City Council - Regular Meeting

We uh have one [snorts] citizen that would like to participate in the citizens comment. This is uh Todd.

Evening. I stand before you tonight to respectfully ask this body to once again table the recommendations to fill the headco vacancies. The simple fact is not all applicants were interviewed. That is an undeniable procedural flaw that undermines the fairness and transparency of this entire process. It must be stated clearly for the record. This council is not being presented with all the facts or all the voices. We had numerous applicants step forward willingly to serve our community. Yet many were never given the opportunity for an interview. That alone is disheartening. But to make matters worse, some individuals have already been told they were chosen for the Landmark Preservation Board, even though, as far as we can find, those recommendations have not yet come before this body for approval. That kind of backdoor communication erodess public trust and gives the appearance of decisions being made outside of the public eye. One glaring example is Cindy Walker, who was not an interview for the Landmark Preservation Committee. Anyone who has heard her thoughtful and informed public comments in previous meetings knows she is exceptionally qualified and deeply invested in this community. To exclude someone like her from consideration altogether is not just disappointing, it's unacceptable. What's even more troubling is hearing the excuse that we just can't get applicants. The truth is people did apply but were turned away. The problem isn't a lack of public is the lack of openness and fairness in how these applications are handled. That brings me to a larger point. I respectfully request that the interview committee be composed entirely of elected city council members, not unelected city officials who are not accountable to the people. When unelected staff filter and narrow the applicant pool, this council and by extension the public is not getting a full or accurate picture of who is willing and able to serve. We the

people demand more checks and balances, more sunlight, and more accountability. Right now, this process does not look open. It does not look fair. And frankly, it does not reflect the kind of transparency this community deserves. So tonight, I urge you, please table the appointments, go back, work with the city manager, and for each of you who make up the interview committee, please make sure that every single applicant is interviewed and given a fair shot. That's the least we can do to restore public confidence and show the citizens that this council takes its duty to fairness and transparenc transparency seriously. Thank you so much. Okay. What we'll do now uh be something different than what we normally do. [snorts] We will convene into executive session uh to consult with the city attorney with uh Vernon's Texas government code of unknown and yeah chapter 551 section 087 is 506

of

At 6:19, we will con reconvene uh into regular session and take uh any necessary action as a result of closed uh session. No action taken. Item uh number three on the agenda. We will uh table that right. Moving on to item

motion. You need a motion. I'll make a motion. All right. Second. Mr. Strong uh made the motion. Miss Martin second it. All in favor say I. Any oppose? Same sign. That carries. Moving on to item number four. Uh this was a tabled action consideration and possible action upon a recommendation from the interview committee on appointments of vacancies on the head coord.

Okay. Uh, mayor and council, I would like to make uh a motion to appoint Michael Marshall for place six, Courtney Smith, place three unexpired term. Michael Bell, place four, and Justin Purle for place five.

[clears throat] All in favor say I. Any oppose? Same sign. Item number four carries. Uh, moving on to item number five, consideration and possible action upon awarding Longstar Global of Henderson the low bidder of the bid proposal submitted for the 2022 hazard mitigation grant for a generator to be located at 300 West Main Street.

[snorts] I'm Steve Wick with Stokes Engineering and this is the generator for the city hall that's being funded through a grant and we um received seven bids on the project. We were happy with that. Um the low bidder like they mayor was saying is Lonear Global from Henderson. They're obviously local. Um they were under budget so we were happy with that. I would recommend it.

As you done your due diligence, they're completely capable of Yes, sir. Yes, sir. I know I met with him like twice out here looking at the project. There any more question? I make no

I make a motion that we approve. Um second. All right. Uh all in favor say I. I. Any oppose? Same sign. That was Miss Wares and Mr. Jackson. Thank you. All right. Thank you. All right, [clears throat] moving on to uh item number six, consideration and possible actions upon the second reading of ordinance 2025-09-03, cancelling the November 4th, 2025 municipal election, declaring the unopposed applicants as council members for district 1, four, and five. Okay. Would anyone like to make a motion?

Make a motion that we cancel the election. Mr. Jackson with a second. You said that too loud. [laughter] All righty.

Yes. All in favor say I. I. Any oppose? Same sign. That motion carries. Item number seven, consideration and possible action upon amending resolution 2023-05-02, changing the verbiage from shell to May and change the resolution number to 2025-05-028. I make a motion to pass item seven

with the second. All in favor say I. Any oppose? Same sign. Motion seven carries. Item number eight, consideration and possible actions upon the second reading of an ordinance changing the zoning from commercial to residential on Hubard Drive. Good evening, council. Yeah, this uh this item is just you guys already approved this uh changing to zoning on from C C2 to uh I'm sorry. Um you had to residential R2 Allen. Uh you you previously approved that. I'm sorry. So this is just the second reading of that ordinance. Have any questions?

Motion. Got one. Second. Mr. Strong. All in favor say I. I. Any oppose? Same sign. Item eight carries. Item number nine, consideration and possible action upon a minor application submitted by Wallace Woods combining lots 12 and 13 of block 402 RED edition into one lot. [clears throat]

Yes, council. This uh this application's uh the physical address is 613 Park View. U Mr. Woods owns that those two lots. Um, this is located in council district 2. I see Mr. Cersei's not here, but um, basically he owns both of those lots. Uh, he wants to combine the two lots. The one's vacant, one has a structure on it, the one on the south end right there has his house. Uh, his plan is to to tear that house down and move a mobile home onto that location, which he can uh he can do because that's a R4 zoning district. So, he's allowed to do that. So, this allows him the uh the appropriate setbacks that when he puts that mobile home in there, he needs to combine both lots so that it'll meet setback requirements for the installation of the mobile home. So, is there any uh is there ordinances against this or is it we good with this?

No. Yeah, we're good with this is I mean it's like I said it's located in the residential four district that's uh manufactured mobile homes permitted okay in that district and um and we've and so we're we're for it um because again he can't just uh fit it on that one lot to the right and he he owns both lots so this will allow him to to put it in there.

Fair enough. So if there's no discussion, I'll make a motion to approve. Strong made the motion. Mr. Jackson second it. All in favor say I. I. Any oppose? Same sign. Item number nine carries. Moving to item 10. [clears throat] Consideration and possible action upon a minor plat application submitted by uh Ricky Gibson combining uh lot one block 362 and block six uh 636 into one lot.

Uh yes council this is physical address of this is 707 South Marshall. Um again Mr. Gibson has a home there. This is in council district 4. Um he also similar to the previous application. You see the the house there. He owns the lot uh adjacent to it and he would like to put a carport there on the side. And if he were to do that the way it is now, it'd be too close to the property line. So he simply wants to combine that. And of course that second lot's not not really buildable anyway the way it is now by current standards. So um we we're we're recommend that that he's be allowed to do that to combine that all into one lot so he can put that carport there and meet setbacks.

Motion to approve. Second. All in favor say I. I. Any oppose? Same sign. All right. Item 10 carries. Moving to um item number 11. Consideration and possible action upon resolution 2025-10-01 updating the master fee schedule. Kimber. [snorts]

Good evening. Um this resolution is just um asking for approval to update the master fee schedule to increase the security fee for the alcohol-related events from $35 an hour to $50 per hour per officer effective immediately upon the adoption. The current rate no longer reflects the actual overtime cost of the Henderson Police Department personnel. This adjustment ensures that fees will better align with market rates and more accur accurately recover the city's cost for providing event security.

Questions? I make a motion that we pass. Second that motion. Item 11. Sorry. Motion. Mr. Strong second it. All in favor say I. I. Any oppose? same side. Item 11 carries. Thank you. Moving on to item number 12. Consideration and possible action upon approving Main Street to commerce working with an architect to remodel Heritage Square. Duke and M. Paris.

I'm just coming up to introduce Leon. He is our board chair and um he has all the information he wanted to share with y'all today. Hey, Main Street Design Committee has been working on the redesign for well over a year. We're at a point where we need a better presentation concept for seeking funding and sharing with the citizens. began working with an architect from McKinley Golden Firm to create a rendering that will present a more realistic view of the design. The architect has presented basic sketches but requires a contract before development and render. When the project is funded, the firm would manage the project and all our work for the sketches and rendering will not be charged. If the project is funded and a different firm is chosen, they'll charge us 10 grand. We're asking for your support to sign the contract and get on with the project. Question. Uh Leon, you're tearing this area out right there where those cars are, right? build and I you don't have a slide up for everybody to see, but uh it's this uh kind of

this dude. Yeah, this right here. Yeah. Yeah. So, that's what you're proposing. That is a sketch. Yeah. Of the I realize what you're saying, but that's what you got on your mind, right? Yeah. Okay. Just that area. The the parking lot for the bank will still remain there.

Okay. Okay. So, is this like where the Christmas tree goes and like our our clock is. Yes. Where would the Christmas tree go then? It will be in the same place. This is just a sketch of how things could be.

That's why we're going to work with the architect to develop a rendering so you can see what real life would look like. When I say a rendering, it's more like what you did for uh the pickle ball court. It looks like real people running around or whatever.

Isn't this also where Santa Claus usually is? Isn't this where where Santa Claus usually is also? And we're going to incorporate all all of that. Okay. I'm just making sure. I'm just I'm just asking. You got to make accommodations for Santa Claus. Of course. Right. [laughter] I wouldn't want to be the person to kill Santa Claus.

Well, and I don't want us to lose the clock. I I still would like the clock somewhere. It's going to be some place. Okay. And we talked about a few places for Okay. Uh but we want to accommodate for a lot of flexible uses for this area

and right now if you Well, it's hard to walk through and certainly not ADA approved. So, um it's just a start for us to get to where we want to go and we'll we'll be back once we get a rendering. so that you can see all the uh assumptions and all of the requirements have been included.

So let me track back what exactly are you asking from the council? That's your approval so that we can assess that we can sign a contract with the with gota and the one that you're proposing is the one that's not charging you,

right? Okay, that's the one. Okay. I just want to be clear. [snorts] And let's just say that we approve it and and you sign a contract. Is how long is a time span that this would take?

I don't have that. Okay. In front of me, but I don't expect more than a couple months to get to rendering. Gotcha. But once we get the rendering, then we come back and we talk about the next phase, which is to the building. Gotcha. So, we're looking at maybe the middle of next year somewhere around there.

Gotcha. Okay. Motion. I'll make the motion. I'll second it. Miss Warz. Second it. All in favor say I.

Any oppose? Same sign. Thank you. All right. Moving to item 13, consideration and possible action up on a contract with Jacob's Water Supply providing them emergency water if needed. Mr. Harton,

mayor, council, just to be mindful of council's time, I'll stay as brief as possible. Thank you. [laughter] I've met with uh Jacob's water supply over the past few months and um discussed an interlocal connect or interconnect between our water and their water to provide emergency services emergency water uh for them. So I drew up a contract, sent it over to Mr. Brown. He put eyes on it. He gave the blessing so we're good to go. Uh I met with Jacob's Water Supply Board on the 13th, presented it to them, answered any questions, concerns that they may have. They gave it a thumbs up so we're good to go. Council to give us the approval to move forward.

I make the motion to approve item 13. Second. Torres made the motion. Miss Martin second it. All in favor say I. I. Any oppose? Same sign. Item 13 carries. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Item uh 14 U update on historical preservation committee. So we have had a lot of applications turned in. Is it can y'all hear me on this? Okay. and we have five that's been interviewed and we've got two more places that we know we're going to have to fill. So, we've got some more interviewing to do, but that's where we stand and we plan on having those interviews before the November council meeting and having the board recommendation for council. Any questions? Okay, y'all probably were wondering why I stood up. Got a couple of proclamations here. your service of the Rotary Club. Okay, this

maybe y'all can hear me. Maybe this will go across. Uh this is a proclamation from the uh city of Henderson. 70 years of service by the city of Henderson to the Rotary Club. The Henderson Rotary Club chartered in 1955, 70 years served as a pillar of uh civic engagement and community improvement in Henderson and Rus County. Members of the Henderson Rotary Club have dedicated time and resources to strengthen our community through service projects which promote literacy, public health, youth leadership, economic development, and disaster relief. The Henderson Rotary Club has played a key role in supporting [snorts] education, including partnerships with local schools, scholarships for students and mentorships through youth programs. Henderson Rotary Club has actively supported international efforts and to eradicate polio, improve access to clean water, health care, and education across the globe. Henderson Rotarians have made lasting impacts while embodying the highest ideals of civic duty and community service. Therefore, I, Henry Pace, mayor of the city of Henderson, do hereby proclaim this day, November 6, 2025, in recognition of Henderson Rotaries, uh, 75 years to unwavering commitment to service, leadership, and community betterment. I encourage all residents of Henderson and Rush County to honor and celebrate celebrate the club's enduring contributions and to reflect on the importance of service, integrity, and civic engagement

in building a stronger community for all. And if y'all noticed, that was for November 6. I just wanted to do this uh before the day this to the Rotarians. short. I don't have [snorts]

Thank you. Yes, sir. Okay, we'll move on to our uh consent agenda. Uh this contains routine or non-controversial items. Uh there are items the council would like to move. Are there any items that the council would like to move into regular session? If not, could I get a motion on the uh consent agenda?

I make a motion we approve the consent agenda as it is read. Made the motion. Miss Martin second it. All in favor say I. I. Any appro uh any oppose? Same sign. All right. Now we're ready for departmental reports. made the rotation. So, we made that through um through our departmental reports. And for some that uh that are new, what we uh usually do, we get these all written up, but I guess about a year ago, we started to have each department to do a verbal presentation to let everyone know the work that goes on because a lot of people may take things for granted and not know exactly what each department does and what it covers. So it's a way to uh for each department to toot their own horn if you can if I can say that but uh

oh all right then I can say that but that's just a way to and also uh so each department can be appreciated for the work that they do um that probably goes unseen taken for granted but I'd like to say right here in public Uh thanks to all of the departments for the work that you do uh to keep things running uh smoothly. Minutes. Okay. Um the uh the boards and commissions, they meet um 9:00 usually on Tuesday mornings uh right here in these chambers to uh make rulings on different items that come before them. And I appreciate all of the uh all of our boards, our commissions that that work for the city and with the city. Jay, did we get the text working back again? The people that had signed up to get the uh when the meetings were going on.

Okay. All right. Yes. Yeah, there was a problem with that or something. Yeah. Yeah, we had a little glitch, but it's back. All All's good. Good. Yes, sir. That's a loaded question. Which slide? Kilgore.

So, do we need do do we need a filler conversation here? So in the room that we didn't talk about I mean who are we going to get to these meetings [laughter]

who can I call now and just chitchat You can still call me. You can still call me. All right. I know that I call you and I chitchat and then you're not fine, too. [laughter]

There we go. I derailed us long enough. That's [laughter]

Hello everybody. [laughter] [laughter] Okay, this is a proclamation from the city of Henderson and this uh to all whom these presidents shall come. Greeting know ye that this official certification recognizes that the hospice palative care and home health care month. Every year in November, we recognize the vital contributions of hospice, palative care, and home health care professionals who provide compassionate, high quality care to individuals facing serious illnesses, advanced aging or end of life journeys. Hospice and palative care offers expert medical care, pain management, emotional and spiritual support that honors the needs and wishes of patients and their families, helping individuals live fully and comfortably as possible. Home health care enables patients to receive personalized care in the comfort of their own home, promoting independence and enhancing quality of life. These essential services are provided by a dedicated team of professionals including nurses, home health aids, therapists, social workers, chaplain, volunteers, and physicians who care for patients and their loved ones with kindness, dignity, and respect. These services also reduce hospitalization, support family caregivers, and individuals navigate serious health serious health challenges with peace and compassion. Now therefore, I Henry, mayor of the city of Henderson, do hereby proclaim the month of November 2025

as hospice pal palative care and home health care month. [applause]

I want to upgrade. my turn.

Okay. So, this is this is this is going to be my last time, so I'll try to make it good. So, I will make a motion to adjourn this meeting. All in favor? Oh, we need a second. All in favor? Say I. Second.

I [laughter] didn't even book you this time. Yeah, I just went