Hello Friends!
I know... I'm the WORST about saying a newsletter is going to be short and then get so passionate and into it, it turns out to be only slightly shorter than "The Odyssey". This time, unfortunately, WILL be shorter in content due to my current situation. Most, if not all of y'all, know I have Multiple Sclerosis. It's been acting up quite a bit more than we'd like and so I'm having a huge dose of steroids. While I'm able to type some, it's definitely not the speed that I am normally able to and well, to be frank, I feel like crud. This is day one, so I wanted to be sure to get this out because there are SO MANY REALLY important city things going on this week. I will apologize upfront because it is NOT up to my personal standards of supplying you with information, but will try to at least point out things that are remarkable or notable when applicable. That's already more than I planned to write about this, lol, so let's dive in.
Please keep the city's calendar handy. You can go to each meeting there and locate the agendas/agenda packets, so it's a handy tool. I still always post them on here because it's a lot easier, in my opinion, to be able to find all these resources on one page instead of several different ones.
The link to the city's calendar is here:
https://www.waxahachie.com/calendar.php
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Monday, September 5, 2022 ---------------------------------------------------------
Per the City of Waxahachie's Facebook Page:
City
offices will be closed Monday, September 5, in observance of Labor Day.
For non-emergency needs during this time, please call the Waxahachie
Police Department at 469-309-4400. For emergencies, please dial 911.
Have a safe and happy holiday!
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Tuesday, September 6, 2022
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6:00 PM - City Council Briefing Session
Council Conference Room, City Hall
401 S. Rogers St.
Public able to attend? Yes
Live-streamed? No
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*** 7:00 PM - City Council Regular Meeting -- MOST IMPORTANT MEETING OF THE YEAR ***
Council Chamber, City Hall
401 S. Rogers St.
*** MOST IMPORTANT MEETING OF THE YEAR --- HOWEVER!!! --- YOU MUST ADDRESS COUNCIL DURING PUBLIC COMMENTS IF YOU WISH TO SPEAK AT THE MEETING ABOUT BUDGET, TAX RATE, POLICE CHIEF, OR ANYTHING OTHER THAN P&Z *** (Out of 28 agenda items, only Public comments and 8-13 being held as public hearings, are residents' opportunity to speak up during this meeting and items 8 & 9 are being continued to a later date so they won't even be considered during this meeting either.)
*** Also, due to my current situation, I'm not including all the details of each item. You can find all of that in the agenda packet, that I linked above. ***
4 - Public Comments: Unfortunately, the most important items on the agenda this evening are NOT listed as "public hearing" on the agenda; therefore, citizens must use the public comments portion of the meeting to address the council on any of these issues. I would highly encourage you to show up, voice your opinions AND send emails. Also unfortunately, most of our Council are NOT responsive to emails. Mr. Wright has been the best and Ms. Wallace second. Beyond them, I PERSONALLY (and hope it's different for y'all) have not received responses from the others, that I can recall.
5a-c: These are the draft minutes from the recent important Council meetings
5g: City Manager's appointment of member to Civil Service Commission
*** 6 - *** Consider confirmation of Assistant Chief Joe Wiser to become Waxahachie's new Police Chief effective October 1, 2022
7 - Request to appear by Nancy Clifford for approval of Texas Veterans Parade - Ellis County to be held November 5, 2022. I haven't reviewed the details of this request intimately, but my husband was in the Marine Corps and we very much support all of our men and women who defend our country. It seems that there might be some routing conflicts and that may be the reason she is going to be speaking with Council. I don't believe I've seen this type of thing before, since my involvement with the city. More details in the packet.
8 & 9 - SUB-66-2022 Levante is requesting continuance to Sept. 27th P&Z and Oct. 3rd City Council meetings. There will be no votes/decisions on this case tonight.
14 - Consider proposed ordinance abandoning and vacating certain right-of-way along Flat Street. - Details in packet. I only point this out because it is not something you regularly see come before Council. I have not researched this and because of that, am neutral on this matter.
*** 17 - Consider proposed Ordinance approving revised budget figures for FY 21-22 and approving the Budget for FY 22-23: Y'all know what I think... They need to cut spending. Where do you cut it from? Obviously not public safety. Politicians like to throw that out there as a scare tactic... "You want to cut from the budget? What are you gonna cut? Police? Fire?" I've always supported our first responders, so to cut them would be a very hard sell for me. BUT -- Council needs to direct the city manager and finance manager to find places to cut but keep those that are still in line with the Council's priorities (ex. public safety is a priority). It is NOT the public's job to justify the city's budget. It is the job of the city staff and/or council to tell the residents why they NEED MILLIONS more in revenue from last year...
*** 18 - Consider proposed ordinance RAISING water and wastewater by 4% and to update the Sokoll rate fee of 1.61 per 1,000 gallons. (No, it's not listed this way on the agenda.) They raise the water rates every dang year - BUT!!! I THOUGHT that because we had the smart meters, that the entire program was kept on having the SAME RATE for like 5 years... I could be wrong and I can't find the documentation for it, but I definitely have concerns with this one. I kid you not... when we moved back to Texas from the desert of New Mexico, we were shocked that we paid more for water in Waxahachie than in the desert.... I kid you not. These changes are to start with the start of the city's fiscal year and that is October 1, 2022.
*** 19 - Consider a motion to ratify (give official approval) the property tax revenue increase: In the memorandum for this item, they do NOT specify ANY NUMBERS, just that they're required to take a separate vote to ratify the property tax increase reflected in the budget....
*** 20 - Consider proposed ordinance adoption the 63 cent tax rate for FY 22-23: I believe it was the first gentleman who spoke at the tax rate hearing last week and he was SO GOOD! He countered their inflation argument and added that in to the numbers and other things as well and he STILL came up with 61 cents instead of their proposed 63 cents... and what did the Council do? Talk down to the citizens and make it sound like the residents don't know what they are talking about. I'm sorry but that is just purely disrespectful. Y'all... there's like 40k of us and 5 (although 1 for sure is against the tax rate) of them.... why in the world do more people not show up at city hall?
I PROMISE YOU... one of the things they really do think is that it's just a couple of "troublemakers" who want lower taxes... Unless MORE PEOPLE SHOW UP IN PERSON, then that chain of logic remains. It takes us... and I get it... I actually can't go this week either, but those who can... PLEASE... call friends, neighbors. ANYONE who is interested in the city's portion of their tax bill. It's NOT WRONG to ask a governmental entity to cut down on their spending when all the residents are having to buckle down due to all the things they city cites THEY need more money for...
I'll just quote the city here:
"The proposed rate of $0.630000 is above the no-new-revenue-rate of $0.540834 and lower than the voter-approval rate [the max without an election for voters to approve the rate] of $0.630350."
'nuff said...
*** 25 - Consider proposed Ordinance amending the Waxahachie Code of Ordinances Chapter 32 "Traffic" - Please read into this. I get very nervous when codes get changed. It's a big deal and should definitely not be overlooked. I'll try to review it myself in the next day or two.
*** 28 - Consider appointments to Boards and Commissions - Listed in the packet
Public able to attend? Yes
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Wednesday, September 7, 2022
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12:00 PM - Civil Service Commission Regular Meeting
Council Conference Room, City Hall
401 S. Rogers St.
3 - Public Comments
5 - Waxahachie Fire Rescue: Multiple Action Items. No Items for discussion.
6 - Waxahachie Police Department: No items for discussion. No Action items.
Public able to attend? Yes
Live-streamed? No
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Thursday, September 8, 2022
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8:30 AM - Cemetery Board Regular Meeting
Parks Conference Room
401 South Elm
2 - Public Comments
4 - Hear update on Babyland Headstones and take any necessary action
5 - Request to appear by Jerry Chapman regarding plot discovery and take any necessary action
Public able to attend? Yes
Live-streamed? No
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***** 3:00 PM - Park Board Regular Meeting *****
Council Conference Room, City Hall
401 S. Rogers St.
2 - Public Comments
4 - Hear update on "Board Dock Park", but I believe they mean "Boat Dock Park"
*** 5 - Convene into Executive Session for deliberation regarding real property as permitted under Section 551.072, Texas Government Code *** I have never seen the Park Board go into Executive Session and can't imagine why they would need to, so that is why I point this out. Doesn't mean there's anything wrong with it per se', it's just definitely out of the norm and because it's executive session, there's no additional information in the packet on this one and those who attend the meeting may be asked to step outside the room for number 5 and be brought back in for number 6.
*** 6 Reconvene and take any necessary action
Public able to attend? Yes (except on #5, as stated above)
Live-streamed? No
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4:00 PM - Mid-Way Regional Airport Board Regular Meeting
Upstairs Common Area of Mid-Way Regional Airport
131 Airport Dr., Midlothian, TX
3 - Public Comments
6 - Consider replacing lighted sign at airport entrance
*** 7 - Consider recommendation for both cities to adopt a resolution accepting and supporting the Airport Master Plan Project - I wish there was more supporting documentation for this item.
*** 8 - Consider designating a project representative and naming the 5 members of the Consultant Selection Committee for the Airport Master Plan Project
Public able to attend? Yes
Live-streamed? No
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4:30 PM - Keep Waxahachie Beautiful Committee Regular Meeting
Council Conference Room, City Hall
401 S. Rogers St.
*Note: There is no supporting documentation in packet for any of these items other than #3 (the draft minutes from the last meeting)
2 - Public Comments
4 - Hear update on Grand Application and Award
6 - Discuss and consider Mustang Creek and Battle of 287 clean-up initiatives
7 - Discuss and consider Tree Giveaway and 10 on Tuesday program initiatives
Public able to attend? Yes
Live-streamed? No
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5:30 PM - Heritage Preservation Commission Meeting
Council Chambers, City Hall
401 S. Rogers St.
2 - Public Comments
4 - Consider Certificate of Appropriateness for 110 W. Main (no documentation in the packet)
Public able to attend? Yes
Live-streamed? No
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Hey y'all! Thank you so much for your love and interest in the goings-on in our city!!! I definitely STILL typed way too much and will be trying to rest a bit the next few days (hopefully....), but you're always welcome to reach out and I'll be glad to help where I can.
Please take care and have a GREAT WEEKEND!
Your Friendly Neighbor,
Melissa Olson
(text) 817-507-5162
(email) olsonfortexas@gmail.com
