July 15 2025 Hawk Cove City Council Meeting
0:00:00 Speaker: Meeting hot cutters City Hall due to July the 15th, 2025 and
0:00:05 Speaker: 631 will come to work.
0:00:10 Speaker: Wrong call. Thank you, minority. [name]. Here. [name]. Here. [name] is absent. [name]. Here. [name] is on absent.
0:00:23 Speaker: We have
0:00:23 Speaker: four council members present.
0:00:50 Speaker: Thank you.
0:00:55 Speaker: All the way come to your prayer, we thank
0:00:57 Speaker: you for staying to work,
0:00:58 Speaker: we thank you for
0:00:59 Speaker: the new birth of grandchildren, and we also thank you for the good help. We thank you for those who are safe to come up here with us, Lord, who fight for your wisdom and
0:01:11 Speaker: your direction and all that we do, Lord,
0:01:13 Speaker: for the citizens of this community. In [name] name, amen.
0:01:17 Speaker: Amen, Lord. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic
0:01:32 Speaker: for which it stands,
0:01:34 Speaker: one nation,
0:01:35 Speaker: under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you all.
0:01:48 Speaker: A couple of comments. I'm
0:01:58 Speaker: supposed to say eligibility,
0:01:59 Speaker: but I found the glasses and
0:02:01 Speaker: did the best I could. Okay, you
0:02:02 Speaker: don't want to comment until that comes up?
0:02:04 Speaker: It doesn't count. Okay,
0:02:06 Speaker: go ahead. Hey,
0:02:07 Speaker: good evening everybody, good to
0:02:09 Speaker: see some of y 'all. We haven't seen for six months everything while I'm working.
0:02:14 Speaker: So I come home and I
0:02:15 Speaker: look for the agendas and
0:02:17 Speaker: I see that we have eligibility requirements for lots of things going on. Specifically, I want to, I think the last time I made a couple of comments was on our grant eligibility being the focus of everyone's attention. We all want better everything. we're not going to get it any other way. So if we are not grant eligible, because we are in default, or if we're not grant eligible, because we're in receivership, we're not grant eligible with big money for nothing. So I just wanted to come and stand up in front of my representatives in my town and say, I really hope that we're all on the same page for eligibility and where this grant is going, because we need it. Thank you so much. Thank you.
0:03:07 Speaker: [name] is, [name] is present at this time at 6 .34.
0:03:20 Speaker: Uh, no more other comments?
0:03:24 Speaker: There is no old business in the business. Received
0:03:27 Speaker: Public
0:03:28 Speaker: Works
0:03:28 Speaker: [name] Report. Want to know if Council has any questions about the report? Do we know what the call -outs were for? Yes, again, have you spoken to him or did we
0:04:59 Speaker: tell the
0:05:00 Speaker: council last
0:05:00 Speaker: time
0:05:01 Speaker: that the USDA has
0:05:03 Speaker: agreed to restructure
0:05:05 Speaker: the debt
0:05:06 Speaker: and if it has given
0:05:07 Speaker: us a September 30th deadline? Yes. I thought we had covered it because we covered the bond attorney and all
0:05:14 Speaker: that, so I think the
0:05:17 Speaker: city attorney may have a little update other than that.
0:05:22 Speaker: Okay, any questions? Okay,
0:05:32 Speaker: moving on to D. We see USDA and SAU update from city attorney. Do you have updates now? Yes.
0:05:43 City Attorney: [name] and [name], city attorney. I have been working quite closely with bond counsel, Mr. [name]. As Mr. [name] addressed the council and executive, we won't be talking about the executive session, but he introduced himself to the council, he explained some issues, and since then, we have learned that there is a financial advisor are already on board by virtue of the original bond.
0:06:21 City Attorney: I have spoken with him, I have provided him with the materials that council has received related to the
0:06:30 Speaker: January information we
0:06:33 City Attorney: received from [name] at the USDA. The spreadsheet that was created as a result of that, that information and also with the
0:06:47 Speaker: January
0:06:48 Speaker: 8th
0:06:50 City Attorney: letter to the city from USDA that said that the city needed to pay another $55 ,000 which was paid before February of the week. In that context, Mr. [name] got a hold of me last week and he asked whether the council had yet completed the necessary arrangements to
0:07:17 Speaker: permit the bond to move forward.
0:07:21 City Attorney: At this point, he has forwarded the bond application that the Council previously approved. He has forwarded that to SAU. On June 18th, Do you mean the ordinance? The ordinance, right.
0:07:39 Speaker: The ordinance draft.
0:07:40 Speaker: The
0:07:40 City Attorney: ordinance draft. after the Council approved. On June 18th, I had a conference call between him and Mr. [name] from the SAU. At that time, Mr. [name] said that he would be providing to bond counsel the financial information that is necessary for beginning calculations and or recalculations relating to the proposed ordinance, which would be to accept the bond.
0:08:16 City Attorney: As of today, which is now 27 days later, Mr. [name] said he would have that available to Mr. [name] by Friday, which would have been the 20th of June, and it's fake crickets. We have heard nothing from Mr. [name]. As a result of Administrator [name] being out last week on mandatory requirements, we postponed last week's, Mr. [name] was gracious enough to postpone last week's SAU meeting to July 22nd, which is next Tuesday, there has been no additional communication. Typically, the city administrator and I, together with the mayor, work very hard to keep things very transparent with the special assets unit. Special assets unit is not yet aware of a difficulty that presently exists that must be resolved before the bond can be
0:09:28 Speaker: brought any further forward.
0:09:31 City Attorney: And until that is resolved, which hopefully will happen,
0:09:35 Speaker: we're hoping immediately.
0:09:38 City Attorney: But we have no control over that. This council are the only people, this council has the only people who have control over that. And until that happens, there will be no bond. At this point, I will turn the floor over. Okay. So, that's where we are.
0:10:01 Speaker: Then what about
0:10:02 Speaker: your
0:10:03 Speaker: records
0:10:05 Speaker: request status?
0:10:06 Speaker: Oh, the status on the FOIA request that I asked for in March 3rd, April 3rd? I have communicated with
0:10:15 Speaker: the in addition
0:10:19 City Attorney: to communicating directly to what is supposed to be a liaison
0:10:25 Speaker: for
0:10:27 Speaker: our FOIA request
0:10:29 City Attorney: and received back another email from the person who originally pointed us in the direction of the liaison and the status has not changed. I received that information in the last two days if I recall about a week ago. And the status has not changed. We do not have our FOIA request met. So I continue to nudge that insofar as I'm able. But at this point, the response is going to be the same. They are undermanned and overwhelmed. And they will get to it as quickly as they can. [name], if you want to communicate with the liaison, here's how you do that. I've already done that. So, that's a response that basically says the same thing that we got six
0:11:21 Speaker: weeks ago.
0:11:24 Speaker: I think that's it.
0:11:25 Speaker: Anything else you can think of?
0:11:27 Speaker: Okay. have any
0:11:36 Speaker: questions around me discuss council eligibility relating to
0:11:45 Speaker: wrong
0:11:46 City Attorney: and
0:11:46 Speaker: requirements for USDA ordinance adoption on passage Texas administrative code rules section five
0:11:55 Speaker: three
0:11:55 Speaker: point three
0:11:56 Speaker: eight
0:11:57 Speaker: thirteen C and local government code twenty two point zero three seven.
0:12:20 Speaker: Everybody has one? I
0:12:26 Speaker: just
0:12:32 Speaker: expounds
0:12:35 Speaker: on
0:12:35 Speaker: what
0:12:36 Speaker: your
0:12:36 Speaker: agenda item says
0:12:37 Speaker: discuss council
0:12:38 Speaker: eligibility relating to for
0:12:40 Speaker: requirements
0:12:41 Speaker: for USDA oriented ops
0:12:43 Speaker: and by
0:12:44 Speaker: passage Texas
0:12:45 Speaker: administrative code
0:12:46 Speaker: rules
0:12:46 Speaker: section
0:12:47 Speaker: 53
0:12:48 Speaker: .3, A13C,
0:12:51 Speaker: and Texas
0:12:53 Speaker: [name]
0:12:54 Speaker: Code, 22 -0 -37.
0:12:56 Speaker: Local [name] Code.
0:13:00 Speaker: Oh, yes, I'm sorry. Texas [name] Code.
0:13:02 Speaker: So your first section
0:13:04 Speaker: talks about the
0:13:06 Speaker: administrative code, 53 .3,
0:13:10 Speaker: and it outlines
0:13:10 Speaker: the content requirements for a certification regarding issuance of bond,
0:13:16 Speaker: issuance of public security,
0:13:18 Speaker: It requires certifications
0:13:22 Speaker: stating that there's no pending
0:13:24 Speaker: or threatened litigation that would restrain or prevent the
0:13:28 Speaker: issuance of the securities,
0:13:30 Speaker: or that we question the issuance,
0:13:33 Speaker: sale,
0:13:35 Speaker: authority, or actions
0:13:36 Speaker: of
0:13:37 Speaker: a governing body related to the securities.
0:13:40 Speaker: certification
0:13:41 Speaker: must also confirm the issue's corporate existence of boundaries as well as the right
0:13:46 Speaker: to hold
0:13:47 Speaker: the office
0:13:48 Speaker: of
0:13:50 Speaker: any governing body member or official not being contested.
0:13:54 Speaker: I've put in red,
0:13:56 Speaker: and this is
0:13:57 Speaker: the Section C that it references, and what
0:13:59 Speaker: I've described to you,
0:14:01 Speaker: that it must
0:14:02 Speaker: include certification confirming that
0:14:04 Speaker: no limitations pending
0:14:05 Speaker: in the working investment of
0:14:07 Speaker: the knowledge of the issue or
0:14:08 Speaker: the threat against the issue or seeking to restrain or join
0:14:13 Speaker: the
0:14:13 Speaker: issuance of public securities,
0:14:15 Speaker: again public securities
0:14:16 Speaker: is referenced in the slide.
0:14:22 Speaker: On the back page of that it talks about key
0:14:27 Speaker: aspects that
0:14:28 Speaker: shows up in the
0:14:29 Speaker: local government
0:14:30 Speaker: code which is
0:14:31 Speaker: 22037. Tells you that the mayor's a providing
0:14:34 Speaker: officer
0:14:35 Speaker: over all the meetings.
0:14:37 Speaker: The mayor's of the
0:14:38 Speaker: situation of what the governing body
0:14:40 Speaker: is equally embodied for at the top.
0:14:43 Speaker: And then the president
0:14:45 Speaker: pro -tem or pro -tem -for, governing body elects
0:14:48 Speaker: one of his members to serve
0:14:49 Speaker: as president of pro -tem -for.
0:14:52 Speaker: The president pro
0:14:54 Speaker: -tem -for
0:14:54 Speaker: assumes the
0:14:55 Speaker: mayor's duties and
0:14:56 Speaker: the mayor's absence
0:14:56 Speaker: unable
0:14:57 Speaker: or
0:14:58 Speaker: refuses to act.
0:15:00 Speaker: And it also says that if the mayor will receive compensation,
0:15:04 Speaker: then that person was
0:15:05 Speaker: able to do
0:15:06 Speaker: that. The last
0:15:08 Speaker: part says in the
0:15:09 Speaker: absence of the mayor and the
0:15:10 Speaker: project board,
0:15:11 Speaker: if both the mayor and the
0:15:13 Speaker: president approach
0:15:13 Speaker: the board are absent,
0:15:15 Speaker: another alderman can be appointed to provide
0:15:17 Speaker: over
0:15:18 Speaker: the meeting of the question.
0:15:21 Speaker: And then it lists 22039, which is under
0:15:26 Speaker: that section in the Texas Government
0:15:27 Speaker: Code,
0:15:28 Speaker: the quorum of the
0:15:28 Speaker: type A city
0:15:29 Speaker: is majority of the member
0:15:31 Speaker: of aldermen.
0:15:32 Speaker: Either three out of five
0:15:33 Speaker: that the aldermen are
0:15:34 Speaker: elected at large, or
0:15:35 Speaker: a majority of aldermen under the reward system, which doesn't apply
0:15:38 Speaker: to us.
0:15:39 Speaker: However,
0:15:40 Speaker: when a type A city council meets with imposition
0:15:42 Speaker: of taxes, or especially called meeting.
0:15:45 Speaker: And the court of two thirds of the members must be present. That would be four out of five. The reason I listed that
0:15:53 Speaker: for you guys
0:15:55 Speaker: was
0:15:58 Speaker: because okay,
0:16:00 Speaker: we'll start the beginning when
0:16:01 Speaker: I have
0:16:01 Speaker: USDA has
0:16:02 Speaker: given the city a deadline September 30 2025
0:16:05 Speaker: to be ready
0:16:06 Speaker: for the closing of the debt
0:16:08 Speaker: restructuring.
0:16:11 Speaker: The city attorney
0:16:12 Speaker: advise
0:16:13 Speaker: you we still
0:16:14 Speaker: have the numbers because the [name]
0:16:15 Speaker: still hasn't advised members of
0:16:17 Speaker: the slowing process, obviously. The city has taken the steps necessary
0:16:23 Speaker: to abide
0:16:23 Speaker: by whatever
0:16:24 Speaker: the USDA is asking us
0:16:26 Speaker: to do,
0:16:27 Speaker: and that
0:16:27 Speaker: is by getting the
0:16:28 Speaker: bond council attorney and his job is to work on the necessary requirements that must be
0:16:32 Speaker: met for
0:16:34 Speaker: the city
0:16:34 Speaker: to apply our bond. A draft of that ordinance
0:16:38 Speaker: had been presented to the council
0:16:39 Speaker: and also
0:16:40 Speaker: sent to the
0:16:40 Speaker: USDA. You
0:16:41 Speaker: guys may remember going
0:16:43 Speaker: through the 40
0:16:43 Speaker: pages, which is why the law of attorneys wanted to meet with the campaign.
0:16:49 Speaker: Because we still don't have any numbers,
0:16:51 Speaker: so it's kind of hard to complete the required ordinance without the necessary numbers. To put the city in the sub -40, your debt payment numbers is, you know, that can't happen. [name] identification.
0:17:23 Speaker: has to be signed by officers who execute the proposed
0:17:29 Speaker: public
0:17:29 Speaker: securities that complies with the requirements again when
0:17:34 Speaker: referencing the bond. process
0:17:36 Speaker: must be approved
0:17:37 Speaker: by the Attorney
0:17:37 Speaker: General's
0:17:38 Speaker: Office
0:17:39 Speaker: or
0:17:40 Speaker: the city's
0:17:42 Speaker: current governing body or any
0:17:44 Speaker: governing body.
0:17:47 Speaker: We're looking at a forum
0:17:48 Speaker: issue
0:17:49 Speaker: because
0:17:50 Speaker: it's attached to the
0:17:52 Speaker: tax.
0:17:53 Speaker: So if this council wants
0:17:55 Speaker: to go in and approve
0:17:56 Speaker: an ordinance
0:17:56 Speaker: for a bond,
0:17:59 Speaker: they would have to have
0:18:00 Speaker: a forum of four
0:18:02 Speaker: members, the same
0:18:03 Speaker: as levying
0:18:03 Speaker: the tax because
0:18:05 Speaker: that ordinance is
0:18:06 Speaker: actually this council taking that
0:18:08 Speaker: action to levy the tax
0:18:10 Speaker: to pay,
0:18:10 Speaker: you know, to pay for the bond.
0:18:13 Speaker: That's what it's doing. So because those
0:18:17 Speaker: requirements can't be met
0:18:19 Speaker: with the current composition of the council,
0:18:22 Speaker: the city cannot
0:18:23 Speaker: obtain the bond.
0:18:26 Speaker: So I've listed four options
0:18:29 Speaker: that I see
0:18:30 Speaker: And
0:18:31 Speaker: in hopes that the council
0:18:32 Speaker: can
0:18:33 Speaker: discuss and decide what they want
0:18:34 Speaker: to do, one of your options would be
0:18:39 Speaker: that one
0:18:40 Speaker: of the ineligible
0:18:41 Speaker: members of the council
0:18:42 Speaker: could resign their position. And the remainder of the council
0:18:46 Speaker: could appoint
0:18:47 Speaker: someone to fulfill
0:18:48 Speaker: the
0:18:49 Speaker: unexpired term.
0:18:51 Speaker: Obviously, if one member were to
0:18:53 Speaker: resign simultaneously, that would trigger
0:18:55 Speaker: a special election.
0:18:57 Speaker: the mayor is
0:18:58 Speaker: the number two the mayor of
0:19:00 Speaker: the city
0:19:00 Speaker: mayor
0:19:01 Speaker: city attorney and city administrator could request the USDA to
0:19:06 Speaker: postpone the bond
0:19:07 Speaker: process
0:19:08 Speaker: until
0:19:09 Speaker: litigations have concluded.
0:19:12 Speaker: Number three,
0:19:13 Speaker: the mayor city attorney and the
0:19:15 Speaker: administrator could request the
0:19:16 Speaker: USDA to allow the city
0:19:18 Speaker: to continue
0:19:18 Speaker: in
0:19:19 Speaker: the current status which they're telling us that we're operating under a current work
0:19:24 Speaker: out agreement from 2013,
0:19:27 Speaker: and
0:19:28 Speaker: we're
0:19:30 Speaker: still operating in default status with no grant eligibility. And then number four, the administrative staff could
0:19:37 Speaker: amend
0:19:38 Speaker: the special servicing request.
0:19:40 Speaker: I don't know if you guys all remember
0:19:41 Speaker: reading that. That would have been
0:19:43 Speaker: an executive session item.
0:19:46 Speaker: But it
0:19:47 Speaker: could be amended, the
0:19:48 Speaker: special servicing
0:19:49 Speaker: request already presented to the special assets.
0:19:51 Speaker: that you can
0:19:52 Speaker: see if the
0:19:53 Speaker: S .A .U. and the
0:19:54 Speaker: USDA will agree to it.
0:19:56 Speaker: So what I'm asking of the council is that
0:19:58 Speaker: the mayor
0:19:59 Speaker: and the
0:19:59 Speaker: city attorney
0:20:00 Speaker: and I
0:20:01 Speaker: are,
0:20:01 Speaker: you guys, frontline to the USDA,
0:20:05 Speaker: and we're gonna meet with them
0:20:06 Speaker: on the
0:20:06 Speaker: 22nd Special
0:20:08 Speaker: Assets Unit and
0:20:09 Speaker: the USDA,
0:20:13 Speaker: and we need
0:20:14 Speaker: to let them know
0:20:14 Speaker: what the
0:20:16 Speaker: council
0:20:16 Speaker: wants to do, like which direction do you want to move. I hope everybody understood. If not, ask questions, you know, I'll answer any questions I can.
0:20:26 Speaker: But I
0:20:26 Speaker: don't
0:20:29 Speaker: have one.
0:20:31 Speaker: This was just my notes.
0:20:33 Speaker: I was just wondering what was it.
0:20:37 Speaker: Yeah, y 'all can look at it. It
0:20:39 Speaker: was just my notes
0:20:40 Speaker: all went in state kind of on topic.
0:20:44 Speaker: But
0:20:47 Speaker: it goes in line with
0:20:49 Speaker: this.
0:20:51 Speaker: Like I said,
0:20:51 Speaker: these are all the things that
0:20:52 Speaker: are listed on your agenda. the
0:20:53 Speaker: numbers to the
0:20:55 Speaker: administrative
0:20:56 Speaker: code and
0:20:56 Speaker: what have you.
0:20:58 Speaker: So that's where the city sits.
0:21:00 Speaker: And I was hoping that you guys
0:21:01 Speaker: can
0:21:02 Speaker: discuss
0:21:03 Speaker: and
0:21:03 Speaker: figure out which,
0:21:05 Speaker: you know, this was not really a
0:21:06 Speaker: vote, we're just kind of looking for
0:21:08 Speaker: a direction
0:21:09 Speaker: that we can go,
0:21:11 Speaker: the mayor and I,
0:21:12 Speaker: and the city attorney
0:21:12 Speaker: can go to the
0:21:13 Speaker: USDA and say,
0:21:15 Speaker: this is what our
0:21:15 Speaker: council has discussed, this is what they're looking at.
0:21:19 Speaker: Because even throughout this minute,
0:21:21 Speaker: if we could go
0:21:21 Speaker: forward with
0:21:22 Speaker: the ordinance itself. The mayor and the mayor of pro -ten are in positions where they're challenged. So the council would have
0:21:31 Speaker: to appoint
0:21:32 Speaker: someone to sign an all the bond
0:21:34 Speaker: documentation
0:21:35 Speaker: if we didn't
0:21:36 Speaker: come up with a
0:21:37 Speaker: forum for the
0:21:39 Speaker: mayor.
0:21:39 Speaker: Two council seats and the mayor, their positions are presently challenged.
0:21:45 Speaker: Right, okay, right. So what
0:21:47 Speaker: happened is that prohibiting us from having
0:21:49 Speaker: a necessary
0:21:50 Speaker: forum just for
0:21:51 Speaker: the
0:21:53 Speaker: same thing for
0:21:54 Speaker: imposition of taxes
0:21:55 Speaker: and
0:21:56 Speaker: because the documentation
0:21:57 Speaker: required is imposing a tax to pay
0:22:01 Speaker: this
0:22:01 Speaker: it's all over the same
0:22:06 Speaker: That makes sense.
0:22:08 Speaker: That makes sense.
0:22:10 Speaker: Can I take a photo of this?
0:22:12 Speaker: I can take a copy of it.
0:22:14 Speaker: If you want one.
0:22:15 Speaker: Do you all want to make it? Do you all want to look at it?
0:22:20 Speaker: Do you want me to make one?
0:22:22 Speaker: Do you want me to make one? Yeah.
0:22:34 City Attorney: Times five. One,
0:22:37 Speaker: two, six,
0:22:43 Speaker: I'm
0:22:52 Speaker: sorry I can't
0:22:53 Speaker: hear you
0:22:54 Speaker: yes
0:22:55 Speaker: I want to discuss but I think I want to discuss it with my attorney before I'm a toward on anything I want to suggest
0:23:06 Speaker: that's
0:23:11 Speaker: what the bond account the bond
0:23:13 Speaker: counsel attorney had already addressed it as an in executive position. That's what [name] was discussing with bond attorney.
0:23:21 Speaker: So [name], we haven't
0:23:22 Speaker: actually signed off on the same paper bond attorney.
0:23:26 Speaker: I think it has been
0:23:27 Speaker: sectional.
0:23:28 Speaker: He has been accepted by the council.
0:23:31 Speaker: Yeah, he's a bond attorney. Yeah,
0:23:43 Speaker: so I took off
0:23:44 Speaker: of this paper,
0:23:48 Speaker: but I think y 'all.
0:23:50 Speaker: And then that's what I was looking
0:23:51 Speaker: for, what
0:23:52 Speaker: are the city's
0:23:53 Speaker: options? What
0:23:54 Speaker: can
0:23:55 Speaker: the city
0:23:55 Speaker: do? Are you just going
0:23:56 Speaker: to go
0:23:58 Speaker: back and tell the USDA,
0:23:59 Speaker: no we
0:24:00 Speaker: can't
0:24:01 Speaker: do it. Because of the challenge,
0:24:05 Speaker: it doesn't even figure out
0:24:06 Speaker: how you're going to move forward.
0:24:09 Speaker: Actually we're hoping that the council could give us their thoughts and direction because the USDA is presently not aware of the problem. And given our historic efforts to be as completely transparent with them as possible, we're now in violation of that trust. And we need to let the SAU know about the issue as well as the potential solutions as quickly as possible, which probably is going to mean getting a hold of [name] before the 22nd, before next Tuesday because we are so far behind in this issue letting them know what's happening. Do I think as a matter of the communications we've had with Mr. [name], he pretty much locked down in stone that September 30th will or before will be the closing date on the bond if the city goes with the bond. There is a lot of work. There's budget material, there's taxing material, there's a lot of work that needs to happen before September 30th before the city is ready to affect the closing on bond. and all of that needs to be done prior to September 30th so that September 30th is basically a signing date. Do I think Mr. [name] is willing to extend that from the conversations and communications I had with Mr. [name]? I do not think so.
0:26:02 City Attorney: So So, we need to remember that that deadline moves and there's a lot of stuff that has to be done before that deadline to be able to comply with it. Right now, that process is dead in the water.
0:26:22 City Attorney: It cannot progress any further. We have bond counsel. We have a financial analyst on behalf of the city. they cannot complete their work until the council has determined what this overriding issue how this overriding issue is going to be resolved. The city administrator the mayor and I need to fulfill our promises and obligation of transparency with the USDA and SAU. Do I think that they are willing to continue
0:27:02 City Attorney: the 2013 workout agreement I have very strong doubts that they would be willing to do so what are what is the city looking at in terms of what happens if the city fails to get this bomb floated on or before September 30th we have been threatened with, the USDA putting a management team in here. Now what is that going to do? The expenses for that management team will not be borne by the USDA, they will be borne by the city, by the residents and citizens of the city one way or another. So there's that potential.
0:27:55 City Attorney: He also has suggested that he would take to his superiors that the city is incapable of managing its own affairs and therefore should have a management company. He has suggested that they would foreclose on the bond while that may on the default while that may take an extensive amount of time it's also going to cause an extreme amount of attorney's fees because that's a court process the city is basically
0:28:30 Speaker: flat out dead
0:28:32 Speaker: in the water
0:28:32 City Attorney: until this issue about eligibility is resolved now we have already been through a situation where there were two vacant council seats that triggered the requirement of a special election and the expenses attended to that. That was all statutory. So it is possible that a member of a council who is ineligible can resign. That resignation can be accepted and and another member can resign and that resignation can be accepted. But as long as they don't occur at the same time, which is what the statute says, then the council can appoint eligible personnel to fill any council seat for a member that has resigned. As long as it's not happening at the same time, What triggers the special election is two council seats that are vacant at the same time. So that's my opinion about that. That's why
0:29:49 Speaker: I listed
0:29:49 Speaker: number one that one
0:29:52 Speaker: an eligible member
0:29:54 Speaker: of the council may resign their position.
0:29:57 Speaker: We're not suggesting
0:29:58 Speaker: that somebody
0:29:58 Speaker: do that but we are
0:30:00 Speaker: looking at number one number two number three number four I agree with what
0:30:05 Speaker: the city attorney just said
0:30:07 Speaker: it's
0:30:08 Speaker: volatile
0:30:08 Speaker: we don't know what the
0:30:10 Speaker: USDA
0:30:10 Speaker: is going to
0:30:11 Speaker: do we
0:30:12 Speaker: do know
0:30:13 Speaker: that we want to be ready because we know that the
0:30:15 Speaker: next scheduled meeting
0:30:16 Speaker: there there
0:30:17 Speaker: have been various reasons why the meetings have
0:30:19 Speaker: been postponed
0:30:19 Speaker: and lots of traveling or
0:30:21 Speaker: you know my my
0:30:22 Speaker: inevitability was
0:30:23 Speaker: just last week that's
0:30:38 Speaker: We have practice transparency with
0:30:40 Speaker: them 100 % they're not aware of this
0:30:44 Speaker: situation yet because we
0:30:45 Speaker: were hoping that the council would come up and
0:30:47 Speaker: there may be something,
0:30:48 Speaker: you
0:30:49 Speaker: know, one through four
0:30:49 Speaker: something that I
0:30:50 Speaker: haven't thought
0:30:51 Speaker: about y 'all may have a five or six or
0:30:53 Speaker: seven right
0:30:54 Speaker: so
0:30:55 Speaker: this is just
0:30:55 Speaker: kind of food for
0:30:56 Speaker: thought to kind of get
0:30:57 Speaker: your
0:30:57 Speaker: juices
0:30:58 Speaker: flowing on
0:30:59 Speaker: having some
0:31:00 Speaker: communications to
0:31:02 Speaker: determine
0:31:02 Speaker: what do
0:31:03 Speaker: you want us to
0:31:04 Speaker: tell the USDA
0:31:05 Speaker: what would you like for us to go and ask they may say no to
0:31:08 Speaker: everything
0:31:09 Speaker: you know we
0:31:10 Speaker: just don't know
0:31:11 Speaker: they have presented the city with a very hard line ever since Mr. [name] had left so that's been about two months ago September
0:31:22 Speaker: 30th
0:31:22 Speaker: deadline to get the bond situation
0:31:24 Speaker: done
0:31:25 Speaker: with
0:31:26 Speaker: the present situation can't happen.
0:31:30 Speaker: We can't. We can't do it. And if somebody has a solution that I haven't thought of, like I said, feel free.
0:31:36 Speaker: Because we, you know,
0:31:37 Speaker: Tuesday's coming quickly
0:31:38 Speaker: and
0:31:39 Speaker: we're not
0:31:40 Speaker: able with them
0:31:41 Speaker: and we have
0:31:41 Speaker: to tell them something.
0:31:45 Speaker: We have to tell them the truth. We can't,
0:31:47 Speaker: you know.
0:31:48 Speaker: We can't mislead them. We cannot
0:31:50 Speaker: mislead them,
0:31:51 Speaker: so that's why we wanted to get
0:31:52 Speaker: it to the council once
0:31:54 Speaker: he had set that thing for
0:31:55 Speaker: us. Get it to the council that you
0:31:57 Speaker: guys talk about
0:31:58 Speaker: it and see how you
0:31:58 Speaker: want us to move
0:31:59 Speaker: forward. In the same nature, because Mr. [name] is the city's bond council, it would have been a fraud to mislead him when he talked about whether anybody's office was challenged. we had to disclose that anything less would be a breach of our responsibility under our retainer agreement with him so we had to tell him he now has told us this this has to be resolved because we can't move forward until it is we need the council to direct us, give us ideas about what to do, because we know what we want to do, but we can't do it. Right.
0:32:51 Speaker: Y 'all may remember
0:32:52 Speaker: when you spoke with Mr. [name],
0:32:53 Speaker: I know he told
0:32:54 Speaker: me
0:32:55 Speaker: about who
0:32:56 Speaker: the
0:32:57 Speaker: clients were that he discussed.
0:32:59 Speaker: was
0:32:59 Speaker: another city. Yes,
0:33:02 Speaker: another city that they were trying
0:33:03 Speaker: to, they were in the same situation as us, trying to give on, and they had their home
0:33:09 Speaker: that were
0:33:09 Speaker: ineligible,
0:33:12 Speaker: and so they couldn't
0:33:13 Speaker: meet the form requirements.
0:33:15 Speaker: [name] was stuck.
0:33:17 Speaker: The ultimate end,
0:33:18 Speaker: I believe he said, was that
0:33:20 Speaker: the
0:33:21 Speaker: cases
0:33:22 Speaker: ultimately
0:33:23 Speaker: were dismissed
0:33:24 Speaker: with prejudice,
0:33:25 Speaker: which meant they could be They could file them again.
0:33:29 Speaker: And this
0:33:30 Speaker: is just my personal opinion. I'm not a lawyer. But I believe that the reason
0:33:33 Speaker: the
0:33:34 Speaker: Attorney General's
0:33:35 Speaker: office denied
0:33:35 Speaker: theirs
0:33:36 Speaker: is because
0:33:37 Speaker: of the fact
0:33:38 Speaker: that it
0:33:38 Speaker: was,
0:33:39 Speaker: you know, closed with prejudice.
0:33:43 Speaker: I think that's why they denied it.
0:33:45 Speaker: That's the situation that we're
0:33:47 Speaker: sitting in.
0:33:48 Speaker: Because I've never seen anything like
0:33:49 Speaker: that before
0:33:50 Speaker: until he had mentioned that he had
0:33:52 Speaker: a client.
0:33:53 Speaker: Now, I don't know if that's a current client that you deal with somebody last
0:33:56 Speaker: year. I don't know the answer to that.
0:33:59 Speaker: I don't know who it was.
0:34:00 Speaker: I don't know what the cases are. I don't know any of that.
0:34:03 Speaker: No, he's got attorney -client privilege on that and he's not allowed to disclose it. Right. So.
0:34:09 Speaker: And I didn't go and try
0:34:10 Speaker: to find
0:34:11 Speaker: anything on my own that we just
0:34:13 Speaker: went with.
0:34:13 Speaker: At this point, I think the council is well aware of what the issue is, what the problem is, what the potential solutions are that the city administrator and I have come up with. and we now would like to open the floor to the council to give us ideas, suggestions, and directions because of the four that are listed here, the two, three, and four, I think, are pretty well hard -lined, rock in a hard spot. I don't think the city is going to be able to accomplished that. So we need we need some help.
0:34:56 Speaker: I'm going to repeat due to the fact this is all still pending cases. Our city, our personal attorneys need to
0:35:04 Speaker: be aware of this
0:35:06 Speaker: and we need
0:35:07 Speaker: to talk to them before we
0:35:08 Speaker: make any kind of decision. We can go
0:35:12 Speaker: home,
0:35:12 Speaker: talk to our
0:35:13 Speaker: attorneys and
0:35:14 Speaker: contact
0:35:15 Speaker: you
0:35:17 Speaker: individually with
0:35:19 Speaker: whatever suggestion we might give you to.
0:35:22 Speaker: Perhaps we shouldn't do it that way. We don't want to violate the table. Right?
0:35:26 Speaker: Sure. Okay. Hold
0:35:28 Speaker: on
0:35:29 Speaker: one at a time please.
0:35:31 Speaker: I like your idea. That's a great
0:35:35 Speaker: idea. That's a reasonable and rational choice
0:35:37 Speaker: for
0:35:38 Speaker: anyone that is
0:35:39 Speaker: challenged. Do that.
0:35:42 Speaker: You are the mayor. [name] the one person.
0:35:44 Speaker: Contact me. and tell me you want to have
0:35:47 Speaker: either an executive session
0:35:48 Speaker: to
0:35:49 Speaker: discuss it,
0:35:50 Speaker: or an open session,
0:35:52 Speaker: because if we're
0:35:53 Speaker: not in here to discuss
0:35:54 Speaker: the cases
0:35:55 Speaker: themselves,
0:35:56 Speaker: I don't
0:35:56 Speaker: know
0:35:58 Speaker: anything like that.
0:35:59 Speaker: It is about the ineligibility
0:36:01 Speaker: to get the bond.
0:36:03 Speaker: That is where the city is stuck, so
0:36:05 Speaker: whatever you
0:36:06 Speaker: guys need to do outside of here, that's fine.
0:36:09 Speaker: As long as you're not talking among yourselves. Right. Let's not do that thermal problem.
0:36:14 Speaker: And like I said,
0:36:16 Speaker: just let me know what you want to do, and if you have
0:36:19 Speaker: any other ideas, you know,
0:36:21 Speaker: because like I said, next Tuesday's coming, you're going to be there.
0:36:24 Speaker: We have to tell, we cannot,
0:36:26 Speaker: you know, go without
0:36:28 Speaker: doing
0:36:28 Speaker: anything, so we were hoping that the council could think of. Like I said, there's got to be some other
0:36:33 Speaker: solutions outside of 1 through 4 that I hadn't thought
0:36:36 Speaker: of. Now,
0:36:37 Speaker: one other
0:36:37 Speaker: thing that we need all of us to keep in mind is if it is going to be another council session, which it may be, depending on what the individuals who are ineligible choose to do, if there is another council session, it's going to be a minimum of 72 hours notice, and that cuts further into the time to address this with the SAU, cuts further into the time to work out taxes and budgets and cuts further into the obligation that is imposed on the city to be ready to close on our before September 30th. If
0:37:19 Speaker: you can do that
0:37:19 Speaker: relatively quick,
0:37:21 Speaker: we know it's a 72
0:37:22 Speaker: hour notification.
0:37:24 Speaker: If it's possible, I don't
0:37:26 Speaker: know if it's possible or not, but
0:37:27 Speaker: I'm trying to give it a
0:37:28 Speaker: to see if the council
0:37:30 Speaker: could meet prior
0:37:31 Speaker: to
0:37:32 Speaker: that
0:37:33 Speaker: Tuesday
0:37:34 Speaker: meeting with SAU and U
0:37:37 Speaker: .S.
0:37:38 Speaker: Because if
0:37:38 Speaker: there's, you know, some solution might be born out of that.
0:37:42 Speaker: Right. That's also what I'm thinking, that maybe he has got a solution as well. Right. I think he should be fully aware of everything that's
0:37:50 Speaker: going on.
0:37:51 Speaker: Right. Agree.
0:37:52 Speaker: If I
0:37:52 Speaker: were in your situation, I would,
0:37:54 Speaker: but that's a great idea. Like I said, I
0:37:55 Speaker: thought of that.
0:37:56 Speaker: [name] agree.
0:38:00 Speaker: So at this point, neither I nor city administration, although I am obligated to tell Mr. [name] the outcome of this meeting, which is basically council members are individually going to consult with their attorneys and determine what course of action they individually are going to adopt. And that's all I'm going to be able to tell him because that's all that's coming out of this meeting so far. Unless somebody has some other ideas or suggestions we can add on this. Five, six, or seven.
0:38:36 Speaker: Well like she just said, perhaps their legal may have something else
0:38:40 Speaker: that we don't know about.
0:38:42 City Attorney: The obligation of the city's obligation to be completely transparent with its own attorney which is bond counsel is more it overrides any the necessity of being completely transparent with SAU and the need to be transparent with SAU is of a serious nature so bond counsel is going to find out the outcome of today's council meeting I must and we will wait to find out what individual Council members do or don't, don't decide to do. Unless you guys have got other suggestions that we can add to
0:39:23 Speaker: this place. Yeah, the mayor can ask, like I said,
0:39:25 Speaker: she can
0:39:26 Speaker: ask for a
0:39:26 Speaker: special session.
0:39:28 Speaker: Yes,
0:39:28 Speaker: but we don't have that yet and I'll be on the phone with Mr. [name] in the morning.
0:39:37 Speaker: So is there anything else on that that makes anybody
0:39:39 Speaker: have any questions
0:39:40 Speaker: of me that I
0:39:40 Speaker: can possibly answer?
0:39:45 Speaker: Anything I can help or supply you with? I would like to clarify something if I may please. The council members who are individually ineligible to participate in the bond process. One of those is a mayor pro temp. That mayor pro temp also may not participate in the bond process as a mayor pro temp. which means that the council is going to have to choose someone to officiate the meetings once there is an eligible forum.
0:40:49 Speaker: Or if there becomes one.
0:40:51 Speaker: Yeah, if there becomes an eligible forum.
0:40:54 Speaker: I think that's what I was trying to explain
0:40:56 Speaker: before
0:40:57 Speaker: because of the
0:40:58 Speaker: challenge
0:40:59 Speaker: to the
0:41:00 Speaker: offices. is
0:41:01 Speaker: that
0:41:02 Speaker: the
0:41:03 Speaker: people
0:41:04 Speaker: that are challenged if they sit in the position
0:41:06 Speaker: of mayor or mayor for a 10,
0:41:07 Speaker: that's typically who's gonna sign stuff.
0:41:09 Speaker: That's why I included
0:41:10 Speaker: in there, because the
0:41:11 Speaker: mayor's unable,
0:41:12 Speaker: refuses, or fails.
0:41:13 Speaker: And in this case, it's called unable.
0:41:17 Speaker: Then the mayor per 10 would come in and do that. But in this
0:41:20 Speaker: case, the mayor per 10 is also unable. But he's refusing. It's an inability
0:41:27 Speaker: to do that. And it's really simple, the council
0:41:30 Speaker: which is big
0:41:31 Speaker: you
0:41:32 Speaker: know somebody else
0:41:33 Speaker: on the
0:41:34 Speaker: governing body that's not
0:41:36 Speaker: challenged to sign the documentation related
0:41:38 Speaker: to it. Once there is once there is an eligible court.
0:41:42 Speaker: Right. Does
0:41:43 Speaker: that make sense to everybody?
0:41:46 Speaker: Yes ma 'am. [name].
0:41:47 Speaker: Thank you council. I appreciate your time. Anything
0:41:49 Speaker: else? Not
0:41:52 Speaker: at this time, no.
0:41:53 Speaker: Do you have a hard word? For sure. That's a lot of language being expressed to you. No.
0:42:01 Speaker: No.
0:42:03 Speaker: Yes. What?
0:42:04 Speaker: As you said. Yes. As you said, correct?
0:42:07 Speaker: Yes.
0:42:09 Speaker: Out of eight,
0:42:10 Speaker: executive session. There is no executive session.
0:42:20 Speaker: Is that for [name]? We
0:42:21 Speaker: got you. Do you want me to ask?
0:42:23 Speaker: Yes, please.
0:42:25 Speaker: Okay. Okay.
0:42:27 Speaker: Consider executive session. Do we have any announcements? Number 10?
0:42:32 Speaker: I just have one.
0:42:34 Speaker: The
0:42:35 Speaker: learning
0:42:37 Speaker: type A bus.
0:42:39 Speaker: I don't know if anybody else has seen it.
0:42:40 Speaker: It's been a
0:42:41 Speaker: really good success
0:42:42 Speaker: this year. It's still coming. We'll be here Wednesday and Thursday
0:42:47 Speaker: again and then I guess next
0:42:48 Speaker: week. I
0:42:49 Speaker: think
0:42:50 Speaker: it looks
0:42:51 Speaker: like
0:42:51 Speaker: a lot of people.
0:42:52 Speaker: So is it just those
0:42:53 Speaker: two weeks or is it continued up next week?
0:42:56 Speaker: Two weeks? No,
0:42:57 Speaker: it's just those two weeks.
0:42:58 Speaker: They have other
0:42:59 Speaker: locations
0:42:59 Speaker: as well. Yes. But I think it's been a good
0:43:03 Speaker: success. I've
0:43:04 Speaker: gotten really positive feedback from that. I'm just really blessed that you get to come in on a hot notice
0:43:09 Speaker: for not taking a nap.
0:43:11 Speaker: Good night. And the public community
0:43:12 Speaker: still works.
0:43:13 Speaker: That's good night.
0:43:14 Speaker: Great night.
0:43:16 Speaker: Okay. This time, if there's no more announcements, can I get a motion to adjourn?
0:43:23 Speaker: Can I get
0:43:25 Speaker: a second?
0:43:28 Speaker: Motion and a second. All in favor?
0:43:35 Speaker: The session will come to be called. PG, July 15, 2025 at 7 .15 is adjourned. Thank you all very much.
0:43:46 Speaker: See you soon!