City Meeting: Updates on Water & Some of the 18 Ongoing Projects

Updated: April 29, 2024

Iris Garcia
Special to LFN

On Tuesday, April 9th, the city of Los Fresnos held its monthly regular city council meeting. The meeting was called to order by Mayor Flores, and Mr. Milum, city manager, led the meeting in an invocation. The mayor and four of the commissioners were present.
No visitor remarks were made during this meeting.

The council considered (8) consent agenda items— which are matters considered to be routine by the City Council and will be enacted by one motion. There will be no separate discussion of these items unless requested by a member of the City Council. The item may subsequently be removed from the Consent Agenda to be considered separately.

All (8) Consent Agenda items were motioned for approval by Commissioner Escobedo and seconded by Commissioner Muñoz. Motion carried unanimously, 5-0, and are listed below:

1. Consideration and ACTION to approve the minutes from March 12, 2024 and March 26, 2024.

2. Consideration and ACTION to approve an update Employee Policy Manual to include Military Leave Policy.

3. Consideration and ACTION to approve CDC action to provide funding for the Los Fresnos Little League.

4. Consideration and ACTION to approve a Proclamation declaring May 2, 2024 as National Day of Prayer in the City of Los Fresnos.

5. Consideration and ACTION to approve a Proclamation for National Hurricane Preparedness Week May 5-May 11, 2024.

6. Consideration and ACTION to approve a Proclamation declaring the week of May 19-25, 2024 as National Emergency Medical Services Week in the City of Los Fresnos.

7. Consideration and ACTION to approve a Proclamation declaring May 15, 2024 as Peace Officers’ Memorial Day and declaring the week of May 12- 18, 2024 as National Police Week in the City of Los Fresnos.

8. Consideration and ACTION to approve a Proclamation declaring the week of May 19-25, 2024 as National Public Works Week in the City of Los Fresnos.

Following the consent agenda, the city council covered the (6) Action Items.

1. Consideration and ACTION to approve the first and second reading of Ordinance 557 adopting the updated Water Conservation and Drought Contingency Plan.

The City Manager informed the council that every 5 years the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) requires the Water Conservation and Drought Contingency Plan to be updated.

He mentioned that in prior years the city had to have a firm assist with this project because of certain expertise that is required. Milum recognizing the Public Works Department by saying, “A huge thank you goes out to Raul Garcia, Public Works Manager, for putting this together in-house and saving substantial funds while putting together a terrific plan for Los Fresnos.”

Mayor Alejandro added that he saw Mr. Garcia at the Earth Day event over the weekend sharing information about water conservation and how great it is to have a trained employee in our city staff to do this kind of work.
Commissioner Gonzalez made a motion to approve, and seconded by Commissioner Fernandez. Motion carried, 5-0.

2. Consideration and ACTION to approve an update Employee Policy Manual to include the Confidentiality Policy.

The City Manager shared that due to leaks at the Supreme Court level, the Court system has mandated that each court adopt a confidentiality policy that meets their guidelines. Generally, this policy is for Courts that have trials and cases above misdemeanor charges but they didn’t exclude courts like ours that deal with misdemeanor charges. It is a good safeguard anyway since all dealings with the Court are confidential. This will be part of our employee manual and will be signed off by all employees who deal with Court information.

Commissioner Gonzalez asked about any documentation that is kept by the city— does it get shredded after it is no longer needed, or how long is it kept? The city manager explained that it depends on the document and that there is state and federal document law that shows how long to keep certain documents— it could range from a year to 10 years to indefinite.
Commissioner Muñoz made a motion to approve which was seconded by Commissioner Escobedo. Motion carried, 5-0.

3. Consideration and ACTION to excuse the absence of Larry Meade from the March 18, 2024 Planning and Zoning meeting.

Commissioner Muñoz made a motion to approve and seconded by Commissioner Escobedo. Motion carried, 5-0.

4. Consideration and ACTION to excuse the absence of Javier Rodriguez from the March 18, 2024 Planning and Zoning meeting.

Commissioner Muñoz made a motion to approve, and seconded by Commissioner Fernandez. Motion carried, 5-0.

5. Consideration and ACTION to excuse the absence of Luis Gonzalez from the March 12, 2024 City Council meeting.

Commissioner Gonzalez was elected in November of 2021. Mr. Gonzalez has attended 32 out of 40 meetings or 80%. In the last year Mr. Gonzalez has attended 11 out of 18 meetings or 61%.
Commissioner Muñoz made a motion to approve and seconded by Commissioner Escobedo. Motion carried, 4-1. Mayor Flores motioned against as he strongly believes a 61% attendance is unacceptable for an elected position.

6. Consideration and ACTION to excuse the absence of Juan Munoz from the March 26, 2024 City Council special meeting.

Current records for Commissioner Muñoz begin in February 2017. Mr. Muñoz has attended 112 out of 130 meetings or 86%. In the last year, Mr. Muñoz has attended 15 out of 19 meetings or 79%.
Commissioner Escobedo made a motion to approve and seconded by Commissioner Gonzalez. Mayor Flores abstained. Motion carried, 4-0.
During the acknowledgment of the city manager’s reports, Mr. Milum gave an update in regards to the 18 ongoing projects. He provided a spreadsheet detailing each of the projects in hopes it would be helpful and easier to keep track of the individual projects.
Commissioner Muñoz asked about the status of the construction of the Veteran’s Memorial. Mr. Milum updated the council saying the construction is currently at a standstill due to some adjustments that are being made on the placement of the 6 columns. Once that is done, it will be about 2 months to complete. He also mentioned that the city is already making plans to have a terrific event to honor our Veterans.
The motion to approve the city manager’s report was made by Commissioner Fernandez, and seconded by Commissioner Muñoz. Motion carried, 5-0. Then a motion to approve the department head’s reports was made by Commissioner Fernandez and seconded by Commissioner Gonzalez. Motion carried, 5-0. The meeting was adjourned at 6:21 PM.