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REGULAR CALLED CITY COMMISSION MEETING M I N U T E S  WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2025 – 5:00 P.M. KENNETH T. NUNN COUNCIL ROOM – CITY HALL
A Regular Called Meeting of the City Commission was held on Wednesday, FEBRUARY 19, 2025, at 5:00 P.M. in the Kenneth T. Nunn Council Room in City Hall, Texas City, Texas. A quorum having been met, the meeting was called to order at 5:00 p.m. by Mayor Dedrick D. Johnson.

1.				ROLL CALL
Present: Mayor Dedrick D. Johnson     Commissioner At-Large Abel Garza, Jr.     Commissioner District 1 DeAndre' Knoxson     Commissioner District 2 Keith Love     Commissioner District 3 Chris Sharp     Commissioner District 4 Jami Clark   Absent: Commissioner At-Large, Mayor Pro Tem Thelma Bowie
2.				INVOCATION Led by Tim Herd, Minister at The Fellowship Church.
3.				PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Led by DeAndre' Knoxson, Commissioner District 1.
4.				PROCLAMATIONS AND PRESENTATIONS
	a.			Service Awards       George Slaughter Waste Water Treatment Plant 02/21/2005 20 years
	b.			Proclaiming February as Black History Month. The Mayor read the proclamation.
5.				REPORTS
	a.			Racial Profiling Report (Marshal’s Office) Tammy Odom, Court Administrator, gave a PowerPoint presentation.
	b.			Quarterly Investment Report (Finance) Cynthia Rushing, Chief Financial Officer, gave a PowerPoint presentation. Keith Love, Commissioner District 2, asked how long the funds would stay in the T-Bill. Cynthia Rushing, Chief Financial Officer, reassured the commissioners that the funds were only staying in the T-Bill for a few months.
6.				PUBLIC COMMENTS The following members of the public requested to address the City Commission: Chris Johnson, Nick Coil, Jose Boix, and Brian Goetschius.
7.				CONSENT AGENDA Commissioner District 4, Jami Clark, made a motion to approve Consent Agenda items 7a, c, d, and g. The motion was seconded by Commission District 3, Chris Sharp. Consent Agenda items 7b, e, and f were pulled to be voted on separately.
	a.			Approve City Commission Minutes for the February 5, 2025 meeting. (City Secretary) Vote: 6 - 0 CARRIED
	b.			Consider and take action on Resolution No. 2025-017, appointing various applicants to boards, commissions, and committees to fill vacancies. (City Secretary) DeAndre' Knoxson, Commissioner District 1, pulled the items in hopes of meeting the people being appointed to the various boards. Rhomari Leigh, City Secretary, announced the following board placements: Christopher Wilcox to the CDBG Citizens Advisory Committee and Keep Texas City Beautiful, Amanda Barker to the Texas City Recreation and Tourism Board, Fatima Naeem to the Texas City Recreation and Tourism Board, and Nathan Exom to the Texas City Historical Preservation Corp. (None were in attendance, but they were not required to attend the City Commission meeting.)

				Motion by Commissioner District 1 DeAndre' Knoxson, Seconded by Commissioner At-Large Abel Garza, Jr.

				Vote: 6 - 0 CARRIED
	c.			Consider and take action on Resolution No. 2025-018, authorizing a purchase to Accurate Meter & Supply for the purchase of water meters.  Vote: 6 - 0 CARRIED
	d.			Consider and take action on Resolution No. 2025-019, authorizing the purchase of Standby WILO Pumps for Lift Stations 10 and 30. (Public Works) Vote: 6 - 0 CARRIED
	e.			Consider and take action on Resolution No. 2025-020, approving an agreement between The Department of the Army, the Port of Texas City and the City of Texas City for the purpose of constructing and maintaining additional capacity in placement areas five/six (PA-5 and PA-6). (Economic Development) Chris Sharp, Commissioner District 3, pulled this item to hear more about this project. Kristin Edwards, Economic Development Director, stated there are short-term and long-term benefits to supporting this effort by the Port of Texas City. Should the grant funds be awarded to POTC, the City would function purely as a pass-through entity. Further, the POTC has also committed to absorbing all costs, risks, and liabilities involved in the development and delivery of the grant-funded project, including the provision of local cost-sharing requirements and any costs in excess of a federal award.

				Motion by Commissioner District 3 Chris Sharp, Seconded by Commissioner District 2 Keith Love

				Vote: 6 - 0 CARRIED
	f.			Consider and take action on Resolution No. 2025-021, authorizing the Mayor to enter into an agreement with Metropolitan Life Insurance Company to replace the current vendor for the Retired Lives Reserve Plan. (Human Resources) Keith Love, Commissioner District 2, pulled this item to hear more discussion on this subject and clear up misconceptions.  Jennifer Price, Human Resources Director, explained that the City of Texas has a Retired Lives Reserve (RLR) Plan with the Standard Insurance Company, with the benefit of a paid-up life insurance policy for the retiree in the amount of $10,000. In May 2024, the City received notification from The Standard Insurance Company that they had decided to stop offering services to RLR plans and gave us the option to have the funds returned to the City or to have them sent to another financial institution of our choosing. Metlife offers a Guaranteed Life Insurance Funding Account (GLIFA) or a retiree life buyout. A majority of the balance in the RLR Plan from The Standard Insurance Company can be transferred to Metlife and placed in their funding agreement for terms from one year to ten years with guaranteed interest rates for each term. The remaining balance in the RLR Plan from The Standard Insurance Company can be transferred to Metlife and placed into a short-term index or liquidity rate to meet current and future cash flow needs associated with the plan.

				Motion by Commissioner District 3 Chris Sharp, Seconded by Commissioner District 1 DeAndre' Knoxson

				Vote: 6 - 0 CARRIED
	g.			Consider and take action on Resolution No. 2025-022, approving the Consolidated Annual Performance Evaluation Report (CAPER) for the City's CDBG activities for FY 2023 and authorizing submission to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. (Community Development) Vote: 6 - 0 CARRIED
8.				REGULAR ITEMS
	a.			Consider and take action on the second reading of Ordinance No. 2025-04, amending Texas City Code of Ordinances Section 155 to add Kiosk Signs as an Allowable Sign. (City Engineer) Kim Golden, City Engineer, recommends approving the amendment to add kiosk signs as an Allowable Sign under the Texas City Off-Premises Sign Ordinance.

				Motion by Commissioner At-Large Abel Garza, Jr., Seconded by Commissioner District 4 Jami Clark

				Vote: 6 - 0 CARRIED
	b.			Consider and take action on the first reading of Ordinance 2025-06, amending the Texas City Code of Ordinances by creating Chapter 165 entitled “Battery Energy Storage Systems” and amending the Code of Ordinances Title XV entitled "Land Usage", Chapter 160 entitled "Zoning" to designate Section 160.051 District S-P (Site Plan) as the zoning designation for Battery Energy Storage Systems and similar projects. (City Engineer) Kim Golden, City Engineer, stated the adoption of Chapter 162 will provide guidance for potential applicants and developers and assist the Planning Board members, Zoning Commissioners, and staff with standards for the consistent administration and application of the zoning and land use regulations to BESS and similar projects.    Abel Garza, Jr., Commissioner At-Large, asked questions about the differences between this ordinance and the ordinance that was presented to the commission before and whether it was similar to other cities' ordinances, such as League City. He also asked later about the process of the second and third readings. Chris Sharp, Commissioner District 3, asked about the standards the Engineer's office has outlined in this ordinance.  Kim Golden, City Engineer, stated that the main difference is that they did extensive research with other cities and multiple departments within the municipality about addressing the application process and many other items. She also stated that she felt that this ordinance was on par with many other surrounding cities. Kim stated that the second and third readings typically happened during the next few meetings. Kim, in great detail, spoke about the standards in the ordinance.

				Motion by Commissioner At-Large Abel Garza, Jr., Seconded by Commissioner District 3 Chris Sharp (Commissioner District 2, Keith Love was in opposition)

				Vote: 5 - 1 CARRIED
	c.			Consider and take action on the first reading of Ordinance 2025-07, amending the Texas City Code of Ordinances Title XV "Land Usage," Chapter 150 "Building Regulations"; "Construction"; Chapter 153 "Mechanical Regulations"; and Chapter 151 "Electricity" and Chapter 154 "Plumbing".(City Engineer) Kim Golden, City Engineer, recommends approval of this ordinance, which raises the required minimum insurance coverage to $1,000,000, with the City of Texas City designated as the insured party, and a surety bond of $10,000 as a condition for the issuance of building permits to licensed contractors, plumbers, HVAC/mechanical contractors, and electricians for work performed in Texas City to protect the homeowners of Texas City. Chris Sharp, Commissioner District 3, asked if we have had any issues reported to the city about inadequate insurance coverage for contractors and questioned the new bond amounts and what other cities require.  Kim stated that the city had not reported any issues and that the bond amount was on par with other cities.

				Motion by Commissioner At-Large Abel Garza, Jr., Seconded by Commissioner District 4 Jami Clark (Commissioner District 3, Chris Sharp was in opposition)

				Vote: 5 - 1 CARRIED
9.				COMMISSIONERS' COMMENTS
10.				MAYOR'S COMMENTS An audiovisual recording of this meeting is available on the City's website and retained by the CSO for two years after the date of the adaption of the minutes to which the meeting corresponds.
11.				ADJOURNMENT

Having no further business, Commissioner At-Large, Abel Garza, Jr., made a MOTION to ADJOURN at 6:09 p.m.; the motion was SECONDED by Commissioner District 2, Keith Love. All present voted AYE. MOTION CARRIED.     ______________________________   DEDRICK D. JOHNSON, MAYOR ATTEST: _________________________________ Rhomari Leigh, City Secretary Date Approved: