City of San Angelo to Subsidize Railport Outside City Limits

City Council will consider a two step move to facilitate the further development of the San Angelo Railport.  Step one is to sell city land to the Development Corporation for $1.4 million.  Step two is for Wisener Holdings, LLC dba South Plains Lamesa Rail Road, to pay $1 million in cash and for the remaining $400,000 subject to repayment under an economic development agreement.  

Council's background packet states:

COSADC will carry a loan for $400,000 payable over 5 years at $80,000 per year. Loan payments will be offset at a rate of 50% for capital investment in infrastructure improvements to the property.

If the Railport owner spends $160,000 per year on capital improvements over the next five years the city would forgive the $400,000 loan.   What are Weisner Holding's plans regarding capital improvements?  Surely, they have a budget for such.

The Railport is outside City limits so there are no taxes received by the City of San Angelo for the project.  City staff's background information makes no projections as the number of jobs added, a key goal of the Development Corporation.

This could be the second major subsidy for a capital project that provides no discernable direct jobs.  Council approved an 85% three year tax break worth $2.2 million to Zeppelin Battery Storage.  At least that project is within City limits.  

The item is included in the Consent Agenda, which means a member of Council needs to request it be moved to the Regular Agenda for the public to receive a staff presentation.  Even with such a request, a presentation is not assured.  

Hopefully, an astute member of City Council will pull the item to clarify who is actually paying closing costs.  The following is stated in one place:

The purchase price from the City will be the approximate appraised value of $1,400,000 plus closing costs. The sale price to SPLRR will be $1,400,000 plus closing costs.

Later the packet states:

Net cost is $400,000 plus closing costs.

In the end, who is paying those closing costs?

Why should the public be concerned?  Because not long ago Council required City retirees to pay an additional $500 annual deductible and an additional $250 co-pay for outpatient surgery.  

Two weeks later Council approved the initial tax abatement request from Peregrine Energy for the Zeppelin project.  That abatement was finalized last meeting.

West Texas is front and center for energy and projects requiring energy.  Council approved a letter of intent to sell land close to the Railport to Skybox Data Centers.  A new data center has the potential to create jobs.

The three new projects, Battery Port, Rail Port (expansion) and Data Port are in close proximity.  It remains to be seen how much citizens will subsidize Skybox's data center, but the first two total $2.6 million.  City retirees may be concerned about giveaways that could have been used to keep their coverage stable with no increases in insurance costs.

Update 3-31-25:  The Development Corporation approved the Railport land subsidy and indicated the operator "will spend alot more than $400,000 on improvements."  That left the impression that the interest free loan will be forgiven in total.

Update 4-1-25:  The $400,000 subsidy passed alongside other items in the Consent Agenda.

Bite Investigations Continue to Rise

The Animal Shelter Advisory Committee met today and shared statistics for the first two months of 2025.  Bite investigations are included on a slide relative to Animal Control cases (not in the background packet).  I went back to the January 2025 video and added statistics for the last three months of 2024.  Animal Control Officer Floyd Bias was attacked by dogs in early November of last year and recently returned to work.

Animal to Human bites rose significantly last fiscal year.  

The number of bites since the 2024 fiscal year end is 180 (over a five month period) or 36 bites per month.  Annualized that number would be 432 and would be off the chart pictured above.

Public safety has been a concern in other communities that have shut off shelter intake under Best Friends Animal Society & American Pets Alive policies.  "Let them roam unaltered" has been the result from implementing BFAS and APA practices.  

Last month San Angelo City Manager Daniel Valenzuela reversed shelter "shut off" in the interest of public safety.

Hopefully, efforts can be undertaken to reduce the number of horrific dog attacks experienced by the city's most vulnerable.  

Shelter Chief Morgan Chegwidden informed the ASAC that 76% of dog to human bites result from unaltered male dogs.  

That seems like a good place to start.

Update:  Morgan said "88% of pets coming into the shelter are unaltered."  Managed intake of owned and unowned pets started in 2019.   Six years of BFAS and APA, neither of which prioritize spay/neuter, drove "let them unaltered", which turned San Angelo city streets into third world levels of loose dogs.  A better statistic to share is how many pets leave the shelter fixed, spayed-neutered. 

ASAC committee members asked about the status of shelter renovations/updates and the projected use of the temporary facility.  Funds were received in April 2023 to pay for shelter updates but the project is yet to be bid.

Near the end of the meeting Morgan said that "most bite investigations are animal to animal."  That means the last five months of data has a wider scope than the animal to human bite information in the graph.  The two are not directly comparable.

It can be a challenge monitoring a measure given staff's history of changing the measure's definition/calculation or shifting presentation content over time.  The good news is the city has the data and a strong public communications department.  It can publish results in picture format at any time for the public to view.

Zeppelin Tax Break

San Angelo City Council will consider approving an 85% tax break for three years for the Zeppelin Energy Storage project on 28th Street.  A private equity firm, Peregrine Energy, is behind the project.

The tax abatement agreement has a start date and an end date.  

“Effective Date” shall mean the day after the later of the full execution hereof by all of the Parties. 

“Expiration Date” shall mean March 1 of the calendar year following the expiration of the last of the tax abatements provided herein.

There is no ten year term with a commitment by Peregrine to pay $4.1 million for years 4-10.  Future taxes will be based on value of the asset in year four.  

The IRS allows accelerated depreciation (five years) for some energy projects: 

Owners of qualified facilities, property and energy storage technology placed into service after December 31, 2024, may be eligible for the 5-year MACRS depreciation deduction.

Council persons should recognize the projected ten year tax revenue may not materialize as they consider offering the Zeppelin Battery Storage project a massive 85% three year tax break.  

City Council may wish to consider other obligations such as retiree healthcare.  Last year Council decreased health benefits for retirees, impacting those with the least ability to pay greater "out of pocket" costs.  They may desire to reverse that change with Zeppelin tax proceeds.   

Update 3-18-25:  City Council approved the tax abatement 7-0 in today's meeting.  There was no public comment.  Mayor Brenda Gunter asked for the abatement number.  Assistant City Manager Michael Dane said it was around $2.2 million.

Best Friends Bigwig Brings Game

Best Friends Animal Society's Senior Director of National Programs Brent Toellner met with City Manager Daniel Valenzuela last week.  Their meeting occurred the day after a contentious public comment session at City Council.  Numerous Concho Valley PAWS supporters opposed the recent change to open up shelter intake in an effort to get loose dogs off city streets.  

Toellner referred to the change:

...pets won't be denied entry into the shelter and that there should be no one told to drop a dog back on the streets or to just "let them roam". 

This is all fair policy and supported by Best Friends Animal Society and proven best practice.

The problem is Best Friends has been advising the shelter all along.   In their numerous site visits and other consultations there has been no evidence that BFAS found any concerns with the shelter's actual practice, "Let them roam unaltered (and hope no one is harmed)."

Also, Toellner recommended the parties responsible for shelter management for the last seven years work on "eliminating public confusion," caused by BFAS partner Concho Valley PAWS.

The City of San Angelo can be quite recalcitrant, sticking to its dysfunctional ways long past any reasonable call for change.

The Best Friends gang brings slick talk and bags of money.  Imagine sticking to your bureaucratic guns (no service for you!) and getting a new pot of money (or the chance to jettison a significant pesky expense).  That may be in our near future.

An Animal Taskforce is working in parallel track to the Shelter-BFAS-PAWS behind the scene machinations.  The Taskforce is addressing the problems caused that very collaboration (which shut off intake, failed to enforce pet ordinances and failed to ensure citizens microchipped or spayed/neutered their pets).

This recent Best Friends contact with its "other follow up items" could be concerning. Remain aware for what city leaders do next.  Will it be an RFP, the acceptance of a proposal or a letter of intent?  Time will reveal.

Update 3-14-25:  BFAS has a playbook and the game in San Angelo is well into the second half.  For a reminder of what Best Friends did in the first half:

Tax Abatement for $120 million Solar Plus Battery LLC

Tom Green County Commissioners Court meets tomorrow and has a proposed tax abatement agreement on the agenda.  Doral Renewables LLC is behind the $120 million Cold Creek Solar project.

The County designated the "Cold Creek Solar reinvestment zone Number 1" in their February 11, 2025 meeting.

A similar one, two move occurred in March-April 2024 for the Peregrine Energy Solutions LLC battery storage project projected at $160 million.  The City of San Angelo granted tax abatement as well but refers to the project as Zeppelin.

The City of San Angelo granted approval for a letter of intent to sell 350 acres of land to Skybox Data Centers.  That tax abatement should be significant as well.  

City and County employees have worked at the low end wage wise for decades.  That unfortunate feature of our local economy will likely continue, unless elected officials do otherwise.  The big money is pouring in.   County Commissioners and City Council may just abate it away.

Update 3-11-25:  Tax abatement passed with little discussion and no official presentation.  A representative from Cold Creek LLC said a few words about the project, referencing information Commissioners had already received.  After the vote one Commissioner commented that this is the fourth solar farm in the county and he thought they'd be lucky to get two.  The tax abatement amount was not shared with the public.

Skybox Data Centers Coming Soon!

San Angelo City Council exited closed session and addressed the sale of over 350 acres of city owned land to Sky Box Data Centers LLC.  Council approved City Manager Daniel Valenzuela's completing a letter of intent to sell that land for the specified price of $50,000 per acre.  

In January Council approved item "AI" in close proximity to President Trump & OpenAI announcing the giant "Stargate AI" project and corresponding investment.  I wondered if Stargate was headed here.

It may or may not be Stargate AI but Council approved the intent to sell 350 acres to Skybox Data Centers for $17.5 million.  Skybox helps "clients curate their best data center solution."

There's more to come given these projects need infrastructure, possibly city funded, and are only feasible with sizeable tax abatements.  Chamber of Commerce Vice President Michael Looney thanked Council today for approving the item.  He knows client expectations better than anyone and someday a few of those will be shared (the ones requiring public funding).  Stay tuned.

Animal Shelter Opens Intake After Five Years

Nearly six years ago the City of San Angelo Animal Shelter implemented managed intake for owned pets.  Months later they added strays or unowned pets.  Both of these changes made it harder for citizens to surrender their pet or a found stray to the shelter.  

In November 2022 that became near impossible, after Council put a hard cap on shelter capacity.  

For fiscal year ended 2024 the Shelter accepted 22 dogs for owner surrender, less than two per month.  

San Angelo's street dog population exploded due to the cumulative impact of these changes combined with irresponsible pet owners.  Dog on dog attacks rose.  Dog and dog pack attacks increased, harming children, the disabled and elderly on city streets.  

Note the city's press release on the change starts with:

To improve public safety and address the number of stray dogs....

Concho Valley PAWS mobilized their PR machine, expressing concern over the euthanasia of dogs for space.  

Five years of the City's "let them roam unaltered" means San Angelo has a surplus of loose animals.  CVPAWS has been a close partner of the shelter that whole period.  

It took years of inattention to the public's needs for the problem to grow so severe and for residents to be attacked by dogs with increasing frequency.  Protecting human life is more important, especially those most vulnerable.   

PAWS has ready access to the media and a history of political influence.  Citizens attacked by a roaming dog(s) rarely wish to share that story.  Council members know because concerned parents, employers and neighbors contact them, frequently sharing their outrage.

In November 2024 a City Animal Control Officer was brutally attacked and mauled.  Thank God, he survived.  That event got Council's attention.  If it could happen to a professional what chance would a child or elderly person have?  

The owner of the dogs that attacked the Officer had been cited for having too many pets.  Social media reports indicate the owner tried to surrender dogs to the shelter but were refused.

Leaving loose, unaltered dogs on the streets has not worked for San Angelo.  There's a way to get to "No Kill" and its not through slick fundraising, slogans or exhortations. It would have been wonderful if every dog that entered the shelter in the last five years left spayed/neutered, went to the home of a responsible pet owner with a well fenced yard, and never got out of their enclosure or off their leash while on a walk.  That did not happen. 

San Angelo's Animal Shelter has to deal with the bad hand it helped create.  Having its adoption/veterinary service partner adhere to an unsuccessful "No Kill" strategy that harms vulnerable citizens should tell City Council something.  They get to decide what that is.

Update 3-1-25:  PAWS PR arm is going into overdrive with a protest planning meeting scheduled for Monday evening.  Supporters will plan their messages for public comment at Tuesday's Council meeting.  I haven't seen where dog bite victims and their families are getting together to coordinate testimony.  Children, the disabled and the elderly aren't quite as politically nimble as PAWS.

Update 3-4-25:  PAWS supporters took up most of the seats at City Council's meeting this morning.  City Manager Daniel Valenzuela was clear that he opened intake for public safety purposes and to address San Angelo's loose dog problem.  PAWS Director Jenie Wilson and PAWS supporters did not agree with Valenzuela's assessment or action.  Wilson characterized the situation as "stirred up by several people."  However, Animal Services data on "animal to people bites" indicates otherwise.  Council members know full well the complaints they regularly receive from citizens regarding dog packs and dangerous dogs in their neighborhoods.

Update 3-5-25:  PAWS calls the shelter actually serving citizens vs. large, long stay, difficult to adopt shelter dogs "catch and kill."  Concho Valley Homepage ran a story on the campaign, while San Angelo Live published PAWS Director Jenie Wilson's letter.

Update 3-13-25:  Best Friends Animal Society's Senior Director of National Programs Brent Toellner attended the contentious City Council meeting and met with City Manager Daniel Valenzuela later that week.