY HAVE LIVED IN ROW LET FOR THE LAST FOUR YEARS AFTER SERVING IN THE MILITARY AND COMPLETING MULTIPLE COMBAT GLOBAL SUPPORT MISSIONS DURING HIS 27 YEARS TENURE. HE RETIRED AS COMMAND SERGEANT MAJOR AND HOLDS A BACHELORS DEGREE IN HEALTHCARE MANAGEMENT FROM TRINITY UNIVERSITY. HE ALSO HAS A MASTERS DEGREE IN EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY FROM LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY IN BATON ROUGE. >> GO TIGERS. I SEE YOU, MIKE. >> MR. JOHNSON IS CURRENTLY SERVING AS THE SENIOR ARMY INSTRUCTOR FOR THE JROTC AT EMMETT J CONRAD HIGH SCHOOL IN DALLAS AND I WILL ADD THAT HIS JROTC LEADERSHIP TEAM, WHEN HE FIRST WROTE HIS BIO TO ME, IT WAS HE WAS GOING TO. NOW HE'S RETURNED FROM -- SO HE'S COMPLETED THE NATIONAL JROTC LEADERSHIP CHAMPIONSHIP IN WASHINGTON, D.C. AND I WILL LET HIM TELL YOU HOW THAT RESULT CAME OUT. PLEASE LET ME HONOR OUR 33RD ROWLETT THAT, MR. LEON JOHNSON. >> >> ALL RIGHT, THANK YOU. THANK YOU, YOU ALL CAN HAVE A SEAT REAL QUICK. I PROMISED EMMETT THAT I WOULD BE VERY QUICK. AS AN OLD COMMAND SERGEANT MAJOR, WE'RE TAUGHT AND INSTRUCTED TO [00:10:09] BE CLEAR, CONCISE, BE BRIEF AND BE GONE. ALL RIGHT, SO I WON'T% TAKE TOO MUCH OF YOUR TIME. BUT FIRST AND FOREMOST I WANT TO THANK THE MAYOR, CITY COUNCIL LEADERSHIP. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR MAKING THIS A SPECIAL MOMENT IN MY LIFE. WANT TO THANK MIKE BACK THERE, EVERYBODY WHO WAS A PART OF THIS THAT TOOK THE TIME OUT OF YOUR BUSY SCHEDULES TO COME HERE, TO BE A PART OF THIS MONUMENTAL MOMENT IN MY LIFE. I'M SO GREAT, I'M SO THANKFUL AND I'M SO BLESSED SO I WANT TO THANK YOU ALL FOR BEING HERE FOR ME FOR THIS SPECIAL MOMENT. ONE THING I WANTED TO DO REALLY QUICK, AND SOMETIMES WE OFTEN FORGET AS LEADERS, AS CITIZENS, SOMETIMES WE FORGET THAT THERE ARE STILL PEOPLE OUT THERE WHO ARE FIGHTING FOR OUR FREEDOM. THERE ARE STILL PEOPLE WHO NEVER MADE IT BACK HOME. SO IF YOU DON'T MIND, YOUR GRACE OR YOUR BLESSING, IF I COULD JUST TAKE A SECOND OR A MINUTE TO GIVE SILENCE AND THOSE WHO DID NOT MAKE IT BACK IN THOSE WHO ARE MISSING, YOU GUYS TAKE A MOMENT OF SILENCE, PLEASE. THANK YOU. ALL RIGHT. SO I'M JUST GOING TO GET INTO THE MEAT AND POTATOES OF THIS. WHEN I WAS ASKED -- I SAW MIKE AT THE POST OFFICE, AND HE WAS THE FIRST PERSON I RAN INTO. AND I WAS LIKE A MAN, WHAT A GREAT PLACE TO BE IN ROWLETT, YOU CAN ACTUALLY GO TO JUST THE POST OFFICE AND JUST MEET A NORMAL CITIZEN, AND WE HAD A GREAT CONVERSATION. NOT ONLY DID WE HAVE A GREAT CONVERSATION, BUT IT EVOLVED INTO A FRIENDSHIP. AND FOR THAT, SIR, I'M SO GRATEFUL. THANK YOU, MIKE. I KNOW HE'S BACK THERE, SO THANK YOU. I ACTUALLY HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY, THANK YOU, SIR -- BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY, AS WE TOOK A MOMENT TO GIVE OURSELVES SILENCE, WE STILL KNOW THAT SOME GAVE ALL AND THERE'S STILL SOME WHO DIDN'T MAKE IT BACK. SO I WANT US TO THINK ABOUT THAT, THINK ABOUT IT AS CITIZENS, AS LEADERS, THE ROLE WE HAVE IN FREEDOM. AND A LOT OF TIMES PEOPLE SAY FREEDOM IS NOT FREE. I TEND TO DISAGREE. YOU KNOW IT ISN'T FREE. WE ALL HAVE A ROLE. WE HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY. WE HAVE A DUTY. I KNOW WHEN WE SIGNED UP, I KNEW MY RESPONSIBILITY WAS TO MAKE SURE YOU ALL HAD THE FREEDOMS AND LIBERTIES THAT YOU HAD TODAY TO BE ABLE TO DO WHAT YOU DO, SO THAT'S WHY I'M PROUD TO SAY I AM PROUD TO BE A PART OF THIS GREAT NATION. AND IT'S GOING TO TAKE ALL OF US, ALL OF US TOGETHER, TO BE ABLE TO MAKE IT GREAT, AND THAT'S WHAT THIS COUNTRY IS ALL ABOUT . IT'S ABOUT EVERYBODY COMING TOGETHER, DOING WHAT'S BEST FOR OUR NATION TO MOVE IT FORWARD. SO MOMENTS LIKE THIS I WANT YOU ALL TO KNOW THAT I'M SO, SO, SO GRATEFUL. I'M SO GRATEFUL THAT A LOT OF MY FRIENDS, MY NEIGHBORS, MY FRATERNITY BROTHERS, EVERYBODY CAME OUT TO BE A PART OF THIS SPECIAL MOMENT. MY STUDENTS, MY PARENTS, THAT SHOWS ME THE LOVE WE HAVE IN THE CITY, THE LEVEL THAT WE HAVE IN THIS COUNTRY, THAT YOU CAN GET PEOPLE TO COME TOGETHER FOR JUST ONE MICRO MOMENT TO BE ABLE TO JUST SAY, YOU KNOW WHAT, LET'S CELEBRATE SOMEBODY. IT'S NOT ABOUT NOTHING BAD. IT'S NOT ABOUT NOTHING NEGATIVE, BUT IT'S ABOUT SOMETHING GOOD, AND I'M GOING TO TELL YOU WHAT -- I'M ONLY HERE BECAUSE A LOT OF PEOPLE SUPPORTED ME. MY WIFE, MY SONS, MY FAMILIES, MY OTHER SOLDIERS. IF WE GOT ANY OTHER VETERANS IN THIS ROOM WOULD YOU PLEASE JUST STAND REAL QUICK ON ANY VETERANS IN THIS ROOM PLEASE STAND. THANK YOU, ALL RIGHT HE'LL >> >> ALL RIGHT. IN CONCLUSION, BECAUSE NOW I'VE GOT TO BE DONE, THERE'S A FAMOUS QUOTE THAT I LIVED BY, BY MY ANGELOU, WHEN I WAS IN THE MILITARY, AND IT MADE ME REALIZE HOW PRECIOUS AND IMPORTANT PEOPLE ARE. IF YOU DON'T HAVE PEOPLE, YOU HAVE NOTHING, RIGHT? YOU COULD HAVE ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD BUT IF YOU DON'T HAVE PEOPLE, PEOPLE ARE THE MOST PRECIOUS, VALUABLE RESOURCE, AND THIS QUOTE IS SOMETHING THAT I LIVED BY AND THAT I WILL CONTINUE TO LIVE BY UNTIL I TAKE MY LAST BREATH, AND THIS QUOTE IS BY MY ANGELOU, AND IT STATES, PEOPLE WILL OFTEN FORGET WHAT YOU DO. THEY WILL SOMETIMES FORGET WHAT YOU SAY. BUT THEY WILL NEVER FORGET HOW YOU MADE THEM FEEL. AND I THANK GOD FOR EACH AND EVERYONE OF YOU FOR MAKING THIS A SPECIAL MOMENT FOR ME. THANK YOU. >> HOW ARE YOU? >> I'M GOOD, HOW ARE YOU? >> VERY GOOD. YOU'RE AN INSPIRATION, NO DOUBT. >> THANK YOU, MA'AM. >> THE THINGS YOU SAID, I'M GOING TO TRY TO REMEMBER THE CONCEPT OF IT. MY HUSBAND WILL APPRECIATE IT, I'LL TELL YOU THAT. MY NAME IS LORI ALBERS COATES. I'M HERE AS A VOLUNTEER FOR THE FOLDS OF VALOR FOUNDATIN AND I'VE BEEN HERE FOR RECOGNITIONS OVER THE LAST FIVE YEARS. FULL OF VALOR FOUNDATION WAS STARTED IN 2003, 20 SOME YEARS AGO. THE MISSION OF THE ORGANIZATION IS TO PROVIDE QUILTS OF COMFORT AND HEALING TO THOSE THAT HAVE BEEN TOUCHED BY WAR. AND NO DOUBT YOU HAVE. YOU'VE BEEN IN THAT CATEGORY AND WE APPRECIATE THAT. JUST A LITTLE BIT MORE [00:15:06] ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION, WHEN SHE, WHEN THE IDEA CAME TO HER MIND TO START THIS ORGANIZATION , SHE HAD A SON THAT WAS IN IRAQ AT THE TIME. HIS NAME WAS NAT. SHE HAD A DREAM ONE NIGHT. IT WASN'T A DREAM ABOUT HER SON BUT IT WAS A DREAM ABOUT A YOUNG MILITARY GENTLEMAN IN A WAR SITUATION, ON THE EDGE OF HIS BED, VERY DISTRESSED. AND YOU KNOW HOW YOU KIND OF COME IN AND OUT OF DREAMS AND KIND OF PIECE THEM TOGETHER, WHATEVER YOU MAKE A LITTLE LATER IN HER DREAMS SHE SAW THAT SAME YOUNG MAN COVERED IN A BELT, AND HE WAS COMFORTED. AND SHE WAS A QUILTER, BY THE WAY, SO IT IMMEDIATELY GAVE A MESSAGE TO HER THAT SHE WAS GOING TO START THIS MISSION TO PROVIDE QUILTS OF COMFORT AND HEALING TO THOSE THAT HAVE BEEN TOUCHED BY WAR. IT'S BEEN AN HONOR TO BE A PART OF THAT ORGANIZATION FOR ABOUT 10 YEARS. LAST TIME I CHECKED ALMOST 400,000 QUILTS HAVE BEEN REWARDED THROUGH VOLUNTEER EFFORTS, LOCAL GROUPS, ET CETERA. THE ONE THAT WE HAVE TWO AWARD TO YOU THIS EVENING, THIS IS SUPER SPECIAL. I GOT TO HELP IN MAKING THE TOP AND SOME OF THE LADIES IN MY SEWING GROUP MADE SOME OF THE BLOCKS BUT WHAT'S REALLY COOL IS IT WAS QUILTED, THE ACTUAL QUILTING WAS DONE BY A RETIRED VIETNAM VETERAN. YES, HIS NAME IS SERGEANT SAM MOORE. I ALWAYS WANT TO DOUBLE CHECK THAT. HE LIVES IN MESQUITE. HIS WIFE IS A QUILTER AND HE'S A QUILTER NOW, TOO. IT'S A GREAT PLEASURE TO AWARD THIS QUILT OF VALOR TO YOU. >> IT'S BEAUTIFUL. >> IT'S GOT A LABEL ON THE BACK AND THEN I'VE GOT A CERTIFICATE FOR YOU, AS WELL. IF YOU LOOK CLOSELY, THE ACTUAL QUILTING IS DONE WITH RED, WHITE AND BLUE THREAD, SO THERE'S A LABEL ON THE BACK AND THEN I'M GOING TO READ YOUR CERTIFICATE, AND THEN I'LL WORK ON MY PART ABOUT BEING SHORT. THE CERTIFICATE SAYS AWARDED TWO MAJOR LEON JOHNSON, ROWLETT FEDERATE RECOGNITION AT ROWLETT, TEXAS, MADE BY LORI C AND QUILTED BY SERGEANT MOORE ON BEHALF OF QUILTS OF VALOR FOUNDATION, IN RECOGNITION OF YOUR SERVICE AND SACRIFICE FOR THIS NATION. IT IS A PRIVILEGE TO SERVE, HONOR AND COMFORT UPON YOU THROUGH THE AWARDING OF THIS QUILT OF VALO. THOUGH WE MAY NEVER KNOW THE DEPTH OF YOUR SACRIFICE TO PROTECT AND DEFEND THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AS A GESTURE OF GRATITUDE FROM A GRATEFUL NATION WE AWARD YOU THIS QUILT OF VALOR. SO THANK YOU. >> PIECE OF PAPER. YOU CERTAINLY HAVE -- YOU ARE USED TO GETTING AWARDS. THE FREEDOM AND SECURITY THAT CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES ENJOY TODAY ARE DIRECT RESULTS OF THE BLOODSHED AND CONTINUED DILIGENCE BY THE UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES OVER THE HISTORY OF OUR GREAT NATION, DEFENDING THE CONSTITUTION, PROTECTING THE BLESSINGS OF LIBERTY AND PAYING THE PRICE OF FREEDOM FOR US ALL. WE ARE ETERNALLY GRATEFUL FOR THOSE WHO HAVE SEEN THE HORRORS OF WAR AND THE WORST IN SOCIETY YET CONTINUE TO SERVE AND SHOW THE BEST OF WHAT HUMANITY CAN BE. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. >> >> PICTURE. >> THANK YOU. >> THANK YOU. >> THANK YOU ALL. [4B. Presentation of a Life Saving Award to Officer Alejandre and Officer Williams. ] >> ALL RIGHT. THAT WAS AWESOME, AND FOR ANOTHER AWESOME THING TONIGHT IS ITEM 4 B, WHICH IS PRESENTATION OF A LIFESAVING AWARD TO OFFICER ALEJANDRA AND OFFICER WILLIAMS. AND SO IF YOU ALL COULD COME UP -- AND YOU CAN BRING YOUR FAMILIES, TOO. ALL RIGHT. I'M GOING TO SPEAK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE BACKGROUND INFORMATION. IT'S ALWAYS EXCITING TO RECOGNIZE OUR OFFICERS FOR THEIR GREAT WORK AND TONIGHT'S RECOGNITION IS ABOUT OFFICER ALEJANDRE AND OFFICER WILLIAMS. SO ON SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2024, OFFICER ALEJANDRE WAS DISPATCHED TO INTERSTATE 30 WESTBOUND AT DEREK ROAD IN REFERENCE TO A WELFARE CHECK ABOUT AN UNKNOWN WHITE MALE AROUND 16 OR 17 YEARS OF AGE WEARING A BLACK HOODIE AND JOGGERS, WHEN A REPORTING PARTY ADVISED ROWLETT DISPATCH THAT HE OBSERVED THE UNKNOWN WHITE MALE ON THE NEW DARRICK ROAD [00:20:06] BRIDGE WITH HIS HAND ON THE RAIL. THE REPORTING PARTY CONTINUED TO SAY THAT THE SUBJECT LOOK LIKE HE WAS GOING TO JUMP AND ROWLETT DISPATCH RECEIVED AN ADDITIONAL CALL INQUIRING ABOUT THE SAME UNKNOWN WHITE MALE WITH AN UP DATE THAT HE IS NOW WALKING FURTHER ON THE BRIDGE. THE SECOND CALLER SAID SHE WAS WORRIED THAT HE WAS GOING TO JUMP AND OFFICER ALEJANDRE OBSERVED THE UNKNOWN SUBJECT MATCHING THE PROVIDED DESCRIPTION, STANDING CLOSE TO THE NEW DARRICK ROAD BRIDGE'S EDGE AND FACING DOWN TOWARDS INTERSTATE 30. TO GAIN THE SUBJECT'S ATTENTION AND TO PREVENT HIM FROM JUMPING OFF THE BRIDGE ONTO HEAVY TRAFFIC, OFFICER ALEJANDRE GOT OUT OF HER PATROL CAR AND BEGAN STOPPING ONCOMING TRAFFIC THAT WAS TRAVELING EASTBOUND. AS OFFICER ALEJANDRE WAS RUNNING TOWARD THE SUBJECT, HE BEGAN TO PLACE BOTH OF HIS FEET OVER THE CONCRETE BARRIER AND SAT DOWN WITH HIS LEGS HANGING IN MIDAIR. OFFICER ALEJANDRE BEGAN TO TALK TO THE SUBJECT AND URGED HIM NOT TO JUMP, AND AS OFFICER ALEJANDRE WAS EXTRACTING THE SUBJECT, OFFICER WILLIAMS APPROACHED THE SUBJECT FROM BEHIND, PLACED THE SUBJECT IN A BEAR HUG AND REMOVED HIM AWAY FROM THE EDGE OF THE BRIDGE. AND IT IS DUE TO THE QUICK ACTIONS OF OFFICER ALEJANDRE AND OFFICER WILLIAMS THAT THE SUBJECT SURVIVED THIS INCIDENT. THE ROWLETT POLICE DEPARTMENT'S MERITORIOUS CONDUCT BOARD CONSISTS OF TWO OFFICERS, ONE LIEUTENANT AND ONE CIVILIAN EMPLOYEE. THE BOARD AFTER LIEUTENANT KEVIN HARRELSON SUBMITTED A LETTER RECOMMENDING OFFICER ALEJANDRE AND OFFICER WILLIAMS RECEIVE THE DEPARTMENT'S LIFESAVING AWARD FOR THEIR ACTIONS ON FEBRUARY 3, 2024. THE MERITORIOUS CONDUCT BOARD UNANIMOUSLY AGREED AND RECOMMENDED THAT THEY RECEIVE THE DEPARTMENT'S LIFESAVING AWARD AND CHIEF MICHAEL DENNING AGREED WITH THE BOARD'S RECOMMENDATION, AND NOW WE ARE HERE TONIGHT TO RECOGNIZE THEM. CONGRATULATIONS AND -- >> >> ASSISTANT CHIEF CASTIGLIA OWN WILL SPEAK MORE ABOUT THIS. >> WE ARE HERE TODAY TO RECOGNIZE OFFICER ALEJANDRE AND OFFICER WILLIAMS COURAGE. THEY RESPONDED TO AN INDIVIDUAL IN CRISIS WHOWAS WILLING TO TAKE THEIR OWN LIFE BY JUMPING FROM AN OVERPASS. INSTEAD OF REHEARSING THE SPECIFIC DETAILS OF THIS EVENT, I WOULD RATHER TALK ABOUT WHAT OUR POLICE OFFICER DO ACROSS THIS GREAT NATION DAILY. I WANTED TO SHED LIGHT ON THE PROFESSION THAT CARRIES THE WEIGHT OF OUR SAFETY ON THEIR SHOULDERS. THESE INDIVIDUALS ARE OUR POLICE OFFICERS. THEY ARE THE GUARDIANS OF OUR COMMUNITY, THE FIRST RESPONDERS IN A TIME OF CRISIS, AND THE EMBODIMENT OF COURAGE IN THE FACE OF DANGER. WE OFTEN HEAR ABOUT POLICE OFFICERS HEROIC ACTIONS, BUT WE RARELY PAUSE TO UNDERSTAND THE IMMENSE PRESSURE THEY FACE DAILY. IMAGINE FOR A MOMENT THE WEIGHT OF RESPONSIBILITY THAT COMES WITH MAKING A SPLIT SECOND DECISION THAT COULD MEAN THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LIFE AND DEATH FOR THEMSELVES AND FOR OTHERS THEY ARE SWORN TO PROTECT. THEY MUST ASSESS THE SITUATION, ANALYZE THE RISK, AND ACT DECISIVELY IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE. THEY DO NOT HAVE TIME TO WEIGH EVERY OPTION OR SECOND-GUESS THEMSELVES. THEY MUST RELY ON THEIR TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE AND INSTINCTS TO NAVIGATE THE CHAOS AND UNCERTAINTY. AND YET, EVEN IN THE DANGER, THEY DO NOT HESITATE TO PUT THEMSELVES IN HARMS WAY, TO ENSURE THE SAFETY OF OTHERS. THEY RUN TOWARD THE GUNFIRE. THEY CONFRONT THE ARMED SUSPECTS AND THEY STAND BETWEEN US AND THE THREATS TO SOCIETY. BUT MANY FAIL TO REALIZE THAT THEY ARE HUMAN BEINGS WITH EMOTIONS BEHIND THE BADGE AND THE UNIFORM. THEY ARE FORCED TO BE STOIC AND COURAGEOUS IN THE FACE OF ADVERSITY WHILE THEY GRAPPLE WITH FEAR, ANXIETY, AND UNCERTAINTY BENEATH THE SURFACE. THEY CARRY THE WEIGHT OF THE LIVES THEY HAVE SAVED AND THE BURDEN OF THOSE THEY COULD NOT. THEY ENDURE SLEEPLESS NIGHTS REPLAYING THE EVENTS IN THEIR MINDS, WONDERING IF THERE WAS SOMETHING MORE THEY COULD HAVE DONE. THEY BEAR WITNESS TO THE WORST ASPECTS OF HUMANITY, YET STRIVE TO MAINTAIN THEIR OWN HUMANITY. SO AS WE REFLECT ON THE SACRIFICES MADE BY OFFICER ALEJANDRE AND OFFICER WILLIAMS, LET US NOT GET THE EMOTIONAL TOLL THAT COMES WITH THE JOB. LET US RECOGNIZE THEIR BRAVERY, RESILIENCE AND UNWAVERING COMMITMENT TO SERVING AND PROTECTING OUR COMMUNITY, BUT LET US ALSO REMEMBER THAT THEY ARE NOT INVINCIBLE. THEY ARE SONS AND DAUGHTERS, MOTHERS AND FATHERS, FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS. THEY NEED YOUR SUPPORT, YOUR UNDERSTANDING AND YOUR GRATITUDE. ON BEHALF OF THE CITY, AND THE ROWLETT POLICE DEPARTMENT, THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT . [00:25:48] >> [4C. Presentation of Proclamation recognizing July as National Park and Recreation Month. ] >>> THANK YOU. THE NEXT ITEM IS 4 C WHICH IS PRESENTATION OF A PROCLAMATION RECOGNIZING JULY AS NATIONAL PARK AND RECREATION MONTH. PRESENTING THIS ITEM IS COUNCILMEMBER SHOOP AND IF STAFF WITH THE PARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT AND MEMBERS OF THE PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY BOARD, PLEASE COME UP. >> COME ON DOWN. >> YOU'VE GOT GOOD TURNOUT HERE. ARE WE READY? ALL RIGHT. WILL A LOT OF YOU KNOW I'M A PARKS GUY. I USED TO BE PART OF THE PARKS BOARD SO THIS IS ALWAYS FUN FOR ME TO DO. SO I REALLY APPRECIATE THE OPPORTUNITY. MY, LOOK AT THOSE LITTLE TINY LETTERS HERE. OKAY, SINCE 1985 AMERICA HAS CELEBRATED THE MONTH OF JULY AS THE NATION'S OFFICIAL PARK AND RECREATION MONTH. EACH JULY THE NATIONAL RECREATION AND PARK ASSOCIATION ENCOURAGES RECREATION FACILITIES AND PARKS ACROSS THE COUNTRY TO KICK OFF SUMMER PROGRAMS TO PROMOTE OUTDOOR PHYSICAL RECREATION, PULL TOGETHER VOLUNTEERS TO PROMOTE BUILDING STRONG, VIBRANT AND RESILIENCE COMMUNITIES THROUGH THE POWER OF PARKS AND RECREATION, AND TO RECOGNIZE THE MORE THAN 160,000 FULL-TIME PARK AND RECREATION PROFESSIONALS ALONG WITH HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF PART-TIME AND SEASONAL WORKERS AND VOLUNTEERS THAT MAINTAIN THE COUNTRY'S LOCAL, STATE AND COMMUNITY PARKS, MAKING OUR OUTDOOR SPACE A THRIVING CENTER FOR COMMUNITY ACTIVITY. SO I WILL READ THE PROCLAMATION. ALL RIGHT. WHEREAS PARKS AND RECREATION IS AN INTEGRAL PART OF COMMUNITIES THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY, INCLUDING THE CITY OF ROWLETT, AND REMOTES HEALTH AND WELLNESS, IMPROVING THE PHYSICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH OF PEOPLE WHO LIVE NEAR PARKS, AND WHEREAS PARKS AND RECREATION PROMOTES TIME SPENT IN NATURE, WHICH POSITIVELY IMPACT MENTAL HEALTH BY INCREASING COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE AND WELL-BEING AND ALLEVIATING ILLNESSES SUCH AS DEPRESSION, ATTENTION DEFICIT DISORDERS AND ALZHEIMER'S. AND WHEREAS PARKS AND RECREATION ENCOURAGES PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES BY PROVIDING SPACE FOR POPULAR SPORTS, HIKING TRAILS, SWIMMING POOLS, AND MANY OTHER ACTIVITIES DESIGNED TO PROMOTE ACTIVE LIFESTYLES. AND WHEREAS SAID RECREATION IS A LEADING PROVIDER OF HEALTHY MEALS, NUTRITION SERVICES AND EDUCATION, AS WELL AS PROVIDING PROGRAM AND EDUCATION ACTIVITIES SUCH AS OUT OF SCHOOL TIME PROGRAMMING, YOUTH SPORTS AND ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION, ARE CRITICAL TO CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT, AND WHEREAS PARKS AND RECREATION INCREASES A COMMUNITY'S ECONOMIC PROSPERITY INCREASED PROPERTY VALUES, EXPANSION OF THE LOCAL TAX BASE, INCREASED TOURISM, THE ATTRACTION AND RETENTION OF BUSINESSES, AND CRIME REDUCTION, AND WHEREAS PARKS AND RECREATION IS FUNDAMENTAL TO THE ENVIRONMENTAL WELL-BEING OF OUR COMMUNITY AND PROVIDES ESSENTIAL AND ADAPTABLE INFRASTRUCTURE THAT MAKES OUR COMMUNITIES RESILIENT IN THE FACE OF NATURAL DISASTER AND CLIMATE CHANGE, AND WHEREAS OUR PARKS AND NATURAL RECREATION AREAS ASSURE THE ECOLOGICAL BEAUTY OF OUR COMMUNITY AND PROVIDE A PLACE FOR CHILDREN AND ADULTS TO CONNECT WITH NATURE AND RECREATE OUTDOORS. AND WHEREAS, THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES HAS DESIGNATED JULY AS PARKS AND RECREATION MONTH, AND WHEREAS THE CITY OF ROWLETT RECOGNIZE THE BENEFITS [00:30:10] DERIVED FROM PARK AND RECREATION RESOURCES. NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT I, ON BEHALF OF BLAKE MARGOLIS, MAYOR OF THE CITY OF ROWLETT, AND ON BEHALF OF THE CITY COUNCIL, HEREBY RECOGNIZE JULY AS PARKS AND RECREATION MONTH IN THE CITY OF ROWLETT. >> >> ALL RIGHT, WHO'S HOLDING THE PROCLAMATION HERE? >> YOU. >> YOU? OKAY. >> I'VE BEEN NOMINATED. COME IN CLOSER. COME ON YOU TWO. >> GREAT JOB. THANK YOU. >> THANK YOU. NEXT ITEM, 4 D, [4D. Update from the City Council and Management: Financial Position, Major Projects, Operational Issues, Upcoming Dates of Interest and Items of Community Interest. ] UP DATE FROM CITY COUNCIL AND MANAGEMENT, FINANCIAL POSITION, MAJOR PROJECTS, OPERATIONAL ISSUES, UPCOMING DATES OF INTEREST AND ITEMS OF COMMUNITY INTEREST. PROVIDING THIS ITEM IS COUNCILMEMBER SCHUPP . >> ALL RIGHT. HERE IS THE ANNOUNCEMENTS FOR THIS WEEK. CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE, CITY OFFICES AND FACILITIES WILL BE CLOSED ON THURSDAY, JULY 4. THIS INCLUDES CITY HALL . UTILITY CUSTOMER SERVICE CENTER, COMMUNITY CENTER, LIBRARY, MUNICIPAL COURT AND ANIMAL SHELTER. FCC WILL NOT CONDUCT TRASH RECYCLABLE COLLECTION. SERVICES WILL BE POSTPONED BY ONE DAY FOR THE REST OF THE WEEK DUE TO THE HOLIDAY. FROM THE SECRET CITY SECRETARY'S OFFICE, THE RECENTLY UPDATED BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS HANDBOOK INCLUDES A CHANGE TO THE TIMEFRAME FOR ANNUAL BOARD COMMISSION APPOINTMENTS. APPLICATIONS WILL BE OPEN ON SEPTEMBER 1 WITH A DEADLINE OF NOVEMBER 14. APPOINTMENTS WILL BE MADE BY THE CITY COUNCIL IN DECEMBER WITH THE TERM BEGINNING ON JANUARY 1. MORE INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND AT WWW.TRAN05.COM ON THE CITY SECRETARY'S OFFICE PAGE. ANY APPLICATION RECEIVED IN JUNE WILL BE HELD UNTIL SEPTEMBER AND JUST EDITORIAL NOTE, I WOULD REALLY ENCOURAGE PEOPLE THAT WANT TO GET INVOLVED IN THE CITY TO REALLY THINK SERIOUSLY ABOUT APPLYING FOR A BOARD. IT IS REALLY IMPORTANT. IT'S THE BEST WAY TO BE INVOLVED. ECONOMIC AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, JOIN US ON THURSDAY, JULY 4 AT PECAN GROVE PARK FROM 5:00 TO 10:00 FOR A NIGHT OF DAZZLING FIREWORKS, LIVE MUSIC, KIDS ACTIVITIES AND TONS OF GREAT FOOD. THE OPENING BAND TURNPIKE TRIBUTE TO DOORS WILL PERFORM 6:00 TO 7:00. THE HEADLINING ACT THE EMERALD CITY BAND WILL PLAY FROM 8:00 UNTIL NINE NICOLE BOONE 30 . THEN IT'S A CAN'T MISS FIREWORKS FINALE SET TO MUSIC. FOR MORE INFORMATION AND INFO VISIT ROWLETT.COM. FINANCE, THE CITY MANAGERS FISCAL YEAR FIREWORKS 2025 PROPOSED BUDGET WILL BE PRESENTED AT COUNCIL, TO COUNCIL, AT THE MON, AUGUST 5 2024 COUNCIL WORK SESSION FROM THE LIBRARY. STAY COOL WITH A GOOD BOOK AND ENJOY THE LIBRARY SUMMER READING PROGRAM. ENJOYED BY READING AND ATTENDING THE LIBRARY'S MANY PROGRAMS. FAMILIES CAN MAKE VERY GARDENS ON MONDAY AT 11:00 AND EXPLORE STEAM STATIONS MUSEUM ON SATURDAY, JULY 13 AT 11:00. THIS SATURDAY, JULY 6, JULY 11 WITH THE SUPER MARIO BROTHERS MOVIE. FROM THE POLICE, IT IS ILLEGAL TO POSSESS OR USE FIREWORKS IN ROWLETT. PLEASE DON'T CALL 911 IF SOMEONE IS SHOOTING OFF FIREWORKS IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD TO HELP US KEEP THOSE LINES OPEN FOR EMERGENCIES. CALL THE NONEMERGENCY NUMBER, 972-412-6200, OPTION 1 FOR DISPATCH. AND FROM PUBLIC WORKS, THE STORM DEBRIS UPDATE, THE CITY OF ROWLETT IS OPENING AN EMERGENCY STORM DROP OFF LOCATION FOR RESIDENTS WHO NEED TO DISPOSE OF ANY BRUSH IMMEDIATELY. RESIDENCE CAN BRING BRUSH TO 4732 INDUSTRIAL STREET BEGINNING JULY 2 FROM 3:00 P.M. TO 8:00 P.M. THIS LOCATION WILL REMAIN OPEN 7:00 A.M. THROUGH 8:00 P.M. DAILY, INCLUDING INDEPENDENCE DAY, UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. PROOF OF RESIDENCY REQUIRED. PLEASE PRESENT EITHER A DRIVERS LICENSE OR WATER BILL. THE SECOND PASSIVE FCC STORM DEBRIS BULK COLLECTION THROUGHOUT ROWLETT WILL BEGIN THE WEEK OF JULY 8. FCC WILL ONCE AGAIN BE MOVING THROUGH EACH AREA UNTIL THAT AREA IS COMPLETED. MONDAY'S ROUTE WILL BE [00:35:02] SERVICED UNTIL IT IS CLEARED . THEN TUESDAY'S ROUTE, ET CETERA. ONCE AGAIN, THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE AS FCC CONTINUES THIS PROCESS. THANK YOU. >> THANK YOU, AND ARE THERE ANNOUNCEMENTS? ALL RIGHT. COUNCILMEMBER REAVES ? >> WHERE'S MY PHOTO OF THE WEEK? THERE HE IS. IF YOU'RE LOOKING FOR A NEW BEST FRIEND, HERE IS A POTENTIAL CANDIDATE FOR YOU. LOOK AT THAT OLD SMILE. SEEKING A FOREVER HOME, MEET CLIFFORD THE ADORABLE PUP WHO HAS BEEN AT THE SHELTER SINCE DECEMBER 2023 POINT DESPITE HIS LOVING NATURE, HE HASN'T FOUND HIS PERFECT MATCH. LET'S CHANGE THAT. CLIFFORD IS DOG FRIENDLY, FULL OF ENERGY AND LOVE TO EXPLORE AND PLAY FETCH. HELP US FIND HIM A LOVING FAMILY WHO WILL CHERISH HIM FOREVER. IF YOU'D LIKE TO MAKE OR ANY OF THE ADOPTABLE ANIMALS PLEASE CONTACT ANIMAL SERVICES AT 972-412-6219 OR COME BY THE SHELTER AT 4402 INDUSTRIAL STREET FROM 10:00 TO 5:00 P.M. TUESDAY TO SATURDAY. ALL ADOPTIONS ARE CURRENTLY FREE. THE ROWLETT ANIMAL SHELTER IS CURRENTLY CODE RED. WE ARE OUT OF SPACE AND WE URGENTLY NEED THE COMMUNITY'S HELP OUR FURRY FRIENDS ARE IN DESPERATE NEED OF BEING RECLAIMED, ADOPTED OR FOSTERED, SO PLEASE, IF YOU HAVE ROOM IN YOUR HEART OR HOME, CONSIDER GIVING THESE PRECIOUS ANIMALS A SECOND CHANCE AND HAPPY LIFE. HE LOOKS PRETTY HAPPY THERE BUT HE'D BE HAPPIER AT HOME WITH YOU, I THINK. >> THANK YOU. IT'S GOING TO BE -- THE NAMES HAVEN'T CHANGED. >> THE ROWLETT CITIZEN COURT COUNCIL OR THE RC CCC, NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH THE RCC, WILL SPONSOR A TWO-DAY COMMUNITY EMERGENCY RESPONSE TEAM OR CERT LAST ON SATURDAY, AUGUST 3 AND 10TH AT 8:00 A.M. TO 6:00 P.M. EACH OF THOSE DAYS, BOTH DAYS ARE REQUIRED TO GET YOUR CERTIFICATION. CERT TEAMS ASSIST OUR PUBLIC SAFETY TEAMS DURING DISASTERS. THEY HELP SEARCH FOR MISSING PERSONS, THEY ASSIST WITH EVACUATIONS, TRAFFIC CONTROL, COURTESY PATROLS AND CITY EVENTS. ROWLETT IS ACTIELY RECRUITING RESIDENTS TO BE TRAINED IN THE CERT PROGRAM. THE CLASS IS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC AND A COURSE FEE OF $25 PAID AT THE TIME OF REGISTRATION COVERS CLASS ADMINISTRATOR EXPENSES. TELL YOUR FRIENDS TO REGISTER FOR THE CLASS. IT'S A VERY LONG URL, WHICH I'M SURE YOU WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO REMEMBER, SO SEE ME AND I WILL GIVE YOU THAT LINK TO REGISTER. ALSO, IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IN GETTING YOUR FCC AMATEUR RADIO LICENSE, ON SEPTEMBER 6 AND 13TH, ARES WILL RUN A TWO-PART CLASS TO HELP YOU PREPARE FOR THE FCC RADIO TECHNICIAN LICENSE EXAM. HAM RADIO IS AN EXCITING HOBBY THAT WILL INTRODUCE YOU TO A WHOLE WORLD OF COMMUNICATIONS. I KNOW BECAUSE I AM A LICENSED HAM. IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IN JOINING THE RCC SEE AMATEUR RADIO EMERGENCY SERVICE OR ARES, OBTAINING A TECHNICIAN LICENSE IS THE FIRST STEP. LET ME KNOW AND I'LL PUT YOU IN TOUCH WITH THE APPROPRIATE [5. CITIZENS’ INPUT ] PEOPLE. THANK YOU. >> THANK YOU. COUNCIL, ANY OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS? ALL RIGHT. WE'LL MOVE ON TO CITIZENS INPUT. AT THIS TIME COMMENTS WILL BE TAKEN FROM THE AUDIENCE ON ANY TOPIC AND NO ACTION CAN BE TAKEN BY THE COUNCIL DURING CITIZENS INPUT. CITY SECRETARY, FIRST ONE UP? >> YES, DAVE HALL FOLLOWED BY ANDREW MASSEY. >> ALL RIGHT, THANK YOU. JUST COME UP, STATE YOUR NAME AND SAY YOUR RESIDENCE AND YOU WILL HAVE THREE MINUTES TO SPEAK. MR. HALL KNOWS THIS ALL TOO WELL. >> DAVE HALL, ROW LET'S. ON THE 29TH SATURDAY A PATRON FROM PETAL POINT PARK CAME UP AND GAVE ME THIS NOTE TO DELIVER TO YOU. THE DOC IS AN EXTREME HAZARD. THERE IS SHARP METAL OFF ON THE HAND RAMP. AS YOU PULL YOU ARE LOOKING DOWN AND LIFTING YOURSELF, LIFTING RIGHT INTO A SHARP METAL OBJECT. I SLAMMED MY HEAD INTO THE EDGE AT FULL MOMENTUM TRYING TO PULL MYSELF OUT OF A MOVING BOAT. IT BROKE SKIN ON MY HEAD, INSTANTLY STARTED TO THROB AS I REACHED UP TO CHECK MYSELF OUT, BLOOD WAS ALREADY DRIPPING DOWN MY FACE. THIS NEEDS TO BE FIXED. THIS IS OUR A.D.A. DOCK AT PETAL POINT PARK. HERE IS A PICTURE OF HER HEAD WITH THE LACERATION AFTER IT'S BEEN CLEANED UP. AND I'LL PASS THESE OUT TO YOU LATER. HERE IS A PICTURE OF THE DOC WHERE SHE HIT HER HEAD. THIS HAS BEEN BROKEN FOR SOME TIME AND NOT FIXED, AND THIS IS ON SATURDAY, AND YOU SAY WOW, IT'S PRETTY BAD, HOW COULD HE GET WORSE? LET'S TAKE A LOOK AT SUNDAY. HERE TO SUNDAY. HERE IS A HUSBAND AND WIFE TRYING TO TAKE THEIR KAYAK OUT AT THE A.D.A. LAUNCH DOCK AT PETAL POINT PARK. THE WIFE IS SITTING ON [00:40:01] THE DOCK AND THAT GETS REAL HOT IN THE DAYTIME, IN THE SUMMER, BECAUSE SHE CAN'T WALK OFF. SHE'S WAITING FOR HER HUSBAND TO TAKE THE KAYAK OUT AND GO UP TO THE CAR AND GET HER PROSTHESIS LEG SO SHE CAN WALK OFF. THIS OUGHT TO BE SENDING A MESSAGE TO YOU. SO IT'S NOT NECESSARILY ALWAYS WE DON'T HAVE MONEY FOR STUFF. SOMETIMES WE DON'T HAVE A GOOD PLAN OR WE DON'T HAVE A GOOD -- WE DON'T HAVE A GOOD PLAN THAT WE ARE SPENDING OUR MONEY ON. SO HERE IS AN EXAMPLE. HERE IS THE KAYAK PUT IN/TAKE OUT LUNCH AT PETAL POINT PARK AND WHEN WE WIDEN THE SIDEWALK, WE'VE POURED SOME ADDITIONAL CONCRETE. WHEN YOU POUR MORE CONCRETE YOU'VE GOT ADDITIONAL RUNOFF AND IF YOU DON'T HAVE A GOOD PLAN, EROSION. HERE IS THE NEW EROSION TRENCH AT THE KAYAK LAUNCH POINT AT PETAL POINT PARK. IT'S NOT ALL BAD. HERE'S A PICTURE THIS MORNING I TOOK OF AN EGRET OVER AT PETAL POINT PARK. THIS IS REALLY COOL. THIS IS WHAT WE SHOULD BE DIRECTING PEOPLE TO COME TO OUR DESTINATION AND SEE. BUT WHAT DO THEY SEE? THEY'VE GOT AN EROSION TRENCH HERE. THEY'VE GOT A POORLY DESIGNED A.D.A. DOCK. WE'VE GOT MAINTENANCE THAT HASN'T BEEN DONE FOR BROEN PARTS. WE'VE GOT AN UNSAFE DOCK HERE AND I GUESS THIS LETTER WAS NOT DIRECTED TO ME BUT TO ROWLETT. AND THANK YOU FOR THE TIME TO ADDRESS. I HOPE WE'LL BE ABLE TO SPEND A LITTLE MORE TIME ON MAINTENANCE AND FIX THE BROKEN PARTS HERE. THANK YOU. >> THANK YOU. CAN YOU PLEASE EMAIL THOSE PHOTOS AND THE LETTER TO CITY COUNCIL AT ROWLETT.COM. GREAT, THANK YOU. NEXT SPEAKER? >> ANDREW MASSEY FOLLOWED BY ROMERO LUNA. >> ALL RIGHT. GOOD EVENING. >> GOOD EVENING, MY NAME IS ANDREW MASSEY. I'M A CITIZEN OF ROWLETT IN DALLAS COUNTY. COUNCIL SHOULD VOTE AGAINST REDUCING DART FUNDING. I RECENTLY HEARD THAT THIS WAS BEING CONSIDERED . I KNOW PLANO HAS RECENTLY PASSED A RESOLUTION TO DO THIS AS WELL, AND I THINK THIS IS NOT A GREAT THING FOR OUR CITY. A CITY'S TRANSIT STRATEGY OR ATTITUDES TOWARDS IT I THINK IS A REALLY BIG FACTOR FOR A LOT OF PEOPLE DECIDING WHERE TO LIVE, AND IT'S A LARGE PART OF WHY MY WIFE AND I MOVED HERE. SHE TAKES THE DART TRAIN TO WORK RE-TIMES A WEEK AND IT'S, I THINK, A REALLY IMPORTANT FACET OF OUR COMMUNITY. I KNOW A LOT OF PEOPLE IT'S THEIR LIFELINE AS FAR AS GETTING TO WORK, GETTING TO FOOD, GETTING ACCESS TO ANYTHING THAT NORMAL PEOPLE, OTHER PEOPLE WOULD TAKE A CAR TO. ROWLETT CONTRIBUTED ABOUT 1.1% OF DART'S BUDGET IN 2023, SOME OF THE TAX REVENUE THEY TOOK IN, CONTRIBUTED BY 1.1%, WHICH I THINK IS A FAIR DEAL CONSIDERING WE HAVE ONE OF THE BEST LIGHT RAIL STATIONS IN THE ENTIRE AREA HERE IN ROWLETT. I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO REMIND THE COUNCIL THAT THERE IS A LOT OF WAYS THAT WE CAN IMPROVE OUR CURRENT USAGE OF OUR TRANSIT INFRASTRUCTURE THAT WE ARE PROVIDED BY DART LIKE THE BLUE LINE. I KNOW THE REASON BEING, WE HAD SOME I BELIEVE CONSULTANTS COME IN AND TALK ABOUT A PLAN FOR THE DOWNTOWN. THERE WAS A LOT OF GREAT TALK ABOUT HOW TO USE THAT AREA BETTER, BUILD TRANSIT ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT AROUND IT AND BASICALLY MAKE IT A MORE EFFECTIVE AREA. AND I THINK THAT'S A ROUTE YOU SHOULD GO DOWN, RATHER THAN TRYING TO REDUCE FUNDING. AND THEN I GUESS WITH THAT IN MIND I THINK ONE THING THAT I'M THINKING ABOUT AS WE ARE TALKING ABOUT POTENTIALLY CUTTING FUNDING HERE IS I THINK THE CITIZENS OF ROWLETT HAVE MADE IT REALLY CLEAR THAT THEY'RE INTERESTED IN INVESTING IN THE COMMUNITY. LIKE ALL OF THE BONDS THAT WE RECENTLY PUT UP FOR VOT PAST, I BELIEVE ALL OF THEM PAST AND I THINK THAT'S REALLY INDICATIVE OF A COMMUNITY THAT'S WILLING TO INVEST IN ITSELF, EVEN WHEN IT COSTS THEM SOMETHING, AND I THINK THAT WE SHOULD CAN IN YOU TO LOOK INTO THOSE AVENUES FOR FUNDING FOR PLACES THAT THE CITY NEEDS MONEY. AND AS A FINAL NOTE, I JUST WANT THE COUNCIL TO REMEMBER THAT THERE ARE A LOT OF PEOPLE YOU MAY NOT SEE THAT YOU START EVERY DAY. THE GO LINK SERVICE IS INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT FOR PEOPLE IN THE COMMUNITY BECAUSE IT BASICALLY PROVIDES YOU A DOLLAR OR SIX DOLLAR UBER RIDE TO WHEREVER YOU WANT TO GO. YOU EACH PAY A FAIR AND YOU GET AN UBER RIDE WHICH A LOT OF PEOPLE USED TO GET GROCERIES, GET TO THEIR JOBS, AND THEY WOULDN'T HAVE THE MONEY TO BE ABLE TO AFFORD GETTING AROUND THE REGION. SO YET, I WOULD ASK THAT THE COUNCIL HEAVILY CONSIDER VOTING AGAINST REDUCING DART FUNDING. >> THANK YOU, NEXT SPEAKER? >> ROMERO LUNA FOLLOWED BY MELIA MCKINNEY. >> WOW, GOOD EVENING, MY NAME IS RAMIRO LUNA, I'M THE COFOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF SONOS TEJAS, WHICH IS A NON-PERMIT SERVICING THE LATINX COMMUNITY IN NORTH TEXAS. PREDOMINANT, PRIMARILY I'M HERE TO DENOUNCE THE MOST RECENT DECISION TO DISMANTLE [00:45:01] INITIATIVES THAT WERE CONCERNING THE EI. WE CANNOT ALLOW THE HARMFUL LEGISLATION THAT HAS BEEN PASSED AT A STATE LEVEL TO CONTINUE TO AFFECT AND NEGATIVELY IMPACT OUR COMMUNITIES OF COLOR AT THE LOCAL LEVEL. I HAVE SEEN UNIVERSITIES AND DIFFERENT SCHOOLS START TO DISMANTLE THESE PROGRAMS AND THIS NOT ONLY IMPACTS THE STAFF, BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, THE COMMUNITY THAT IS BENEFITING FROM THESE PROGRAMS. AS SOMEBODY WHO IS AN IMMIGRANT, I USE THESE PROGRAMS AND THESE PROGRAMS MADE ME FEEL AT HOME IN A COMMUNITY THAT OFTEN SOMETIMES FEELS FOREIGN TO ME. AND AS I WAS ENTERING THE CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS IN THE MISSION OF ROWLETT I SEE WORDS SUCH AS DIVERSITY AND CULTURAL CHARM, AND PROGRAMS SUCH AS THE EI MAKE IT SO THAT WE ARE INTENTIONAL ABOUT THE INCLUSIVITY OF THE CULTURE, THE DIVERSE COMMUNITY, AND SO AGAIN, AS SOMEBODY WHO IS IMPACTED BY THESE MEASURES, I WANT US TO RETHINK THE DECISIONS THAT WE ARE MAKING AND NOT ALLOW US TO BE TAKEN BY LEGISLATION OF FEAR AND LEGISLATION OF INEQUITY THAT IS BEING PASSED THROUGH OUR STATE, AND NOT HAVE IT IMPACT OURSELVES . THANK YOU. >> THANK YOU. NEXT SPEAKER? >> MELIA MCKINNEY FOLLOWED BY BANDY DE LOS SANTOS. >> GOOD EVENING. >> I'M MICHAELA MCKINNEY, ROWLETT, TEXAS. I OBJECT TO THE DISMANTLEMENT OF THE DEI. >> THANK YOU, NEXT SPEAKER? >> MANDY DE LA SANTOS FOLLOWED BY SUSAN ROOTY. >> I AM MANDY DE LA SANTOS, THE DEPUTY DIRECTOR FOR THE STATE OF TEXAS LEAGUE OF UNITED LATIN AMERICAN CITIZENS, ALSO KNOWN AS TEXAS LULAC, AND I AM HERE TO READDRESS THE DISBANDING OF DEI FOR A FEW REASONS. ONE OF WHICH IS WHEN WE WALKED IN HERE, WE MADE A PLEDGE FOR JUSTICE FOR ALL . AND I WANT TO EMPHASIZE THE IMPORTANCE OF DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION COMMISSIONS HERE IN OUR STATE TO PROTECT THOSE MOST VULNERABLE, TO PROTECT THOSE MOST UNREPRESENTED. AND I'VE HEARD IN THE PAST SOME OF THE PUBLIC COMMENTS FROM THE COUNCIL STATING THAT DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION IS BUILT IN THE FRAMEWORK OF ROWLETT. HOWEVER, WHEN I LOOK AT THE CITY'S SPONSORED EVENTS ON THEIR CALENDAR, I DON'T SEE DIVERSITY THERE. I DON'T SEE A CULTURE CELEBRATED ON YOUR CALENDARS. I DON'T SEE INCLUSIVITY OF PEOPLE LIVING WITH DISABILITIES. AND SO FOR THAT REASON, I FEEL IT'S MORE IMPORTANT FOR YOU ALL TO GET TOGETHER AGAIN AND DISCUSS BRINGING THIS COMMISSION BACK TO ITS FOCUS. AND ANOTHER I HEARD WAS THERE WAS A LACK OF COMMUNICATION WITH THE PREVIOUS COMMISSION. I WANT TO REMIND YOU ALL THAT IT'S COUNCIL'S RESPONSIBILITY TO PROMOTE INDIVIDUALS TO THIS COMMISSION SO YOU HAVE THE POWER TO CHOOSE INDIVIDUALS THAT YOU CAN HAVE OPEN AND HONEST COMMUNICATION, TO MOVE AND PROGRESS THE CITY OF ROWLETT. SO I'M TALKING TO YOU ALL ON BEHALF OF THE OVER 40% OF INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE PEOPLE OF COLOR WITHIN YOUR CITY AND LIVING WITH COGNITIVE OR PHYSICAL DISABILITIES, AND I'M CHALLENGING YOU ALL TO OPEN UP THE CONVERSATION AGAIN AND TO CONSIDER THOSE PEOPLE IN MIND BECAUSE REALLY AND TRULY THERE WAS A PROMISE UNFULFILLED. WHEN YOU MADE THE DEI YOU SAID THEY WOULD BE WELCOME TO THE TABLE, AND AS OF TODAY, THERE IS NOT THAT REPRESENTATION ON THE INFORMATION YOU ARE PUSHING OUT TO THE PUBLIC, SO THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME. >> NEXT SPEAKER? >> SUSAN ROOTY A FOLLOWED BY MISSY TIDWELL. >> GOOD EVENING. >> HELLO. SUSAN ARRHYTHMIA, ROWLETT, TEXAS. IT'S BEEN A CHAOTIC EIGHT WEEKS SINCE THE ROWLETT DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION COMMISSION WAS DISBANDED. NECESSITY DICTATED MY IMMEDIATE AND TOTAL FOCUS ON PARTNERING WITH KELLY MCKEE AND MISSY TIDWELL TO COFOUND THE DI COMMUNITY PROJECT IN ORDER TO JOIN WITH MANY OTHERS IN ROWLETT TO MOVE FORWARD WITH THE SWEET TASTE OF PRIDE. I AM GRATEFUL TO AND WISH TO ACKNOWLEDGE THOSE FROM THE CITY WHO WORK WITH US TO MAKE THE EVENT HAPPEN. IT WAS A HUGE SUCCESS THANKS TO THE MANY ROWLETT CITIZENS AND BUSINESSES WHO DONATED THEIR TIME AND MONEY TO MAKE IT POSSIBLE. I SPEAK TO YOU TONIGHT, HOWEVER, TO REBUT WHAT WAS SAID ON MAY 7 WHEN WITH AN ALARMING LACK OF TRANSPARENCY, THE VOTE WAS MADE TO DISBAND THE RDE IC. CLAIMS THAT I AS CHAIR OF AND ON [00:50:01] BEHALF OF THE COMMISSION WAS UNCOOPERATIVE, DISRESPECTFUL, AND RESPONSIBLE FOR THE VOTE TO DISBAND ARE UNFOUNDED AND UNTRUTHFUL. IN FACT, I ACTED ONLY IN CONJUNCTION WITH OTHER COMMISSION LEADERSHIP INCLUDING THE CHAIR AMERICA, THE VICE CHAIR, AND THE CITY COUNCIL LIAISON AT ALL TIMES. IN AGREEMENT WITH THAT LEADERSHIP, I ADVOCATED FOR DISCUSSIONS REGARDING THE COMMISSION NAME CHANGE IN AN OPEN FORUM WHERE ALL COMMISSIONERS AND ROWLETT CITIZENS COULD BE HEARD. I ALSO ADVOCATED TO KEEP THE WORDS DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION AS WAS THE PREFERENCE OF THE RDE IC COMMISSIONER AND SUPPORTERS. HOWEVER, COMPROMISES ABOUT THE COMMISSION NAME WERE OFFERED AND WERE THOUGHT TO BE UNDER CONSIDERATION AS OF THE TIME THE MEETING WAS CONVENED ON MAY 7. THE INTENT TO DISBAND THE COMMISSION ALL ALONG WITHOUT CITIZEN INPUT WAS EVIDENCED IN THE MANNER IN WHICH THE VOTE WAS PRESENTED UNDER THE GUISE OF A VOTE ON HANDBOOK UPDATES. I GUESS WE ALL CAN BE SURPRISED SOMETIMES BY VOTES THAT HAPPEN. STILL, AT THE VERY LEAST, THE RECORD SHOULD REFLECT THAT FABRICATIONS WERE USED TO JUSTIFY THE DISBANDING OF THE RDE IC, WITH ALMOST NO TRANSPARENCY. SO NOW IT IS UP TO THE DEI COMMUNITY PROJECT TO ASSUME THE RESPONSIBILITY TO KEEP DEI ALIVE AND WELL IN DEI, TO SERVE THE MANY PEOPLE WHO VALUE IT. LET ME ASSURE YOU WE WILL DO SO. BASED ON THE EVENT A FEW DAYS AGO, WE MIGHT JUST DO BETTER THAN THE CITY COULD HAVE. STILL, THAT IS NO EXCUSE FOR THE CITY TO ABANDON THE CHARGE TO MAKE ROWLETT THE PLACE TO LIVE, WORK AND PLAY FOR ALL. YOU REMAIN ACCOUNTABLE TO ALL YOU SERVE. YOU SHOULD NOT FORGET THAT. >> THANK YOU. NEXT SPEAKER? >> MISSY TIDWELL FOLLOWED BY AMANDA MCLACHLAN. >> MISSY TIDWELL, LONG, LONG TIME ROWLETT RESIDENT. JUST WANT TO SHARE WITH YOU GUYS THAT OUR PRIDE EVENT WAS AWESOME. WE HAD A GREAT TURNOUT. THANKS TO YOU THAT CAME OR PARTICIPATED IN SOME WAY, WE REALLY APPRECIATE IT, AND THE ONLY OTHER THING I HAVE TO SAY IS DO BETTER. >> THANK YOU. NEXT SPEAKER? >> AMANDA MCLAUGHLIN. >> MY NAME IS AMANDA MCLACHLAN. I'M A RESIDENT OF GARLAND. I'M A TRANSGENDER WOMAN. WHEN I FIRST CAME OUT I WAS VERY SHY, I HID AND I DIDN'T HAVE CONFIDENCE. IS BECAUSE OF PEOPLE AND THE PROGRAMS THAT GAVE ME THAT SUPPORT WAS ABLE TO GET THE CONFIDENCE AND ABLE TO COME UP IN FRONT OF YOU AND DO OTHER THINGS, BECOME PART OF SOCIETY, TO CONTRIBUTE, TO BE POSITIVE. THAT'S WHAT THINGS LIKE THE DEI COMMUNITY DOES. IT TAKES PEOPLE, UPLIFTS THEM, TAKES THEM BETTER PEOPLE. AND THAT'S WHAT YOU NEED. NOT ONLY THAT, WHEN YOU DO THAT TO PEOPLE YOU BUILD BETTER COMMUNITIES, OKAY? WE LIVE IN DIVERSE COMMUNITIES. WE CAN'T HIDE FROM THAT. THEY'RE VERY VIBRANT, COMMUNITIES THAT HAVE ENERGY. THEY ARE FULL OF LIFE. THIS IS WHAT WE SHOULD STRIVE FOR SO PLEASE SUPPORT DEI COMMISSION. REVISIT THAT AND TRY TO BUILD COMMUNITY THAT'S VIBRANT, THAT SUPPORTS ALL PEOPLE, BECAUSE WE NEED ALL PEOPLE. AND WITHOUT THAT WE DON'T HAVE A GOOD COMMUNITY. SO THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME. >> THANK YOU. IS THAT -- [6. CONSENT AGENDA] >> THAT'S IT. >> OKAY, NO MORE SPEAKERS. DOES ANYBODY ELSE WISH TO SPEAK? ALL RIGHT. WE'LL MOVE ON TO THE CONSENT AGENDA. THE FOLLOWING MAY BE ACTED UPON IN ONE MOTION. A CITY COUNCIL MEMBER MAY REQUEST ITEMS BE REMOVED FROM THE CONSENT AGENDA FOR INDIVIDUAL CONSIDERATION. COUNCIL, ONE OF THE CONSENT AGENDA ITEMS WAS PULLED FOR INDIVIDUAL CONSIDERATION DUE TO NEW INFORMATION AND THAT IS ITEM SIX CMAC WHICH IS REGARDING THE REPLACEMENT AND PURCHASE ORDER OF EXISTING DESKTOP AND LAPTOP COMPUTERS. ANY ITEMS FOR CONSENT? PUBLIC, DO Y'ALL WISH TO PULL ANY CONSENT AGENDA ITEMS FOR INDIVIDUAL? ALL RIGHT. >> MAYOR, PULL 6 C. >> SIX MACK C WILL BE PULLED FOR INDIVIDUAL. AND WITH THAT YOU CAN READ THE TWO CONSENT AGENDA ITEMS. >> ITEM 6 MACK A, CONSIDER ACTION APPROVING THE MINUTES. ITEM SIX MACK B, CONSIDER [00:55:05] ACTION TO APPROVE A RESOLUTION FOR CONTINUED ANNUAL MAINTENANCE PAYMENTS TO TYLER TECHNOLOGIES INC. >> DEPUTY MAYOR PRO TEM SCHINDLER? >> I MOVE WE APPROVE THE CONSENAS READ. >> AND IS THERE A SECOND? RTS. RTS. THOSE BUTTONS DON'T WORK. YOU HAVE TWO RTS. THERE YOU GO. COUNCILMEMBER BOWERS? >> I SECOND THAT MOTION. >> MOTION BY DEPUTY MAYOR SYNDER AND SECOND BY COUNCILMEMBER BOWERS. CALL THE VOTE. AND THOSE ITEMS CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY WITH THOSE MEMBERS [6C. Consider action to approve a resolution authorizing a purchase order to replace existing desktop and laptop computers. ] PRESENT. WE NOW MOVE ON TO OUR INDIVIDUAL CONSIDERATION ITEM 6B . I'M SORRY, 6C, WHICH IS TO CONSIDER ACTION TO APPROVE AUTHORIZING A PURCHASE ORDER TO DELL TECHNOLOGIES INCORPORATED IN THE AMOUNT OF $101,091.70 TWO REPLACE 40 EXISTING DESKTOP COMPUTERS AND 38 EXISTING LAPTOP COMPUTERS THROUGH THE INTERLOCAL COOPERATIVE PURCHASING AGREEMENT WITH THE TEXAS COMPTROLLER OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTS AND THE DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION RESOURCES AND AUTHORIZE THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE THE NECESSARY DOCUMENTS FOR SAID PURCHASES, AND A STAFF IS GOING TO PROVIDE US WITH AN UPDATE, AND THAT WILL BE ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER CHRISTOPHE BAUER. >> JUST A QUICK UPDATE, OUR I.T. DIRECTOR WAS ABLE TO CONTACT THE VENDOR AND ACTUALLY NEGOTIATE THIS DOWN TO UNDER 80,000. SO WE JUST WANT TO GIVE YOU THAT A DATE. NO CHANGE IN THE ACTION. THE ITEM WILL BE LEST COSTLY. >> GREAT NEWS. DO WE NEED TO AMEND THE LANGUAGE WITH A REDUCED PRICE OR LEAVE IT AS -- OKAY, SO WE CAN LEAVE IT AS IS. SO THE ATTORNEY ALSO ACKNOWLEDGES. SO IS THERE ANY QUESTIONS, COUNCIL? ALL RIGHT. THEN A MOTION? >> MAYOR PRO TEM. >> I AM MOVE WE PROMOTE THE ITEM AS PRESENTED. >> COUNCILMEMBER REAVES? >> SECOND. >> MOTION BY MAYOR PRO TEM WINGET, SECOND BY COUNCILMEMBER REAVES, ANY OBJECTION? SEEING [7A. Consider action to approve a resolution directing publication of Notice of Intent to issue Certificates of Obligation. ] NONE, THE VOTE CARRIES UNANIMOUSLY WITH THOSE MEMBERS PRESENT. 7 LETTER A IS TO CONSIDER ACTION TO APPROVE RESOLUTION DIRECTING PUBLICATION OF NOTICES INTENT TO ISSUE CERTIFICATES OF OBLIGATION AGAIN AS ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER CHRISTOPHE MAUER. I'VE GOT A. >> GOOD EVENING, COUNCIL. SO GET THIS UP HERE REAL QUICK FOR YOU. SO WE HAVE BEFORE YOU TONIGHT AUTHORIZATION OR ACTUALLY DIRECTION FOR US TO SHOW NOTICE OF INTENT. THAT NOTICE OF INTENT TO ISSUE IS REQUIRED BY LAW AND WE HAVE TWO ISSUE THAT NOTICE 46 DAYS BEFORE THE COUNCIL CONSIDERS ACTION TO AUTHORIZE ISSUANCE OF THAT DEBT SO YOU'RE NOT AUTHORIZING THAT DEBT TONIGHT, YOU'RE SIMPLY DIRECTING US TO ISSUE THE REQUIRED NOTICE OF LAW. SO WE ARE ASKING THAT YOU CONSIDER THAT, PROVIDE US THAT NOTICE AND THEN WE'LL COME BACK TO YOU. WE'RE ACTUALLY ASKING YOU TO PUT OUT A NOTICE ISSUING UP TO $12 MILLION OF DEBT. COS OF COURSE TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT, THEY ARE AUTHORIZED BY STATE LAW FOR SPECIFIC USES. IN THIS CASE WERE USING IT FOR THE COUNCIL PRIORITIES IDENTIFIED WHICH IS CONCRETE, POWER REPLACEMENT, ASTRA ROLLER AND FIRE APPARATUS. THESE ARE THINGS WE TALKED ABOUT IN A COUPLE DIFFERENT WORK SESSIONS BEFORE WE CAME TONIGHT. SO THE PROCESS MOVING FORWARD FROM HERE IS THAT SHOULD YOUR COUNCIL MOVE FORWARD WITH THE ACTION TONIGHT, WE'LL GO AHEAD AND ISSUE THE NOTICE. THAT NOTICE WILL GO OUT JULY 5 AND AGAIN ON JULY 12, AND THEN WE'LL ACTUALLY GO IN AUGUST TO ACTUALLY PRICE THE DEBT AND THEN COME BACK ON AUGUST 20 AND ASK YOU TO ACTUALLY CONSIDER AUTHORIZING BY ORDINANCE THE ISSUE OF THAT DEBT. AND NOW WE CLOSE ON THE 19TH AND BE BASICALLY FUNDED. THIS OF COURSE IS JUST ANY QUESTIONS FOR ANYTHING ELSE. >> I'M SORRY, WHAT WAS THAT? >> I ASK IF THERE WAS ANY QUESTIONS BEFORE I COULD MOVE ON TO THE NEXT SLIDE? >> OKAY. I'M SORRY, THERE IS -- INTERESTING, ALL RIGHT. >> IS THAT NO QUESTIONS? >> NOPE. >> OKAY, THANK YOU. THAT'S ALL THAT WE ARE ASKING YOU TONIGHT IS THIS IS OF COURSE A PART OF OUR BROADER PLAN AND THAT BROADER PLAN INCLUDES THE ISSUANCE OF OBLIGATION DEBT THAT'S BEEN AUTHORIZED BY THE VOTERS, THAT AND ALSO SOME TAX NOTES WHICH IS BASICALLY JUST SHORT TERM LIMITS FOR THINGS LIKE VEHICLES, SO THAT'S ALL CONSISTENT WITH THE TAX RATE THAT HAS BEEN IDENTIFIED AS PART OF THE FY 23 BOND ISSUE. AND TOTAL DEBT IS CURRENTLY ESTIMATED ABOUT $34 MILLION. THAT'S AN ESTIMATE BECAUSE WE [01:00:24] HAVEN'T GOTTEN FINAL DOLLAR NUMBERS BACK FROM THE APPRAISAL DISTRICT YET SO WE'LL BE BRINGING THAT FIVE DOLLARS PLUS WE HAVEN'T GONE TO THE ACTUAL PRICE IN THE MARKETPLACE. THOSE THINGS THAT WE ARE USING THIS FUNDING FOR CERTAINLY WITH THE GEO DEBT IS THINGS THAT ARE AUTHORIZED BY VOTERS, SIGNAL CONTROLS, ROAD CONSTRUCTION, STREAM AND ALLEY AAIN, THE WEB ZONE AND THE KIDS KINGDOM AND OF COURSE TAX NOTE FOCUSES ON VEHICLE REPLACEMENT. SO TONIGHT AGAIN WE ARE JUST ASKING YOU TO ISSUE THAT NOTICE AS REQUIRED AND WE GET THAT OUT THERE 45 DAYS IN ADVANCE BEFORE COUNCIL ACTUALLY CONSIDERS ISSUING ANY DEBT . ANY QUESTIONS? DID YOU -- HERE WE GO, ALL RIGHT. >> YES, CHRISTOPH. JUST TO CONFIRM THE CERTIFICATE OF OBLIGATION PORTION OF THE DEBT THAT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT HERE IS $12 MILLION. >> UP TO. PROBABLY BE LESS THAN THAT. >> AND THAT WOULD BE FOR THE PURPOSES IN THE PACKET, WHICH WOULD BE THE CONCRETE PANEL REPLACEMENT, CFO AND ROAD REPLACEMENTS, THE STREET AND ALLEY RECONSTRUCTION. >> THAT'S CORRECT. >> OKAY, THANK YOU. >> COUNCIL, ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? ALL RIGHT, THEN WE WILL PRESENT A MOTION. RTS. HERE WE GO. >> I MOVE WE ADOPT THE RESOLUTION DIRECTING PUBLICATION OF NOTICE OF INTENT TO ISSUE CERTIFICATES OF OBLIGATION. >> AND COUNCILMEMBER BOWERS? >> I SECOND THAT MOTION. >> COUNCIL SCHUPP AND BOWERS ANY DISCUSSION? DEPUTY MAYOR PRO TEM SCHINDLER? >> I JUST WANT TO SAY I'VE GOTTEN A FEW EMAILS ABOUT THIS AND AS WE KNOW THERE'S SOME PEOPLE IN THE CITY WHO ARE JUST OPPOSED TO CERTIFICATES OF OBLIGATION IN PRINCIPLE. I THINK THAT MANY OF THOSE DON'T REALLY UNDERSTAND HOW COS WORK AND ALSO DON'T UNDERSTAND BECAUSE I DON'T AS ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER BOWERS SAID, ONLY AUTHORIZES US TO PUBLISH THE NOTICES. THIS IS NOT THE VOTE TO AUTHORIZE THE ISSUANCE OF THE COS. THAT WOULD COME AT A LATER TIME. SO GIVEN THAT, I DON'T SEE ANY REASON NOT TO VOTE IN FAVOR OF THIS. >> ALL RIGHT, THANK YOU. ANY OTHER DISCUSSION. ALL RIGHT, CALL THE VOTE. ALL RIGHT. AND [7B. Consider action to approve a resolution supporting the reduction in allocation of sales and use tax revenues for the Dallas Area Rapid Transit Authority; and providing an effective date. ] THAT ITEM CARRIES UNANIMOUSLY OF THOSE MEMBERS PRESENT. NOW MOVE ON TO ITEM 7 B. SECRETARY, CAN I GET THAT REMOTE UP THERE? NOW WE MOVE ON TO ITEM 7 B, CONSIDER ACTION TO APPROVE A RESOLUTION SUPPORTING THE REDUCTION AND ALLOCATION OF SALES AND USE TAX REVENUES FOR THE DALLAS AREA RAPID TRANSIT AUTHORITY, THANK YOU, AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. >> ALL RIGHT. WELL I WANT TO START OFF WITH THE CLEAR STATEMENT TO BOTH MY COLLEAGUES AND CONSTITUENTS REGARDING THIS PROPOSED RESOLUTION. THIS PROPOSED RESOLUTION IS NOT ABOUT DROPPING MEMBERSHIP TO DART. THIS PROPOSED RESOLUTION IS NOT ANTI-DART. THIS IS ABOUT DART'S IN MY OPINION FLAWED BUSINESS MODEL AND THE DESIRE TO INCENTIVIZE EFFICIENT OPERATION THAT WILL BENEFIT THE RIDERS, MEMBER CITIES AND DART . THIS PRESENTATION PROVIDES AN OVERVIEW OF RIDERSHIP, FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTIONS, AND OPERATIONAL CHALLENGES THAT DART FACES. SO SINCE ROWLETT'S MEMBERSHIP TO DART IN 1983, OUR TAXPAYERS HAVE PAID OVER $138 MILLION IN SALES TAX CONTRIBUTIONS AND TODAY OVER $10 MILLION IS ALLOCATED TO DART ANNUALLY FROM THE CITY OF ROWLETT THROUGH THE ONE CENT SALES TAX. UNFORTUNATELY THERE IS CURRENTLY NOT A WAY TO TRACK THE VALUE RETURNED THAT THE CITY OF ROWLETT IS GETTING OUT OF DART. IT TOOK PLANO ACTUALLY THREATENING TO HAVE TO HAVE SENATOR, STATE SENATOR ANGELA PAXTON FILE A TRANSPARENCY BILL IN COMMITTEE DURING THE LAST LEGISLATIVE SESSION TO GET DART TO PROVIDE SPECIFIC RIDERSHIP NUMBERS TO PLANO. IN THE LAST MEETING I WAS IN WITH DART REPRESENTATIVES JUST A FEW MONTHS AGO, WE ASKED FOR ROWLETT SPECIFIC RIDERSHIP DATA AND HAVE NOT RECEIVED THAT INFORMATION TO DATE. SO AGAIN IT'S HARD TO TRACK THE BALLOT RETURNED AT THE CITY OF ROWLETT IS GETTING. THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC LED TO A SIGNIFICANT DECREASE IN DART RIDERSHIP WHICH REMAINS ROUGHLY 30% BELOW PRE-PANDEMIC LEVELS. AND DESPITE THIS, DART SALES AND USE TAX REVENUES INCREASED BY APPROXIMATELY 35% OVER THE LAST FIVE YEARS FOR SURPASSING $200 MILLION. AND YOU CAN SEE IN THE SLIDE THERE THE COMPARISON NUMBERS FROM PREVIOUS FISCAL [01:05:01] YEARS. FISCAL YEAR 2023, RIDERSHIP WAS AROUND $49 MILLION AND SALES TAX COLLECTION WAS AT A RECORD HIGH OF $834 MILLION. THIS IS A CHART THAT SHOWS THAT INCREASE IN DART SALES TAX REVENUE DURING BETWEEN 2020 AND 2023. IT EXCEEDED THEIR BOTH FORECAST AND ECONOMISTS FORECAST. SO IN FISCAL YEAR 2011 DART'S RELIANCE ON MEMBER CITY SALES TAX WAS JUST 26.4% OF THEIR TOTAL SOURCE OF REVENUES AND TODAY DART RELIES ON MEMBER CITY SALES TAX TO GENERATE OVER HALF OF THEIR TOTAL SOURCE OF REVENUE AT OVER 55% OR $870 MILLION OUT OF $1.5 BILLION, OF WHICH THE REST IS MAJORITY DEBT SERVICE. ADDITIONALLY, IT IS CRUCIAL TO NOTE THAT ONLY 2.6% OF DART'S TOTAL SOURCE OF REVENUES COME FROM FARES. SO WHAT IS DART'S INCENTIVE TO ENFORCE FARES? WE WILL DIVE INTO THAT. ACCORDING TO DART'S FISCAL YEAR 2024 BUDGET, DART COUNTED 49 MILLION RIDERS IN FISCAL YEAR 2023 AND PASSENGER REVENUES UP TO $37 MILLION. FOR REFERENCE, FARES COULD RANGE FROM APPROXIMATELY $1.25 TO $12. SO LET'S ASSUME HYPOTHETICALLY THAT THE AVERAGE FAIR PROVIDER IS THREE DOLLARS. THREE DOLLARS MULTIPLIED BY 49 MILLION RIDERS WOULD EQUAL $147 MILLION PASSENGER REVENUES. SO WHAT IS THE CURRENT DISCREPANCY? WE WILL DIG A LITTLE FURTHER. DART UTILIZES SENSORS AT EVERY DOOR OF EACH TRAIN AND BUS IN THEIR SYSTEM. I'VE BEEN MADE AWARE OF CONCERNS REGARDING POTENTIAL ISSUES WITH THIS FROM A CURRENT DART WARD MEMBER WHO INDICATED THAT IT IS MOST LIKELY THAT THE SENSORS ARE MIS-COUNTING INDIVIDUALS WHO STAND NEAR THE DOORWAYS OF THESE BUSES AND TRAINS, AS WELL AS INFLATION OF RIDERSHIP DUE TO HOW DART COUNTS A TRIP. FOR EXAMPLE, MANY RIDERS OF DART HAVE TO UTILIZE MULTIPLE TRIP SEGMENTS TO GET TO AND FROM THEIR DESTINATION. A WRITER IN THIS CASE FROM ROWLETT WOULD TAKE THE BLUE LINE TO DOWNTOWN DALLAS, HOP ON THE GREEN LINE AND TAKE A BUS FROM THERE. DART WOULD COUNT THIS AS THREE SEPARATE TRIPS OR THREE RIDERS. SO A SINGLE RIDER CAN GENERATE UP TO SIX TRIPS OR MORE IN ONE DAY UTILIZING MULTIPLE SEGMENTS FROM DART. THAT'S IMPORTANT TO KNOW . IN ADDITION, WE ALL KNOW THERE ARE TO BE A NUMBER OF RIDERS AND PARTICULARLY UNHOUSED INDIVIDUALS WHO EVADE AFFAIRS. DART DOES NOT SPECIFICALLY TRACK THE NUMBER OF FARE EVADERS AND IF DART CONDUCTED PROPER FAIR ENFORCEMENT, THEY COULD POTENTIALLY GENERATE UP TO $90 MILLION ANNUALLY IF THERE REPORTED RIDERSHIP COUNTS ARE ACCURATE. RECALL PREVIOUSLY THAT ONLY 2.6% OF DART 'S TOTAL SOURCE OF REVENUES COME FROM FARES. THERE IS NOT AN INCENTIVE FOR DART TO PROPERLY ENFORCE FARES . CONTAINED WITHIN DART'S FISCAL YEAR 2024 BUDGET AS WELL ARE SEVEN LISTED MAINTENANCE ACCOMPLISHMENTS FROM FISCAL YEAR 2023. ONE OF THOSE SEVEN LISTED ACCOMPLISHMENTS STATES THAT DART, QUOTE, REDUCE THE NUMBER OF GAIT MALFUNCTIONS AT THE DOWNTOWN ROWLETT STATION GRADE CROSSING AND IMPROVE VEHICLE AND TRAIN TRAFFIC IN THE AREA, ". THAT WOULD BE AWESOME IF THAT WERE TRUE. LET'S LOOK AT THE DATA. ACCORDING TO DATA PROVIDED BY THE POLICE DEPARTMENT, ROWLETT PD RESPONDED TO A TOTAL OF 35 GATE MALFUNCTIONS RESPONDING APPROXIMATELY ONCE PER WEEK FROM THE BEGINNING OF FISCAL YEAR 24, OCTOBER 1, 2023 TO DATE. THIS IS NOT A REDUCTION OF GATE MALFUNCTIONING AND THERE IS NOT IMPROVE VEHICLE AND TRAIN TRAFFIC . THIS IS AFTER MULTIPLE ATTEMPTS TO GET DART IMPLEMENTING PERMANENT SOLUTION TO THE GATE PROBLEMS. SEVEN YEARS I'VE BEEN ON THIS COUNCIL, SEVEN YEARS WE'VE BEEN TRYING TO RESOLVE THIS ISSUE AND SEVEN YEARS LATER NOTHING HAS CHANGED. NOT ACCORDING TO THEM, THOUGH. WHILE GOING THROUGH THEIR FISCAL YEAR 2024 BUDGET, I PULLED SOME INTERESTING INFORMATION I WANTED TO NOTE. THE FIRST INTERESTING FACT IS THAT DART HAS 400 FTES IN THE POLICE DEPARTMENT. WHERE ARE THEY AT? WHERE ARE THEY AT? CONSISTENTLY ROWLETT POLICE DEALS WITH DELAYED RESPONSE TIMES FROM DART POLICE AND GENERAL AVAILABILITY FOR CALLS. SO TYPICALLY OUR POLICE DEPARTMENT IS HAVING TO RESPOND TO ISSUES ON THE PLATFORM OR ISSUES WITH THEIR MALFUNCTIONING GATES. SO WE ARE IN TURN RESPONDING TO DART 'S PROBLEMS. AND IN DISCUSSIONS [01:10:03] WITH OTHER DART MEMBER CITIES, THIS IS A SHARED EXPERIENCE, UNLESS YOU'RE A CITY CALLED DALLAS. ANOTHER NOTE, THERE ARE SOME ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES INCURRED BY DART IN 2024. THESE INCLUDE THE CREATION OF A CULTURAL ENGAGEMENT DEPARTMENT WITH SEVEN FTES AND A $1.13 MILLION BUDGET, A BUDGET INCREASE FOR THE CHIEF OF STAFF FROM $825,000 IN FISCAL YEAR 2023 TO $3.18 MILLION IN FISCAL YEAR 2024, AND A REALLY FAT MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT WITH 51 FTES AND A $14 MILLION BUDGET. I'D SAY DART IS DOING PRETTY WELL FINANCIALLY. SO BEFORE WE GET TO QUESTIONS, I WANT TO WRAP UP WITH SOME OF THE MORE IMPORT INFORMATION IN THE STATEMENT. SO ONE OF THE LEGISLATORS, STATE REPRESENTATIVE BILL CIGARETTE, WAS ONE OF THEM THAT VOTED FOR THE ENABLING LEGISLATION FOR DART IN 1983. AND ACCORDING TO AN ARTICLE BY D MAGAZINE IN 1991, STATED THAT, QUOTE, NOBODY GAVE MUCH THOUGHT TO HOW MUCH MONEY COULD BE GENERATED BY THE SALES TAX, END QUOTE. HE ALSO GOES ON TO SAY, QUOTE, IT WAS A MISTAKE. AGAIN, I WANT TO MAKE VERY CLEAR, I AM NOT AGAINST PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION. RIDING A DART TRAIN TO THE STATE FAIR AND TO THE DALLAS AUTO SHOW EVERY YEAR WAS SOMETHING THAT I LOOKED FORWARD TO DOING ALL THE WAY FROM A CHILD, AND HOWEVER, UNFORTUNATELY, I'M MORE HESITANT TO RIDE THE TRAIN NOW DUE TO THE INCREASE IN CRIME ISSUES, CLEANLINESS AND SAFETY ISSUES THAT NOW PLAGUE THE SYSTEM. FURTHERMORE, IT'S CRUCIAL TO NOTE THE IMPORTANCE OF DART'S ROLE IN PEOPLE'S LIVES, JUST LIKE WE HEARD EARLIER BY A SPEAKER, THAT ESPECIALLY THOSE WITH RESTRICTED INCOMES. WHAT THIS IS ABOUT, WHAT THIS RESOLUTION IS ABOUT IS ABOUT ADVOCATING FOR AN EFFICIENT SYSTEM THAT DOES NOT EVER RELY ON TAXPAYER DOLLARS TO SERVICE APPROXIMATELY 4% OF INDIVIDUALS IN DFW. DART HAS A MONEY PROBLEM. BY PROBLEM I'M NOT REFERRING TO THERE NOT BEING ENOUGH MONEY. I'M REFERRING TO THERE BEING TOO MUCH MONEY, AND EVEN THEY AGREE WITH THAT . OTHERWISE THEY WOULD NOT HAVE SENT BACK $200 MILLION TO MEMBER CITIES IN 2022. SO FOR THOSE WHO ARE CONCERNED ABOUT A POTENTIAL DECREASE IN DART'S TAXPAYER CONTRIBUTIONS, REST ASSURED, THEY WILL FIND A WAY TO MAKE IT WORK, THE SAME WAY THAT EVERY CITY IN TEXAS HAD TO FIND A WAY TO MAKE IT WORK IN THE STATE JUST LATER CAPPED CITIES TAX REVENUES AT 3.5% A YEAR. THIS RESOLUTION, ALTHOUGH SYMBOLIC IN NATURE, IS A FIRST STEP TOWARDS A ALTAY STEP PROCESS IN ACHIEVING FAIRER CONTRIBUTION ALLOTMENT TO DART IN THE NEAR FUTURE AND NOW I WILL OPEN IT UP TO QUESTIONS. DEPUTY MAYOR PRO TEM SHINDER . >> YES MAYOR, ONE OF THE PUBLIC INPUT COMMENTS WAS TO THE EFFECT THAT THE ALLOCATION FROM THE CITY OF ROWLETT IS ONLY ONE POINT SOMETHING PERCENT OF TOTAL REVENUES. DO YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION AS TO WHAT PERCENTAGE OF DART RIDERS ARE FROM ROWLETT? BECAUSE I KNOW THAT THERE WAS A SURVEY DONE IN THE NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS COUNCIL OF GOVERNMENTS THAT FOUND THAT 72% ARE FROM THE CITY OF DALLAS. SO I SUSPECT THAT OUR PERCENTAGE OF RIDERS IS ALSO VERY LOW. DO YOU HAVE ANY NUMBERS? >> YOU WOULD ABSOLUTELY SUSPECT THAT, ESPECIALLY GIVEN THAT WE SEE THAT THAT PARKING LOT IS ONLY HALF FULL EVERY SINGLE DAY. BUT AGAIN, WE HAVE BEEN UNABLE, UNSUCCESSFUL IN GETTING DART DATA FROM DART ABOUT ROWLETT SPECIFICALLY. >> UNDERSTAND. AND ALSO I KNOW THAT WHEN PLANO PASSED THEIR RESOLUTION, THE STATE AND FROM DART WAS THAT PLANO DOESN'T HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO UNILATERALLY REDUCE THE RATE FOR PLANO. I THINK IN THE INTEREST OF TRANSPARENCY, WE NEED TO ADDRESS THAT AND LET THE CITIZENS KNOW THAT AS YOU SAID, IT'S A SYMBOLIC GESTURE, BUT MAYBE BE A LITTLE MORE >> AS I SAID, IT IS VERY MUCH A SYMBOLIC GESTURE BUT IT IS THE FIRST STEP TOWARDS A MULTI STEP PROCESS. I DON'T PUBLICLY AT THIS POINT WHAT TO GET TO THE SPECIFICS OF WHAT THOSE NEXT STEPS ARE. DON'T WANT TO GIVE OUR HAND UP , RIGHT, ON OUR PLANS, IF COUNCIL WERE TO APPROVE THIS RESOLUTION. BUT THAT IS CORRECT. PLANO DOES NOT HAVE UNILATERAL AUTHORITY. ROWLETT DOES NOT HAVE THE UNILATERAL AUTHORITY. THAT DOES NOT MEAN THERE IS NOT AVENUES IN OTHER PLACES. ONE MORE, OKAY, GO AHEAD. >> DO WE HAVE ANY ESTIMATE AS TO HOW MUCH ADDITIONAL REVENUE THIS WOULD ADD TO ROWLETT'S BUDGET IF WE WERE ABLE TO MAKE THAT REDUCTION? [01:15:01] >> THI RESOLUTION CALLS FOR THE REDUCTION FROM ONE CENT TO .75 CENTS AND SO WITH A $10 MILLION SALES TAX CONTRIBUTION, THERE YOU GO. THAT IS SIGNIFICANT FOR ROWLETT AND WHEN YOU HAVE TO PUT THOSE INTO PERSPECTIVE, WHAT IS SIGNIFICANT FOR US IS VERY LITTLE FOR PLANO. BUT FOR THEM THEY SPEND OVER $100 MILLION A YEAR TO DART. COUNCILMEMBER BOWERS? >> THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THIS PRESENTATION. WHEN I FIRST READ THE STAFF REPORT I WAS VERY ALARMED. I HAD A LOT OF PANIC BUTTONS BUT NOW THAT YOU HAVE EXPLAINED THIS VERY CLEARLY, I WILL BE SUPPORTING IT. ONE OF MY MAIN CONCERNS IS THE AMOUNT OF POPULATION GROWTH WE HAVE COMING TO THE EAST OF US. AND SO IT IS MY HOPE THAT THOSE PEOPLE WILL START USING DART , BECAUSE I AM VERY CONCERNED WITH THE NUMBER OF OZONE DAYS THAT WE HAVE HAD AND THE AMOUNT OF TRAFFIC THAT WE HAVE COMING THROUGH. SO I AM HOPEFUL THAT IN THE FUTURE THOSE CITIES TO THE EAST OF US WILL EITHER MAY BECOME PARK AND RIDE OR MAYBE DART CAN EXPAND FURTHER OUT . >> THANK YOU FOR BRINGING THAT POINT UP. THERE'S ABSOLUTELY A GREEN FACTOR ASSOCIATED WITH THIS. IT IS BETTER TO HAVE PEOPLE RIDE TOGETHER, ALTHOUGH I LOVE DRIVING, I LIKE DRIVING MY JEEP. BUT I GET IT. THERE IS AN IMPORTANT FACTOR TO THAT. I ALSO SAY, THOUGH, ANOTHER IMPORTANT FACTOR TO YOUR STATEMENT IS THAT THERE ARE UNDOUBTEDLY INDIVIDUALS FROM OTHER CITIES WHO DO COME TO ROWLETT STATION. YOU CAN LOOK AT THAT, THOUGH, AS WE THE TAXPAYERS IN ROWLETT ARE SUBSIDIZING THOSE RIDERS BASED ON THE RIDERSHIP REVENUES VERSUS THE REVENUE THAT COMES FROM THE MEMBER CITIES. AND IT'S ANOTHER ARGUMENT THAT'S BEEN EXPRESSED BY EVERY MEMBER CITIES IS THAT WE THE MEMBER CITIES ARE SUBSIDIZING OTHER CITIES FOR THE COST. AND SO THAT'S KIND OF ANOTHER -- AND I FORGOT TO ADD THAT AS A POINT. THANK YOU. >> YOU'RE WELCOME. >> COUNCILMEMBER SCHUPP 2 >> YES. THANK YOU, MAYOR. I BELIEVE IN THE IMPORTANCE OF PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION. I DO THINK THAT WHAT DART PROVIDES IS IMPORTANT AND IT DOES NEED TO BE RECOGNIZED, THAT IT IS IMPORTANT TO A LOT OF PEOPLE. MY PERSONAL OPINION ON DART IS I THINK IT'S A POLITICAL BUREAUCRACY AND I THINK NOBODY PAYS MUCH ATTENTION TO IT, PROBABLY, MIGHT AGREE WITH ME ON THAT. I GUESS THE QUESTION I HAVE, AND I WILL BE SUPPORTING THIS, BUT THE QUESTION I HAVE, YOU USE THE TERM SYMBOLIC IN NATURE. I'M NOT SURE THAT -- I GUESS WHEN I WAS LOOKING AT IT I ALMOST FELT LIKE IT WAS PUNITIVE IN NATURE. I JUST -- YOU HELPED ME A LITTLE BIT BY SAYING THIS IS PART OF A PROCESS. AND SO THAT DID PUT IT IN A FRAMEWORK THAT WAS A LITTLE MORE UNDERSTANDABLE FOR ME. BECAUSE I WAS HAVING TROUBLE SAYING OKAY, WE ARE DOING THIS, IS THIS STRICTLY A MONEY THING OR IS IT PUNITIVE OR IS IT SYMBOLIC? SO KNOWING THAT I THINK IS VERY HELPFUL FOR THE DECISION ON THIS. JUST A QUICK QUESTION, YOU MAY OR MAY NOT KNOW THIS. YOU SAID THE TWO -- IN 2022 DART SENT BACK $200 MILLION. DID ROWLETT GET A CHECK ? >> YES WE DID AND I THINK IT WAS AROUND $15 MILLION, SOMEWHERE NEAR THAT FIGURE WE RECEIVED. >> 50 MILLION? >> 15. >> OKAY, WHERE'S THAT AT? >> WE DISTRIBUTED THAT FUNDING TO OTHER PROJECTS PRETTY QUICKLY. >> ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU. >> THANK YOU. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? COUNCILMEMBER REAVES? >> WHAT TIMEFRAME WAS THAT $15 MILLION REPRESENTED FOR? I MEAN THE $15 MILLION THAT WAS GIVEN BACK, WAS THAT BASE ALLOCATED OVER THE COURSE OF A NUMBER OF YEARS? SO THEY JUST SAID WE GOT TOO MUCH MONEY, WE ARE SENDING IT BACK? BECAUSE MY UNDERSTANDING IS WE ARE SPENDING $10 MILLION A YEAR, ROUGHLY. >> IT WAS THEY HAD A VERY HEALTHY FINANCIAL YEAR AND THE BOARD DECIDED THAT THEY SHOULD SEND BACK $200 MILLION. TO ME THAT IS AN ACKNOWLEDGMENT THAT THEY HAVE TOO MUCH REVENUE AND THAT'S AGAIN ONE OF THE REASONS WE ARE HERE TONIGHT. >> AND I MAKE A COUPLE COMMENTS? I DID A LITTLE HOMEWORK. HAD I KNOWN YOU WOULD DO THIS I WOULD NOT HAVE DONE THE AMOUNT OF HOMEWORK I DID BUT I DID DO SOME HOMEWORK AND I WENT TO THE AMERICAN PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION ASSOCIATION. I THINK IT'S A PTA.COM, AND THEY RELEASED A 2023 PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION FACT BOOK, WHICH IS VERY INTERESTING, AND JUST [01:20:02] FROM A BIG PERSPECTIVE, AS WE ALL KNOW, DFW IS THE FIFTH LARGEST METROPLEX IN THE COUNTRY AND WHEN YOU RANK THE LARGEST TRANSIT AGENCIES RANKED BY PASSENGER TRIPS, DART IS 20TH ON THE LIST EVEN THOUGH WE ARE FIFTH IN POPULATION. IF YOU LOOK AT THE 50 URBANIZED AREAS WITH THE MOST TRANSIT TRAVEL RANKED BY PASSENGER TRIPS, DART 'S 17TH AND WE ARE ECLIPSED BY DENVER, PORTLAND, OREGON, AND SEATTLE, AND THEY HAVE HALF THE POPULATION AS DFW. AND IF YOU LOOK AT THE RANKINGS OF THE 50 URBANIZED AREAS RANKED ON TRIPS PER CAPITA, DART DOESN'T EVEN MAKE THE TOP 50 LIST. AND SO NOW BRINGING THAT DOWN TO ROWLETT, INTERESTINGLY, AFTER OUR AGENDA CAME OUT, I DON'T KNOW IF IT WAS BEFORE OR AFTER BUT DART DAILY.DART.ORG RELEASED A REALLY NICE PIECE ON ROWLETT. THEY DID RELEASE SOME INFORMATION ABOUT THE NUMBER OF RIDERS IN ROWLETT SO I THOUGHT THIS WAS REALLY INTERESTING. I'LL JUST MAKE COMMENTS HERE. THERE WERE, AND THIS IS FOR Q2, SECOND QUARTER, FISCAL YEAR 2024, THEY SAY THAT THERE WAS 5392 TRIPS IN ROWLETT AND THERE WERE 79,372 BOARDING S FROM DOWNTOWN ROWLETT STATION, WHICH WAS REALLY SURPRISING TO ME. I WOULD NOT EXPET THAT. SO IF YOU EXTRAPOLATE THAT AND SAY THAT STAYS CONSTANT OVER A YEAR, THAT'S 339 -- EXCUSE ME, 339,000 TRIPS IF THAT HOLDS CONSTANT. AT $10 MILLION A YEAR THAT MEANS THAT US AS THE TAXPAYER ARE PAYING $29.50 OF OUR MONEY, OF OUR TAX MONEY, FOR EVERY TIME SOMEONE GETS ON THE TRAIN SO WE ARE SUBSIDIZING THAT AND IF WE WERE TO REDUCE IT BY 25% WOULD STILL BE AT $22 A TRIP THAT WE ARE PAYING FOR. SO I'M IN SUPPORT OF THIS. I THINK IT MAKES TOTAL SENSE AND AGAIN, AS YOU HAD MENTIONED SINCE THE PANDEMIC, RIDERSHIP HAS DROPPED, SALES-TAX HAS GONE UP, SO IT'S A DIMINISHING INVESTMENT AND TO COUNCILMEMBER BOWERS POINT, AS WE CONTINUE TO GROW AS A METROPLEX, I WOULD LOVE TO SEE DART GET MORE RIDERSHIP. I WOULD LOVE TO SEE IT BECOME MORE OF A CULTURAL THING WHERE PEOPLE USE IT NOT JUST EVEN FOR WORK COMMUTING BUT TO GO OUT AND ENJOY ALL THE THINGS THE METROPLEX HAS TO OFFER. BUT AT THIS POINT I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT THAT WE JOIN OTHER CITIES AND ENCOURAGE DART TO PUT TOGETHER A FRAMEWORK THAT PROVIDES A MORE REASONABLE AND FAIR ASSESSMENT OF SALES TAX BASED UPON WHAT THE ECONOMIC BENEFITS THAT WE GET BACK . >> THANK YOU, I'M GOING TO WORK WITH YOU ON THIS GOING FORWARD. APPRECIATE YOU DOING ALL THAT RESEARCH AND STATING ALL THAT. COUNCILMEMBER SCHUPP ? >> JUST REAL QUICK, I KNOW PLANO IS KIND OF RAM WRITING THIS. WHO ELSE IS INVOLVED IN THIS? >> SO I WILL TELL YOU I WAS IN A MEETING LAST WEEK WITH THE MAJORITY OF THE MEMBER CITIES OF DART, WHO ARE VERY MUCH WATCHING THIS AND HAVE IDEAS OF THEIR OWN. THERE'S ALSO OTHER CITIES THAT ARE PUTTING RESOLUTIONS, SIMILAR RESOLUTIONS FORWARD FOR THEIR CITIES AS WELL. SO THERE IS A JOINT EFFORT WITH THE MAJORITY OF MEMBER STATES. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? ALL RIGHTS, THEN I WILL ENTERTAIN A MOTION. DEPUTY MAYOR PRO TEM SHINDER? >> YES, I MOVE THAT WE APPROVE THIS RESOLUTION, WHICH I JUST LOST THE LANGUAGE FOR. SUPPORTING THE REDUCTION AND ALLOCATION OF SALES AND USE TAX REVENUES FOR THE DALLAS AREA RAPID TRANSIT AUTHORITY AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. >> DO WE NEED TO STATE THAT EFFECTIVE DATE? NO, OKAY. AND COUNCILMEMBER REAVES? >> I SECOND THAT MOTION. >> MOTION BY DEPUTY MAYOR PRO TEM SHINDER, SECOND BY COUNCILMEMBER REAVES. ANY FURTHER DISCUSSION? ALL RIGHT. SEE NONE, CALL THE VOTE. AND [8. MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL MAY REQUEST TOPICS TO BE PLACED ON AN AGENDA FOR A SUBSEQUENT MEETING. ANY DELIBERATION OR DECISION SHALL BE LIMITED TO A PROPOSAL TO PLACE TOPIC ON THE AGENDA FOR A SUBSEQUENT MEETING. ] THAT ITEM CARRIES UNANIMOUSLY FOR THOSE MEMBERS PRESENT. THANK YOU EVERYBODY AND I'M GOING TO PULL UP THE AGENDA. SORRY. I THINK THE NEXT ITEM IS TO SEE IF THERE IS ANY -- HOLD ON, I GOT A. MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL MAY REQUEST TOPICS TO BE PLACED ON AN AGENDA FOR A SUBLET MEETING AND ANY DELIBERATION OR DECISION SHALL BE LIMITED TO A PROPOSAL TO PLACE THAT TOPIC ON THE AGENDA FOR THAT SUBSEQUENT EATING. DEPUTY MAYOR PRO TEM SHINDER? >> YES, I'D LIKE TO REQUEST THAT WE HAVE A WORK SESSION REGARDING REVIEWING AND REVISING THE COUNCIL RULES AND PROCEDURE. WE HAVE NEW COUNCILMEMBERS SINCE WE'VE DONE THAT AND I THINK THERE ARE SOME THINGS, I KNOW THERE ARE SOME THINGS I'D LIKE TO ADDRESS AND I'M SURE THERE'S SOME THAT SOME OF THE OTHER COUNCILMEMBERS WOULD LIKE TO ADDRESS. AND SPECIFICALLY ALSO EITHER AS PART OF THAT PROCESS OR AS A SEPARATE PROCESS TO DEVELOP A SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY. >> OKAY, GREAT. DO YOU HAVE A [01:25:04] SPECIFIC MEETING THAT YOU'D LIKE? >> I'D LIKE TO DO IT MAYBE THE SECOND MEETING IN AUGUST. >> OKAY. I WILL PUT THAT DOWN. THANK YOU. CITY SECRETARY, CAN YOU ALSO SAY THAT? THANK YOU. >> DO YOU NEED SOME -- >> I DO, YES. SORRY, COUNCILMEMBER REAVES? >> I'LL SECOND. >> THERE WE GO. AND WITH THAT, ANYTHING ELSE? WITH THAT IT IS 8:25 P.M. AND WE ARE ADJOURNED. THANK YOU. SORRY, WE'RE NOT ADJOURNED . I TAKE THAT BACK. I [2. EXECUTIVE SESSION ] REVOKE THAT ADJOURNMENT. I'M EXCITED TO LEAVE HERE, Y'ALL. RIGHT. THE CITY COUNCIL SHALL CONVENE INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION PURSUANT TO TEXAS GOVERNMENT CODE FOR PERSONNEL MATTERS TO DELIVERY THE EMPLOYMENT EVALUATION REASSIGNMENT IT IS DISCIPLINE OR DISMISSAL OF THE CITY SECRETARY AND TAKE ANY NECESSARY ACTION RELATED THERETO AND WE WILL GO AND >> ALL RIGHT. IT IS 9:07 P.M. WE'VE COME OUT OF EXECUTIVE SESSION AND NEED A MOTION. >> I MAKE A MOTION THAT WE AUTHORIZE THE CITY MANAGER TO NEGOTIATE AND EXECUTE AN AMENDMENT TO THE CITY SECRETARY'S EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT WHEREBY THE CITY SECRETARY WOULD EXTEND HER LAST DATE OF EMPLOYMENT TO JULY 17, 2024, AND THE CITY WOULD AGREE TO PROVIDE AT RETIREMENT A PAYOUT OF ALL OF HER ACCRUED AND UNUSED VACATION TIME. >> SECOND BY DEPUTY MAYOR PRO TEM SHINDER . * This transcript was compiled from uncorrected Closed Captioning.