Sunday, December 6, 2020

The Week of December 7th - 11th, 2020 in the City of Waxahachie

Hello Friends!

There was one recent meeting (FR&R meeting), which was posted after my weekly newsletter, and here are the draft minutes from that meeting. https://drive.google.com/file/d/14ZNtqW3NQssFF7zbi_f0zsZOpkSKI7RG/view?usp=sharing

There are just a few meetings scheduled so far for this week.  The city is usually pretty slow this time of year, but things should be picking up in January, as long as COVID doesn't interfere.

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Monday, December 7, 2020
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6:30 PM - City Council Briefing Session
Council Conference Room, City Hall

 
Conduct a briefing to discuss items for the 7:00 PM regular meeting.

This meeting is open to the public, but will not be live-streamed.

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7:00 PM - City Council Regular Meeting
Council Chamber, City Hall


We have a fairly short agenda but a huge agenda packet due to items #6 & #7. The packet provides a ton of information regarding the city's Land Use Assumptions, some capital improvement plans, and impact fees.  There will be a public hearing regarding these items under #6.  Impact fees are in simple terms, the fees that developers pay toward the cost of infrastructure.  By law, we are only allowed to charge 50% of the actual cost, but then most cities discount this farther.  I'm happy to say that while the proposed impact fees are still at a discounted rate, they are providing LESS of a discount to developers than before.  Clear as mud?  Basically, I think most of us can agree that developers need to pay their fair share and these proposed rates require them to pay a higher percentage than before.  The reason many in the city feel there should be a discount on these fees is to stay competitive with other cities who have discounted their fees.  Ideally, if everyone would just stop offering discounts, then it would level the playing field, so to speak, but that isn't happening.  I've had a lot of heartburn on this issue, but am happy to see the fees going up (something that I don't advocate for when it is related to fees for residents).  While they may not be up to where I feel they should be, they are going the right direction.

#8 - We will convene into Executive Session for consultation with attorney regarding pending or contemplated litigation.  I don't know what this is regarding, nor would I be at liberty to say what it is, if I did; however, if Council does take action, we will do so during #9 on the agenda.

This meeting is open to the public, but will also be live-streamed at the following link: http://www.waxahachie.com/government/city_council/city_council_meeting_live_stream.php

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Thursday, December 10, 2020
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4:00 PM - Airport Board Regular Meeting
Upstairs Common Area, Mid-Way Regional Airport
 

This is the first time that I've known about agenda packets being available. Usually only agendas were provided to Council, but you can view packets from this year via the following link: https://www.mid-wayregional.com/board-meeting-minutes-agenda  I highly recommend clicking the agenda packet link to review all details of the meeting, including the minutes from the most recent Airport Board meeting.
 
This meeting seems to be fairly routine with the exception of: 
 
#5 -The recognition of outgoing board member, Ray Barksdale.

This will be open to the public, although it is not live-streamed.

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I hope everyone has a great rest of your weekend and a wonderful week ahead!

Your Friendly Councilmember,

Melissa Olson, CMO
molson@waxahachie.com
(text) 817-507-5162

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