|
DeLeon City Council members voted
unanimously to hire Waverly Inman as the newest patrolman for the
DeLeon Police Department, during their regularly scheduled meeting,
Thursday, November 9.
Inman, a DeLeon resident, is a 2006
graduate of Weatherford College Police Academy. According to Chief
John McDaniel, as of Monday, no official “start date” has been
determined.
Council members, all of whom were present
except for Johnnye Howell, also voted unanimously to hire Dora Rangel
as a “front office clerk” for the city.
An agenda item regarding a recent “test
fee” for the Trent Thomas water meter was also addressed.
“I put this back on the agenda,” Mayor
Danny Owen said. “Mr. Thomas agreed to pay for the meter testing prior
to our meeting -- he did not have a problem with paying for it. My
concern on this is that if we waive this fee, in the future we’ll have
to waive so many more, and it would be a great expense and cost to the
city. And everybody would want their meter tested every time there was
a problem with their water bill.”
“We’ve already had that,” Karen Wilkerson
noted.
Thomas had agreed to pay the testing fee
at the most recent meeting, as well as at the meeting of September 28,
when the issue was first addressed.
Council members also addressed a request
by Bill Sturdivant for a sewer line at North Texas and North Travis
streets.
“I bought the property, from street to
street, behind Trent Thomas’ place, etc.” Sturdivant said. “Due to the
contours of the land, the sewer line on both sides is only four to
five feet deep...I’m trying to look at developing that property. The
only way we see that we could do it at a reasonable cost, is to put a
sewer line down the center of this property and connect the housing on
both sides to that, and connect the sewer on the low end of this
property, on the Travis side.” Sturdivant noted that he’d already
discussed the sewer line placement with Rob Duncan, DeLeon public
works administrator. “If I do this, I’d do it to the standards of the
city, and in the titles of these properties there would be a way for
the city to be in there at any point in time, sort of like an alley
way down through the center. What I’m asking for here, is for the city
to take over responsibility of that line after it is installed.’
When asked by Councilman John Holdridge
how many lots there were, Sturdivant said there were nine. Two of the
lots measure 93x125, six others are 100x125, with one even larger.
Mayor Owen asked Duncan for his opinion
on the matter, who said he didn’t see any problem with it.
When Sturdivant was asked by Councilman
Howard Gifford what type of housing he planned for the lots,
Sturdivant said, “I’m putting in double-wide mobile homes -- nice, no
junk.” He later explained that the homes were refurbished, not new,
but that they were in very good condition.
Sturdivant explained that he would be
selling the homes and lots, not renting them.
After more discussion, Council members
voted to approve Sturdivant’s request.
Karen Wilkerson, DeLeon’s City Secretary,
did tell Sturdivant and the Council that she’d had several complaints
about “the mobile home park going in.”
“I can understand calls about a mobile
home park,” Gifford said, “but this is going to be privately owned
residences.”
Council members also discussed the
progress on the new Festival Grounds.
“Perkins Electric has the wire and the
meter boxes up at the RV park,” Mayor Owen said, adding that Rob
Duncan had sewer line work “well under way.” After listing a few more
project updates, Owen noted that Wilkerson, with help from front
office employee Marilyn Harbour, would “fill in where Jamie was” with
regards to the park project.
“Are you going to have time to do this?”
Gifford asked.
“We’re going to have to,” Wilkerson and
Harbour answered.
After a bit more discussion, including
Wilkerson noting that Cloyd Teague would “set the posts” for the
pavilion next week, Gifford pointed out, “We’re down to about eight
months to get everything done.”
In other business, council members:
• Approved the minutes for the October
26, 2006 meeting.
• Discuss and consider approval of the
October 2006 Tax Statement.
• Approved Ordinance No. 012-06, which
reflected the changes in the water and sewer rates for the fiscal year
2006-2007 budget.
• Appointed Burl Lowery, CPA, to conduct
City of DeLeon 2005-2006 Fiscal Year Audit.
• Moved the next regularly scheduled
council meeting from Thursday, November 23, to Tuesday, November 28,
due to the Thanksgiving holiday.
• Heard a report, during the open
discussion between city officials and city employees, about recent
vandalism at the DeLeon Cemetery. Mayor Danny Owen noted that the
investigation was still in progress. |
