City Council - Regular Meeting

Oh, Two minute warning. Two minute warning. TV commercial break.

[crying] [laughter] power. What? Just [clears throat and snorts] [crying]

One minute. One minute. I can't [clears throat and cough] Yeah, goodness. It is 6 o'clock December 16th, 2025, 6 pm. Please note [snorts] we do have a quorum present tonight. Providing our invocation is Pastor James Mansfield to Victory Baptist Church. Welcome back, Pastor Mansville. We appreciate your service to Commerce and the community area here. Uh, and thank you for coming back and providing our invitation again. Uh, Victor Baptist Church is located at 2810 Farmed Market Road, 3218. Services at the church are Wednesday evenings at 7 p.m. and Sunday mornings at 11:00 a.m. Pastor James Manfield is a native of England who later moved to the States to pursue full-time ministry. Pastor Mansville has served as a church's pastor since 2016. James and his wife Andrea have been married 21 years and have seven sons. Please welcome to the podium, Pastor Mansfield. Please come forward and lead us in our

invocation tonight, sir. Thank you so much for coming back. Thank you for having me. It's good to see you all again and pray for this city regularly and it's a pleasure to be here tonight. We appreciate it.

Father, we thank you for tonight and this opportunity to look at the business of commerce and the surrounding area. And Lord, we do pray that you would uh pour out your wisdom and your spirit upon this place. We thank you for the blood of Jesus Christ that gives us an ultimate home in heaven uh through Jesus. And Lord, we do thank you for these elected officials and these leaders that run our city. And Lord, we hold them in high esteem and in high regard. And Lord, as they devote their time and their lives uh to pursue the best that is for the citizens here, we pray Lord you'd continue to uh make them uh make those right decisions that will help us and give them the wisdom and the clarity of thought to make those decisions. Lord, bless tonight all that's said and done. May it bring glory to you in Jesus' name. Amen.

Amen. Thank you, sir. Tonight, providing your pledge of allegiance is coach Jessica Gadlin's third grade girls basketball team. We have three of the eight here tonight. I was going to say the three of you make up for all the team, but thank you very much for being here tonight. Uh their season just kicked off two weeks ago and they're taking a break for the holidays. But you can catch their next game on Saturday, January the 10th at 2 p.m. right here in Commerce at the former middle school gym on Color Street. Girls, as I call your name, please wave to the audience like you just won a trophy. Okay. Uh Marjorie, Skyler, Alyn, Sadie, Vanessa, Ilana, Audrey, Madison. Okay, thank you ladies. We appreciate you being here. Everybody, please stand for the pledges. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation indivisible and justice for all. Honor the Texas flag. I aliance to thee, Texas. One state under God, one and indivisible.

Thank you, ladies. We appreciate you being here tonight. You may return to your seats. All right. The next item on the agenda tonight is the appointment of a mayor. Discussion of possible action on a resolution for the appointment of a qualified voter to serve in the position of mayor until the next regular city election on May 2nd, 2026. Mr. Lizby, city manager.

Mayor, council, thank you for the opportunity. I have about four things uh to cover. Uh this is a unique situation uh in which we are uh appointing a new mayor in the middle of an existing term. Uh and so I just want to talk through some of the specifics of this transition period. And so first under the Texas Constitution there are restrictions that prohibit a person from holding dual offices of emolment. An office of imolment means a public office for which the person receives either compensation or some other benefit. Under the Texas Constitution, elected officials who are not compensated, such as our city council members, are still considered to hold an office imument and may not hold another public office. In addition to the Texas Constitution, there are several common law prohibitions on dual office holding. Under the conflicting loyalties prohibition, a single person may not hold two public offices if holding both would create a conflict of loyalty. Since municipal governments can contract and work with county governments for goods and services, there is a conflicting loyalty issue. Under the Texas Constitution, cities with elected terms of office greater than 2 years have some unique considerations. Our terms are three. If the elected officials remaining term of office is greater than one year and 30 days, then that official automatically resigns when they announce their candidacy for another office. This provision satisfies the conflicting loyalties prohibition. The mayor has two years remaining on his term. So that's in excess of the one year and 30 days provision. Finally, under the Texas Constitution, a public official who resigns or vacates their office under this scenario continues to hold that office until a successor is appointed. This provision intends that the governing body appoint a successor as soon as reasonably practical. In this

case, the Commerce City Council is appointing a successor at the next regular meeting after the mayor announced his candidacy for Hunt County Judge. Any questions, Mayor? Is there any question from the council?

Couple other points. Just as I go through, I want to make sure it's clear. Second, and another common law incompatibility is called the selfappointment prohibition. Generally, a city council cannot appoint one of its own members to serve in a public office. However, the Texas Local Government Code makes an exception when the city council appoints one of its existing members as mayor in the event of a vacancy. In that case, the appointed member may not vote on the appointment. So, as you consider making the appointment for mayor, you can consider an existing council member even though they have the self-appointment prohibition because of provisions of the Texas Local Government Code. Third, under the city commerce charter, article 3, section 20 provides, if a vacancy should occur in the city council, the remaining members thereof by a majority vote shall appoint a qualified voter to serve until the next regular city election. At the next regular city election, a city council member shall be chosen by the vote of the people to serve out the term vacant. This means that whoever is appointed tonight to serve as mayor is only mayor until the May election in 2026. During the May 2026 election, voters will choose a mayor to serve a 2-year unexpired term or until May 2028. The winner of the May 26 election for mayor will not have a full three-year term, but rather the unexpired two-year term uh of the current term. And fourth, if the city council chooses to appoint a current city council member to serve as mayor, that city council member will vacate their current city council seat. Again, under the Commerce City Charter, this vacancy can be filled by any qualified voter selected and approved by the council with a majority vote. The person appointed to serve in this city council seat would only serve until the next regular city election in May of 2026.

Finally, mayor, on behalf of the entire city of commerce staff, I want to say thank you. You have served this community with distinction, and you have supported staff as we work to fulfill our mission, and it has been an honor to work with you. Your clear business and governance experience has been invaluable to us in very crucial times, and it's been valuable to our organization, and we collectively wish you the best as you move forward in your next endeavors. Thank you. [applause] [applause]

So, if I may, uh, are there any questions for [clears throat] Mr. Lisby before we move forward? Any questions? If not, may I have a motion to appoint? Make a motion that we appoint Steph to finish the uh, mayor. Second. We have a motion and a second. All in favor say I. I.

Any oppose like sign? Motion carries. [applause] See,

Teddy, before we move forward, as Howdy said, on behalf of the city council, and the city [clears throat] employees and the citizens of commerce. We thank you for your dedication and your service and you will be greatly missed. It has been a pleasure and an honor to serve with you on the council. Your leadership and commitment have made a lasting impact and your presence will not be forgotten. We wish you all the best in your future endeavors and hope you continue to inspire others as you inspired us. So on that, we're moving forward. Agenda item number five, discussion and possible action on resolution for the appointment of a qualified voter to serve in the position of city council member for place three. Do we have any uh comments or anything we need to go through for same [snorts] issues? Okay. Do I have a motion? Make a motion that we appoint Daniel Starks, place three.

Second. Have a motion in a second to appoint Daniel Starks, place three. All in favor say I. I. All oppose, nay. [snorts] Motion carries.

Welcome to the podium. [applause] mayor. Uh thank you. I I would just like again to to advise uh both of the new members in their roles um and the public at large. Uh these appointments are only until the election in May of 2026. Um and so should either of these two uh officers choose to keep their positions uh then they would need to file for candidacy run and win an election of the voters of our community which will happen in May 2026. Additionally uh mayor you have vacated the position of mayor prom and so item six now becomes important so that the council can appoint uh new mayor prom as required by our city charter.

Okay. Item number six is discussion of possible action on resolution for the appointment of a city council member to serve and in the position of mayor prom. Do you have an appointment? I move that we appoint Tony Henry. Mayor prom. Second. We have a motion and a second to appoint Tony Henry to Mayor Proim. All in favor say I. I. All oppose. Nay. Motion carries. Thank you. All right. And then we move to number eight, which is the presentation of the service. Yes. Of the office. You want to go ahead and do that first

for mayor and council place. Okay.

Want to do them at the same time? Obviously, your name and your place will be different. So, both stand and raise your right hand. I and state your name. I, Stephanie, do solemnly swear solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute I will faithfully execute the duties of the office the duties of the office of mayor city council member please mayor and city council please of the city of commerce of the city of commerce of the state of Texas of the state of Texas will to the best of my ability and will to the best of my ability preserve protect and defend preserve protect and defend the constitution Constitution and laws of the United States.

Constitution and laws of the United States of this state and of this state. So help me God. So help me God.

Congratulations. [applause] All right. Now, we're going to go and before we get started here, even though I am stepping in to be the mayor, we do ask that Teddy come up and help present these as well. Each year in December, we take the opportunity to recognize uh those employees that have reached significant milestones uh in their career and in their service to our community. Uh it is a a great thing to have uh employees uh that have chosen to give of their time, of their life. uh their families have loaned them to us. Uh and as they choose to stay in this organization, they gain additional knowledge and experience of of how to best serve our community. And so as we have longer tenured employees, we celebrate that because replacing long tenur employees is difficult and expensive. And so we recognize those who have given uh extended service to our community. And so we have a pretty impressive list of of employees tonight. And so we're going to begin with our five-year service awards. And first I'm going to invite up Officer Garrett Bolton. [applause] Officer Garrett Bolton completed his law enforcement training as the validictorian of his Hunt County Sheriff's Officer Academy in July of 2019. Shortly thereafter, he was hired by the Commerce Police Department in January of 2020, where he has served the

city in the patrol division for the last 5 years, and he approaches his sixth anniversary in January. Officer Bolton received his field training officer certification in September of 2024, and he currently trains new hires within the department. He has also received his intermediate peace officer license through the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement in October of 2024, which requires extensive training in deescalation techniques, asset forfeite, identity theft, human trafficking, crisis intervention, and other specialty training. Officer Bolton, thank you for your service. Like to call it Nikki Cana. Nikki Canara is a Commerce native and graduate of Commerce High School and she was hired by the city in May of 2020. As a communications officer, through her dedication and professionalism, she quickly distinguished herself in that role and was promoted to the communications supervisor, overseeing all of the police department's dispatchers. She also serves as a field training officer, mentoring new team members and helping maintain a high standard of service that our community relies on. Nikki is a rape aggression defense or RAD self-defense instructor. She is a CPR certified and currently working towards becoming a CPR instructor. She also holds an advanced emergency communications certification which requires extensive training in cultural diversity, ethics, crisis communications, and other specialty courses. Outside of work, Nikki is a proud mom of three children and has been married to her husband Marcus since November of 2022. Thank you for your service, Nikki. [applause] James Billy Hell. James was hired as a maintenance worker for the city's public works department in September of 2020. By November of 2023, he received his distribution C license and was promoted to maintenance

worker 2, where he continues to work along the city's water collection and dist distribution team, maintaining crucial infrastructure for residents and homes across the city. James or Billy is married to his wife Haley and also who serves as an animal control officer for the animal shelter and together they have three kids. Billy, thank you for your service. [applause] And then we have Heidi Lizenby. He was hired in November of 2020 as a city manager the city of commerce. Mr. Lizby has over 24 years of professional experience in local government at the executive level. Before commerce, he served in the town of Pekis city, the city of Appalene, and the city of Anson. In addition to serving as city manager, Mr. Lismbby is actively involved locally with the Chamber of Commerce, Rotary International, and and Commerce Community Action Program. While also tied to organizations like Texas City, goes to the next page management association, United Way, and Junior Achievement. Howdy and his wife Charlotte will celebrate 25 years of marriage in 2026 and share four children and four grandchildren. [applause] Stand up. Howdy. Okay, stand up. [laughter]

Roger Thompson.

Roger was hired in May 2020 as a parks recreation labor pro proving to be a valuable asset to the parks and recreation and their lean staff department. He was quickly promoted to maintenance worker 2 in December of 2020 where he took on the responsibility of leading the charge in maintenance of the Eddiemore Sports Complex. Roger has been married to his wife Christina for eight years. They share two kids, nine-year-old Rosanna and three-year-old Ryder. Roger, thank you for your service. [applause] Did Tommy White sneak in? Tommy, come on up. Tommy was hired as a wastewater plant operator 1 in April of 2020. In August of 2022, he received his class C wastewater license and has been promoted to operator 2. Tommy has been serving the city as a city as a regular operator at our wastewater plant for over 5 years. Tommy, thank you. [applause] Now, we're going to move to tenure service awards, and I'd like to call up Mike Garcia.

Mike is a native of Commerce, graduated from Commerce High School in 2004. I didn't know they were going to throw you under the bus like that. Still, he was hired in November of 2015, and in just five short years, Mike was promoted to parks and recreation maintenance worker 2. In September of this year, Mike was again promoted to ground supervisor, overseeing the entire staff and all the responsibilities of the parks department. He and his wife Savannah have been together for 22 years, and they share three kids, Michael, Emily, and Abby. Abby, both Michael and Emily also graduates of Commerce High School, and Abby is a junior at Commerce High School currently. M, thank you for your service. [applause] Moving on to 15 years of service, I would like to ask Chief Chris Bassel to come forward. Chief Bassam was hired in June of 2010 and in just three years, Chris was promoted to lieutenant within the fire department. By November of 2016, he became fire chief. In 2023, Chief received his certifications for advanced firefighter, advanced arson investigator, fire inspector, and fire firefighter department head of suppression art. Chief Bassam was appointed to be the city's emergency management director in 2019. Chief Bassam is also a master peace officer through the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement. Chris and his wife Amy have been married for 20 years and share a 16-year-old daughter, Holly. Chris's experience in the field and his abilities have served alongside his firefighters for years and has proven to be very beneficial as he leads both the fire department and our emergency management department. Chief, thank you for your service. [applause] Now 20 years of service, Timothy Jones. As we reach this level of service, it's important to acknowledge not only do they reach a commemorable level of service in their career, but it's a milestone that we administration don't take for granted. These awards are a

very small token of our appreciation for all that they do and the impact they've had for 20 plus years is immeasurable. Timothy Jones or TJ was hired in October of 2005 as a utility plant operator. He received his class C certification in 2006. TJ was promoted to utility plant foreman in 20 2010 and in 2012 received his class B water license. In April of 2020, he was promoted to public utilities director and then in March of 2022, TJ was promoted to public works director. TJ received his wastewater treatment operator C and wastewater treatment operator A certification in 2023. TJ and his wife Randy have been married for 21 years. They share three children together, Noah, Mason, and Eastston. TJ brings a wealth of public utilities and infrastructure experience to our staff and a small amount of baseball acumen and we are grateful to have him on our team. [applause] Also at 20 years, Billy Ruffford, [applause] Billy and I see eye on a lot of things.

Billy's been serving the city of commerce as code enforcement officer since 2005. He loves working for the city so much that he retired and then came back again in 2023 to work part-time for our community development department. He was inducted into the Commerce ISD Hall of Honor in 2015, and he's well known for his strong community ties and his incredible knowledge of commerce history. Billy has two sons and two stepdaughters, and he stays busy with his seven grandchildren and his love for local sports through the school district and East Texas Annium. We are grateful for Billy's continued dedication to serving the citizens of Commerce. Thank you, Billy. [applause] And finally, recognizing 25 years of service, Curtis Johnson. [applause] Curtis was hired as a water treatment plant operator in August of 2000.

By October of 2001, he promoted to utility plant operator 2 at the water treatment plant. In 2002, Curtis received his surface water sea license through the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. And then in August of 2007, he advanced to receive a class B surface water license. He obtained his class B operator license in September of 2023. And Curtis brings a wealth of experience and expertise to running our treatment plant and we are fortunate to have him on staff. I want to add, this isn't written, u but 5 years ago when I joined the team, our water treatment plant was limping barely to put that generously. And it was Curtis's experience and expertise that has kept the water treatment plant running and serving this community through some very, very challenging times. So Curtis, thank you for your experience and your expertise. [applause] [clears throat] Move on to item number.

For those employees that received recognition, you and your families, as you leave, if you want, you can swing around the executive conference room. We have some cupcakes and punch uh if you would like to enjoy those. Lots of sugar for the little ones, so we highly encourage it. Thank you, mayor. I keep looking for Teddy figure who he's talking to. Um, we move on to number nine, the consent agenda. Did anybody have any questions or any issues with the consent agenda? I move we pass agenda. Second.

I have a motion and a second to pass this consent agenda. All in favor say I.

I. All oppose, nay. Motion carries. All right. Then number 10 is presentation of the city council by members of the public [clears throat] to be conducted at as close to 605 as possible with a 3minut limit per person. Public comments will cease at 6:20. This period is reserved for citizens to discuss items not on the listed agenda. The response to public comments will be limited to a statement of fact or policy, direction to take up an issue with a city council member or uh an offer to place the item on a future uh consent agenda. I have one card, Frank Higgins. [clears throat] Frank, when you come forward, if you'll give us your name and where you live. Frank Higgins. I live 507 North Neil. Most of you know me. I've been up here quite quite a bit. Uh welcome to the jungle.

You're going to need it. Um really I'm up here to give thanks to the city council, the mayor, and especially How did this be? He doesn't get enough recognition on the good that he does for commerce. Uh the people out here in the city don't realize exactly what this man does, but he finds money where there's no money to do things that need to be done in commerce. He listens to the people. He come he when you call him for a meeting, he'll be there. If he's if it's physically possible, he will be there. He will take care of the business that you ask him to take care of. He's a hell of an asset for commerce. We're lucky to have him and we need to keep him as long as we can. Whatever it takes, budget, whatever.

This man needs to say he's good for commerce. Thank you. Thank you, Frank. [applause] I'll pay you after the meeting, Frank. Thank you. [laughter] We have anyone else? Okay, we'll move on to item number 11, council comments. Uh, pursuant to Texas Local Government Code 551.0415B. The purpose of this section is to allow the mayor and each city council member the opportunity to announce city events, community interest, and request that items be placed on future city agendas. Tony, welcome aboard. [laughter]

Congratulations. Thank you very much. Thank you, Daniel. Thank you guys so much for having me. I'm very blessed and very honored to be here. Thank you.

I have a couple of things to say. Um, first of all, I want to thank the city staff and the Commerce Economic Development Corporation for all the hard work that they did over the holidays to get our town looking so nice. A lot of it uh was run on a cheap budget that we had some parts guys that made all of our pretty trees and everything and they did a great job and and we really appreciate all that work. Also, the miracle on Main Street, the CLI, the downtown Alliance all had a a hand in that. There's a lot of people, a lot of work went into that to make probably the best parade that I have seen here in 25 or 30 years. It was it was awesome. So, I want thank everyone that had a hand in that. I'd also like to thank the community for uh we just finished up Conser Little Angels. We had 425 kids that we uh provided Christmas gifts to. And I'd like to thank those that uh adopted an angel, those that have fundraisers. The police department and the fire department had [clears throat] uh a still a chili and stew supper uh to help fund raise. and we appreciate those are all things that are behind the scene that a lot of people don't know the extra mile our city and city staff go to. Thank you.

And Jim, I have nothing tonight. Just welcome aboard, Danny. Okay, we'll move on to number 12. Uh discussion and possible action on a resolution approving the sale of city-owned property located at 1520 Pan Street, property ID number 54401 to DNE Auto Supply and authorizing the city manager to execute any necessary documentation. How listenby

mayor council. Thank you. U as you're aware the city has a number of properties that we hold in trust. uh many of which have been struck off the tax roles for tax foreclosure notes at various times in the past. Uh and a couple years ago, the city decided to start uh putting these properties on the market uh so that they can be purchased by members of the public and developed and put back on the tax role rather than the city just holding all these properties. Uh state law has some particular arrangements of how a municipality may dispose of property. uh and the one that we chose being the most convenient is to work with a broker. Uh and so a broker uh lists these properties and was approached by D& Auto. This is the property immediately to the south of DN Auto uh that they wish to acquire so that they can expand and improve the services that they offer uh at their place of business. And so staff recommends approval of this offer to purchase and be happy to answer any questions. Does anybody have any questions? I'm

just curious. Are they going to build another bay? Do we have any idea? Don't know yet. At least for now, they're going to uh make some improvements for parking. Uh don't know if they're going to expand the building again. [snorts] Any other questions? Do I have a motion? I move that we approve the sale of 1520 Pan Street to DN Auto Service. Second. We have a motion in a second. All in favor say I. I. All oppose. Nay.

Motion carries. Number 13 is discuss and possible action on a resolution by the city council of the city of commerce, Texas, approving the purchase of a classifier gear drive for the wastewater treatment plant from Southwest Fluid Products, Inc. in an amount not to exceed $175,000 and authorizing the city manager or his designate to sign and ed execute any necessary documentation. Timmy,

good evening, Mayor and Council. Uh I'm here tonight just to ask you all to approve uh to replace the gear drive of clarifier number two at the wastewater treatment plant. Uh this project is budgeted in our 206 budget and uh Southwest Fluids we did not go out for quotes. It was a sole sole source project because Southwest fluids have replaced two other clarifiers that we have and they also are in direct uh relationship with another company that has our blueprints of the old clarifiers. So we did not go up close on this and I'm just here to ask you to approve it not to exceed $175,000. Does anybody have any questions?

Yes, Jen. Uh, what kind of time frame we looking at? Uh, we've already got the quote back, so as soon as we get it approved, it'll get rolling. Our clarifying we still out there right now is still operation working. This is just to replace it before it goes out. Thank you. They have to custom uh manufacture the gears uh for these boxes. Uh each clarifier, these parts are sitting on a shelf somewhere, so there will be some fabrication time involved. Um, but this is an example of staff getting ahead of maintenance issues. Uh, and we're not waiting for it to fail. We're going ahead and replacing it because it's extended way past its uh, useful life. Uh, but there will be some fabrication time involved.

Any other questions? Can I have a motion? I move that we uh authorize the city uh to purchase a to to replace the clarifier gear drive for the water treatment plant not to exceed $175,000. Wastewater treatment plant. Yeah, that [snorts] we have a motion and a second. All in favor say I. I.

All oppose? Nay. Motion carries. Next one is a discussion and possible action on an ordinance authorizing a request by applicant David Cochran for uh for the Bar D Club for conditional use permit to allow for a bar, lounge, or tavern for the property located at 1205 Main Street, Commerce, Texas, 75428. Property ID 54143. Legal description S4380 or original town commerce block 3 lot 2 acres point 0992 CD corridor district. This requires us to have a public hearing as well. John,

good evening. So the applicant at that owns 1205 Main Street uh approached us about uh getting a CO and in in the corridor district. It requires a conditional use permit. So, planning zoning met on December 2nd to meet on this topic and have a public hearing. Um 1205 Maine has been and from all the people I have around me and my on my staff has have told me that 1205 main has served in this use for numerous amounts of year uh years. Um it's the floor plan's not changing. Nothing's really changing about this. They're cleaning it up. They they've got their backflow test done today. Um PNZ did not see any reason to add any conditions to the the permit. Um they've applied for their alcohol permits as well. Uh staff recommends approval.

Okay. Council have any questions for Mr. Harper? Okay. I think we'll open for a public hearing at 6:37. Is there anyone that has comments or questions? Hearing none, I close the public hearing at 6:38. And do I have a motion? I move that we approve the conditional use permit to allow for uh bar lounge or tavern at 1205 Main Street in Commerce.

Second. Let's be on the first reading. [clears throat] I have a motion and a second to pass on the first reading. All in favor say I. I.

All opposed? Nay. Motion carries. All right. Number 15. We also have a first reading conducting a public hearing on the discussion and possible action on the approval of an ordinance authorizing request by Mr. Pashchair for uh Commerce Texas Developers LLC on a reszone application for property ID 38600. Legal description A1258 Julian J D track 11 acres 11.405 405 property 38601 legal description A1258 Julian JD track 11-1 acres 17.55 also known as 2066 Wolf City Drive Commerce Texas 75428 from I Industrial District 2 PD planned development district John Good evening. Uh again, uh this property, it's actually two properties, is located uh north of 224 along 24 and south of 11. Um in the north side of town, if if anybody needs more directions than that, um it started out the the developer purchased that land that was just used for agricultural purposes and then they also um got they they got in touch with the EDC who owned a piece of land just south of there off of 24 um a couple years ago now to to purchase it and I think it it just purchased recently in the last in the last year. Um anyways, the EDC couldn't use that land for any other use for industrial

purposes, so they decided to sell it. And then you combine it into one big track, uh hopefully, and the plan development is the the intended uses are multifamily, start out with multifamily, phase it in into the hotel option, and then eventually retail and restaurants moving along 24 moving north. [snorts]

um the the 360 units for multifamily um and they hit all the requirements for the submission of an application for a plan development district in the in the appendix A zoning. Um, PNZ recommen recommended approval with a development schedule to be submitted at the preliminary plat process phase and uh the condition of having textile approval um before moving forward with it. Text now the engineer he said he couldn't make it tonight because he's sick but he's going to be here for the January meeting if we have more questions. Uh but he did clarify that they already have preliminary approval from Tex DOT um for the submitted concept plan. Um once once city council uh if city council approves then they'll submit a more formal site plan to text DOT. They'll have a traffic impact study analysis determining how long the right lane length will need to be. After that um text dots they have to they have a certain time to complete their their permits for the approaches with text dot. So it'll be a phase in phase out uh approval process from text dot. So those those approaches might move from what initially was submitted but we will have it uh all ironed out. Believe that's it. John, is there has the ECC already sold that or is it in condition? Okay.

The term of the terms of the EDC deal, I'm sure, are okay. You know, on a piece of paper somewhere, the county by now. Does anybody else have any other questions? Okay, this requires a public hearing. So, I open the public hearing at 6:43. Does anybody have any questions or comments?

Okay, I close the public hearing at 6:43. Do I have a motion? Make a motion we pass on the first reading. Have a second. I have a motion and a second to pass um the um first reading. All in favor say I. I. All oppose. Nay. Motion carries. Now we're to the city manager report. Howdy,

mayor, council. Thank you again. Thank you, Frank. Uh I'll I'll pay you in cupcakes after the meeting is over. uh appreciate the compliments. It's an honor to serve our community. And I'm going to hand it over to uh Miss Jamie. Uh our finance update's a little bit different this year uh or this week uh because I want to recognize the the great work in Endeavor that Jamie and her team are going through. We're in the middle of a software conversion. Um this is not an upgrade of one version of software to the next version of software. This is a conversion of a completely different type uh of of data processing from one application to the next. And she just completed transferring all of our accounting and financials from one software to the next. So far it has been successful but um she still has hair.

Uh and so it's it's been a challenging couple of weeks and we have uh more time to go and she's been doing an incredible job. Uh and so the typical financial analysis that you're used to seeing isn't ready tonight, but uh she does have some meaningful input to give you. So

thank you Howdy. Uh mayor and council. So um as Howdy was saying, um we are going through a financial system upgrade. It's going to be done in three phases. And what's important about that is the second phase is what's going to affect our citizens the most. Um the second phase is the ubil utility billing portion. So, um, as we do all of the financials, payroll, accounts payable, that all went live last week and last week and this week, I think all I have done is just check reports, look at reports, look at numbers. Um, my brain is fried. [laughter] Um, but the while that's happening, we're also already working on the utility billing side. So, um I just kind of want to put it out there that when we um start to get ready for utility billing, I believe it's either the third or fourth week in January, we are going to have the utility billing window closed so that the girls can focus 100% of their time on training. Um we will still the front doors will still be open. We'll still take payments online. They can still drop them off. We'll still make sure everybody's payments get processed. Um, and for for really important issues, we're going to be in office. So, we are available. It's just so that we can 100% focus on training on the new software. So, there will be four, hopefully only four, not five days of training where the windows closed. So, I just kind of want to give everybody an update on that. Um, the last piece will be um courts. Um, that's still a long way away. I haven't even started working on courts yet. So, the other update I want to give you is that I have finally finished the budget in brief document that you all have copies of. This is available for everybody. Um, Molly, don't let me forget. I need to email it to you to put on the website.

Just [snorts] remember that. Um, but it's we will have it available on the website. Um, we have some available to be picked up here at city hall. Um, we have plenty of copies. Um, but what this is is just a very short version. Um, big facts, big items from the budget that I think most people kind of want to know. And so, it's something that we work on every year. We're very proud of the document. And so, sorry it's about a month late, but you have it now. So, if you have any questions while you're going through it, um, please feel free. Uh, finance department's always open and we love talking budget. So happy to do it. That's all I have for you tonight. Thank you.

I just want to point out, Jamie, that your city council information is inaccurate. [laughter] I'm not reprinting the other than that, it looks great. I'll just get a Sharpie on my poor accountant. I'll just have her do it. [laughter]

Good evening, Mayor, Council, Citizens of Commerce. Um, our friends at Bloomfield Homes are hosting a meet and greet with Santa himself and his reindeer. So, you can come on out to Bloomfield Homes, specifically 112 Sweetwater Drive on the evening of December 20th. And before Santa gets too busy, bring the kiddos out um and get some some good photo opportunities. So, that'll be on December 20th. We've released our new clean commerce campaign for the 2025 2026 year. We typically do the sections uh each cleanup on the last Wednesday of the month. Um you'll notice for section A this month, the last two Wednesdays of the month fell on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve. So we had to back that up to tomorrow. So for section A residents, pickup is tomorrow. Um you can have trash curbside by 7 a.m. for pickup. Um, and then there's the rest of our dates. And then we also had to modify the very last date in section D to accommodate the Thanksgiving holiday. So, aside from that, it's the last Wednesday of every month. Um, we also have we'll have these printed here in the next week or so, and it has the map on the back if you're unsure what section you're in. Um, and then we have we get a lot that I I'm not going to look at that, tell me what section I'm in. You can always call up here and we'll help you figure out which section you're in. Our youth baseball and softball registration is open. It actually opened on December 8th. It will remain open through February 9th. Um as a reminder, coaches and volunteers who sign up um get to draft on a first come first- serve basis. So if you're interested in coaching, uh we recommend that you sign up sooner rather than later. And sign the kiddos up. It's $65 for the season and it's for ages 3 through 14. You can register at commerce reccreation.com right now or you can come up to city hall and we'll help you get the kiddos registered. That's all I have for you.

Thank you, Molly. I want to add uh that the city is still host to uh a movie production that will be taking place within our community. Uh the production team was here uh during the M miracle on Main Street and the parade. Uh and we also want to give a shout out to the Chamber of Commerce for the work they did in uh participating with the parade. uh have it on a reliable source of data uh that for the evening of Miracle on Main Street, we had approximately 1,400 people uh downtown uh during the parade event. So that was a very nice uh turnout. Uh it is a good uh boom for our economy. But uh the movie production team will come back in January, I believe January 18th through the 27th uh to do the uh filming uh for the parts that contain actors and acting. And so if you were contacted as being in the movie as an extra or with a speaking part, uh they are still coming in late January. [snorts] So we will leave some of our Christmas decorations up after Christmas into the month of January so that they're still out and available for the movie production team uh at the end of January. So no, we did forget to take down Christmas. We're leaving it in place for the movie production at the end of January. Uh and so we just want to make sure the community is aware of what's going on. Uh moving on to personnel, uh we want to welcome and recognize Nicole. Uh Nicole Fernandez is our uh newest employee. Uh and she's our community engagement specialist. Uh and will be helping us as we communicate with the community and get feedback from the community. Uh she brings an incredible depth of experience and we're excited to have her on the team uh to serve council uh and staff. Uh and uh last thing I've got uh is uh the hospital board uh is meeting this evening. Uh on their agenda, they are supposed to take action to donate uh the land that was the former hospital on

Sterling Hart Drive. Uh that property is supposed to be given to the city as a donation uh so that we can use it as an asset within our parks and other city services. Uh and so we'll find out later tonight when their meeting has concluded if that did in fact happen. Uh and if so then we'll be prepared in our January meeting uh to accept that donation of property uh and start working how to roll that into our comprehensive and parks master plan. Uh I have no other updates and we do not have a need for executive session there. All right. So do I have a motion to adjurnn? So move. Second. We are adjourned at 6:52.