By Gail M. Williams
Muleshoe Journal Correspondent
The City of Muleshoe held its regular meeting Monday, Sept. 9, at the Courthouse. Present were Mayor Cliff Black; Mayor Pro-Tem Colt Ellis; and council members Earl Behrends, Lupe Mendoza and Gary Parker.
County Attorney Jackie Claborn reported on Mule Days and Kickin’ Nights, which took place on June 29. With 540 attending, Claborn said the event was the biggest ever.
“A lot of people I didn’t know showed up, which is a sign that we’re getting more people than ever.”
The event was smoothly run with EMS selling tickets and AMBUCs on hand in case something should go wrong.
New events included a nine-hole scramble, which attracted about a dozen teams, and the Lions Club ball drop.
“The Lions Club sold ping-pong balls at a dollar apiece. They let the balls drop, and the one that got closest to hole got half the pot. The other half went to the Lions Club.”
Future events being considered include a barbecue cook-off. Claborn said if Muleshoe can get event placed on the barbecue circuit, the city can add about 300 to 400 people.
Country Club ticket sales did well with beverage sales on the golf course at $3,000 gross and inside sales at $6,600 gross, making it the biggest day the Country Club had ever had.
“We’ve already given out the money to the charities,” Claborn said. “We’ll get the big checks and give them out for the paper later, but the money’s already been given to them.”
Designated charities are the EMS, the Fire Department and Muleshoe Meals on Wheels.
“In the three years of doing this concert, we’ve already given out $23,000 to charities,” Claborn said. “The local charities want to thank you all.”
Claborn announced that next year’s concert is scheduled for June 27. “We’re going to ask to get $20,000 from the hotel/motel tax again.”
Kevin Baize, head of EMS, said the EMC crew praised the handling of the event.
“They go out to many rural places, and they said this was by far the most prepared of any event they had seen. They said other places were not being handled as professionally, and they worried about that because they knew resources are going to be coming from their big towns and resources would be used. They wanted very much to be invited back. It helps to have them there. It allows us to be able to take care of our citizens that aren’t there. ”
City Manager LeAnn Gallman said that the majority of responses to event surveys were very positive, and that Mule Days and Kickin’ Nights puts “as many heads in the bed as any event we’ve ever done.”
A motion was made to allow $20,000 from the hotel/motel sales tax to be given to Mule Days & Kickin’ Nights. Motion was seconded and carried unanimously.
A motion was made to approve the minutes of the previous regular meeting on Aug. 12. Motion was seconded and carried unanimously.
A motion was made to approve the minutes of the Public Hearing 2020 Tax Rate on Aug. 27. Motion was seconded and carried unanimously.
A motion was made to approve the minutes of Special Council Meeting on Aug. 27. Motion was seconded and carried unanimously.
A motion was made to approve the minutes of a Public Hearing on the 2020 Tax Rate and the 2019/2020 Budget on Sept. 4. Motion was seconded and approved unanimously.
Council considered Resolution R-755-0919 Suspending Southwestern Public Services Rate Case. Gallman said a new rate case had been filed, and the council was being asked to suspend that action for this, so that negotiations could begin with Southwest Public Service, an alliance of Exxon Municipalities.
“Our legal staff is starting to work on that, and this will formalize that action,” she said. The motion was seconded and approved unanimously.
Council considered Ordinance O-513-0919 Approving Atmos Energy Rate Settlement. Gallman said they have been through the process with Atmos Energy, that negotiations had taken place, and that this ordinance will actually approve that settlement with Atmos Energy. Customer billing will increase in Muleshoe on an average of approximately $2.48 a month. Gallman originally requested $17.27 million after negotiation, and this settlement would be $4.7 million, which is substantially less. A motion to approve the resolution was made, seconded and approved unanimously.
Council considered Ordinance O-514-0919 Adopting New Code of Ordinances. Gallman said the city had gone through a recodification process. Ordinances are sent annually to a publishing company that injects changes into the code.
“At a certain point changes need to be recodified, reworked and reviewed. We’ve just recently completed that.”
The process puts everything into one book that’s up-to-date, enacts a new code of ordinances, provides penalties for violations, provides amendment of the City Code, and provides the effective date of the City Code, which would be immediately after the council approves it.
The motion to approve the ordinance was made, seconded and approved unanimously.
The council considered Ordinance O-515-0919 Adopting 2019/2020 Budget. A motion to approve was seconded, and the budget was approved unanimously.
Council considered Ordinance O-516-0919 Setting 2020 Tax Rate. This sets tax rate for Maintenance and Operation at .6176 cents, Interest and Sinking at .1676 cents for a total property tax of.7852 cents bringing about a .98 % increase in tax rate.
It was moved and seconded that the tax rate be set at .7852 cents. Voted on by a show of hands, the motion carried unanimously.
Council considered Ordinance O-517-0919 Amending the Fee Schedule. Gallman said charges for the coming year will include an increase in lift station charges.
“We have trucks coming in from the area that use the lift station to discharge sewage after the septic tanks are cleaned up,” Gallman said.
The current charge for this is $25 per 1,000 gallons. The city would like to increase that to $30 per 1,000 gallons. Recodification of water park admission fee and facility rental are not in the fee schedule. This ordinance takes care of that as well as operating fees in airport, since there are no commercial businesses at the airport.
A motion to approve the ordinance was made and seconded. Motion carried unanimously.
Council considered awarding a bid for the TxCDBG Housing Project. At last month’s meeting, Gallman asked the council to reject bids that had been received, because of the way the bid was constructed.
“The base bid came in way over budget,” Gallman said. “We restructured the bid with the engineers.”
The two bidders on the project were M&S Construction and UCA. The bid included a base bid and four additive alternates. Only $224,000 was available for the project. The city recommended that council accept the base bid with Alternate Additive 2 from M&S Construction at $249,000 with $24,000 coming from the fund balance and not leaving any on the table to replace water lines. Water lines are scheduled to be replaced with 6-inch lines.
“You just passed a budget with money in the fund balance for water and sewer in excess of that $24,000,” Gallman pointed out.
A council member asked whether M&S was local. The company is located in Valenia, Mexico. However, Gallman said they do a lot of work and have an office in Cactus, Texas.
“The engineers checked out their references,” Gallman said. “I personally know the city manager in Cactus, and they have nothing but positive things to say about them.”
Gallman was questioned on whether any local contractor could handle the job. She said there was not.
A motion to accept the M&S Construction bid with Alternate Additive 2 was made and seconded. Motion carried unanimously.
Council considered the Official Ballot of Texas Municipal League, Health Benefit Pool Board of Trustees–TML Region 3 Election. This election was to place a member from Region 3 on the board. It was suggested that David Riley, mayor of the city of Friona near the city of Idalou, had served in that position a long time. Council nominated him for the position. A motion to that effect was made, seconded and approved unanimously.
Council considered the Council Code of Conduct, which has not been done in several years. Black read a list of the code of conduct, beginning by saying that the office of every elected city official is one of trust to the citizens of Muleshoe. The code regards the integrity of representatives of local government and the principles of democracy for citizens and managers.
- Honor, be dedicated to highest ideals of honesty, honor and integrity in order to merit respect 2. Equality, being mindful of the chief function of local government
- Obedience to state laws and charters, a mandate to prevent the acts of nepotism and to avoid conflict
- Be conscious in relations with the city manager and his/her staff, so as not to improperly influence anyone
- Benefit, be careful not to use any elected position for personal gain, profit or benefit
- Confidentiality, to safeguard all discussions in closed meetings; mutual trust is essential to ensure the free flow of ideas
- Representation, avoid the appearance or impression of special influence
- Transparency, open, transparent and accountable government, be diligent to not act any way that would erode public trust, always remembering it is the people who hold the ultimate right
A motion to adopt the code was seconded and unanimously approved. It was available to be signed by the council.
A motion to receive the Financial Statement for the month ending August 31, 2019, was seconded and unanimously approved.
Administrative Reports were as follows:
a. Muleshoe ISD will be hosting a Career Fair for 8th graders at the Bailey County Coliseum presented by the Texas Workforce Commission on Sept. 12. City staff will participate in this event. Police Department and officers, as well as communications and public works officials will be there. The Career fair will let 8th graders know what career choices are happening in future.
b. Representative Ken King will be at AimBank from 2-3 p.m. September 11 from 2-3p.m.
c. The Heritage Foundation reorganization meeting will be held at 7 p.m. September 12, 2019, at the Depot. All interested people were encouraged to show up and participate. The Foundation needs to reorganize and would appreciate attendance and help.
d. The SPAG Annual General Assembly Meeting will be September 18 at the Spirit Ranch.
e. TML Region III meeting will be Thursday, Sept. 19, in Lubbock at the Scottish Rite Learning Center of West Texas with the City of Levelland hosting. The meeting will include a legislative update.
f. The TML Annual Conference will be in San Antonio October 9-11
The meeting adjourned.
