Agenda and minutes
Regular meeting, 24 August 2026
Monday 24 August 2026, 5:30 p.m. to 9:41 p.m.
- Where
- City Council Chambers, City Hall, 415 West University Drive, Edinburg, Texas 78539
- Presiding
- Mayor Omar Ochoa presiding
- Quorum
- Quorum of four present at 5:34 p.m. A fifth member arrived at 5:52 p.m.
- Interpretation
- A Spanish interpreter was present in the chamber for the whole meeting, and the public-comment period was taken in both languages.
- Recorded votes
- 5
Demonstration data
The campuses, the trustees and the seal are real. Every enrollment figure, bus position, vote and dollar amount on this site is invented, and each page that shows one says so.
Notice
Posted Thursday 20 August 2026 at 4:11 p.m. — 97 hours and 19 minutes before the meeting. Texas Government Code § 551.043 requires at least 72 hours.
Where it was posted
- Bulletin board in the City Hall lobby, 415 West University Drive, readily accessible to the public at all times — 20 August, 4:11 p.m. (Gov't Code § 551.050)
- The city website — 20 August, 4:26 p.m. Required here: the § 551.056 internet-posting mandate reaches municipalities of 48,000 and up, and Edinburg is about 100,000.
I certify that this notice was posted on the bulletin board at City Hall, a place readily accessible to the general public at all times, on August 20, 2026 at 4:11 p.m. — Office of the City Secretary
Who was there
| Member | Attendance | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Omar Ochoa | Present | — |
| Daniel “Dan” Diaz | Present | — |
| Jason De Leon | Present | — |
| David Salazar Jr. | Arrived late | Arrived 5:52 p.m. Absent for the first vote. |
| Gerardo “Gerry” Lozano | Present | Left the dais 7:22 to 7:48 p.m. for item 6 — recusal |
The agenda, item by item
1 Call to order, invocation and Pledges of Allegiance
Called to order at 5:30 p.m. by the Mayor. Invocation, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance to the United States flag and the Pledge to the Texas flag.
Reconstructed from the approved minutes. The city currently publishes this meeting as a PDF behind a link, with a paid document-accessibility service loaded on the page that holds it. Published as text, the meeting needs neither.
2 Roll call and finding of a quorum
Four of five members present. Quorum found at 5:34 p.m. A fifth member arrived at 5:52 p.m.
3 Public comment
Who spoke
- A resident of the Alberta Road area · North Closner Blvd · 3:00 · spoke in Spanish
Said the drainage ditch behind his street has flooded three times since May and that each time he telephoned, nobody could tell him whether a crew had been assigned or when. Asked to be able to see the status of his own report. - A small-business owner on North McColl Road · N McColl Rd · 2:30 · spoke in English
Asked why a permit application, a utility account and a citation are three separate logins on three different systems, and why none of them can tell her that all three belong to the same business.
What happened after: Both speakers were sent the outcome of item 6 in the language they spoke in, on 26 August.
- A resident of the Alberta Road area · North Closner Blvd · 3:00 · spoke in Spanish
4 Approval of the minutes of the regular meeting of 27 July 2026
Main motion · Carried
To approve the minutes of the regular meeting of 27 July 2026 as presented.
Moved by Daniel “Dan” Diaz · seconded by Jason De Leon
Unanimous · Roll call at 17:41
Vote on the motion to approve the minutes of 27 July 2026 Member Office Vote Omar Ochoa Mayor Yes Daniel “Dan” Diaz Council Member, Place 1 Yes Jason De Leon Council Member, Place 2 Yes David Salazar Jr. Council Member · Mayor Pro Tem Absent Gerardo “Gerry” Lozano Council Member, Place 4 Yes Result All seats Passed 6–0. One member had not yet arrived. 5 Drainage improvements, Alberta Road — award of construction contract
- Department
- Engineering
- Amount
- $4,180,000
In plain language
Rebuilding the drainage that floods the Alberta Road area. Five companies bid; the item is here because it is the largest single award of the night.
Procured under Local Government Code § 252.021 as a competitive sealed bid, the threshold for which is $50,000. Five responses were received. The recommended bid was the lowest responsible bid; two members asked about the schedule before the next rainy season and were told the contract carries a substantial-completion date of 30 April 2027.
Main motion · Carried
To award the construction contract for the Alberta Road drainage improvements to the lowest responsible bidder in the amount of $4,180,000, with a substantial-completion date of 30 April 2027.
Moved by Jason De Leon · seconded by David Salazar Jr.
Unanimous · Roll call at 18:33
Vote on the award of the Alberta Road drainage contract Member Office Vote Omar Ochoa Mayor Yes Daniel “Dan” Diaz Council Member, Place 1 Yes Jason De Leon Council Member, Place 2 Yes David Salazar Jr. Council Member · Mayor Pro Tem Yes Gerardo “Gerry” Lozano Council Member, Place 4 Yes Result All seats Passed 7–0. What happened after: Notice to proceed issued 8 September 2026. The city published the construction schedule and the affected streets in both languages the same week.
6 Award of contract — fleet GPS, telemetry and a resident service-request platform
- Department
- Innovation & Technology
- Amount
- $612,500
In plain language
One system to put trackers on the city's vehicles, schedule their maintenance, and let a resident see the status of their own report — replacing four separate vendor contracts. The item is here because it was a split vote and because one member had to step off the dais for it.
Four responses were received and scored on cost, on whether the city would own its own data and be able to export it, on whether the resident-facing side would exist in Spanish at launch rather than in a later release, and on accessibility conformance. Two of the four proposals could not produce a current accessibility conformance report for their resident-facing product.
One member recused himself
Council Member Lozano filed a conflict-of-interest affidavit with the City Secretary on 20 August 2026, before the meeting, disclosing a substantial interest in a business entity related to one of the four responding firms. He left the dais at 7:22 p.m., did not participate in the discussion, and did not vote. He returned at 7:48 p.m.
Local Government Code § 171.004 — the affidavit must be filed with the official record keeper before the vote, and the member must abstain from further participation.
Amendment · Carried
To amend the main motion to require that the resident-facing application meet WCAG 2.2 Level AA at launch, verified by an independent conformance report delivered before final acceptance, and that the city hold an exportable copy of its own data.
Moved by David Salazar Jr. · seconded by Daniel “Dan” Diaz
Split vote · Roll call at 19:31
Vote on the amendment — accessibility conformance at launch, and the city keeps its data Member Office Vote Omar Ochoa Mayor Yes Daniel “Dan” Diaz Council Member, Place 1 No Jason De Leon Council Member, Place 2 Yes David Salazar Jr. Council Member · Mayor Pro Tem Yes Gerardo “Gerry” Lozano Council Member, Place 4 Recused1 Result All seats Amendment carried 4–2. One member recused. 1 The two members who voted no said the conformance requirement would narrow the field and raise the price. The city's own accessibility measurements, taken later, are what the requirement was written against.
Main motion, as amended · Carried
To award the contract for fleet GPS, telemetry and a resident service-request platform in the amount of $612,500 as amended, and to direct the City Manager to report to the council on adoption, on Spanish-language use and on the conformance report no later than the regular meeting in June 2027.
Moved by Jason De Leon · seconded by David Salazar Jr.
Split vote · Roll call at 19:39
Vote on the main motion as amended — award the fleet GPS and resident platform contract Member Office Vote Omar Ochoa Mayor Yes Daniel “Dan” Diaz Council Member, Place 1 Yes Jason De Leon Council Member, Place 2 Yes David Salazar Jr. Council Member · Mayor Pro Tem Yes Gerardo “Gerry” Lozano Council Member, Place 4 Recused1 Result All seats Passed 5–1. One member recused and did not vote. 1 The member who voted no stated on the record that the objection was to the cost of the conformance requirement rather than to the system.
What happened after: Awarded 25 August 2026. Trackers were fitted to the first 140 vehicles by 12 November 2026. The resident-facing side went live in English and Spanish on the same day, with the conformance report published alongside it — which is the condition the amendment was written to force.
7 Closed session
The council recessed into closed session at 8:04 p.m. and reconvened in open session at 9:26 p.m.
Under which citation
- Gov't Code § 551.072 — deliberation about the purchase of real property near the South Texas International Airport, where a public discussion would have had a detrimental effect on the city's negotiating position.
- Gov't Code § 551.071 — consultation with the city attorney on pending litigation.
- Gov't Code § 551.074 — personnel: the annual evaluation of one department director.
No vote was taken in closed session. Texas Government Code § 551.102 forbids it. The action below was taken in open session after the council reconvened, which is why it has a roll call and the closed session does not.
8 Action following closed session — real property near the South Texas International Airport
- Department
- City Manager's Office
Main motion · Carried
To authorise the City Manager to continue negotiations for the acquisition of the property discussed in closed session, and to return to the council with a purchase agreement before any funds are committed.
Moved by Daniel “Dan” Diaz · seconded by Gerardo “Gerry” Lozano
Unanimous · Roll call at 21:33
Vote on the authorisation to continue negotiations Member Office Vote Omar Ochoa Mayor Yes Daniel “Dan” Diaz Council Member, Place 1 Yes Jason De Leon Council Member, Place 2 Yes David Salazar Jr. Council Member · Mayor Pro Tem Yes Gerardo “Gerry” Lozano Council Member, Place 4 Yes Result All seats Passed 7–0. 9 Adjournment
Adjourned at 9:41 p.m. without objection.
How each member voted, across the whole meeting
Texas law requires the minutes to indicate each vote. It does not require the city to record how each individual member voted. Publishing the roll call is the city's own choice, and it is a stronger commitment than the statute asks for.