City Council - Regular Meeting

All right, we're going to open the regular city council meeting for Monday, November 10th, 2025 at 5:32 p.m. If you would all stand for an invocation, please. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this day and Lord, we direct this council to use your will and your direction along with the concern of the city members and the residents that have concern with what we do here. Lord, we ask the discernment be guided right towards a path that would be pleasing to you. Pray for safety for all the members and all the people in attendance. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

Amen. Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Pledge to the Texas flag. Honor the flag. I aliance to thee, Texas. One state under God, one and indivisible. Thank you. Roll call. Council member Mes here. Council member Schultz. Mayor Pro Tim man present. Council member Freeze present.

Council member Ray, we have a quorum. Two absent at the moment. Richard will be up in a minute.

Okay. We'll open with citizen and visitor uh comments. Ask everyone individually address the city council in a orderly and respectful manner. Please attempt to address any issue, concerns, or suggestions in the public comment section of the meeting. Public comments outside this section will be limited. All speakers shall approach the podium. Provide your name and address for the record. Comments for the public during both the agenda items for the public hearings and agenda items for individual consideration will be limited to three minutes per person. Each person will be allowed to speak once and your time cannot be shared with anyone else. Please silence your cell phones for the duration of the meeting. We ask the council members give their undivided attention to all speakers and we ask that all in attendance please give their attention when the council is speaking as well. But we'll start with uh Kim. [clears throat] My name is Kimberly McDonald. address 1077 Rugged Oaks Road Glenn Rose. So, as the CBB advisory board, um I presented you all with a letter. The advisory board respectfully requests that the city council schedule a joint financial meeting that with representation from both the city of Glenrose and Summerville County to review the financial. The advisory board believes it is essential for the city, the county, and public to have communication and full transparency regarding how these funds are collected, distributed, and utilized. up giving you all a copy of the letter.

Anything else? No. Good. We just think we all need to be on the same page. That way we understand where the money's going, how much is coming in, where else we can help. Put funds. I mean, how much do we have? How can we help? I mean, we're here to help. I mean, that's what we want to do. Everybody on the advisory board would love to help. Okay. I'm going advise Veronica, our city secretary, to contact u the chair and and set up a meeting. [clears throat] All right. [snorts] FA, you here yet? Yes. Okay. Yeah.

[snorts] I thought you were gi speech

told me that she was going to shine speech. She got it. She got it. Cheyenne. Hey, Marie said she was going to see your speech. Is that this? Yes. It's tonight at 6 in the cafeteria. We have our LD showcase. Oh, okay.

Thank you'all for having us. I know some of y'all have heard them before, but this is our FFA act issues team. Um, they had to pick a current relevant issue facing Glenrose and Somerville County, and they compete at our district competition on Wednesday. Welcome guys. Fire away. Disney movies? No. Easy. My favorite is The Lion King. Really? Lion King is so overhyped. I think Frozen blows it out of the water. I could not get into Frozen. It was too cheesy. I prefer mine.

Well, I'm a fan of the classics. Beauty and the Beast has always been my favorite. Cars is at the top of my list. There's something about life's journey. Learn the points of friendship and teamwork. Plus, Radiator Springs feels like a real place, you know. Funny how you mentioned Radiator Springs. Remember how was bypassed by that new highway? It reminds me of what's happening in Glenrose. With rapid growth and increased traffic, a bypass has been proposed and in the final stages of approval. Will this hurt local businesses? And will fewer people stop by? It's like the movie is becoming real life.

Actually, in Cars, they found a way to revive for years. It brought people together and they turned the town into a destination. Maybe something similar to can happen to Glenrose. A bypass does not have to mean the end. This is not just a movie. It's a real issue that Glenrose and Somerville County are facing. Over the past year, it seems like all we've heard is crickets. But as retired textile employees said, it's not if it happens, it's when.

Good evening, concerned citizens. We are eager to inform you about the pros and cons of one of the most significant events in our small town's history, the construction of a bypass. The proposed bypass would run from Highway 67 north of town to Highway 144 south of town with the desire of diverting traffic and creating a safer area. However, it would also bypass downtown, potentially hurting businesses and taking productive agricultural land. So, this prompts the question, should Glenrose be bypassed or not passed? allow us to give a brief overview of both the pros and the cons and then dive deeper into each, giving you guys an informative overview of the issue at hand. Pro point number one, the bypass will relieve 29% of traffic, providing a faster route from Highway 67 to 144. Pro point number two, bypass reduce 18 traffic, the number one cause of downpile congestion and vibrations that are damaging buildings.

Now, maybe the most important pro point number three, safety. The bypass would boost public safety and emergency response times by diverting traffic and providing an additional route. Thank you for the pro viewpoints. Now, let us state why the bypass is not such a great idea.

Com point number one. 71% of traffic will remain after a bypass is constructed. The proposed bypass will only ease a small portion of the traffic, leaving a significantly high percentage still passing through the historic downtown. Con point number two, an eight-year construction projection equaling long-term hindrances. Conpoint number three, the loss of valuable agricultural land and residential property with imminent domain possibilities. Now that you have a brief overview of the pros and cons of a bypass around Glenrose, we'll discuss each of these viewpoints in more depth. Pro point number one, the bypass will relieve 29% of traffic, providing a faster route from Highway 67 to 144. Introducing a bypass around the city of Glenrose will assist with the current traffic issues facing the town. Sheriff Alan West, one of the contributors to the feasibility study on traffic patterns and benefits of the bypass, concluded that 29% of morning traffic would be relieved by introducing an alternate route. The bypass would also create an additional river crossing assisting with current evacuation issues. Former mayor of Glenrose Pam Miller added in an interview, "My pro opinion is, I feel it is important to have two ways to cross the river without having to go either east or west on 67 to get across, meaning we must prioritize this relief road. It is of the utmost importance that the city of Glenrose goes ahead with this, especially for heavy loads, machinery, and large equipment." Mayor Joel Wols admitted on the matter, "It's not right. We've got to end it. The traffic lanes in our town square were not built to sustain such wide loads. In essence, we must construct a bypass around the city of Glenrose because it is the best way to resolve the current traffic and congestion issues within our historic downtown. This leads me to pro point number two. The bypass would reduce the hindrance of 18 mill traffic traveling through downtown Glennos. [snorts] Glenos sits at the intersections of highways 56, 67, and 144 in Somerville

County, which is the second smallest county in Texas. Within Somerville County, there are at least eight quaries for sand and gravel in downtown Glenrose suffers the consequence of beats. Massive semi-truckss and 18 dealers are required to carry loads to their final destinations, most of which are outside of the county. Trucks traveling on South Highway 144 most often pass through the historic square. The lanes trucks must turn from and into are far too narrow for them, endangering surrounding buildings, pedestrians, and other vehicles on the road. In fact, according to Sheriff Alan West, trucks often receive overloaded permits, which means that they carry heavier and larger loads than the legal limit. This not only increases the risk of flying debris and other hazards, the overloaded trucks rattle historic buildings and damage them over time. According to WFAA News, tourists find 18 wheelers on the square unpleasant and dangerous. The proposed bypass would route 18 wheelers east of the city, avoiding downtown in areas of high tourism. Tourism is a vital part of the Glen's economy, especially square where shopping and dining can be enjoyed. The bypass also be beneficial for and create an easier route for livestock trailers and other large agricultural equipment and loads. Therefore, we need to construct a bypass in order to reduce the damage from large, dangerous trucks and heavy loads.

Pro point number three, safety. The bypass will boost public safety and emergency response times, which are vital for the agricultural community. At the farmers market downtown, vendors are forced to move to avoid large vehicles turning outside their lane. A safer environment would allow for the farmers market to thrive. And according to the Center for Urban Transportation Research, the implementation of a bypass would enable a variety of safety paths downtown, including a road diet that adds larger sidewalks and bike pathways. The proposed bypass would also provide a second river crossing. Sheriff Al West emphasized that several years ago, first responders were unable to reach emergencies across the Plexy River due to a major accident. Because there was no alternate route across the river, Somerville County first responders had to rely on Bosi County emergency services to assist with 911 calls. Delays in emergency response times are especially harmful to rural communities that require assistance with grass fires and farming ranch emergencies. As stated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, approximately 70,000 wildfires have been documented per year since 1983. A bypass is needed to address the severe number of fires that occur. In addition, the USDA Farm Service Agency expressed that on US farms approximately 200,000 workrelated injuries occur annually. The bypass is not just a traffic solution. It wholeheartedly supports Some of our county agriculture and the community. In short, we must build a bypass for the safety of individuals traveling through or living in Somerville County. As we transition, we encourage you to keep an open mind and listen to the information before you today. The pros made some

compelling reasoning, but the cons may convince you otherwise.

Con point number one, 71% of traffic remains after a bypass is constructed. The proposed bypass will only ease 71% traffic, leaving the significantly high percentage still passing through the historic downtown. The feasibility study found that a whopping 71% of traffic is locally related. Now, what does that really mean? Around 3/4 of all traffic directly correlates to community members. Some examples are school pickup and drop off and local citizens simply trying to get where they need to go the best way they know how. Now, this begs the question, is it really worth taking money away from small businesses, entrepreneurs, and the city itself to only mitigate a small fraction of the traffic? The simple answer is no. Because the bypass will not allow travelers to stop by, look, and maybe even buy something. It happens repeatedly. I'm sure all of you have been on a road trip, however long or short, stop somewhere, looked around, and grabbed something for the road. I'm afraid that with the bypass, this unique experience will cease to exist. The city of Glenrose must prioritize local businesses over dampening traffic. In summary, the bypass will only ease 29% of traffic and will take money out of people's pockets in locally owned businesses. For these reasons, the bypass must not be built.

Moving on to con point number two, a projected 8-year construction phase. This could have significant negative impacts in and around our community. Prolonged construction will cause constant disruption such as noise, unnecessary debris and traffic delays, deterring tourists and reducing foot traffic to local businesses. Being that our stores and restaurants rely heavily on visitors, the loss of tourism could lead to a steady decline in revenue for local business owners. The ongoing construction could also potentially uh Finally, convoy number three, the loss of valuable agricultural land and residential property. This is not about building a road, but dismantling a way of life. Somerville County has 320 farms spread across 99,570 acres with an average farm size of 311 acres. Over 97% of these farms are family-owned and many operate on tight margins. Mr. Prescott, a local resident, owns 10 acres of land where his family raises goats. He shared that the bypass will acquire half of his land due to imminent domain possibilities. These are not just properties, they're people's lives. The bypass would also require an additional right of way, potentially displacing three residential and commercial structures, and could affect protected properties under section 4F of the Department of Transportation Act, including a possible historic structure and a community picnic area near Vanzant Road. Across Texas, 1.3 million acres of agricultural land has already been compromised. A growing share of this comes from lowdensity residential development, which is 30 times more

likely to be converted to urban use than other lands. Our farmers are already fighting to survive. This bypass threatens to push them over the edge. This is why I stand here today against the protected bypass around Glenrose, Texas. As we wrap up our discussion today, it is crucial for you to reflect on how the bypass could positively or negatively affect Somerville County and the Glenrose community.

In the movie Cars, the construction of a bypass only hurts the small town of Radiator Springs. If Glenrose proceeds to build the bypass, it'll hurt local businesses and community members. Is this economic hit worth it? While the film Cars is a great movie, it is still big In reality, improved traffic flow, an additional river crossing, and the relief of one in four cars around the square would be extremely beneficial. Now, let us restate the pro points. Pro point number one, the bypass will relieve 29% of traffic, providing a faster route around town and improving traffic flow.

Pro point number two, the bypass would significantly reduce 18 mill traffic, which would make everyone downtown happier, especially historic building owners. Pro point number three, safety. The bypass will boost public safety and emergency response times by diverting traffic and providing an additional route. Thank you for the pro view points. Now, let us restate the cons.

Con point number one. After a bypass is constructed, 71% of traffic still remains. The bypass will only ease a small portion of the traffic, leaving a significantly high percentage still passing through the historic downtown. Conpoint number two, an 8-year construction projection equaling long-term hindrances, slowdowns, and increased noise and pollution. Conpoint number three, the loss of valuable agricultural land and residential property with imminent domain possibilities. We have laid it all out there. Strong opposing and supporting cases have been made. The choice is yours.

By pass or no pass. Thank you. Thank you guys very much. Thank you. Thank you so much. That was a strong recovery. I want to commend you for that. You did a great job. No, you did an awesome job. Yeah, you again for having us. You're welcome, sir. Thanks. Y'all have a good best of luck to you. Good luck Wednesday. Y'all will slay it. Bye. Just crying. That's the second time or the third time they've already done that today. And every time I come to the same conclusion that really minimizes my high school education. [laughter]

My problem is that they keep blaming Clifos and we do [laughter] that. [clears throat] Hello. will note that council member Schultz is in attendance, please. [clears throat] Is he online? [clears throat]

Good. All right, we're going to move to our public hearing section and I'd like for staff member Veronica, Veronica. Veronica

Veronica read the first item on public hearing item number two. Uh, Board of Adjustment public hearing discussion and possible action by the board of adjustment at the request of Terresa McGee, Texas Surveying and Engineering Incorporated on behalf of owner White Rock Homes and Design LLC for a variance for the item listed below in order to allow for dividing the lot and replatting in the R224 family district located on acres 0.387 track C7-11 Abstract A136. A136 Marlo County School LB track C711, also known as one3 Ren Street, proposed lot one, block 100.

Thank you. We don't have a plan and zoning member, but I think we're all familiar with it. But [snorts] does anyone on council have a question regarding this piece of land? You're in a public hearing. I'm I'm not in a public hearing yet. I haven't opened it. What we're in right now is questions from the council members for you or Jim or anyone else that has information on staff. No, you understand it. You know what we're talking about. Okay. Now, if we have an applicant present that'd like to speak on behalf of the project.

Hello. Good evening, council members. My name is Theresa McGee. I'm with Texas Surveying and Engineering. My address is 104 South Walnut Street in Weatherford, Texas 76087 or 86, sorry. Um, and I'm here on behalf of the owner requesting these variances. Uh we are requesting for the minimum lot area of 6,000 square feet 6,600 square f feet down to 5,689 square ft and a minimum front lot width from 60 ft to 45 ft which allows us to create this into three residential lots in the R2 zoning which was the zoning that fit this better than any of the other ones uh without having to do a plan development for the area specifically. And I'm here for any questions. I have a couple exhibits uh regarding the plans that they would like to have at this property specifically as well.

Any questions for the applicant? Right. All right. Thank you very much. Thank you.

All right. I'm going to open the public hearing for anyone that'd like to speak regarding this property. I open the public hearing at 5:54 p.m. Anybody else in attendance would like to speak regarding this change? All right, I'll close the public hearing at 5:54 p.m. Council discussion, items, questions, motions for individual [snorts] item number five. Yep. Well, on individual item number five, [clears throat] make a motion to approve the request for changing the uh lots lot minimum lot size for lot number one.

I'll second. We have a second from Mayor Pro Tim M. All in favor for this motion bridge

5-0 zero against it passes. All right. Going to move to item number three on the uh items requiring public hearing. Veronica, if you could read that for me, please. Public hearing discussion and possible action by the board of adjustment at the request of Terresa McGee Texas Surveying and Engineering Incorporated on behalf of owner White Rock Homes and Design LLC for a variance for the item listed below in order to allow for dividing the lot and replatting in the R224 family district located on acres 0.387 track C7-11 abstract A136 A136 Milm County School LD Contract C7-11, also known as 1113 Ren Street, oppose lot to block 100.

All right. Thank you. I assume council has no questions on this item either. Applicant, I assume the same things apply to this as before. Yes, sir. Any questions for the applicant? All right. And uh we'll open the public hearing on this item at 5:56 p.m. Okay. Item number six, discussion. Motion. You want to close the hearing? Yes, I do. I'll make a motion to close the hearing. I was having that space in there to create a little bit of

I [laughter] close public hearing at 5:56 p.m. Now discussion council members rich looks like he's just stretching his leg. Yeah. Yeah. I move to um move forward with the adjustments on 1113 Range Street proposed lot 2 block 100. We have a motion. I'll second.

Second by council member Mates. All in favor of the motion. 540 against passes. Okay. Veronica number four. Okay. public hearing discussion and possible action by the board of adjustment at the request of Theresa McGee, Texas Surveying and Engineering Incorporated on behalf of owner White Rock Homes and Design LLC for a variance for the item listed below in order to allow for dividing the lot and replatting in the R24 family district located on acre 0.387 track C7-11 abstract A136 A136 Milo County School LD track C7-11, also known as 1113 Ren Street, proposed lot 3, block 100.

All right. I'm assume council members have no stat staff questions and applicant um [snorts] same thing on property number three. That is correct. Yes, sir. Now, there is a request for a variance on the minimum side lot setback. We discovered a tract of land uh on the corner there that does not belong with this tract. It's approximately 27.2 ft to that side. Council, any questions concerning that? [snorts]

Okay. Thank you. All right. We'll open the public hearing on this item for number seven at 5:58 p.m. Any discussion? Anybody like to speak regarding it? [snorts] Okay. We close the public hearing at 5:59 p.m. And uh council discussions, actions, move forward with the adjustments as presented on 1113 Ren Street, a proposed lot three, block 100. [snorts] Second. Okay. Council member please. All in favor? Zoom user. Can't see him. I can't take his vote.

No, he's still there. There he is. All in favor, Rich.

Up or down? Rich delayed. 401. Yeah. All right. All in favor? Four. All against. Zero passes. All right. Public hearing section is closed. We're going to move to action item number eight on the agenda. Discussion, consideration, and possible action regarding the proposed Encore transmission route. Um, who's speaking on this? Do we have anyone? Well, I'm in there's not nothing there at all.

Okay. [clears throat] Well, let me just give you some updated information. I attended a county meeting. I've met with land owners, uh, public relations firm and attorneys [snorts] that are representing land owners. We have this um, one segment that's A3 that goes uh, on the border lines of the state park where 250,000 people visit every year. and the trickle down from that park is significant in this city. Uh we all need to write letters with the public utilities commission. Pam's included a lot of things here. We've written letters to Encore themselves. The commissioners in Austin will make the final decision. They've delayed the decision at the end of this month till February. We got a lot of good things going in our favor. one uh the transmission line is they're seeking it in Abalene, Texas because they have a Cisco area where they're going to have a a data center and they want to have the northern route. There's three routes. They want the northern route which is great for us. It goes through a little Hood County, but we do not want the A3 route. You can go to the Encore uh site, look at the maps, you can write there uh in my uh newspaper article. It's got the information of who to write their address. You can also call them. We also need to uh involve the public utility commission in Austin. There's three members there currently. The there'll be five commissioners when this decision is made. So, if you could tell your friends, family, we need to speak up. I met with two public relations agents for Encore during our visit to Texas Municipal League a couple of weeks ago and they both said the path to getting this done is rattling the chains of public utility commission encore. So, if you have friends, you know, people, spread the word. There's not a lot of

people in here right now, but I can tell you the tax revenue from sales tax will decrease if people cease coming here because we have 200 foot standards going right through the border of our state park. And the state park can't be actively involved. Uh, Fossil Rim is. They're writing letters. Most of the elected officials have written letters and citizens, friends, just write all you can call. If you want to be informed, go to um the website that [snorts] they've set up on uh Facebook where you can go get all the information you want. It tells you where to go, where to write. If you have any questions, you can call city hall. We have a lot of things available. So, that's pretty much what we're doing. fighting a battle on this one path that will change the uh the [snorts] look of our city significantly. [clears throat and cough]

So, next item. Can I just [clears throat] got a bad connection? Yeah,

I just hit hit the mirror button because I thought somebody else was speaking at the same time. Uh, so mayor, this was one of the items I if I believe is something that I wanted agenda and it was whether or not we want to seek the assistance of our lobbyists that we utilized uh three or four years ago down in Austin uh to to basically assist us in being very vocal in opposing this matter. Um um she was very successful for us when we needed her. that was prior to me being on council. But, uh, anyway, that's I think one of the things in in case I didn't hear if you said it, but apparently they're not making the decision in December now. They're making it in February. So, they have changed the date um to to midFebruary before they're going to make the decision. So, uh, this is just something that I thought we might want to discuss and consider as a council.

Is it is there like a deadline to make comment? No, you make it up till the the date of the commission's meeting. Okay. Yeah, Rich, I think we we should connect with the land owners who have legal representation, ask them if they've done any of that. But I would certainly uh we don't need to leave any stone unturned on this item. And uh

I have mentioned it to a couple of uh commissioners and and they were all for it themselves also. So whether or not we can get into a sharing agreement or whether or not um you know this is just something we need to do on our own, I I just think the more voices we have, the louder that we are, the better it is for everybody in the long run. Um, so I'm not opposed to to uh joining with the county, but however, if it's something that that they're not willing to do at this time or if they haven't made a decision, I'm also willing to consider uh for for oursel and our residents because this affects not only the county, but it affects the city also. So, it affects the beauty of our our community.

Yeah, I think you're right. I think we need to address that with Danny and and see what they uh want to do, if they've done anything, and then we'll uh we'll join forces. So, I wrote a resolution in the county already. Yeah, we've done that as well. But that's I know what you're talking about.

When when we when we talk about these things, we need to really be specific about it is the the impact upon the environment, the impact upon the uh the protected species that are out there in and around this area because that's what really is going to move their needle away from a particular area. if they have to do mitigating uh processes to be able to come through an area where there's an established uh endangered species, they're going to want to avoid that at all costs. So, that's one thing that when we have these discussions and write their letters, you know, talk about the the area is suitable and is documented there. There have been some land owners out there who have documented that they have the golden cheek wobbler on their property and also the black cap very. So those two are going to be critical that we you know we keep laying that out there in front of the PUC.

Absolutely. Everything including uh the the land 200 foot wide land swap that they'll take could affect the erosion to the Puxy River. It's another item another they call it talking point but it's an issue and it's a concern. So all those need to be addressed in every letter which is one of the sources of our water.

Um also as y'all know I sent you two letters. Um LDL which is the local nonprofit organization we partner with um Dinosaur State Park and Dinosaur State Park cannot be vocal in this but LDL can. So we have done the research and in those letters it states um the environmental impact that it will have on Dinosaur State Park. [snorts] So please look at those. [clears throat] One letter is just a simplified version of the more lengthy letter. Um and I hope that we can get those out there and so that we've got some facts to back up our wants.

Yeah, that's great. Representative Helen Cerwin is also going to deliver some of the things that we've done from resolutions to letters directly to officials in Austin. So, we're covering the the tracks outside of individuals making noise. There may be some other things that come up, but right now it's up to all of us to to do what we can. Rich, anything else?

Uh, no. Unless uh anybody from Georgia, I have no idea how much the city spent and maybe you might have a recollection with this uh um same young lady. Um [snorts] I don't know if you have any idea of what would be spent because that was part of me being on counsel. Um but but if we have a guesstimate of what it costs, I wouldn't be opposed to and I'll even gladly make a motion that we uh consider it and not to exceed that dollar threshold. And and I think we ought to we [clears throat] ought to share it with anybody who's willing to partner with us. Share the cost. Yeah.

Yes. It was $5,000 a month while they were in session. So, we spent we spent $20,000 to get the annexation fix uh pushed through the legislature

in the 88th, I think it was. Well, I think our action should be right now. Contact Fossil Rim. I have had a meeting with them. They're concerned. their new marketing officer is also getting involved in writing a letter of opposition to it, I would think they would be a proponent of sharing in the cost as well. So, if someone wants to make a motion for our cost and limiting that, we, you know, we got till February. We could probably wait till December to determine it, but every day counts right now. So,

I think every day counts. I I would um uh where would we pull it from? This come out of general fund administration. I I would think I mean I you said it cost 20. It was it was $5,000 a month that we engaged them for and they they were in session for four months. Well, the most it could be here would be three months. So, and I I would be comfortable with putting a cap at half because I'm sure the county will pick up the other half. If not, I'm sure there's somebody else out there that would know what y'all think.

I think we need to be specific to a dollar amount we want to put in. Not half of an unknown amount. Three months at 5,000 up to $7,500. Okay. Well, that's $15,000. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Or half. Half. Hey stir, let me ask you a question. Since you made the motion, would uh because obviously cost a motion last time we utilized this person was uh quite I understand that. However, I don't know if the dollar threshold because of increased cost would be sufficient. So I'm I'm making asking if he will amend his motion to not exceed 10,000.

I didn't make a motion, but we need to do something tonight so we have something over there. Like he just said, every day counts. So, I mean, whatever y'all want to do, we can always uh add to it at a later time, but I think it's important that we have some money set aside to get the ball rolling ASAP instead of if we come with some partners uh tomorrow and then we say, "Well, sorry, we can't do nothing till December." So, whatever y'all want to do,

I suggest we go with $10,000 as a maximum. We'll address it with the other parties that might be willing and the land owners as well. There there quite a few of them that have come together and they're going to put a lot of money out too. So I think we ought to make a motion for 10. If we need to adjust it in December, we can. Go ahead, Rich. I'll make that motion that we uh consult with the consulting firm uh that we utilized and hopefully also look for pairing up with other individuals whether it be county or private enterprise not to exceed $10,000.

I'll second by council member man. All in favor 4 against passes. I will um I'll talk to the to Danny and also Fossil Rim and a couple of the land owners that are already putting money in. I'm certain they're going to want to be involved. We should address it with them. So, we'll contact them all tomorrow. I'll send you Claudia Russell's contact info from Vicker Staff. Okay, that'd be great. Claudia Russell. Claudia Russell.

Good. And folks, just of you people just sitting here, we don't have a big audience, but sales tax runs this city. State Park brings 250,000 people a year. They each spend $10. Imagine what the sales tax number is. It's well worth money spent to to uh maintain the sales tax rate. It's going down a little bit right now, so it's important. It's not tax dollars going to waste for sure. Item number nine, discussion, consideration, and possible action regarding the addition of Columbus State to the city approved holiday list.

Um I'm bringing this before you. We just celebrate the home state. We're trying to align our holidays more with what the county is doing because when they're closed, people assume we're closed for the most part. Would this take out our floating day? Uh, no. Be in addition to be in addition to It's a bank holiday. It's a national holiday. The banks are closed. Some people refer to it as different names. I'm fine with Columbus Day. The county takes it. I think we should.

I propose that we um declare Columbus Day as a city approved holiday for our staff. I'll second. Second by council member mayor pro Tim man. All in favor? 5 Z 54 passes. We'll add that and it will be retroactive. [laughter] Kidding. Thank you. Discussion, consideration, and possible action regarding the purchase of a dinosaur from the Lion's Club to display at city hall. I'll move to buy a dinosaur from the Lions Club to display at city hall,

which cost of 2500, just so you know. Would you amend it just in case we wind up putting it at the lane building bill? Yeah, I will. Yeah, facility city property. I move to get a dinosaur from the Lions Club at the cost of $2,500 to put on city property. Can do we need to add an extra amount for painting? No, because I'm going to paint it. We're not going to paint it, are we? [clears throat] We're just gonna leave it blank. Why not? Well, if we do eventually, we'll probably We don't know the cost or anything. Just get the lion for now. I mean the tiger bear. [laughter] I think Laura and her art class paint them for free. And so does the junior high. Oh, do they? Okay.

All right. We have a motion. Oh, we got somebody in with the junior high. We have a second. I think from Lauren. Oh, you who made the motion? Oh, okay. You say it. Council member Mates. [laughter] All in favor? All in favor? As a member of the Lions Club, I'm going to abstain from voting. Okay, we have 44 zero against one abstension passes. We want to wait to get that delivered to the other building or go ahead and take it, I guess. I don't know where we put it. It's at Mary Collier's property, so it's it's safe where it is.

Can we get a mushroom hat on the dinosaur though, [laughter] please? That's all I'm asking for. Okay. Item number 11, discussion, consideration, and possible action regarding a resolution setting a 2026 calendar year city council meeting dates. Uh this is resolution 2025-R17 [snorts] setting our calendar year for 2026. I provided the list of second Tuesdays and of course in May, June, July, August, and September, we have the option to have a second meeting. So, we'll make a motion to accept this.

We'll move to accept the 2026 calendar year city council meeting dates.

I second. Second by council member Mes. All in favor? 54 zero against passes. Discussion, consideration, and possible action regarding an ordinance vacating Nope, we're taking that off. Sorry, that's off the agenda. 13. Discussion, consideration, and possible action regarding a resolution casting the city of Glenrose votes for the Somerville County Central Appraisal District Board of Directors for 2627. Uh this is approving resolution 2025-R sorry next one 19 uh casting the 75 votes for and then you all were provided with a list of candidates.

Make a motion to cast all of our votes for Lori Mates. I second that. Seconded by Council Member Schultz. All in favor? Rich, you in favor? Okay. 5-0 passes. The whoop hand side. [laughter]

On our consent and zen agenda. We can consider items routine by the city council or we can have discussions on single items and discuss each individually. We have a motion to accept all consent agenda items. We can do so in one vote. You have any specific questions about individual items? Move to accept the consented agenda 14, 15, and 16. We have a motion second.

Second by council member Fes. All in favor? Five 540 against agenda is done. Busiest man in Glenn Rose public works director report please. Y'all want to stay for all the reports? Y'all don't have to. I mean I'm happy to. Well, I mean you can, but we're not going to we're not going to revote after you leave. [laughter] Anyone? Thank y'all so much. But you're more than welcome to stay. So I'm going to run you off.

Really interesting. Really gripping. Gripping stuff.

All right, Jim. Thank you.

So, [clears throat] I've provided y'all with a report. Um, I don't know if y'all have any questions about any of that stuff, but we have Couple of other things I add. We had a a meeting, I guess, the the Glen Rose condominium project that was recently announced that they were just going to to not move forward with that project and now they've approached with a similar project, town homes. Um, but I think one that that everybody, all of y'all be much more in agreement with. So, just wanted y'all to know that there's something um coming up.

Where is that located? It's it's at the end of the Stonehollow court, which is the street that that goes in front of the new car wash. Oh, I thought you were talking about You were talking about Sycamore, you thought? Yeah. This was the one that the partner was uh the one I didn't all the one that they were gonna take out the dinosaur tracks back there. Actually, I think they agreed to save them, but they changed. Yeah. So, they're changing the game plan now a little bit. We'll wait to see what they have. Yeah. I just wanted y'all to know that's Thank you.

in the works. Thank you, Jim. And then we did hire another public works employee today. He'll be starting December 1st, so we should be fully staffed for the first time in like three years. Wow. So, that'll be awesome. Where was he hired from, Jim? Was he local? He's He's not. He's He's kind of in transition. He's he's currently with He's worked for the city of Comanche and he's with a different city now, but [snorts] I I don't recall the name of it. about 3 hours from here. Go ahead. You know what I'm going to ask? No.

Water on the water tower lots. They try to start a GoFundMe page for it. [laughter] It's not a matter of money. It's a matter of time. There's people. I mean, we search for different company if we need to. So, did we get insurance off of the explosion over there for that? To be determined. They're going to re They're going to replace it free of charge. Yeah. Well, if we got It wasn't It wasn't covered by warranty and I don't know if it was covered by insurance. I'm going to say an act of God would not be, but uh

I think it's more of a timing issue. Can Can we Is there anything we can do to enhance the the picture for them to get them over here? Now, they're going to be busy installing Christmas lights. Yeah. I don't know how many companies are out there that do this type of stuff, but we can [snorts] search. I think we should. I think so, too. Otherwise, we're going to see Stuart up there. [laughter] I'm

scared of Well, another issue going on. And I told you I went online to figure out how to set the timers. I got three calls the other night that during the lady's um Christmas thing, all the lights were pretty much out. They said, "It's really dark in this town." I said, "How soon they forget all the complaints that the lights were put up? It's too bright." Now it's too dark. But after the time change, yeah, after the time change, it's really messed them up. And I do know how to do them. I'm going to do the ones I can and then we got to get on to talk to CBB. We'll work on that this week. Okay. They started doing Christmas decorations today as well.

We are ahead of the game here in Glen Rose, Texas. Trying to stay ahead. Yeah, I know. There was actually a car went into that house next to the senior center. They ran straight through because I mean there isn't a little red house in there. hit the red took out their AC. Took out their AC and they would come to that Harford and what strike. When was this? Are the people in the car? Okay. He was a 19year-old. Thought he left his car at the same home and told his mom. I bet you got some air on that ducky go down in that drainage ditch.

All right, Jim. Thank you. Appreciate it. Uh Buck is ill. Hope for his recovery quickly. Uh building and planning department. We have a new spokesman tonight. David Lebron. Welcome. And how you doing? You have three minutes. I say my name and address.

No, we got all that. [laughter] Uh so for the permits department um looks like uh we've went down since last year in inspections as far as uh from 90 to 70. Um but we have well yeah and as far as um cost as well looks like our profit on that gosh what a police report

I don't know we going through the police trying to catch up 340 page 345 [snorts] it's past that I'm at 360 [clears throat] and I'm still in police reports. Departmental improvement proposal 369. Oh yeah, that's pass. Oh, go ahead, Dave. Sorry. Okay. And then as far as animal control, looks like we got a cat problem here. Got a lot [laughter] of cats. Wow. Wait a minute.

Got a lot of cats here. It says [laughter] 60 cats brought in from 23 dogs. Um, total animals out of here, 114. Um, at least we've got we got 16 of them fostered. Um, and then as far as code enforcement, looks like 10 cases, most of them high grass and weeds. Um but if you go back to the item like you um you stated there, I have a [snorts] proposal here for some improvements as far as uh building inspections and planning and code enforcement as far as like the software and kind of getting everything together as a whole. Uh we have a software that we're currently paying for. At one time we had I guess a couple of them so had to release some of those. [snorts] Um, and we're just going to work with the one that we got, which is Citizen Serve, and try to better utilize it and, um, you know, get it up and running so that when you go on the website, everything's easy to find. You're able to make a report as far as like a concern or anything, uh, permits, planning, and [snorts] just kind of make the flow chart a little better so that we can get some more business in town.

Hey, David, I didn't sit in here. Is the parvo issue done? the parvo issue to my knowledge um it it didn't spread except for to one other one other animal to my knowledge but Christiey's out this week on vacation so she probably know better I think it's been a 7-day period though yeah I think she said the one the next day had um some blood in the stool and other than that I don't think there's been anything else any questions council

so while I was at TML you know one of the big things that we have with people that are bringing businesses and everything here is that they consistently ask for a checklist like I need a checklist what are the rules understandably so it's like if you tell them what they need to do they'll do it but when we keep moving the goalpost it makes them harder it makes it harder for them to do it understandably but anyways while I was at TML um what a lot of cities have started to do is of course they upload all of their manuals or whatever and then you can use AI and AI will go through and it'll sort like um and it'll build out those checklists highlighting hyperlinks to each affiliated like uh code that they would be required to do. I thought it was fascinating. Um but the one I was sitting I mean this one gentleman sat there and listed out every AI that he used in order to accomplish it which I thought why wouldn't we do that? I mean that's

it was really simple. Well and I actually have checklist. We just have to get with the system in order. Seems like everything now has been done through paper. So I'm trying to update the system and then when you go online to our website it'll all be you know from there it all be electronic. You know submitting plans anything that you want to request and I can do everything from the field to an iPad. Uh that's what I'm used to. But And how long do you think that that I know it's a large project will take to get to completion? Citizen serve. Uh well actually I have a meeting with them again next week.

Um they're already building a plan for me to go through and they're going to basically show me what they've got to present and say look this is how we set it up if you want to go with this or we can just add our ideas in there. Um, but it should be pretty quick. They just said we weren't using them. It's already been an option. I don't know about the AI feature, but um, there's a lot of options we just weren't utilizing. Okay. It's already been paid for. Okay. Okay. Yeah. And I had to get, like I said, I had to get rid of uh, some other companies that Okay. We make sure we're not paying for, too.

Well, I'll be curious then what after you visit with them, what they say that timeline will be. Yeah. Well, he when we were on the meeting on the Zoom meeting, he was changing it right there and then. I mean, it's it's all about just getting on there, using it, and then figuring out what you need and what you don't need and then making it user friendly. Yeah. Any other questions?

Thank you, David. Appreciate it. Convention Visitors Bureau, Texas. Good afternoon. Um, I put a print out of what I'd hoped to get to you electronically and I and Veronica can send it electronically to everybody's email too to recap. But the highlights from all of this stuff as we've been uh doing our research, putting together the new website, we finally own fully again after I think 20 years uh explore glenrose.com. We had to kind of pay pay a hostage fee to get it from whoever had took it over after it lapsed. So, we're migrating all of the different discover explore gotta go to to one thing, explore glenrose.com. Um, and then I included a lot of research that's been going into that other big document that I provided that uh shows the the strategy we're building to uh get the right kind of search engine optimization terms and words so that when people do searches, they can find us better. It it's it's never really been done for our websites. So, that's part of it. Uh, and that's being that had to be incorporated into the into the copy on the website, which you can't just have lists of words. You have to make it sound like it makes sense and be a compelling story. Uh, we moved into the new or former CVB space, but you know, that's only temporary until we get settled down there down the street. Uh I attended that uh huge Texas Travel Alliance

summit in San Antonio and I learned more about the FIFA tournaments coming next June. So, we're working on trying to uh figure out a strategy on with our budget how we can try to attract people that are within commutable distance and do a package thing with all of our hotels so that people could stay here for a little little less money and drive probably about as much as they would drive if they were on one side of Houston or one side of Dallas to the other. So, we can try to benefit from that. Uh JC Stone's been a big help because he's on the board of the Texas Hotel Logic Association. So, not only does he help me with some of the statistics and uh uh strategy, um I also met with him and the uh organizers of the Extreme Cowboy competition that was out there for 11 days and is yet another international event that we host here in Glenrose. And uh it they had uh competitors from 14 different nations and 44 different states all all right here. So it's pretty amazing. They're not charging admission out there and so they're leaving money on the table. So meeting with the expo people on how we could help monetize that a little bit more and then have a year from now to help promote it. And then also getting back into the Texas Event Trust Fund grants that are are huge for bringing in big events and get, you know, it's going to take a while for us to uh get back into that system because we have to apply and provide the the backup. But I whipped together a uh a welcome letter and a survey which got the information from

all these people from out of state and out of the country which is what the qualifying criteria is to uh get those grants. So we'll have that to in order to apply for this next year. um our social media posts. I mean, I know everybody's antsy about getting the website up, but the website is what people go to once they find us. and the social media posts that we've been doing. Uh, one of them and I can send you guys a a screenshot of of what I took a screenshot of [laughter] the other day, but uh just the one that was on the uh uh trick-or-treaters on the safe treats. Even though it was a local event, I still, you know, included the hashtags for visit Glenn Rose and and explore Glenrose. It got over 130,000 views just in a in about three days, which is gigantic compared to what we've been doing. And then our social media posts on the various Facebook pages and the Instagram pages are averaging 10, 11, 12,000 views too, which previously had been something like, you know, 60 views and a few shares. And of course, some of that was in the lag when we didn't have a director. But uh we're we're building that and that's driving people to the attention of of Glenrose. So um uh we uh we you know I I let the lady the radio ads I haven't renewed the contract yet because I'm trying to find out whether that has been as effective as we need it in the market. And I've been discovering that maybe our bigger market is in the Waco area and maybe as far as Abalene rather than the drive traffic from Dallas Fort Worth, which those are day trips. We need we need to try to get. So

I've got to see what my budget will allow before we renew that and see if we switch that up a little bit. But of course, there's the also the aspect of of getting the people in that are going to spend spending money and raising the sales tax and keeping the places open and in business that attract the people that come and stay overnight. So, it's, you know, it's a balance balancing act there. Uh we created a style book for the logo and the tagline which we want to uh distribute to all the retailers and merchants so that they can start using it on merchandise and things. It gets the word out and rather than trying to uh monetize it by selling stuff ourselves. We don't need to be in the retail business. let everybody else do that and put it on hats and caps and cups and key fobs and whatever else and and uh and spread the word. And in everything we do, we're we're adding the the uh response mechanisms. We want people to be able to find us and get in touch with us. So everything will have everything that we produce that comes out of the office is going to have explores.com. So it uh sends everybody to the same place. Um there's other things, but uh uh we hosted 25 Texas travel counselors in town, which are the folks that ban the visitor centers at the edges of Texas, all at the borders. And they learn firsthand about the communities that they visit. [snorts] And uh my friends uh in the tourism industry that I've known for a long time were going to go to Granberry. and I found out that they were going there and I invited them down here. So, we were able to wrangle them for at least a half a day and they went to Fossil Rim and came downtown and went to the state park. And so, now when they get visitors

or families at these state line visitor centers and that people ask about it, they're able to talk from a personal standpoint knowing, you know, yeah, I've been there. It's got this and this and and so that'll help us a lot. Tracy uh is going to Bernie for a mentorship with Larry Woods uh the next couple of days. Uh he is uh like a tourism guru in the state of Texas. U got the lifetime achievement award from the Texas travel industry and other awards. So, uh, he is very generous with his time on mentoring people on how things work. And so, she's learning a lot more from him than she will from me. But, uh, we're both very, very busy and doing what we can to make it work. So, now I'm happy to share the screenshots from these things. Any questions with you?

Um, did we u did we promote any of the stuff you're talking about at the expo center? Yes, we promote it on our Facebook page. Yes, on Facebook and Instagram. Sorry, I was locked out for a while. [laughter] And I would also add if you you go on to any of the the current websites, the the Facebook page or Instagram, please like and share. We need we need to spread the word because the more people that do that from here, it it, you know, helps build build it. So, you have anything else? I got another one. Think about it a minute.

Oh, what was going on downtown? Do we have an event Saturday? Those people everywhere. The shop [clears throat] owners were just all doing Christmas stuff. Oh, they got together on their own. It was merchants association. I know they were decorating. It was They did a lot. There was a lot of people everywhere. I talked to a couple of the shop owners and uh Saturday and Sunday were good days which Sunday is very unusual here for shopping but it was

and also JC said uh you know from these tourism conferences I've been going to tourism uh the occupancy rate is down all over Texas especially um it's it's down nationwide but Lenrose is fairly steady and maintaining so what we're doing in the meantime is working. So, that's the good news. We're not up to 55%. It's going to take a while to get us there as we, you know, do this marketing. But, uh, the fact that we're not following the trend of going way down like Houston and San Antonio and Austin and of course they're having to drop the rates any either,

which rates are higher than their rates are higher than the average, so it's good. But their costs are higher as well. All right. Any other questions? I'm over three minutes. I know. [laughter] Outside of that, just a couple self policing.

Couple of new developments regarding your group and this council is um the wine festival next year happens to coincide with the 100red-y year anniversary of the incorporation of the city of Glenrose. I've talked to Scott about it. I want to talk to you guys while we're on CVB and see if that couldn't be a dual celebration, the wine festival and also the 100th anniversary. It's the same week. It would make some sense. We also have the Puxy Music Festival [snorts] that we're leaning towards May, Midmay for that. So, we'll start planning that as well. But right now, it's Christmas and Jim's guys are already decorating, which surprises me. That's great news. And uh it's going to be a good one.

And the mayor's going to do a podcast with uh uh Justin McKenzie who does the Building Texas podcast. I I did one uh I don't know a month ago and so he's going to do one on that and well hopefully we'll get people to come want to experience like a Hallmark City Christmas. [laughter] Thank you. Text. You bet.

Veronica, we have a city secretary report due. Yes. So, we have some upcoming birthdays. Pica and Christy for this month. And then Jody and Christy also are celebrating their work anniversaries. Jody will be at five years and Christiey's seven, I believe. Um, so those are just a couple of milestones that are coming up. And then on the 18th of November, next Tuesday, our leadership Glenn Rose class will be visiting city hall. I'm part of that class, but I'm also planning a tour for them and a presentation from each department to kind of show what the city does. Um, and then we're going to let them lane building. No. Uh, and then

are they going to sign an insurance waiver whe they go over there? Uh, we depending on where we're at in construction, they may not even go in, but we'll see. It's no longer a hard hat area, I don't think.

I don't think it is, but I think uh so and then we're closed tomorrow uh for Veterans Day. And then we are closed the 26th through the 28th for Thanksgiving. because you all so graciously voted to give us that and stay off. So, thank you very much. We appreciate [clears throat] that. We did a lot of training this last month. Lots and lots of training and lots of upcoming training, too. [snorts]

That it any questions for Miss Welsh. All right, let's move to the next city administrator. Act two. So, [cough] [clears throat] we um we'll be bringing y'all an ordinance for the new school zone at the next meeting. They're they're telling me that they should be completely finished with construction on those and up and running by the end of December. So, it's kind of where we're at on that. Then I'll be attending a virtual meeting with text dot on Friday um for the rural group for the master thoroughfare plan. So we'll be um trying to insert some some uh needed projects and see if we can get something going. I'm I'm gonna try to mention a a traffic light up here at the

Gibson. Yeah. Right. Right here by the the bank. Mhm. I don't know if they'll hear that or listen, but they they seem to they were saying that if there's any small projects or they're more likely to listen to that than like a bypass or, you know, [snorts] four lanes from here to Hood County or something on 144. I'm still interested in that meeting if we can discuss the crosswalks again down here. Yeah, because we're willing to even put forth money on that project.

So, that'd be a real easy project. We just really need a guess on those crosswalks. Yeah. Those two. Any any questions?

Thanks, Jim. In accordance with the provisions of Texas Open Meetings Acts law sub chapter D government code Vernon's Texas codes annotated in accordance with section 551074 personnel [clears throat] matters regarding city administrator 551071 is out. 551072 deliberation regarding real property. Section 551071, consultation with attorney regarding intellectual par uh property. We're going to close the open session at 6:46 p.m. We will be going to executive session. We'll return as soon as possible.

You're done, David. It's over. You got to go home. You did really good. [laughter] my neighbor. I'm excited to hear what Citizen Serve says. Oh, yeah. That'll be wonderful. We've heard about that for so long. So, it'll be good.

The information But you don't ever [laughter] think We don't have we Good night.