City Council - Regular Meeting

I would like to call the meeting of the Henderson City Council to order at 6 PM this 18th day of November 2025. I declare a quorum is present and declare that the notices have been legally posted pursuant to the open meetings act. If you would you please stand for our invocation led by Councilman Jackson and remain standing for the pledges led by Councilwoman Martin. heads and humble hearts. Father God, we come before you right now thanking you for this occasion that we should be together for the city of Henderson. Lord, bless the city, bless the county, bless the state, and these United States that we may move forward in your will. In Jesus name we pray.

Amen. To the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Honor the flag. I aliance to the Texas one and indivisible.

Thank you. You may be seated. Okay. [clears throat] Um, at this time we will have u I have one citizen's comment. I have Mrs. uh Crystal Clay. Oh, there you are. Yes. Would you step up to the podium, please? Yes. You have three minutes.

Okay. Um Um Okay. First, I want to come back and um let everybody know that um what I had been working on for the last couple of years of bringing the therapy for kids with autism to our area um we finally have made the connection and that is actually coming true. Um there is a group um medical group out of Louisiana that we hosted here um this month into our town to do a site visit to see if we would be one of their selected locations. They were over let's say their council said overly enthusiastic on the extreme warm welcome that they g got. Um, and with that, I want to say thank you, Gina Flores, for representing the city and city council. They, you know, um, they really appreciated that. Russell Brown, um, I want to definitely thank um, him for meeting, um, with them as well. Um, Shelby Jacobs, um, spent some time with them also through Headco. um uh Century 21 um kind of took them and saw a few places and Brian Bowman with Henderson ISD along with all the great employees that are with the town has all came together and helped. They are um looking to get here as soon as possible. So we are working on any kind of negotiations that we can find for them for temporary base. They do want permanency but we do not have anything that they are looking for which is about 15,000 square feet with about 80 parking places. So right now we are just getting them here and um they will start uh training and locally putting in a start

of 20 practitioners. They will be offering PTO speech and um behavior for adolesccents to get them school ready. So it's an early intervention to get them um to help the schools. Um they did meet with the school districts and they felt that this is definitely a place for them. So, this is really just to kind of let um Hi. Um um and that's a little little Annabelle. Um so, um this was just to let you know and one thank you for um helping with this. And um now it's just kind of going to be up to the community to welcome them, help them get it, you know, staffed and um that's pretty much it.

Okay. All right. Thank you so much. Thank you for that. Okay. So, we will move on. There are no more citizens comments. We'll move on to uh presentations and announcements. Uh, first thing we have is an oath of office to persons duly elected to the following offices by no opposing candidates or applications submitted. City Councilman one, Mr. Strong, uh, District 4, uh, Mr. Scoggins, and district five, Miss Wararez. So, Follow the judge. [laughter] All right. Would I get you each to raise your right hand, please? Do each of you solemnly swear that you have not directly or indirectly paid, offered, promised to pay, contributed, or promised to contribute any money or thing of value, or promised any public office or employment for the giving or withholding of a vote at the election at which you were elected. So, help you God. Mr. Scoggins, would you raise your right hand, sir, and be sworn? [snorts] I, Lee Scoggins, do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute duties of the office, Councilman for District 4, for the city of Henderson in the state of Texas. and I will to the best of my

ability preserve, protect and defend the laws and constitution of the United States and of this state and the charter and ordinances this city. So help me God. Congratulations Councilman Strong, sir, would you raise your right hand and be sworn? I, Steven Strong,

do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the duties of the office of councilman for district 1 of the city of Henderson in the state of Texas. and I will to the best of my ability preserve, protect and defender the Constitution and laws of the United States and of this state and the charter and ordinances of this city. So help me God. Congratulations, sir. Councilwoman Warz, will you raise your hand, ma'am, please? I, Gina Warz, do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the duties of the office of councilwoman for district 5 for the city of Henderson in the state of Texas. And I will to the best of my ability preserve, protect and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States and of this state and the charter and ordinances of this city. Oh, help me God. Congratulations. [applause] Yeah. Thanks.

[applause] [laughter]

There's a joke.

[applause] [laughter] [applause]

We're good. Y'all can go back up. I have a proclamation. Are y'all going to Okay. At this time, we have a uh proclamation uh from the city. Okay, this is National Diabetes Awareness Month. If you guys from uh will come up like to present this to y'all stand there and I'll do this. I can maybe they can hear me hopefully.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We'll get this all situated in a minute. Yeah. Diabetes is a serious and costly disease that affects over 38 million Americans with around 10% of Rust County residents diagnosed with the disease, including many residents of Henderson. This disease can lead to severe complications such as heart disease, kidney failure, vision loss, amputation, and premature death. Early detection, losing weight, eating healthy, regular physical activity, and access to quality medical care are essential to prevent diabetes and manage the health of those living with the disease. Education, community awareness, and support for individuals with diabetes can reduce its impact and improve quality of life. National Diabetes Awareness Month is observed each November to raise awareness about the risk of diabetes, promote healthy lifestyles, and encourage community programs that provide education, [clears throat] prevention, and support those affected. The Healthy TE Texas Youth Ambassador Program and the city of Henderson are committed to promoting diabetes awareness, encourage healthy living, support local programs, and improve the overall health of our community. Therefore, I, Henry Pace, mayor of the city of Henderson, on behalf of the city council, do hereby proclaim the month of November as a month of recognition and encourage all citizens to join me in pro in the uh effort to confront, fight, and most importantly change the future of those with this deadly disease.

Okay. Uh moving to our next uh item is uh the appointment of uh Mayor Pro Tim. And uh I think uh Miss Wararez has done a great job and the role that she has filled over the past uh couple of years or the last year, excuse me. Um, I would like to get a motion if I could to uh have her appointed as mayor pro Tim.

I'll make that motion. I'll second. All in favor say I. Any oppose? Same sign. That motion carries. Okay, that was Mr. Jackson with the motion. Mr. Cersei Strong with the second. All right. Um, so at this time, uh, item five, we will convene into executive session to consult with the, uh, city attorney in accordance with Vernon's Texas government code of a and at 6 uh, 19

[snorts] Okay.

That's probably about right. didn't feel like

No, but 2018.

No, it was when I got here. I was inspector and Billy met with the guy. Remember we battled the guy? He built it. He was too close. The house he wanted, but they were too big down.

2018 built that They should change it. That's right. This is an individual. This is a guy Yeah, that's the house.

Look at the backyard. People building back sounds like a situation. West two street that burned.

Okay. This was a household. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's a cross. Yeah, that's the one you're

think It might be

it was right. You're right. But anyway,

I know that I built more home. Yeah, they do kind of build modif You're right. But now you start getting three three and a quart.

That's what they get for Russian.

[laughter] She grabbed him. You won't get her

[clears throat] He figured it out. What do you think? Did he get you?

Elevator. It's awesome, buddy. I appreciate a lot of people. I took it down.

Cool, man. Appreciate you.

I know that's I'm good. How are you?

I'll see you.

Thank you.

We kind of have Yes. Yes.

Are you up there? What's up? So, did you do any good? Do we need to go back over there?

What time? Seven. I don't know. Maybe just want to head over to her house. want to go over to Jay's house after

we sure do that trouble. trouble.

All right. Thank you. We will uh convene with our regular session at 6:42. We'll move on to our consent agenda. [clears throat] This contains routine and non-controversial items. There are items uh the council would like to move into regular session. Are there any items that we would like to move into regular session? If not, uh, could I get a motion [clears throat]

number, uh, 19 and 20? I have questions on that's where we'll get. Okay. Okay. Okay. All right. Fair enough. There there's just one question that I want to pose. If y'all want to pull the item, that's fine, but it's just a simple question. Okay. On the financials for the head co, would it be able to just get a one sheet P&L to add to this? Because we some folks want to read it and just hard times with it and I want to just simplify.

Okay. I said I'll make a motion for approval unless Okay. Uh Mr. Cersei makes the motion and uh Miss Wararez seconds it. All in favor say I. All right. Consent agenda is approved. Okay. Moving into our regular session. Uh item number 11, consent and possible action upon resolution 2025-11-01 to deny SWEP codes rate increase request. [clears throat] [snorts]

Okay, council, this is um SWEP code comes a lot of times to us uh annually or every other year with their their their rate increase request. Ultimately um you have three options. You can either deny the rate increase, you can um push it for 30 days, or you can approve it. Um if you deny it, ultimately it's going to go to the PUC and then they're going to go ahead and do what they do with the rate change anyway. Um but it does hold off on the rate increase for as long as it can from our perspective within the city because of your action if you deny it and and SWEP code generally is perfectly fine with that. That's what they say do. Um, we've seen that and done that before uh those of you that have been here. So, u my suggestion would be just to deny the rate uh increase request for SWEP code at this time.

I move to approve the resolution denying the SWEP code rate increase. Right, Mr. Cersei made the motion. Mr. Strong second it. All in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Same sign. All right. Item uh 11 passes. Moving to item 12, consideration and possible action upon the de dispersement of uh 346 votes for the city of Henderson on the Rus County Appraisal District Board of Directors for 2026 2027 term. Have any questions? Mr. All right, Mr. Cersei made the motion. Mr. Strong second it. All in favor say I.

Any oppose? Same sign. Item number 12 carries. Um item 13, consideration and possible actions upon the recommendation for seven members of the Historic Landmark Preservation Committee. [cough] Mr. Mayor, the uh list that we've uh chosen or the people we've chosen is Liz Thrasher, uh Dustin Co Pepper, uh Sher Baker, Michelle Thrasher, uh Sarah Cheryl, Cindy Walker, and Linda Watkins. And I'm for the preservation board. And I make a motion we accept those nominations.

Made the motion. Miss Wararez second it. All in favor say I. I. Any oppose? Same sign. Item 14 carries. Moving to item 14. Consideration and possible actions upon recommendation for a vacancy on the Main Street Board. [snorts]

U. Uh, Mr. Mayor, we had a uh I'm happy to report that we had a real go-getter, it seemed, on that particular interview, and u uh the uh committee would like to recommend a Reese duty uh to that position on Main Street Board.

All right. Uh Mr. Strong made the motion. Miss Wararez second it. Uh All in favor say I. I. Any oppose? Same sign. Item 14 carries. Uh item number 15, consideration and possible action upon a recommendation on the reappoint of two members on the planning and zoning commission.

Uh Mr. Mayor, we want to uh reappoint Scott Grody and Chad Boat to that please. Can I make a motion? Mr. Strong made the motion. Mr. Cersei second it. All in favor say I.

Any oppose? Same sign. Item 15 carries. Moving to item uh 16, consideration and possible action upon a recommendation on the reappoint of two members of the board of adjustments.

Uh Mr. Mayor, likewise. uh board of adjustments. We've uh all met and decided Cecilia Cope and Alton Prior would be individual for that and uh Mr. Strong made the motion. Mr. Jack Jackson second it. All in favor say I.

Any oppose? Same sign. Motion carries. Um, moving to item 17, consideration and possible action upon counseling the December 16th, 2025 council meeting. Miss Wararez made the motion. Mr. Cersei second it. All in favor say I.

Any oppose? Same sign. All right. Item 17 carries. Okay. Num. Item 18, consideration and possible action upon performance agreement between headco and the Henderson Boys Baseball Association. Mayor, as y'all are aware, since we became a type How about now?

There we go. [laughter] Go through it again. I'll second that. But just one question and slightly unrelated. Are we going to look at annexing that property own? We should be able to Even with it being the highway frontage, it can't be. So, it's changed. So, you can Okay.

I was just curious because that collecting sales taxes on anything they have out there. It would help clear up several things. law enforcement stuff, all those type of things. So, that I second.

Great. Um, Mr. Wares made the motion and Mr. Cersei second it. All in favor say I. Any oppose? Same sign. Item 18 carries. Item 19, consideration and possible action upon performance agreement between Headco and Bane Investments Holdings. Mr. Gordell.

So, this was a daisy chain of events to help out keeping the railroad commission here. Uh they had their lease was expiring and they were going to relocate back over to Kilgore. and the uh the property owner Bane Investments suggested that he would be more than w willing to vacate his space to renovate the space that he was in to increase the opportunity for the railroad commission to stay here and uh bring in additional jobs. In order to do that, obviously Main Investments needed a location to go to. They had a location down on 70 79 79. Okay, I was getting wrong. Sorry. Um, so they had a location to head to down there, but obviously they needed to make some renovations to it. They approached us because we wanted to keep the railroad commission here and gain the additional jobs out of that. Um, and they needed some assistance to renovate their location. The monies that we're putting into this project are all front-facing. So, we're treating it in essence like a a grant that is going to beautify the property and everything will face the street. Uh, but that's what precipitated all of this in this agreement to happen. And it was really we we needed to keep one business here and in order to do that we had to move another one. In order to do that we had to renovate the space.

I would draw my question answer what I made the motion. Uh Mr. Strong second it. All in favor say I. Any oppose? Same sign. Item 19 carries. Uh item 20, consideration and possible action upon a performance agreement between uh Pedco and Saddler Powder Coing Coding LLC. Mr. Bardella. So this was an opportunity for us to uh work with a local family who just doesn't hap happen to have this business in our city limits. The challenge that they had was they needed to expand. didn't necessarily have all the resources to do it. Uh but they live here, shop here in Henderson, and it's my understanding that most of their employees live here in town. Um, we checked with the state because of their location and being that they're outside of our city, but they are in Rusk County and without the county having the ability through an economic development office to help them, our connections at the state said if your board determines that you can help that business to grow and it's in the best interest of uh, Headco and and the community, then you can do so. Um, if you've read through the agreement, it's our commitment to them is less than 10% of what they're looking to do and it's based on job creation and maintaining the jobs for I think it was a period of three years if I'm searching me correctly. Uh, 24 months, excuse me. So, uh, that's what this is all about. I know that they've already finished out one of the buildings that they have and they're working on another one. So we believe that it was a good investment. The the secondary part of this is that they're they've given us permission to work with them on our marketing because they also work in the space and aerospace industry, which is something we're we're starting to pursue as you all know. And so having them be able to recommend us to some of the businesses they work with has opened some doors.

Mr. Mayor, I'll withdraw my second question. Done a good job answered that already. So Any discussion? Thank you. Mr. Strong made the motion. Miss War is second it. Um all in favor say I. Any oppose? Same sign. Item 20 carries. Um item 21, consideration and possible actions upon the performance agreement between Headco and the Wiseman Ministries. This is really about creating a new retail opportunity within the city uh for Wiseman Industries as well as getting one of our entry locations to have some rehabilitation done to it. Uh, as you're probably aware if you've driven up Kilgore Highway, they've scraped the site and they'll be starting to construct their new building rather soon. It's going to be 10,000 square feet of retail space. Um, it's going to be a combination of both new product and gently used product, but they will be collecting sales tax on it. And they believe that, memory serves me correctly on the number, they're looking at about $40,000 a year that will come in in sales tax for the city. So, it isn't a large amount, but it's a great amount because as you know from Wiseman Industries, they also use these facilities to help train and keep their folks on the straight and narrow. Um, so between that and what we've asked them to do in the beautifification because it's on that north side heading south into the city, we wanted it to look good. They've agreed to do that and so that's why the board invested in this one. Questions? All right, Mr. uh Strong made the motion. Miss Wararez second it. All in favor say I.

Any oppo opposed? Say same sign. Item 21 carries. Item 22, consideration and possible action upon performance agreement between uh headco and first methodist church. Mr. Bella, and I feel bad that I'm monopolizing your time, but we had a lot of these that came up that we, [clears throat] as you know, we're going to bring in front of you as we move forward in the future. So, please indulge me. Um, First Methodist Church and their preschool program down the road serve over 120 families within our city. They employ between 30 to 35 teachers. They have an issue with their retaining wall uh on their back property. And they approached us to fix part of it. We suggested they go back and if we were going to um assist them that they fix all of it and get it done properly. They agreed to do that and they've turned in uh the the work the scope of work that they're doing on it. And again, we are only in for 50% of their scope of work. Scope of work was about 65. We suggested to them that we would be in for 325 out of that. But they also have to maintain the teaching positions for a period of um not less than five years. And they didn't believe that that was going to be an issue because they've been around for a very long time. But it is something that we wanted to support and help. Um, and subsequent to that, I can let you know that the financial institution next door has also reached out to us because their retaining wall is needing some work as well. So, we may be back in front of you with that. Mr. Mayor, as being one of the families that is served by this preschool, I'm going to announce I'm standing for any discussion or vote. because I'm the one that presented that to the head co committee. I'm going to abstain from the

Mr. Mayor. I'm not compromised by it at all [laughter] and I make a motion that we approve this. Okay. Before the rest of us drop out, I'll second it. [laughter] All right. Mr. Jackson made the motion. Mr. Strong second it. All in favor say I.

Any oppose? Same sign. All right, moving on to uh item number 23, consideration and possible action upon a performance agreement between Headco and the Henderson Civic Center Incorporated.

Thank you, sir. Uh as you're all aware, we value our civic center very highly. We know how much it means to the community and who they attract and what we use it for, what the city uses it for. um it's an important piece of property for us to maintain and in order to do that they approached us uh for some needs for some internal improvements and so the board agreed to uh assist them to the tune of $50,000 to help fix the meeting room space and I if memory assures me correctly replacing the carpet in the offices and boardroom space. Um I'm not sure if that work has started yet. I we were there last night. I don't believe it has, but um that that is our commitment to them to make sure that we can keep this class A facility a class A facility 23. Mr. Strong made the motion. Mr. Jackson second it. All in favor say I. Any oppose? Same sign. 23 passes. All right. Uh item 24, consideration and possible action upon a performance agreement between Headco and Brasso Development and Construction LLC.

Yes sir. Again, as you all are very well aware, this is the kickoff of our housing project on along even side and this agreement um we would have had to have manipulated the 9 acres uh to get it shovel ready for someone anyway and the developer came in and said, you know, if we can work out a function with them, he'd be happy to manipulate this site. So, that's what this agreement is all about. It also offers the developer the opportunity to go vertical with housing with a price range not to dip below 250,000 and we're trying to keep it u at or below our median household price which is about 310. Uh so that's that was the importance of the board on how we're going to start to create housing in again in the city because as we start to grow and recruit we need to have housing available. So that's what this project is all about. The developer does have the ability to um expand from the initial five acres that he's working on to the southern five based on him selling his first house and uh him exercising that option. And then on the south five of even side once he has gone vertical and sold a house there then he also has an 18-month option at his uh discretion to exercise on the 35 acres across the street. Um this may be modified because it seems like there are some drainage issues that we have to look at on the property that we own across the street which is impacting the nine acres on the west side of even side. So this may be altered but the important part is that we are working with him to move forward to get some houses built and he's ready to go vertical. Uh in this agreement it does state that we have asked him to hire as many local contractors and operators as possible as well as buying most of his

material local. and I know he's taken that to heart and he's already had some negotiations with um a couple of the uh building supply companies in town as well as he's posted online and had several conversations with some of the subcontractors uh who were looking to get involved in this project.

Mayor, I will need to um abstain from this vote due to banking I guess because of my banking employer I should say. You have any more questions? Motion.

Mayor, I make that motion. Second. Mr. Jackson made the motion. Uh, Mr. Strong second it. All in favor say I. Any oppose? Same sign. Item 24 carries. Item 25, consideration and possible action upon headco uh budget amendments. Uh number two, a lot of this is just based on the fact that um our budget, our work scope increased so much last year that items were fluid. for example, the Brasso development. We didn't have that ability when I was first hired under last year's budget to move forward with a housing project. Um, we did halfway through my tenure, so we were able to go ahead and get that into the budget. The um I mean, you could see the the layout on here. Office expenses went up a little bit. The contract labor went up because when the previous director retired, the uh board paid out his [snorts] we call it paid time off now. um that he had had acred. And uh we had a little bit of a discrepancy in what we paid to the city because what was considered our contract labor number did not include the uh um insurance and TMRS and other benefits that we get which we also reimburse the city back for. So our number was light when we started and that's what we needed to have on this amendment. Uh, and I think that pretty much takes us through. I mean, I'm happy to answer any of the questions about some of these items on here, but a lot of things have changed. We're being very aggressive now, as you all know. Um, we have a very aggressive marketing campaign, recruitment campaign, and all of those things just cost a little bit more.

You have any more questions about item 25 for Mr. Gardella? Uh, could I get a motion? Make a motion to accept item number 25, the amendment to second.

Suarez, uh, may the motion, Mr. Jackson seconded. All in favor say I. Any oppose? Same sign. Item 25 carries. Thank you. Thank you. U our departmental reports. Um we may deliberate and make any inquiries into the items listed in the uh departmental reports if there are any. I did an updated report for you. I emailed it um earlier, but I did went I went ahead and printed out a hard copy so you'd have it with you here this evening um just with updates as of all the way through um this evening or yesterday evening with the orientation and all that's in there. Just want to be as up to date as possible, not three weeks past. So uh so that's there for you. And it looks like we have Miss Arnal at the microphone.

[laughter] That's another smile that's too big. This button or something. Oh, the green the green light.

Green light. Um, but yeah, this will be my last last one. I've enjoyed it. um moved here in 1976. So I was like, "Oh, I'm one year from being here 50 years." But um and then when I moved here, of course, I was 13. And I was like, "Where is Henderson, Texas?" And then I was like, "When I'm 18, I'm out of here." Still here. So, took took me a few years to get out of here, but of course, lots of good memories and um I'll miss it. We'll come back. I've got to bring back my my grandbaby to show her off. So,

we'll be making several trips back. We'll try to hit a Tuesday, a third Tuesday of the month, and come in and see how things are going. But I have enjoyed it. There's some new faces up here. Um Mr. Scoggins. His mom was my math teacher and she did not discourage me from my enjoyment of math. So, I still enjoy math, still enjoy numbers. Um, appreciate her um leading me in that um direction. But um yeah, it's been it's been great. And so, you have any questions on the financial staff here to answer the question? [laughter] Now that you

you're gonna withdraw all your question that you had. Um but yeah, no, she's doing great. Um official last day will be tomorrow, but I will still be coming up and kind of helping her out still. I'm not just going to leave her. See you. I I won't change my phone number either.

And I guess I'll figure out what it is like living on Tulsa time. That's what I don't know what that is. I hope that doesn't mean you have to be early to to be on time. That's what I'm hoping. So, thank you all. All right. Thank you. [applause]

Mayor, if I might, one last thing on um with departmental reports, just really a brag on our um on our staff and our crews on the syrup festival because, you know, if y'all went hopefully you made it out there. Um we had a lot of folks. I haven't heard the actual the numbers what you know I know we're still working on that but um I heard a lot of positive comments from people. I've not heard anything negative come my way. So I just appreciate what everybody does. It seems like a welloiled machine. Um and you know people like me get to just go and enjoy it and um and um and run walk around and have a good time with our uh with our citizens and our guests and and it's always just a pleasure. It has been for me from when I was a little boy running around, you know. Um, and Karen had me in the in the nursery over here, so that's what was wrong with me, right? Yeah. That's how long she's been around. I've been around, too. Yeah. [laughter] Drop me on my head. That's what's wrong.

Yeah. I can help you a little bit because the parking down East Maine going towards 79 was way more than it has been in the last seven or eight years. I've had the house there 10 years now. Yeah, it was at least four blocks down. More cars parked four blocks down than there had been.

The redesign kind of spread things out. So, as many people are there, it still feel felt like it you had some room. So, it's continuing to expand. So, um job well done, Stephanie. And then into Christina, brand new into that role. So, she's moving into the civic center. Outstanding. Good job. Good job. did a great job. City did else. Where is Melissa?

Probably wants to adjourn the meeting, right? Oh, she's already out. Hold on. Start a new tradition here. Since I've been so quiet tonight, Mr. Mayor, I vote that we adjourn this meeting. Second. All in favor?

I. Any opposed? I [laughter] We'rejourned. Have a good evening. [laughter] Hey, that's the way I was for a while. So, [laughter] That's where