A few major things have happened this past week.
1) Governor Abbott declared that schools will be out for the rest of the school year. I'm not sure about you, but I literally had a couple of tears come out when that was said. The teachers won't get a proper goodbye to their students. The students won't be able to give a proper farewell to their classmates. And, those high school and college kids who are seniors, didn't get to participate in all the fun senior activities. My thoughts are with all of you who are struggling with this situation. To help with the kiddos at home, I want to provide you with a great resource. It's called Tumblebooks and is free through the Sims Library, if you access it via this link: http://www.tumblebooks.com/library/auto_login.asp?U=npsims&P=libra&fbclid=IwAR2HjQv5PJrRqQmt0OeeM9Euf6ZUvnwp2LzfPZytobdH-zoJ1z8f1dwJVG8 There is also a whole slew of online resources through the Library, some of which you need a library card to access: https://www.simslib.org/helpful-links
2) The results of the emergency joint Council and EDC meeting on Friday, 4/17/20, resulted in the passing of a resolution that will use up to $1 million dollars from the general fund to help local, small businesses. Since it was specifically pointed out that I voted against this measure, let me explain why. It was not a decision that I took lightly, but I made it and I’ll stick behind it. My decision to deny was primarily due to the funding source. I just don’t believe it’s an appropriate use of taxpayer funds since it is funded out of the general fund, which is 80% from taxes, 55% of that tax revenue is from property taxes. Even though the purpose is to have these funds repaid, in the case of default, I’m concerned about some loans being forgiven and by using taxpayer money to do the loan in the first place, it just didn’t feel right to me. I’ve also been told that there may be some loans that are forgiven. In fact, the term “grant” was used in today’s meeting interchangeably with loan. Sometimes it was by mistake, but the city attorney even said “grant/loan” when speaking about the program.
I’m concerned about the screening process being only 3 people, who are
good people, but lending is not their forte. It seems as if lending
would be better left to the banks.
I lost a lot of sleep researching and thinking about this, in fact, because I whole-heartedly want to help our local, small businesses. I would love to hear every success story that this fund creates because I truly want the best for the businesses here. It was very unfortunate, but I just couldn’t get comfortable enough with the program to vote yes on it. I also think it was probably just a hair too early to pull the trigger on this program. The attorney even suggested that we wait to see if Congress funds the PPP program more. I actually suggested doing some sort of city property tax forgiveness to help the small businesses, but was told that it probably wouldn’t be enough money soon enough to help. Whether you agree with my decision or not, I hope that it at least lets you know why I voted the way I did.
If you would like to apply for these funds or see the details, please follow this link to the City's website: http://www.waxahachie.com/departments/economic_development_new/covid-19_emergency_loan_fund.php
3) Here are the draft minutes from recent city board meetings: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Xyp2DbQjmM7HIYUwIIlVs2HEMu0qCxvD
As of right now, there is only one meeting scheduled for this coming week, but that can change at any time, so please check back on the City's calendar regularly: http://www.waxahachie.com/calendar.php
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Monday, April 20, 2020
-------------------------------------
7:00 PM - City Council Regular Meeting
Teleconference
Agenda Packet: https://commondatastorage.googleapis.com/document-uploads-001/uploads/video/agenda_file/51927/4-20-20_City_Council_Agenda_Packet.pdf
To participate in the telephone conference call, dial any of the following phone numbers:
1 (346) 248-7799
1 (253) 215-8782
1 (888) 475-4499
Enter Meeting ID: 960 6517 2796
Enter Meeting Password: 715271
To request to speak at one of the public hearings on the agenda, wait for that item to be announced and enter *9. The meeting moderator will acknowledge your request in turn and allow you to speak.
If you wish to watch the meeting but not participate, the Council meeting will be live streamed on the city's website at: http://www.waxahachie.com/government/city_council/city_council_meeting_live_stream.php
This is a rather lengthy agenda, so please be patient as we make our way through it on Monday evening. There are multiple P&Z items, with a few of them that may be of interest to you.
7-9: Public Hearing on a request on behalf of WISD to create a residential planned development that allows for 120 townhome lots at the NW corner of Peters Street at Graham Street.
12-14: Public Hearing on a request on behalf of Dirk Nowitzki to create a Single Family 3 (the smallest lots in our SF zoning) planned development called Sunrise at Garden Valley.
15-17: Public Hearing on a request by Hope Clinic for a zoning change from SF2 zoning to Planned Development - Commercial located at the SE corner of Farley Street at Coleman Street
33: Consider a petition for relief request for an impact fee waiver associated with the Lakeway Estates plat. This is an interesting case because the developer has said he can annex this development or not. Impact fees go to pay for infrastructure for an area, so I am generally opposed to waiving this fee due to the fact that someone will have to pay for it and I'd rather it not be the taxpayers. I haven't yet heard the case as to why it should be waived, so that will be interesting to hear.
34-37: Awarding bids for the corridor rehabilitation (redoing streets, etc) for a portion of Kaufman Street and Cumberland Street. Items 35 & 37 are to consider resolutions authorizing the reimbursement of the General fund from the proceeds of future debt (certificates of obligation).
38-43: Public Hearings and consideration regarding the demolition of structures that have come before the Council before. The addresses of the structures are 10 Yinger St., 214 Dunlap St., and 908 Wyatt St.
These are just some of the items on the agenda. The details for all items are included in the agenda packet, linked above.
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Please note that Monday, April 20th, was supposed to be the first day of early voting for the City Council and WISD School Board elections; however, those have both been moved to November. Early voting will now take place near the end of October.
This was a longer-than-usual newsletter, but as originally stated, there's been quite a bit going on. Please continue to stay safe and be well.
I hope that you have a wonderful week ahead, Waxahachie!
Your Friendly Councilmember,
Melissa Olson
(text) 817-507-5162
molson@waxahachie.com
I lost a lot of sleep researching and thinking about this, in fact, because I whole-heartedly want to help our local, small businesses. I would love to hear every success story that this fund creates because I truly want the best for the businesses here. It was very unfortunate, but I just couldn’t get comfortable enough with the program to vote yes on it. I also think it was probably just a hair too early to pull the trigger on this program. The attorney even suggested that we wait to see if Congress funds the PPP program more. I actually suggested doing some sort of city property tax forgiveness to help the small businesses, but was told that it probably wouldn’t be enough money soon enough to help. Whether you agree with my decision or not, I hope that it at least lets you know why I voted the way I did.
If you would like to apply for these funds or see the details, please follow this link to the City's website: http://www.waxahachie.com/departments/economic_development_new/covid-19_emergency_loan_fund.php
3) Here are the draft minutes from recent city board meetings: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Xyp2DbQjmM7HIYUwIIlVs2HEMu0qCxvD
As of right now, there is only one meeting scheduled for this coming week, but that can change at any time, so please check back on the City's calendar regularly: http://www.waxahachie.com/calendar.php
-------------------------------------
Monday, April 20, 2020
-------------------------------------
7:00 PM - City Council Regular Meeting
Teleconference
Agenda Packet: https://commondatastorage.googleapis.com/document-uploads-001/uploads/video/agenda_file/51927/4-20-20_City_Council_Agenda_Packet.pdf
To participate in the telephone conference call, dial any of the following phone numbers:
1 (346) 248-7799
1 (253) 215-8782
1 (888) 475-4499
Enter Meeting ID: 960 6517 2796
Enter Meeting Password: 715271
To request to speak at one of the public hearings on the agenda, wait for that item to be announced and enter *9. The meeting moderator will acknowledge your request in turn and allow you to speak.
If you wish to watch the meeting but not participate, the Council meeting will be live streamed on the city's website at: http://www.waxahachie.com/government/city_council/city_council_meeting_live_stream.php
This is a rather lengthy agenda, so please be patient as we make our way through it on Monday evening. There are multiple P&Z items, with a few of them that may be of interest to you.
7-9: Public Hearing on a request on behalf of WISD to create a residential planned development that allows for 120 townhome lots at the NW corner of Peters Street at Graham Street.
12-14: Public Hearing on a request on behalf of Dirk Nowitzki to create a Single Family 3 (the smallest lots in our SF zoning) planned development called Sunrise at Garden Valley.
15-17: Public Hearing on a request by Hope Clinic for a zoning change from SF2 zoning to Planned Development - Commercial located at the SE corner of Farley Street at Coleman Street
33: Consider a petition for relief request for an impact fee waiver associated with the Lakeway Estates plat. This is an interesting case because the developer has said he can annex this development or not. Impact fees go to pay for infrastructure for an area, so I am generally opposed to waiving this fee due to the fact that someone will have to pay for it and I'd rather it not be the taxpayers. I haven't yet heard the case as to why it should be waived, so that will be interesting to hear.
34-37: Awarding bids for the corridor rehabilitation (redoing streets, etc) for a portion of Kaufman Street and Cumberland Street. Items 35 & 37 are to consider resolutions authorizing the reimbursement of the General fund from the proceeds of future debt (certificates of obligation).
38-43: Public Hearings and consideration regarding the demolition of structures that have come before the Council before. The addresses of the structures are 10 Yinger St., 214 Dunlap St., and 908 Wyatt St.
These are just some of the items on the agenda. The details for all items are included in the agenda packet, linked above.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Please note that Monday, April 20th, was supposed to be the first day of early voting for the City Council and WISD School Board elections; however, those have both been moved to November. Early voting will now take place near the end of October.
This was a longer-than-usual newsletter, but as originally stated, there's been quite a bit going on. Please continue to stay safe and be well.
I hope that you have a wonderful week ahead, Waxahachie!
Your Friendly Councilmember,
Melissa Olson
(text) 817-507-5162
molson@waxahachie.com
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