* This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting. [CC Briefings 09172024] [00:00:06] GO AHEAD. CALL THE, UH, ORDER. AND FIRST UP IS LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES. YES. THANK YOU EVERYBODY. LISA NORRIS, MANAGING DIRECTOR WITH THE CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE. WE HAVE, UH, TODAY WITH US FOCUSED ADVOCACY WITH BRANDON AL, I HAD TO PRONOUNCE THE NAME CORRECTLY. UM, AND HE, HE WILL BE PROVIDING JUST A DISCUSSION TODAY ON OUR STATE LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES. UM, AND I WILL LET HIM HAVE AT IT. I DIDN'T. I DIDN'T. NO PROBLEM. MAYOR. MEMBERS OF COUNCIL AND MR. COMMANDER. DEAR BRANDON, IAN, YOUR FOCUS, ADVOCACY, UH, BY WAY OF INTRODUCTION, UH, I GENERALLY GET THE PLEASURE OF COMING AND SPEAKING WITH, WITH YOU, UH, PRIMARILY BECAUSE I INSIST ON DOING IT BECAUSE I, I ATTEND PRAIRIE, I METROPLEX IS I BORN RACE HERE, UH, BUT HAVE, UH, A TEAM OF TALENT THAT I'M PROUD TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH. KIRK SITZ, UH, FORMER LEGISLATORS, UH, SNAPPER CAR, FORMER GENERAL COUNSEL FOR THE TEXAS MUNICIPAL MEETING, AND HER, UH, FORMER CHIEF OF STAFF BOARD REFERENCING LYON, ALL OF US AT SHORE, UH, DISPOSAL, AND ALL OF US ADVOCATING ON BEHALF OF THE CITY. WE HAVE A LONG HISTORY, THE CITY. UH, WE'VE HAD THE PLEASURE OF WORKING WITH YOU SINCE 2011 UNDER THESE FOLKS ADVOCACY BANNER. WE ACTUALLY HAD A RELATIONSHIP PRIOR TO THAT SNAPPER AND I DID AT ANOTHER FIRM. SO WE, WE HAD A, A LONG RUN OF WORKING WITH YOU AND REGARDS TO, I THINK, BOTH YOUR BENEFIT AND OUR BENEFIT IN TERMS OF FAMILIARITY AND REALLY UNDERSTANDING PRIORITIES OF THE CITY AND THE ISSUES, UH, THAT YOU FACE. WE'VE HAD A LOT OF SUCCESSES OVER THE YEARS. UH, GOING BACK JUST TO 2009 WHEN WE FIRST PASSED THE CALLED QUALIFIED HOTEL PROGRAM, WHICH HELPED FINANCE THE EPIC HOTEL PROJECT, UH, VERY RECENTLY, UM, MEGAN AND I, UH, WORKED TO SUBMIT THE FINAL APPLICATION FOR, UH, THE ACTUAL TAX REBATE WHEN I CALLED THE REAL MONEY, UH, TO THE COMPTROLLER'S OFFICE. I SPOKE WITH HIM ON FRIDAY, UH, AND, AND THEY SAID THEY'RE ALREADY AT WORK ON THAT APPLICATION, BY THE WAY. UH, SO HOPEFULLY WE'LL BE GETTING POSITIVE NEWS ABOUT THAT. SO THAT'S A REAL HALLMARK ACHIEVEMENT FOR US THAT SHOWS HOW LONG THESE PROJECTS TAKE AND, AND HOW LONG ALL THIS GOES. A NUMBER OF OTHER ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THE 2015, THE NUMBER SIX THERE IN THE MIDDLE OF THAT SLIDE, WE WORKED ON THAT FOR MULTIPLE SESSIONS TO GIVE YOU THE ABILITY TO PUT A LONGER AUTHORIZATION PERIOD ON THE BALLOT YOU STREET THE SALES TAX. UM, WE HAD A GROUNDWATER CONSERVATION DISTRICT ACCOMPLISHMENT. THAT WAS ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF, UH, MULTIPLE YEARS IN THE MAKING. I APOLOGIZE. MY PHONE IS RINGING. UM, SO, UH, AND THEN LAST IN 2021, MY LAST SESSION, WE HAD A, A, AN OPEN CARRY BILL IN 2023, WE HAD TWO REAL LANDMARK PIECES OF LEGISLATION, UH, THANKS TO SENATOR WEST AND REPRESENTATIVE GONZALEZ, UH, THAT AUTHORIZED, UH, THE MAJOR LEAGUE CRICKET AND, UH, T 20, UH, WORLD CUP FOR, UH, WHAT IS CALLED THE EVENT TRUST FUND AND THE MAJOR EVENT TRUST FUND. UH, AND, AND, UH, CHAIRMAN BIRDWELL, UH, UH, A BIG ROLE IN THAT AS WELL SINCE THE LEGISLATION WENT THROUGH THIS COMMITTEE. AND THEN HOUSE BILL, UH, SEVEN 18, UH, WHICH WAS THE, THE TEMPORARY, UH, TAGS BILL AND, UH, AND KNOW HAD A VERY SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP, UH, TO GRAND PRAIRIE IN PARTICULAR. SO JUST TO HIGHLIGHT A FEW OF THE CHANGES, I'VE ALREADY REFERENCED A FEW OF YOUR LEGISLATORS BY WAY OF BACKGROUND. IT'S VERY IMPORTANT FOR Y'ALL TO KNOW THIS. I KNOW YOU ALREADY DO, BUT I, I'LL, I WANT TO, I WANT TO SPEND JUST A SECOND REMINDING YOU, UH, THAT YOU HAVE A VERY UNIQUE SITUATION HERE IN TERMS OF YOUR LEGISLATIVE RELATIONSHIPS AND THAT, UH, YOUR CITY HAS 11 LEGISLATORS, UH, TECHNICALLY REPRESENTING IT, UH, WHICH IS VERY, VERY UNIQUE, UH, FOR A CITY THIS SIZE. AND I THINK OF GREAT BENEFIT IN A LOT OF WAYS, AND I'VE SAID THAT PUBLICLY TO YOU BEFORE, AND I'LL CONTINUE TO SAY IT, UH, BUT YOU KNOW, IN THE FACT YOU STRADDLE TART IN DALLAS AND THEN GO DOWN INTO ELLIS AS WELL. UH, YOU HAVE A, A LOT OF, OF [00:05:01] LEGISLATORS, OF COURSE, REPRESENTATIVE GONZALEZ, REPRESENTATIVE CHRIS TURNER BEING YOUR PRIMARY HOUSE MEMBERS AND SENATOR WEST, UH, BEING THE PRIMARY SENATOR, UH, IN, UH, ALL, ALL OF THESE MEMBERS, WHETHER IT'S SENATOR JOHN, SENATOR BURWELL, REPRESENTATIVE YON DAVIS, UH, AND, AND SOLOMON BERG. UH, ALL OF 'EM I KNOW TAKE A PARTICULAR AMOUNT OF PRIDE. WE HAVE A VERY STRONG RELATIONSHIP AS MUCH AS WHEN IT'S A VERY SENIOR DELEGATION AS WELL. UH, AND SO YOU, YOU HAVE A LOT OF RELATIONSHIPS TO KEEP UP WITH AND, AND, UH, DEPENDING ON THE, THE ISSUE, UM, YOU KNOW, ESPECIALLY IF IT'S WHAT I CALL A GEOGRAPHIC ISSUE. AND A LOT OF ISSUES ARE RIGHT, YOU KNOW, IF IT'S A FACILITY BEING BUILT OR A MUD OR DEVELOPMENT OR WHATEVER, IT'S IN A PARTICULAR PART OF TOWN, YOU'RE GONNA BE DEALING WITH A DIFFERENT LEGISLATORS IN A LOT OF THESE CASES, RIGHT? UH, SO CONTINUING TO KEEP THOSE RELATIONSHIPS UP ON YOUR, Y'ALL KEEPING THOSE RELATIONSHIPS UP, AND WE, I MEAN, FEEL SAD TO SEE KEEPING THOSE RELATIONSHIPS UP, ALL VERY TURNING OUTTA THE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS. THIS IS A, A TABLE THAT I FOND OF, OF SHOWING ME YEAR AFTER YEAR, CERTAINLY SHOWING YOU BEFORE. THIS IS SORT OF THE LEGISLATIVE VOLUME, IF YOU WILL, LABELED BILL STATISTICS. BUT IT'S PROBABLY JUST AS EXACTLY LABELED LEGISLATIVE VOLUME THAT YOU SEE IN THE FILED COLUMN. UH, HOW THINGS HAVE GRADUALLY INCREASED OVER TIME. AND THEN IN THIS MOST RECENT SESSION IN 2023, A VERY DRAMATIC SPIKE UP TO AN UNPRECEDENTED LEVEL THAT WAS, UH, THAT HAD A VERY REAL IMPACT ON THE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS. I AM CANDID IN SAYING PUBLICLY AND PRIVATELY, THE SYSTEM IS NOT DESIGNED FOR 300 BILLS TO FILE. IT'S TOO MUCH IN 103 DAY SESSION WHERE WE DON'T WORK ALL 40 DAYS TO STICK WITH. UH, SO IT, IT, THAT, THAT'S JUST TOO MANY BILLS. UH, YOU SEE THAT PASSAGE RATE GOING DOWN OVER TIME, AND IT USED TO BE KIND OF IN THE HIGH TWENTIES, SORT OF SETTLED INTO THE LOW TWENTIES, AND THEN GO SUB 20%, YOU KNOW, STARTING IN 2017 AND SINKING DOWN TO THIS 15% LEVEL. ALL OF THAT SAY IT'S HARD TO PASS THE BILL LEGISLATURE ALWAYS HAS BEEN, YOU KNOW, IT'S NEVER BEEN A HIGH PASSAGE RATE. THAT'S BY DESIGN. IT IS A LIMITED GOVERNMENT SYSTEM, FOR SURE. UH, BUT WE, WE, WE SEE IT HARDER AND HARDER OVER TIME TO GET A BILL PASSED. SO, LAST SESSIONS TO, UH, YOU KNOW, SUCCESSES WITH THE TEMPORARY TAG BILL AND THE ENT TRUST FUND BILL FOR THE CRICKET PROGRAM. YOU KNOW, THE, THAT, THAT'S, THAT'S GOOD NEWS TO TO SAY THAT YOU, YOU GOT TWO BILLS THROUGH THE SYSTEM, A A LITTLE MORE ON THAT, BUT I SPEND A LOT, A LOT MORE TIME THAT. BUT WE JUST TALKED THROUGH ALL OF THAT FOR THAT 15% PASSAGE RATE, YOU KNOW, GOING DOWN AS YOU SEE, UH, THAT, THAT, I'M GONNA BACK UP HERE A SECOND. THAT SECOND BULLET 0.88, 1,800 PLUS TRACKED BILLS FOR CITIES. THAT'S 23% OF ALL OF THIS FILE. I SAID THIS TO YOU BEFORE, AND I'LL CONTINUE TO SAY IT. I SAY TO OUR MUNICIPAL CLIENTS, NOBODY, BUT NOBODY HAS MORE ISSUES IN NEGOTIATION IN CITIES CLOSE SECOND PLACE. NOBODY IS MORE IMPACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE DOING THIS. IT'S NOT A CLOSE SECOND PLACE. SO YOU ARE THE MOST IMPACTED ORGANIZATION, PUBLIC OR PRIVATE THAN ANYBODY UNDER THE SENATE. SO YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE STATE IS, UH, TREMENDOUS FOCUS. TURNING TO THE CALENDAR, UM, SEPTEMBER 17, GO THE BRIEFING TODAY, 15TH OF OCTOBER, RESOLUTION BROUGHT TO YOU FOR ANOTHER BRIEFING, FOLLOWING UP WITH A NOVEMBER 5TH APPROVAL. UH, AFTER THAT APPROVAL, WE'LL START TO CREATE, UH, ONE PAGE, THE ANCILLARY PRODUCT THAT NEEDS TO GO WITH THAT AGENDA IN TERMS OF CIRCULATING TO THE OBLIGATION. ON THE 5TH OF NOVEMBER, WHICH IS NOT LISTED HERE, UH, [00:10:01] WE HAVE THE GENERAL ELECTION, AND THAT'S OBVIOUSLY ON TUESDAY, THE FOLLOWING MONDAY, THAT 11TH, THE NOVEMBER 11TH DATE. THAT IS WHEN THEY ACTUALLY START FILING FOR THIS. UH, SO THAT'S, IN MY MIND, MY FIRM'S MIND ALWAYS HAS BEEN. THAT'S REALLY THE BEGINNING OF SESSION, BECAUSE AT THAT POINT, WE'VE GOT WHAT WE CALL A REAL LIVE LEGISLATION FILE. THEY CAN'T ACT ON THAT LEGISLATION UNTIL THE SESSION CONVENES. AND, UH, THIS YEAR, THAT DATE IS JANUARY 14TH, WHICH IS THE LATEST, THE SESSION, THE LEGISLATURE CONVENES ON THE SECOND TUESDAY OF AUDIT YEARS. THIS THE SECOND, I THINK, WHICH MEANS THAT WE WILL WRAP UP SESSION A LITTLE BIT LATER THAN NORMAL TOO. NORMALLY WE ARE, WE'RE RIGHT AROUND MEMORIAL DAY AT THE END OF MAY. THIS TIME WE'RE EXTEND A FEW DAYS INTO SESSION, ALWAYS THE CHANCE SPECIAL SESSIONS. SO WITH ALL OF THAT AS THE BACKDROP AND KIND OF THE HIGH LEVEL OVERVIEW, UH, THE STAFF, UH, ITEMS OF INTEREST ISSUES THAT WE'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT, UH, ARE ON THE SLIDE HERE IN TRYING BE 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 DIFFERENT ITEMS, UH, THAT, UH, RANGE FROM, I THINK THINGS THAT ARE VERY SPECIFIC TO YOUR CITY, UH, ALL THE WAY TO THE OTHER EXTREME OF, OF THINGS THAT ARE OF MUCH STATEWIDE INTEREST IN DISCUSSION ALREADY. THAT FIRST ITEM IS AN EXAMPLE OF THE LATTER. THIS, UH, INCREASED LOCAL CONTROL OVER HOUSING FINANCE CORPORATIONS. HFCS, IS, IS ALL SHORT. UM, THIS IS A STATEWIDE ISSUE. CITY OF ELI, CITY OF IRVING HAVE PARTICULAR INTEREST IN THIS RIGHT NOW, ENGAGED WITHIN, AS ARE NUMBER OF CITIES ACROSS THE STATE THAT ARE VERY CONCERNED ABOUT THIS LITTLE LEGISLATIVE ANIMAL, UH, CALLED THE HOUSING FINANCE CORPORATION THAT CAN, UH, IS A FOREIGN ENTITY, UH, COME INTO YOUR CITY, UH, WITHOUT YOUR APPROVAL, TAKE APARTMENTS OFF THE TAX UNDER THE NAME. SO WE'RE GONNA TRY TO FIX THAT THIS SESSION, UH, AND STAFF FEELS THAT IT'S APPROPRIATE FOR COUNCIL TO TAKE A POSITION ON THAT. UH, SAME THING ON THE ETJ ISSUE HEARING ON THIS. AS YOU KNOW, UM, YOUR CITY IS SOMEWHAT AT THE FOREFRONT OF THAT ETJ ISSUE IN TERMS OF LEADING THE LAWSUIT AGAINST LAST SESSION'S LEGISLATION. UH, THERE'S CERTAINLY GOING TO BE MORE LEGISLATION ON THIS ISSUE, UH, WHAT THAT LEGISLATION IS REMAINS TO BE SEEN. UH, THERE WAS A HEARING TWO WEEKS AGO, I BELIEVE NOW, UH, ABOUT IT. UM, AND I THINK THERE'S A, A CONSIDERABLE AMOUNT OF CONFUSION AT THE END THE LEGISLATURE ABOUT WHAT TO DO ABOUT THIS. UH, A EXAMPLE OF A REALLY, UM, I THINK GRAND PRAIRIE LED, YOU KNOW, SORT OF HYPER-LOCAL ISSUE IS THIS, THIS NEXT ITEM ABOUT, UH, THE RULES AND LAWS REGARDING WELFARE CHECKS AROUND POWER OUTAGES. UH, YOUR STAFF HAS BEEN VERY THOUGHTFUL AND ELOQUENT ABOUT THE SITUATIONS THEY'VE EXPERIENCED IN SOME OF THE MORE RECENT EXTREME WEATHER EVENTS AND HOW THIS LAW, UH, ISN'T WORKING AS WELL AS IT COULD OR SHOULD. UH, MOVING ON TO THE NEXT ITEM BETWEEN HOME REGULATIONS. THIS IS SOMETHING THAT REPRESENTATIVE CHRIS TURNER IN PARTICULAR IS ALREADY, UM, YOU KNOW, CIRCLING THE WAGONS ON, DIGGING INTO, IF YOU WILL. UH, SO I THINK WE'LL BE, UM, FAIR AMOUNT OF DISCUSSION IN THE LEGISLATURE ABOUT THIS, THAT THE CITY WOULD WANNA PAY ATTENTION TO. UM, AND THEN THE DIGITAL DISPLAY OF PUBLIC NOTICES IS A BILL THAT WE ACTUALLY TRIED TO ADVANCE LAST SESSION. DIDN'T GET IT OVER THE GOAL LINE, UM, FROM THE WAY IT'S BEING STYLED ON THIS SLIDE, THIS WOULD BE A, A, A, LET'S NOT GO TRY TO GET IT PASSED. LET'S JUST SUPPORT SOMETHING. IF IT'S OUT THERE. I'LL, I'LL ADD AS MUCH FOR STAFF HERE AS I WILL FOR, UH, COUNSEL THAT ON [00:15:01] THE WEDNESDAY OR THURSDAY OF LAST WEEK, HE WOULD'VE SEEN IT. IN OUR MOST RECENT EMAIL UPDATE TO YOU, THE GOVERNOR ISSUED SOME ADDITIONAL INTERIM STUDIES, AND ONE OF THOSE IS RELATED TO OPEN MEETINGS AND A LITTLE BIT OF A SURPRISE. I'LL, I'LL, IT'S OUT OF THE BLUE, UH, SO THAT COULD BE GOOD, COULD BE BAD, BUT THERE THAT IT MIGHT CREATE SOME ROOM FOR CONVERSATION ON THIS TOPIC. SORRY TO DIGRESS INTO THE WEEDS, BUT I WANTED TO SHARE THAT WITH YOU. UH, AND THEN LASTLY, UM, CONTROL OVER SPECIAL DISTRICTS, UH, YOU KNOW, BUDS AND THINGS OF THAT NATURE BEING CREATED EITHER IN YOUR CITY OR IN THE TJA AND MAKING SURE THAT THE CITY HAS AN ADEQUATE AMOUNT OF CONTROL OR CREATION. SO THOSE ARE THE ISSUES THAT STAFF HAS BROUGHT TO THE FOREFRONT. UM, THE BEGINNING OF MY PRESENTATION, I'LL GO BACK, MAYOR, HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS OR TALK ABOUT ANYTHING THAT WE DIDN'T WANT. ANYBODY HAVE ANY COMMENTS? QUESTIONS? QUESTIONS? THE LAST BULLET POINT ABOUT INCREASING THE CITY'S QUALITY CONTROL WITH, UH, WITHIN OUR SPECIAL DISTRICTS LIKE MUDS AND THE PIS, WHAT EXACTLY DO YOU MEAN BY QUALITY CONTROL? WELL, I THINK THAT IT'S A, IT'S TWO THINGS. IT IS ONE, BOTH THE, UM, ACTUAL AUTHORITY TO ACT UNILATERALLY OR ALMOST UNILATERALLY TO CREATE A DISTRICT WITHOUT THE CITY WEIGHING IT, ALMOST SORT OF RELATED TO THE FIRST ISSUE OF THE HOUSING FINANCE CORPORATIONS AND SOMEBODY JUST COMING IN, BEING ABLE TO SAY, THE CITY, I CAN CREATE THIS DISTRICT WITHOUT YOUR APPROVAL OR, OR COME REAL CLOSE TO IT. AND SECONDLY, UM, REGARDLESS OF THEIR UNILATERAL ABILITY OR NOT UNILATERAL ABILITY, WHAT IS THE, UM, THE QUALITY OF THE PRODUCT THAT THEY'RE PROPOSING TO DELIVER? AND DOES IT MEET THE CITY'S STANDARDS? DOES THE CITY HAVE SOME ABILITY TO INFLUENCE THE TYPE OF PRODUCT THAT'S BEING PROPOSED WITHIN THAT DISTRICT? IS THIS THE TYPE OF HOUSING YOU WANT? IS THIS THE KIND OF MIXED USE IS YOUR MEETS THE CITY'S STRATEGY IN THAT PARTICULAR, THANK YOU. YES. THANKS. WE GET MORE. OKAY. COUNCIL MEMBER SHOTWELL, I, I WAS ON THE COUNCIL BACK WHEN WE FIRST RETIRED DUTY GUYS. UH, THE THINGS THAT WE'RE GOING TO, THAT Y'ALL WILL ALWAYS LOOK OUT FOR OPPOSING, WOULD THIS BE ANYTHING THAT IS DETRIMENTAL TO WHAT? GREAT QUESTION. I REMEMBER THERE USED TO BE A SUPPORT LIST AND AN OPPOSE LIST. YES. GREAT, GREAT QUESTION. AND YES, APOLOGIES IF THIS IS, IS, IS MISLEADING IN THAT REGARD. THAT RESOLUTION WILL CONTAIN THE SORT OF TRADITIONAL CITY OPPOSES, YOU KNOW, THINGS THAT ARE BAD FOR SUIT, RIGHT? WE SUPPORT ALL ALL THINGS GOOD, AND WE OPPOSE ALL THINGS BAD, YOU . SO YES, SIR, THAT WILL BE FOR, SO MAYOR AND COUNSEL, THESE ARE THE ITEMS THAT STAFF AND, AND JUST KIND OF WORKING THROUGH OPERATIONS. THESE ARE SOME ITEMS THAT STAFF FELT, UM, MIGHT BE OF INTEREST TO YOU, BUT ULTIMATELY THIS IS YOUR RESOLUTION FOR SUPPORT OR OPPOSITION. SO WE WANTED TO BRING THIS TO YOU TO GET FEEDBACK. THIS ITEM IS, IF YOU LIKE THIS ITEM, IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO ADD OR CHANGE ANYTHING. SO, UM, LET US KNOW IF THERE'S ANYTHING THAT YOU WOULD LIKE FOR US TO CHANGE AND BACK TO HIS CHART. WHEN DOES IT COME BACK TO US FOR APPROVAL? NEXT MEETING. YES. THANK YOU. COUNCIL MEMBER LOPEZ. YEAH, BRANDON, THANK YOU FOR THE INFORMATION. BUT ON THAT LIST, DO YOU SEE ANYTHING WITH SHORT TERM RENTALS? I MEAN, LIKE THAT POPPING UP OR, I, I THINK THERE'S UNQUESTIONABLY GONNA BE A SHORT TERM RENTAL BILL, UM, TO, IT'S ALMOST UNQUESTIONABLE THAT IT WILL GET SOME REAL LEGISLATIVE TRACTION. PERHAPS IT WON'T OR ALL REASONS. NO MOVE. SOMETHING BIGGER GETS IN THE WAY. WE'LL HAVE SHORT TERM RENTALS HAS, HAS BEEN, UM, AN ITEM OF PRETTY SERIOUS TODAY. IT'S WAXED AND WAN TO HAVE A FEW YEARS WHERE IT WAS REALLY PUSHED, ALMOST A FEW YEARS [00:20:01] NOW THAT PEOPLE TIE THE STEM. SO YES, SHORT TERM RENTALS WILL CERTAINLY BE THE ITEM. AND I, AND I THINK AGAIN, ACTUALLY A PRIOR QUESTION, WE, WE'LL SORT OF COVER THAT IN THE KO'S. LEMME SAY ONE OTHER THING, AND THIS BUILDS ON WHAT MEGAN JUST SAID TO YOU. IT'S YOUR AGENDA AT THE END OF THE DAY COUNT. AND I ENCOURAGE ALL OF OUR CLIENTS TO, TO TAKE UP, YOU KNOW, A HEALTHY UNDERSTANDING AND APPROACH THAT YOUR AGENDA IS A LIVING GRIEVING DOCUMENT. IT'S NOT WRITTEN IN STONE FOR EVERY, YOU DON'T ADOPT IT AND IT'S BOTH YOU, YOU COULD KEEP ADDING POSITIONS AND ADDING ISSUES TO YOUR LEGISL AGENDA. AND WE DON'T KNOW EVERYTHING THAT THE LEGISLATURE'S GONNA DO, RIGHT? WE'RE DOING OUR BEST TO CRYSTAL BALL AND PREDICT HERE, YOU THINK IS, ARE LIKELY TO COME UP. HISTORY TELLS US THESE KINDS OF ISSUES COME UP TRADITIONALLY, BUT FOR SURE THE LEGISLATURE WILL KICK SOMETHING AT US THAT NO ONE IS ANTICIPATING. AND, YOU KNOW, WE'LL HAVE TO COME BACK TO COUNCIL STAFF WILL HAVE TO COME BACK TO COUNCIL UPON THAT. I'LL PROBABLY BE TIED UP AND ALSO MAKE IT HERE BEFORE I CAN. WE'LL SEE. BUT THERE WILL BE ADDITIONAL DISCUSSION AROUND THIS PUSH OF, HERE, HERE'S A NEW ITEM. WHAT'S THE COUNCIL'S POSITION? ANYBODY ELSE? THANK YOU, BRENDA. YES, SIR. THANK Y'ALL. PRAIRIE LAKES. GOOD AFTERNOON, MAYOR CITY COUNCIL, RAY SERTA, ARTS, ARTS AND RECREATION DIRECTOR. THANK YOU. TODAY WE'LL BE TALKING ABOUT THE PRAIRIE LIFE FUND SUMMARY REVIEW. IN THIS PRESENTATION, YOU WILL SEE THE FUND OVERVIEW AS WELL AS SOME OF THE HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE PREVIOUS YEAR. AT THIS TIME, I'D LIKE TO INTRODUCE KELLY EDMAN AND THE EMILY LENNAR, WHO COORDINATE THE EVENT. AND STEVEN BOWLES OUR FISCAL MANAGER, WHO WILL GO OVER THE DASHBOARD IN OUR FUND SUMMARY. AS YOU KNOW, PRAIRIE LIGHTS IS ONE OF THE TOP HOLIDAY EVENTS IN NORTH TEXAS AND BEYOND. AS WE'RE GOING INTO OUR 19TH YEAR AND PREPARING FOR OUR 20TH ANNIVERSARY IN CALENDAR YEAR 2025, WE'RE PLEASED TO SHARE THAT THE PRAIRIE LIGHTS FUND IS HEALTHY AND CONTINUES TO SUPPORT THIS EVENT, WHICH DRAWS HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF GUESTS EACH YEAR. OKAY, SOME OF OUR, UH, PRAIRIE PRAIRIE LIGHTS, UH, FUND OVERVIEW, UH, THE REVENUE SOURCE IS A, IT IS USER FEES. UH, OUR PURPOSE IS TO PROVIDE AND SET UP OPERATIONS OF THE HOLIDAY LIGHT PARK LOCATED AT LYNN CREEK PARK ON JOE POOL LAKE. THE EVENT IS A MAJOR TRACTION FOR GRAND PRAIRIE RESIDENCE, DRAWING VISITORS FROM THE ENTIRE METROPLEX AND BEYOND. FOR A FAMILY FRIENDLY HOLIDAY DAY EXPERIENCE. THE FUND SUPPORTS THE FOLLOWING PERSONNEL, 30 SEASONAL EMPLOYEES, AND IT IS AN ENTERPRISE FUND. SOME OF THE HIGHLIGHTS FOR THIS YEAR, WE EXCEEDED $1.86 MILLION. WE ATTRACTED OVER 30,000 VEHICLES AND 150 GUESTS TO THE CITY OF GRAND PRAIRIE IN FISCAL YEAR 2324. WE HAD A 96% CUSTOMER SATISFACTION RATE BASED ON OUR ONSITE SURVEYS. AND THEN THIS YEAR, PER OUR CITY COUNCIL REQUEST, WE SUCCESSFULLY IMPLEMENTED OUR GRAND GRAND PRAIRIE RESIDENT COUPON, WHICH WE'LL BE PUTTING INTO THE GRAND PRAIRIE INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT, WHICH IS OVER 20,000, UH, OF THESE COUPONS. IT'S GONNA BE IN OUR PIPELINE, OUR REC CENTER AND LIBRARIES. AND OF COURSE, OUR CITY WEBSITES. ALSO BE LOOKING AT MANSFIELD SCHOOL DISTRICT. WE HAD 3.9 MEDIA MEDIA IMPRESSIONS AND COVERED IN 90 DIFFERENT PIECES ACROSS TELEVISION, RADIO, ONLINE ARTICLES, AND SOCIAL MEDIA. SOME OF OUR NEW INTERACTIONS AND ENHANCEMENTS, UH, EXPERIENCES COMING IN 2024, WE'RE LOOKING AT RELOCATING AND EXPANDING OUR EXISTING TUNNEL. AND IN ITS NEW LOCATION, AT A START OF THE A START OF THE ART TUNNEL EXPERIENCE, WE'RE GONNA BE DOING A SYNCHRONIZED LAND SET TO MUSIC. AND WE'RE ALSO GONNA HAVE A 3D ELEMENT AND A NEW WALKTHROUGH, WHICH, UH, THERE'LL BE LIKE SOME SNOWFLAKES THAT'LL COME BE COMING DOWN. IT LOOKS [00:25:01] LIKE IT'S GONNA BE A GREAT EXPERIENCE ONCE YOU GO THROUGH THERE. AND NOW I'M GONNA TURN IT OVER TO STEVEN BOWLES, OUR FISCAL MANAGER, WHO WILL BE GOING OVER OUR DASHBOARD AND OUR, UH, FUND SUMMARY. STEVEN, THANK YOU. RIGHT. UH, YOU CAN SEE ON THE SCREEN A LITTLE SCREENSHOT OR SNAPSHOT OF, UH, HOW THE GATE DID AT PRAIRIE LIGHTS THIS PAST SEASON. UM, IT WAS, AS YOU CAN SEE, A VERY GOOD SEASON, REVENUE WISE. UH, WE HIT OVER 1.65 MILLION JUST IN GATE REVENUE. NOW, OF COURSE, THAT'S THE PRIMARY DRIVER OF REVENUES FOR THE EVENT. UH, THE BUDGETED REVENUE AMOUNT WAS, UM, 1.52. SO IT DID OVER $130,000 HIGHER IN REVENUE THAN WE HAD EXPECTED TO. UM, IT WAS A VERY GOOD SEASON OVERALL. WE DID THAT WHILE, UM, BEING ABLE TO HAVE A YEAR WHERE WE DIDN'T HAVE, UH, SOME OF THE CROWD CONTROL ISSUES THAT WE HAD HAD IN THE PAST, OR AT LEAST TO AS GREAT A VOLUME. UM, THEN IF, UH, IF YOU TAKE A LOOK THERE IN FRONT OF YOU, YOU SHOULD HAVE PAGE 92 FROM THE, UH, PROPOSED BUDGET BOOK. UM, THAT'S GONNA BE THE FUN SUMMARY FOR PRAIRIE LIGHTS. I'LL DRAW YOUR ATTENTION TO THE THIRD COLUMN, WHICH IS THE 23 AND 24 PROJECTIONS. UH, YOU'LL SEE THAT WE STARTED OUT THE YEAR WITH OVER $2.4 MILLION IN THE FUND. UM, I'LL REMIND YOU JUST LIKE THE LATE PARTS THAT WE DID LAST TIME, BECAUSE THIS EVENT TAKES PLACE ON PROPERTY THAT WE LEASE FROM THE CORPS OF ENGINEERS. OUR GUARD AGREEMENT WITH CORE OF ENGINEERS IS THAT REVENUES TAKEN IN, IN, IN THIS FUND HAVE TO BE PUT BACK INTO, UM, THE FACILITY. MEANING THAT WE CAN'T TAKE THIS MONEY AND THIS FUND AND GO BUILD A PARK SOMEWHERE ELSE IN THE CITY. WE'VE GOTTA RETURN TO IT. SO, UH, THIS YEAR, LIKE I SAID, WE HAD A REALLY GOOD YEAR. WE HAVE OVER 1.87 IN, UH, IN REVENUES, UH, AS, UH, ABOVE THE 1.7 THAT WE HAD ORIGINALLY PROPOSED IN BUDGET. UH, WE DID THAT WHILE KEEPING EXPENSES RELATIVELY IN, IN LINE RIGHT THERE AT THE 1.3. UM, MEANING THAT AT THE END OF OUR OPERATION WE WERE SITTING ON ABOUT $500,000 TO THE BLACK, A LITTLE OVER $500,000 TO BLACK. UM, HOWEVER, AS WE GEAR UP AND RAMP UP TOWARDS OUR 20TH ANNIVERSARY, WHICH WILL BE IN 2025, WE WANTED TO START ADDING SOME NEW ADDITIONS, UM, WHICH LIKE SOME OF THE THINGS THAT RAY WAS JUST TELLING YOU ABOUT THE NEW TUNNEL AND ALL THAT. SO, UH, WE DECIDED TO SPEND A LITTLE BIT MORE ON CAP CAPITAL OUTLAY TO PURCHASE THAT NEW EQUIPMENT. THAT WAS WITH COUNCIL'S APPROVAL OVER SOME OF THOSE THINGS THAT WE'RE, WE'RE PURCHASING. AND WE MAY DO THAT AGAIN AS WE GEAR UP TOWARDS THE 20TH. SO, UM, AT THE END OF THE YEAR, WE'RE LOOKING AT DRAWING DOWN OUR FUND BALANCE BY HOW $110,000 IN ORDER TO PUT THOSE IMPROVEMENTS INTO THE PARK. AND WE'LL BE STARTING OUT, UH, THIS UPCOMING FISCAL YEAR WILL HEALTHY $2.3 MILLION IN THE FUND. IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ON THE FUND SUMMARY COUNCIL, SO MEMBER ADAMS, SO YOU'RE SAYING THAT YOU'RE ONLY GONNA PUT IN $110,000, UM, AND CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS IDEAS? NO, WE'RE GOING TO, WE'RE GONNA PUT $650,000 IN CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS. UM, BUT WE'RE, IT'S ONLY GONNA DRAW THE FUND DOWN BY 110,000. OKAY. SO AT THE END OF THE DAY, YOU'LL HAVE THE 2.3 MILLION, BUT WE START THIS YEAR BEFORE WE SOLD ANY TICKETS TO THE EVENT OR HAVE ANY EXPENSES FOR THE EVENT. $2.3 MILLION SITTING IN THE PRAIRIE LIGHT SPOT. OKAY. SO HOW DOES THAT WORK? DOES IT JUST SIT IN A ZERO INTEREST BEARING ACCOUNT OR IS IT INVESTED IN SOME WAY SO THAT THE FUNDS CAN BE GROWING INSTEAD OF JUST SITTING HAVING $2.3 MILLION SITTING THERE? ARE THEY INTENTIONALLY ENCUMBERED? I MEAN, WHAT IS THE FINANCIAL PLAN? I ANSWER THAT OTHER THAN JUST LETTING $2.3 MILLION SIT. SO WHAT HAPPENS IS WE PULL, WE, WE ACTUALLY DO POOL INVESTMENTS. SO WE PULL ALL OF OUR FUNDS TOGETHER AND WE INVEST THEM IN DIFFERENT, YOU KNOW, DIFFERENT TYPES OF SECURITIES DEPENDING ON WHAT NEEDS TO BE LIQUID AND WHAT'S NOT. MM-HMM . SO, SO WE DO COLLECT INTEREST AT THE END OF THE YEAR. WE ALLOCATE ALL THE INTEREST THAT IS APPLICABLE TO THAT FUND. SO IT'S KIND OF A SWEEP ACCOUNT? CORRECT. YOU DON'T HAVE THAT ACTUALLY SITTING IN A SEPARATE BANK ACCOUNT DOING NOTHING. THAT'S RIGHT. YOUR EXCESS FUNDS ARE SWEPT AND YOU JUST KEEP, AND THEN WE ALLOCATE THE INTEREST. OKAY. SO SINCE THIS, UM, ACCOUNT HAS TO STAY NEUTRAL ONLY TO THE CITY PARKS, WHERE IS THAT INTEREST SHOWN ON THE FINANCIAL REPORT? THE INTEREST EARNED, THAT'S GONNA BE, UM, THAT'S GONNA BE A REVENUE SOURCE AND THAT'S UNDER MISCELLANEOUS REVENUE. IT'S UNDER. OKAY. SO THAT'S, THAT'S WHAT THE MISCELLANEOUS REVENUE, THAT'S PART OF ONE OF UHHUH PART OF IT. MM-HMM . OKAY. THAT'S WHAT I, THANK YOU. MM-HMM. ANYBODY ELSE? YES, DEPUTY MAYOR. YEAH. THIS ISN'T A QUESTION, UH, STEVEN, BUT GREAT JOB TO THE WHOLE TEAM ON PRAIRIE LIGHTS. RAY, I HAD A QUESTION. I KNOW YOU SAID THAT YOU'RE GONNA LOOK TO GET IN WITH SOME OF THE MASTER ISD SCHOOLS THAT ARE IN THE GRAND PRAIRIE. IS IT ALSO POSSIBLE TO GET IN TOUCH WITH SOME OF THE ARLINGTON ISD SCHOOLS? UH, I THINK WE HAVE LIKE FOUR SCHOOLS WITHIN [00:30:01] THE CITY LIMITS. YES, SIR. ABSOLUTELY. WE'LL, WE'LL REACH OUT TO THOSE SCHOOLS. THANK YOU MIDIAN. YEAH, MIDIAN. LET'S JUST LET 'EM ALL COME PRETTY SOON. WE'LL BE IN VENUS SCHOOLS. MAYBE I HAVE A QUESTION FOR RAY COUNCIL. UM, YOU HAD MENTIONED THAT YOU'RE GONNA HAVE A WALKTHROUGH EXPERIENCE WITH THE SNOWFLAKES FALLING. MM-HMM . ALTHOUGH SNOWFLAKES GONNA BE RECYCLED BACK THEN. . THAT THOSE WILL NOT BE RECYCLED. SNOWFLAKES . OKAY. THEY'RE GONNA BE REAL SNOWFLAKES. NO, SIR KELLY, THESE ARE, THESE ARE LIGHT THREAD ONLY FROM THREE SNOWBALL. UNDERSTAND. SO IT WON'T BE WET, IT WON'T BE PILED UP. IT'S AN ILLUSION, A EXPERIENCE. I KNOW. YOU'LL IT. SO WHAT YEAR ARE WE CELEBRATING? THIS IS 19. 19. UH, IN THAT SENSE IT'S BECOME PRAIRIE LIGHTS, NOT WAS THE BLOW UPS, RIGHT? CORRECT. ANY OF Y'ALL EVER GOING THROUGH THE BLOWUPS BESIDES TONY, GEORGE AND I AND THE BLOWUPS? YEAH. WHAT DID WE DO THAT ONE OR TWO YEARS, LISA? ONE YEAR, A HALF A YEAR MAYBE OUT. THE WIND WAS NOT A FRIEND WORLD. ANYBODY ELSE WORLD? WE DO HAVE, UH, TWO MORE SLIDES. JUST WANTED, OKAY. YEAH. THANK YOU RAY. GO AHEAD. 2024 EVENT DATES. UH, OH YEAH. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 24. FIRST IS VIP AND MEDIA NIGHT. SATURDAY THE 23RD OF NOVEMBER IS SNEAK A PEAK RUN. AND SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 24TH IS SNEAK A PEAK WALK. AND THEN MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25TH IS CYCLING WITH THE MAYOR. AND THEN WE PLAN TO OPEN IT UP ON THURSDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 28TH, 28TH FOR OPENING NIGHT. AND THEN THE LAST ONE, 21ST. UH, OKAY. AND THEN THE LAST SLIDE IS JUST, UH, A VIP AND MEDIA NIGHT. UM, AGAIN, IT IS, UH, IT'S A NICE EXPERIENCE ON THAT NIGHT. UH, IT'S NOVEMBER 21ST, UH, 2024 AT 7:00 PM AND THAT'S AT LEAN CREEK PARK. HOPE EVERYBODY CAN COME OUT AND ENJOY THE EXPERIENCE. NO PROBLEM. YOU JUST HAVE THE MISS MEDIA NIGHT. THAT'S DWIGHT. YO, THAT TOO . GREAT JOB. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. STARTED EARLIER. YEAH. I MAY BE THE ONLY ONE AT THE TIME SERVED OUT OF THIS ROOF BECAUSE I, I REALLY LIKE DWIGHT KIN, SO IF I CAN GET THERE, I'LL BE THERE. ALRIGHT. UH, HE'S, YEAH. ANYBODY ELSE? THANK Y'ALL. UH, CITY COUNCIL COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT POLICY. YOU HAVE IT AT YOUR TABLE. MEL. GOOD EVENING, MAYOR. COUNCIL MELISSA BEGIN, CITY ATTORNEY. WE BROUGHT YOU THIS ITEM BACK ON AUGUST 20 AND COUNSEL WANTED SOME ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, ADDED SOME CLARIFICATION, SO WE GET BACK TO POSITION WITH A ITEMS. YOU SHOULD HAVE A COPY OF YOUR TABLE. AS A REMINDER, THIS WAS AN AD HOC COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT COMMITTEE THAT IS SHARED BY COUNCIL EZ. WE BROUGHT FORTH THE INITIAL RECOMMENDATIONS, AND THESE ARE THE OBJECTIVES OF THE COMMITTEE AND COMMITTEE CHARGE TO STAFF EVALUATED PROVIDER RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE COUNCIL ON HOW COUNCIL MEMBERS COULD PROMOTE AND SUPPORT SPECIFIC CITY ACTIVITIES. UM, YOU MENTIONED THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS WERE PRESENTED BY STAFF ON THE 20TH, AND THEN WE HAVE OUR COUNCIL FEEDBACK. SO WE'RE HERE TO PRESENT, UM, THE PROPOSED CALLS THAT YOU FOR YOUR REVIEW, UM, AND ANY ADDITIONAL CHANGES. UM, INITIALLY WE WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ACTUALLY INCLUDED A DEFINITION OF COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT EVENT WITHIN THE PROPOSED POLICY SO THAT IT WAS CLEAR, UM, WHAT TYPE OF EVENTS, UM, WE WOULD COVER. WE GOT SOME CHANGES THAT YOU REQUESTED FROM, UM, THE EVENTS THE LAST TIME. SO WE TRIED TO CLARIFY, UM, WHAT THE EVENTS WOULD BE AND THEN WHAT TYPE OF EXCLUSIONS, UM, WHERE THIS POLICY DID NOT APPLY. SO THE EVENTS THAT WE WERE LOOKING AT WERE ACTIVITIES HOSTED BY A CURRENT CITY COUNCIL MEMBER WITHIN THE CITY OF GRAND PRAIRIE THAT BENEFIT THE PUBLIC AND SUPPORT THE COMMUNITY. AND EXCLUDED FROM THESE EVENTS ARE PERSONALLY SPONSORED EVENTS BY COUNCIL MEMBERS, POLITICAL EVENTS AND TOWN HALL MEETINGS, AND LISTED THE CRITERIA FOR COMMUNITY EVENTS BASED ON THE FEEDBACK FROM THE COMMITTEE. UM, ONE OF THE CRITERIA WAS FOR, UM, THE EVENT TO HAVE AN ORIGINAL CONCEPT, UM, TO BE HOSTED BY A COUNCIL MEMBER, WHERE THE COUNCIL [00:35:01] MEMBER WAS PRESENT AND PARTICIPATED IN THE PLANNING AND EXECUTION OF THE EVENT. THE EVENT WAS TO SERVE PUBLIC INTEREST AND THEN ALSO CONSIDERATION TO BE GIVEN TO PARTNERING WITH ANY PREEXISTING EVENTS TO AVOID DUPLICATION AND DEPENDENCY NAMING AND ADVERTISING OF THE EVENTS. WE COMBINE THESE TWO, I THINK THE LAST TIME THEY WERE, UM, SEPARATED OUT. WE WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE MENTIONED, UH, THE TYPE OF NAMING FOR THE EVENTS WHERE THE EVENTS WOULD REMAIN THE SAME, UM, ON THE CITY'S WEBSITE. AND THEN ANY PERSONAL SOCIAL MEDIA COUNCIL MEMBERS EVENTS UNDER THIS POLICY MAY BE ADVERTISED ON ALL CITY SPONSORED MEDIA PLATFORMS. UM, ONE OF THE CONCERNS ABOUT THE NAMING WAS A COUNCIL MEMBER'S NAME, UM, NOT ACTUALLY APPEARING IN THE TITLE OF THE EVENT, BUT WOULD INDICATE THAT THE EVENT NAME CAN BE HOSTED BY, UH, THAT PARTICULAR COUNCIL MEMBER. AND THIS, UH, FOLLOWS A PROTOCOL OF OTHER MEDIA SHOWS. UM, SIMILAR NAMING ON THE IONS. UH, WE HAD RECOMMENDATIONS ON THE EVENT COST AND FREQUENCY. THE RECOMMENDATION FROM THE COMMITTEE WAS A MAXIMUM TWO EVENTS PER COUNCIL MEMBER PER CALENDAR YEAR. UM, THE, UH, AMOUNT THAT CAME UP LAST TIME SUGGESTED MAXIMUM OF $5,000 PER EVENT PER CALENDAR YEAR, PENDING BUDGET AVAILABILITY ANNUALLY. UH, NO CITY STAFF TIME WILL BE UTILIZED FOR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT EVENTS OR RECEIPTS TO BE PROVIDED TO MANAGEMENT SERVICES WITHIN 30 DAYS AFTER CONCLUSION OF THE EVENT FOR REIMBURSEMENT OF EXPENSES. AND THEN, UM, WE WANTED TO BRING TO YOU WHETHER OR NOT YOU WANTED TO INCLUDE AN, ANY TYPE OF ADVANCE OF FUNDING IS ASKED TO BE PROVIDED WITHOUT RECEIPTS PRIOR TO THE EVENT. UM, THAT'S SOMETHING THAT, UH, WAS ONE OF THE QUESTIONS THAT WAS BROUGHT UP. SO WE WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE BROUGHT THAT TO YOUR ATTENTION SO YOU CAN KIND OF GIVE US GUIDANCE AND DIRECTION ON WHAT YOUR PLEASURE WOULD BE FOR THAT. UM, COPY OF THE POLICY HAS BEEN DISTRIBUTED TO YOU, UM, WITH BE AN EFFECTIVE DATE POTENTIALLY OF OCTOBER 1ST TO COINCIDE WITH THE BUDGET TO MAKE SURE, UM, THAT ALL THOSE EVENTS CAN BE ACCOUNTED FOR. AND THEN IF THERE ANY CHANGES TO THE POLICY, UH, THOSE NEED TO BE APPROVED BY A MAJORITY VOTE OF THE CITY COUNCIL TO MAKE ENSURE CONSISTENCY, UM, AND, AND CONSENT FROM ALL COUNCIL MEMBERS TO TAKE ANY QUESTIONS OR GO BACK TO ANY SLIDES. UM, DISCUSS ANY ITEMS THAT YOU WOULD LIKE US TO MODIFY AND OR CHANGE. YES MA'AM. COUNCIL MEMBER. YES, MA'AM. SO WITH THE EVENT FREQUENCY, AM I LIMITED TO TWO EVENTS? SO IF I HAVE A TOTAL OF ANNUAL $10,000, CAN I NOT HAVE $10,000 EVENTS? AM I LIMITED TO THE NUMBER OF EVENTS OR LIMITED? RIGHT NOW FOR THIS POLICY, YOU'RE LIMITED BOTH WAYS. YOU CAN ONLY HAVE TWO AND YOU CAN SPEND NO MORE THAN FIVE PER, AND WE HAVEN'T COME UP WITH A TOTAL SPENT YET. SO THAT'S THE WAY I READ THE POLICY. IS THAT CORRECT? OKAY. SO YES. SO CAN I FOLLOW UP WITH THIS QUESTION THEN UHHUH? SO FOR TWO EVENTS, THAT'S 10,000 IF BUDGET IS AVAILABLE. YES. WHAT IF I WANT TO DO OR, OR HAVE MORE THAN TWO EVENTS THAT'S, WE'D HAVE TO CHANGE THIS POLICY. SO HOW, OKAY, SO HOW DO I MAKE THAT RECOMMENDATION? WELL, WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO HAVE A MOTION TONIGHT. OKAY. AND ADOPT A POLICY. OKAY. RIGHT NOW THE POLICY THAT THE AD HOC COMMITTEE CAME UP WITH IS TWO EVENTS. SO THAT WOULD BE, UH, THAT WOULD MEAN, HEY, I, WE CAN HAVE AS MANY EVENT, I CAN HAVE AS MANY EVENTS AS I WANT. NO, BUT I DON'T WANNA SPEND ANY, I CAN'T SPEND MORE THAN X AMOUNT. RIGHT. SO THAT'S WHAT I WANT CLARITY ON BECAUSE, AND, AND RIGHT NOW IT IS, UH, WE HAVEN'T MADE A MOTION. SO, BUT THE, THE DRAFT THAT SHE PUT UP WOULD JUST WOULD, YOU WOULD BE LIMITED TO TWO. OKAY. SO YOU WOULD WANT TO AMEND THAT MOTION TO WHAT YOU JUST SAID. I WANT TO ADD, UM, IN REFERENCE TO COUNCIL MEMBER, I'M SORRY. YOU THE FLOOR OR SHE GO AHEAD, FINISH. THAT'S WHAT I'M, I'M NOT, GO AHEAD. TRYING TO TELL IT. SO THE OTHER QUESTION IS, UM, VENUES, VENUES ARE, ARE NOT MENTIONED HERE. AND WITH THE COST OF AN EVENT, THAT IS THE LARGEST PORTION. AND I WANT TO HAVE SOMETHING TO CLARIFY OR MAYBE THIS DISCUSSION CLARIFI HOW AN EVENT, HOW AN EVENT SPACE WILL BE COVERED. OR AM I EXPECTED TO TAKE THAT RENTAL OUT OF THE $5,000? THERE? THERE'S TWO OPTIONS HERE AND THAT'S WHY WE WANT DIRECTION FOR THE COUNCIL. UM, IT COULD EITHER BE RECEIPTS PROVIDED WITHIN 30 DAYS OF THE EVENT OR IF THERE'S AN ADVANCE FUNDING. NO, I'M FINE WITH THE REIMBURSEMENT PART. I'M ASKING AM I, SO FOR VENUES, [00:40:01] SO WE HAVE VENUES, SAY FOR INSTANCE IF I'M DOING A, UM, IF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND I WANTED TO HAVE IT AT RUTHIE JACKSON, THAT'S AN EXPENSIVE BIG, DOES THAT, DOES THAT EXPENSE GO AGAINST THE $5,000? YES. YES. OKAY. SO, SO I NEED TO AMEND THAT AS WELL BECAUSE I'M A TAXPAYER AND I'M REPRESENTING TAXPAYERS AND I'M TRYING TO PROVIDE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT WITH OUR TAXPAYERS, BUT I'M BEING CHARGED TO USE TAX PAYERS PAID VENUES. THAT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE TO ME. THAT'S THE WAY THE POLICY IS WRITTEN. SO I NEED TO MAKE NAME TO THAT AS WELL. IF THAT'S WHAT IF, IF YOU WANT, IF YOU WANT THE, ALL THE USES OF CITY OWNED, UH, EVENT SPACE BEING FREE, IT MIGHT GO AGAINST THE $10,000. YES. THAT WOULD HAVE TO BE AN AMENDMENT OR A NUMBER FOUR, CORRECT? YES. YES. BECAUSE THE, I GUESS I WANNA MAKE SURE THAT EVERYTHING IS EQUITABLE. BECAUSE WHEN YOU HAVE, UH, STUDIO SPACE THAT IS HELD AT A CITY OWNED FACILITY THAT'S FREE, NOT NOTHING AGAINST ANYBODY THAT HAS THEIR THEIR STUDIO, THAT'S GREAT. BUT THERE'S AN EQUALITY INEQUALITY THERE. YOU'RE, YOU'RE CHARGING ME OR ANY, OR ANYBODY FOR A VENUE OUTSIDE OF THE STUDIO. AND THAT INCLUDES SPACE AS WELL AS PERSONNEL. SURE. AND THAT'S, UH, THAT'S WHY THIS IS A DRAFT AND THAT'S WHY IT'S TAKING US SO LONG TO BRING THIS FORWARD. , I THINK EVERYTHING, AND WE MAY NOT BE READY TO VOTE. WE MAY NOT BE READY TO VOTE ON IT TONIGHT. I APPRECIATE THE WORK THAT HAS GONE INTO IT. THOSE ARE JUST THE TWO CONCERNS THAT I HAVE. SURE. VALID CONCERNS. OKAY. UM, I HAD A FOLLOW UP OR TO COUNCIL MEMBER ADAMS. UH, AND SO DURING OUR COMMITTEE MEETINGS, THE AD HOC COMMITTEE, I DON'T REMEMBER US SAYING THAT, UM, WE DIDN'T WANT ANY STAFF TO BE USED, UM, BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT THEY ARE USED AT THE STUDIO SPACES AND THE OTHER THINGS THAT COUNCIL MEMBERS ARE ALREADY DOING. I THINK WE DIDN'T WANT TO GET EXCESSIVE, WHICH IS WHY WE SAID TWO EVENTS. SO IT WAS MY UNDERSTANDING THAT WE WERE OKAY WITH STAFF BEING INVOLVED, NOT BANNING STAFF FROM, UH, HELPING US WITH THIS. GOOD POINT. UH, I'VE NEVER ATTENDED ANY MEETINGS. JOHN WAS THE MAYOR PRO TIM. WE TRIED AND WE HAD A HARD TIME FINDING NOTES ON THESE Y'ALL Y'ALL'S MEETINGS. BUT, UH, JOHN, DO YOU RECALL? YEAH, I KNOW WE DID DISCUSS THAT POINT. AND I THINK THE, THE POINT WHERE STAFF CAME IN IS IF YOU EVER MADE INTO A POLITICAL EVENT WHERE YOU'RE, THAT'S WHEN YOU, IT'S NOT A BRIGHT PRACTICE TO USE STAFF IN THAT MATTER. UM, WELL, YOU CAN'T HAVE STAFF PRESENT FOR A POLITICAL EVENT. SO TO HER QUESTION, WHAT DO YOU THINK THE INTENT AS THE, OF THE AD HOC COMMITTEE WAS, OR FORGET ABOUT THE AD HOC COMMITTEE, WHAT'S THE INTENT THAT WE AS A MAJORITY OF THE COUNCIL WANT? WELL, WE HAVE TO, THAT'S WHY WE PUT A MAX NO MORE THAN TWO EVENTS PER A YEAR. 'CAUSE WE SAY, OKAY, IF SOMEONE'S HAVING 10 EVENTS, THEN, AND WE CAN USE STAFF HOWEVER WE WANT. BUT PER THIS, PER THIS, WE'RE NOT GONNA BE USING STAFF. CORRECT. BUT I'M SAYING THE INTENT OF THE COUNT OF THE COMMITTEE WAS TO USE STAFF BECAUSE WE NEED HELP. SO THAT WAS WRONG. OKAY. YEAH. WE NEED TO AMEND THAT. 'CAUSE THAT WAS THE INTENT OF THE AD HOC COMMITTEE WAS STAFF WOULD BE UTILIZED, BUT AT A MINIMUM. CORRECT. SO WE WOULD NEED TO AMEND THAT AND THAT'S WHY WE WANTED THE CAP OF THAT TO HAVE BEEN FOR YEAR. I UNDERSTAND. SO YOU'RE CORRECT. IT APPEARS THIS IS WRONG AND DIDN'T GET THE ESSENCE OF WHAT Y'ALL AGREED TO. YES. AND I AND UM, ALONG WITH THAT, YOU, UH, WITH THE INTENT OF HAVING STAFF ASSIST US, I THINK ALONG COUNCIL MEMBER ADAMS SUGGESTED THE IDEA THAT IF WE'RE AT A CITY FACILITY, THAT, THAT WE DIDN'T, WE DIDN'T DISCUSS PAYING FOR THAT. SO THAT DIDN'T EVEN COME, COME TO UP THAT, UH, COUNCIL MEMBERS WOULD PAY TO USE CITY FACILITIES. SO THAT'S ANOTHER, UH, THING THAT WE DIDN'T DISCUSS. SMALL. OH, THOSE, THOSE ARE THE NOTES THAT WE GOT FROM AND OUR, OUR, OUR NOTE TAKERS NO LONGER WITH THE, WITH THE CITY. YEAH. YOU CAN DEFINITELY CHANGE THAT. COUNCIL MEMBER JOHNSON. I'M SORRY. I'M SORRY. UM, ON PAGE THREE, THE DEFINITION IS FOR THE EXCLUSION SAID EVENTS PERSONALLY SPONSORED BY COUNCIL MEMBERS. COULD YOU ELABORATE? WHAT DOES THAT REALLY MEAN? UH, SPONSORED BY, BECAUSE GIVE US SOME EXAMPLES. I'M SPONSORING THIS. YEAH, I'M HOSTING IT. SO WE'RE STILL SPONSORED, BUT IT COULD, I, HYPOTHETICALLY SPEAKING, I'M HEADING 60 NEXT YEAR. GO AHEAD AND DO A COMMUNITY BIRTHDAY PARTY, AND HAVE A BIRTHDAY PARTY. UH, BECAUSE IT'S REALLY, I'M A COUNCIL MEMBER AND I'M SAYING COME OUT [00:45:01] TO CELEBRATE. I THINK THIS IS VERY LOOSE. JUST, JUST THINK ABOUT THAT FOR A MOMENT. LET THAT MARINATE. UH, I THINK ALSO WHAT WE'RE DISCUSSING ON THE STAFF, UH, POTENTIALLY WE HAVE A, I KNOW THAT'S LATE, LATE MINUTE SUBSTITUTION FOR TOWN HALL, UH, FIVE WEEKS IN A ROW WITH THE STAFF IN THE EVENING COMING OUT, TAKING THEIR PERSONAL TIME. I'M VERY COGNIZANT OF THEIR TIME. UH, I DON'T LIKE TAKING UP A LOT OF THEIR STAFF TIME AS IF THEY DON'T HAVE A LIFE. THEY DON'T HAVE KIDS, GRANDKIDS, OR OTHER ACTIVITIES TO DO. BUT TO SIT ON A SIT WAIT FOR US. THAT'S MY OPINION. THAT'S JUST A THOUGHT. UH, HOST COUNCIL MEMBER MUST BE PRESENT AT THE EVENT AND INVOLVED IN PLANNING THE EXECUTION. DOES THAT MEAN THEY HAVE TO STAY TO THE END OF THE PROGRAM? AND WHAT IF SOMEONE SAID I WAS SICK? WHAT HAPPENS TO THE PROGRAM? THEN? I WOULD SAY, IT'S YOUR PROGRAM. IT'S JUST LIKE IF I TOOK COUNCIL MEMBER ADAMS SUGGESTION THAT SHE MAY WANT TO DO A DOMESTIC VIOLENCE EVENT, IT WOULD BE HERS AND I WOULD EXPECT HER TO BE THERE. AND YOU WOULD WANNA BE THERE. UH, THAT'S GOOD EXPECTATIONS, BUT THAT'S NOT REALITY. I THINK THAT WOULDN'T BE THE REALITY OR YOU WOULDN'T PLAN ON DOING IT. I UNDERSTAND. JUST WANT TO, AND FOR YOUR 60TH, UH, YEAH, I WOULD SAY IF YOU DID SOMETHING ALONG THE LINES OF WHAT MAYOR PRICE DID HER 70TH MAKE IT A COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT THAT YOU HAVE TO COME IN AND DO THE, LET'S LET'S MAKE AN EVENT OUT OF IT THAT COM THAT HELPS THE COMMUNITY. I DON'T REALLY CARE WHAT YOU CALL IT MM-HMM . AND I DON'T THINK THIS STIPULATED WHAT YOU CALL IT. NO, NO. IT'S JUST YOU WANT COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT. I THINK THE OVERALL GIST OF THIS WAS WE WANT TO ENTER, WE WANT TO BE ABLE TO GET INVOLVED WITH OUR COMMUNITY. RIGHT. UH, OUR COMMUNITY ALLOWS US GETTING INVOLVED. RIGHT. BUT WE HAD SOME QUESTIONS ABOUT, OKAY, HOW MUCH IS TOO MUCH MM-HMM . AND SO WE ARE TRYING TO REIGN, NOT REIGN IT IN. WE'RE TRYING TO DOCUMENT IT AS WHAT, HOW MUCH IS TOO MUCH AND HOW THESE ARE ALL VALID INPUTS. AND I THINK SO MUCH SO THAT WE NEED TO KIND OF PUT SOME OF THESE IN ANOTHER DRAFT AND LOOK AT IT AGAIN. THE NEXT COUNCIL MEETING. I, I DON'T KNOW THAT WE WANT TO MAKE A VOTE TONIGHT. YEAH. LEMME FINISH MY, MY QUESTIONS HERE. YES. AND THEN I'LL BE DONE. UH, IT SAYS COUNCIL MEMBERS MAY COUNCIL MEMBER NAME MAY NOT APPEAR IN THE TITLE, BUT IT'S HOSTING. SO IF I WANT TO BE A HOST OF THE RUN SPOT, RUN BOOK CLUB, , I KNEW YOU DIDN'T GET IT. RUN SPOT RUN. DO I HAVE TO STATE TO THE END OF THE EVENT TOO, BECAUSE I'M CO-HOSTING AS WELL. GOOD QUESTIONS. SO JUST THROW THAT OUT THERE. UH, AND I DON'T HAVE THE ANSWER TO IT. I WOULD THINK YOU WOULD, BUT , SO WOULD MY POTENTIAL $10,000, AM I ABLE TO DONATE TO MY FAVORITE CHARITY? I WOULD SAY NO. OKAY. AND BACK TO THE STAFF THING. I I WAS GONNA SEE IF WE WANT TO PUT WORDING ON LIMITED OR MINIMAL STAFF USE BECAUSE IT, THERE'D BE SOME ADMINISTRATIVE WORK THAT NEEDS TO BE DONE. DO Y'ALL REMEMBER WHAT KIND OF WORDING JOHN, GEORGIA, WHAT KIND OF WORDING Y'ALL USED DURING THE DISCUSSION OF IT? NO, NO. WE DID TRY TO INQUIRE AS TO THE TV SHOWS. UM, THAT WAS A GOOD REFERENCE. WE HAD WHAT TYPE OF HOURS WERE USED TO TO PUT THAT TOGETHER. AND WE NEVER GOT, UH, A NUMBER OF HOURS WE WERE GONNA SAY, OKAY, LET'S KEEP UNDER THAT. OR I KNOW WE'RE TRYING TO HAVE A BENCHMARK MM-HMM . AND THAT NEVER WENT ANYWHERE, SO YEAH. BUT WE COULD FIGURE THAT OUT. BUT IT'S NOT HARD TO FIGURE OUT HOW MUCH TIME JOHN JOHNSON PUTS IN. YEAH. ABOUT 30 MINUTES OR LESS FOR ME FOR THE SHOW. THE ONE YOU WERE DOING, THE BLOCK AND THE EDITING, HE DOES THE EDITING PART. IT IT IS, IT IS QUICK. PRETTY NEGLIGIBLE. YEAH. I WOULD SAY AN HOUR, HOUR AND A HALF MAYBE AT MAX IN CASE ALL THAT. I'M DONE, SIR. OKAY. YOU CAN COME BACK. GOT ME THINKING. SO IF YOU GOT A, AN EVENT, YOU KNOW, THAT'S SEVERAL HOURS LONG, THAT'S A BIG CHUNK VERSUS THAT'S AN HOUR AND A HALF, YOU KNOW, TWO HOURS AND UNDER. YEAH. I DON'T KNOW. SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT. YOU KNOW, IT IS, YOU'VE GOT A, A SIX HOUR LONG, YOU KNOW, ONGOING THROUGHOUT THE DAY EVENT. THAT, THAT IS A BIG, THAT'S A BIG COMMITMENT. YEAH. COUNCIL, UH, DEPUTY MAYOR PRO. YEAH. NOW, THANK YOU FOR THE, UH, MODIFICATIONS TO THIS POLICY. I HAVE A FEW QUESTIONS. UM, EVERYBODY WITH ME. YEAH. IF IT'S POSSIBLE, SOMETHING THAT I WOULD LIKE TO AMEND IS THAT, THAT SUGGESTED AMOUNT OF 5,000 PER EVENT AND JUST STRIKE THAT OUT AS SAY, $10,000. THAT'S KIND OF WHERE COUNCILOR ADAMS WAS GOING. DON'T LIMIT ME TO THE EVENT. JUST LIMIT ME HOW MUCH MONEY. [00:50:01] GIVE ME A, GIVE ME A BUDGET. DON'T GIVE ME A NUMBER OF EVENTS. I MEAN OF DOLLARS PER EVENT. JUST GIMME A BUDGET FOR THE WHOLE YEAR. THAT'S WHAT I WOULD LIKE. $10,000 THERE. JUST GET, HAVE IT FOR THE WHOLE ENTIRE YEAR. UM, I HAD A REALLY INTERESTING QUESTION ABOUT THE ADVANCED FUNDING AND THE RECEIPTS. SO IF I'M NOT THE ONE THAT'S PAYING FOR EVERYTHING, BUT I'M PAYING FOR A PORTION, LIKE FOR EXAMPLE, THE EPIC SHOWDOWN THAT WE DO ANNUALLY. I PAY FOR SOME OF THE ADVERTISING, BUT I'M NOT PAYING TO HAVE THE MAVERICKS COME HERE AND SOME OF THE OTHER THINGS. HOW WOULD THAT WORK WITH THE WAY THE POLICY'S WRITTEN RIGHT NOW? THAT'S A GOOD QUESTION RIGHT NOW IS YOU WOULD SUBMIT RECEIPTS FOR THE ITEMS THAT YOU HAVE PAID, BUT THE EVIDENCE, HOW WOULD, HOW WOULD THE EPIC DEAL WITH THEIR SIDE? ARE THEY GONNA BE SUBMITTING RECEIPTS TO OKAY. SO THEY'RE GONNA BE SUBMITTING. OKAY, COOL, COOL, COOL. THAT THAT MAKES SENSE. UM, ON THE EVENT, BUT IT WOULD BE FOR THE WHOLE EVENT. SO WHATEVER. SO THEIR RECEIPTS WOULD GO AGAINST THE 10,000 BUCKS. YES. OKAY. MAKES SENSE. IT MAKES A LOT OF SENSE. OKAY. UM, BUT WHAT THE THING THAT WE HAD TALKED ABOUT THAT WE'RE KINDA LEANING TOWARDS IS THE RENTAL OF THE EPIC GYM WOULD NOT BE IF WE WENT ALONG WITH COUNCIL MEMBER ADAMS. AND I'LL LET, I'M JUST TRYING TO CLARIFY THAT. NO, IT MAKES A LOT OF SENSE. COULD WE GO TO PAGE NUMBER EIGHT, THE EVENT NAMING AND ADVERTISING WITH, WITHIN THIS SPECIFIC SUGGESTION, WHAT I'M TRYING TO UNDERSTAND IS HOW THE NAME OF THE COUNCIL MEMBER CANNOT BE ON THIS EVENT. THEN LATER ON THE COUNCIL MEMBER'S NAME CAN SAY THEIR HOSTING IT. SO THAT'S KIND OF WHAT COUNCILMAN JOHNSON WAS ASKING ABOUT HOW IN THE WORLD THEN YOU HAVE TO HOST IT. YEAH, BECAUSE, BUT YOU DON'T STAY . BUT MY, MY SUGGESTION WOULD BE ON THE EVENT, LIKE THE EPIC SHOWDOWN HOSTED BY COUNCIL MEMBER ZA. YES. CAN WE JUST PUT THAT ON THE, ON THE FLYER? I DON'T WANT IT IN TO CAPTION. I WANT IT ON THE FLYER. YES. THAT, THAT WOULD BE THE, IS THAT WHAT'S SUGGESTED HERE? YES. EVENT NAME HOSTED BY. SO, SO, SO THEIR NAME IS ON THE EVENT. YES. WELL, TECHNICALLY IT'S NOT WITHIN THE TITLE, BUT YES. BUT IT IS ON THE EVENT. YES. AND BY THE SAME TOKEN, JUST TO LIE ON WHAT CONS PER , IT COULD BE A DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SEMINAR HOSTED BY COUNCIL VE ADAMS. IF THAT MAKES SENSE. THE FINAL QUESTION NOW FOR RIGHT NOW, FOR RIGHT NOW, I'LL LET YOU I'LL LET YOU AND JOHNSON COME BACK. IF THANK YOU IS WHEN WE'RE LOOKING AT THIS DEFINITION FOR A COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT EVENT, ANY EVENT OR ACTIVITY HOSTED BY A CURRENT CITY COUNCIL MEMBER WITHIN THE CITY OF GRAND PRAIRIE THAT BENEFITS THE PUBLIC AND SUPPORTS THE COMMUNITY, HOW WOULD A COMMUNITY BIRTHDAY PARTY QUALIFY FOR THAT? ? WHAT YOU TRYING TO TAKE PARTY? WELL, I'M TRYING TO, I'M TO SAY, I WAS JUST GONNA EXAMPLE. IT WAS JUST AN EXAMPLE, BUT I WILL TELL YOU, MAYOR PRICE, HER BIRTHDAY PARTY, UH, COMMUNITY EVENT. IT WASN'T, BUT IT WOULD BE HARD TO DO THAT FOR ONE NIGHT. HERS WAS SPREAD OVER SEVEN WEEKS. IT WAS AN INITIATIVE. YEAH. YEAH. IT WAS DO THIS, THIS WEEK YOU HAD TO DO A COMMUNITY DEAL. SO THAT'S A LITTLE DIFFERENT. BUT THAT, THAT'S A DIFFERENT PLACE. HER THING WAS MORE COMMUNITY SERVICE. HIS HERS WAS COMMUNITY SERVICE INSTEAD OF A COMMUNITY EVENT. CUPCAKES AND BALLOONS. RIGHT. UH, YOU GOOD FOR RIGHT NOW? UH, MAYOR PRO TEM. YEAH. YES, MAYOR. UM, AND, AND TO, UH, AS WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THIS AND WE HAVE MULTIPLE COUNCIL MEMBERS AND WE'RE TALKING ABOUT MULTIPLE EVENTS AND WE'RE TALKING ABOUT HAVING THEM AT A CITY OWNED FACILITY. WE JUST WENT THROUGH THE BUDGET AND, UH, WE SAW HOW, HOW WE'RE TRYING TO MAXIMIZE OUR FACILITIES BY RENTING THEM AND COLLECTING REVENUE. SO I FIND THIS TO BE DISTURBING THAT WE'RE THINKING ABOUT TAKING THE REVENUE AWAY FROM THOSE PARTICULAR PRIME VENUES. NOW, IF YOU WANNA HAVE SOMETHING IN THE PARK AND IT'S OUT, WHATEVER, AND UH, YOU COULD GO TO THE PARK AND IT'S NOT GONNA COST A FORTUNE. I CAN SEE THAT. BUT I CAN'T SEE MULTIPLE USES OF OUR CITY OWNED FACILITIES AND TAKING AWAY THAT REVENUE. AND PERSONALLY, I'M A LITTLE BIT DISTURBED THAT WE'RE SPENDING SO MUCH TIME OVER COUNCIL PERKS AND I THINK WE OUGHT TO, UH, TAKE THIS SOMEWHERE ELSE OR ELSE TAKE IT BACK TO A COMMITTEE AND BRING IT BACK TO US OR, OR ELSE HAVE EVERYBODY THERE TO PUT IN THERE, THERE . WELL, THAT'S WHAT WE'RE DOING THIS RIGHT NOW'S WHAT? THAT'S WHAT WE'RE DOING TONIGHT. OKAY. THANK YOU. AND YOU'VE GIVEN YOUR INPUT IN IT. THAT'S MY OPINION. AND I WOULD DISAGREE SOMEWHAT. I DON'T CONSIDER THIS A COUNCIL PERK. UH, GOODNESS. THE COUNCIL THINGS I DO FOR THE COMMUNITY, I DON'T [00:55:01] CONSIDER A PERK. I CONSIDER IT THE COMMUNITY WANTS ME INVOLVED. A COUNCIL PERKS TAKE US TO GO SEE THE RACES. UH, SO I WOULD DISAGREE WITH YOU ON THAT. MAYOR PRO TIM. UH, THIS IS SOMETHING WE'VE ALL BEEN DOING FOR QUITE SOME TIME, UH, AND WE'RE JUST TRYING TO SEE WHAT WE ALL THINK IS A GOOD POLICY TO MOVE FORWARD WITH. THE POLICY MAY NOT BE, UH, THREE YEARS FROM NOW WE SAY, BOY, THAT WAS, WE SCREWED THAT UP . BUT, UH, YOU KNOW, WHAT ARE WE AFTER WE WANT OUR CITIZEN TO CITIZENS TO FEEL LIKE THEY'RE ENGAGED WITH US, HOW DO YOU ACHIEVE THAT? SOMETIMES TOWN HALLS AREN'T THE BEST WAY TO DO THAT. IN FACT, I WOULD SAY THAT'S A POOR WAY TO ENGAGE THE COMMUNITY. SO WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO IS GIVEN Y'ALL, IN MY OPINION, WHAT WE'RE, WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO IS GIVE Y'ALL SOME TOOLS TO HELP YOU HAVE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENTS WITH CITIZENS WITHOUT THE STRUCTURED TOWN HALLS WHERE 30 THE SAME 30 PEOPLE SHOW UP AND ASK THE QUESTION THAT, THAT THEY ASKED THE TOWN HALL TWO WEEKS AGO. WE'VE BEEN THERE, DONE THAT. SO, UH, GOOD INPUT. UH, AND THAT'S, I I DON'T THINK WE'RE GONNA BE READY TO VOTE ON IT TONIGHT, BUT THAT'S GREAT INPUT AND I THINK THAT NEEDS TO BE PART OF THE MIX. BUT I'M, I'M, YOU KNOW, WELL, I'D LIKE TO RETRACT THE COUNCIL PER COMMENT. IT'S JUST, IT'S THE COUNCIL ACTIVITIES. WE'RE SPENDING A WHOLE LOT OF TIME ON THAT. WE ARE. AND THAT IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO HAVE COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT. AND I'M ALL ABOUT THAT AS YOU, YOU KNOW, YOU ALL KNOW ME AND YOU KNOW WHAT I'M ABOUT. YOU DO ALL YOURS ON THE PICKLEBALL COURT COUNCIL MEMBER SHOTWELL. I'VE GOT A FEW PROBLEMS WITH THE DRAFT HERE. AND IT WOULD BEGIN WITH COST FIVE GRAND PER EVENT. I, I, MY, MY POOR LITTLE BLUE COLLAR MIND CAN'T GET WRAPPED AROUND HOW IF YOU'RE NOT HAVING TO PAY THE RENT OF THE BUILDING, IF YOU'RE NOT HAVING TO PAY THE STAFF FOR THEIR TIME FOR WHAT THEY'RE DOING, UH, JUST EXACTLY WHAT THE HELL IS GONNA COST. WELL, TONY, LET ME ANSWER THAT. THE 5,000 WAS IN THERE WHEN WE WERE GONNA CHARGE THE EVENT, THE USE OF THE SPACE. OKAY, WELL THEN, AND WE WERE GONNA CHARGE THE SPACE, THE USE THE EVENT, THE USELESS STAFF. I HAVEN'T HEARD ANYBODY VOLUNTEERING TO TAKE THAT OUT OF IT YET. THAT'S MY POINT. AND SO, YOU KNOW, I COULDN'T, I JUST, MY, MY LITTLE BRAIN CAN'T WRAP AROUND THAT KINDA DEAL. I KNOW WHAT YOU DO. YOU'RE CYCLING WITH THE MAYOR, YOU'RE WALKS WITH THE MAYOR ALL GREAT. WOULD THEY FALL UNDER THIS? WOULD YOU BE STUCK TO A MAXIMUM TOO? I DON'T THINK, I DON'T KNOW. WHEN WE STARTED THIS, SOMEBODY SAID THE MAYORS ALL THESE EVENTS, THE MAYORS DO. IT'S NOT PART OF THIS, BUT IT SAYS IT THERE. BUT I WOULD SAY I DON'T WANNA GIVE UP MY CYCLING BLAME OR THE WALKING AND THE NEXT MAYOR WON'T WANT TO EITHER. SO, AND, AND THEN, AND THEN, YOU KNOW, YOU HAD, YOU GOT STAFF THAT POINT. YOU'VE GOT STAFF TIME IN THEM PUTTING OUT BALLARDS, PUTTING OUT THE CONES. YEAH. STAFF TIME YOU SO STAFF TIME IS HARD TO GET YOUR HANDLE. YEAH. AND, AND I KNOW AFTER WE HAD THIS LAST MEETING, I OVERHEARD SOME COMMENTS FROM SOME UNNAMED STAFF PEOPLE ABOUT, MY GOODNESS, ARE WE GOING TO HAVE TO GO IN AND FIGURE OUT RENTAL COSTS FOR COUNCIL PEOPLE FOR THIS DEAL OR THAT DEAL OR THIS PART OR THAT, YOU KNOW, IT, IT JUST, IT JUST GOES OVER MY HEAD. THAT WAS IT. BUT THAT'S THE WAY IT WAS IN THIS. AND I, I WOULD, I WOULD LIKE TO THROW OUT ANOTHER POSSIBILITY TO YOUR COMMITTEE IF Y'ALL ARE EVER GOING TO MEET, IS JUST, YOU KNOW, STREAMLINED GREAT IDEAS ABOUT WHAT TO DO AND HOW TO, HOW TO OPERATE IT. THE OPERATIONAL PART IS FANTASTIC IN MY OPINION. IT'S JUST, YOU KNOW, WE TAKE AWAY WORRYING ABOUT THE COST BECAUSE IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU'RE TAKING AWAY WHAT THE COST WOULD BE. YOU KNOW, IF WE TOOK AWAY THE RENTAL, TOOK AWAY THE STAB CHARGE, I THINK THAT MIGHT BE A COST. THAT MIGHT BE A COST, BUT YOU KNOW, IT'S REASONABLY NEGLIGENT. UH, YOU KNOW, BUT, BUT YOU KNOW, THE NUMBER OF TIMES IN USING STAFF PEOPLE, THAT'S A COST TO THE TAXPAYER. AND I, I WOULD, MY OPINION WOULD BE JUST LIKE IT WAS ON TRAVEL. COME ON FOLKS, LETS BE FRUGAL. IT'S NOT OUR MONEY. DAMNIT, [01:00:01] THE MONEY BELONGS TO THE TAXPAYERS. IT DOESN'T BELONG TO THESE NINE OR 10 OR 11 OF US SITTING AROUND HERE. LET'S BE AS FRUGAL AS WE CAN. MAKE EVERYTHING BE AS BANG FOR THE BUCK AS YOU POSSIBLY CAN, BUT YOU DIDN'T WANT THEIR INVOLVED. SAME 30 PEOPLE OVER AND OVER AGAIN. UH, COME ON. YOU KNOW, LET, LET'S SPEND OUR MONEY WISELY. IT'S NOT OUR MONEY. IT BELONGS TO TAXPAYERS AND IT BE FRUGAL AND WISE. I THINK WE'RE GONNA HAVE A CALL DISCUSSION IN THIS TO A CLOSE 'CAUSE WE'VE GOT AN AGENDA REVIEW. THEN WE'VE GOT AN EXEC SESSION, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER LOPEZ. YEAH. WOULD YOU BE WILLING TO GET YOUR GROUP TOGETHER AGAIN TO TAKE WHAT YOU'VE HEARD TODAY, MAYBE COME UP WITH SOME OTHER DRAFTS ALONG WITH STAFF'S COUNSEL? WELL, DEFINITELY I THINK I WOULD WANT THE COMMUNITY MEMBERS INVOLVED IN THE PROCESS, BUT I THINK THAT, WELL ALL FIVE OF YOU. BUT THEN ALSO I THINK IT'S JUST PROBABLY BEST TO PROBABLY JUST HAVE A WORK SESSION, A MINI WORKSTATION WITH ALL THE COUNCIL MEMBERS. THAT'S PROBABLY BETTER. AND THEN, UM, BILL, IF YOU COULD HAVE YOUR TEAM GET TOGETHER AND, AND FLUSH OUT SOME PAIN POINTS THAT THEY MIGHT SEE THAT WE DON'T SEE RIGHT. THAT WAY WE KIND OF UNDERSTAND Y'ALL'S PER PERSPECTIVE IN THIS TWO. THAT'S A GREAT IDEA. SURE. THAT'S ON THE TABLE AS WELL. THANKS, JOHN. LET'S, LET'S HAVE A WORK SESSION. THE COST TO THAT, AS FAR AS EMPLOYEES, IF THERE WERE THE SHOCK FOR ONE EVENT, THE AVERAGE COST FOR WHO, YOU KNOW, LIKE MANAGEMENT, EMPLOYEE AND STAFF. WE HAD THAT ENLISTED AN OFFICER, WE CALCULATED FOR MAN HOURS. BUT I WOULD LIKE FOR Y'ALL STEP ALSO TO LOOK AT HOW MANY NIGHTS ARE YOU GIVING UP RIGHT NOW? IF YOU ADD TWO MORE, I'M LOOKING AT SIX FOUR NIGHTS FOR TOWN HALLS AND THESE EVENTS. NOT TO MENTION COUNCIL MEMBERS. SO WE'RE LOOKING AT A THIRD OF THE YEAR. THEY'RE HERE WITH US. LOVE YOUR FAMILY. YEAH. WELL I, I, I THINK SOME OF THESE COMMUNITY EVENTS SHOULD REPLACE THE TOWN HALL. THAT'S MY OPINION. WE HAVE DISCUSS THAT. I'D DO ONE TOWN HALL AND TWO COMMUNITY EVENTS AND BE DONE WITH IT HALL IN THE COMMUNITY. BUT, UH, BECAUSE THIS, THE STAFF TOWN I'VE ATTENDED ALL OF Y'ALLS TOWN HALLS NUMBER ONE. AND I, AND I COULD, UH, ANSWER THE QUESTIONS THEY ASKED FROM THE PREVIOUS TOWN HALL 'CAUSE THE SAME. BUT LET'S TAKE YOUR RECOMMENDATION. LET'S CALL A SPECIAL MEETING JUST FOR THIS, UH, KICK IT AROUND STAFF, DO SOME WORK ON IT, WHICH WILL CREATE A WHOLE LOT MORE STAFF TIME FOR THAT STAFF. MOTION. COUNCIL, MAYOR ADAMS, ONE LAST THING I WANTED TO CLARIFY. IT'S FOR ME PERSONALLY, YES, IT IS NOT FOR ME, IT'S FOR THE CITY, THE CITIZENS. IT IS FOR BRINGING AWARENESS. IT'S NOT I'M SHOWBOATING. THEY GET TO SEE WHO I AM. I SHOULD BE SEEN IN OTHER EVENTS ALREADY ON MY CALENDAR. BUT THIS IS TO BRING AWARENESS TO WHETHER IT IS DIABETES, WHETHER IT'S STROKE, WHETHER IT IS DOMESTIC VIOLENCE. THIS IS INFORMATION THAT WILL BENEFIT THE COMMUNITY. AND SO THAT'S MY PERCEPTION. THAT'S WHAT IT NEEDS TO BE ABOUT. AND, AND THEN BEING ABLE TO SHOWCASE, NOT NECESSARILY HAVE THE STAFF THERE SHOWCASE SOME OF THE SERVICES THAT WE CAN PROVIDE. AND SO I WANT TO BE CLEAR IT, I DON'T NEED TO BE SHOWBOATED ON A, ON A, ON A EVENT. IT IS, THIS IS FOR A CITIZEN. AND SO THAT'S WHAT I WANTED BE CLEAR ON. AND ONE OF IT BEING NOT JUST ENTERTAINMENT. NO. AND THEN THE OTHER THING, TONY, IT IS VERY EXPENSIVE TO HAVE ANY COUNTY EVENT UNLESS YOU'RE IN A PARKING LOT OR OPEN FIELD. AND SO THAT'S WHY I BROUGHT ATTENTION TO THE COST. AND MOST OF THE TIME THAT COST, THAT $5,000 IS GONNA BE USED FOR THE VENUE, WHICH BY THE WAY MM-HMM . WE DO HAVE NONPROFITS THAT WE ALLOW TO USE CITY VENUES FOR A DOLLAR A YEAR. AND I'M ALL FOR THAT TOO. I'M IN FAVOR OF IT. I HOPE I DIDN'T KNOW WE DID THAT. YES. I JUST, YES. I DON'T KNOW. WE DID THAT. AND SO, BUT EITHER WAY I'M JUST SAYING WE JUST, I JUST WANT TO BE CLEAR FROM MY PERSPECTIVE, HOW MUCH IS LOCAL CLIENT PAY? WHAT DO THEY PAY THE INTENT OF? THEY PAY WHATEVER THEY IS THE BILL OVER HERE. UM, BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO PAY FOR THE KATIE. ASK CHERYL, BUT THEY PAY YEAH. EVERYBODY USED R JC I THOUGHT PAID. WE DO HAVE CERTAIN CITY VENUES THAT WE DO CHARGE A RATE. THAT IS, THAT IS THE RATE IS FOR A NON-PROFIT RATE. RIGHT, BUT IT'S NOT A DOLLAR. NO, IT'S NOT A, THERE, THERE ARE A COUPLE ENTITIES. I BELIEVE THE WOMEN'S CLUB IS A DOLLAR AND THERE'S, I THINK FOR THEIR BUILDING. THAT'S CORRECT. THAT'S, WELL, THANK YOU. BE AND I'M A MEMBER. DON'T GIVE, THAT'S WHY I SAID I'M FOR THAT. BUT I, BUT RJC, WE NEVER DO DOLLAR THE RJ. WE ACTUALLY HAVE A SPECIFIC NONPROFIT SCHEDULE. OKAY, LET'S, UH, LET'S MOVE ON TO AGENDA REVIEW. BROUGHT IT UP. UM, WE WILL NOT VOTE ON THIS TONIGHT. COURT NUMBER IS, WELL, [01:05:01] OH, MAYOR PROAM, CLEMSON, LET'S DO AN AGENDA REVIEW. THANK YOU, MAYOR. WE HAVE ON OUR CONSENT AGENDA ITEMS SEVEN THROUGH 17. UH, WE HAVE QUESTIONS ON ANY OF THOSE? YES. TONY, I HAVE A QUESTION ON NUMBER NINE. UH, THE SOFTWARE TO ENHANCEMENT TO LAWSON, I GUESS THAT CORRECT? YES, SIR. IS THIS AN ENHANCEMENT TO LAWSON? UH, NO SIR. IT'S NOT ENHANCEMENT TO LAWSUIT. ALL WE ARE DOING IS THAT RIGHT NOW WE HAVE A CONTRACT CALL THAT ALL IN TURN AND ACCOUNT IS PART OF, AND WE ARE MOVING A CONTRACT TO GRAND PRAIRIE. OKAY. BUT, BUT THE SOFTWARE IS SOMETHING THAT'S AN ENHANCEMENT TO LAWSUIT. YEP. YES SIR. IT, IT'S, UH, ADDON TO LOSS. CORRECT. SO WE WERE IN A GROUP THAT SPLIT THE COST AND ARLINGTON AND CARROLLTON WERE PART OF THAT GROUP. CORRECT. THEY'RE GONE NOW. SO WE'RE PICKING UP THEIR, THE WHOLE COST. EXACTLY. YES SIR. HAVE WE, HAVE, WE CONSIDERED LOOKING AT GOING TO THE SOFTWARE THAT ARLINGTON CARROLLTON WENT TO. EVIDENTLY THEY THOUGHT THEY WERE GETTING A BETTER DEAL OR A BETTER SERVICE. SO HAVE WE JUST CONSIDERED LOOKING AT THE SOFTWARE THAT THEY USE? SO, UM, YES, WE HAVE, AND ACTUALLY IF YOU'RE LOOKING, I'M INTO THE SOFTWARE THAT ARLINGTON WE'RE LOOKING, WE'RE LOOKING AT CHANGE THE SOFTWARE. YES. YES, SIR. WE, THAT'S WHAT I WANTED TO KNOW. THANK YOU. SO YOU CAN ANSWER HAROLD AT THE ACCIDENT. . OH, HI HAROLD. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS ON SEVENTH THROUGH 17? IT WAS GOOD. IT'S GOOD. WE NEEDED A SHOVEL. NO MORE RARE THAT, UH, WE WILL BE TABLING OUT OF 18. UH, YOU KNOW, SOMETIMES IT'S EASIER WHEN YOU DON'T HAVE A POLICY AND YOU JUST DON'T DO IT. BUT WE WERE DOING SOME THINGS THAT WERE RAISING ENOUGH QUESTIONS THAT WE FELT LIKE WE NEEDED TO HAVE A POLICY. WE'LL, WHAT INCLUDE THIS WE'LL UP SOMETHING THAT'S A GOOD START. SO MAY THE CITY COUNCIL YES, MA'AM. MAY, UH, LET MAYOR PRO 10 ON A NUMBER 19. COULD WE GET THAT? KIND OF DESCRIBES WHAT THAT IS? SURE. WHAT WE'RE GONNA BE VOTING ON. WHAT'S NUMBER 1919. THIS IS, UM, ANOTHER PETITION FOR REMOVAL FROM THE TJ, WHICH WE'VE DENIED BEFORE. YES. BECAUSE WE'VE DENIED OTHER ONE. YES. SO THAT WOULD BE THE RECOMMENDATION. AND YOU WERE RECOMMENDING WE DENY THIS ONE. YES. FOR THE SAME REASON. FOR THE SAME REASON. PENDING LITIGATION. ARE THEY, WE STILL HAVE THE LAWSUIT GOING ON WITH SB 2038. UM, IT'S STILL BEFORE THE COURT. THEY HAVEN'T ISSUED A RULING ON IT. SO IT'S STILL PENDING, PENDING THAT THAT LAWSUIT IS ABOUT WHETHER IT'S IN THE BUSINESS DISTRICT OR WHAT IT'S, WHETHER IT'S IN THE ETJ AND WHETHER OR NOT IT CAN BE REMOVED WITHOUT THE CITY'S CONSENT. OKAY. WELL THE, THE WRITEUP SAYS THAT THE REASON WE'RE GOING TO DENY IT IS BECAUSE IT'S IN A BUSINESS PARK AND THE LAW SAYS WE CAN DENY THAT IT'S IN THE BUSINESS DEPARTMENT. RIGHT. WELL, THEY'RE ASKING TO BE REMOVED WITHOUT THE CITY'S EASEMENT. YES. I DON'T UNDERSTAND. RIGHT. MAYBE, MAYBE YOU CAN EXPLAIN IT TO ME LATER. I WILL HAVE TO DO IT NOW. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THE CITY COUNCIL MAY CONDUCT A CLOSED SESSION PURSUANT TO CHAPTER 5 5, 1 SUB CHAPTER D OF THE GOVERNMENT CODE VTCA TO DISCUSSING THE FOLLOWING TONIGHT. JUST SECTION 5 5 1 0.072 DELIBERATION REGARDING REAL PROFIT, NOT FAKE PROPERTY, REAL PROPERTY. LET'S GO. UH, HOW LONG WILL, NO, LET'S GO GET OUR FOOD. TAKE IT IN THE EXEC SESSION. 'CAUSE IT'S ALREADY WHEN THEY HAVE 45 MINUTES, GO GET YOUR FOOD MEAT IN THE. * This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting.