The Whitney City Council directed city staff to begin developing a donation policy after discussing an attorney general’s opinion on the city’s ability to accept donations during its meeting Thursday, October 22.
The city had been awaiting an opinion from the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) about whether a Type A general law city may accept donations for municipal projects. In a letter to Hill County Attorney David Holmes issued September 30, the OAG confirmed that cities can accept donations of property, including money, as long as it is used for a municipal purpose.
The council directed city staff to begin working on a donation policy that will guide the city’s acceptance of donations. The city attorney is expected to work on the policy and bring it back for approval during a future meeting.
The council also accepted the results of the city’s 2023-24 audit. The city received an unqualified opinion, the highest level of opinion an auditor can issue, according to the audit summary presented to the council.
The audit, conducted by Gilliam, Wharram & Co., covered the fiscal year from October 1, 2023 through September 30, 2024. Completion of the audit was delayed by the city’s transition from multiple accounting programs to a single, comprehensive financial software system in fall 2024. The conversion required more than 160 hours of staff time for manual reconciliation, extending the time needed to prepare financial records and complete the audit.
The auditor did point out an issue with the separation of duties. City officials said that the issue was tied to the city’s small size and limited staffing, which can make it difficult to assign financial responsibilities to multiple employees. Much of that issue has since been addressed through changes to the separation of roles and responsibilities since 2024.
The city incurred no new debt during the fiscal year reviewed, and its total net position was reported at $6,083,888 as of September 2024. Expenses exceeded revenues by $912,987 during the year, which was largely due to the purchase of two fire trucks.
The council approved a request from Police Chief Joshua Scholes to hire Darrell Moore as a police officer. Scholes said that Moore has served as an officer since March 2020 and is one course away from receiving his Advanced Peace Officer License. Council member Amy Teal asked to table the item pending more research into the candidate’s background. Other members of the council voted to move forward with hiring Moore, with Teal voting against the motion.
In other action, the council approved special event permits for the Lake Whitney Chamber of Commerce for Small Business Saturday and a free community Thanksgiving dinner on November 28, and a special event permit was also approved for Donna’s Shear Happiness Salon for a one-year anniversary event November 21.
The council approved recommendations from the Parks Advisory Board to fill two open board seats. Joining the board will be Wayne Peplinski and Zach Hamlin. The board’s semi-annual report was also accepted by the council as required by city ordinance.
An ordinance was approved formalizing the abandonment of an alleyway between 500 and 506 Ballard Street. In June, the council approved the request from Kristen Mitchell to abandon the alley.
The council voted to reschedule the January 2027 meeting from January 21 to January 28 due to scheduled staff election training.
A resolution was approved updating the city’s paperwork for the Community Development Block Grant program. Due to former City Administrator Billy Pribble no longer being with the city, the names and titles in the document had to be amended. Teal voted no, and all others were in favor.
The council convened in executive session to discuss the city’s banking depository contract with Huntington Bank. When open session resumed, the council voted to direct staff to begin the process of finding a new bank depository.
In departmental reports, Whitney Fire & Rescue reported 197 total EMS and fire calls in September.
EMS ran 59 calls, with six of those outside of the city as mutual aid for CareFlite. The average response time was 5 minutes.
On the fire side, the department responded to 208 calls, including five fire calls in the city and 21 in the county, and 48 first responder calls in the city and 54 in the county. In the third quarter of 2026, the fire department was the busiest in the county, with 902 calls for service. The second-busiest fire department had 447 calls.
The police department responded to 323 incidents, including two arrests, 172 traffic stops and 227 citations or warnings issued. There were eight animal control calls for service in September and three code enforcement complaints.
Public Works reported repairing a major water leak in the 200 block of South Brazos in September. Final repairs were pending the delivery of supplies and expected to be completed by the end of October. Bulk water sales have been paused since September 1 as a drought planning measure.
Public Works also reported excavating and repairing a sewer line at Roberts and San Jacinto streets due to ongoing issues for the past year. Two contractors have assessed another sewer issue in the 800 block of North Brazos, and Public Works is working to resolve the issue at a lower cost than originally quoted while exploring all options.
The council’s next regular meeting date is Thursday, November 19.
