Sunday, December 13, 2020

The Week of December 14th - 18th, 2020 in the City of Waxahachie

Hello Friends!
 
I hope everyone is doing well and staying warm in this cooler weather. We have a few city meetings this week, but please feel free to check back on the city's calendar to see if any are added after this newsletter is posted.  Here is the link for that: http://www.waxahachie.com/calendar.php
 
**One thing to note, for those who are interested in running for City Council Place 4 or 5, the City Secretary's office should have candidate packets coming out around the 15th of this month.  You can also get more information on the city election through the city secretary's page on the city website here: http://www.waxahachie.com/departments/city_secretary/elections.php  **

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Monday, December 14, 2020
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8:30 AM - FR&R (Firemen's Relief & Retirement) Board of Trustees Regular Meeting
Fire Station No. 1
407 Water St., Waxahachie, TX


This looks to be a pretty standard meeting, but please review the agenda packet link above for more details.  This meeting will not be live-streamed, but it is open to the public, should you wish to attend.
 
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Tuesday, December 15, 2020
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6:00 PM - Planning & Zoning Commission Briefing Session
Council Conference Room, City Hall


This meeting will discuss items for the 7:00 PM regular meeting.  It is not live-streamed, but is open to the public and a great way to see what all is being considered at the regular meeting.

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7:00 PM - Planning & Zoning Commission Regular Meeting
Council Chamber, City Hall

 
There are multiple cases on the agenda, but here are a few of note:
 
11 & 12 - A request for a Daiquiri Shop at 1014 Ferris Ave, Suite 110.  Staff is recommending approval.

19 & 20 - Request for Fitzgerald Apartments located at the SW corner of park Place Blvd at Garden Valley Pkwy (in the open space between the Park Place Apartments and the daycare).  Staff is recommending denial, seemingly due to the proposed setbacks, parking spaces, roof pitch, screening and dwellings being too far from a refuse facility.  I will say that the developers have held several neighborhood meetings to try and incorporate feedback from the neighborhoods, but they are definitely asking for a lot of exceptions.

21 & 22 - A request by Phillip Fisher, Macatee Engineering for a zoning change to a Planned Development to allow building of single family homes, cottage style homes, retail/office and park/open space on 188.46 acres of land West of 2374 W Highway 287 Bypass (in the area of the car dealerships, south of Walgreens Distribution Center).  Staff is recommending approval.

This meeting is open to the public, but will be live-streamed as well via this link: http://www.waxahachie.com/government/city_council/city_council_meeting_live_stream.php

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Wednesday, December 16, 2020
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12:00 PM - Civil Service Commission Regular Meeting
Council Conference Room, City Hall


The only action item beyond approving recent minutes is to review and consider appeals to Police Corporal promotion exam on December 8, 2020.

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

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Those are all the meetings posted so far for the upcoming week.  Have a great rest of your weekend and a wonderful week ahead!

Your Friendly Councilmember,

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


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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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Sunday, November 29, 2020

The Week of November 30 - December 4, 2020 in the City of Waxahachie

 Hello Friends!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!  We had a small, low-key Thanksgiving and it was nice.  There are no meetings on the calendar so far for this week, but some may be posted on Monday.  To check back for those meetings (if they do happen), here is a link to the city's calendar.  http://www.waxahachie.com/calendar.php

I hope that 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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Sunday, November 22, 2020

The Week of Thanksgiving 2020 in the City of Waxahachie

Hello Friends! 
 
We currently have no city meetings scheduled for this coming week, but you can check back on the city's website in case some are added.  http://www.waxahachie.com/calendar.php
 
We have so many things to be thankful for in this wonderful city.  I'm so grateful to be living here and to have the opportunity to meet so many amazing people.  Even though 2020 has definitely not been the best year, there is still so much to be thankful for!

I hope that everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving a great week ahead.
 
Your Friendly Councilmember,
 
Melissa Olson, CMO
molson@waxahachie.com
(text) 817-507-5162
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Sunday, November 15, 2020

The Week of November 16th - 20th, 2020 in the City of Waxahachie

 Hello Friends!

I'm sorry that this week's newsletter is a bit later than usual.  My husband and I had a quick
getaway vacation and we're both back feeling refreshed! The picture of us is with Ms. Pearl the squirrel outside of a pecan shop near Bastrop, Texas called Berdoll Pecan.  It was really windy when we took the picture but it was fun.

Getting down to business for the week.  I scanned in the draft minutes from recent city meetings for your review.  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1A9HqG8pzedAKY1WW57ysbLnad4Wk9Y4E/view?usp=sharing

There is only one meeting and briefing scheduled so far for the week, but it's a huge Council agenda with many items that will be covered. Please feel free to check back on the city's calendar to see if any other meetings are posted. http://www.waxahachie.com/calendar.php
 
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Monday, November 16, 2020
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6:00 PM - City Council Briefing Session
Council Conference Room, City Hall


This briefing will discuss items for the 7:00 PM regular Council meeting.  This briefing session will be extremely informative.

The briefing will not be live-streamed, but it is open to the public, should you wish to attend.
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7:00 PM - City Council Regular Meeting
Council Chamber, City Hall
 
 
5 - Accept Ms. Tiffany Duran's Certificate of Withdrawal of the runoff Election for Council Member Place 2 (due to the fact that she has moved and is ineligible to serve on Council)
 
6 - Cancel the Runoff Election for Council Member Place 2.
 
7 - The City Secretary will administer the Oath of Office to Council Member Place 2 - Doug Barnes.  (I believe that there should have been a runoff between Mr. Barnes and Mr. Souter, as Ms. Duran was ineligible to be on the ballot.)  Our charter states that candidates must win by a majority of the vote and Mr. Barnes and Mr. Souter each held less than 30% of the vote.  Having a candidate win with less than 30% of the vote does not follow the intent of the charter amendment passed in November 2019.

8- Organization of City Council - This is where the Council decides among themselves who will serve as the Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem for the City.  I advocated to have the position of mayor elected outright by the people when we were approving the charter amendment for November 2019, but had no other support on Council to add that to the charter change.  I can understand that others feel our current way of doing it is better, but we will just have to have opposing views in this instance. 

9e - Consider WCDC expenditure and award of bid to Sports Fields, Inc. for Sports Complex synthetic turf improvements for three softball fields (infields only).

28 & 29 - Waxahachie RV Park & Secure More Storage - the applicant requested to withdraw this case on 11/06/20.

The following 3 cases involve tax abatements, which I am generally not a fan of.  Let the free market dictate what the businesses can do.  I'm appreciative of their operations in Waxahachie, but I don't think it's necessary that we give them tax abatements.  I will, of course, hear all the information presented at the meeting before rendering any final decisions.

32-34: Requesting a tax abatement agreement in support of an expansion of business operations for Nutrenare-AG, Inc.

35-37: Requesting tax abatement agreement in support of an expansion of business operations for Timco Logistics Systems.

38-40: Requesting a tax abatement agreement in support of expansion of business operations for Kinro Texas, Inc.

42 - Consider professional services agreements for Architectural Services and Project Management services for the City Hall Annex project.  $1,686,645 has been allocated within the FY 20-21 budget for both professional services agreements.  The budgeted amount also provides for printing, contingency, as well as other miscellaneous expenses that will likely be incurred (per the agenda packet).  This is an awful lot of money for architectural services and project management.  I will be asking at the briefing if we went out to bid for these services before choosing Architexas and the Vidaurri Management Group.

This meeting will be live-streamed here http://www.waxahachie.com/government/city_council/city_council_meeting_live_stream.php but will also be open to the public should you wish to attend.

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I hope that everyone has a great rest of your weekend and a wonderful week ahead!
 
Your Friendly Councilmember,
 
Melissa Olson
molson@waxahachie.com
(text) 817-507-5162
 


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Sunday, November 8, 2020

The Week of November 9th - 13th, 2020 in the City of Waxahachie

    Hello Friends!

First of all, a huge thank you to everyone for your support!  I won re-election to the Waxahachie City Council (Place 3) and am looking forward to serving y'all the next 2 years.  The unofficial election results are here: https://www.co.ellis.tx.us/DocumentCenter/View/13011/Election-Results-Upload-WEB?bidId=  Waxahachie City Council races are on page 18.  David Hill won Place 1 and  Place 2 is still under discussion as to how to proceed.  It should go into a runoff between the two with the highest votes, but because Ms. Duran is ineligible to serve (she moved away), there is some confusion as to how this will play out.  That should be decided at a special meeting this coming week, most likely Thursday at noon.  The meeting has not been posted as of yet, but when it is, it will show on the city's calendar here: http://www.waxahachie.com/calendar.php

We have quite a few meetings this week, so let's get started!

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Monday, November 9, 2020
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8:30AM - Firemen's Relief & Retirement Fund Regular Meeting
Fire Station No. 1
407 Water Street, Waxahachie
 

This looks to be a fairly routine meeting, but all details are located in the agenda packet above.  The meeting is open to the public, should you wish to attend; however, the meeting will not be live-streamed.

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Tuesday, November 10, 2020
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3:00 PM - Waxahachie Community Development Corporation (WCDC) Regular Meeting
Council Chamber, City Hall


4. Consider award of bid to Sports Fields, Inc. for Sports Complex synthetic turf improvements.

5. Consider future meeting schedule for WCDC Board

This meeting is open to the public, but I don't believe it will be live-streamed at this time.

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6:15 PM - Planning & Zoning Briefing
Council Conference Room, City Hall


The purpose of the meeting is to discuss items for the 7:00 PM regular meeting. It is open to the public and I highly encourage residents to attend, as the briefings are a great way to hear what is going to be discussed in the main meeting in a more informal setting.

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7:00 PM - Planning & Zoning Meeting
Council Chamber, City Hall

 
The meeting contains mostly routine items, although some cases which may be interesting to note are:
 
12 & 13 - Waxahachie Country Club is requesting an SUP (specific use permit) to allow for alcohol sales.
 
16 & 17 - Plan to open an O'Reilly's Auto Parts store south of 2980 N Highway 77.
 
20 & 21 - The applicant, Paula Justice at Secure More Storage, is requesting a planned development approval to provide 15 recreational vehicle (RV) parking spots.  Staff recommends approval, but has several conditions.  Details are in the agenda packet above. 

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Wednesday, November 11, 2020
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***Veteran's Day -  Thank you for your service!!!***

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Thursday, November 12, 2020
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5:30 PM - Heritage Preservation Commission Meeting
Conference Room, City Hall
Teleconference
 
 
3. Reorganize the commission
 
5. Consider Certificate of Appropriateness for 200 Oldham Street
 
You can join the audio via teleconference.  The information is in the agenda packet above.  The meeting is also open to the public, but will not be live-streamed.
 
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I hope that y'all have a great rest of your weekend and a wonderful week ahead!

Your Friendly Councilmember,

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

 
 




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Sunday, November 1, 2020

The Week of November 2nd - 6th, 2020 in the City of Waxahachie

Hello Friends!

Wow! We're already in November and Election Day is Tuesday, November 3rd. There will be multiple voting locations for Tuesday, although the Elections office is NOT one of them.  Here is a link which will show you where you can go to cast your vote. Polls will be open from 7am - 7pm that day.  http://www.co.ellis.tx.us/DocumentCenter/View/11929/Early-Voting-and-Election-Day-Locations-11-03-2020?bidId=
 
We've had some city meetings lately and there's a lot going on at the airport.  You can see the details in the draft minutes here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pJ-Q47sikUbufavrdQO3t8DFGrvGnBIp/view?usp=sharing
 
We have a few meetings going on this week, but please check back on the city's website calendar to see if any more are added as we progress through the week.   http://www.waxahachie.com/calendar.php

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Monday, November 2, 2020
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6:30 PM - City Council Briefing
Council Conference Room, City Hall


This briefing is to discuss items for the 7:00 PM regular Council meeting.  It will not be live-streamed, but it is open to the public should you wish to attend.  These are always a great way to see what is going to be discussed at the meeting in a more relaxed setting.

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

Just a few items to point out at this meeting, as most is just regular business.

5c - Revised 2020 Holiday Schedule - The Council is going to approve adding Veteran's Day as a holiday for city employees.

5d - Accept the IFCIAC's recommendation letter for impact fees.  I'm not sure if this is the final approval for impact fees (fees assessed developers for infrastructure), as #7 on the agenda is setting a future public hearing to review impact fees, among other things.  I will be asking for clarification at the briefing.

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

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Tuesday, November 3, 2020
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Election Day!  Polls will be open from 7a-7p. The picture to the right shows all the Waxahachie voting locations although you can vote at any location in Ellis County. 
Here are all polling locations: http://www.co.ellis.tx.us/DocumentCenter/View/11929/Early-Voting-and-Election-Day-Locations-11-03-2020?bidId=

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Wednesday, November 4, 2020
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12:00 PM - Civil Service Commission Regular Meeting
Council Conference Room, City Hall


6a-i : Canvass votes from all WPD sworn officers for an alternate promotional system as required by Texas Local Government Code 143.035(g).

6a- ii : Consider appeal of alternate promotional system election irregularity as required by Texas Local Government Code 143.035(g)

6a - iii: Consider approval to cancel the Corporal promotional exam posted for November and reschedule/repost the exam for a test date of December 8, 2020.

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

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Thursday, November 5, 2020
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8:30 AM - Cemetery Board Regular Meeting
Council Conference Room, City Hall


This is the first meeting we've had of the Cemetery Board since March 12, 2020!  There is definitely some business to take care of during the meeting.

3. Reorganize the board (This has to be done with our boards after Council makes board appointments every year, around September.)

6. Discuss cemetery Capital Improvement Projects and take any necessary action.

7. Consider fees for sale of columbarium niches.

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

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That's all for this week, my friends.  I hope that everyone enjoys the beautiful weather we should be having and has a wonderful week ahead!

Thank you to all who have been so supportive during my time on the Council, it has been an incredible experience and no matter what happens on Tuesday, I'm very grateful for having had the opportunity to serve you all!
 
Your Friendly Councilmember,
 
Melissa Olson
(text) 817-507-5162
molson@waxahachie.com



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