Hello Friends!
Wow! Is it just me or has time flown this year?!! We're already in April. Lots of good things going on in Waxahachie. As far as city meetings for the week, we only have the Council briefing and meeting on Monday, but there are some items worth noting on the agenda. I'll get into that below.
First, I'd like to remind you that you can check to see if any city meetings have been added to the city's calendar after this newsletter goes out, but going here: https://www.waxahachie.com/calendar.php
Also, for those wishing to participate in the May 7th election, Thursday, April 7, 2022 is the LAST DAY TO REGISTER TO VOTE for this election. The Ellis County Elections website has more information on registering to vote. http://www.co.ellis.tx.us/629/Upcoming-Elections
*** Keep
Waxahachie Beautiful is offering a Dumpster Day on Saturday, April 9
from 8-12pm at Dunaway Elementary School, located at 600 Highway 77
South, and at Global High School, located at 275 Indian Drive. Dumpsters
will be available to City of Waxahachie residents to dispose of
household waste and bulk items. No chemicals, Freon appliances, or
construction waste will be allowed. Residents must present a water bill
to show proof of residency.***
For those who are on Facebook, please like and follow the City of Waxahachie's official Facebook page for all kinds of announcements such as Dumpster Days, road closures and more! Their page is: https://www.facebook.com/CityOfWaxahachie You can also connect with me on FB as well. Here is a link to my page: https://www.facebook.com/molson625
With all kinds of things going on in Waxahachie, you can check Waxahachie's CVB (Convention and Visitors Bureau) calendar! There's always something to do! https://www.waxahachiecvb.com/events
Enough announcements already! Let's get into the meetings! :)
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Monday, April 4, 2022
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6:00 PM - City Council Briefing Session
Council Conference Room, City Hall
401 S. Rogers St.
This briefing session is held to discuss items for the 7:00 PM regular meeting. It is open to the public to attend and as these are highly informational briefings, I strongly encourage residents to come and sit in. The briefing sessions will most likely not be streamed at this time. It is my understanding that after the new annex is completed, City Hall will need to have some changes as well, so the thought is that paying for equipment to be put in our conference room at this time would not be a good use of the taxpayer funds since that room may very well be changing in the not-so-distant future.
While I agree that doing that wouldn't be a good use of funds at this time, I don't understand why we cannot just stream the briefings in a less formal manner. I used to stream meetings from my cell phone. It's not hard or expensive to do. There's nothing that is said back in the conference room that can't be said in a live-streamed version or even if we held the meeting in the Council Chamber where we already have audio/video equipment installed.
I have requested all public city meetings and briefings held in City Hall be live-streamed since before I was elected in May of 2018! We've made some progress by streaming the Council and P&Z meetings, but that's all that is currently streamed. I have some frustration here because I want people to be able to see where their money is being used; learn HOW decisions are made and WHY those decisions are what they are.
This is YOUR money. This is YOUR City Hall. Complete transparency is an absolute must in my mind. We will see how things go once/if renovations are done in City Hall.
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7:00 PM - City Council Regular Meeting
Council Chamber, City Hall
401 S. Rogers St.
Agenda Packet: https://commondatastorage.googleapis.com/document-uploads-001/uploads/video/agenda_file/157922/4-4-22_City_Council_Agenda_Packet.pdf
5e - Renewal of Facilities Maintenance Agreement with AHI Facility Services, Inc. for janitorial and cleaning maintenance services in the amount of $108,948.65.
5f - Consider the approval of a service contract with Andale Construction, Inc. for the application of high density mineral bond seal for asphalt pavement preservation in the amount of $142,569.30. The streets covered are listed in the agenda packet, linked above. The application of this material will protect and extend the life of the pavement and is a cost effective solution that provides a smooth coat to the pavement and protects the asphalt from water infiltration and UV deterioration.
6 - Recognize Downtown Waxahachie as a Great Neighborhood for the 2022 Great Places in Texas program. We know how awesome Waxahachie is, but others are recognizing it too! I looked for more information on this award and found some here: https://texas.planning.org/community-outreach/great-places-texas/
7-9: Public Hearing on a request by 7 Brew Drive-Thru Coffee, for a Specific Use Permit (SUP) for a Drive-Through Establishment with a planned development located North of 1760 N US Hwy 77, at the intersection of Country Meadows Blvd. and N US Hwy 77. This business would actually be drive-thru only, no inside seating of any kind, nor a walk-up window. It was approved by the Planning & Zoning Commission last Tuesday and staff are recommending approval per staff comments.
10 - Consider the approval of a ground lease and construction agreement with Don Jackson Construction Company, Inc. for the development of 6 new private box hangars at Mid-Way Regional Airport. There are a lot of terms for this deal, detailed in the agenda packet, linked above. The report also states that this would be a private development on land at the Airport and there is no cost to the City of Waxahachie or City of Midlothian. The Airport will receive revenue from the resale of the hangars (6% appraised value), as well as annual revenue from the ground lease ($0.30 per sf initially with escalation over time.) I'm interested in the presentation for this item. Our airport holds a lot of promise for both Waxahachie and Midlothian and we need to be sure to make smart decisions for the future of the airport. It is a huge asset to this area.
*** 12 - Consider additional funding for the construction of Fire Station 4. *** This item is pretty important. We were originally planning on $5.3 million for the cost of this station; however, due to the increased construction costs at this time, the price has now risen to $8.9 million... Which means we have a shortfall of approximately $3.6 million. This is a tough amount to swallow, but it needs to be done. In addition to value-engineering and taking advantage of every available cost savings opportunity that would not adversely affect the station to save money on this project, there were a total of 189 bids received including multiple bids for every aspect of the building! The city has been planning for this station for several years including hiring the personnel necessary to run station 4 when it's up and operational. I don't want to speak for the Fire Department, but I think it's pretty safe to say that they are as upset about this huge cost increase as I am. That all being said, we do actually have the funds available from the city's unrestricted funds balance. This is an important project that will help serve our citizens well into the future and also help with an ISO rating that has an impact on insurance rates. I wanted to be sure to inform you all about this change, since it is such a big one.
14 - Consider Change Order # 10 with BAR Constructors for the Wastewater Treatment Plant Improvements Phase I project. If approved, this project will increase the pumping capacity of the Jefferson Street Life Station from it's current capacity of approx. 28 mgd (million gallons per day) to 32 mgd. These improvements will also allow for the Jefferson Lift Station to be further expanded at a future date to 48 mgd.
Lots of good stuff in this meeting! For all the details, please refer to the agenda packet linked above. This meeting WILL be live-streamed at the following link: https://www.waxahachie.com/government/city_council/city_council_meeting_live_stream.php
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Whew! Quite a bit of stuff to talk about 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 (City Email)
OlsonForTexas@gmail.com (Campaign Email)
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