Good evening everyone and welcome to the March 18th, 2025 City Council meeting. It is now 5.33 p.m. and I call the meeting to order. Ms. Hall would you please call the roll. Council Member Bethel. Council Member Wilson. Mayor Scorrell. Mayor Settton. Mayor. There is a quorum and required charter officers are present thank you miss Paul item number three is our invocation and plunge I'm going to ask councilman Wilson that lead us in an invocation and councilman sent into lead us in our pledges please rise please join me in prayer by the God we thank you for and for the blessings you've Stowed upon this city and this community. Lord, we ask your continued blessings on those who give so much Star community and work for the betterment of others. Lord, we thank you for the privilege of public service and we thank you for Public servants. Give us today as we deliberate the business of this city, give us your wisdom and grace as we move forward. Forgive us for your failure, we ask this in Christ name. Amen. A pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands hands, one decision and another. Invisible liberty and justice for all. On the text slide, I pledge allegiance to the Texas one state under God, one in indelible. Thank you, gentlemen. Item number four is formal announcements. It doesn't appear that we have any tonight, so we will move on to council comments. Councilman Sutton, would you like to lead off? They don't have anything to add, but they see you now. Okay. Someone will send start off tonight. So I'm going to start off tonight. So I'm going to start off tonight. So I'm going to start off tonight. So I'm going to start off tonight. So I'm going to start off tonight. So I'm going to start off tonight. So I'm going to start off tonight. So I'm going to start off tonight. So I'm going to start off tonight. She was 92 years old. She entered into heavenly rest on March 7th, 2025. She was born on November 25th, 1932 in Frederick, Oklahoma to Ted and Maudi Thresh. Villas grew up in Oklahoma City before moving to Hale Center, Texas, where she met and married the love of her life, Gerald Lee. They shared a beautiful partnership, working, traveling, and building a life together until he passed away in 2024. A graduate of Abelian Christian College, Phyllis Moody, South Texas, in 1969 with Gerald and their son's Chris and Craig. She became a pillar of the Portland community establishing Century 21 Lee Real Estate in all pro-property management. For over 40 years, she helped shape Portland and Ingleside, assisting families and finding homes. She also held leadership's roles in various civic and professional organizations always striving to uplift her community. A woman of deep faith, Phyllis was a founding member of the North Bay Church of Christ where she found joy teaching the ladies Bible class. She was also a gifted poet, artist and singer known for her generosity, positivity, and unwavering belief in the power of prayer. Visitation will be held in Whitsted's funeral home on March 21st, 2025 from five to seven pm with funeral services at North Bay Church of Christ on March 22nd at 10am. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the sunny Glen Children's home or orphan care efforts in the Philippines through the Brown family. Villices legacy of love, kindness and faith will forever inspire those who knew her. On behalf of the Portland City Council and all our city employees, we extend our sincerest sympathy to Villices family and close friends. And now if you'll please rise for a moment of silence. Thank you. So moving on to fires of the last few few days, you know, two weeks. I remember County Commissioner Tom Yarlene and I were driving back from Austin listening to the news of the devastating fires that had started in Sinton and we were actually trying to get back into the Sinton area because Tom had left his car and his truck there. I picked him up and sent him. We went to Austin. We were on our way back. Unbeknownst to me when I called our fire chief to ask him what's the best way and can we get into Sinton? He was out there fighting the fire. And so I do want to recognize our fire department's efforts for several fires that they responded to. First they responded to the welder fire and they started out with James Reed and Chief Morris went out there and they were working that fire until they were called over to the still dynamics fire in the same city that night. And at some point, they actually called for a four-engine crew of four. Captain Willett responded out there, and they worked that fire until 2 a.m. in the morning. So they actually, there was so many people responding to that fire from all over the state of Texas and our hearts go out to everyone that lost physical property and our spirits. We pray for them. I did reach out to the mayor of sentin. They are doing well and they appreciate everything that people are doing. They are asking not for physical things anymore, what they are asking for is monetary donations. And so the best way to support them right now, I think is through this FARD disaster fund, which has been set up by the United Way, 100% of the donations to this fund will go to this coastal Ben Relief. And many people have been responding to this. And I think the fund is growing additionally. If you make a donation to this fund by March 21st, still dynamics will match it dollar for dollar. So if you really want to make a difference, this is the way. This is how to do it. And I know the United Way, the coastal bend, will do a fantastic job in making sure that this money is distributed appropriately. Moving on to, they responded to another fire. Just the other day, we had the Gulf Coast growth ventures and savage fire. It wasn't on there. It wasn't in the plant, but it was actually. And so thank you to the firefighters for responding to that and local responders. And I was very happy to see that golf coast growth ventures actually took some state dinners over the fire department and thank them. And of course, our first responders don't expect that. you know they're doing their job and they are so happy to do so, but they certainly do appreciate when their efforts are recognized. Tomorrow, most of our council will be spending time in Austin on the San Patricio Day on the Hill. This is our time to go and lobby and talk about the great things that San Patricia of County is doing and of course the City of Portland. So we are excited about that opportunity. We'll be spending our day in Austin. And then the last but not least is March 27th through 30th. Get ready. We're having WinFest in Portland. Lots of activities This is 50th anniversary bill. I know you've been involved. You're on the chamber board. So we look forward to having a fantastic 50th anniversary celebration. That's it for now. We move on. Sure. I just want to piggyback one thing. And I don't want to step on chief Morse's toes by any means. But over the last week and a half, I've done a lot of traveling, a majority by car, driving around different towns, pretty much all over central Texas, South. It's dry and it's windy. And there are certain behaviors that I've noted, and by no means am I trying to call any individual out on things. But I've noted several people flicking cigarettes from their vehicles while driving down highways in areas where there's tall grass. Another one that I noted, multiple shorter sedans or lower vehicles pulling over into tall grass on the side of highways for whatever reason. If you don't know the catalytic converter on vehicles can get extremely hot and can initiate a fire quick. And with the winds the way they're blowing right now, you just need a little spark, and it's going to quickly become even controlled burns or getting out of hand right now. So just be mindful of the things you're doing until we can get out of this drought, do everything you can to keep the potential down. You know what else do it. You can do it. You can do it. You can do it. You can do it. You can do it. You can do it. You can do it. You can do it. You can do it. You can do it. You can do it. You can do it. You can do it. You can do it. You can do it. actions and it has a lot of consequence. Thank you. Thank you John. Mr. Wright. Mayor thank you just one item. The City of Corporate Christy adopted their, the amendments to their drought contingency plan today and ours actually pretty much parallels what they adopted. So we're gonna take a look at ours to make sure that it's in compliance. We do have remaining compliance with them since we purchased water from them. That's all I have. Thank you very much. We'll move on to item 7 public comment. Is there anyone at this time that would like to make public comment? The item is not appearing on the agenda. Seeing none, we'll move on to our action items. Minutes of our previous meetings. The City Council will consider approval of the minutes of its March 4, 2025 regular meeting. Is there any discussion? I will move. Second. Motion made by Councilman Sutton, seconded by Councilman Wilson to approve the March 4, 2025 regular meeting minutes. Is there any discussion on this motion? Hearing now, we'll begin with Councilman Bethel. Or four. Four. Motion is approved. Item number nine, acceptance of the 2024 annual comprehensive financial report. The City Council will consider acceptance of the financial report for the fiscal year ended September 30th, 2024. This part. Good evening, Mayor and Council. As we all know, our annual financial report is required to be reviewed by an independent auditor. This year we did engage ABIP to perform that audit. Very pleased to report that we did receive a clean audit opinion and even more pleased to be bringing the report to you before the end of March, which is a first for several years. So that is due in large part to the hard work by Mr. Kyle Leyer and Mr. Michael Diltoro who are here from ABIP to present the report to council. Thank you, Ms. Martin. Mayor council, thank you for having me. I'll be very brief, but if there are questions about the audit process that are already reporting, please, I I'm here for you so ask questions as needed. Other than that, I'm going to be real quick. And because I was asked to be quick, so I'm sorry. We did conduct the audit for the year-end, September 30, 2024 for City of Portland. The independent auditors report, which is about maybe five or six pages into it. It's page one. There's a lot of introductory stuff. That is the most important document in there. It's what you actually hire as for. There's very few things in the bound document that belong to us. That is one of them. It's on our letterhead. Everything else is a product of management. Even though we helped them prepare it, it is management's responsibility. And like I said, there's few things in there. The independent auditor to report is one of those and we did conduct our audit and accordance with the general accepted auditing standards in the United States and government auditing standards. The purpose of that was to determine whether the financial statements are presented and accordance with the general accepted the county principles. We do say that the first paragraph in there is called our opinion and it states that we do find the financial statement says to be presented to be within the general accepted accounting principle guidelines. So it's a clean opinion, unmodified opinion is a term we use. The other document in there is at the very, very back, another letter that's on our letterhead is the independent audit report on internal controls over financial reporting because your audit is done in accordance with government auditing standards. We are required in this report to state that we reviewed internal controls of the organization to determine whether there's any weaknesses that were identified. We're happy to report that there aren't or known weaknesses or material weaknesses or deficiencies through our audit process and that includes a risk assessment on on processes within the city. And so we did not identify any weaknesses in your control structure. So good things there. Other thing I'll touch on is just on your fund balance and the general fund obviously, the general fund's your primary operating account. At the end of the year you had $9.2 million into your fiscal year, $9.2 million in unassigned fund balance and that represented roughly five months of operating reserve and that's well within a respected area to be with an operating reserve. Typically best practices are north of three months, and so you're at five months. So with that, I will conclude and take any questions you have on the audit. If I have any questions, I certainly it would pop up really tightly this year, and I was like, so this was, thank you for your hard work on this. I know it's not easy to do these types of audits so appreciate it So I guess so we'll have a motion to accept the audit I moved to approve the annual comprehensive financial report for the fiscal year ending September 30th, 2024. I got. There's a motion made by Councilman Bethel, seconded by Councilman Sutton to accept the 2024 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report. Is there any discussion on this motion? Hearing none, we'll begin with Councilman Sutton. Four. Four. Four. Okay, motion is approved. Thank you on the air. Thank you. Mayor, let me just add two, just to amplify what you said. Miss Martin and her staff conduct themselves very professionally and to have a clean audit is a very important part of the city's finances and the trust that our citizens have in us. And they always do a great job of making sure that all of our finances in our order and the City Council is well informed about our financial items so thank you. Thank you. We've on item number 10 the next generation 911 course services. The City Council will consider proposals for next generation 911 course services that were received, opened and read on March 3, 2024. Australian. Good evening, Mayor and Council. Come to you this morning. I'm on one project. And in the title there, we issued a request for proposals and we received three bids and one of them is partial bid decline. So in a nutshell, we entered our current 911 service contract in 2014 and that has not changed since then. That equipment now is end of life as well as that entire system. And in addition to that, there is a state mandate and a federal mandate to move to next generation 911 services. So I'd like to take a minute to thank the mayor. She has done a fantastic job in not only leadership but a whole lot of hard work on the CSEC board and she's managed to not only help cities like ours utilize some of these grant funds but in our case in particular she paved the way to coordinate with CSEC staff to make sure that this very complex grant compliance and completeness requirement for this RFP was done and we were able to get our RFP validated prior to issue by CSEC staff. So this project has a total amount for the winning bid of $848,000 or $10.22 and that's over a five-year period. 138,000 in change of that is non-recurrent cost. It's the install configuration and setup. That cost will be offset by what we've got in C-Secq grant awards. We have approximately $277,000 as a maximum grant award. And it should be able to offset not only that non-recurrent cost, but the monthly recurrent cost through the year of 2025 and 2026. So this will not impact the city budget until fiscal year 27. And essentially, we're getting all of the conversion costs covered by grant funding as well as a full year, and depending on when they can get it deployed, potentially the remainder of this year covered, actually having a net savings off the budget for that year compared to what we have now. This is a very competitive bid. The one that was winning was the AT&T with the Carbine Call Handling software. It contains all of the essential functions that we need for next gen 911 not only now but during the lifespan of the contract. It gives us a sole provider making support seamless and long-term maintainable. I'd be happy to entertain any questions, but the staff recommendations to accept the AT&T of I'm Bid. We have one quick question. the previous contract that was in place was running on 11 years now as a five year contract a little bit more in line with what we would expect or was the previous one just continuously tacked on to. So there's an interesting story behind that. The first one was a five year contract which is the appropriate contract length. At the end of that five years, they came back to us with a proposal to upgrade the equipment and re-bid the contract basically. And then they withdrew it after a year and a half and then the company sold them the Motorola. Then we engaged with Motorola and attempted to replace it. And Motorola is the one entity by themselves that basically retracted their proposal and refused to bid. And essentially stated that in the current market where they're doing this next gen build out for the whole country, we were simply not big enough for them to engage with. So, and they became our vendor when a emergency call works with sold to them, but they were unable to provide that solution. So essentially we've reaped the benefit of six additional years of paying a rate that was scheduled five years prior to that. So the city saved quite a bit of money in that mess, but we essentially tried to do this project twice prior to this to get that to work. This is a statement. Nice features. You'll be able to text 911 now and do some other things. But yeah, it's, I keep thinking that by the time we get everything in place, the next next gen 911 will be, technology is changing so fast that there's also working on, for For instance instance if you were in a high-rise building and they were pegging pinging your phone they would see your xy coordinate but they wouldn't know where you were in the in the z coordinate of that and the hype so a lot of different technology a lot of ability to just technology is changing and it It almost just feels like I guess I've been on C-Sect now five six years and it just seems like the new technology that's coming out and like man just staying ahead of it is just amazing but Terrell's done an excellent job in keeping up with and stretching that for us so thank you very very much on that. And with that, I will get there's no more questions. One, well actually two or three kind of funneled up. Assuming it is just simply a service or I think you'd mentioned equipment replacement and so forth. If we are replacing equipment, what's the reliability of it, lifecycle of it, will the third party provide service maintenance so forth to replace that while we're under contract and so forth? Okay, so when we started the project in 2014, we took a different methodology. We essentially had all of our usually on-prem customer preference, premise back room equipment, located in San Antonio. And we bought that as a service rather than buying hard hardware. And the only thing present in our dispatch center are remote answering positions. Essentially, the high-tech telephone set with all the screens that go with 911. And the reason we did that is because essentially all of the carrier services in the port and the Fort Linder on telephone poles. And every time a hurricane comes, they look like Christmas trees in March. There's nothing left on them. So we had the least impact north of Corpus Christi in the impact zone of any 911 center. We lost six minutes of the ability to answer 911 because we came up on satellite and some other cell technology and could reach it. So some of the older legacy systems we had to buy them like camatrunks and things just the way they come and there was no option around it. This new contract is 100% as a service with the exception of the remote answering positions and those are on a five-year replacement cycle which is about average. So when we renew the contract it will come with another much smaller NRC that is a replacement of just those consoles. Everything else in the contract is effectively evergreen. And as the mayor pointed out these technologies are changing at a ridiculous rate. By doing these as a service not only do we preserve our ability to keep getting those 9-1-1 calls from surviving cell towers and things after a hurricane. We also have built-in to the contract any equipment changes or for instance, Nina likes to change the standards on a regular basis. All of that's going to be absorbed by the provider in the contract at the hosted service site. Very nice. Thank you. So questions all are taken in motion. Motion to accept the proposal for NG 911 core services received from AT&T Carbine, and authorised city manager to execute all necessary contract documents. Second. Motion made by Councilman Sutton, seconded by Councilman Bethel to accept the proposal for our next generation 911 course services from ATT Carbine. Is there any discussion on this motion? Hearing none, I'll begin about with Councilman Bethel. Four. Four. Four. Motion is approved. Thank you. Item number 11 resolution number 929. Joining the coastal bin water alliance and supporting the expansion of the Port of Corpus Christi Authority Commission. City Council will consider approval of resolution number 929 declaring unified commitment for the development of regional water supplies and expanding the Port of Corpus Christi Authority to include additional representation from the coastal bend. You want to start off with you? I'm going to toss it right back to you. Thank you. All right. So what I want to do is I want to start off and give a little background on this and so I do have a prepared written statement that I'm going to go through. So at the invitation of Senator Adam Hinoosa, regional representatives met in Austin on March 3rd to address one of the most pressing challenges facing the coastal bend, securing sustainable water supplies for our region. Representatives from New Waces County, San Patricia County, the City of Corpus Christi, the City of Portland, the City of Port Oranzas, San Patricia Municipal Water District, the New Waces River Authority, South Texas Water Authority, the Port of Corpus Christi, and the Corpus Christi Regional Economic Development Corporation participated in this discussion. The resolution before us tonight is the result of that meeting. Senator Hina Osa has asked that we pass this resolution as written to demonstrate a unified commitment to regional collaboration. This resolution accomplishes two key objectives. First, it formally establishes the Coastal Bend Water Alliance. A regional initiative dedicated to securing funding and advancing large-scale water infrastructure projects, including desalination, groundwater development, aquifer storage, and recovery, and inter-basin water transfers. By By working together the alliance will enhance our ability to advocate for the resources needed to sustain both our communities and our economy Second it proposes expanding the Port of Corpus Court of Corpus Christi Commission from seven to nine members ensuring broader regional representation in decisions that impact the port and surrounding communities. Water is the essence of life. It sustains our communities, our environment, and our future. Before anything else we must secure a reliable water supply to protect public health and support the well-being of our region. But water is also the foundation of economic economic vitality. The Port of Corpus Christi, one of the most significant drivers of our regional economy, relies long-term water security to support sustainable businesses, attract new enterprises, and foster long-lasting economic growth. Without a stable and sufficient water supply, our ability to sustain existing businesses, encourage innovation, and create new opportunities is at risk. That is why the Coastal Bend Water Alliance and the proposed expansion of the Port Commission are closely connected. Ensuring that our most vital resource is protected while giving those directly affected by water and economic policies a voice in shaping a prosperous and resilient future. This resolution calls for expanding the Port Commission from seven to nine members adding one appointment from the City of Portland and one from the City of the Port of Rcess. While the city of Portland did not seek this appointment, the resolution reflects an effort to enhance regional representation and ensure that communities directly impacted by the port's growth have a voice in its governance. The city of Portland values all our regional partners and we recognize that collaboration is essential. Not just for water security, but for economic development and long-term success. Our goal is to work together in a way that strengthens regional cooperation, fosters mutual support and ensures that decisions benefit the entire coastal bend. This resolution is not just about water or port governance. It's about securing the future of the coastal bend. By supporting this resolution we are committing to a stronger more resilient region that is prepared to meet the challenges ahead. I encourage my colleagues to support this resolution, recognizing an ongoing dialogue and cooperation among all stakeholders will be the key to its success. At this time, I would like to invite Chad McGill, who is on staff. I'm not exactly, are you district? You can, a little bit of everything for our honorable senator, Adam Hino. Welcome, Mr. McGill. Thank you, Mayor, Honorable Mayor and Council. I appreciate the opportunity to be with you and your council meeting. I learned a long time ago. Be bright, be brief and be gone, so I don't want to take up your time. This is a very, very important moment in our history in the coastal bend. Not only is there a drought, but the time for action to work together is now. So I applaud your efforts in moving this forward. behalf of Senator Adam Hennahosa, he had a very, very good day in the Senate today. There was, I was watching some of the debate and then on the prevailing side. So he's working hard for each of you, but in all of the people of Portland, San Patricia County, in this region. In the effort to unify the voice, it comes from the fact that we're anticipating SB7, Senator Perry's bill moving forward and with 28 co-sponsors including Senator Adam Hanoosa, I believe it gets through the Senate. We're talking about likely $3 billion worth of water project funding but also annualized funding, which is a mark difference from the past. Being at the table, coastal Bend needs to unify in our opinion and work together just much like you said, Mayor. And other regions are working hard at unifying as well. Some of them are creating bonding capacity already. And so really amping up for representation in a regional manner. So the opportunity today is to take the lead and show that representation. And I agree with you, Mayor, and we agree wholeheartedly that, you know, water security and economic vitality go hand in hand to true representation across the coast of Ben through the Port Commission has been long-standing and certainly an initiative that Senator Adam Hanna-Hosa wants to drive forward with your with your with your willingness to move forward today. I do want to affirm that the City of Portland did not seek this the the appointment themselves yourself, you did not seek it. That's a result of what came out of the meeting. There were 34 regional leaders in this meeting, the discussion was lively but very honest and there were fleshing out of objections, there were talk about specific projects, in essence it was a healing moment for a a lot of us and the cost of being who all want to do the best we can for our constituents. But Senator Adam bringing us all to the table, I think it was a very positive move. I think it's a moment in time that I think the cost of been can look back at and say we made progress because of that meeting. Certainly there are more leaders and everyone we could have invited but we filled the room if you recall. And the result of that is from the meeting, the appointment by the City of Portland for the Port Commission and the City of Port of Ranzas. And so that's what came out of the meeting. It wasn't dictated that was the result of the meeting. So I just wanted to echo that and Marin thank you for your leadership and council members. I stand by for any questions. Questions? All right, well I will stand by for a motion. Mayor, I move to a dog resolution 929, joining the Coastal Men Water Alliance and supporting the expansion of the Port of Corpus Christi Authority. Second. So motion made by Councilman Wilson, seconded by Councilman Sutton to prove resolution 929. Joining the coastal men water alliance and supporting the expansion of the port commission or the port of Corpus Christi Authority commission. Is there any discussion on this motion? Mary now we'll begin the vote with Councilman Dappell. Or? Or? Or? Okay. Motion is approved. Thank you, Chad. Thank you. Okay. We'll see the Senator tomorrow. All right. Yes. Okay. Item number 12, the Executive Session. The City Council will conduct an executive session according to the government code is authorized by Texas government code sections 551.071 consultation with attorney 551.072 deliberation regarding real property 551.073 deliberation regarding prospective gift 551.074 personnel matters 551.076 deliberation regarding security devices and 551.087 deliberation regarding economic development negotiations. It is 607 PM. We're going to recess our council meeting and go into executive session. I do not anticipate any action as a result of our executive session. so we will close out the meeting at the end of the executive session that will not be coming back on the televised prompter. Good night, everyone.