Sunday, June 27, 2021

The Week of June 28th - July 2nd, 2021 in the City of Waxahachie

Hello Friends!

One quick note before we get started.  To those who have subscribed to my blog via the subscribe widget on my page, that feature is no longer being supported, so you won't receive emails when new blog posts are done.  I'm sorry for this inconvenience and am searching for a replacement, but don't have one as of yet.  I will still be doing my newsletter every week and sharing it, so hopefully that will be an adequate method of delivery for the time being.  Thank you for your understanding!
 
We have quite a few meetings this week so let's get started!
 
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Tuesday, June 29, 2021
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*** 8:30 AM -  City Council Work Session ***
Waxahachie Civic Center
2000 Civic Center Lane


This is a very important meeting.  It's the Council's first chance to look at the budget that will be proposed for the 2021-2022 fiscal year.  The first half of the day will be staff presenting the budget to us and then it is usually opened up for Council questions.  It is planned to take all day, but usually doesn't go quite that long.

This meeting will most likely not be live-streamed because it is at the Civic Center; however, it is a public meeting and you are welcome and encouraged to attend.
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6:15 PM - Planning & Zoning Commission Briefing Session
Council Conference Room, City Hall
401 S. Rogers St.


This briefing session is being held to discuss items for the 7 PM regular P&Z meeting.  It is not live-streamed at this time, but you are welcome to attend.
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7:00 PM - Planning & Zoning Commission Regular Meeting
Council Chamber, City Hall
401 S. Rogers St.


11: Consider request for a plat of Saddlebrook Estates N. E. C. E. on 1,263.275 acres of land located SE of the intersection of US Hwy 287 Bypass and Parks School House Road.  The applicant is requesting to plat the subject property into single family lots, duplex lots, general retail/ commercial lots, a multifamily lot, and two school sites. The lot types are in compliance with planned development ordinance 2302, approved in April of 2005. Staff is recommending approval.

16 & 17: Public hearing on a request by George Salvador, Waxahachie One, LLC, for a zoning change from Singly Family -1 to Single Family 3 (smaller lots), located at 401 Ovilla Road.  Staff is recommending denial.

18 & 19: Public hearing on a request for a specific use permit (SUP) to allow heavy machinery and equipment rental, sales or storage at an existing industrial business within a light industrial-1 zoning district located at 507 N. Interstate Highway 35.  The applicant intends to construct a new 12,000 sq. ft. dealership at the northern portion of the property.  Staff is recommending approval per comments.

This meeting should be live-streamed and available at the following link: https://www.waxahachie.com/government/city_council/city_council_meeting_live_stream.php  Residents are able to attend the meeting in person as well.

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Thursday, July 1, 2021
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 *** 3:00 PM - Park Board and Lake Parks Steering Committee Joint Meeting ***
Council Conference Room, City Hall
401 S. Rogers St.
 
Agenda Packet:  https://commondatastorage.googleapis.com/document-uploads-001/uploads/video/agenda_file/123353/7-1-21_Park_Board_and_Lake_Parks_Steering_Committee_Joint_Meeting_Agenda_Packet.pdf

4 - Hear presentation from consultant for Lake Parks Master Plan and take any necessary action.

5 - Discuss park events and activities and take any necessary action

6 - Discuss park projects and take any necessary action

This meeting will not be live-streamed, but residents are welcome to attend in person.
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4:30 PM - Keep Waxahachie Beautiful Committee Regular Meeting
Council Conference Room, City Hall
401 S. Rogers St.
 

4 - Hear update on clean-up activities and discuss upcoming events/activities and take any necessary action.

5 - Consider P.I.N. (Pride in Neighborhood) nomination and selection.

This meeting will not be live-streamed at this time, but residents are welcome to attend the meeting in person.
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That's all for this week!  I hope that y'all have a great rest of your weekend and a wonderful week ahead!

Your Friendly Councilmember,

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

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Sunday, June 20, 2021

The Week of June 21st - 25th, 2021 in the City of Waxahachie

Hello Friends!

I hope everyone is doing well!  We should have a pretty short newsletter this week as the only posted meetings so far are the Council briefing and meeting Monday evening. Here are the draft minutes of the most recent city board meetings for your review.  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dhBS_jSCJ6h4I0PQ11nQwPZPaAoZe-Or/view?usp=sharing To see if any meetings have been added to the city calendar after this newsletter comes out, please go to: https://www.waxahachie.com/calendar.php  

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Monday, June 21, 2021
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5:30 PM - Council Briefing Session
Council Conference Room, City Hall
401 S. Rogers, Waxahachie


The purpose of this briefing is to discuss items for the 7:00 PM regular Council meeting.  Although the briefing is not live-streamed at this time, it is a public meeting and open to residents, should you wish to attend.  It's a great way to hear what will be discussed at the regular meeting in a more informal setting.
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7:00 PM - City Council Regular Meeting
Council Chamber, City Hall
401 S. Rogers, Waxahachie


This is a rather long, but routine agenda.  I'll try to hit just the highlights, but please review the agenda packet link above for all the details and full agenda.

5d. - Set first City Council meeting in July for July 6, 2021.  Please mark your calendars for this adjustment.

5e. - City Council appointments to boards and commissions.  The Mayor sets which council members will serve on which city boards and these are his selections for this year.  
 
12 & 13 - Regarding the engineering services for the public water and sanitary sewer line construction for Fire Station Number 4 and a reimbursement agreement to allow staff to proceed with this before the anticipated bond funds are available at the end of August 2021.
 
14 - 16 - Related to the Lake Waxahachie raw water pump station 2 electrical improvements project

22 - Consider authorization for demolition contract and associated supplemental appropriation for 408 and 410 S. Rogers.  Both demolition of the existing structures and design of the new city hall annex building have been reviewed and approved by the Heritage Preservation Commission.
 
This meeting will be live-streamed, but also is open to the public to attend.  If you're not able to attend, the link for the live-stream is here: https://www.waxahachie.com/government/city_council/city_council_meeting_live_stream.php
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I hope that y'all have a great rest of your week and have a wonderful week ahead!
 
Your Friendly Councilmember,
 
Melissa Olson, CMO
(text) 817-507-5162
molson@waxahachie.com


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Sunday, June 13, 2021

The Week of June 14th - 18th, 2021 in the City of Waxahachie

Hello Friends!
 
I hope y'all are having a fantastic weekend!  This week is a rather exciting one, as we will be appointing our Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem.  There is more exciting news on the horizon in that there appears to be enough Council support to bring a charter amendment to you all to vote on in November  that would allow the residents of Waxahachie to elect the Mayor outright! I'll get more into details the organization of Council below.  Let's dive in and get started with our weekly meetings.
 
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Monday, June 14, 2021
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8:30 AM - FR&R Firemen's Relief & Retirement Fund Trustee Regular Meeting
Waxahachie Fire Station No. 2
1601 Cleaver Street
 
 
4 - Administer oath of office to civilian board member Phillip Young
 
5 - Consider investing with Baron's Real Estate Fund
 
7 - Discuss FR&R benefit changes and take any necessary action
 
This meeting will not be live-streamed, but it is open to the public, should you wish to attend.
 
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*** Tuesday, June 15, 2021 ***
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12:00 PM - City Council Special Meeting
Council Chamber, City Hall
401 S. Rogers St., Waxahachie
 

4 - Canvass and accept votes of City Council Runoff Election held on June 5, 2021

5 - Administer oaths of office to Council Member Place 4 and Council Member Place 5

*** 6 *** - Organization of City Council:  This is where, per our current charter, the Council appoints the mayor and mayor pro tem.  Our charter actually states: "The council shall elect from among its members officers of the city who shall have the titles of mayor and mayor pro tem, each of whom shall serve at the pleasure of the council. The mayor shall preside at meetings of the council, shall be recognized as head of the city government for all ceremonial purposes and by the governor for purposes of military law but shall have no administrative duties. The mayor pro tem shall act as mayor during the absence or disability of the mayor."  I did push to have the mayor elected from the public when the last charter revision was brought before voters but there was not enough support from Council to do that.  I believe that is no longer the case and that within the next month or so, we will be discussing the matter at a Council meeting.

As far as who is going to be your mayor and pro tem, tradition dictates that in the event Mayor Hill does not have enough votes (which he does not), the role of mayor would go to the next highest-tenured council member, which would be me.  I have zero support from Council (including the two newest members) at this time to allow me to fulfill this role, so it will not be me.  The person who will most likely become your next mayor will be Mr. Doug Barnes.  As far as who will be the new mayor pro tem, I have no idea. I would definitely be honored to fill that role, but am not sure who will end up serving in that capacity.  

Usually our Council meetings are live-streamed at the following link: https://www.waxahachie.com/government/city_council/city_council_meeting_live_stream.php  I'm not 100% sure if this one will be streamed or not, but it is certainly open to the public should you wish to attend.  Seating two new council members is a major shift for our city, so those who can attend, really should try to come.  This particular special meeting typically lasts about 10-15 minutes at the most.

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6:30 PM - Planning & Zoning Commission Briefing Session
Council Conference Room, City Hall
401 S. Rogers St.
 

The purpose of this briefing is to review and discuss items for the 7:00 PM regular P&Z meeting.

This briefing session will not be live-streamed, but it is open to the public should you wish to attend.

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7:00 PM - Planning & Zoning Commission Regular Meeting
Council Chamber, City Hall
401 S. Rogers St.

 
9 & 10 - Public Hearing for a Specific Use Permit (SUP) to allow for a drive through establishment (Neighborhood Credit Union) at 1750 N Highway 77. Staff is recommending approval per comments.
 
11 & 12 - Public hearing on a request for an amendment to Ordinance No. 3258 to allow for an additional retail building (a drive-through Dunkin' Donuts establishment) at the SE corner of Farley Street at Highway 287.  Staff is recommending denial for several reasons, one of which is traffic flow through the site.  In addition, the back side of the business would be visible from 287, which it considers "unfavorable to the City".
 
This meeting will be live-streamed and available at the following link: https://www.waxahachie.com/government/city_council/city_council_meeting_live_stream.php
Because it is a public meeting, residents are also allowed and encouraged to attend.  This will most likely be one of the shorter P&Z meetings we've had recently due to the relatively short agenda.
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That's it for this week!  As always, I love to hear from you, so please drop me a text or email and let me know what you think about the happenings this week.  I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend and have a wonderful week ahead!

Your Friendly Councilmember,

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


 
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Sunday, June 6, 2021

The Week of June 7th - 11th, 2021 in the City of Waxahachie

Hello Friends!

I'd like to start out by thanking everyone who came out to vote in our City Council Runoff Election!  Next, I'd like to congratulate Mrs. Billie Wallace and Mr. Travis Smith on their win to the Waxahachie City Council! I look forward to serving the residents of Waxahachie with you both.  
 
The next steps will be for the Council to canvass the votes (basically read the final numbers aloud and accept those numbers); swear in Mrs. Wallace and Mr. Smith and to reorganize the Council.  Our charter provides that a Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem will be selected from among the Councilmembers.  This system of selecting those positions has an advantage in that you generally get a Mayor who has some knowledge of the City and way that it works before taking over that position.  That being said, I would like to see the residents elect the mayor.  It is possible that we can have a charter amendment election this November to make that change.  What are your thoughts?  The reorganization meeting should take place the week of June 14th, but we'll know more this coming Friday when meetings for the following week are posted to the city's calendar.  https://www.waxahachie.com/calendar.php
 
 
I have scanned in the draft board minutes from recent meetings for your review here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1k6IkbY-MwQSE9xR1olncA88VazxRt94R/view?usp=sharing
 
The only meetings we have on the calendar so far this week are the Council briefing and meeting on Monday evening.  Other meetings may be added after this newsletter comes out, so please refer back to the city's calendar for additional meetings. (Although I don't expect any.)
 
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Monday, June 7, 2021
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6:30 PM - City Council Briefing Session
Council Conference Room, City Hall
 
 
This briefing is being held to discuss item for the 7 pm regular Council meeting.  It is a great opportunity to see what will be on the agenda and to listen to Councilmembers get their questions answered in this more informal setting.  The briefings are not live-streamed at this time, but it is a meeting in which the public can attend.
 
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7:00 PM - City Council Regular Meeting
Council Chamber, City Hall
 

5(e): Approves the Fourth of July parade route for the 23rd Annual Crape Myrtle Festival.  This parade was not held last year due to concerns over COVID so I'm happy to announce that with this approval, the parade will be on again this year.

6 - Consider appointment of Municipal Judge and Associate Municipal Judge and administer oaths of office.  The Council is responsible for appointing just a few positions and those who are appointed tend to stay there for a long time, so this is an important piece of business we will be conducting Monday evening.

17 - 23: Deal with all the legalities involved in authorizing a PID (Public Improvement District).

24 : Consider and take action on a resolution directing the publication of notice of intention to issue Certificates of Obligation (COs), Series 2021; directing the preparation of a preliminary official statement and related materials and providing an effective date.  This is not the approval of the CO's but merely the publishing that there will be COs considered at a future date.  I believe the amount of the COs will be about $43,300,000.  I will be asking for a breakdown of what expenditures are included for this.
 
25 - 26: Public hearing to continue the curfew for minors which we have had in place for a few years now.  It is required by law to review it every few years.
 
27 - 28: Authorizing the City Manager to execute all agreements necessary for the implementation of an Advanced Metering Infrastructure System (AMI or  smart meters) and for the replacement of associated water meters and the debt to pay for the system up front.  There was a study done which included the cost of the debt and showed that the meters will pay for themselves and over the life of 20 years.  The benefits to our water customers will be huge including near real-time usage reports and leak alerts.  This should be a great thing for our residents.
 
This meeting will be live-streamed at the following link: https://www.waxahachie.com/government/city_council/city_council_meeting_live_stream.php As always, you are welcome to attend this meeting in person as well.  

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That's all for now.  I see brighter skies ahead and great things for Waxahachie on the horizon!  Enjoy the rest of your weekend and have a wonderful week ahead!

Your Friendly Councilmember,

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