Jeryl Hoover

What happened at Council mtg Sept 15?

The annual fun of approving a budget and setting a property tax rate came to a climax at last night's meeting, but before that we had a 90-minute workshop with the Affordable Housing Task Force looking at what the city government must do to address the preeminent challenge facing our community. 

The Task Force, comprised of appointed individuals not currently in government, has been meeting to mine the fields of information and opportunity for ways your local government can participate in enticing developers to put houses on the ground at the $120,000 to $150,000 price point. There is and will continue to be a critical need to serve the housing needs for new teachers, law enforcement and health care personnel, among others. 

Discussions centered around creating a zoning designation to allow single family residences on smaller lots, which eases the burden of the land cost on the price of a home. The new zoning might include different standards for street and sidewalk width. Another idea is to offer incentives like breaks on fees. There are many more possibilities than these to consider, and the Task Force will continue the research to find the right ways for the City to participate. We're continuing to move down the path toward codifying the part the City of Fredericksburg can play to address a housing problem that is choking us. Stay tuned.

In our regular session, we approved a motion to formally direct the Planning and Zoning Commission to consider changes that will support our objective of affordable housing and to bring hard recommendations to the Council. We also set a special meeting for September 29 to have a workshop with the Council and the P&Z Commission to discuss the matter.

In the other big event of the evening, we approved a balanced budget of $34 million for 2008-2009 (our budget year begins Oct 1). The Council voted 3-2 to raise the tax rate 5% over the effective rate, which, if projections are correct, will raise some $321,000 over the current year. 

I was one of the two dissenting votes because I wanted to see the effective tax rate adopted. That is the rate at which we would realize the same revenue as this year, plus an additional $117K to account for new property coming on the rolls. In pennies it looks like this: you paid 24 cents per $100 value on your property this year. The 5% increase will now be 23 cents per $100 value. 

So when does 23 cents become more than 24 cents? When there are more $100 increments in the value of your property to tax at 23 cents, which happened when you got your appraisal this year. Since the value of your property increased significantly, there are many more $100 increments to multiply times 23 cents, and it becomes more money out of your pocket than 24 cents was this past year.

Granted it's a tiny amount, just as it was last year, and the year before, and the years before that. And if my desire for 22 cents had been adopted, it would have been a tiny, almost imperceptible savings. But I stand by my vote because the effective rate would have accomplished everything I believed it should to finance your city government for the year. 

Consider that the two sources of revenue for the City General Fund are property taxes and sales tax revenue. Sales tax revenue continues to climb with the prices of everything going up and tourism staying strong. Projections for next year's sales tax income have already been surpassed by this year's reality! 

Also consider that the City realized a surplus over expenditures this year of over $500K. That's like starting a new year with a half million dollar head start.

If we had approved the effective rate, we would still be able to do the following:

1. Fully fund the new budget 

2. Fund two infrastructure projects - improvements to Morning Glory Drive and replace the bridge at Austin and Washington Streets

3. Retain the recommended level of reserves in the General Fund 

4. Likely (but debatable, I understand) left us with another surplus.

In addition, I felt it was the right time to let the appraisal increases suffice as the tax increase because everyone has taken a surprise hit on the top few items in any household budget - utility bills, gasoline, and groceries. These expenses hit every household, but they are especially hard on more households in Fredericksburg because of the typically low wages creating a generally low median household income. Will an extra $50 on your annual tax bill matter? To some, no. To others, absolutely.

My colleagues have your best in mind when they approved a 5% increase, and I respect their process and reasons for deciding, just as I expect theirs for mine.  

In the final piece of business we approved the Convention and Visitors Bureau budget for 2008-09 in the amount of about $1.2 million, of which the City's portion for funding is $1.1. This money comes from the Hotel Occupancy Tax, which also has stayed strong due largely to the fine efforts of Ernie Loeffler and his staff at the CVB. It's always great to see something working as it's supposed to!

The next regular meeting of the Council will be October 6. Same time, same place. Thank you for reading my thoughts about how we're conducting your business.

    

Setting a Tax Rate

We are still in process of approving the budget and setting a tax rate. The process is about 50% done. I voted for the 7% tax increase that was proposed at last week's regular meeting strictly as a stop-gap method. I do not expect to support that kind of increase in the final vote.

The City Manager was on a trip last week, and I have some questions about the budget as presented, which of course could not be answered that night. But we had to set a rate in order to start the clock for public hearings and get final approval by the time the new budget year began. That clock is governed by law, i.e. so many days to publish notice of the public hearings on the rate proposal, the hearings must be held at least 3 days apart, and so on, and it all must be completed in time to approve the rate and the budget by September 30. 

I approved the motion to set it at 7% because that left the only option to come down from that after the hearings. The rationale for the 7% is that it left us the widest margin to complete the process, and is the closest rate to what you're paying now, even slightly below it.

My expectation is that the Council will approve a modest increase, perhaps no more than a 2-4% over last year's rate, which will actually be fewer pennies per $100 valuation, but obviously will be a few more dollars because of the increase in appraisals.

RE how affordable housing plays into my decision, I always think of that, however, there are harsh realities into play here that we would be unwise to ignore. The cost of basic services that the City provides such as water and its delivery and treatment, sewer treatment, streets, trash and brush pickup, is only going one direction and that is up! So we make tax rate decision recognizing that all citizens must pay them, not just those who might be potential candidates for affordable housing. I could not justify keeping taxes low just to suit an affordable housing initiative when the commodities that benefit every citizen such as asphalt, gasoline, steel, and everything else in our economy continues to escalate. At that point, a greater good over affordable housing kicks in for me and would lead me to raise taxes to accommodate rising prices for what the City has to pay for everyone every day.

Besides the two public hearings on 8/28 and 9/7, a special meeting (open to the public) has been set for the morning of 8/28 @ 8:30 to get some of the information I and other councilmen need to make our decision.

As always, I invite you to be part of any and all meetings of your Council.

Another Brag on our Police Dept.

The following email was forwarded to me about a visitor to Fredericksburg's encounter with our Police Department. It's important to me that you know how they are perceived by out of towners. Here's the email from Debby Esparza of Pipe Creek:

It seems like people only write letters to complain about public servants and we felt it necessary to write a "good" letter about one of your men.

On Thursday, June 19th, my husband and I were going to visit my brother when we ran out of gas.  We had to leave our vehicle in front of the Catholic Church.  My husband began to walk to a gas station on Main street to purchase a gas can and gas.  I remained with our truck.  An officer did stop to see what the problem was.  This officer called the dispatcher to see if the Police Department had a gas can available and then offered to pick it up for us to use.  He then spoke with my husband who had already purchased a new can and the officer went to the gas station to pick up my husband. This officer was Brian Haley.  I don't know if I've spelled his name correctly, but we wanted to let you know how helpful he was to us.  He didn't hesitate to offer any available help.  He was very courteous and friendly as well as professional.

 
Here's a hearty "atta boy" to Officer Haley, and THANK YOU to Chief Oestreich and all the men and women of the FPD who serve this community so well.  

Getting Some Perspective via Travel

Ruthann and I just arrived back home from a jaunt up to South Dakota to see Mt. Rushmore, a site both of us had longed to see since we first heard about it in grade school.  I found it every bit as wonderful as I imagined.

We drove our trusty 2001 Honda CRV 3,027 total miles without so much as a hiccup. Thank you, our Japanese engineer friends!

We entered and left six states counting our own. We stayed in four motels and one historic hotel. We ate in a dozen restaurants ranging from cheap fast food to pricey lah-dee-dah. We bought gas a dozen times at roadside marts. We became two in a band of hundreds of tourists from all over the world at various attractions. I estimate we had personal interactions with over 100 individuals who were strangers to us, and with only one exception, they were friendly, eager to talk, gave off a happy appearance, and just generally made you feel proud to be part of such a great people.  Let me tell you about a few.

Jessica, the nursing student

            In a restaurant in downtown Chadron, Nebraska, this young lady with a broad and beautiful smile was as charming as she was efficient. A nursing student in her third year of college, she was following in the footsteps of her mom who was also a nurse. She was obviously focused on completing her education so she could take her place. I was impressed that she chose a helping profession, and she exuded contentment with her choice. Makes you feel good about the next generation.

Anonymous Illinois young couple with three small children

            At the Crazy Horse Memorial in the same vicinity as Mt. Rushmore, I asked the father to snap a picture of Ruthann and me. They in turn asked if I’d do the same. Immediately following an older guy and his wife stepped up and asked if I’d take their picture. I asked where he was from and coincidentally they were from Illinois, too (But they didn’t know the young couple. I asked.). It is surely remarkable that we spontaneously trust a total stranger to be responsible for such an important family memento.

The Mexican national at the front desk of a motel

            With a big smile and an easy friendliness, speaking impeccable English with no discernible accent, this young man asked where I was from, and I told him I was the proud mayor of Fredericksburg, TX. He then asked who I was going to vote for in the upcoming presidential election. He said when he becomes naturalized he will vote for Obama. Thus began and ended an exchange between strangers about one of the three things you’re never suppose to talk about with even the best of friends.

Motorcycle guy and wife who took our pic at geographic center in SD

            The geographic center of the US became Belle Forche, South Dakota, since the addition of Alaska and Hawaii. We arrived at this secluded spot simultaneously with a couple on a Harley-Davidson. Out of 300 million people in the US, we were the only four at that site on that morning. They were dressed to fit the part, tight-fitting “Harley” T-shirt with the sleeves cut out, black leather pants with chains decorating it, imposing boots, and a doo-rag. When they saw us walking up he asked if I’d like them to take a picture. “Sure,” I said. “I’m a professional photographer,” he added. The picture, of course, turned out great.  

Sabrina, the interior design grad

            Waiting on us at a restaurant in Rapid City was this young lady, extremely friendly and efficient. I asked her to tell us her story. She just graduated with a degree in interior design, and was working two jobs awaiting her boyfriend to graduate so they can get married. One job was waiting tables, and the other was as an apprentice in her field. She probably makes less at two jobs than I do at one, yet she reeked of contentment.

Hotel Desk Clerk who told us our room was haunted

            Cell phone service was non-existent in western South Dakota, a feature of life, by the way, that commended itself highly to me. We asked the desk clerk at the hotel about using our room phone to call out long distance. She asked what room we were in. “812,” I said. “Oh, you’re in the haunted room,” she replied. She then chirpily tells us the story. Turns out that over the 80-year lifespan of the hotel, 30 years apart, two women had hurled themselves out the window to end their lives. Both did it from Room 812.

Couple from Wisconsin

            Each of the two nights we were in Rapid City, we enjoyed a pre-dinner libation sitting outdoors on the street next to the pub attached to the hotel. The first night a couple from Wisconsin sat at the table next to us. We had a conversation about travel as easy as if they were old friends.

“Spit and Whittle” group at the gas station in Lebanon, KS

            The previous geographical center of the US prior to Alaska and Hawaii was Lebanon, Kansas. Since we stumbled on to the current spot and took a picture, we felt we had to do so in Kansas, too, especially since it was on our way home. So as we drove through Lebanon, a little burg not near anywhere else, we stopped to buy gas. There was no credit card slot on the pump, so I went inside to dutifully set down $40 cash as a deposit for a fill-up. Inside was a group of half a dozen old overalls-clad farmers sitting in a half circle chewing over the issues of the day. When I walked in they all went silent and stared. The good ol’ boy behind the counter looked at the two $20’s and said, “You don’t need to do that. Just fill ‘er up.” I did, and walked back in to pay. Again they sat still and quiet as if posing for a portrait. I asked, “Have you fellas solved the world’s problems yet?” They all broke their poses and laughed. “No, but it ain’t noon yet,” one of them said. I responded, “I’ll bet there’s more wisdom in this room than in all of the country east of the Mississippi.” Again they laughed, and the proprietor said, “Sometimes there’s so much it fills this room and bleeds over in to the mechanic’s bay.”  Again they all laughed in a way of acknowledging that they dare not take themselves or anything else too seriously. You just can’t make up dialogue as good as what real people say.

In the final leg of our journey, we stayed over in Oklahoma City and took in the National Memorial to the victims and survivors of the bombing that took place at the Federal Building on 4/19/95. We arrived just at dusk on a still, clear, full moon adorned evening, and my feelings are too deep to simply insert an analysis as part of this posting. The Memorial and the emotions it stirs deserve it’s own consecrated space even in my meager blog.

SUMMATION

This Sabbath Day has been good for fiddling with the photos we shot on the trip and cogitating on the richness of this country. My early assessment is that the thing I most gained from the vacation is perspective.

When an artist or photographer does his task well, the final product reveals perfect, meaning unobtrusive perspective. In other words, perspective is a blended yet essential component of the product, which in turn impresses us though we may not know why.  We just take it in as a pretty picture or a moving painting. Perspective draws our attention to the most important features. It brings in to focus the Main Thing, that is, the raison d’etre of the piece. As perspective in a picture or painting is necessary for it to be effective, perspective in life is necessary for happiness.

When we get to feeling despondent or depressed, it is often because our perspective is out of whack. We believe the lies we’re told. “Everything’s going to hell in a hand basket. People are more selfish today than ever before. Basic human decency has been lost forever. The values we used to hold dear have evaporated. The bad guys are winning. Things will never be as good as they were in [fill in a date or era here].”

False perspective comes over us subtly, but consistently and in various forms. Watching or reading media news imposes a perspective upon us, as does staying within a restricted group of coworkers or friends. Never leaving home, no matter how wonderful our home is, will deleteriously limit our perspective over time. If we never escape the bonds of our routine, then false perspective can easily become the dominant outlook, making it easier to fall into despair.

That’s why a great way to gain new (AKA proper) perspective is to get out of town – far out of town – for a while. Seeing new sites and intersecting with strangers’ lives is a great way to adjust perspective and even acquire a jolt of inspiration.

Another thought hit me, too. As I moan and groan (literally and figuratively) over the aging process running amok in my body at times, it’s good to stop and think of the advantages, of which there are several. At the top of the list is gaining perspective, which is impossible without aging. Perspective provides a longer and broader view of things. Surely that’s why people mellow out as they grow older, and why the oldest among us seem to be the least agitated by the most agitating stuff. It’s gotta be because as the miles add up on our personal odometer, the compensation is a better perspective, a root of wisdom.

So I gained some needed perspective on this brief trip, and it whetted my appetite to travel and gain even more. Thank God I live in a country that has so much perspective to offer, and that it is freely attainable.

 

 

 

Thoughts about Affordable Housing in Fbg

The price of real estate in Fredericksburg, which is absolutely market-driven and benefits a lot of people, is an impediment to a better, short and long-term future of our community. Few good people who might invest their lives here and replace the aging, dying population can't even consider living here because of the price of the smallest, decent home. The wage scale in most cases does not support the prospect of buying a home. Young people just starting out can find more suitable places to live where the cost of housing is more in line with what they can draw in a salary.

My data is largely anecdotal, although I have read the report with hard data commissioned last year by the Gillespie County Economic Development Commission. What I hear a lot is this: the school district, hospital, and police department routinely have excellently qualified applicants who cannot take the job because of the price of housing. That is my starting point, and from there I think, "Is there anything the City should do to address this?" 

At my core I'm a believer in the least government possible, free markets, and expecting the best of the citizens in their ability to be self-sufficient. So I naturally believe the City government is limited in what it can do about housing. I don't believe there's an appetite for creating a housing authority, so our part in solving the problem must be to offer concessions or incentives for what developers need to build houses that people can afford. The bargaining chips we have are access to water, sewer, electricity, roads, sidewalks, and parks, and zoning variances. We should be thinking of all the taxpayers when we are asked to give concessions or incentives to developers because it's the taxpayer's money we're negotiating with. Currently, however, the City's only choice is to offer concessions along these lines or throw in the towel and admit there's nothing we can do.   

Some have said that the way to attack the housing problem is change the wage scale. Fredericksburg people know that we have a low, in some cases very low wage scale. The City has no business monkeying with the wage scale. We certainly cannot be telling retailers what to charge for their goods or what to pay their employees. As has always been the case, if a person's wage is their primary concern, they move on to find a better job. If an employer can pay higher wages but chooses not to, then he pays the price in constant turnover and the hassle of always training new employees. If he wants it to be different, then surely he knows the solution is to pay more to get and keep good employees. They will say they can't do that because of the high cost of their store rent. It's a vicious circle.

I want to determine what if anything the City can do about the inability of hard-working, tax-paying (either now or potentially), contributor families locating here. I always have in mind the "good people" when I think of using City resources to make it more possible for them to come. Good people are families looking to invest themselves here. They want their kids to live in a place where people are friendly and watch out after each other. They want community activities. They want good schools, good medical facilities, good police protection. They will serve in the PTA's, school board, non-profit boards, and church groups. They will become Little League coaches, Girl Scout leaders, and mentors to kids. They will support causes that benefit our poor. Their kids will populate sports teams, dance studios, theater groups, and provide minimum wage workforce for the many businesses that require them. Those are the "good people" I believe we will run out of if we don't address the housing problem. 

I believe that home ownership is a key element in providing that kind of society. People tend to involve themselves in more and better ways when they own a piece of property. Mortgages play an important role in the health of the local economy. Home ownership represents an investment in the community for the long-term, and if there's anything appropriate for the City to do that accommodates that outcome, I believe we should do it.

How should we use public resources to aid in solving this problem? The recently appointed Task Force encouraged by Councilman David Pedregon will soon bring forth recommendations for us to consider. 

Trying to Get Back to It

The one reader of this blog (my wife) told me I needed to update it. She's right, and she knows that I've been hampered by the use of only one typing hand for the past eight weeks, but she also knows that it's time to put something else up if I'm going to justify having this blog in the first place. 

I apologize to all of those of you who eagerly check in every day hoping against hope that the mayor has posted a new and thorough treatment of all that's going on in the City of Fredericksburg, or in my personal life (narcissistic tendencies noted). 

There actually have been some interesting things going on, and now that I have 40% use of my right hand back, and I finally have a little time to call my own, I'll start catching you up.

To tell the truth, I'm bored by my postings of the past little while. I try to be informative and dignified, as any public official should be in public, but too much info and not enough opinion makes Jeryl a dull boy. One would think that all I do is ponder and work on City business. Nope. In fact, there's a lot more going on that would be fun to write about. I can't speak to whether you would find it fun to read.

As I have always enjoyed being provocative, I'll endeavor to be more so, but appropriately. Provocation is best when it leads to inspiration, better understanding, or laughter. 

Moratorium on electronic message signs, etc. - Council mtg June 2

I'm going to have to waiver for awhile from even the uneven standards of filing a timely and complete report about council meetings due to an accident last Thursday resulting in the breaking of my right arm.

Here I sit typing with one finger, which will alter my inclination to be thorough to just getting something posted quickly. For the next couple of months, I'll promise only to be prompt in reporting any action taken by the council, i.e. anything that required a vote.

At Monday's meeting, the council voted to impose a 150-day moratorium on Changeable Electronic Variable Message Signs. The council will now schedule workshops to review the Sign Ordinance in toto. It hasn't been revised since November 1998, and some believe it's time for a full-scale review, which will occur within the 150-day period if things go according to plan.

I voted no because a moratorium is a reaction, not a response. A moratorium is a de facto revision of the ordinance without due process. I see it as a backward way of revising an ordinance. The better way would be to schedule workshops, hold public hearings, solicit input from business owners and other stakeholders, then submit the list of changes, which could include a permanent ban on these signs, to be voted up or down.

A moratorium is appropriate only when an emergency exists. There's no emergency here, and the presence of these signs is a matter of taste. While I disagree with a moratorium as process for revising ordinances, I also state that I don't dislike these signs. Count me in with the good people at St. Mary's School, Fredericksburg High School, and Holy Ghost Lutheran Church who believe that these signs have their place.

In other votes, we assigned Bank of America as our banker to finance $6.2 million of Limited Tax Notes for infrastructure expenses over 7 years. Their bid rate is 3.34%.

We voted to allow staff to have full approval power over requests to use Ft. Martin Scott.

And the final vote of the meeting was to approve the formation of a task force (individuals yet to be named) to deliver a set of recommendations, strategies, and tactics to address the need for affordable housing. Councilman Pedregon brought this forward, and I'm certain he would welcome questions. I'm very hopeful this will prove to be another piece of the solution for a problem many people have been working on for a long time. I will be saying more about the formation of this task force and the housing issue in general in the weeks ahead.

My finger is tired, so I'll stop for now. Thanks for reading about how your town is being run. The next regular meeting is June 16.

How's it going with my health regimen? Update 5/23/08

I'm almost halfway through what I committed to being a two year process in learning and applying the knowledge of how to be my best physical self in my mid-50s and beyond. June 8 will be the one-year anniversary when I took on the challenge, and I did well for about 8 months then fell off the track. 

I attribute it to being overwhelmed by the busy-ness of life. However, the solution is never going to come because I suddenly found the right amount of time and the right amount of motivation and the right amount of encouragement and the right amount of whatever else it takes. 

The bottom line is that my life got out of balance and remains largely so. I told those helping me through this process that as far as being the "poster boy" for Aim For A Healthy Community, I'm either a terrible example or a typical one, and if my observation of people is correct, I'm the latter. Everyone has a sense of what they ought to do regarding their overall health, but life gets in the way. And if you don't experience daily discomfort or debilitating symptoms, it's easy to rock on ignoring it. 

The purpose of all commercial weight loss programs is to compensate for lack of discipline, i.e. admitting the inability to do it totally on our own. The effective ones focus on three things: ¹educating about what foods are healthy and why, ²precisely quantifying what we eat every day to identify the habits that work against us, and ³encouraging an increased and routine activity level. Within that framework, everyone must come up with his own way of making it work. We need specific motivation techniques and encouragements, some type of gratification from the process and a way to celebrate the victories, especially the small ones. In making big lifestyle changes, all the victories are small ones, and long-term success comes with the aggregate of those small victories. That's why the programs that promise quick and long-lasting results fail every time. 

In short, it's always a choice. I can yell "Calf rope!" and give up, or I can keep trying, keep pushing, keep going. I choose the latter because what I want from it is that important. So here is my list of things to keep plugging away at. 

1.     Keep toddling with baby steps toward instilling lifelong healthy habits even if I can’t live up to the routine I started. When I fail to meet my goals, my perfectionist tendencies take over and cause me to want to just stop until I can start all over BIG with a brand new motivation. My tendency is to wait until “this project is finished,” or “I get this or that completed” or “the first of the month” or some such thing. I will keep doing something no matter how small and refuse to be so weak-minded as to let it continue to slide by because I can’t do it perfectly.

2.     Act on one thing I know to be a detriment. There’s no mystery about the patterns I’ve set that need changing.

3.     Choose to be happy. I cannot choose what will happen to me today, but I can always choose how I will respond. I have a lot of growing to do in this arena, and I believe it’s something only God can give me. Left to my own habitual and natural way of thinking and reacting, I fall into a manner of behavior that is not what I want. All of the truly important things are present in my life. Just because my pants are a little too tight around the waist should not be something that ruins my day.

4.     Live today and focus on the importance of the moment. It sounds trite, but it’s true we have nothing but the moment we’re living, and that fact must sink in to my core and absolutely affect the attitude with which I live out every day.

5.     Instill more discipline in general into my life. Again, this is a God thing. I have never been able to muster sufficient discipline on my own no matter how much I value the concept. 

6. Tenaciously carve out time for meditation, which is simply self-assessment relative to what's really important. The reasons for unhealthy patterns are never about physiology or biology. They're about what's lurking in our souls. 

So here I go again. Next update whenever I have something to say. Thanks for reading.

Sign Ordinance workshop on Wed, May 28 @ 8am

The public is invited to a special meeting of the council set for Wednesday, May 28th @ 8am upstairs at City Hall to discuss amendments to the sign ordinance. The one specific I know about that has been mentioned is to consider prohibiting electronic message signs such as the one at Walgreen's. There may be other recommendations come from the workshop.

As well we will hear a brief update from the developers of a housing project proposed for 10 acres on Highway Street. The project is referred to as workforce housing. The 90-plus home development is proposed to be placed on smaller lots than normal R-1 zoning will allow, and in turn will require the designation as a PUD (Planned Use Development - which allows the City to vary from the normal zoning restrictions and apply different standards for this specific land use.)

As I said, this meeting is open to the public as are all regular, special, and workshop meetings of your council.  

What happened at council mtg May 19?

Two new councilmen were sworn in and sat on the dais for the first time. Newly elected David Pedregon and Jeff Jeffers joined Councilmen Musselman and Dooley and myself as the 2008-2010 City Council. There were no particularly big issues on the agenda.

We had the second of two public hearings on a proposed annexation of property at "the Y" as locals know it, at the intersection of Main Street, Hwy 290, and Hwy 87, near the Post Office. A developer is proposing a condo and hotel project on the site. No one spoke at the hearing. The council will meet again in early June to institute annexation and start the 90-day clock.

We are submitting a grant to the Preserve America program instituted by the US Dept of Interior. Fredericksburg was designated a Preserve America community in 2006 under the leadership of my predecessor, Tim Crenwelge, which makes us eligible for matching grants. The council voted to submit a grant request for wayfinding signage downtown to enhance the appeal and become more visitor friendly. So in the meeting we approved a resolution that specifies the council's reasons for filing the grant request. This is required as part of the application.

We heard from a representative of First Southwest Co., our financial advisor, about the funding of water and sewer projects to the tune of $6.2 million and to consider authorizing bids for financing. The council unanimously approved. The biggest project in this package is a new $5.1 million Eastside Sewer Outfall running in roughly the Northeast quadrant of the city limits. This new line will be necessary within 3 years to accommodate continued development in the City.

Councilman Tom Musselman was unanimously appointed Mayor Pro Tem for the 2-year term. He will preside at meetings and perform other civic functions when I'm unable.

I put an item on the agenda to discuss guidelines for meeting and agenda procedures, which would be the first written ones we've had. I believe it to be a good idea to develop consistency and have written procedures for which everyone can know about and agree. We looked at a sample document from another city and talked about some of the specifics. Adoption of the procedures will take place at a future meeting after the councilmen have time to make suggestions, changes, and clarifications.

There were a couple of comments and suggestions from the audience about how the council can improve communication with residents about agendas, particularly those issues that stimulate a lot of interest. I am all for getting the word out clearly and early about anything the council deals with. This goes to my belief that, 1. the more open we are, the better for the town, and 2. the more open we are, the better the chances we'll benefit from the wisdom of people in this community.

In Executive Session we discussed an appointment to replace Mr. Pedregon on the Planning and Zoning Commission. Since there is only one meeting left until the normal time for appointing and reappointing to all boards and commissions, we took no action effectively leaving the place vacant until July.

The other issue in Executive Session was to discuss the sale of city property at Lincoln and Ufer, i.e. the recycling center and the old electric building up on the hill next to it. We put an invitation to bid in the newspaper a couple of weeks back. There has been no response. The council is considering replacing the recycling center with a larger, more accessible one, and the sale of the current one is currently considered to be a necessary first step.

We will soon be setting up a workshop meeting (as usual, open to the public) to deliberate over changes to the sign ordinance. I expect it will be within a couple of weeks, and I'll try to remember to list it at this site once it's set.

The next regular meeting is Monday, June 2. Regular time, regular place.

Thank you for taking the time to read about how your council is doing your business.