The Whitney City Council heard a report on a committee’s work to revamp the city’s permitting process during a regular meeting held Thursday, March 20.
Operations Director Billy Pribble said that the committee’s work has culminated in an extremely simplified process to help citizens determine whether a permit is needed and lays out a clear process for appeals.
The council created a committee last summer to rework the permitting process. The committee includes two council members, local general contractors, the permitting clerk, the mayor and Pribble.
“We’ve been working on this a very long time, and there have been countless hours put into this to try to make it easier,” said Pribble.
He said that the confusion over when a permit was needed was unfair to both citizens and city staff, and the current proposal includes easy-to-follow flow charts.
Work that requires a permit generally involves structural changes to a property and not cosmetic work. “Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to have a permit to paint,” Pribble said.
If a citizen disagrees with the permit clerk about whether a permit is needed, they can appeal to the building official appointed by the city council. If there is still a disagreement after that, they can appeal to the city council for a final decision.
Pribble asked for feedback from the council and said that he would like the council to consider implementing the new process on a six-month trial basis at its next meeting.
The council was in favor of the proposed changes. Council member Sam Pierce said that his goal is to keep the process simple. “If we had a permit for every little thing that we tried to do, nothing would get done,” he said. “I didn’t want everybody to get permitted to death.”
Pribble added that the city is also looking at options for a new inspection company. The current provider sets its own fees for work that requires a building inspection.
The council also voted to establish a school zone and speed limit on the city’s portion of HCR 1240 (Wildcat Drive).
The heavily traveled road provides access to Whitney middle and high school campuses. The city and county have worked together on a plan to improve the road this summer while school is out, and Precinct 1 Commissioner Jim Holcomb recently recommended to the Hill County Commissioners Court that a speed limit and school zone be extended to the county’s portion of the road to enhance safety. Commissioners will hold a public hearing on his proposal Tuesday, April 8.
The Whitney school board supported the plan at its March meeting, and the council voted to implement a 20 mile-per-hour school zone from 7:15 to 8:30 a.m. and 2:30 to 4 p.m. weekdays. The speed limit outside of school hours will be 35 miles per hour, which is the same as the proposed speed limit on the county’s portion of the road.
The city based its speed limit proposals on the results of a traffic study and recommendations by Westwood engineering firm.
In other action, the council authorized the mayor to enter into negotiations with Emergency Services District (ESD)1 regarding a new contract.
The city withdrew from its contract with ESD 1 in July 2023. While Whitney is not a member of ESD 1 — which oversees fire protection in the county with the exception of the cities of Whitney and Hillsboro — the city previously had a contract to respond to calls in the ESD 1 service area outside the city limits.
Whitney withdrew from the old contract due to concerns about language that could have provided the district ownership of any equipment purchased with ESD 1 funds. The city’s former fire chief, David Gilmore, told the council in 2023 that if the department repaired damaged equipment with district funds, ESD 1 would essentially own equipment paid for by Whitney taxpayers.
While the department continues to respond to calls for assistance outside the city limits as needed, it has not had a contract with ESD 1 since that time.
Pribble told the council last week that he has been in talks with the new ESD 1 leadership, which has been understanding of the city’s concerns. While the council’s action does not obligate the city to a contract, it will allow negotiations to resume.
The council authorized the mayor to write a letter of support for the Hill County Lake Whitney Lions Club for improvements to the old tennis court property on West Cleveland Avenue. Mayor Janice Sanders said that the action does not obligate the city to anything but will help the group apply for grants.
Council members accepted the fiscal year 2022-23 audit results for the city. Pribble said that the results showed a negative net change in the general fund of $316,786. He pointed out that the audit covered eight months of the previous mayor’s administration, during which there was no city administrator. He said that the water and sewer fund had a negative balance of $145,144, which was attributed to overestimated revenues, drastic increases in expenses and old water meters still being in place at that time.
Survey quotes were reviewed for mold and asbestos inspections on city properties at 115 and 117 West Washington Avenue. MSE Environmental presented the lowest bid at $2,600 for both buildings. Pribble said that asbestos surveys are required by state law before remodeling a public commercial building.
The council approved a request to add Jerry’s Towing and Recovery to the city’s wrecker rotation list. The list now includes Speedway Towing, Absolute Towing and Recovery and Jerry’s Towing and Recovery.
An updated drought contingency plan was approved with the goal of protecting the city’s water supply and minimizing adverse impacts of a supply shortage. Pribble said that the plan is supposed to be updated every five years but “has not been touched” since 1991. “This is what we’re trying to fix,” he said.
The council approved an internet services agreement with Vyve Broadband at the library that will allow the library to apply for a discount of up to 90 percent of its internet fees under a federal program available to libraries. The program is expected to result in a savings of about $3,000 a year for the library.
Replats of properties at 915 East Chad Avenue and in the 400 block of South San Marcus Street were approved. Both requests met the city’s subdivision requirements and involve the construction of single-family homes.
In public forum, Amy Teal said that she has been accused of pursuing a personal agenda as she speaks about government spending and legal processes. She voiced concerns about taxes, code enforcement, dishonesty and government spending and said that residents deserve honest, timely information.
Resident Dianne Wyatt also spoke, asking for more transparency in meetings. She said that she hasn’t heard an update on city kennels in recent meetings and said that she read a report that they are not being handled properly. She also said that she has not been told who is controlling the city council social media page, because some people get answers and others don’t. Wyatt also said that the newspaper doesn’t report on speakers and just talks about what the council is doing.
In departmental reports, Pribble updated the council on the $750,000 Community Development Block Grant that the city is eligible to receive for infrastructure upgrades. Drainage and roads have been identified as the top priority, and the work must be completed in areas where at least 51% of residents are in the low- to moderate-income range.
Pribble said that the area of Dewayne Circle, Chad Street, Dee Street and East Beth Street had been targeted for an engineering study due to extensive drainage and flooding issues. The study included an opinion of probable cost for roads and drainage along those streets. He presented a breakdown of estimates.
“If you add all those together, and you do not take a systematic approach to this, we’re looking at $4.3 million for one little area of town,” said Pribble.
Pribble said that the city has to let the engineering firm know by April 2 where it wants to spend the money. “We will be coming to you very soon to see how much money are you as a council wanting to put toward this $750,000 to improve that area,” he said.
He added that project information forms have been submitted to the Texas Water Development Board and accepted, which means the board will now either forward the proposals to the next round or reject them. Pribble said that he wanted to clear up misconceptions about what the city has applied for through TWDB. He explained that the projects the city has applied for include a new water storage tank, wastewater treatment plant, wastewater study, water system improvements and wastewater collection and treatment improvements. “Those are projects that have been accepted by the Texas Water Development Board and we are hoping to get invited to the next round on that,” he said.
“We’re hoping we get to do this and we’re going to make these infrastructure upgrades that have been long overdue,” he said. “In the last 15 years, nothing has happened in this town. In the last two, we had to get the audits up — we couldn’t do any of this until the audits were caught up. We’re caught up, we’re making headway to get this town at least to 2010, because it’s going to take a while to get to 2025.”
Director of Emergency Services Robert Matthews reported that there were 49 EMS responses in February, 48 of which were in the city. Average response time in the city was reported to be five minutes, with a six-minute response time on the one county call. The fire department responded to 88 calls with 42 first responder calls in February.
Police Chief Joshua Scholes reported that the police department responded to 211 calls for service in February, made four arrests and issued 88 warnings or citations. The chief said that the department is working on an active organized crime ring and has identified six suspects. Scholes said that Drew Youngblood is no longer with the city, and the police department has taken over code enforcement and animal control with a long-term plan being developed.
Director of Public Works Chris Brennan reported that there were five water leaks in February, and after-hours calls included eight sewer calls and 10 water calls.
Library Director Christie Rogers reported that the library saw 1,022 visitors in February with 245 attending library programs designed to bring people together. These include new skill share programs, wellness programs, family night, community clubs and others. “Beyond those gatherings, our social media engagement has skyrocketed — up 1,240 percent since October — showing that our impact extends beyond our walls,” she said.
The municipal court report for February showed 78 citations written and a total collection of $2,433.03.
The council’s next regularly scheduled meeting is set for Thursday, April 17.
The Lakelander 