* 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. [00:00:03] YEAH, LOOK. RECORDING IN PROGRESS . OKAY. ALRIGHT. GOOD MORNING. GOOD MORNING, GOOD MORNING. WE ARE GATHERED HERE AT 4 44 FOURTH STREET HERE IN THE GREAT CITY OF PORT ARTHUR, TEXAS IN CITY COUNCIL CHAMBER HERE ON THE FIFTH FLOOR. AND WE ARE GETTING READY TO HAVE A SPECIAL MEETING TODAY, AUGUST 20TH, 2024. IT IS NOW 10:05 AM ON THIS GREAT GLORIOUS DATE. AND YOU MAY ATTEND THIS MEETING VIA TELEPHONIC OR VIDEO CONFERENCE MEDIUMS, HOWEVER YOU WOULD FIRST DIAL 8 7 7 8 5 3 5 2 4 7 OR 8 8 8 7 8 8 0 0 9 9. AND YOU WILL BE ALLOWED INTO THE MEETING. AND THEN YOU WOULD PUT THE MEETING ID OF 8 1 5 2 6 3 7 0 7 8 6 AND THE PASSCODE OF 3 1 3 9 6 7. THEN YOU WOULD ACTUALLY BE ALLOWED INTO THE MEETINGS ONCE YOU PLACE THAT INFORMATION IN YOUR DEVICE. AND ALSO, WE ARE IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACTS HERE IN THIS MEETING TODAY. AND IF THERE WOULD BE A NEED FOR SPECIAL ACCOMMODATIONS, YOU WOULD'VE HAD TO HAVE GOTTEN IN TOUCH 24 HOURS PRIOR TO THIS MEETING WITH THE CITY SECRETARY'S OFFICE AT AREA CODE 4 0 9 9 8 3 8 1 1 5. AND HER OFFICE WILL DO ALL WITHIN ITS POWERS TO ACCOMMODATE YOU WITH YOUR, UH, SPECIAL REQUEST. WITH ALL OF THAT BEING SAID, [I. INVOCATION, PLEDGE & ROLL CALL ] WE WILL NOW GO THROUGH OUR NORMAL, NORMAL OPENING PROCEDURES WITH INVOCATION TO PLEDGE AND THE ROLL CALL COSMAN. FRANK, WOULD YOU BE SO KIND AS YOU, UH, DO THE PRAYER? LET US BOW ALL, ALWAYS IN ETERNAL GOD, OUR FATHER, GOOD MORNING, WE GREET YOU IN, UH, THAT STRONG AND POWERFUL NAME OF JESUS. WE THANK YOU FATHER FOR THIS DAY THAT YOU HAVE GIVEN US AND WE PRAY THAT YOU WOULD EMPOWER US TODAY, GOD, TO MAKE THE DECISIONS THAT WOULD BE A BLESSING AND A BE AND BENEFICIAL FOR OUR ENTIRE CITY. WE THANK YOU, GOD FOR LIFE AND HEALTH AND FOR ALL THAT YOU DO FOR US ON A CONTINUAL BASIS. NOW GRANT, THIS WE PRAY IN THE NAME OF JESUS AGAIN. JESUS, WE ASK IT ALL FOR HIS SAKE. AMEN. AMEN. TO PLEASE JOIN US WITH 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 FAR OFF. THANK YOU FOR YOUR INDULGENCE IN OUR OPENING. EXCUSE ME, CITY SECRETARY, WOULD YOU BE SO KIND AS TO ESTABLISH THE COURT? MAYOR BARTEE, PRESENT, MAYOR PROTE BECKHAM, MAYOR, COUNCIL MEMBER LEWIS. COUNCIL MEMBER HAMILTON, EVER FIELD COUNCIL MEMBER ETT HERE. COUNCIL MEMBER KINLAW HERE. COUNCIL MEMBER FRANK HERE. YOU HAVE A COURT MAYOR. THANK YOU. THANK YOU SO KINDLY. AND [II. WORKSHOP ] UH, WE ARE GATHERED HERE TODAY FOR, UH, A WORKSHOP. AND THIS WORKSHOP IS TO DISCUSS THE PROPOSED BUDGET FOR THE FISCAL YEAR 20 24, 20 25 AND WITHOUT IT. WELL, ONE OTHER THING I'D LIKE TO DO BEFORE WE BEGIN. UH, THIS IS OUR VERY FIRST INITIAL MEETING WITH OUR NEWLY APPOINTED CITY ATTORNEY AND WE WANT TO WELCOME YOU HERE TO THE ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF OF THE CITY OF PORT ARTHUR. AND WE PRAY GOD THAT YOU WOULD HAVE LONGEVITY HERE AND YOU WOULD SERVE THIS PRESENT AGE WITH ALL OF THE LEGAL KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS THAT YOU POSSESS. AND WE APPRECIATE YOU. THANK YOU. OKAY. WITH ALL OF THAT BEING SAID, NOW WE WILL BEGIN THE MEETING AND AGAIN, WE HAVE OUR CITY MANAGER AND HIS ILLUSTRIOUS STAFF HERE TO, UH, ASSIST US ON THIS MORNING. AND I'D LIKE TO BEGIN THE MEETING IN THIS JOVIAL STATE. GO RIGHT AHEAD. JOY. JOY, GOOD MORNING. YOU HAVE EVERYTHING EXCEPT FOR THE GENERAL FUND AND TODAY I WOULD LIKE TO CONCENTRATE ON ENTERPRISE FUND AND ALL OF THE SPECIAL FUNDS THEREAFTER. AND I ALSO WANTED TO INTRODUCE TO YOU EVIE JONES. SHE IS THE INTERIM BUDGET ANALYST FOR THE DEPARTMENT. BRIAN HAS LEFT US, SO HE IS NOT HERE. HE LEFT FRIDAY AND THIS IS THE PRODUCT OF THAT. SO THE NEXT TIME YOU HAVE THAT, IT SHOULD BE MORE FULL. IT SHOULD BE ACTUALLY THE, THE, UH, A PRETTY GOOD DRAFT BUDGET MINUS THE RESOLUTIONS THAT YOU HAVE. SO BEFORE WE BEGIN WITH THE ENTERPRISE FUND, THAT WOULD BE ON PAGE, THE NUMBERS [00:05:01] IN RED IS ACTUALLY THE NUMBERS THAT WILL CORRESPOND WITH YOUR TABLE OF CONTENT. SO I HAD SOME NUMBERING ISSUES AND FORMATTING, WHICH YOU WON'T HAVE IN THE NEXT ITERATION THAT WE WILL GET. SO THE NUMBERS IN RED CORRESPOND WITH YOUR TABLE OF CONTENTS. THE NUMBER IN RED IS ALSO THE PAGE NUMBERS THAT I WILL BE REFERRING TO. I BELIEVE THE, WHERE I WOULD LIKE TO START IS PAGE EIGHT. PAGE EIGHT 10. NO, IT'S PAGE 10, SORRY. YES. WITH THE ENTERPRISE FUND. THIS PARTICULAR ONE IS WATER AND SEWER WITH AN OVERVIEW. THE FIRST THING I WANTED TO DO IS JUST TO HELP DEFINE THIS PARTICULAR, THESE, THESE FUNDS THAT WE'RE GONNA GO THROUGH IN THE ENTERPRISE. FIRST BEING WATER AND SEWER. AND THESE ARE DIFFERENT FROM OUR GENERAL FUNDS IN THE ENTERPRISE. THE USER OF THE GOVERNMENT SERVICE DOES NOT PAY FOR THE SERVICE BASED ON ACTUAL USE. THAT WOULD BE A SPECIAL FUND. THE COSTS OF SERVICES PROVIDED THROUGH AN ENTERPRISE FUND ARE GENERALLY RECOVERED THROUGH CHARGES TO THE USERS OF THE SERVICES. THAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE ENTERPRISE FUND. THAT BEING SAID, WHAT YOU HAVE BEFORE YOU IS JUST ENOUGH TO COVER THE, THE $30 MILLION BOND. IT IS NOT ENOUGH TO COVER THE ONGOING ISSUES IN OPERATIONS AND YOUR PIPE BURSTING CREW. AND THAT'S WHAT WE WOULD LIKE TO TALK ABOUT TODAY. MY RECOMMENDATION IS A 10% INCREASE TO COVER ALL OF THOSE I AM. THAT INCREASE IS, WAS A RECOMMENDATION BY THE CONSULTANT WILDMAN WHO DID THAT RATE STUDY. AND I UNDERSTAND THAT IT WAS A FIVE YEAR STUDY. I UNDERSTAND WE DID THREE INCREASES. THOSE INCREASES DID NOT APPEAR TO MATCH THE CONSULTANT MANN'S RECOMMENDATION. AND THAT WILL COVER AT LEAST ONE OF HIS RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE ONE 10% FOR THAT TIME PERIOD. AND MY GOAL IS THAT WE CAN REEVALUATE AT THE END OR TOWARDS THE END OF NEXT YEAR. AND ANY INCREASES HOPEFULLY WILL NOT REACH THAT HIGH IN THE FUTURE. BUT FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS PARTICULAR BUDGET, THAT IS MY RECOMMENDATION. OBVIOUSLY YOU ALL SET THOSE RATES AND I'LL LEAVE THAT FOR QUESTIONS. I DO HAVE THE WATER AND SEWER DEPARTMENT HERE. YES, THEY ARE ALL HERE. AND THEY WILL ALSO STAND FOR ANY OF THE QUESTIONS ON THEIR PARTICULAR BUDGET. DO YOU HAVE ANY PARTICULAR QUESTIONS FOR ME? YES MA'AM. I HAVE LIGHTS ON FOR UH, COUNCILMAN FRANK? NO? YES SIR. OH, OKAY. COUNCILMAN ETT? YES. YOU JUST READ, UH, WHAT THE ENTERPRISE FUND IS FOR AND HOW THEY CHARGE. OKAY. YES. AND ALSO YOU MENTIONED THE FACT YOU'RE VERY CLEAR TO MENTION THE FACT THAT UH, IT'S FOR NOT JUST THE WATER BUT ALSO THE MAINTENANCE AND ALL OF THIS. RIGHT? THAT'S CORRECT. YOU KNOW, AND THAT'S THE THING THAT I HEAR THE STAFF KEEP PUSHING TO JUSTIFY THESE RATE INCREASE. BUT SEE, WATER IS JUST LIKE OUR STREETS. YOU KNOW, WE SUPPOSED TO, UH, GET PEOPLE TO PAY TAXES AND WE SUPPOSED TO MAINTAIN STREETS OUT OF THE TAX MONEY, OKAY? AND WE WASTE ALL THESE YEARS. WE DON'T MAINTAIN STREETS. SO STREETS GET HORRIBLE. SO WHAT WE DO, WE GO OUT AND WE SELL CERTIFICATE OF OBLIGATIONS. WE START GETTING MONEY TO HELP US TO GET STREETS FIXED BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT THE TAXES THAT THEY PAY ARE NOT ENOUGH TO FIX THE STREETS. SO THEN WHEN WE GO TO WATER UTILITIES, WE'RE SUPPOSED TO BE CHARGING THEM WHAT IT COSTS TO PROPERLY MAINTAIN THE SYSTEM DURING THE YEAR. THE PEOPLE IT TAKES TO PROVIDE ALL OF THE TREATMENT AND EVERYTHING TO GET IT TO THE CITIZENS. BUT THERE'S SO MUCH WATER THAT'S BEING LOST. IS SO MUCH WATER BEING LOST WHEN YOU TELL ME YOU WANT TO INCREASE THE RATE, [00:10:01] I UNDERSTAND IT. IF WE HAD A CERTAIN PERCENTAGE OF WATER BEING LOST, BUT NO ONE WANTS TO SAY THIS, ALL THIS WATER WE LOSING CITIZENS SHOULD NOT HAVE TO PAY FOR THAT. IF WE KNOW THAT WE'VE NEGLECTED THE SYSTEM OVER YEARS, WHICH GOT US TO GET HERE, WHAT STEPS HAVE WE TAKEN TO FIX THIS? THE LAST TIME I SPOKE ABOUT IT, I TALKED ABOUT FINDING A MEDIUM. A MEDIUM TO ME IS WE DOING SOMETHING AND THEN CITIZEN DOING SOMETHING THAT'S A MEDIUM TO ME, THAT'S A COMPROMISE TO ME. BUT TELLING ME THAT WE NEED TO RAISE IT BECAUSE IT'S COSTING US MORE. THAT'S NOT NECESSARILY SO THAT'S TELLING ME SOMETHING TO JUSTIFY RAISING IT. BUT I HAVE TO JUSTIFY THE CITIZENS WHY I'M RAISING IT. AND I'M NOT GONNA LOOK THEM IN THE EYE AND TELL THEM THAT. WHEN I SEE MAIN PERSON, I SEE A CI, A CITY ALERT COME ON MY PHONE AND THEIR PHONE SAYING, YOU'LL BE OUTTA WATER FOR THREE OR FOUR HOURS BECAUSE OF WATER MAIN BROKE OR WATER MAIN BEEN TURNED OFF DURING THE SUMMER MONTHS. IT GET LIKE POPCORN. THESE, THESE LINES ARE SO BAD. THEY'RE LIKE POPCORN, YOU FIX IT HERE, YOU PUT A PATCH ON IT, YOU TURN THE WATER ON, IT BREAKS IT OVER THERE. I KNOW THAT, I UNDERSTAND THAT. BUT WHAT I DON'T UNDERSTAND IS WE HAVEN'T TAKEN THE STEPS TO GET OUT AND TAKE A LOOK AT CERTIFICATE OBLIGATIONS. I SEE CERTIFICATE OF ALLEGATIONS COME UP FOR VARIOUS OTHER REASONS, BUT THESE ARE THINGS THAT WE HAVE TO TAKE A LOOK AT. I'M NOT A FINANCE GURU. YOU SUPPOSED TO BE THE FINANCE GURU, BUT I UNDERSTAND ENOUGH ABOUT MUNICIPAL FINANCES THAT WE COULD LEVERAGE MONEY. YOU KNOW, WE COULD LOOK AT WHAT WE GONNA MAKE, LEVERAGE IT AND THEN GO OUT FOR CERTIFICATE. WE GOTTA DO SOMETHING INSTEAD OF ALWAYS SAYING A RAISE. BECAUSE THE ONLY SOLUTION I'VE SEEN IN THE LAST FIVE YEARS IS RAISES BECAUSE I HAVEN'T SEEN ANY CERTIFICATE OBLIGATION TO REPLACE PIPES. I LOOKED AT THIS BUDGET AND I DIDN'T SEE ANYTHING THAT WOULD BE UNDER REPLACEMENT OF WATER LINES. I DIDN'T SEE REPLACEMENT OF WATER LINES. I SEE MAINS, I SEE LIFT STATIONS, I SEE ALL THAT, WHICH IS IMPORTANT. BUT WATER LINES, NOTHING. BUT EVERY TIME I HEAR THIS PRESENTATION, I, I BE DEALT, I BE DEALING WITH, UH, HOW MUCH WATER LINES WE GOT. HOW MANY MILES OR F FATE OR WATER LINE THAT BE HAVE TO BE REPLACED. SO AT SOME POINT IN TIME, JUST GIVE ME SOMETHING I CAN RELATE TO, BUT DON'T TELL ME ALL THIS'S ABOUT IS A RAISE THAT'S UPSET, UPSET ME. I DON'T SEE ANYTHING ELSE ABOUT, WE'RE GONNA TAKE THIS PORTION OF THE CITY THIS YEAR AND WE WANT TO FIX OR REPLACE X AMOUNT OF WATER LINES AND WE'RE GOING TO DO THIS IN ORDER TO FUND IT. AND THIS IS A CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM. ALL THAT MEAN IS THIS IS WHAT WE PLAN TO DO. WE PUT IT IN THERE AND THEN WE SAY WE'RE GONNA REPLACE 500 MILES, BUT WE ONLY GET 100 IN. AT LEAST WE DID SOMETHING AND THEN WE JUST MOVED THE OTHER FOUR TO THE NEXT YEAR. BUT A PLAN, I WANNA SEE A PLAN OF REPLACING WATERLINE AND HOW WE GOING TO DO IT. WE SHOULD HAVE A MAP WITH ALL THESE MAJOR LEAKS THAT WE BE DOING ALL THE TIME WHERE IT'LL SHOW US WHICH PART OF OUR CITY IS THE MOST PROBLEM. AND THAT'S WHAT WE SHOULD BE ATTACKING. WE SHOULD HAVE A PLAN. AND THIS IS THE TIME OF YEAR WHEN WE SAT DOWN HERE IS WHEN WE EXECUTE THOSE PLANS. YOU KNOW, ALL THESE CONSULTANTS AND EVERYBODY, YES, THAT'S [00:15:01] THE IDEA. BUT AT THE END OF THE DAY, IT IS LIKE YOUR ACCOUNTS AND EVERYTHING. PEOPLE, YOU GO TO FINANCIAL ADVISORS, THEY GIVE YOU GOOD ADVICE, BUT AT THE END OF THE DAY, WHAT YOU HAVE TO MAKE THE DECISION, OKAY? SO SOMETIMES WE NEED TO JUST BE ABLE TO, UH, HAVE A PLAN AND, AND AND SHOW IT. YOU KNOW, AND THAT'S WHAT WE GOTTA GIVE TO CITIZENS. AND I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT STAFF. SEE 'CAUSE SOMETIMES WE GET CONFUSED IF SOMEBODY MAY GET CONFUSED. LIKE I, I UNDERSTAND STAFF ROLE IN GOVERNMENT, I REALLY DO. BUT WE HAVE A ROLE AND OUR ROLE IS TO BE ABLE TO GO BACK TO CITIZENS AND JUSTIFY DECISIONS WE MAKE UP HERE. AND ALSO EXPLAIN TO THEM WHY THESE DECISIONS ARE HARD. 'CAUSE WE MAKE HARD DECISIONS SOMETIMES, BUT WE'D BE ABLE TO EXPLAIN THEM. SO I DIDN'T, I DIDN'T SEE IT. BUT YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU'RE TALKING TO ME, DON'T TELL ME THE RAYS IF NEEDED BECAUSE ALL OF THESE LINES THE BUST AND THEY'RE GOING OFF NOT, DON'T JUST TELL ME THAT. 'CAUSE IF YOU TELL ME THAT I'M THINKING YOU'RE TRYING TO TELL ME. THAT'S THE ONLY REASON THAT THIS INCREASE THERE. SO I WANT TO HEAR THE WHOLE STORY BECAUSE CITIZENS WATCH THESE MEETINGS, OKAY? AND THEY NEED TO HEAR BOTH SIDES OF IT TO BETTER UNDERSTAND WHAT WE HAVE TO DEAL WITH, WHAT DECISIONS WE HAVE TO MAKE. BECAUSE WHEN THEY GO TO THE WAR DEPARTMENT AND THEY COMPLAIN ABOUT THEIR BILLS, OUR LADIES HAVE THE FIRST COMMENT, DO YOUR TOILET LEAK. IF MY TOILET LEAK AND IT COULD CAUSE MY BILL TO GO UP SIGNIFICANTLY. I HATE TO SEE WHAT ALL THESE LEAKS AROUND THIS CITY IS DOING. I HATE TO SEE WHAT A WHAT A BROKEN MAN DOES WITH WATER. OKAY. SO I'LL JUST KILL THAT 'CAUSE WE GOT OTHER COUNCIL MEMBERS WANT TO SPEAK. BUT THAT'S MY TAKE ON IT. IT IS ALWAYS MY TAKE. THANK YOU. OKAY. COUNCILMAN KEN LAW. YEAH, THANK YOU MAYOR. UM, YOU KNOW, I I WOULD ENTERTAIN THAT MORE I OR BE MORE COMFORTABLE WITH THAT, BUT I, I'M JUST NOT SURE THAT WE'RE DOING AS EVERYTHING WE ARE DOING AS A CITY TO MAKE, YOU KNOW, ASK FOR REQUESTS LIKE THAT. UH, EVERYONE KNOWS HOW I PERSONALLY FEEL ABOUT INCREASES. UH, I'VE MADE CALLS TO THE CITY MANAGER AND SOME OF THE WATER DEPARTMENT SUPERVISORS AND DIRECTORS ABOUT, UH, WHAT WE COULD POSSIBLY DO. UM, I'M JUST NOT COMFORTABLE WITH IT. UH, UNLESS WE, WE TAKE A BITE OUT OF GETTING SOME OO OTHER FUNDING THAT WE COULD POSSIBLY DO TO COVER THIS. I'M JUST NOT COM COMFORTABLE WITH PUTTING IT ON THE TAXPAYERS ASKING FOR A 10% INCREASE TO FUND THIS, UH, THIS ACCOUNT. UH, I JUST HOPE THAT WHEN I TALK TO THE CITIZENS ABOUT, UH, UH, COUNCIL MEMBERS TALK BRIEFLY ABOUT, UH, WATER, UH, ACCOUNTS INCREASE. YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU GO TO SOME OF THE, UH, SUPERVISORS AND THE CITY MANAGER AND HIS STAFF, WE, WE TALKED ABOUT THE SYSTEM THAT NEW TO SYSTEM THAT WE WERE, ARE WAS IMPLEMENTED. UM, WE GOT A LOT OF SITUATIONS. SO I'M JUST NOT COMFORTABLE WITH PASSING A BUCK ON TO THE CITIZENS LIKE THAT UNLESS WE'RE DOING EVERYTHING THAT WE POSSIBLY CAN TO ENSURE THAT WE'RE TAKING A BITE. I'VE SAID THIS FOR YEARS AND YEARS SINCE I'VE BEEN ON CITY COUNCIL, THAT WE CAN DO MULTIPLE THINGS. AND I THINK ATTACKING THE WATER AND SEWER IS ONE OF THOSE THINGS ALONG WITH TREATS, ALONG WITH DRAINAGE. AND WE'VE BEEN DOING THAT. BUT UNTIL STAFF CITY MANAGER, YOUR STAFF, YOU, UH, ENSURE ME PERSONALLY AS A COUNCIL MEMBER AT LARGE COUNCIL MEMBER, I'M JUST NOT COMFORTABLE WITH THAT BECAUSE WE HAVE TO MAINTAIN A CERTAIN STANDARD CITIZENS PAY FOR SERVICES AND SOMETIMES THOSE SERVICES ARE NOT PROVIDED. AND THEN WHEN THEY'RE CALLING COUNCIL MEMBERS AND WE'RE TRYING TO EXPLAIN TO THEM BECAUSE OF THE SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS THAT'S IN THIS ROOM TODAY, BASED UPON THE SITUATIONS WE HAVE, IT'S HARD TO EXPLAIN IT TO SOMEBODY THAT'S PAYING FOR A SERVICE AND THEY'RE NOT GETTING IT. AND THE NEXT QUESTION I GOTTA ASK MYSELF AS A COUNCIL MEMBER, ARE WE AS A CITY, 'CAUSE I'M WITH US, UH, UH, ARE WE DOING EVERYTHING THAT WE POSSIBLY CAN TO ENSURE THAT WE ARE PROVIDING THIS SERVICE? I CAN'T SAY THAT I REALLY HONESTLY CAN'T SAY THAT. AND I'M NOT GONNA LIE TO CITIZENS. SO CITY MANAGER, I KNOW WE HAVE SOME TALK TOUGH TALKS. I MEAN, YOU KNOW, BUT THIS IS ONE OF THOSE HILLS AND THE COUNCIL MEMBER STATED EARLIER, WE MAKE TOUGH DECISIONS UP HERE. SOMETIMES PEOPLE MAY NOT LIKE IT, SOMETIMES YOUR STAFF MAY NOT LIKE IT. BUT WE ALWAYS, AT THE END OF THE DAY HAVE TO DO WHAT'S BEST FOR THE ENTIRE CITY WHEN WE MAKE THESE DECISIONS. AND I THINK THIS IS ONE OF THOSE ROADBLOCKS THAT WE HAVE TO MAKE A TOUGH DECISION. YEAH. THANK YOU CITY MANAGER. THANK YOU MAYOR. OKAY. COUNCILMAN FRANK. YES. UM, I THINK AT THE END OF HIS STATEMENT, [00:20:01] UM, COUNCILMAN KINLAW SAID, WHAT I, UH, WANT TO TRY TO ARTICULATE, AND THAT WAS, AS YOU COME TO ME AND YOU SAY, AND I APPRECIATE YOU COMING AND I APPRECIATE WHAT YOU'RE SAYING TO ME, BUT AS WE'RE TALKING ABOUT IT, CAN YOU SAY TO US AS A COUNCIL THAT YOU HAVE GONE THROUGH THE ENTIRETY OF THE BUDGET WITH A FINE TOOTH COMB AND, UH, AND, AND ALLEVIATED AND ERADICATED AND MOVED AND MOVED AROUND EVERYTHING THAT YOU CAN, UH, SO THAT WE MIGHT DO THOSE THINGS THAT ARE ESSENTIAL WHEN WE START TALKING ABOUT ESSENTIAL TOAST. WE'RE TALKING ABOUT, UH, PUBLIC HEALTH AND SAFETY. WE'RE TALKING ABOUT WATER, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT GARBAGE AND TRASH PICKUP. THOSE THINGS, THOSE ARE THE THINGS THAT ARE ESSENTIAL BECAUSE THOSE ARE THE THINGS THAT OUR CITIZENS NEED. THOSE ARE THE THINGS THAT OUR CITIZENS SEE. AND SO THERE ARE THOSE OTHER THINGS AS WELL. BUT CAN YOU SAY TO US ON TODAY THAT AS YOU'RE OFFERING UP THIS INCREASE AND ASKING US TO, UM, VOTE IN AN INCREASE THAT WE'RE GONNA PASS ALONG, UH, TO THE TAX, UH, UH, PAYERS, 'CAUSE WE HAVE BEEN DOING INCREASES AND I THINK THAT THEY'RE GOING TO COME AND SAY THAT THERE HAVE BEEN SOME LINES THAT HAVE BEEN WORKED ON. AND WE KNOW ABOUT THE HORRIFIC SUMMER THAT WE HAD WITH WATER LINES BURSTING EVERYWHERE. WE KNOW ABOUT THE ESCAPING WATER AND THAT WE ARE ABOVE AVERAGE IN THE AMOUNT OF WATER THAT WE'RE LOSING. WE GET THAT. WE UNDERSTAND THAT. BUT AGAIN, HAVE WE GONE THROUGH THE BUDGET WITH A FINE TOOTH COMB AND LOOKED AT ALL OF THE CATEGORIES AND, AND MOVED, MOVED FROM OVER THERE, SOMETHING THAT WILL HELP US TO NOT RAISE, UM, THIS WATER BILL AND THIS PASS ON THIS WATER, UM, PRICE TAG TO OUR CITIZENS. CAN WE SAY THAT THE COMMENT THAT I CAN MAKE IS DEFINITELY FROM A FINANCIAL POINT OF VIEW, AS I'VE GOT EXPERTS HERE IN THEIR OWN BUDGET. SO FINANCIALLY FROM ME LOOKING AT THIS, THE ENTERPRISE FUND IS UNSUSTAINABLE FINANCIALLY. IF WE DO NOT MAKE THE INCREASE, EVEN IF YOU CHOOSE NOT TO AND SOMETHING BREAKS A BURST, I DON'T HAVE ENOUGH OF MONEY COMING IN TO TAKE CARE OF THE EMERGENCIES. I CAN SEE THIS ACTUALLY GOING DOWNHILL AND MAKING IT WORSE. IF THERE IS NOT AN INCREASE, I WILL JUST LEAVE IT AT THAT AND ALLOW THE WATER AND, UH, THE, THE WATER AND SEWER FUND UTILITIES DIRECTOR ADDRESS THAT. AND, AND, AND LET ME JUST ASK THIS QUESTION 'CAUSE AND, AND I'M GOING TO PERHAPS APPEAR IGNORANT, YOU KNOW, ON ON, IN THIS, IN THIS WAY FOR MANY, MANY, UH, MUCH OF THE TIME THAT I, FOR MUCH OF THE TIME THAT I WAS ON CITY COUNCIL AS A NEW COUNCIL MEMBER, UM, THE, UM, THE, THE, UM, THE LANDFILL WAS, UH, NOT PROFITABLE. UM, IT WAS NOT PROFITABLE. AND SO, UH, IT WASN'T CARRYING ITS WEIGHT. BUT I THINK THAT IT MAY BE CA I THINK IT'S CARRYING ITS WEIGHT. NOW, WOULD IT BE POSSIBLE TO, TO USE SOME OF THE LANDFILL TO HELP CARRY THE ENTERPRISE? WE CAN'T DO THAT. LET LEMME TELL YOU WHERE WE WERE. OKAY? LEMME TELL YOU WHERE WE WERE. UM, UM, I DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY CALL IT. ACCOUNTING TRICKS OR WHATEVER IT IS. AND WE HAVE, THAT'S A PRACTICE I DO NOT WANT TO GET, GET BACK INTO, WE TOOK $54 MILLION FROM THE GENERAL FUND IN THE PAST TO BALANCE THE ENTERPRISE FUNDS WATER, UM, WASTEWATER SEWER AND, UM, AND THE LANDFILL IN THE PAST. AND EVENTUALLY WE HAD TO WRITE IT OUT AS A DEBT. UM, THAT, THAT IS COMMINGLE IN OUR FUNDS. YOU KNOW, IT'S, IT'S, IT'S NOT THE RIGHT ACCOUNTING THING TO DO. AND I THINK IT, IT BORDERS ON BEING CLOSE TO BEING ILLEGAL WHEN YOU DO THOSE THINGS. I, I, AND I WOULD NOT LIKE TO DO THAT. BUT COUNCILMAN, THIS IS WHAT I PROMISED YOU AT THE LAST WORKSHOP. THIS IS WHAT WE ARE GOING TO DO. WE ARE GOING TO, WE HEARD WHAT YOU SAID, WE ARE GOING TO TAKE IT BACK WITH STAFF AND WE ARE GOING TO PROVIDE YOU WITH TWO OPTIONS. UM, WE HEARD WHAT YOU SAID WITH THE NEED FOR A PIPE BOOSTING CREW, WHICH WE HAVE NOT IMPLEMENTED. SO WE HAVE ALSO INCLUDED THAT IN WHAT WE INTEND TO DO AS WELL. UM, IN, IN TERMS OF ADDRESSING AS, UH, COUNCILOR DOUCETTE SAID, YOU KNOW, WHEN CUSTOMERS CONTINUE TO COMPLAIN ABOUT SEW ARE BACKING UP IN THEIR BATHTUBS, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE TO ADDRESS THAT. WE MUST ADDRESS THAT. AND WE ARE ADDRESSING THIS IN THIS BUDGET WITH A NEW PIPE BURSTING CREW OF ABOUT SIX OR SEVEN PEOPLE AND ALL THE EQUIPMENT THAT'S NEEDED SO THAT WE CAN GET [00:25:01] AHEAD OF IT, YOU KNOW, UM, UM, AS WE MOVE AHEAD, UM, WITH, WITH IT, UM, AT THE SAME TIME WE WANT TO DODGE THE BALL THAT'S COMING FROM THE, UM, ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE AND TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ASSURE THEM THAT WE IN COMPLIANCE BEFORE THEY FORCED OUR HANDS TO IT. SO I, I THINK WE HAVE A GOOD GAME PLAN WHEN YOU HEAR FROM THE, THE UTILITIES DEPARTMENT AS TO HOW WE'RE GOING TO DO IT IN TERMS OF WHAT LYNN IS DOING. AND WE ARE LOOKING VERY CLOSELY TOGETHER. I I'M LOOKING AT CUTTING BACK ON, ON ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF THAT DOES NOT HAVE ANY DIRECT IMPACT ON THE PEOPLE IN THE FIELD. YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE THINGS I'M VERY PASSIONATE ABOUT IS ABOUT CUSTOMER SERVICE. YOU CANNOT BE CALLING THE UTILITIES DEPARTMENT ON FOUR OR FIVE OCCASIONS. AND IF PHONE RINGS AND RINGS AND RINGS AND NOBODY ANSWER THE PHONE, THAT IS FRUSTRATING. IT IS FRUSTRATING TO THE TAXPAYER. IT IS FRUSTRATING TO THE PEOPLE WHO USE OUR SERVICE ALREADY. THE SERVICE IS BAD AND YOU CANNOT EVEN ANSWER THE PHONE. THAT IS DOUBLE JEOPARDY. WE CANNOT DO THAT. SO IN ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF, NO, NO. I WILL LOOK AT THE POSITIONS. I WILL RECLASSIFY THEM UP TO THIS MORNING. I GIVE A DIRECTIVE TO THE HR DIRECTOR TO RECLASSIFY A POSITION. YOU KNOW, I WILL DO IT INSTEAD OF TAKING ON A NEW POSITION. YOU KNOW, I WILL DO IT, YOU KNOW. UM, BUT THERE ARE TWO THINGS WE HAVE TO ADDRESS THE CUSTOMER SERVICE. WE HAVE TO ADDRESS CUSTOMER SERVICE, AND WE HAVE TO ADDRESS THE QUALITY OF SERVICE THAT WE PROVIDE TO, UM, OUR, OUR CUSTOMERS. AND SO I THINK CALVIN HAS A GOOD PLAN AS TO WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO IN ORDER TO, HOW WE ARE GOING TO MAKE IT PALATABLE ENOUGH SO THAT THEY, OUR, OUR, UM, CUSTOMERS CAN DIGEST IT. AND I KNOW THAT PART OF THE PLAN IS TO, THE METER CHANGES. I MEAN, THE CUSTOMERS COMPLAIN ABOUT THAT ALL THE TIME AND WE HAVE BEEN SPEAKING ABOUT IT ALL THE TIME. I THINK WE WILL SEE AN IMMEDIATE INCREASE AND DIFFERENCE WITH THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NEW METER SURVEY. YOU KNOW, BUT WE NEED TO MOVE ON THAT QUICK. WE NEED TO MOVE ON IT WITH TOTAL EXPEDIENCY AS FAR AS THAT IS CONCERNED. SO JUST GIVE US A LITTLE BIT OF TIME AND JUST LISTEN TO US AND YOU KNOW, UM, YOU KNOW, WE'LL FALL SOMEWHERE WHERE WE THINK THAT, YOU KNOW, EVEN IF WE MOVE FROM 10 TO EIGHT OR WHATEVER, SOMEWHERE THAT'S COMFORTABLE, YOU KNOW. BUT AS COUNCILMAN DOUCETTE SAID, AND COUNCILMAN KINLER, I HEAR WHAT YOU'RE SAYING. WE NEED TO SHOW SOME THE CUSTOMER THAT WE ARE DOING SOMETHING. WE NEED TO SHOW THEM THAT WE ARE DOING SOMETHING. AND I TOTALLY AGREE WITH YOU WHERE THAT IS CONCERNED. OKAY, JUST A MINUTE NOW BEFORE ANYONE ELSE SPEAKS YOU ALL. GO AHEAD. GOOD MORNING, UH, MAYOR AND COUNCIL. UH, COUNCILMAN DOUCETTE, WE HEARD YOU LOUD AND CLEAR LAST YEAR WHEN YOU, UH, BROUGHT THE ISSUE OF THE LEAKS THAT ARE EXCESSIVE AT THE CITY OF PORT ARTHUR. AND THE DEPARTMENT TOOK A VERY AGGRESSIVE APPROACH TO ADDRESS THOSE LEAKS. AND WE CAN PROUDLY REPORT THAT FROM LAST SUMMER TO THIS SUMMER, WE REDUCED THE LEAKAGE BY 4 MILLION GALLONS A DAY. SO WE HAVE 4 MILLION GALLONS A DAY, LESS LEAKING THIS YEAR THAN WE HAD LAST YEAR BECAUSE OF ALL THE REPAIRS THAT THE CREWS WERE ABLE TO PERFORM USING IN-HOUSE FORCES. THE PLAN FOR THE WATER LINES IS ALREADY IN PLACE. WE HAVE 57 WATER LINES THAT ARE READY TO BID AND GO OUT FOR CONSTRUCTION. ONE OF THOSE 57 LINES AS THE ATLANTA LINE THAT WAS IN THE CAPITAL PROGRAM THIS YEAR THAT THE COUNCIL APPROVED TO GO TO CONSTRUCTION, ALTHOUGH PHASE TWO WAS SUPPOSED TO COME NEXT YEAR, YOU ALL APPROVED BOTH OF THESE PHASES AND IT'S UNDER CONSTRUCTION TODAY. THE OTHER 56 LINES, WE APPLIED FOR THE TEXAS WAR DEVELOPMENT BOARD FUNDING FOR THEM, WHICH IS APPROXIMATELY JUST UNDER 30 MILLION. UNFORTUNATELY, NONE OF THESE GOT APPROVED, SO THAT'S WHY WE COULDN'T MOVE FORWARD ON THEM. BUT WE HAVE A PLAN ON THESE WATER LINES. UH, THIS PROPOSED BUDGET WILL SPEND BETWEEN 13 TO $15 MILLION IN CAPITAL FUNDING ON WATERLINE REPLACEMENT. THAT'S IN OUR CAPITAL, UH, PROGRAM. SO ONE OF THE THINGS THAT'S REALLY IMPORTANT IS COUNCILMAN LEWIS BROUGHT THAT TO OUR ATTENTION LAST MEETING IS WE WENT FROM MAINTAINING 350 MILES OF WATER LINES TO 520 MILES. SAME THING ON THE SEWER SIDE WITH THE SAME AMOUNT OF STAFF. SO THE WORKLOAD INCREASED, THE INFRASTRUCTURE [00:30:01] IS GETTING OLDER, BUT WE ARE USING THE SAME AMOUNT OF STAFF TO GO OUT THERE AND PROVIDE THAT SERVICE. AND A LOT OF TIMES YOU ARE RIGHT, COUNCILMAN , WE ARE SLACKING ON THAT SERVICE. IT'S NOT BECAUSE WE ARE NOT OUT THERE WORKING. IT'S NOT BECAUSE WE ARE NOT EVEN SPENDING THE OVERTIME. IT'S BECAUSE WE DON'T HAVE ALL THE RESOURCES TO RESPOND AS FAST AS WE'D LIKE TO RESPOND. AND IT ALL TIES BACK DOWN TO FUNDING. IT ALL COMES, YOU KNOW, BACK DOWN TO THE MONEY. WHERE IS THE MONEY, UH, GONNA COME FROM? ARE WE DOING EVERYTHING WE CAN AS A DEPARTMENT? PROBABLY WE CAN DO BETTER IN ON SEVERAL LEVELS AND WE ARE LOOKING AT ALL THAT WE IMPROVE ON A DAILY BASIS ON HOW WE DO THINGS AND HOW WE OPERATE. BUT EVEN IF WE OPTIMIZE THIS OPERATION AND WE GET TO A POINT, WE ARE AT THE BEST LEVEL AT EVERY LEVEL WE CAN BE AT, IT STILL CANNOT FUNCTION FINANCIALLY WITHOUT ANY RATE INCREASES. SO IT'S, I MEAN, IT, IT'S A TOUGH DECISION, NO DOUBT ABOUT IT. AND IT ALL, IT'S LIKE I SAID TO YOU LAST TIME, IT'S, IT'S ALL ABOUT HOW MUCH YOU ALL WANNA DO AND HOW FAST YOU WANNA DO IT. AND WE WERE FORTUNATE IN THE LAST FEW YEARS TO BE ABLE TO HAVE A BALANCED BUDGET. ALTHOUGH WE MISSED THREE OF THE RATE INCREASES IN THE LAST SEVEN YEARS. BUT WE WERE ABLE TO FUNCTION, WE WERE ABLE TO STAY WITHIN THAT BUDGET AS HARD AS IT WAS. SO IT, WE ARE TRYING, WE, WE ARE DOING WHAT WE CAN DO. THE PROBLEM WITH HAVING STAYED WITHIN THE BUDGET IS THAT YOU WERE NOT ABLE TO MOVE FORWARD WITH THE REPAIRS AND THE MAINTENANCE GOING FORWARD. AND THAT IS SOMETHING THAT I, I HAVE TO LOOK AT FINANCIALLY. GO, GO AHEAD. WERE YOU THROUGH, UH, I THOUGHT HE WAS SHOWING YOU SOMETHING ELSE. THERE'S, THERE'S ONE THING I WOULD LIKE TO SAY. ON THE WATER SYSTEM, UH, 70 TO 75% OF OUR WATER LINES ARE CAST IRON OR AC PIPE. CAST IRON WAS DISCONTINUED IN THE LATE FIFTIES, MAYBE AS LATE AS 61 OR 62. CAST IRON IS PLAGUED WITH RING BREAKS. IT ALSO HAD NO INTERIOR LINING. SO IT IT, IT CORRODES IN HUGE NODULES. SO IF YOU TALK TO THE FIRE MARSHAL, HE'LL TELL YOU THAT WHEN THEY OPEN A FIRE HYDRANT IN SOME OF THE OLDER AREAS OF TOWN, VERY LITTLE WATER COMES OUT. AND IT'S BECAUSE AT LOW FLOWS FOR LIKE FLUSHING YOUR TOILET, YOU CAN, THAT WATER CAN WORK THROUGH THE NODULES, BUT WHEN YOU NEED A LOT OF WATER, YOU CAN'T GET IT BECAUSE YOU CAN'T SEE THROUGH THE PIPE VERY WELL. I MEAN, THE WALL WILL BE STICKING THAT FAR INTO A EIGHT OR 10 INCH PIPE FROM THESE NODULES. I HAVE ONE IN MY OFFICE IF YOU'D LIKE TO SEE IT. I'LL BRING IT TO YOUR OFFICE AND YOU CAN SEE IT. UH, THE, AND IT, THIS WHOLE AREA DOWN HERE IS CAST IRON. IT WAS REPLACED WITH DUCTILE IRON, WHICH DOESN'T BREAK. IT LOOKS THE SAME. MOST PEOPLE THINK IT'S THE SAME, BUT IT'S TOTALLY DIFFERENT MATERIAL. AND THE DUCTILE IRON HAD A CEMENT LINING IN IT. IT LASTS LONGER. AND SO, BUT IN THE, UH, WHAT WE REPLACED IT WITH, WHICH WAS STANDARD DURING THAT PERIOD WHEN CAST IRON WAS GOING OUT, WE WENT TO AC PIPE. AC PIPE WAS BANNED BY THE EPA IN 19 80 81. IT HAS THE SAME PROBLEM AS ITS BRITTLE. IT BREAKS. SO WE HAVE A PROLIFERATION OF THIS MATERIAL THROUGHOUT OUR CITY. THERE HASN'T BEEN ANY MAJOR PIPE REPLACEMENT PROGRAMS THAT I'M AWARE OF TO REPLACE THE AC PIPE. AC PIPE DOESN'T CORRODE, SO YOU DON'T GET THE LOW FLOWS THROUGH IT, IT JUST BREAKS. THE CURRENT STANDARD IS, UH, EITHER PVC OR HDPE. WELL, IF YOU'RE DOING DIRECTIONAL DRILLING, WE PUT IN HDPE. IF YOU'RE DOING OPEN CUT, YOU TEND TO USE PVC EITHER LOCK JOINT OR PUSH ON JOINT. BUT WE HAVEN'T HAD ANY MAJOR PROGRAMS TO REPLACE THAT. THAT'S WHAT WE'LL BE GOING TO WHEN WE'RE LOOKING AT THIS 14 MILLION. WE'LL BE DESIGNING BASED ON MODERN PIPE MATERIALS, WHICH WILL LAST. WE HAVE PIPES THAT HAVE AND A HUNDRED FOOT SECTION, MAYBE SIX, SEVEN CLAMPS ON IT TO REPAIR IT. THAT'S THE CONDITION OF OUR SYSTEM. AND THERE ARE AREAS WHERE WE ACTUALLY HAVE TO GO IN AND REPLACE A LITTLE SECTION OF PIPE REAL QUICK. 'CAUSE THERE'S ALREADY SO MANY CLAMPS ON IT, YOU CAN'T REPAIR IT. THAT'S THE CONDITION OF THE WATER SYSTEM IN THIS CITY THAT THESE PEOPLE OWN. THE, THE RESIDENTS, INCLUDING MYSELF, OWN THIS SYSTEM. IT'S NOT MY SYSTEM, IT'S NOT HAN'S SYSTEM. IT'S OUR SYSTEM. THAT'S ALL I'D LIKE TO SAY. [00:35:01] OKAY. THANK YOU. UH, COUNCILMAN? YES. YOU KNOW, SOMEHOW OR ANOTHER, WE ALWAYS GO THROUGH THIS. I, I PRETTY MUCH KNOW EVERYTHING YOU ALL SAID. I'VE HEARD IT AT ONE TIME OR ANOTHER. AND I UNDERSTAND IT. I ALWAYS SAY WE JUST NEED TO SAY THINGS THAT CITIZENS CAN IDENTIFY WITH, COUNCIL MEMBERS CAN IDENTIFY WITH WHO MAY NOT UNDERSTAND IT. THE CITY MANAGER SAID, I'M GONNA GO BACK, I'M GONNA LOOK AT POSITIONS TRYING TO GET CUT DOWN ON ADMINISTRATIVE DO HERE. THOSE ARE THE TYPE THINGS THAT I AS A COUNCILMAN WANT TO HEAR BECAUSE THAT IS THE WAY WE GOING TO CUT BACK ON MONEY. TO SAVE MONEY, TO HAVE MORE MONEY TO DO THE THINGS THAT YOU'RE SAYING NEEDS TO BE DONE. WE DON'T QUESTION WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE. WE ARE NOT SAYING NOBODY'S NOT WORKING. WE'RE NOT SAYING YOU'RE NOT. WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR IS HOW WE GOING TO FIND MONEY. AND WHEN YOU START SAYING CUT BACK ON ADMINISTRATORS AND KEEPING THOSE IN THE FIELD WORKING WELL, THAT'S GOING TO SAVE US MONEY. AND THAT COULD BE THE DIFFERENCE OF HAVING A RATE INCREASE IN THAT BY LOOKING AT THOSE THINGS. BECAUSE IF YOU CUT BACK ON ADMINISTRATION AND KEEP THE FIELD, YOU SAVE MONEY, YOU HAVE EXTRA MONEY. NOW WE TALKING ABOUT WHAT WE ARE DOING, OKAY? AND IT'S VERY IMPORTANT THAT WE UNDERSTAND THAT. AND WHEN WE SPEAK, WE NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE UNDERSTAND WHAT WE ARE SAYING SO CITIZENS CAN UNDERSTAND. I KEEP SAYING THAT ALL THE TIME WHEN SOMEBODY TELL ME THAT WE CANNOT USE THE GENERAL FUND FOR ENTERPRISE. THAT AIN'T RIGHT. THAT'S A NO-NO. WE CAN USE FUNDS WHEN IT COME TO PUBLIC HEALTH AND SAFETY IN THIS CITY. WHEN WE SAY THE ENTERPRISE FUND GOT TO WHERE IT OWED THE GENERAL FUND 54 MILLION. THE WHOLE STORY IS THE FACT THAT RATHER THAN DUE RATE INCREASES, RATHER THAN DO RATE INCREASES, THE COUNCIL ELECTED TO JUST MAKE UP THE SHORTAGES, SUBSIDIZE IT WITH THE GENERAL FUND AT THE END OF THE YEAR BECAUSE THE MONEY WAS AVAILABLE IN THE GENERAL FUND. SO WE NEVER HAD ANY RATE INCREASE. SO WHEN YOU COME UP AND TELL US, WELL WE HAVEN'T HAD ANY RATE INCREASES, THAT'S BECAUSE WE PRIOR DIDN'T DO WHAT WE SHOULD HAVE BEEN DOING. THAT PUT THINGS SO FAR BEHIND, BUT JUST LIKE WE DIDN'T DO WHAT WE SUPPOSED TO DO WHEN WE WANT TO FIX IT, I DON'T WANT CITIZENS TO BE THE ONE THAT HAVE TO BURY IT. EXCUSE ME. EXCUSE ME. COUNSEL, CAN, CAN YOU WAIT? YEAH, I'M, I'M WE GETTING OUT OUTSIDE OF THE COURT. I'M SORRY. I'M SORRY. YES, SIR. OKAY. YOU KNOW, SO, SO, SO THAT'S, THAT'S MY CONCERN. AND IF, AND I WAS THE COUNCIL MEMBER THAT GOT WITH OUR ADVISORS AND GOT THEM TO UNDERSTAND THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS THE ENTERPRISE FUND OR THE GENERAL FUND BECAUSE BOTH THOSE FUNDS ARE OUR FUND. YOU KNOW, YOU DON'T SAY YOUR SAVINGS ACCOUNT. OH, YOUR CHECKING ACCOUNT. AND AS IT TURNED OUT, IT WAS THE FACT, THAT'S WHY THIS $54 MILLION WENT AWAY. IT, IT WASN'T A DEATH. IT WAS THE MONEY. IT'S OUR MONEY AND IT'S SOMETHING WE HAD TO DO IN ORDER TO PAY FOR THE WATER. 'CAUSE WE WASN'T GIVING RATES. SO NOW WE TALKING ABOUT INCREASING RACE. YES, BUT WE DONE GOT SO FAR BEHIND WITH THE PIPES, WE NEED TO DO THAT TOO. SEE, THAT'S MY THING. SO I DON'T MIND ENTERTAINING THE REASONS OF WHAT WE HAVE TO DO. AND THAT'S THE GOOD PART ABOUT US UNDERSTANDING YOUR SIDE IS AS, AS STAFF, BUT AS COUNCIL MEMBERS, I THINK WHAT THE CITY MANAGER SAID IS WHAT I EXPECT TO HAPPEN BECAUSE I THINK [00:40:01] THAT'S THE WAY TO GO THIS BUDGET SOMETIME WE GOTTA TIGHTEN THE BELT. THAT'S THE OLD SAYING. TIGHTEN IT REAL TIGHT AND FIND IT. AND WHEN YOU CAN'T TIGHTEN IT NO MORE, THEN YOU CAN SAY, YEAH, I GIVE AND COME TO US. SO, YOU KNOW, ALL THE EXPLANATION WE'VE HEARD, YOU KNOW, AND WE ARE NOT QUESTIONING YOU GUYS. I DON'T KNOW WHY Y'ALL THINK SOMEONE IS QUESTIONING YOU ALL. NO ONE IS QUESTIONING YOU ALL, JUST LIKE WE HEAR YOU, YOU HAVE TO HEAR US BECAUSE WHAT WE SAY, IT'S WHAT WE HEARING IN THE STREETS FROM THE PEOPLE THAT ELECTED US. SO IT'S UP TO US TO HEAR YOU AND YOU HEAR US AND WORK TOGETHER AND FIX THIS. BUT IT AIN'T GONNA BE ONE WAY. THAT'S MY THING. OKAY? UM, LOOK, THERE'S THE ONE IN THE GALLERY. I WANTED TO SAY SOMETHING. IT'S A WORKSHOP. MS. JONES, JOANNE JONES, SIX 40 EAST 10TH STREET. UM, I'M JUST GLAD TO HEAR ALL THIS, UH, BE HERE TO HEAR THIS FOR MYSELF. UM, THE WAY I PERSONALLY, MY OPINION, EVERYTHING THAT HAS HAPPENED SHOULD HAVE BEEN DONE THREE TO FOUR YEARS BACK. AND WHAT YOU'RE TRYING TO DO IN ONE YEAR, IT'S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN BECAUSE YOU CAN'T GO IN THE BUDGET AND TAKE FROM THE BUDGET FOR ONE, FOR, UH, FOR JUST THIS PARTICULAR, UH, UH, FOR PIPES AND, AND ALL THIS. WE CAN'T JUST TAKE ALL THE MONEY FROM THE BUDGET. WE, I MEAN THE, WE HAVE TO LIVE OTHER THAN JUST THE STREETS AND TAKING IT FROM YOUR CITIZENS, MAN, YOU GONNA HAVE KILLINGS, YOU'RE GONNA HAVE BREAK-INS AND EVERYTHING. SO I WANNA SAY THE, THE, THE MISTAKE WAS MADE THREE TO FOUR YEARS AGO AND WE JUST CAN'T CLEAN IT UP IN ONE YEAR. AND THEN YOU DON'T HAVE THE PEOPLE EMPLOYED TO DO IT IN ONE YEAR. WE GAVE YOU THE MONEY. SO WHY TIE UP THIS MONEY SAYING THAT, YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW, THIS IS FOR PIPES, WHICH WE ALL WANT THIS. WE ALL WANT THIS. BUT YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE THE, UH, PEOPLE, ENOUGH PEOPLE TO CLEAR TO DO THIS WITHIN SIX MONTHS. YOU DON'T HAVE ENOUGH PEOPLE TO, TO DO THIS WORK IN, IN SIX MONTHS. SO THIS IS GONNA TAKE TIME AND PATIENCE AND NOT USE THE COMMUNITY FOR YOUR BACKBONE. AND I'M AGAINST GOING UP ON THE WATER. WE CAN'T GO NO FURTHER. WE CANNOT GO ANY FURTHER. TRUST ME, I WAS PAYING MY WATER BILL A LITTLE MEXICAN LADY, $400 TO KEEP HER WATER ON. CAN YOU IMAGINE? THIS IS A WHOLE SALARY WITH THREE KIDS GOING TO SCHOOL? NO, NO. WE CANNOT KEEP GIVING MONEY, MONEY, MONEY. I KNOW THE JOB NEED BEING DONE. I'M FOR IT. BUT WE CAN'T DO IT OUTTA ONE BUDGET. IT'S GONNA TAKE TWO OR THREE BUDGETS FOR, TO GIVE YOU THIS MONEY TO DO IT. AND ALL I CAN SAY, DO THE BEST YOU CAN, THE VERY BEST YOU CAN. AND ANOTHER THING I FOUND OUT AND I WAS, UM, SAYING THAT FROM THAT BEAUTIFICATION COMMITTEE, SOME OF, SOME OF THAT MONEY CAN, CAN BE DELETED OFF THAT BEAUTIFICATION, UH, COMMITTEE TO DO LESS FOR THAT BEAUTIFICATION AND USE IT OTHERWISE FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE COMMUNITY. NOW THIS IS WHAT I, I LOOKED AT THE BUDGET ON FACEBOOK AND, YOU KNOW, AND, AND JUST WATER ITSELF, I THINK CAN'T, FROM WHAT I UNDERSTAND, I'M NOT PERFECT. YOU HAVE FIVE PER SIX, UH, MILLION JUST WITH THE WATER ITSELF, WATER BILLS AND COMING IN. SO IT'S, IT'S, IT'S A TURMOIL TO, TO FIX THIS. BUT IT CAN'T BE DONE IN ONE YEAR. AND PLEASE STOP COMING AFTER THE COMMUNITY. WE ARE SUFFERING ENOUGH. WE CAN'T GO ANY FURTHER, PLEASE. THANK YOU. OKAY. UM, I DON'T SEE ANY OTHER LIGHTS HERE. UH, CONSTABLE LEWIS. YEAH. THAT, UH, I'M, YOU KNOW, I'M PART MY, MY LATENESS, UM, I WAS TIED UP WITH OTHER THINGS. CITIZEN GOT OTHER PROBLEMS. BUT, UH, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE INCREASE IN DECREASE. ARE WE TALKING ABOUT THE SAME THING WE'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT FROM THE LAST, THE INCREASE IN WATERS? [00:45:01] WHAT WHAT'S THE STATUS OF OUR, UM, IN ORDINANCE TO DECREASE THE AMOUNT THAT THE SENIOR CITIZENS ARE PAYING? WHAT, WHAT'S THE STATUS OF THAT, THAT ORDINANCE? WE WANTED TO DO THAT IN CONJUNCTION. WE'RE HOPING STILL FOR A RATE INCREASE, BUT WE WOULD LIKE TO DO THAT IN CONJUNCTION WITH THAT. AND IN CONJUNCTION WITH WHAT IF WE HAVE A RATE INCREASE AND WE WANNA DO THAT IN CONJUNCTION WITH THAT. AND WE ACTUALLY, WE ACTUALLY HAD ONE, UH, THE, THE RECOMMENDATION. SO WE DO HAVE THAT DRAFT ALREADY. WOW. OH, YOU GOT THE DRAFT? OKAY. YES, WE DO HAVE THE DRAFT. WE JUST WANTED TO WAIT TO SEE WHAT THE DECISION IS ON THE BUDGET FIRST BEFORE GOING FORWARD SIMULTANEOUSLY. OH, OKAY. 'CAUSE WE, WE PREPARED IT AS I TOLD YOU AND WE SENT IT. BUT I, I UNDERSTAND THAT THERE WAS A DESIRE TO DO THE AMENDMENT TO THE ORDINANCE, WATER ORDINANCE ALL AT ONCE, BUT IT'S PREPARED. OKAY. OKAY. ONE OF THE THINGS I'VE BEEN HEARING ABOUT THE, THE, THE INCREASE IN THE WATER SYSTEM AND UNCOUPLING, UNCOUPLING, UH, THE WATER DEPARTMENT FROM THE GENERAL FUND. OKAY, WHAT DID NOT HAPPEN, THEY UNCOUPLED IT TOO. THEY DECREASED THE TAX RATE TOO EARLY THAT FOR YOUR TIME. OKAY. I'M JUST MAKING A STATEMENT THAT WHAT SHOULD HAVE HAPPENED WHEN THE CITY, WHEN THEY UNCOUPLE THE WATER FUND FROM THE GENERAL FUND AND, AND HAD A TAX RATE DECREASE. WHAT, WHAT SHOULD HAVE HAPPENED? THEY SHOULD HAVE ALLOWED THAT TAX RATE TO CONTINUE UNTIL THEY BUILD UP A SURPLUS AND THEN GRADUALLY UN GRADUALLY DECREASE THE TAX RATE. BUT THEY DONE BOTH AT THE SAME TIME. AND THAT'S WHY WE'RE SURFING RIGHT NOW. YOU CAN'T, IT'S, IT'S, IT HAS A GREATER IMPACT. IT IMPRESSES THE, THE USERS PROVIDE THE SERVICE WHEN YOU AND, AND BUSINESS PEOPLE GET EXCITED ABOUT A TAX RATE DEC UH, A TAX RATE DECREASE. YES. BUT YOU HAVE TO GRADUALLY DO THOSE THINGS. IT, IT, IT, IT MAKES GOOD NEWS. BUT IF YOU DO IT TOO QUICKLY, IT'S JUST LIKE TAKING A GLASS, A GLASS OUT OF THE, THE D FREEZER AND STICK IT IN UNDER HOT WATER. IT IS GOING TO SHATTER. BUT YOU CAN TAKE THAT SAME GLASS OUTTA THE DEEP FREEZER AND GRADUALLY, GRADUALLY WARM IT UP. GRADUALLY IT'LL STAY INTACT. SO JUST A LITTLE BUSINESS SENSE IN THE FUTURE CAN, WILL HELP US. AND WHEN YOU ALL SEE THAT THE COUNCIL IS GOING TRENDING THE WRONG DIRECTION, STEP UP TO THE PLATE AND TELL US, YES, COUNCILMAN, IT'S GOOD. IT LOOKS GOOD AND IT WOULD BE A, A GREAT BENEFIT TO THE TAX BILL. BUT WE CAN'T DO THIS AT THIS TIME. THAT'S WHAT THE, THAT'S WHAT THE COUNCIL MEMBERS, BECAUSE WE ALL COME FROM DIFFERENT BACKGROUNDS. YOU KNOW, I, I I GOT 45 YEARS IN THE INDUSTRY. I'VE SEEN ALL KINDS OF THINGS. OKAY? I'VE INSPECTED ALL KINDS OF UNITS, ALL KIND OF INSTRUMENTATION, ALL KIND OF ANALYZE. I'VE INSPECTED ALL THESE, I'VE KNOW, I KNOW ABOUT COSTS AND WHAT, WHAT, WHAT WORKS, WHAT DOESN'T WORK. BUT YOU GOT OTHER COUNCIL MEMBERS GOT DIFFERENT BACKGROUNDS, SOME OUT THE MILITARY. WELL, FORTUNATELY COUNCILMAN DOUCETTE HIS POSITION IN THE MILITARY, HE HAD TO DEAL WITH BUDGETS. BUT THE REST OF THE COUNCIL MEMBERS, THEY COME FROM DIFFERENT BACKGROUNDS. YOU KNOW, THEY DON'T HAVE THAT EXPERIENCE. WHAT I'M NOT GONNA SAY ANYMORE, I COULD SAY SOME MORE, BUT, UH, I'M NOT GONNA SAY ANYMORE. OKAY? BUT, UM, MY, THE SIMPLE THING, YOU GOT THREE YEARS YOU WANNA RUN FOR CITY COUNCIL. YOU GOT THREE YEARS TO LEARN WHAT TO DO. YOU CAN GET ASSOCIATE DEGREE IN TWO YEARS RIGHT DOWN THE STREET, LAMAR IN GOVERNMENT. SO WHY WAIT TILL THE LAST MINUTE SOMEBODY WALK UP TO YOU, HEY, YOU KNOW, YOU OUGHT TO RUN FOR COUNCIL BECAUSE YOU COME BEFORE COUNCIL. YOU HAVE SOME CONCERN. BUT THAT DOESN'T MAKE YOU UNDERSTAND ALL OF THE PARTICULARS ABOUT, ABOUT BUDGETS AND WHAT HAVE YOU. IT'S A LOT DOWN HERE. AND THE, THE SERVE ON THIS CITY COUNCIL IS A VARSITY. IT'S, IT'S A VARSITY. YOU DON'T, EVERY WEEK WE SPEND MILLIONS OF DOLLARS A NEWCOMER, NO EXPERIENCE, HAVE NO KNOWLEDGE OF WHAT'S GOING ON, OKAYS MILLIONS OF DOLLARS TO BE SPENT, HAVE NO KNOWLEDGE BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T DO THE PROPER PREPAREDNESS. THEY LET SOMEBODY WALK UP TO 'EM, HEY, YOU OUGHT RUN FOR COUNCIL. YOU ARTICULATE AND ALL THESE GOTTA YOU EDUCATED EDUCATION IS FINE. EDUCATED ABOUT WHAT? I MAY NEED YOU TO BUILD A HOUSE. YOU [00:50:01] GOT A PHD IN, IN SOMETHING ELSE. I NEED THIS HOUSE BILL. AND YOU DON'T HAVE NO KNOWLEDGE OF HOW THEY DO IT WITHOUT PROPER TRAINING. OKAY? SO IN THE FUTURE WHEN WE MAKE CHANGE THE UNCOUPLING THING, LET'S DO IT GRADUALLY. AND WE DON'T, WE WON'T END UP WITH A SHADOW GLASS. OKAY? UH, ANY OTHER REMARKS ON THIS ITEM? I THINK NOW I, I WOULD LIKE TO JUST CHIME IN ON ONE THING ABOUT, UH, AND MOST OF THIS, I KNOW THIS INCREASE IS, UH, IS DEALING WITH INFRASTRUCTURE. THAT'S ONE THING I LIKE. WHAT, WHAT, WHAT, UH, UH, MATTHEW SAID, YOU KNOW, NOT, IT'S NOT JUST HIS INFRASTRUCTURE OR MY INFRASTRUCTURE, IT'S OUR INFRASTRUCTURE. YOU, IF YOU LIVE ANYWHERE IN THE CONFINES OF THE CITY OF PORT ARTHUR, UH, AND I DO UNDERSTAND THAT THE, UH, THE, THE NEED, THE NECESSITY FOR THE INCREASE, UH, ONE THING I'VE LEARNED, UH, IN THE ADAGE, BUT IT'S A TRUE STATEMENT, YOU KNOW, GROWTH HURTS. IF YOU THINK ABOUT YOUR INFANCY TO BECOMING A, AN ADOLESCENT, YOU KNOW, YOU HAD PAINS AND OLD PEOPLE CALLED THEM BACK IN THE DAY GROWING PAINS, YOU KNOW, AND IF YOU NOTICE THOSE PAINS DIDN'T KILL YOU, IT JUST MADE YOU BE THE PERSON THAT YOU ARE TODAY FOR THIS COMMUNITY AND THIS CITY, THIS MUNICIPALITY TO BE THE MUNICIPALITY THAT I KNOW IT CAN BE. WE HAVE TO GROW. THERE ARE GONNA BE SOME THINGS THAT WE ARE GOING TO HAVE TO DO THAT ARE NOT GOING TO BE POPULAR THINGS. SO I-I-I-I-I ASCRIBE TO WHAT YOU WANT TO DO. UH, I SUPPORT WHAT YOU WANNA PROPOSE. NOW, I KNOW FOLK ASK, WELL, WHERE DOES THE MONEY COME FROM? WE HAVE TO LOOK AT THE SOURCES OF FINANCING IN MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT RIGHT NOW, YOU KNOW, THE OLD WAY IT DIDN'T HAPPEN. MANY OF THE THINGS THAT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT INCREASING, THERE ARE GRANT OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE TO ASSIST WITH MANY OF THOSE, I BELIEVE. BUT WE HAVE GOT TO BE CONNECTED THROUGH ACTUALLY A NATIONAL OR EVEN AN INTERNATIONAL NETWORK WHERE FOLK HAVE MONEY. FOUNDATIONS HAVE MONIES TO ASSIST CITIES WITH THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT HAS MONIES TO ASSIST CITIES. THERE'S ONE THING THAT I'VE WORKED WITH DURING MY MAYORAL TENURE IS IF GETTING INFORMATION FROM ORGANIZATIONS OF WHICH, UH, OUR AM ACTUAL MEMBER COUPLE ORGANIZATIONS WHERE, YOU KNOW, THE CITY HAS REFUSED TO PAY THE, THE, THE, UH, MEMBERSHIP. SO, BUT I STILL AM PRIVY TO THE INFORMATION. THERE ARE GRANTS AVAILABLE THAT WILL ASSIST US WITH THIS. YOU KNOW, AS YOU MAKE THE, UH, UH, FACT KNOWN THAT WE'VE GOT TO INCREASE THE BUDGET, THERE ARE OPPORTUNITIES THAT THERE, UH, THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT HAS. BUT YOU HAVE TO HAVE SOMEONE WHO IS KNOWLEDGEABLE AND CAN SEEK OUT THIS, UH, THESE MONIES TO ASSIST US WITH WHAT WE ARE GOING TO HAVE TO DO. AND I DON'T KNOW, UH, MS. MANN, IF YOU HAVE INVOLVED WITH THIS, BUT I DON'T WANNA SOUND LIKE A BROKEN RECORD. THE, UH, PFAS AND SOME OTHER THINGS THAT ARE GOING TO BE REQUIRED UNDER FEDERAL LAW. WE DON'T HAVE A SAY IN THE BUDGET HERE WHEN THEY SAY IT HAS TO BE FIXED, IT COSTS X MILLIONS OF DOLLARS AND IT HAS TO BE DONE BY A CERTAIN DATE. THOSE THINGS HAVE TO HAPPEN. NOW, WHAT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT ARE PREVENTIVE MEASURES THAT WILL KEEP US AWAY FROM THIS IN THE FUTURE. SO I DON'T WANT US TO JUST BE SO DOGMATIC OR THAT WE ARE SUPPOSED TO BE STEWARDS OF WHAT'S GOING ON. NOW. WE STILL HAVE TO BE VISIONARIES AND UNDERSTAND THAT THERE ARE FUTURISTIC OPPORTUNITIES THAT ARE COMING THAT WOULD ACTUALLY NECESSITATE THAT WE DO WHAT YOU ARE PROPOSING. OKAY? SO I DON'T WANT YOU JUST TO THINK THAT NO ONE UNDERSTANDS, AND I THINK EVERYBODY DOES. AGAIN, COUNCILMAN LEWIS SAYS IT, IT IS YOUR APPROACH. IT'S YOUR, YOUR YOUR POINT OF RESPIRATORY, YOUR PRIOR KNOWLEDGE. OKAY? AND I, I WOULD BE THE FIRST TO SAY I DON'T HAVE PRIOR KNOWLEDGE IN FISCAL MATTERS, DEALING WITH FINANCES AS YOU DO. BUT I DO HAVE KNOWLEDGE IN SEEING A NEED AND KNOWING THAT A CHANGE HAS TO COME, IT HAS [00:55:01] TO BEGIN SOMEWHERE. AND AS I BEGAN WITH GROWTH CAUSES SOME PAIN, I'M WILLING AS MAYOR FOR MY TENURE, THIS, WE HAVE TO SUFFER THE PAIN 'CAUSE WE WANT TO GROW. OKAY? THE QUESTION THAT I WOULD LIKE TO POSE TO COUNSEL FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS WORKSHOP IS I'M MAKING A RECOMMENDATION OF 10% THE, THERE I DON'T SEE HOW WE ARE ABLE TO GET A BOND AT ALL WITHOUT A RATE INCREASE. AND THE QUESTION BEFORE YOU IS WHAT THAT RATE WILL BE. OKAY. COUNCILOR LEWIS, YOU GOT YOUR LIGHT BACK ON. YEAH. WILL YOU RESTATE WHAT YOU JUST SAID ABOUT THE, A WAY OF DOING SOMETHING WITHOUT A RATE INCREASE WE WON'T BE ABLE TO DO AT ALL. WE WON'T BE ABLE TO GET OUR BOND FOR THE ENTERPRISE FUND WITHOUT A RATE INCREASE. OKAY. IT IS A RATE INCREASE THAT'S GOING TO FUND THE BOND ITSELF. THE DEBT SERVICE GOING WANNA FUND THE WHAT? DEBT SERVICE? THE DEBT SERVICE. THE DEBT SERVICE, OKAY. YEAH. OKAY. AND I AM MAKING A RECOMMENDATION OF 10% AND I WOULD LIKE DIRECTION AS TO A RECOMMENDATION OF HOW MUCH 10% RATE. 10%. YES. AND THE QUESTION THAT COMES BEFORE YOU IS A MATTER OF THAT AMOUNT OF RATE INCREASE. OKAY? OKAY. OKAY. UH, AMELIA, YOU ARE RIGHT THERE. THERE, THERE ARE FEDERAL GRANTS, BUT JUST LIKE THE STAFF SAID, THESE FEDERAL GRANTS, THESE THINGS ARE COMPETITIVE. YOU HAVE TO, YOU HAVE TO BE PUT, PUT YOUR PROPOSALS ON THE TABLE AND, AND IT GOES BEFORE SOME, IT GOES OUT IN CYBERSPACE OR GOES BEFORE A BIG BOARD. AND YOU HAVE TO, IT'S COMPETITIVE NOW ALONG WITH THE COMPETITORS. YOU HAVE TO HAVE MATCHING MONEY IF YOU DON'T HAVE MATCHING MONEY BECAUSE IT'S GONNA COST YOU SOMETHING. I MEAN, IT MAY BE A TWO TO ONE RATIO OR THREE TO ONE WHATEVER, BUT YOU HAVE TO HAVE MATCHING MONEY AVAILABLE IN ORDER TO BE AWARDED THE GRANT. AND THEN ON TOP OF WHEN THEY AWARD GRANTS, THEY, THEY, IT IS, IT IS CALLED AN ALLOCATION. IT'S, IT'S AVAILABLE. BUT NOW ONCE THEY'RE WATER CITY A GRANT, A ALLOCATION, NOW YOU HAVE TO, YOU GOT A, THE CLOCK IS RUNNING. YOU GOT A WINDOW TO COME UP WITH A PLAN ON HOW YOU GOING TO SPEND THIS MONEY. AND IF YOU DON'T COME UP WITH A PLAN INSIDE THAT WINDOW OUT ON HOW YOU GOING TO SPEND THE MONEY, GUESS WHAT? UNLESS THEY GRANT YOU AN EXTENSION, THE MONEY GO BACK TO THE POOL. SO IT IS NOT THAT SIMPLE. YES, THE GRANTS ARE AVAILABLE, BUT IT'S NOT THAT SIMPLE THAT THEY ARE COMPETITIVE AND YOU'VE GOT TO HAVE MATCHING MONEY. OKAY. COUNCILMAN ETT? YES. DID I HEAR YOU SAY THE ONLY A BOND WE HAVE TO DO A, A INCREASE FOR A BOND? OH NO, WHAT I STATED IS FOR THE BOND THAT WE WANTED TO DO FOR THE 30 MILLION, IT DOES REQUIRE A RATE INCREASE TO FUND THE BOND. OKAY. THE DEBT SERVICE, I APOLOGIZE. DEBT SERVICE. OKAY. BUT WHEN I SPOKE EARLIER, THAT'S WHAT I SAID, THAT'S NOT THE ONLY TWO. YOU KNOW, WE HAVE CERTIFICATE OBLIGATIONS, THAT'S IT THAT WE CAN DO. OKAY. IT'S THE SAME THING. WELL, APOLOGIES. SO I USE THE, I USE THE TERM CERTIFICATE OBLIGATION BECAUSE THERE ARE, THERE ARE GENERAL BONDS AND THEY'RE CERTIFICATE OBLIGATIONS. OKAY? IF YOU'RE TALKING BOND, MOST TIME YOU TAKE BOND, YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT GENERAL BONDS, YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT GOING TO VOTERS. BUT IF YOU'RE GONNA TALK ABOUT IT, THE BOND WITH THE CERTIFICATE OBLIGATION, WHICH YES, LET'S SAY CERTIFICATE OBLIGATIONS BECAUSE CERTIFICATE OBLIGATION ARE DONE BY US. YES. OKAY. SO LET'S KIND OF GET TO LAYMAN TERMS. OKAY. SO ONCE AGAIN, YOU'RE SAYING WE CAN'T DO CERTIFICATE ALLEGATIONS, WE CAN'T WITHOUT A RATE INCREASE. THAT IS ABSOLUTELY CORRECT. OKAY. SO WHEN WE FUNDING CERTIFICATE OBLIGATIONS, ALL WE HAVE TO HAVE IS A, IS A SOURCE, RIGHT? OF A REVENUE OF, OF, OF, UH, TAX. YOU KNOW, WE GOT TAXES FROM DIFFERENT AREAS THAT WE CAN, UH, LEVERAGE. OKAY? AND, AND THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT LEVERAGE. OKAY? I'VE HAD THESE SESSIONS WHERE THEY TALKED [01:00:01] ABOUT LEVERAGING MONEY, OKAY? WHEREBY WE GOT X AMOUNT OF DOLLARS COMING IN MM-HMM. , WE COULD LEVERAGE THAT YES. TO GAIN THIS. THAT'S RIGHT. OKAY. BUT IT IS NOT THAT WE JUST GOT ONE THING, WE GOTTA DO THIS. SO WE CAN'T HAVE THIS. I WANT TO HEAR THAT. THAT'S A NO-NO. OKAY. THAT IS ONE WAY THAT YOU PROPOSING, OKAY. YEAH. SO WE HAVE TO TAKE A LOOK AT IT. 'CAUSE I'M GOING BACK TO THE CITY MANAGER BEFORE I EVEN WANT TO HEAR THIS. I WANNA SEE WHAT THE CITY MANAGER GONNA BRING BACK A WAY OF REALIGNING AND SAVING MONEY. SEE, BECAUSE WE DON'T HAVE TO JUST STAY HERE, YOU KNOW, WE COULD GO INTO DIFFERENT AREAS OF THIS BUDGET. YOU KNOW, IT IS ALL ABOUT MAKING UP WHATEVER THIS RAISE YOU TALK ABOUT WHATEVER MONEY'S GOING TO GENERATE. HOW MUCH CAN WE SLICE OFF OF THIS? WHERE CAN WE LOOK WHEN WE TALKING ABOUT TIGHTEN OUR BUDGET, WE TALKING ABOUT TIGHTEN, I MEAN TIGHTEN OUR BELT. WE TALKING ABOUT TIGHTEN OUR BELT. WHAT WE DONE HERE, WE'VE, WE'VE ACTUALLY LOOKED AT WHAT WE GOT BECAUSE WE'RE GONNA HAVE OTHER STUFF WE'RE GONNA BE TALKING ABOUT IN THE BUDGET WHERE WE'RE GOING TO SEE IT IS A LOT OF, WE WOULD LIKE TO DO, BUT WE COULD LIVE WITHOUT. YES. WE HAVE TO DECIDE WHAT WE CAN LIVE, WHAT WE COULD LIVE WITH, AND WHAT WE COULD LIVE WITHOUT. MM-HMM. . AND THAT'S WHAT WE GOING TO DO. I MEAN, WE JUST STARTING THIS PROCESS AS FAR AS I'M CONCERNED, BUT WHEN I HEAR TERMS LIKE WE CAN'T DO A CERTIFICATE WITHOUT A RAISE. NO, THAT'S NOT, THAT'S NOT WHAT I WANT TO HEAR BECAUSE WE CAN DO IT. SO LET ME, LET ME TELL YOU, UM, WHAT, WHAT MY PLAN IS. UM, THE UTILITIES DEPARTMENT HAS ASKED FOR AN INCREASE. YEAH. THE UTILITY DEPARTMENT HAVE ASKED FOR AN INCREASE OF STAFF. I'M NOT IN FAVOR OF PROVIDING, AS I INDICATED, ANY INCREASES IN STAFF UNLESS THEREFORE PIPE BURSTING OR FOR OTHER PURPOSES IN THE FIELD AND FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE. THOSE ARE THE TWO AREAS THAT I THINK WE SHOULD FOCUS ON. ANYTHING ELSE IS A NO-NO. AND THAT'S WHAT I'M, I'M GONNA REMOVE FROM THE BUDGET. I'M GONNA REMOVE THAT. OKAY? THAT'S A NO-NO FOR ME. WHEN I HAVE DONE THAT, LET US LOOK AT 10% THAT WE ARE ASKING FOR. ARE YOU PREPARED TO WORK WITH ME AND THE REST OF THE TEAM TO REDUCE IT TO 8% FROM DOUBLE DIGITS TO 7% SO THAT WE CAN SERVICE OUR DEBT? BECAUSE I'VE REMOVED THE STAFF THAT I'M ASKING FOR, BECAUSE THAT WOULD INCLUDE WHAT I'M ASKING FOR HERE WOULD INCLUDE THE AMOUNT OF STAFF THAT WE ARE ASKING FOR IN OTHER AREAS. I'M PREPARED TO REMOVE ALL OF IT, ALL THE ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF THAT I'M ASKING FOR TO GO AHEAD WITH IT AND TOTALLY FOCUS ON PIPE BURSTING AND OTHER AREAS THAT WE HEAR DAILY FROM OUR CUSTOMERS AND OUR CITIZENS ABOUT. IF YOU ARE WILLING TO MEET ME HALFWAY AND WE CAN, AS YOU SAID, UM, COUNCILMAN DO, SAID WE CAN MEET THAT MARK OR THE PERCENTAGE THAT WE NEED TO SERVICE OUR DEBT FOR $30 MILLION FOR CERTIFICATES OF OBLIGATION. YOU KNOW, I'M WILLING TO WORK WITH, IF YOU CAN MEET WITH, MEET ME FROM DOUBLE DIGITS, FROM 10%, 8%, OR 7.5% AND I WILL DO AWAY WITH THE STAFF THAT THE NEW STAFF THAT WE ARE ASKING FOR, I'M PREPARED TO DO AWAY WITH IT AND TOTALLY FOCUS ON THE CUSTOMER SERVICE PART AND PIPE BURSTING. I THINK. I THINK, UH, GO AHEAD. GO AHEAD. WHAT I'D LIKE TO SEE IS I'D LIKE TO SEE, UH, UH, WHAT THIS REDUCTION IN STAFF AND, AND YOUR PROPOSAL IS GONNA BE WORTH DOLLARS, OKAY? BECAUSE, AND I WANNA KNOW WHAT 10% IS GONNA BE WORTH DOLLARS. OKAY? I WANT TO HEAR DOLLARS. MM-HMM, NOT PERCENTAGE. AND WITH 10%, HOW MUCH MONEY IS THIS GONNA BE AND HOW MUCH YOU GONNA BE ON THE CITIZENS? OKAY? IF YOU REDUCE THIS, HOW MUCH ARE WE GONNA SAVE? OKAY. YOU KNOW, I JUST, YES SIR. RUN THE DOLLARS, BRING OUR, OUR NET STATION, BRING US THE DOLLARS, YOU KNOW, UH, AND STUFF. BUT AT THE END OF THE DAY, YOU KNOW, LIKE I SAID, WE WANT TO SEE, I WANNA UNDERSTAND IT. I'M NOT GONNA, I'M NOT GONNA TALK PERCENTAGE AND STUFF. I WANT TO, I WANT TO SEE, OKAY, WE CAN ANSWER SOME OF THESE QUESTIONS. UH, A 10% RATE INCREASE IS EQUIVALENT TO AN ADDITIONAL REVENUE OF 3.9 TO $4 MILLION IN THAT RANGE. UH, A 10% RATE INCREASE, IF A HOUSEHOLD IS CONSUMING APPROXIMATELY 6,000 GALLONS [01:05:01] OF WATER, WHICH IS TWO PEOPLE LIVING IN A HOUSE, THEY WILL BE PAYING AN ADDITIONAL $9 AND 9 CENTS, UH, PER MONTH. IF THEY'RE ON THE 3000 GALLON RANGE, WHICH IS USUALLY ONE PERSON, THEY'D BE PAYING $5 AND 48 CENTS IN ADDITIONAL COST ON THEIR WATER BILL. THE COST OF THE PIPE BURSTING CREW ITSELF IS APPROXIMATELY $1.57 MILLION WHEN IT COMES TO THE EQUIPMENT WE HAVE TO PURCHASE. AND THE SIX ADDITIONAL, UH, POSITIONS. SO THESE ARE DOLLAR AMOUNTS IN TERMS OF WHAT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT. AND, AND I'LL ADD ONE MORE COMMENT ON THE $30 MILLION BOND. IF THE UTILITIES IS GONNA BE, UH, SORRY, CERTIFICATES OF OBLIGATIONS. IF THE UTILITIES DEPARTMENT IS GONNA FUND THAT LOAN, THAT DEBT, THAT ALONE WILL REQUIRE A 5.2% RATE INCREASE JUST TO FUND THAT DEBT. SO IF WE DON'T WANNA DO ANYTHING ELSE, WE JUST WANNA ENGAGE IN THAT $30 MILLION A YEAR, LIKE WE DISCUSSED LAST TIME. THAT ALONE IS GONNA BE A 5.2%, UH, RATE INCREASE. AND LIKE WE, LIKE WE SAID IN OUR PRESENTATION LAST WEEK, THIS IS GONNA BE A COMBINATION OF THINGS TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN WITH THE LEAST IMPACT ON OUR CITIZENS. SO WE COME IN NEXT YEAR AND WE ACTUALLY APPLY FOR GRANTS THAT WE GET. AND WE HAVE TWO GRANTS RIGHT NOW WORTH $40 MILLION THAT WE'RE WAITING ON ANSWERS FOR, BUT IT'S GONNA TAKE A YEAR TO ACTUALLY GET THE GRANT. BUT IF WE GET THE GRANTS NEXT YEAR, THAT MEANS WHEN WE GO TO THE 2026 BUDGET, WE DON'T HAVE TO DO THESE RATE INCREASES AT THIS LEVEL TO ACTUALLY CONTINUE THE $30 MILLION A YEAR PROGRAM THAT WE WOULD LIKE TO ENGAGE IN. AND WE GAVE SEVERAL OPTIONS ALSO SUCH THE METER REPLACEMENT PROGRAM, WE EXPECT THAT TO GENERATE ABOUT AN ADDITIONAL $2.8 MILLION, WHICH WILL FUND A $30 MILLION DEBT BY ITSELF. SO IF WE ACCOMPLISH THAT BY OCTOBER 25, THEN WE'LL BE ABLE TO USE THAT FOR THE NEXT YEAR. SO IT'S GONNA BE A COMBINATION OF THINGS. AND COUNCIL HAS THE ABILITY TO CHOOSE HOW TO FUND ANY OF THESE PROJECTS. I MEAN, I DON'T SEE AN ISSUE IF COUNCIL DECIDES TO GO TO THE GENERAL FUND. UH, IT'S NOT AN ADVISABLE WAY TO GO, BUT IT'S AN OPTION THAT WAS USED BEFORE IT, IT'S UP TO THIS COUNCIL TO DECIDE HOW YOU WANT TO DO THIS. BUT OUR JOB WAS TO PROVIDE YOU HOW MUCH IS NEEDED, WHICH IS 890 MILLION, WHAT METHODS WE KNOW ABOUT TO FUND IT. AND YOU ALL JUST TELL US WHICH DIRECTION YOU WANT TO GO. WHAT, WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE US TO DO? IT? IT'S UP TO YOU ALL TO DECIDE NOW, DR. NEY, UM, UM, LET US RUN THE, UM, I KNOW WE SHOULD HAVE THE FIGURES ON IF WE GET FROM 10% TO LET'S SAY A 7.5% INCREASE, BECAUSE I'M TRYING TO TAKE IT FROM THE DOUBLE DIGIT NUMBERS. OKAY. WHAT IMPACT IT WOULD HAVE ON THE AVERAGE CONSUMER. UM, LET'S SAY A HOUSEHOLD OF TWO. I ACTUALLY WHAT DIFFERENCE? GO AHEAD. YEAH, I ACTUALLY HAVE THAT NUMBER. SO, FOR EXAMPLE, IF YOUR BILL, I, I DID A COUPLE OF SCENARIOS. IF YOUR BILL'S A HUNDRED DOLLARS A MONTH, IT'LL BE AN EXTRA $7 AND 50 CENTS A MONTH. IT'S $90 FOR THE ENTIRE YEAR. IF YOUR BILL IS $50, IT'LL BE AN ADDITIONAL $3 AND 75 CENTS. IT'LL BE $45 FOR THE ENTIRE YEAR. THAT'S ON A 7.5%. OKAY. YOU GOOD? SO, YOU KNOW, UM, COUNCILMAN KENO, I THINK THAT'S MUCH MORE PALATABLE, LET'S SAY TO SOMEONE WHO'S ON FIXED INCOME. I'M LOOKING ON SOME, I'M CONCERNED ABOUT THE INDIVIDUAL WHO MAKES $600 FROM SOCIAL SECURITY. THANK YOU. AND TRY TO AVOID EATING CAT FOOD. THANK YOU, MAYOR. YOU KNOW, AND THAT'S WHAT I'M, I'M, I'M CONCERNED. NOW, IF WE DO THAT, COUNCILMAN LEWIS, AND WE ADD THE SENIOR CITIZENS DISCOUNT, WE CAN FURTHER REDUCE THAT. YES, SIR. YOU SEE, THAT'S WHAT I'M LOOKING AT. AND CURRENTLY I HAVE FOR, I GAVE YOU THE NUMBER OF A $50 BILL. $3 75 CENTS. $45 A YEAR WITH A SENIOR DISCOUNT. THE SENIOR DISCOUNT PROVIDES THEM RELIEF OF $6 AND 75 CENTS A MONTH, TOTALING $81 FOR THE ENTIRE YEAR. WELL, MAYOR, OKAY. OKAY, GO AHEAD. WERE, WERE YOU THROUGH? YES, I'M DONE. I'M DONE. OKAY. GO, GO AHEAD. I LIKE WHAT YOU SAID. MANAGER. UM, UH, AND, UH, I KNOW LEWIS HAS BEEN, UH, PROMOTING, UH, SENIOR DISCOUNT. YES. BUT I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW THE PARAMETERS OF THE SENIOR DISCOUNT, UH, BEFORE [01:10:01] WE ENTERTAIN THAT. UH, YOU HAVE MY ATTENTION NOW. OKAY. I MEAN, WERE YOU WILLING TO BREAK, YOU WILLING TO TALK MORE ABOUT WHAT WE CAN DO TO ENSURE THAT IF WE COME OR IF YOU COME DOWN ON THE PERCENTAGE THAT YOU'RE ASKING THIS COUNSELOR TO PROVE, WE CAN ENTERTAIN THAT. MM-HMM. . BUT AT THE SAME TIME, I'M STILL INTERESTED TO KNOW HOW MANY ADMINISTRATIVE TYPE POSITIONS YOU ARE WILLING TO CUT, WHATEVER. UH, HOLD ON. THAT'S YOUR LANE. AND WE ALL KNOW THAT THAT'S YOUR LANE. UH, BUT YOU KNOW, I, I DO FEEL SOMETIMES WE HAVE DEPARTMENTS THAT ARE TOP HEAVY ON SUPERVISION, WHERE WE NEED THE ONES THAT NEEDS, IT NEEDS TO BE ON THE STREET. THEY NEED TO BE ON THE STREETS. UH, WE, WE TOLD YOU THAT. I MEAN, THAT'S YOUR LANE. THAT'S YOUR, THAT'S YOUR OPTION. HOW YOU WANNA RUN YOUR CITY AND YOUR EMPLOYEES. BUT IT'S OUR LANE TO ENSURE THAT WE ARE DOING THE BEST THING FOR OUR CITIES AS TOTAL COLLECTIVE. UH, I ALSO WANT TO KNOW THE, THE AMOUNT OF REDUCTION, UH, UH, I JUST GESTURED TO, UH, DR. TOMA, IT'S ABOUT 4 MILLION. WHEN WE TALKED ABOUT THE 10%. SO WHEN YOU TALKED ABOUT 7.5, WE WERE TALKING ABOUT 3.4 OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT. 3.3, YOU KNOW. BUT AT THE SAME TIME, WE ARE EMPLOYING A ADDITIONAL SEVEN, EIGHT MORE EMPLOYEES FOR THE SECOND, UH, CREW. AM I UNDERSTANDING CORRECTLY? YOU ASKING FOR SEVEN MORE? 6, 6, 6, 6 MORE PIPE, PIPERS PIPE. BUT WE NEED THAT. BUT THOSE OTHER ESSENTIAL JOBS THAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT THAT STILL COMES WITH THE COST THAT I'M WANTING TO KNOW BEFORE I APPROVE ANYTHING ON THE BUDGET, THAT HOW YOU GONNA TO PUT THIS MATRIX TOGETHER AND IMPROVE AND GIVE THIS TO THE COUNCIL? THAT'S MY THING. I'M WILLING TO WORK WITH YOU, BUT I DON'T WANNA SAY THAT DOGMATIC, THAT'S THE MAYOR'S, UH, WORD BEING DOGMATIC. WELL, BUT, BUT, BUT WE HAVE TO HAVE THIS HEALTHY COMMUNICATION WITH EACH OTHER. YES. RIGHT? ABSOLUTELY. AND, AND, AND MAKE SURE THAT WE COME TO A HAPPY MEDIUM. AB ABSOLUTELY. YOU KNOW, SO COME WITH YOUR NUMBERS PROVIDED TO THE COUNCIL, YOUR, YOUR NUMBERS AS WELL. I'M GONNA TELL TO YOU NOW, YOU KNOW. YEAH. I I DEFER. GO AHEAD. GO AHEAD, FINISH. NO, NO, BUT YOU KNOW, I'M JUST SAYING THAT WE ARE, WE ARE ENGAGED IN THIS, THESE COUNCIL MEMBERS ARE UP HERE. WE VERY ENGAGED WITH THIS BUDGET. WE, WE TALK AND WE KNOW THAT SOME OF THIS HAS A LOT OF FAT IN IT THAT YOU HAVE TO TRIM DOWN. YEP. MM-HMM. AND, AND, AND, AND GIVE BACK TO THIS COUNCIL. SO SOME OF THOSE THINGS THAT YOU TALK TO, I'M WILLING TO CONSIDER, UH, BEFORE I VOTE AND, AND, AND DECIDE PERSONALLY AS A AT LARGE COUNCIL MEMBER. BUT I WANT YOU TO BE MAKING THOSE TOUGH DECISIONS BECAUSE THAT'S YOUR STAFF. MM-HMM. , YOU KNOW WHAT WE NEED? WE, WE'VE BEEN SAYING THIS FOR YEARS AND MONTHS. WHAT THIS COUNCIL NEEDS AND WHAT WE NEED AS COLLECTIVE, LIKE THE, THE DIRECTORS THAT STATED EARLIER, IT'S OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO DO WHAT WE NEED TO DO. ABSOLUTELY. OKAY. AND IF WE HAVE TO GO AND DIG OR FIND MONEY OR, AND, AND THE THING I JUST WANNA STATE UP, YOU KNOW, WHEN WE APPLY FOR THESE GRANTS AND OUT THERE, IT JUST DOES MY HEART BAD WHEN, YOU KNOW, WE APPLY FOR $30 MILLION AND, AND, AND THIS COUNCIL IS TOLD THAT WE HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO GET THESE THINGS BASED UPON THE DATA THAT THAT'S MY LANE. THE DATA THAT WE ARE PROVIDING. AND WE DON'T GET IT. WE DON'T GET, SO WHERE'S THE PLAN B? MM-HMM. . WHERE'S THE PLAN B? ARE WE BUYING IN BULK? ARE WE BUYING, YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW, HOW DO WE REPLACE PIPES NOW? I MEAN, JUST ON A PHONE CALL WHEN WE HAVE SOMEBODY SAY, HEY, MY PIPE, I'M NOT, I GOT A BACKUP. YOU KNOW, ARE WE TRACKING THE PIPES, GIS SYSTEMS ON THESE MAINS? WHAT ARE WE DOING THAT WE HAVE CONTROL OF? YOU KNOW, THAT'S MY TIDBIT. I'M GONNA LAY IT ON YOUR LAP. ABSOLUTELY. AND I WANNA MAKE SURE THAT YOU UNDERSTAND WHERE I'M COMING FROM. I KNOW IT'S SOME THINGS THAT WE CAN DO. YES. TO MAKE IT BETTERLY. SO I DEFER TO MY COHORT. COUNCILMAN DE DO. SAID, OKAY, YOU KNOW, I HEARD THAT 30 MILLION CAME UP AGAIN AND WE TALKED ABOUT THE 30 MILLION. THE LAST TIME WE TALKED ABOUT BUDGET. WHAT WE SAID IS WE LIKE IT, WE LOVE IT. IT'S A PLAN. MM-HMM. A CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN. WE SAVE 30 MILLION. BUT IF WE DON'T GET GRANTS, WE WON'T HAVE 30 MILLION. WE SAVE 30 MILLIONS. AND IF WE GET 60 MILLION OF GRAND, WE JUST PUT 60 MILLION INSTEAD OF 30 MILLION. BECAUSE THAT'S OUR PLAN WORK. OKAY. THAT'S OUR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN WORK. IT'S A PLAN. OKAY. SO IF YOU'RE GONNA TALK ABOUT TIGHTENING YOUR BELT, AND YOU COULD COME AND SHOW THE CITIZENS, 'CAUSE THEY GOING TO HEAR WHAT, WHAT YOU GOING TO DO TO SHOW, TO SHOW UP YOUR END. THEY'RE GONNA SEE WHAT YOU GOING TO DO TO SHOW UP YOUR END IN. AND THEN WE SAY, OKAY, WE GOING TO FLY WITH IT, BUT THE CITIZEN HEARD WHAT WE HEARD AND THE CITIZEN KNOW THAT WE DIDN'T JUST SIT UP HERE AND APPROVE NOTHING. [01:15:01] 10% AIN'T, AIN'T, AIN'T, AIN'T EVEN A DREAM. I'M GLAD YOU DECIDE TO RE RETHINK THAT. BUT AT THE END OF THE DAY, WHEN WE DO THIS PROPOSAL HERE, MAN, YOU NEED TO BE ABLE TO LAY OUT WHAT YOUR PLANS AND HOW YOU GOT TO WHERE YOU ARE. AND CITIZENS NEED TO HEAR IT. SO THEY KNOW WHAT WE ACTUALLY HAD TO CONSIDER IN THAT. WE JUST DIDN'T SIT HERE AND APPROVE ANY TYPE RATE INCREASE. AND I COULD TELL YOU RIGHT NOW, IF WE DO A RATE INCREASE, IF YOU COME BACK WITH SOMETHING, I FEEL I COULD LOOK AT CITIZENS EYE AND FEEL THAT I REPRESENTED THEM RIGHT WITH THIS. BECAUSE THAT'S SOMETHING I JUST COULDN'T CONCEIVE MYSELF DOING. BUT AT THE END OF THE DAY, WILL NOT GO THIS WAY. KNOWING THAT I'M GONNA GO WITH AN INCREASE NEXT YEAR. I, I, THAT'S GONNA BE PART OF MY, MY NEGOTIATION. RIGHT. THEN IF YOU THINK YOU'RE GONNA DO THIS EVERY YEAR RIGHT NOW, NO, I THINK WE NEED TO GO ON THIS PATH YOU'RE TALKING. 'CAUSE SEE, Y'ALL TALKING ABOUT STARTING TO DOING SOMETHING. I'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT THESE 57 LINES. THE NEXT TIME WE TALK, THEY'LL BE DONE. MAYBE I GOT SOMETHING TO SHOW YOU. SOMETHING TO SHOW. THAT'S RIGHT. I GOT SOMETHING TO SHOW. YOUR NEEDS GONNA BE LESS BECAUSE GONNA BE LOSING LESS. THAT'S HOW THIS WORKS. SEE, AND I COULD FOR, AND I COULD SEE THIS DOING THIS. MM-HMM. , I COULD SEE IT BECAUSE WE DOING SOMETHING. WE AIN'T TALKING, WE DOING, IF WE DOING, I COULD TELL THE CITIZENS, HONESTLY, WE GOTTA HELP US. 'CAUSE WE ARE NOT HELPING THE CITY. WE HELPING OURSELVES. MM-HMM. . OKAY. UH, BECAUSE YOU WON'T HAVE YOUR WATER TURNED OFF MUCH, YOU KNOW, WE'LL START GETTING ACCURATE BILLS AND STUFF THAT, THAT'S IT'S SHOW AND TELL. MM-HMM. , IT'S SHOW AND TELL. I, I FEEL STRONGLY ABOUT THAT. I FEEL STRONGLY ABOUT SPEAKING FOR CITIZENS. THIS SEAT NEVER BELONGED TO ME. IT BELONGED TO CITIZENS. AND WHEN I SAT IN AND I WANNA SPEAK LIKE CITIZENS, I WANNA FIGHT FOR CITIZENS. SO I UNDERSTAND STAFF. I KEEP TELLING Y'ALL THAT SOMETIME Y'ALL DON'T THINK SO BECAUSE I DON'T, I DON'T BUDGE AND I DON'T, I'M CONSISTENT, BUT I DO HEAR YOU. AND I COULD BEND WHEN IT'S TIME TO BEND, BUT I DON'T BEND EASY. CITIZENS DON'T EXPECT ME TO SET UP HERE AND BEND EASY AND I'M NOT GONNA BEND EASY. SO YOU GOT WORK TO DO. AND LIKE I SAID, WHEN YOU BRING WITH IT, YOU BETTER LET ME KNOW WHAT GOING TO DO NEXT YEAR. BECAUSE I WILL BE ON COUNCIL NEXT YEAR AND I DON'T WANNA FIGHT THIS BATTLE NO MORE. I'M DONE FIGHTING THIS BATTLE. I THINK DR. TOMAY HAS GIVEN THIS PRESENTATION THE SAME YEAR. AND EVERY YEAR I GIVE THIS SAME PRESENTATION. I MEAN, WE'VE BEEN GIVING THESE SAME PRESENTATIONS. I'M TIRED OF IT. I'M TIRED, I DON'T WANNA FIGHT NO MORE. I WANNA MOVE FORWARD, BUT I'M NOT GIVING UP. IT'S GOING TO BE, WE GOING TO WORK TOGETHER AND WE GOING TAKE CARE OF CITIZENS, OR IT'S GONNA BE A FIGHT FOR ME. I WANT BACK. OKAY, , LET'S BE SPEED. GO AHEAD. GO AHEAD. NO, YOU, YOU, YOU GO AHEAD. YOU. OH, JUST BRIEFLY, UH, IF I PASS OUT Y'ALL, Y'ALL, UH, I'M GONNA TELL Y'ALL WHY BEFORE I SPEAK. COUNCILMAN DE SAID, SAID I, I GOT HOLD TO THE, WE HAD TWO CUPS OF COFFEE. I GOT HIS CUP. SO IF I PASS OUT, Y'ALL KNOW I GOT THE WRONG CUP. OKAY. . OKAY. OKAY. OKAY. B. HE DIDN'T HEAR THAT. OKAY. THIS IS THE PLAN. THIS IS THE PLAN. OKAY. UM, UH, I'M GONNA WORK WITH YOU. OKAY. OKAY. I'M BACKING DOWN FROM 10%. LET US LOOK AT 7.5. BUT I'M, WE'LL COME BACK WITH A PLAN WHERE I DO AWAY WITH ALL THE ADMINISTRATIVE, UH, AT LEAST SIX POSITIONS THAT I'M ASKING FOR, WHICH WOULD'VE BEEN FINANCED. NO, IT'S, I'M, I'M COME BACK WITH THE PLAN TO YOU, WHEN YOU SAYING SIX POSITIONS, THAT'LL BE IN, IN THE WATER AND SEWER DEPARTMENT. YEAH. ONLY YEAH, YEAH, YEAH. IN UTILITIES DEPARTMENT. I'M GONNA DO AWAY THOSE, I'M GONNA DO AWAY THOSE, BUT STILL PROVIDE AN OPPORTUNITY FIRST TO GET PIPE BOOSTING GOING. IS THAT OKAY? IT'S PART OF THE REQUEST. [01:20:02] THE PIPE. WELL, WE SAY 5.2 BECAUSE I HEARD NO, NO, DON'T WORRY. HEARD 5.2, WE NEGOTIATE 5.2. WE CAN PERCENTAGE COUNCILMAN 5.2. SIR, IF, IF I MAY GO GO, GO AHEAD. GO AHEAD. FIRST OF ALL, COUNCILMAN KLOW, WE ALL SHARE YOUR CONCERN ABOUT OUR CITY CITIZENS AND THE PEOPLE WHO ARE LIVING ON SOCIAL SECURITY. AND THAT IS WHY WE WANNA ADOPT, UH, COUNCILMAN LEWIS'S SENIOR CITIZEN DISCOUNT PROPOSAL AT THE SAME TIME AS WE DO THIS BUDGET. BECAUSE IF WE DO A 7.5% INCREASE, LET'S SAY THE INCREASE TO OUR 3000 GALLONS IS ABOUT $4 AND 11 CENTS, THE DISCOUNT THEY'RE GETTING IS OVER $6. SO IT'LL NOT BE AN INCREASE ON THEIR WATER BILL ACTUALLY BE A DECREASE ON THEIR WATER BILL. AND WE CAN ACCOMMODATE THAT OVER SEVERAL YEARS IF WE HAVE TO. BECAUSE WE DON'T WANT OUR SENIOR CITIZENS LIVING ON SOCIAL SECURITY TO BE IMPACTED WHEN WE HAVE WAYS TO NOT LET THEM GET IMPACTED. WE SHARE THESE SENTIMENTS. THE 5.2% THAT COUNCILMAN IS REFERRING TO WILL ONLY FUND THE CAPITAL PROGRAM PERIOD. WHEN WE GAVE THE PRESENTATION LAST WEEK, WE STRENGTH, YOU KNOW, STRESSED ON THAT POINT THAT THIS IS ONLY TO FUND THIS CAPITAL PROGRAM. AND AGAIN, WHAT WE ARE TRYING TO DO WITH THIS CAPITAL PROGRAM THIS YEAR TO GET THE ATTORNEY GENERAL COMFORTABLE ENOUGH NOT TO HAMMER US TOO HARD, WHAT WE DO NEXT YEAR WITH RATE INCREASES OR NO RATE INCREASES IS REALLY GONNA BE DRIVEN BY WHAT THE ATTORNEY GENERAL COMES UP WITH THIS YEAR. SO, UH, ATTORNEY GENERAL I HEARD THAT GO THE ATTORNEY GENERAL. I, I'VE HEARD, I'VE HEARD THIS COME UP TWICE. SO EXPLAIN TO ME HOW THE ATTORNEY GENERAL GOT IT, IS GONNA IMPACT ON A HOME RULE CITY AND IT BUDGET. I MEAN, THE ATTORNEY, I REALLY GOTTA HEAR THIS. THE ATTORNEY GENERAL IS GOING BACK APPROXIMATELY 20 YEARS OKAY. ON THE WASTEWATER SYSTEM PLANTS AS WELL AS COLLECTION SYSTEM. AND IS GONNA ASSESS A PENALTY ON THE CITY OF PORT ARTHUR AND IS GONNA ENGAGE IN A PROGRAM TO WHERE THEY ARE GONNA FORCE US TO SPEND SO MUCH MONEY A YEAR ON THIS SEWER SYSTEM TO BE ABLE TO BRING IT UP TO PAR. OKAY. SO IT IS NOT PORT ARTHUR. EVIDENTLY WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE STATE OF TEXAS COMING UP WITH SOMETHING FOR COMMUNITIES. THEY'RE GONNA DO WITH TO US. GET TO THE MIC. UH, SO EVERYBODY CAN HEAR CAL. OKAY. IF YOU, IF YOU READ ABOUT THE CITY OF HOUSTON'S CONSENT ORDERS, IT'S, THAT'S WHAT'S GONNA HAPPEN TO US. THEY'RE GONNA COME DOWN WITH A CONSENT ORDER. WE'VE MET WITH 'EM, WE'VE TALKED TO 'EM. THEY WERE EXPECTING IT TO BE BY THE MIDDLE OF AUGUST. THEY HAD A COUPLE PEOPLE RETIRE THAT WERE WORKING ON IT. SO THEY HAD TO BRING IN NEW STAFF. IT'S DELAYED 'EM SLIGHTLY. UH, BUT IT'S COMING. AND WE HAVE A GOOD DIALOGUE WITH, WITH THE LADY THAT, THAT'S OVER ENFORCEMENT. UH, BUT IT'S, IT'S BASICALLY A CONTINUATION OF A CONCERN ORDER THAT STARTED AROUND 2007, 2009, TWO. AND THEN WHEN, UH, IT, UH, WHAT'S HIS NAME? 2 0 7 DIRECTOR THAT PASSED AWAY IN 2012. KELLY? KELLY. KELLY. IT KIND OF FELL APART. IT RESURRECTED ITSELF AROUND 2018. THEY WERE SHOOTING TO HAVE IT TO US, BUT THEN COVID DELAYED IT AFTER COVID, THEY GOT TIED UP WITH SOME OTHER STATE WORK. AND ABOUT A YEAR AGO THEY STARTED LOOKING BACK INTO IT. WE MET WITH 'EM TWO MONTHS AGO. WE WENT, WE DROVE TO AUSTIN, MET WITH 'EM TWO MONTHS AGO. AND IT'S, WE'RE VERY CLOSE. THEY'RE ONLY LOOKING AT THE SEWER SYSTEM AT THIS TIME. I KNOW WE ALWAYS TALK ABOUT WATER, BUT THE CONSENT ORDER IS GONNA BE ON THE SEWER SYSTEM AND THEY'RE, I DON'T KNOW WHAT IT'S GONNA BE, BUT IT'S GONNA BE, I MEAN, WE HAVE A LOT OF SSOS AS YOU KNOW, WE HAVE A LOT OF SEWERS. WHEN IT RAINS, THEY FAIL AND THEY'RE, THAT'S WHAT IT'S ALL GONNA BE ABOUT. AND IT WILL BE A CONSENT ORDER. THEY'RE GONNA FILE A CASE. I THINK DONNE UNDERSTANDS THIS WAY MORE THAN ME BECAUSE SHE'S AN ATTORNEY. THEY'RE GONNA FILE A CASE IN TRAVIS COUNTY COURT 'CAUSE THAT'S WHERE THEIR OFFICE IS. AND ONCE THEY FILE THE CASE, THEY SAID THEY CAN THEN GIVE US THE DOCUMENTS AND THEN ONCE WE HAVE THE DOCUMENTS, WE WILL START NEGOTIATING WITH THEM. IF WE DO NOTHING, IT'LL BE A BIG FINE. AND THEN PROBABLY THEY'LL COME IN AND THEY CAN TAKE OVER THE CITY AND, AND [01:25:01] YOU KNOW, THE OP THE UTILITIES, THEY HAVE A LOT OF POWER. WELL, THE THING ABOUT IT IS THOUGH, THEY'RE SAYING THEY'RE GOING TO WANT US TO DO, WHAT IS IT? WHAT WILL THE, THE DEGREE DECREE ENTAILS? I MEAN, YOU'RE SAYING SURGE. OKAY, SURGE, YES. ALL RIGHT. BUT WHAT ARE THEY TELLING US WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO DO? I MEAN, WHAT ARE THEY GONNA DEMAND? BECAUSE I KNOW IF THEY DO THAT, THEN THEY'RE GONNA HAVE A PERIOD IN WHICH WE HAVE GET IT RIGHT TO MEET THINGS BEFORE THEY EXERCISE ANY, ANY PUNITIVE UH, ANY PENALTY. SO WHAT IS IT? THAT'S WHAT I'M TRYING TO UNDERSTAND. THEIR CONCERN IS GONNA BE STRICTLY WASTEWATER. SO THE LARGEST NUMBER OF FINES THEY'VE HAD IN THE PAST RELATED TO THE MAIN WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT, THE MAIN LIFT STATION, AND THAT FORCE MAIN, THAT'S WHY IN 1819, I STARTED PUSHING VERY HARD TO GET THOSE UP AND UNDER CONSTRUCTION. SO THOSE, THAT MAIN PLANT, LIKE, YOU KNOW, IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION BETWEEN MAIN PLANT, FOREST MAIN AND LIFT STATION, WE'RE GONNA END UP SPENDING ABOUT $80 MILLION. AND THEY KNOW THAT THAT PART IS GETTING FIXED. SO WHAT THEY'RE GONNA CONCENTRATE ON IS LIFT STATIONS AND SANITARY SEWER PIPE THAT'S IN THE GROUND, AND THEY CAN DETERMINE HOW MUCH WE NEED TO FIX A YEAR, OR THE CONSENT ORDER CAN INCLUDE HOW MUCH THEY WANT US TO SPEND A YEAR FIXING LIFT STATIONS, HOW MUCH THEY WANT US TO SPEND A YEAR FIXING SANITARY SEWER PIPING BEING PASSED. OKAY. BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, THAT'S WHAT I WANT TO KNOW. UH, WHY? BECAUSE THAT'S JUST LIKE THE, UH, A DA OKAY. WE CAME UNDER THAT, UH, AGREEMENT WITH THE STATE WHERE THEY ALLOWED US SO MANY YEARS TO, TO COME WITH COMPLIANCE. AND WE HAVE SO MUCH WE HAVE TO DO EVERY YEAR IN ORDER TO MEET THE COMPLIANCE. BUT THIS, IT, IT WASN'T NOTHING THAT WAS LIKE OUT LAND. OKAY. I UNDERSTAND. RIGHT. THE WAY, THE WAY I WAS HEARING THIS IS LIKE, YOU KNOW, TAKES, THEY GONNA COME IN AND SAY, GOING TO DO THIS AND DO THAT. YOU KNOW, THAT'S NOT THE WAY THE STATE WORKS WITHOUT, WITH CITIES, YOU KNOW, THEY, NO, NO. ONCE THEY IMPLEMENT SOMETHING, THEY GIVE YOU TIME ENOUGH TO CONFORM AND COME IN LINE WITH WHAT THEY DO AND ALSO ALWAYS ALLOW YOU TO BE ABLE TO PRESENT TO THEM WHY YOU CAN'T COME ON AND STUFF LIKE THAT. BUT, UH, I DON'T SEE NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT. TO SOFTEN THE BLOW, WHAT WE DID ABOUT TWO MONTHS AGO, AND PAM CAME WITH US, WE WENT AND MET WITH THE ATTORNEY GENERAL'S, UH, TEAM AND WE GAVE THEM A PRESENTATION ON ALL THE STUFF THAT HAS BEEN DONE SINCE 2018 19, WHICH IS REALLY EXTENSIVE. WE'VE DONE A LOT OF WORK SINCE THEN. SO WHEN THEY COME BACK TO GIVE US THAT CONSENT ORDER, HOPEFULLY THEY'LL TAKE WHAT WE HAVE ACCOMPLISHED SO FAR INTO, UH, CONSIDERATION. BUT THEY HAVE THE ABILITY TO GIVE US A CERTAIN DOLLAR AMOUNT OR A CERTAIN, UH, FOOTAGE OF PIPE OR A CERTAIN NUMBER OF LIFT STATIONS THAT THEY WANT US TO FIX EVERY YEAR. AND THESE PROGRAMS ARE USUALLY A 10 YEAR PROGRAM. THAT'S WHY WE'RE PUSHING FOR THIS 30 MILLION OVER THE PERIOD, OVER THE PERIOD TIME. YET WE SAID LIKE THE 30 YEARS. BECAUSE IF THEY COME IN AND SAY, YOU GOTTA FIX THIS SEW SYSTEM IN 10 YEARS, WE HAVE TO SPEND A HUNDRED, $450 MILLION TO FIX IT. WELL THAT'S EQUIVALENT TO 45 MILLION A YEAR. SO WE WE'RE TRYING TO CONTROL THE NARRATIVE RIGHT NOW WITH THEM AS MUCH AS WE CAN. OKAY. DON'T, DON'T, DON'T PUT THE FEAR FACTOR IN THIS. OKAY. BECAUSE FIRST ALL THAT'S REALITY COUNCIL, FIRST OF ALL, THE STATE AIN'T GOING COME IN, JUST TAKE CONTROL OF THE CITY. AND THEY ALWAYS GONNA MANDATE SOMETHING FOR US TO COME IN LINE WITH IT, ESPECIALLY WHEN IT COMES TO PUBLIC HEALTH AND SAFETY. OKAY. BUT, UH, WE NEED TO JUST DO WHAT WE NEED TO DO. IF WE DO WHAT WE NEED TO DO, THEN THE STATE IS NOT GONNA COME IN AND, AND, AND TAKE OVER ANY PORTION OF THIS CITY. ALL WE GOTTA DO IS DO THE BEST WE CAN TO COMPLY. BUT LET'S NOT , YOU KNOW? 'CAUSE I HEARD THAT AND I REALLY FELT ALARMED THAT SOMEBODY'S TELLING ME WE HAVE PEOPLE MEETING WITH THE ATTORNEY GENERAL FROM THE CITY AND I HADN'T HEARD ANYTHING BEFORE ANYBODY DONE IT. AND THEN I'M HEARING THIS. THAT'S WHY I, I WANT TO HEAR, BECAUSE ONE THING I DO UNDERSTAND IS HOW STATE AND MUNICIPALITY WORK, ESPECIALLY HOME RULE. OKAY. SO NOW I UNDERSTAND. OKAY. AND THEN, THEN AS BETTER AS I THOUGHT, YOU KNOW, JUST KEEP ON OUR PLAN AND WE SHOULD BE FINE. YOU KNOW, NOBODY'S GONNA TAKE OVER OUR CITY . OKAY. SO WE, GOING BACK TO MY PLAN. NOW, WE, I HAVE A PLAN ON THE TABLE. I HAD A PLAN ON THE TABLE. OKAY. IF I COME BACK TO YOU, WE ARE TALKING ABOUT 7.5%. IF [01:30:01] I COME BACK TO YOU AND I TRIM THE NUMBER OF ADMINISTRATIVE POSITIONS, WHICH IS ABOUT SIX OR SEVEN THAT I HAVE, I'M PROPOSING WITH THE, IF I TRIM THOSE OFF, WOULD YOU BE MORE AMENABLE? WE TALK TO, TO, TO THE FACT THAT I'M GOING TO TAKE CARE OF THE SENIOR CITIZENS WITH THE 7%. BUT IF, IF WE CAN HOOVER OVER, AT LEAST LET US THINK ABOUT SEVEN, 7.5%. MM-HMM. IF YOU WORK WITH ME, WE CAN TALK. YES, WE, IF YOU WALK WITH ME, IF YOU WALK WITH ME, LET ME ASK YOU THAT. YOU READY? YEAH. THANKS. THANKS MAYOR. UH, UH, REAL RON? YES. WE CAN TALK. OKAY. I'M GONNA BE HONEST WITH YOU. OKAY, GOOD. WE CAN START TALKING. UH, 10% WAS TOTALLY OUT OF THE QUESTION FOR ME. OKAY. ALRIGHT. UH, UH, DR. HANEY, UH, ONE OF Y'ALL REAL QUICK. UH, WE, WE'VE BEEN DOING THOSE THINGS. YOU, YOU TOOK THE WORDS OUTTA MY MOUTH. I WROTE 'EM DOWN HERE. SINCE 2018, WE'VE BEEN DOING A LOT OF THINGS. LIFT STATION, WE'VE BEEN DOING REPLACING PIPES, WE'VE BEEN DOING THINGS THAT, SO I DON'T KNOW, UH, WHY WOULDN'T THEY TAKE THAT IN CONSIDERATION WHEN WE TALK ABOUT THE AG COMING DOWN ON THE PORT ARTHUR AND OTHER CITIES, HOMEROOM, CITY, HOME, HOME, RURAL CITIES, LIKE WE ARE DOING THAT. SO THAT'S SOMETHING. WE'VE BEEN DOING THAT FOR THE LAST SIX YEARS. YES. COUNCIL, YOU ARE, YOU ARE CORRECT. THE PACE WE ARE MOVING AT IS AROUND EIGHT TO 10 MILLION A YEAR. OKAY. WHICH IS GONNA TAKE US OVER 90 YEARS TO FIX. EVERYTHING NEED TO BE FIXED. AND THAT'S SOMETHING THEY'RE NOT GONNA ALLOW. YEAH. SO WE ARE HOPING WE CAN MEET THEM AT THAT 30 YEAR PLAN, WHICH, WHICH IS DOABLE. YOU TOTALLY UNDERSTAND. AND I THINK THE CITY MANAGER STATED EARLIER, WE INHERITED THIS PROBLEM. HE INHERITED, WE ALL INHERITED IT. THIS PROBLEM, YOU KNOW, YOU TALKED ABOUT 20 PLUS YEARS AGO. SO WE ARE DOING SOMETHING, WE JUST NOT BEING STAGNANT ABOUT HOW WE ADDRESSING THIS BIG MONSTER. CORRECT. WE'RE DOING SOMETHING. SO HOPEFULLY THEY TAKE WHAT WE'RE, YOU KNOW, WHAT WE'VE DONE IN THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS IN CONSIDERATION WHEN THEY COME DOWN. UH, YOU SAID MID-AUGUST. SO YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE THIS YEAR THEY HAD, SO WE HAVE NO COMMUNICATION ON WHEN NO, NO. WE TALKED TO 'EM LAST FRIDAY. LAST FRIDAY WE TALKED TO 'EM. AND, UH, THE, UH, WE'VE TALKED TO THE HEAD OF ENFORCEMENT, WE'VE TALKED TO THE LADY THAT'S ACTUALLY DOING THE, THAT'S OVER PORT ARTHUR CASE. UH, WHAT THEY EXPLAINED WAS, AGAIN, THEY HAD SOME RETIREMENTS AND THEY HAD TO REPLACE THEM. THEY THOUGHT THEY COULD GET IT OUT BEFORE THE RETIREMENT. THEY DIDN'T. SO IT'S THE LATEST, WELL, I'M, I'M GONNA SUGGEST THIS TO YOU DIRECTORS, YOU KNOW, THOSE INDIVIDUALS THAT COME DOWN FROM THE STATE LEVEL AND COME TO YOUR LOCAL MUNICIPALITIES, THEY TAKE THE DATA. SO MAKE SURE YOUR DATA IS CORRECT AND UP TO DATE. I UNDERSTAND. SO WHEN WE PROVIDE THIS DATA TO THEM, WE CAN SHOW JUST CAUSE OF WHAT WE'VE BEEN DOING IN THE LAST SIX YEARS. SO DATA HAS TO BE GOOD. SO I'M PUTTING IT IN YOUR GUYS' HANDS ABOUT THAT DATA ASPECT OF IT. CITY MANAGER, I'M WILLING TO TALK. YEAH. YEAH. AND, AND I THINK THAT WILL HELP OUR CAUSE TOO, WITH THE AGES OF ALRIGHT, IF WE HOOP AROUND 7.5%, WE'RE NOT GONNA, WE NOT GONNA BE SOLID ON THE NUMBER. NO, WE'RE NOT GONNA KEEP SAYING THAT. 7.5 WE GOING TALK 7.5%. HOLD ON. THAT'S WHAT I WANT TO, YEAH. OKAY. I WANNA REITERATE ON WHAT YOU SAID. WE START OUT WITH 10. OKAY. WE, WE HEARD WE WENT TO FIVE, HE WENT TO SEVEN. RIGHT. RIGHT. SO, SO, OKAY. WHAT YOU SAY, YOU WENT WHAT OF 'EM? SO I JUST WANNA LET YOU KNOW THAT THESE NEGOTIATIONS ARE BEING VIEWED BY CITIZENS. ABSOLUTELY. AND NOW I MAY BE LAUGHING AND, AND BUT AT THE END OF THE DAY, AT THE END OF THE DAY, SUN GO DOWN. YEAH. NO. IS AT IS AT WHAT? 12 O'CLOCK TONIGHT IS NOT WHEN THE SUN GO DOWN. BUT ANYWAY, AT THE END OF THIS DAY, WITH ALL SINCERITY, WE GOTTA REALLY PRESENT THIS TO CITIZENS. AND WITHOUT ALL OF THIS GOING AROUND PLAIN LAYMAN TERMS, THAT'S IMPORTANT. THE MOST IMPORTANT THING THAT'S GOING TO SWAY ME IS WHEN YOU ALL TELL US DOLLARS PEOPLE HOW MANY, HOW MUCH WE SAVE IT. WHEN YOU SAID AND EXPLAINED THAT SO CITIZENS CAN SEE THAT YOU ALL HAVE TAKEN STEPS TO DRASTICALLY REDUCE OUR EXPENDITURE SIDE OF THIS HOUSE, THEN I THINK THAT'S THE PART THAT I FEEL WE COULD GET START, GET TO WHERE WE COULD WORK TOGETHER. OKAY. OKAY. YOU KNOW, IT, IT IS NOT ABOUT HOW I FEEL IS, IS REALLY MAKING SURE THAT CITIZENS [01:35:01] UNDERSTAND. Y'ALL GOTTA UNDERSTAND WHEN Y'ALL TALKING TO US, CITIZENS DON'T UNDERSTAND ALL THIS CRAZY TERMINOLOGY WE USE. YOU KNOW, WE HAVE TO TALK LAYMAN TERMS AND STUFF. YOU KNOW, YOU GOTTA BE ABLE TO COME BACK AND YOU GOTTA TALK ABOUT WITH THIS IN, WITH THIS, UH, INCREASE ALONG WITH THAT, WE STILL DIDN'T GET WHAT WE WANT OUT OF BECAUSE WE GONNA BE GIVING SENIOR CITIZENS A DISCOUNT. A DISCOUNT. IT'S GONNA AMOUNT TO THIS AMOUNT OF MONEY. OKAY? BUT THAT'S TO LESSEN THE BURDENS ON THE SENIORS. AT THE SAME TIME, THIS LOWER PERCENTAGE THAN WHAT YOU ASKING FOR IS WHERE WE HELP OUR OTHER CITIZENS. BECAUSE NOT SENIOR CITIZENS ARE NOT THE ONE LIVING FROM PAYCHECK TO PAYCHECK. Y'ALL MIGHT NOT KNOW THAT. SENIOR CITIZENS NORMALLY THEY GOT ALL THEIR DUCKS IN THE ROAD. OKAY? THEY, THEY GOT SOCIAL SECURITY, THEIR HOMES ARE PAID FOR. SO THEY, SO, AND, AND THEY SAVE A LITTLE BIT. IT'S THE PEOPLE THAT'S WORKING WITH MINIMUM WAGES AND STUFF THAT'S LIVING FROM PAYCHECK TO PAYCHECK. SO NOT ALL THE TIME IT'S ABOUT A, UH, SENIOR CITIZEN. THAT'S WHY WHEN WE TALK ABOUT INCREASING THINGS, IT'S NOT JUST ABOUT SENIOR CITIZENS. IT'S ABOUT CITIZENS WHO ARE HAVING PROBLEMS IN THE ECONOMY TODAY, OUR ECONOMY TODAY, HIGHER FOOD, HIGHER GAS, THERE'S SO MANY THINGS THAT THEY'RE FIGHTING WITH FOR US TO, UH, ADD TO THAT. WE HAVE TO SHOW THEM THAT IT WAS THE LAST EFFORT. AND IT AIN'T ABOUT CONVINCING US, IT'S ABOUT ALSO SHOWING IT TO THEM. SO WHEN YOU COME BACK WITH YOUR PRESENTATION FOR THE, UH, FOR THE, UH, NEGOTIATIONS, , THERE YOU GO. GOOD WORD. DON'T CONVINCE US. REMEMBER, YOU GOTTA COME BACK WITH A, WITH SOMETHING THAT GONNA CONVINCE CITIZENS SO THAT IF WE ROLL WITH IT, AT THE END OF THE DAY, I CAN LOOK PEOPLE AN EYE AND SAY THAT IT'S IT'S FOR THE CITIZENS AND FOR THE GOOD OF THE CITY. AND THAT'S WHAT I HAVE TO DO. SOMETIMES IT'S A HARD , BUT WE DONE WENT THIS MORNING FROM ME SAYING NO TO, TO A WATER INCREASE, TO SAYING, I'M GONNA LISTEN. I'M GONNA LISTEN. AND, AND I'M GLAD WHAT YOU SAID THOUGH, BECAUSE YOU ALSO SAID AS WELL, YOU NEED TO SHOW DELIVERABLES. YOU NEED TO SHOW ME THE PROJECTS THAT YOU'RE GOING TO WORK ON. THERE YOU GO. YOU'RE GONNA ASK FOR THE MONEY. YOU'RE GONNA ASK FOR $30 MILLION, BUT SHOW ME THE PROJECTS YOU'RE GOING TO ACHIEVE THAT OTHER PERSON. YES. YEAH. THAT OTHER PIPE BURSTING CREW IS VERY CRITICAL BECAUSE, I MEAN, SURGE IS KILLING US ABSOLUTELY BACKING INTO THEIR HOMES SO THAT OTHER PIPE BURSTING CREW IS GOING. BECAUSE IF WE DIDN'T DO IT, THEN WE DO. WELL WE DON'T DO THE OTHER PIPE VERSUS AND CREW. WE DON'T DO THE OTHER PIPE VERSUS AND CREW. NOW WE FALL BEHIND ON THAT. YES. THOSE ARE THINGS YOU ALL GOT TO PRESENT TO US. AND YOU'RE NOT TELLING US, YOU'RE TELLING CITIZENS. CITIZENS GOTTA UNDERSTAND HOW WE GOING TO IMPACT ON THIS. AND NOT ONLY THAT, BUT YOU KNOW, UH, CITIZENS NEED TO UNDERSTAND THAT, YOU KNOW, WE DIDN'T JUST GO FOR, FOR WHAT THE BANANA AND THE TAILPIPE THESE KIDS SAY WITH THE 10% . SO, YOU KNOW, WE WILLING TO NEGOTIATE AS COUNCIL MEMBERS. UH, WE, WE WILLING TO TAKE A LOOK AT IT. YOU JUST HAVE TO GET Y'ALL STUFF TO PRESENT TO CITIZENS AND SHOW CITIZENS WHY IT'S SO IMPORTANT. LIKE YOU'RE TELLING US WE UNDERSTAND IT, BUT SEE YOU'RE NOT TALKING NUMBERS, BUT WE UNDERSTAND NUMBERS. THEY DON'T, YOU GOTTA SHOW THEM HOW WE DOING THIS. IT'S GOING TO SAVE YOU MONEY IN THE LONG RUN. IN THE LONG RUN. IT GOING TO IT GOING TO HELP US PROVIDE YOU A BETTER SERVICE IN THE, IN THE IMMEDIATE IMMEDIATE YEAH. AS OPPOSED TO ONE PIPE BURST CREW TAKING LONGER TO GET TO REPLACE YOUR LINE. RIGHT. WHICH GONNA BRING YOU MORE HARDSHIP. MM-HMM. , YOU KNOW, BUT WE GOING TO IMPROVE THE SERVICE GREATLY. BUT AT THE SAME TIME, YOU KNOW, WE CAN DO IT WITH THIS MM-HMM. NOW WE DON'T HAVE TO, BUT IF WE DON'T DO THIS, THEN I CAN'T DO THAT. YEAH. SO THAT'S WHERE I COME TO NOW GOING FROM, I'M NOT, I'M NOT SUPPORTING A RATE INCREASE TO, I'LL LISTEN NOW BECAUSE I WANT TO HEAR, I WANT TO GET THAT OTHER PIPE [01:40:01] VERSUS CREW. I KNOW HOW IMPORTANT IT IS. SO I'M READY TO LISTEN. Y'ALL JUST GOTTA BE PREPARED TO LET THE CITIZENS KNOW THAT IT AIN'T ABOUT Y'ALL TELLING US AND WE GOING ALONG WHAT Y'ALL SAY? IT'S BROKEN DOWN. 'CAUSE THAT'S A LOT IN, I MEAN, YOU GOT WHAT THEY GOT PIPE PERSON INVOLVED. OKAY. YOU GOT A SENIOR CITIZEN DISCOUNT INVOLVED. OKAY. YOU GOT THE LINES. YOU'RE GOING TO DO THE REPLACE. YES. INVOLVED. OKAY. MM-HMM. . Y'ALL GOTTA, Y'ALL GOTTA PRESENT THIS. OKAY? YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO PRESENT THIS TO CITIZENS TO HELP US. AND THEN WE, AND THEN WE GOING TO NEGOTIATE THE FINAL NUMBER. ALRIGHT? OKAY. UM, MS. JOANNE, YOU WANT TO ASK SOMETHING ELSE? MS. JONES. JONES. SIX PARTIES. 10TH STREET. I WANNA SAY, UH, CITY MANAGER BEFORE YOU GO. JUST TO SENIOR CITIZENS DISCOUNT LIKE MR. UH, DOUCETTE WAS SAYING, THAT'S JUST NOT, IT'S JUST PUTTING A BANDAID ON IT. OKAY. ANOTHER THING, WHAT ABOUT ALL THESE BIG TIME COMPANIES USING THESE SAME PIPES TO GET TO THEIR, FOR THEIR BENEFIT? CAN, CAN YOU, UH, APPROACH THEM WITH THE MONEY THAT YOU NEED TO BENEFIT THEM AS WELL? THESE COMPANIES WITH THE MONEY, ALL THESE COMPANIES WE HAVE AROUND HERE? I MEAN, IS IT POSSIBLE? I, I DON'T KNOW IF IT'S POSSIBLE OR NOT, IT'S JUST MY THOUGHT. CAN YOU APPROACH THEM WITH THAT? WITH THE PROBLEM THAT YOU HAVE? YES. MS. JOANNE, WHAT WE HAVE, WE DO HAVE DIFFERENT WATER RATES FOR CONSUMPTION FOR INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL BUSINESSES AS WELL. WE WILL MM-HMM. . AND WE ARE LOOKING AT THOSE. OKAY. LOOK INTO THAT AND SEE COULD YOU GO, YOU KNOW, THEY HAVE MORE MONEY THAN WE HAVE AND IT'S TO BENEFIT THEM AS WELL AS THE LITTLE MAN. YOU KNOW, I FEEL LIKE THEY, IN THEIR BUDGET, THEY COULD GO UP, THEY COULD PAY YOU A LITTLE MORE THAN JUST LEANING ON US. PLEASE. WE LOOK AT IT. ALRIGHT. THANK YOU. OKAY. COUNCILMAN LEWIS? YES. SO BRIEFLY, UH, COUNCIL COUNCILMAN, UH, ETT WAS TALKING ABOUT SPEAKING IN LAYMAN TERMS, TIGHTENING THE BELT. A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THAT IS A, A TEXAS LUNCH. WHEN YOU AIN'T GOT NOTHING TO EAT, JUST TIGHTEN YOUR BELT. OKAY? NOW I FULLY UNDERSTAND Y'ALL GONNA PUT THAT AN INCREASE IN PLACE, WHATEVER IT IS. OKAY. 10% OR 7%. SO YOU GONNA START COLLECTING THAT MONEY AFTER THIS BUDGET IS APPROVED. BUT THE PLAN IS GONNA BE WHAT? ONE YEAR DOWN THE ROAD. THE CAPITAL PROGRAM IS PART THAT WE PROPOSE FOR. THAT 30 MILLION IS GONNA START OCTOBER 1ST. SO THE PROJECTS THAT NEED TO BE DESIGNED WILL START IMMEDIATELY. YOU GONNA START SPENDING MONEY OCTOBER 1ST? YES, SIR. OKAY. OKAY. WE HAVE, WE ALREADY, WE ALREADY HAVE A LIST OF PROJECTS AS THE, YOU KNOW, 32. HOW MANY OF THOSE, THE WATER, IT'S $30 MILLION WORTH OF PROJECTS. ABOUT 13.5 MILLION OF THEM ARE WATER PROJECTS. THE REST ARE SANITARY SEWER. THE 56 WATER, 56 50 57 WATER LINES WERE ORIGINALLY DESIGNED. ONE PROJECT I GOT, I MADE A ORDER THERE THAT'S ALREADY DESIGNED. SO WE'LL IMMEDIATELY, I'LL HAVE TO LOOK AT THE NUMBER, BUT IT'S ABOUT HALF OF 'EM. WE'LL IMMEDIATELY SPLIT OUT THE, THE WATERLINE, THE INDIVIDUAL PROJECTS FROM THE 56 REMAINING. AND WE'LL HAVE TO HAVE THE CONSULTANT CHANGE THE BID DOCUMENTS, WHICH WON'T TAKE LONG AND THEN WE'LL BID IT. MM-HMM. . BUT WE NEED THE FUNDING TO HAVE THE CONSULTANT CHANGE. IT'S, IT'S UNDER THEIR SEAL. SO THEY HAVE TO DO IT, THEY HAVE TO CHANGE THE, THE BID DOCUMENTS. SO THAT'LL GET THE WATER LINES STARTED. YOU REALIZE THESE WATER LINES WERE IDENTIFIED IN 2007, RIGHT. JUST SO YOU HAVE A RANGE OF WHEN THESE WATER LINES WERE IDENTIFIED. RIGHT? UNDERSTAND. SO THERE'S WHAT MY POINT IS, IS ONCE WE FIX THESE, THERE'LL BE ANOTHER 57 WATER LINES. 57 57. 2 57 EVERY TIME. THAT'S RIGHT. I LIKE THAT NUMBER. WELL, THAT'S A YEAR I WAS BORN, SIR. SO I I LIKE THE 57. IT, IT COMES BACK TO THE POINT THAT YOU MAKE. WE NEED TO SHOW SOMETHING. WHEN WE GO BACK TO THE, THE CONSUMERS, WE NEED TO LET THEM KNOW THAT WE DID 57 OR 60 WATER LINES AND YOU KNOW, THE CALLS WILL REDUCE BY 50%. YOU KNOW, UM, THE NUMBER OF INQUIRIES FOR, UM, SEWER BACKING UP IN THE BATHTUB HAS BEEN REDUCED. CONSIDER WE NEED TO SHOW SOMETHING. RIGHT. YOU KNOW, SO THAT THEY CAN GO AHEAD WITH, ALONG WITH US. IF WE ASK THEM FOR 12 [01:45:01] OR 3% INCREASE, ONE OF THE, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I'M HEARING, THE, THE STATE IS ENFORCING IT, ENFORCING THIS, THIS MANDATES. BUT WHAT THEY DON'T UNDERSTAND IT GO, IT'S A FEDERAL MANDATE THAT THE STATE WANTS TO CONTINUE TO GET FUNDING FROM THE, THE FEDS. THEY HAVE TO ENFORCE THINGS. THAT'S SO WHAT THE, WHAT THE FEDS THAT THEY, THEY CUT THEIR BUDGET BY NOT HAVING TO, TO ENFORCE THE STATE BY STATE. THEY TRANSFERRING THE ENFORCEMENT ON THE STATES. IF YOU WANT TO CONTINUE TO GET THESE ALLOCATIONS, YOU HAVE TO ENFORCE IT. SO THAT'S WHERE THAT IS COMING FROM. OKAY. YES. RIGHT. AND ONE OF THE THINGS, AND ONE, AND WHEN ADDITION TO THE DISCOUNT ON THE, TO THE SENIOR CITIZEN, IT MAY NOT SEEM LIKE A WHOLE LOT, BUT $6, $10 SAVINGS HERE. WHEN THEY GO BUY GAS, THEY CAN BUY TWO OR THREE MORE GALLON, A COUPLE GALLONS OF GAS. WHEN THEY GO, WHEN THEY APPLY THEIR SENIOR CITIZEN DISCOUNT, THEY, IT JUST KEEP BOUNCING UP. AND WHEN I GO TO LOWE'S AND APPLY MY, UH, MILITARY DISCOUNT, IT, IT, IT, IT GOES UP. AND AT THE END OF THE DAY, YOU MAY HAVE, AND IN A MONTH YOU MAY HAVE A HUNDRED DOLLARS 50 TO A HUNDRED DOLLARS THAT YOU COULD DO OTHER THINGS WITH. AND HOW MUCH IS OUR, WHAT WE CALL IT, UH, DEBT SERVICE ANNUAL? IS THAT ANNUALLY OR A MONTHLY? THAT DEBT SERVICE IS AN ANNUAL DEBT SERVICE. SO IF WE, IF WE GO AHEAD AND GET 30 MILLION FOR FISCAL YEAR 25, IF WE WANT TO GET ANOTHER 30 MILLION, IT WOULD BE AN ADDITIONAL, I I BELIEVE THE PLAN THAT I'M HEARING IS THAT WHEN WE GET, WE'VE GOT OTHER THINGS THAT ARE IN THE WORKS. MM-HMM. THAT WOULD INCREASE THE REVENUE WITHOUT NECESSARILY INCREASING THE RATES AT, AT THIS PACE. RIGHT. OKAY. ONE OF THE THINGS IN ADDITION, I'M GONNA CLOSE OUT. IF YOU SAY THE FIRST OF THE MONTH YOU SAVE A HUNDRED DOLLARS, IT'S REALLY A $200 BECAUSE IT'S NOT HOW MUCH MONEY IS PER MONTH? THE FIRST OF THE MONTH FROM FIRST OF THE MONTH TO THE FIRST OF THE NEXT MONTH. IF YOU SAVING, THAT'S A $200 SAVING EVERY 30 DAYS. THAT'S WHAT I FORGOT TO TELL 'EM. YOUNGSTERS UP HERE THE OTHER DAY. IF YOU GOT A $500 CAR NOTE, THAT'S A THOUSAND DOLLARS EVERY 30 DAYS LEAVING YOUR POCKET. WE CAN SEE, WE CAN SEE THE LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL. MM-HMM. . 'CAUSE WHEN WE LOOK AT DEBT SERVICING, WE WERE JUST LOOKING AT IT THIS WEEK, WHEN WE LOOK AT DEBT SERVICING BY 2027, WE SHOULD HAVE A SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION. MM-HMM. , YOU KNOW, RIGHT. IN DEBT SERVICING. RIGHT. BECAUSE OF THE NUMBER OF PRO OF THE, THE CERTIFICATES OF OBLIGATION THAT WE HAVE UNDERTAKEN OVER THE LAST FOUR TO FIVE YEARS. MM-HMM. , YOU KNOW, AND, UM, THE ACHIEVEMENTS THAT WE HAVE HAD OVER THAT PERIOD OF TIME. YEAH. SO IT'S COMING. LIGHT IS AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL THOUGH. YEAH. AND A AND A FRIEND OF MINE CAME TO ME AND ASKED ME TO TAKE OVER A NOTE. IT WAS A NICE TRUCK AT THE TIME, A FEW YEARS BACK. I SAID, HOW MUCH IS A NOTE? HE SAID, $750 A MONTH. I SAID, OH NO, I AIN'T GONNA DO THAT. I SAID, I'M NOT GONNA SPEND $1,500 A MONTH. HE SAID, NO, IT'S $700 A MONTH. I SAID, NO, YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND. I SAY FROM, FROM FROM FIRST OF THE MONTH. SEVEN 50, THE FIRST OF THE NEXT MONTH, SEVEN 50. I SAID, THAT'S 30 DAYS. THAT'S $1,500. HE SAID, NOBODY COUNTS MONEY LIKE THAT. I DO. OKAY. OKAY. COUNCILMAN DOUCETTE. DEATH SERVICE. I GOT ONE THING TO SAY ABOUT DEBT SERVICE. DEATH SERVICE IS PART OF GOVERNMENT AT ALL LEVELS. THAT IS THE WAY YOU GET A LOT OF MONEY TO DO THINGS YOU NEED TO DO WITHOUT HAVING TO SPEND IT ALL AT ONE TIME. THE ONLY THING THAT WE SHOULD ALWAYS CONSIDER WITH DEATH SERVICE IS OUR BOND RATING. BECAUSE AS LONG AS WE HAD AN OUT, HAVE AN OUTSTANDING BOND RATING, THE DEBT SERVICE DON'T MATTER. IT IS PART OF DOING BUSINESS. IT'S A TOOL. THAT'S THE WAY YOU DO BUSINESS. BUT THE BOND RATING, THAT'S WHY WE HAVE FINANCIAL ADVISORS. THEY'RE THE ONE THAT'S GONNA KEEP US AND WE NEED TO LISTEN TO 'EM. AND WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND OUR BOND RATING IS WHAT WE NEED. AND LAYMAN TERM FOR THE CITIZENS IS LIKE A CREDIT REPORT. YES. AS LONG AS YOU GOT 800, THEY GIVE YOU EVERYTHING YOU WANT. MM-HMM. 600. [01:50:01] THE INTEREST RATE IS HIGHER. 500. I'M SORRY. WE CAN'T HELP YOU. DEBT SERVICE DON'T CARE. THAT'S THE TOOL. WE HAVE TO GET OUR HAND ON MONEY. WE JUST HAVE TO MAKE SURE THAT OUR, WE FOLLOW OUR ADVISORS AND UNDERSTAND THE BOND RATING. WE DON'T DROP. THAT'S RIGHT. OKAY. I I JUST WANNA TELL YOU, IT'S, UH, I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE TIME IT IS. 11:52 AM I JUST RECEIVED BECAUSE WE DID LOSE OUR BOND RATING FOR THE 22 AUDIT HAVING NOT BEEN DONE. BUT IT HAD BEEN COMPLETED SINCE THEN. WE'VE BEEN REINSTATED AND WE HAVE A BOND RATING OF A PLUS AGAIN. AND I JUST GOT THIS JUST THREE MINUTES AGO. OH, THAT'S, THAT'S THE ONLY THING THAT MATTERS. AND SOMETHING I HEARD. IT REALLY MATTERS. NO MORE LATE AUDITS. SEE THOSE THINGS THAT IMPACT ON US, THOSE ARE THE TYPE OF THINGS WE HAVE TO BE CO COGNIZANT OF. WHAT CAN HURT US AS A CITY THAT'S A PRIORITY. 'CAUSE AS LONG AS WE GOT A GOOD BOND RATING, WE GOOD TO GO GET MONEY. OKAY. AT LOW ENTRY, YOU GET MONEY ANYTIME. THAT'S RIGHT. BUT WE DON'T WANT TO GET MONEY. YEAH. ANYTIME WE WANT TO GET MONEY, WHEN WE COULD LEVERAGE IT AND DO THINGS FOR OUR CITIZENS AND OUR CITY AT LOW COST. THAT'S WHY WE HERE TO MAKE THESE TYPE DECISIONS. YEAH. SO THAT BOND RATING BETTER STAY AT EIGHT. IF IT NOT EIGHT, THEN WE AS COUNCILMEN, WE NEED TO START LOOKING AROUND AT WHO GOT IT LOWER. THAT'S YOU . SO I, I LIKE THE ANALOGY THAT THE, THE, UM, CITIZENS COULD UNDERSTAND WHERE WE EQUATE THE BOND RATE INTO OUR CREDIT SCORE WITH 800 CREDIT SCORE. YOU KNOW, YOU CAN DICTATE WHAT INTEREST RATE THE CREDIT UNION GIVES YOU. YOU KNOW, YOU'RE IN A POSITION TO DO THAT. AND IT'S JUST LIKE OUR BOND RATING. AND AS OUR FINANCIAL ADVISORS HAVE SAID TO US, WHEN THE BOND PEOPLE CONTINUE TO SEE THAT WE CONTINUE TO INVEST IN INFRASTRUCTURE, OUR STREETS, OUR UTILITIES, INFRASTRUCTURE, QUALITY OF LIFE THINGS, YOU KNOW, THEY, THAT WILL CONTINUE TO ATTRACT PEOPLE TO OUR COMMUNITY AND IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF LIFE OF OUR PEOPLE. IT IS VERY MUCH MORE LIKELY THAT WE COULD SEE AN INCREASE IN THE STANDARD OF LIVING. AND THEN THE, THE, THE PERSONS WHO GO OUT THERE TO BUY OUR SECURITIES ARE VERY MUCH MORE SECURE WITH OUR MUNICIPAL STANDING FINANCIALLY. MM-HMM. , YOU KNOW, OUT THERE ON THE MARKET. MM-HMM. . SO THAT'S, THAT'S, THAT'S A GOOD THING FOR US. COUNCIL LEWIS. OKAY. MM-HMM. OKAY. SO WE'LL COME BACK. OKAY. WE'LL BE BACK. ALRIGHT, THANK YOU. IF IT PLEASES THE COUNCIL, IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO MOVE ON, WE CAN GO AHEAD AND CONTINUE WITH SOLID WASTE. OKAY. WHAT PAGE? AND CONT THAT WOULD BE PAGE 18, I BELIEVE. OH, PAGE 19. THANK YOU. PAGE 19. NIGHTMARE. NIGHTMARE TIME WASTE IS WHAT? 19 AND PAGE 19 AND THEREAFTER. YEP. HEY, QUESTION, QUESTION. I DON'T SEE, UH, PUBLIC WORKS. I MEAN YOUR PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR, DO WE REALLY WANT DO THIS? YEAH. NOT WHAT I DO. WE REALLY WANT DO THIS, HUH? I DON'T, I WOULDN'T DO IT THOUGH. WHAT THEY PLAN, HUH? UM, YOU TAKE IT TO ANY DEPARTMENT DIRECTLY. THAT'S WHAT I'M SAYING BECAUSE THE WAY WE GET THINGS OUT, WE GET [01:55:01] THINGS OUT AND THEN THEY GO BACK WHEN YOU AND Y'ALL WORKING. IT'S, IT IS GOOD. BUT THEY NEED TO HEAR WHAT WE TALKING ABOUT THEIR DEPARTMENTS AND HOW WE VIEWING IT. THAT'S RIGHT. I MEAN, THAT'S MY TAKE ON THIS. MAYOR. UH, THANK YOU MAYOR. UH, I TOTALLY AGREE. I WOULDN'T, YOU KNOW, WANT THE, THE DIRECTOR. YOU GOOD. YOU GOOD WITH THAT? SO, SO LET'S, LET'S GO BACK TO WHAT WE ORIGINALLY SAID. IF YOU HAVE ANY NOTES, YOU LOOK AT THOSE, YOU HAVE ANY NOTES MAKE THEM. IS THAT OKAY? YEAH. LET ME SAY ONE THING. YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW, I'M, I'M GLAD THAT WE, THAT WE ARE DOING THESE, THESE, THESE BUDGET WORKSHOPS. SEE, LIKE, WE COME IN HERE AND WE SPEND A COUPLE HOURS AND WE DO A SECTION, BUT WE GET TO TALK ABOUT THIS AND WE GET TO SAY THINGS, CITIZENS GOING TO BETTER UNDERSTAND ABOUT THE, THE, THE, UH, USE OF MONEY AND HOW WE SPENDING MONEY AND WHAT WE FIXING TO DO AND WHAT'S IMPORTANT, WHAT'S NOT IMPORTANT. BUT NOT ONLY, BUT WHEN WE TALK AND WE GET, A DIRECTOR CAN ANSWER OUR QUESTION AND DIRECTOR COULD, COULD SEE AND HEAR WHAT WE SAY AND WHAT WE THINK ABOUT THOSE DEPARTMENTS, ESPECIALLY WHEN IT COME TO FUNDING, YOU KNOW, AND STUFF. SO I THINK, UH, THIS FIRST TIME I SEEN THIS TYPE BUDGET THING SINCE I GUESS 2013 WHEN I, 2012 WHEN I WAS ON COUNCIL BEFORE. THAT'S THE WAY WE USED TO DO BUDGETS HERE, DEALING BY DEPARTMENTS. SO WE COULD TALK ABOUT PERSONNEL, KILL ALL BIRDS IN ONE STONE. ONCE THAT DEPARTMENT DIRECTOR LEAVES, ALL DECISIONS ARE MADE. YOU ALL ADJUST THE BUDGET TO WHAT WAS SAID. WHEN IT COMES BACK TO US FOR FINAL APPROVAL FOR THE BUDGET, WE READY TO APPROVE A BUDGET BECAUSE WE'VE ACTUALLY IN TALK TO EVERYBODY AND WE ACTUALLY HAD ALL THE INPUT AND CITIZENS GOT TO HEAR EACH DEPARTMENT AND DIRECTORS AS OPPOSED TO JUST PRESENTING IT. AND, HEY, WHAT'S YOUR QUESTIONS? I'M, I'M GLAD THIS IS, THIS IS GOING GOOD. AND IT DOESN'T TAKE AS LONG TO DO A SECTION LIKE YOU SAID, BUT I THINK NEXT TIME YOU, YOU CALL FOR ANOTHER WORKSHOP, I THINK YOU BETTER HAVE SOMEBODY HANDY. SO IF WE DECIDE TO PUSH TO THE NEXT ONE, WE COULD PUSH TO THE NEXT ONE. BUT IT DOESN'T TAKE LONG AND WE COULD GO THOROUGH. YEP. THAT'S ALL I GOT. YES. YES, MA'AM. JUST BRIEFLY. YES MA'AM. I, I HOPE I'M SPEAKING AT THE RIGHT TERM ON PUBLIC WORK. I WAS CONCERNED ABOUT THEM, UM, GETTING THE COST OF LIVING. RAISE THE EMPLOYEES. WOULD THAT COME UNDER PUBLIC WORK IN THIS BUDGET? UH, YOU KNOW, COULD THEY HAVE ALREADY FACTOR THAT IN? AH, WE HAVE ALREADY FACTORED THAT IN. ALL RIGHT. AND THANK YOU. YES, THANK YOU. THANK YOU. OKAY. IF THERE'S NO OBJECTION, WOULD YOU BE WILLING TO GO THROUGH DEBT SERVICE? THAT WOULD BE MINE. IT'S JUST PAGE SEVEN OR DO YOU WANNA GO AHEAD AND WAIT? YES. DEATH SERVICE. I REALLY DON'T, I MEAN, I CAN LOOK AT DEATH SERVICE, BUT THAT'S SOMETHING ELSE THAT STRICTLY AT ANOTHER LEVEL THAN ME. YOU KNOW, DEATH SERVICE. I KNOW WE GOTTA PAY. I, I'LL LOOK AND SEE WHAT IT IS ALL ABOUT OKAY. AND STUFF. BUT AT, BUT I DON'T THINK YOU COULD DO NOTHING FOR ME FOR DEATH SERVICE. BUT PAY, BUT PAY WHAT WE SUPPOSED TO PAY. THAT'S RIGHT. THAT IS CORRECT. THAT'S WHAT THIS HAS. AND I JUST, I WANTED YOU TO HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY IF YOU HAD ANY QUESTIONS. I, I WOULD STAND FOR QUESTIONS. ALL RIGHT. ALL OF THE, ALL OF THE DEBT WAS APPROVED BY A COUNCIL. SO THE COUNCIL APPROVED THAT DEBT. YOU GOTTA PAY THAT DEBT. THAT'S NON-NEGOTIABLE. YEAH. SO I, THAT'S MY DEBT, SIR. YEAH. OKAY. THANK YOU. JUST, YEAH, THAT'S GOTTA BE PAID. YOU GOTTA BE PAID. YEAH. UM, MAYOR, JUST BRIEFLY, YOU WANT PAY YOUR, YOUR BROTHER. OH, COME ON. BEFORE THE WEEK IS, YOU CAN BE EXCUSED. I SHOULD, I SHOULD. MAYOR, BEFORE THE WEEK IS UP, WE, WE WILL REACH OUT FOR THE CITY SECRETARY ABOUT THE NEXT WORKSHOP. OKAY. IS THAT OKAY? OKAY. YEAH. OKAY. ALRIGHT. WE HAVE A MEETING ON TUESDAY. TUESDAY COME AND WE MEET ON TUESDAY, RIGHT? YEAH. AND THEN BY MEETING THEN, THEN WE SHOULDN'T BE TOO LATE. OKAY. WHAT'S OKAY. OKAY. OKAY. OKAY. OKAY. UH, IN THE, UH, THE, WE GO JUST ABOUT, WE HAD TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER THE THIRD IS A POSSIBLE WORKSHOP AFTER THIS ONE TUESDAY. OKAY, THAT'S FINE. SEPTEMBER 3RD. WAS THIS TIMEFRAME GOOD? OR WOULD YOU LIKE TO ADJUST THE TIME? NO. OKAY. SEPTEMBER 3RD. SEPTEMBER THE THIRD. I LIKE THIS. YES. YOU'RE NOT DOING OKAY. RIGHT. SO WE SHOULD BE COVERED, RIGHT? THAT'S AFTER LABOR. WE COULD PUT IT ON ANY DAY. WE JUST, WERE [02:00:01] CHOOSING CHOOSE. I GO TO CALIFORNIA AND SO WE SHOULD BE COVERED. I KNOW. I GOTTA GO TO A FUNERAL. I GOTTA GO TO A FUNERAL. THE SCHEDULE THAT WE TALKED ABOUT, I THINK WE OKAY. WE, WE WE'LL STILL, YEAH. YEAH. GO AHEAD AND DO IT. YEAH, BUT I CAN, WE SHOULD STILL BE HERE. YEAH. BUT BRIEFLY, UH, JUST A PIECE OF ADVICE FOR STAFF. ANYTIME YOU ALL ARE EXPLAINING SOMETHING AND IT'S EASY FOR YOU ALL BECAUSE Y'ALL DO IT EVERY DAY. BUT IF YOU LOOK UP AT THE COUNCIL AND YOU SEE A BUNCH OF BLANK LOOKS, STOP AND FIND ANOTHER WAY TO DO IT. EXPLAIN IT. OKAY. ADJOURN. OKAY. UH, ANYTHING ELSE? COUNCILMAN MCKEN LAW? NO, NOTHING ELSE. THANK YOU. ALL. MOTION. OH, I'M SORRY. UH, MAYOR. MOTION TO ADJOURN THIS MEETING AT, UH, 1205. SECOND. OKAY, THEN MOVE TO SECOND. WE WOULD ADJOURN THE MEETING AT 1205. ALL IN FAVOR? AYE. OKAY. THANK YOU ALL SO KINDLY. EIGHT. NO. WRITE HIM A CHECK. * 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.