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CITY OF CITY COUNCIL
MEETING M2007-R-15 CITY COUNCIL
CHAMBERS I. CALL TO ORDER With
a quorum present, Mayor II. PLEDGE OF
ALLEGIANCE III. ROLL CALL
In attendance: Raul G.
Salinas,
Mayor Mike
Garza,
Council Member,
District I
Hector
Garcia,
Council
Member, District II
Johnny
Amaya,
Council Member, District
IV
Johnny
Rendon,
Council Member, District V
Gene
Belmares,
Mayor Pro Tem,
District VI
Juan
Chavez,
Council Member, District VII
Juan
Ramirez,
Council Member, District VIII
Gustavo Guevara,
Jr.,
City Secretary
Horacio De
Leon,
Assistant
City Manager Jesus
Olivares, Assistant
City Manager
Anthony McGettrick,
Assistant IV. MINUTES Approval
of the minutes of April 2, 2007, April 16, 2007, April 20, 2007 and April 23,
2007.
Motion to approve.
Moved: Cm. Garza
Second: Cm. Garcia
For: 8
Against: 0
Abstain: 0
V. COMMUNICATIONS
AND RECOGNITIONS
Recognitions None. Communiqués Presentation
by City of Exchange Program with the
students of Laredo, Cantabria, Spain. The
following committee youth members were present to show a video of their
recent trip to
Laredo, Spain: Eduardo Gonzalez, Chairperson, and creator of the video
presented; Mark Gonzalez,
Vice-Chair; Michael Castillo, Erica Lopez, Danny Martinez, and Carmen Bustos. Mayor
Salinas congratulated the Laredo Heat Soccer team for their winning season
and for the autographed soccer ball.
He also congratulated the 28 new police officers that joined the
Laredo Police Department force. Cm.
Garza also congratulated the Laredo Heat.
He noted that he had met with the City staff
regarding several Capital Improvement Plan projects. He advised that the citizens of Laredo should be proud that the project
plan has been increased without raising property taxes. In addition, he mentioned that the City
Council has been able to provide a tax break for the
elderly and disabled. He asked for a
moment of silence for Manuel Galarza. Cm.
Garcia mentioned that the Sister Cities Youth Committee had traveled to Spain
where they were allowed to meet the
dignitaries and ask questions regarding their City and how it
functions. He also advised that Laredo, Spain paid for
the motel, food, and transportation for the
Youth Committee. He stressed the
importance of placing the allocated funds for the trip
into a special
fund for Spain so the City of Laredo can return their kindness. He requested a presentation from Parks &
Recreation regarding their summer camps and how many students
they
serve. He congratulated LIFE
Productions for performing Fiddler on
the Roof for the
children that attend
the recreation centers. He said that
the productions are outstanding and
encouraged the viewing
public to attend their next feature entitled Grease. He congratulated
Sam Johnson and Juan Jose
Flores for working with the youth in these productions. He also congratulated Ms. King from the Little
Theater for presenting The Emperor
which included students
from ages five to seventeen. Cm.
Landeck stressed the importance of broadcasting the budget hearings live on
the
television
for the viewing public. He reported
that the current administration is responsible for
increasing the numbers of police officers for the City of Laredo. He said that the administration
and Council is a reflection of a new direction. Cm.
Amaya thanked the Mayor of Laredo for being in
attendance at the Villa San Luis Senior Citizen Housing Project with Captain
Gabriel Martinez to address the issues of vandalism and harassment
against the tenants. Cm.
Rendon announced that he had met with FEMA and he was happy to report that
they are currently
working with the people that were affected by the recent flooding. He reported that August 28, 2007 would be the last
day that the citizens would be able to sign up for FEMA support. He also mentioned that the Webb County
Judge was organizing the yearly SOS (Supply our Students) event held
for the less fortunate students. He
announced that MAZZ would be
performing. Mayor
Pro Tempore Belmares congratulated the Del Mar Little League as one of the
top
leagues
in the country. He said that the City
of Laredo would continue to build baseball fields for the leaguers to
develop the athletic youth that the community has. He congratulated Daniel B. Hastings, local businessman,
for being a pioneer and prime example of the custom house brokers
on the border. Cm.
Chavez said that he had met with Judge Lopez who sends his apologies to the
City Council. He also noted that he had met with Union
Pacific and a resolution has been created.
Citizen comments
deadline for
the sale has passed and the offer can no longer be considered. He asked the City Council to enter into negotiations to
authorize the sale of sixty eight acres which would be the
88 acres less the 20 acres
under a provision of the Texas statues.
Patricia
Davila spoke on the assistance for the flooding damages received during the
last
flooding
of certain areas. She noted that there
are eight families awaiting assistance that live on the
3,500 block of Guatemozin. VI. APPOINTMENTS TO
COMMISSIONS, BOARDS AND COMMITTEES Appointment
of Carmen Escamilla as South Texas Library System (STLS) Lay
Representative
and Beatrice Escamilla, Alternate Lay Representative, for two (2)
year terms (September 1, 2007 through August
31, 2009) as required by the "Texas Library Systems Act and Rules for Administering
the Library System Act" / Texas Administrative Code –Title 13: Part I: Chapter 1: Library
Development Section 1.115 – 1.116. ( Revised, 1993) Replacing Mely Paez and Bertha Puig whose
terms expire August 31, 2007.
Motion
to approve.
Moved: Cm. Garza
Second: Cm. Garcia
For: 8
Against: 0
Abstain: 0 VII. GENERAL COUNCIL
DISCUSSIONS AND PRESENTATIONS 1. A.
Request by Council Member Hector J. Garcia 1. Discussion with possible action on placing
speed humps on Roberto Murillo, Traffic Director,
advised that staff has visited the area and he recommended
installation of two speed humps for a cost of $3,600. He noted that they need to obtain
the proper signatures from the neighborhood residents. Motion to instruct the City Manager to
allow staff to install two speed humps on Napoleon Street near Santo Nino
Elementary School for safety reasons. Moved:
Cm. Garcia Second:
Cm. Rendon For:
8 Against: 0 Abstain: 0 2. Discussion with possible action on a report
of the flooding on Cm. Garcia stated that the reason he had
placed this item on the agenda is because there is too much
water being expelled from the City of Laredo had referred back to a report that was
completed several years ago and noted that the Airport is expelling twice the amount of
water since that report. He said that
the Airport
needs to take more
responsibility of the water that is being released through the surrounding
neighborhoods. He further stated that
he would like for the City of Laredo to locate funding to
purchase properties to remedy the situation. Rogelio Rivera, City Engineer, said that
he has provided Council with a report on a
study that is being completed by a consultant
to eliminate flood problems on Ash Street.
There is a drainage system and the
current report recommends an additional 72” pipe with some of
the water being held on Paul Young’s land.
There is a wall at Paul Young
that
needs to be sealed to avoid water seepage. He explained that the City of
Laredo
Airport cannot
maintain detention ponds on their property due to the FAA rules and
regulations. Motion to instruct the City Manager to
take the corrective measures to remedy the
flooding on Ash Street including locating the funds to purchase the
properties and relocate
residents. Moved:
Cm. Garcia Second:
Mayor Pro Tempore Belmares For:
8 Against: 0 Abstain: 0 B. Request by Council Member Dr. 1. Discussion with possible action regarding a
proposal for the sale of the 88.6913-acres of land to the Cm. Landeck said that he has been in
touch with the offices of Lowell Denton because
he wanted to make his point clear that on Wednesday at 12:00 at night
the City of table. Motion that the offer of the sale of the
88.6913 acres of land that was made the Laredo
Town Center, L. P. is expired. Moved:
Cm. Landeck Anthony
McGettrick, Assistant
take
any action on the item since there is a pending law suite.
He further stated that it would be very
unwise to take any action on this item until they had advise from
Counsel. Carlos Villarreal, City Manager,
concurred with the City Attorney that because of the pending law
suit the City Council should not take any type of action. Cm. Landeck asked the City Manager if he
could receive a written opinion from the office of Lowell Denton for the question
whether the offer that the City made is closed or not. Anthony McGettrick said that they would not
get a written opinion that deals with an aspect of a
pending case. Mayor Salinas requested to place this
item on the next agenda as an Executive Session. C. Request by Council Member Juan Chavez 1. Discussion on dedicating a certain
percentage of the gross revenues of the World Trade and streets with
possible action. (Co-Sponsored by Mayor Cm. Chavez noted that City Council had
recently passed the fares at the World Trade Bridge and the gross revenues to
be dedicated to Industrial Parks/Warehousing streets. Jesus Olivares, Assistant City Manager,
explained that the current fees will cover the
repair/construction
of the Industrial Parks/Warehousing streets.
The percentage of the revenues include 33
to 35% for industrial parks and truck routes.
2. Presentation by Union Pacific Railroad
representatives on their short and long range plans to resolve the blocking of rail
crossings in District VII and District VIII, with
possible action. (Co-Sponsored by Mayor Tom Blevens
from Union Pacific made the following presentation: Public
Crossings in Current Plan Window interchange times 0200hrs to 0800hrs – Northbound 0800hrs to 1400hrs – Southbound 1400hrs to 2000hrs – Northbound 2000hrs to 0200hrs – Southbound 6 trains per window on average both
directions Northbound
Plan 4 trains to Port Laredo facility 2 trains split up in the RG Then out bound crew will: Couple
up all crossings (45 minutes) FRA
certified air test (1hour – 1 hour 30 minutes) Set
out bad odors (30 minutes per car) Short
Term Plan
Keep 20 of the 30 public crossings clear Install air lines under 19 public
crossings Will
enable Car Depart to perform FRA Certified air test while crossings are cut Will
allow Car Depart sufficient time to repair cars to prevent setting out of bad
odors. When
we do have bad odor cars to set out we will se them
out at Milo Industries outside of town. This will eliminate blocking public
crossing by 2 hours average per train. Project to be complete by Public
Crossings Garza Blocked Sanchez Clear Park Clear Bruni Blocked Gonzalez Blocked Shea Blocked Blair Clear Pierce Blocked Ugarte Blocked Pace Blocked Markley Blocked Pepsi Xing Clear Calton Clear Justo Penn Blocked Scale Xing Clear Island Clear Hustler Crossing Clear Leyendecker Clear Mann Clear
Long Term Plan Utilize Milo Siding for Outbound train Preparing
facility, will complete by Add 10,000 feet to # 2 Mainline at Port Capital
Project requested, still under review FRA Waiver to complete FRA Certified air
test in Still
in negotiations D. Request by Council Member Juan Ramirez 1. Discussions with possible action on having
police presence at Bridges I and II fulltime. Police Chief Agustin Dovalina reported
that Cm. Ramirez has expressed good concerns because he has
the same concerns. He noted that the
Department heavily relies on the availability of
Customs and Border Protection for assistance.
He informed City Council
that the Department used to have twenty-four
hour protection; however, there was a grievance with
Customs because of grant funding for overtime. He continued to say that he has been in negotiations with Home
Land Security and they have agreed to enter into an initiative that they have proposed
called “Operation Storm Garden” which
allows the City an opportunity to have the presence
of the Laredo Police Department. Cm. Garza asked if the statistics showed
any type of reduction in car theft when the
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