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The DeLeon City Council met in regular
session Thursday, September 28, 2006, with all members present, and
made short work of a lengthy agenda. The approval of an ordinance
“authorizing and ordering the issuance of City of DeLeon, Texas, Tax
Notes,” for $500,000 in funding to complete the Festival Gardens
Community Park project was one of the many items addressed.
The tax notes were one of the options
presented by Vince Viaille, of First Southwest Company in Lubbock,
when he met with council members September 11.
City officials contacted Viaille after
realizing that any funds borrowed from a local bank for the project
(approved in an earlier council meeting) would have to be reflected in
the budget for the coming year. As Mayor Owen noted on more than one
occasion, “You can’t borrow against something you don’t have
budgeted.”
Viaille began this most recent
presentation with, “Mayor and Council members, let me show you what
we’ve accomplished.” He then distributed to council members a “debt
service schedule” on the tax notes, while noting that he’d like to
thank Farmers and Merchants bank. “They were agreeable to buy these
from the city,” Viaille said. “The interest rate we came up with is
4.25 percent. We don’t have to have a bond rating on this, we don’t
have to do an official statement. The savings...by doing this with a
local bank is probably about $15,000. It’s a seven year tax note. One
of the features the bank gave to us is the ability to pay this off
whenever we want to...so you have that flexibility. If we were to go
to the open market place and sell this...you couldn’t pay it off until
maturity. Like I said, I’d like to thank Trey (Weaver) and his
organization for this, because I think they helped us out quite a
bit.”
Karen Wilkerson, city secretary, and
Viaille then discussed the benefits of opening a separate bank account
for the newly acquired funds. “When we close this transaction, in
about 30 days,” Viaille said, “you’re going to receive that $500,000
all at one time. I would suggest that you have a separate account set
up to deposit that in, that way you can make your construction draws
against that account directly. You can keep track of your funds much
easier and that way you know exactly how much of the tax note proceeds
you’ve spent towards the park project. And if you’ve got any tax note
proceeds left over, you can use those to pay this off early. ”
In response to a question from Councilman
Howard Gifford, regarding the amount of each year’s payment, Viaille
said, “You’ll make principal payments once a year, so your first
principal payment is going to be on February 15, 2007. It’s going to
$65,000. In addition to that, you’re going to make an interest payment
on that date of $6,434. Now, on August 15, of 2007, you’re going to
make another interest payment of $9,243. So your total payment due in
fiscal year 2007 is going to be $80,677.”
Wilkerson noted that she’d budgeted
$86,000 for the payment this year.
Councilman Gifford then echoed Viaille’s
“thank you” to Farmers and Merchants Bank, as well as Holdridge’s
qualms about putting the City in debt. After adding that they all
wanted to see the project completed, and they didn’t seem to have any
choice, Gifford made a motion to approve the ordinance on the tax
notes.
Council members also approved an
ordinance adopting the budget for the fiscal year beginning October 1,
2006 and ending September 30, 2007. “Our new budget does reflect an
increase of 15 percent in our basic water rates,” Mayor Owen said.
“Our current rate is $18.50 per 3,000 gallons, and our new rate would
be $21.28, that’s the minimum. Also figured into this is a one-third
percent tax increase on city taxes.”
“I’ll say the same thing I said before,”
Councilman John Holdridge said, “I don’t like this budget.” I’m not
happy about putting the city in debt, but in the condition we find
ourselves we don’t have any other viable solution, so I move we accept
the budget as presented.” Council member Norma Locke provided the
second, and budget was approved unanimously.
Council members then approved ordinance
#009-06, levying ad valorem taxes. “We went from 59.79 to 60 cents
(per $100 taxable valuation)” Wilkerson said.
In other business, council members:
• Took no action, pending further
information, on a request by Dale Spurlen for lights at the “high
school boy’s field.” Spurlen reported to the council that there were
already eight poles at the field, each of which was 39’ 8” and that
according to U.I.L. officials there were no lighting requirements, but
there were guidelines, which he expected to have a copy of soon.
• Addressed an agenda item described as
“Discuss and consider request by Ken Bankhead, in reference to
cleaning up corner of 587 and Mosely.” Bankhead explained that he had
purchased a home near there more than a year ago, and although the
grass was mowed at first, it was later allowed to grow quite high,
becoming “a severe fire hazard.” Wilkerson noted that she’d sent the
property-owner a letter and photos of the property, and later said
that she believed there were health-related issues that were a factor
in their being able to maintain the property. Bankhead described other
problems, including mosquito-attracting debris and litter. Mayor Owen
told Bankhead that the council needed “a little time to see what we
can get done” and Councilman Avery Carlisle made it official with a
motion “to contact the family and see what we’ve got to do to get it
cleaned up.”
• Agreed, after a request from Trent
Thomas, to send the water meter from 203 E. Ham Ave. for testing,
after Thomas received a one-month water bill for $1,660.
• Approved Ordinance #011-06; amending
Ordinance #009-98, “closing, vacating and abandoning right-of-way on
the east side of Johnson Street.” Wilkerson noted that this was an
issue which had already been addressed by the council (houses were
constructed too near the city’s right-of-way on Johnson) but that
while updating the ordinances, she discovered “there was already an
ordinance in place for Johnson Street” and that the city vacated 20
feet in 1998.
• Approved entering into an interlocal
agreement for risk participation insurance with TML.
• Approved the August 2006 Tax Statement.
• Voted to approve additional work (up to $5,000) on the animal
shelter in order to house cats, as well as dogs. Councilman Avery
Carlisle abstained.
• Voted not to approve Resolution
#017-06, amending Resolution #016-06. The new resolution read, in
part, “authorizing the submission of a Texas Community Development
Block Grant application to the office of Rural Community Affairs for
the Community Development Fund; and authorizing the mayor to act as
the executive officer and authorized representative in all matters
pertaining to the participation in the Texas Community Development
Program.” Councilman Gifford pointed out that when originally
discussed, the grant (to help alleviate DeLeon’s water storage
problems) had called for “$25,000 matching funds and the new
resolution was calling for $160,000.
“No!” Councilman Gifford said, when the
resolution was read.
“We’re already having to go into tax
notes to try and do the park project.” Rob Duncan, Public Works
Administrator, said “I understood we were going to postpone this until
we got the park project situation a little further along. We don’t
have to take immediate action.” Council members then voted to “hold
off” on seeking the grant. The City of DeLeon was cited in March of
this year for inadequate water storage.
• Heard a report on activities with the
Texas Parks and Wildlife grant relating to work on the Community
Festival Garden Park. Mayor Owen noted that former council member
Gayle Stroud “had started going through the list of volunteers and
donations for the park project” to see who might still be interested
in participating. Jamie Welch, DeLeon assistant city secretary, could
not attend the meeting due to prior family committments but provided
the council with detailed information on progress with the park
project. According to Welch, “The Tractor Pull group met with us on
September 26 to review the plans. While they still have a few
reservations regarding the 1% grade on the track they were pleased
with the plans overall. The next step will be to get surveyors out to
mark the grades and cuts for the dirt work and prepare bid packets for
the concrete walls.”
In the open discussion between city
employees and city officials, Mayor Owen noted that letters had
recently been sent out to residents with tall weeds and debris
collecting around their home.
John Holdridge asked the mayor for
details on future code enforcement, saying, “We pretty well killed the
budget for code enforcement and we have no official code enforcement
officer, what do you foresee happening?”
Owen responded that he, the city
secretary, the police and the public works administrator would have to
do the best they could in that regard. Council members then discussed
various ways to best monitor, and deal with, code violations.
Karen Wilkerson noted that the city had
received a thank you note from DeLeon High School for the help the
city provided during homecoming week. |
