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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes City Council - 02/25/2025I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing is a true and correct copy of the minutes of the Regular Meeting of the Corpus Christi City Council of February 25, 2025 which were approved by the City Council on March 18, 2025. WITNESSETH MY HAND AND SEAL, on this the 18th day of March 2025. (SEAL) Rebecca Huerta City Secretary Corpus Christi, Texas City of Corpus Christi Rebecca Huerta, City Secretary P.O. Box 9277 Corpus Christi, Texas 78469-9277 (361) 826-3105 rebeccah@cctexas.com -C� SCANNED City of Corpus Christi Meeting Minutes City Council 1201 Leopard Street Corpus Christi, TX 78401 cctexas.com Tuesday, February 25, 2025 11:30 AM Council Chambers Addendums may be added on Friday. A. Mayor Paulette Guajardo to call the meeting to order. Mayor Guajardo called the meeting to order at 11:36 a.m. B. Invocation to be given by Pastor Greg Isaacs with Oso Creek Church. Pastor Greg Isaacs with Oso Creek Church gave the invocation. C. Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the United States and to the Texas Flag to be led by Isaiah Deleon, 12th grader from Richard King High School. Isaiah Deleon, 12th grader from Richard King High School, led the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America and to the Texas Flag. D. City Secretary Rebecca L. Huerta to call the roll of the required Charter Officers. City Secretary Rebecca Huerta called the roll and verified that a quorum of the City Council and the required Charter Officers were present to conduct the meeting. Charter Officers: City Manager Peter Zanoni, City Attorney Miles Risley and City Secretary Rebecca Huerta Present: 9 - Council Member Roland Barrera,Council Member Carolyn Vaughn,Council Member Gil Hernandez,Council Member Sylvia Campos,Council Member Everett Roy,Mayor Paulette Guajardo,Council Member Eric Cantu,Council Member Mark Scott, and Council Member Kaylynn Paxson E. BRIEFINGS: (ITEM 1) 1. 25-0286 Briefing on 89th Texas Legislative Session Update, Presented by Ryan Skrobarczyk, Director of Intergovernmental Relations Director of Intergovernmental Relations Ryan Skrobarczyk presented information on the 89th Texas Legislative Session as follows: Texas Legislative session key dates; House appropriations subcommittees appointed; week of February 24 hearing update; House appropriations; and forecast for next two weeks. F. PUBLIC COMMENT City of Corpus Christi Page 1 Printed on 3/5/2025 City Council Meeting Minutes February 25, 2025 Mayor Guajardo opened public comment. Bruce Goulet, Corpus Christi, TX, expressed concern about his landscaping business during stage 3 drought restrictions. Susie Saldana, Corpus Christi, TX, spoke in support of maintaining the current public comment procedure and the importance of water. John Weber, Corpus Christi, TX, spoke in support of the alterative water supply workshop. Ryan Zeller, Corpus Christi, TX, advocated for a landfill project located near the JC Elliot Transfer Station. Brandon Garis, Corpus Christi, TX, spoke about exploring atmospheric water generation for the Coastal Bend. Isabel Araiza, Corpus Christi, TX, spoke in support of maintaining the current public comment procedure and about donations to the Coastal Bend Coalition. Adam Rios, Corpus Christi, TX, stated the skate park contest was postponed due to the weather and advocated to bring X Games or Velocity Games to the City. The following citizens submitted a written public comment which is attached to the minutes: Mark Muenster, Corpus Christi, TX and Andrea Puyol, Corpus Christi, TX. G. BOARD & COMMITTEE APPOINTMENTS: (ITEM 2) 2. 25-0177 Committee for Persons with Disabilities Corpus Christi Downtown Management District Senior Corps Advisory Committee Sister City Committee Mayor Guajardo referred to Item 2. Committee for Persons with Disabilities: Reappointed: Sandra L. Flores and Michelle Jones Appointed: Crystal Aguilar, Alejandro Benavides, Oscar J. Camacho, and Wilson M. Goodrich Corpus Christi Downtown Management District: Appointed: Michael E. Islava Senior Corps Advisory Committee: Reappointed: Katherine J. Joslin Appointed: Santos Huerta City of Corpus Christi Page 2 Printed on 3/5/2025 City Council Meeting Minutes February 25, 2025 Sister City Committee: Appointed: Jessuip A. Avalos and Robert Voorheis H. EXPLANATION OF COUNCIL ACTION: I. CONSENT AGENDA: (ITEMS 3 - 13) Approval of the Consent Agenda Mayor Guajardo referred to the Consent Agenda. Items 6, 8 and 9 were pulled for individual consideration. Council Member Campos moved to approve the consent agenda with the exception of Items 6, 8 and 9, seconded by Council Member Barrera. The motion carried by the following vote: Aye: 9 - Council Member Barrera, Council Member Vaughn, Council Member Hernandez, Council Member Campos, Council Member Roy, Mayor Guajardo, Council Member Cantu, Council Member Scott and Council Member Paxson Abstained: 0 3. 25-0278 Approval of the February 18, 2025 Regular Meeting Minutes The Minutes were approved on the consent agenda. Consent - Second Reading Ordinances 4. 25-0091 Zoning Case No. ZN8539, 2AVH Calallen, LP. (District 1). Ordinance rezoning a property at or near 3601 Interstate Highway 69 (IH 69) and 3362 County Road 52 (CR 52) from the "FR" Farm Rural District to the "CG-2" General Commercial District; providing for a penalty not to exceed $2,000 and publication. (Planning Commission and Staff recommend approval). This Ordinance was passed on second reading on the consent agenda. Enactment No: 033591 Consent - Contracts and Procurement 5. 24-2053 Resolution authorizing a one-year service agreement, with two one-year option periods, with Essential Equipment TX, LLC, of Conroe, Texas, in an amount up to $94,960.00, with a potential amount of $284,880.00 if options are exercised, for repair services on closed-circuit television (CCTV) rapid -view IBAK cameras and equipment for Corpus Christi Water, with FY 2025 funding of $94,960.00 from the Wastewater Fund. This Resolution was passed on the consent agenda. City of Corpus Christi Page 3 Printed on 3/5/2025 City Council Meeting Minutes February 25, 2025 Enactment No: 033592 6. 24-2088 Resolution authorizing the acquisition of 51 replacement and 21 additional vehicles/heavy equipment by various City Departments, of which 65 units will be outright purchases and seven units will be lease -purchases, through the BuyBoard, Sourcewell, and TIPS Cooperatives for a total amount of $10,757,774.99, with FY 2025 funding in the amount of $7,436,044.29 coming from the General Fund, Fleet Equipment Replacement Fund, and Storm Water Fund, and the remaining balance of $3,321,730.70 for the lease purchases will be funded through the annual budget process. Mayor Guajardo referred to Item 6. Council Members, Interim Director of Asset Management Juan Rivera, Assistant Director of Asset Management Russell Dean, Director of Finance Sergio Villasana, Director of Public Works Ernie De La Garza, and Assistant Director of Public Works Manuel Hernandez discussed the following topics: more details about the City's vehicle procurement process; whether Public Works has the crew capacity for additional vehicles and equipment; the amount the City is saving by purchasing in bulk from outside city businesses; and the older vehicles are auctioned off when they become more costly to maintain. Council Member Barrera moved to approve the resolution, seconded by Council Member Hernandez. This Resolution was passed and approved with the following vote: Aye: 9 - Council Member Barrera, Council Member Vaughn, Council Member Hernandez, Council Member Campos, Council Member Roy, Mayor Guajardo, Council Member Cantu, Council Member Scott and Council Member Paxson Abstained: 0 Enactment No: 033593 7. 25-0139 Resolution authorizing the acquisition of 32 replacement and 40 additional police vehicles for the Corpus Christi Police Department, of which all 72 units will be outright purchases, from Silsbee Ford, through the TIPS Cooperative, for a total amount of $5,061,234.16, with FY 2025 funding in the amount of $5,061,234.16 from the Fleet Equipment Replacement Fund and the Crime Control District Fund. This Resolution was passed on the consent agenda. Enactment No: 033594 8. 25-0140 Resolution authorizing a service agreement with Florida Floats, Inc., doing business as Bellingham Marine of Jacksonville, Florida, in the amount of $218,960.00 for the replacement of two docks in the Corpus Christi Municipal Marina for the Parks & Recreation Department, with FY 2025 funding from Tax Reinvestment Zone #3. Mayor Guajardo referred to Item 8. City of Corpus Christi Page 4 Printed on 3/5/2025 City Council Meeting Minutes February 25, 2025 Council Members and Marina Manager Jonathan Atwood discussed the following topics: this Florida company will replace these docks because no local companies exist; these floating docks will have a life span of 50 years; and no local subcontractors will be hired to assist with this project. Council Member Barrera moved to approve the resolution, seconded by Council Member Campos. This Resolution was passed and approved with the following vote: Aye: 9 - Council Member Barrera, Council Member Vaughn, Council Member Hernandez, Council Member Campos, Council Member Roy, Mayor Guajardo, Council Member Cantu, Council Member Scott and Council Member Paxson Abstained: 0 Enactment No: 033595 Consent - Capital Projects 9. 25-0225 Motion to award a construction contract to Camacho Demolition, LLC, Corpus Christi, Texas, for the Morgan Elevated Storage Tank Demolition project to decommission and demolish the Morgan Elevated Storage Tank in an amount not to exceed $160,098.00, located in Council District 1, with FY 2025 funding available from the Water Capital Fund. Mayor Guajardo referred to Item 9. Council Members, City Manager Peter Zanoni, and Director of Engineering Services Jeff Edmonds discussed the following topics: the City has an agreement with the Ed Rachal Foundation to cover the expenses of the demolition; a Council Member recognized the Ed Rachal Foundation for the value they add to this project; and there are some safety concerns associated with the current elevated storage tank. Council Member Hernandez moved to approve the motion, seconded by Council Member Barrera. This Motion was passed and approved with the following vote: Aye: 9 - Council Member Barrera, Council Member Vaughn, Council Member Hernandez, Council Member Campos, Council Member Roy, Mayor Guajardo, Council Member Cantu, Council Member Scott and Council Member Paxson Abstained: 0 Enactment No: M2025-020 General Consent Items 10. 25-0230 Motion to authorize execution of a real estate sales contract with Valdemar Pruneda and Gabriel Grande for the City's acquisition of 0.16 acres of land in the amount of $200,000.00 plus estimated closing costs for a total amount of $203,000.00, located at 3322 Leopard Street for the expansion of the temporary City of Corpus Christi Page 5 Printed on 3/5/2025 City Council Meeting Minutes February 25, 2025 City Detention Center, with funding available from the FY 2025Equipment Replacement Fund. This Motion was passed on the consent agenda. Enactment No: M2025-021 Consent - First Reading Ordinances 11, 25-0221 Ordinance authorizing acceptance of $15,000 grant from the Coastal Bend Wellness Foundation to fund overtime and fringe benefits for the Red Cord Initiative Diversion Program; and appropriating funds in the amount of $15,000 to the Police Grants Fund. This Ordinance was passed on first reading on the consent agenda. 12. 24-2037 Ordinance authorizing the acceptance and appropriation of $4,203,066.87 from the U.S. Department of Transportation, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, under the FY 2024 Natural Gas Distribution Infrastructure Safety and Modernization Grant for use by the Gas Department to replace existing steel gas mains with polyethylene (PE) pipe; and amending the Gas Grant Fund and FY 2025 Capital Budget. This Ordinance was passed on first reading on the consent agenda. 13. 25-0032 Ordinance appropriating $50,000.00 from the Airport Unreserved Operating Fund Balance for the Construction Contract Closeout Audit of Terminal Building Rehabilitation Phase II by Talson Solutions, LLC, and amending the operating budget. This Ordinance was passed on second reading on the consent agenda. Enactment No: 033596 J. RECESS FOR LUNCH Mayor Guajardo recessed the Council meeting for lunch at 12:57 p.m. Executive Session Item 14 was held during the lunch recess. Mayor Guajardo reconvened the meeting at 1:19 p.m. K. PUBLIC HEARINGS: (NONE) L. INDIVIDUAL CONSIDERATION ITEMS: (NONE) M. EXECUTIVE SESSION: (ITEM 14) 14. 25-0222 Executive session pursuant to Texas Government Code § 551.071 and Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct Rule 1.05 to consult with attorneys concerning legal issues related to the potential value and/or acquisition City of Corpus Christi Page 6 Printed on 3/5/2025 City Council Meeting Minutes February 25, 2025 of properties at, adjacent, and/or near FM 624 Northwest Boulevard and/or FM 1889 in Corpus Christi for the Calalien Elevated Storage Tank Project; and Texas Government Code § 551.072 to discuss and deliberate the purchase or value of the aforementioned areas of real property because deliberation in an open meeting would have a detrimental effect on the position of the governmental body in negotiations with a third person, including, but not limited to, potential consideration of authorization to enter agreement(s) for the purchase of the property or property(ies) at and/or adjacent to the aforementioned locations. This E-Session Item was discussed in executive session. N. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, Mayor Guajardo adjourned this meeting at 1:19 p.m. City of Corpus Christi Page 7 Printed on 3/5/2025 Tuesday, February 25, 2025 Public Comment & Input Form For City Council Meetings, Board Meetings, & Commission Meetings To submit a service request, ask a question, report a violation, browse city -required permit forms or access services online, click here: Access Online Services To continue submitting a written public comment click Next below. Public Comment & Input Form For City Council Meetings, Board Meetings, & Commission Meetings Date of Meeting Tuesday, February 25, 2025 Name Andrea Puyol Address 902 Ohio Ave, Unit A Corpus Christi, TX, 78404 Please select the Board, Committee, or governing body that your comments are directed to: Are you a resident of Corpus Christi? What district do you reside in? Topic Agenda Item Number City Council District 2 DCP N/A Comment Council, thank you for delaying the DCP vote and for taking the time to really consider everything and everyone for the new DCP. My hope is that you all listen to residents and prioritize them over industry, who is getting an unfair amount of our water. People are getting tired that we are an afterthought to you all. Please make the right choice and cut off industry's water use and charge them fairly. Thank you Provide an email to receive a copy of your submission. andreapuyo198@gmail.com Tuesday, February 25, 2025 Public Comment & Input Form For City Council Meetings, Board Meetings, & Commission Meetings To submit a service request, ask a question, report a violation, browse city -required permit forms or access services online, click here: Access Online Services To continue submitting a written public comment click Next below. Public Comment & Input Form For City Council Meetings, Board Meetings, & Commission Meetings Date of Meeting Name Address Please select the Board, Committee, or governing body that your comments are directed to: Are you a resident of Corpus Christi? What district do you reside in? Tuesday, February 25, 2025 Mark Muenster 1015 Luxor Drive Corpus Christi, Texas, 78412 City Council Yes District 4 Topic Water Agenda Item Number NA Comment Thank you for postponing the vote on the DCP. Please consider the memo prepared by local grassroots organizations. Residents do not have the water usage to justify increasing their rates, and not applying financial pressure or implementing solutions to curtail heavy industrial use. I saw a local KRIS/3 news Facebook post with more than 300 comments and counting about how their utility rates have been increasing. Please do not prioritize short term financial or "economic" goals over the long term benefit for the working class, the environment/bay, animals/marine life, which all make up the key and important parts of the place we call home. We need a city council that represents the people that vote for them. So many residents are disillusioned and feel they have no say/impact. Please consider these words. Mark Muenster 1 Upload supporting images or documents. aFeb 2025 DCP Memo.pdf Provide an email to receive a copy of mjmuenster728@gmail.com your submission. 2 Demands and Recommendations for a Resident -first Drought Contingency Plan, a memo prepared by grassroots community groups* Each of the groups responsible (For the Greater Good, Texas Campaign for the Environment, and Corpus Christi DSA) for this memo hold firmly the following: 1. Both the current DCP (2018) and the proposed DCP (2025) demonstrate the City's failure to understand or, worse, their denial to the root cause of why we're experiencing such a severe water shortage: overpromising and overselling a finite resource to industrial customers whose pursuit of profit, and therefore of resources, is infinite. 2. It is profoundly disappointing and undemocratic that the City had to be pressured into holding a second listening session for the hundreds of thousands of residents who would be impacted by the DCP while holding private meetings with industry associations and business groups. In doing so, community groups are not given the same opportunity or access to the time of City officials and therefore our interests are underrepresented at best and deliberately suppressed at worst. a. Furthermore, we are displeased with the lack of time given to residents to prepare and attend. In both cases, the listening sessions were announced only four days before they were scheduled. In any instance in which the City is inviting the public to give input on City matters, the event should be published and advertised at least one week in advance. 3. The consideration and adoption of the following would mean progress on behalf of the City in terms of meeting the most immediate needs of residents and meaningfully including our input in the DCP: a. We demand a measurable, quantifiable trigger for Stage 4 or "Water Emergency" stage. We believe it is inappropriate for the City Manager alone to *These considerations were prepared by For the Greater Good, Texas Campaign for the Environment, and Corpus Christi DSA. decide when we are in and out of this stage. The City of Austin, for example, enters Stage 4 when combined lake levels are 30% of capacity (.6 MAF). The next stage is Stage 5/Emergency stage is when there is a disaster —system outage, equipment failure, and/or contamination. i. We strongly recommend that the trigger be determined by a percent of combined water levels, similar to the previous stages. Furthermore, the triggers chosen for the implementation of different stages of a drought contingency plan, such as lake or aquifer levels, often do not take into account the relative severity of climatic conditions— an oversight that can delay meaningful responses to drought far too long. b. We demand that there be a mandatory curtailment of water from the top ten (10) largest water users of at least ten percent (10%) per day that begins in Stage 3. i. In the "Water Emergency" stage, the City Manager is tasked with nothing more than calling the top ten (10) water users. The phone call should be an action that happens in Stage 3 and include the notification that the City will begin enforcing curtailment. It is preposterous and outright dangerous to rely on the benevolence of private corporations to willingly cut back in a way that measurably reduces the burden on our water supply. c. We demand the City be fully transparent about future monitoring plans and the metrics used to determine important thresholds for policy. We maintain that, in order for the City to make the most informed decisions possible, they must be based on the latest and most accurate information available. i. In order to address previous failure of transparency and rebuild trust with residents, we recommend the City create, publish, and distribute, at a minimum, an annual 12-month graph that shows water usage for all customer classes, including customers from the San Patricio Municipal Water District. The graph should be broken into a month -by -month basis for the current year and previous three (3) years. *These considerations were prepared by For the Greater Good, Texas Campaign for the Environment, and Corpus Christi DSA. d. To further address the City's lack of transparency, we demand that the top ten heaviest water customers be required to report their conservation plans both in the City's DCP and the City's Water Conservation Plan (WCP). i. Additionally, we demand the City publish public reports and hold public briefings verifying whether or not these users meet their goals. e. We object to the City's for -profit model utilized by the Water Department, because under this model, the City is projected to lose revenue from less water usage thereby penalizing conservation instead of incentivizing water conservation by all users. The City should counteract this by removing the optional surcharge exemption fee for heavy volume water users and instead implement mandatory, tiered pricing for high volume consumers. f. In Section 16.9 of the DCP, it states pro rata allocation preparations should begin in Stage 2. This means the City should have already started limiting industrial and wholesale customer water use fairly, but have failed to do so even as we are headed toward Stage 4. We are demanding immediate and retroactive enforcement of these pro rata allocations. Used correctly, this code could be monumental in terms of conserving our dwindling water supply. i. If the allocations are not implemented, the water department should be transparent about their reasoning, citing the most accurate information available. In conclusion, these recommendations represent a labor of love that each member of our respective groups have contributed to over the course of at least 7 years and largely unpaid. We watched, attended, and contributed to countless meetings and facilitated numerous conversations with other community members so that we can understand and contribute in good faith to the quality of life for all residents, with a high priority placed on those of us who are socially, politically, and economically marginalized and vulnerable. *These considerations were prepared by For the Greater Good, Texas Campaign for the Environment, and Corpus Christi DSA. Furthermore, we resent that we are perceived and treated as adversaries, instead of partners, by the vast majority of City leadership. We hope that this document demonstrates we are the pro -equity, pro justice, and pro -democracy grassroots community, and not simply the anti -everything crowd. *These considerations were prepared by For the Greater Good, Texas Campaign for the Environment, and Corpus Christi DSA.