The Whitney City Council held its monthly meeting Thursday, May 22, with new Council Member Amy Teal participating in her first full meeting since being elected.
In open forum, Daniel Wilson told the council that he and his wife, Krista, are offering to donate an automatic license plate reader to the city. Wilson said that Whitney residents came together to raise reward money to try and find the killer of his 17-year-old daughter, Louise, who was fatally shot in a road rage incident in Houston in December 2023. Now, the family wants to give back to the community. The Wilsons have become active advocates for safer roadways and communities since Louise’s death.
Wilson said that the devices help law enforcement identify violent criminals and stolen vehicles, and he pointed out that they are not the same as red light cameras that are used for ticketing drivers. Nearby law enforcement agencies are now using the cameras with success, and the Wilsons offered to cover the installation of the camera and the first year of use. He said that grants are available that could help the city cover the cost of use after the first year.
Gary Teal, Council Member Teal’s husband, spoke during open forum and congratulated the city on conducting a great election. Teal said that he has worked in elections all his life and was a poll watcher for the city election, and everything was done correctly. “If anyone, anywhere says they’re not sure about that, tell them to call Gary Teal, because I want to really talk to them and tell them that this is the way it’s supposed to go.”
Teal also spoke about his wife, saying that she talked to many Whitney voters about their concerns while running for a council seat and shared her agenda to rein in spending, lower property taxes and strengthen property rights. He asked the council to understand that when she votes to fulfill her platform she is speaking for many Whitney residents. He said that she will likely never support a law or regulation if she thinks personal responsibility and liberty could deliver the same results, and she will never support a tax or expenditure if she thinks it is for something that individuals would voluntarily fund.
Dianne Wyatt spoke in open forum about a proposal on the agenda to approve a downtown street closure of South Brazos Street from Washington to Railroad avenues on Saturday mornings for the Lake Whitney Farmers Market. She said that there is already a problem with parking downtown, and shutting down a city street will impact businesses. She said that those who want to do it say it brings people downtown to shop, but there are some businesses that don’t require that and they are having to suffer the consequences. “It looks like to me, having lived here for 10 years, that any time anybody runs out of money, they want to shut down Whitney and have some kind of event that brings in money. Every time they shut down Whitney, the people that are paying for those mortgages and bringing in taxes on a regular basis suffer,” she said.
Jeannie Koons spoke during open forum to acknowledge the work that King Memorial Methodist Church does in the community. She said that the thrift store and Springfest efforts are run by volunteers and benefit charitable groups in the community. She said that the church offers vouchers for school clothes, and the recent Springfest benefited a local effort to build beds for children in need. Koons said that she is not a member of the church, but she wanted to recognize the efforts of the volunteers in the community.
Moving on to the agenda, Council Member Teal spoke about the expense report and said that there have been spirited online discussions about city officials’ pay. To clarify the matter, she pointed out that the mayor and council members do not receive any compensation for their volunteer work.
The council deliberated on a presentation from Team Zac, a company of financial professionals that offer virtual city financial officer services. Operations Director Billy Pribble said that the idea stemmed from meetings that city officials have with nearby cities of similar size on a regular basis to share ideas. The City of Maypearl brought up its success with Team Zac at one of these meetings.
If the city were to use the service, the company could help with budget preparation, accounting, auditing and other financial duties. If the city went with the full package of services, Pribble said that it would cost less per year than the cost of hiring an employee to do the work.
Pribble said that the service could be funded by reallocating resources that are currently spent on temporary bookkeeping assistance or contract clean-up work before and after each audit season.
Pribble added that it is always noted in the city’s audit that too few employees wear too many hats, which is often an issue in smaller-sized cities.
“One of the things we’ve always heard in this town is ‘the city is hiding money,’ or ‘the city is doing something with money and it’s fishy,'” said Pribble. He said that other small cities in the meetings also hear these complaints about government. Utilizing the outside resource would be one way to reassure the public that everything is being handled correctly.
After discussion, the council asked to see a breakdown of the current costs and the cost of using Team Zac to see how the expense would be reallocated. Pribble said that he would get those numbers prepared for presentation to the council.
The council voted to renew a waiver for the Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) program for the Whitney Housing Authority. The PILOT program originated from a cooperation agreement between the city and the Whitney Housing Authority, and it allows the waived amount to be put toward maintaining affordable housing in Whitney. Teal abstained from the vote, and all other members voted in favor of the agenda item.
The council approved a special events permit submitted by the WWFL for an adult softball fundraising tournament Saturday, May 24. The council’s approval was necessary due to the hours of the event, which was expected to extend to 2 a.m. including cleanup. Council members Vicki Wilson and Cheryl Taylor-West reported that neighbors were contacted and did not have a problem with the event.
A special events permit was approved for the Lake Whitney Farmers Market, which requested to close South Brazos Street from Washington to Railroad avenues on Saturday mornings beginning May 31 and ending September 27. Co-organizer Anne Chastain told the council that setup would be from 7 to 8 a.m., with the market open from 8 a.m. to noon. She said that the closure will likely just be from Washington Avenue to the alley in the beginning, but providing the entire section will give the market room to grow.
Chastain said that some vendors are older and would like access to air conditioning if they need to get out of the heat. Having the market in that area will allow them to come into her winery at the corner of Washington and South Brazos to take a break if needed.
In reference to parking, Chastain said that there will still be parking up and down Washington. With End Zone closed, she said the main business the market would impact in regards to parking is her winery, and she is in support of the market. She said that she has spoken with The Crossing at Railroad Avenue and South Brazos, which is in full support, and the market is also coordinating with Whitney Fellowship to ensure that the parking in front of the church remains open if there is a Saturday morning event.
Chastain said that she hopes drawing people downtown will support downtown businesses.
Teal commented that she was supportive of the location and the idea of a farmers market, and she asked several questions related to the bylaws of the market, which Chastain answered. The council voted in favor of granting the permit.
The council voted to approve a request from Police Chief Joshua Scholes to make a full-time employment offer to Christian “Alex” Tillman, who previously served the department before working for the Hill County Sheriff’s Office. Scholes and city staff spoke favorably about Tillman’s former time with the city and indicated that he would be a great asset to the department. Teal abstained from the vote.
Council members discussed a proposal brought by Teal to make council meeting packets available to the public online before meetings. Pribble said that the document was public record, but the decision would be the council’s to make. The city attorney said that many councils do publish their entire council packets, but staff may have to make decisions about what is included in the packet because there could be personal information or bank account records that do not need to be placed online.
Acknowledging that she had been making a lot of recent open records requests, Teal said she saw the proposal as a way to streamline the process instead of someone having to request a specific packet.
Council Member Valery Peacock said that she has always thought the city needed more transparency, but she later added that there is a lot of information in the council packets that does not need to be publicized, such as names, addresses, phone numbers and other personal information.
Teal said that state law has addressed that issue, and read government code regarding open government to the council. She said she would like to see the packets being posted in accordance with law, and she would like to see more public transparency addressed in the future.
Teal made a motion to approve the agenda item, but there was no second, and the motion died.
The council convened in closed session to discuss Texas Commission on Environmental Quality enforcement with the city attorney. When open session resumed, the council voted to enter into an agreement with TCEQ, with Teal abstaining.
In departmental reports, it was reported that EMS ran 64 calls in April, with 55 in the city and nine in the county as mutual aid for CareFlite. The average response time in the city was five minutes, and the county response time was nine minutes.
The fire department responded to 108 calls in April, with five fire calls in the city, 12 fire calls in the county, 50 first responder calls in the city and 41 first responder calls in the county.
The police department responded to 382 incidents in April, made two arrests and 208 traffic stops, and 311 total citations or warnings were issued. Chief Scholes said that the department responded to a stabbing at Whitney McDonald’s in April that resulted in minor injuries and is currently under investigation. The department also responded to a crash involving a vehicle and a pedestrian on East Jefferson Avenue that resulted in serious injuries, and no criminal charges were filed. The department also assisted the sheriff’s office with a shooting in the Tall Timbers area that resulted in a minor wound. Scholes said that officers gave a presentation on the dangers of fentanyl and drug addiction to high school students in April. He told the council that the department has seen a substantial decline in calls for service regarding animals at large, and he is still working on bids and a site location for a future animal control facility.
Public Works completed three water leak repairs in April, installed two water taps and completed four sewer line repairs. There were eight water calls and 12 sewer calls in April.
The Municipal Court report showed 39 total dispositions, with 26 paid, 10 dismissed, two referred to driver safety programs and one deferred.
The Lake Whitney Public Library reported 1,288 visitors in April, with 293 people attending library programs. The library’s job fair was a success and welcomed 90 individual job applicants. The library is working to prevent the loss of academic skills over summer break by offering programs and reading opportunities to children. The library’s summer reading program theme is “Color Our World,” and the schedule is available at http://www.whitneylibrary.org.
The council will meet in a special session Wednesday, May 28, to swear in Mayor Janice Sanders.
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