[10:37] All right, we're opening the city
council meeting. It's 6 PM Tuesday, June
[10:41] 2nd, 2026. Uh we do have a quorum and
the invitation.
[10:50] All right,
thank you. H
[10:59] Heavenly Father, thank you for this
opportunity to gather in service to this
[11:03] community. Please grant us the wisdom to
make decisions as we seek to do what's
[11:08] best for the city of Mount Pleasant. Uh
[11:14] please bless this council, our
employees, our first responders, and the
[11:18] citizens of Mount Pleasant. In your name
we pray. Amen.
[11:21] » Amen. Thank you.
[11:26] » To the flag
of America to the republic.
[11:32] One nation under God, indivisible, with
liberty, justice for all.
[11:43] All right, we're going into open
session. Public comments. The city
[11:46] council welcomes citizen participation
and comments at all council meetings.
[11:50] Citizens
comments are limited to three minutes
[11:53] out of respect for everyone's time.
Council is not permitted to respond to
[11:56] your comments. The Texas Open Meetings
Act requires that the topics of
[12:00] discussion deliberation be posted on the
agenda not less than three business days
[12:04] in advance of the council meetings. If
your comments relate to the topic that
[12:08] is on the agenda, the council will
discuss the topic on the agenda at that
[12:12] time that the topic is discussed and
deliberated.
[12:20] My name is Kyle Moing. Um, Mount Vernon,
Texas. Good evening, council. My name is
[12:25] Kyle Moring. I live in Mount Vernon,
Texas. When public officials talk about
[12:29] integrity, the test is not the slogan.
The test is the record. On December 3rd,
[12:33] 2025, I sat across from city manager Rob
Vine. He told me, "My integrity is all I
[12:37] have. Once it's gone, it's gone." He
said, "I'm not going to change my name
[12:40] to defendant." And he gave me his motto.
Do the right thing at the right time for
[12:43] the right reasons. Those are the words.
Here's the record. On the city's open
[12:47] gov transparency portal, over 600 social
security number entries, at least 20
[12:51] distinct social security numbers,
including at least one apparently
[12:54] associated with current city personnel,
and about 35 sexual assault forensic
[12:58] exam payment records containing victim
identifying personal information,
[13:02] including dates of birth and exam dates,
one apparently involving a 13-year-old.
[13:06] In a in a records production, the city
also released Schneider Schneider
[13:10] Electric banking information and
customer level water meter and lead
[13:13] service line records with account data,
addresses, GPS coordinates, meter
[13:17] readings, and work orders. And the city
released a full unredacted Mount
[13:20] Pleasant Police Department report
connected to an active federal case,
[13:23] including information concerning minors.
On May 27th, 2026, the city certified to
[13:28] the state in a sworn no record
certification that it had no responsive
[13:31] records showing investigation,
remediation, or even contact with open
[13:34] gov. The only record it found was my
email reporting what had happened to the
[13:38] city. Based on the city's p pattern, I
anticipated this response, protect
[13:42] itself, minimize the problem, and shift
the burden onto the person who reported
[13:46] it. That is why I had already taken it
upon myself to notify open Gov,
[13:49] Schneider Electric, the US Department of
Justice, the Texas Department of Public
[13:53] Safety, and other appropriate regulatory
and oversight authorities. The city
[13:57] should have done that. It did not. When
I notified this council about the
[14:00] unredacted police report, the response
was not an apology. The city's outside
[14:04] attorney, Austin Beck, invoked Texas
government code 552.352
[14:09] against me, a criminal statute carrying
a possible fine and up to six months in
[14:12] jail. The city released the record. I
reported it. Then the city pointed a
[14:16] criminal statue at the reporter.
Tonight, the city's open gov financial
[14:19] transparency portal is still down, and
the SharePoint link that the city
[14:22] provided for the records I paid to
receive remains inaccessible. Thomas
[14:26] Payne warned, "A body of men holding
themselves accountable to nobody ought
[14:29] not to be trust by trusted by anybody."
That is the issue before you tonight,
[14:33] not personality, not politics,
accountability. So again, I request that
[14:37] my formal ethics complaints be placed
back before this council for a public
[14:40] vote. And again, I request an outside
investigation and independent audit into
[14:44] the city's internal controls or the lack
thereof. Those are the right things.
[14:48] This is the right time. Thank you.
[14:54] Does anybody have anything to say?
All right, we're good. Let's go ahead
[15:00] and move on to uh item number one.
Consider approval of May 19th, 2026
[15:06] meeting minutes.
>> Get a motion.
[15:08] » I'll make a motion to approve the
meeting minutes from May 19th, 2026.
[15:16] » I second.
>> Madam Secretary, you get a vote, please.
[15:20] » Yes.
>> I
[15:25] » I
>> I.
[15:27] » All right. Motion passed unanimously. We
move on to item number two. Discuss and
[15:32] consider adding one position to approve
positions list by adding another water
[15:36] plant operator for the Lake Bob Sandland
LBS water plant. And this is our utility
[15:41] director, Marshall.
>> Good evening. So, tonight I was going to
[15:46] bring up um adding a new position. We
were going to wait until budget to
[15:51] introduce this, but um I believe maybe a
month or two about well, it's been more
[15:57] than that. Uh few councils ago, we
discussed a filter project that we're
[16:02] going to move forward with. It's still
in a process of being put together. So,
[16:07] uh it's not ready to go, but one of our
filters at our plant has gone down. So
[16:13] we decided to try to move this up ahead
because of our weekend. We shut down our
[16:19] LBS plant on the weekends because it
just never was turned on or to in that
[16:24] process of doing it. But lo doing that
when we turned it off, we lose 5 million
[16:29] gallons a day on the weekend for no
reason. So with us losing that one
[16:35] filter, we al we're already losing 3
million gallons a day no matter what
[16:40] happens. So instead of us losing that
amount on a weekend basis, especially
[16:44] during the summer, we decided we needed
to go ahead and just move it ahead with
[16:49] this and ask permission creating this
position. The benefits
[16:55] astound are are astounding that we never
have done it. I mean, we lose 13 million
[17:02] gallons a year just because we turn it
off. We have to flush everything every
[17:06] time we turn it off. So that's if we
turn that around and sold that, that's a
[17:11] profit. And then the new LBS plant is
actually more efficient than the old
[17:17] one. So it would lower the cost of us
not having to run the older plant as
[17:23] much. We can lessen it on our chemicals
and our energy. So it would it would
[17:28] balance itself out with with these.
From what I remember, um, you were
[17:36] saying that we're basically going to be
making money off of adding another
[17:38] position, right?
>> Just the water loss alone would pay for
[17:43] two positions, but we only need
>> That's what I was thinking. I was Okay.
[17:48] » Any discussion?
>> And council, I would add too that this
[17:51] this is already budgeted for
>> Yes. Yes. This would not change my
[17:55] budget whatsoever.
[17:59] » So, this will allow us to not have to
shut that down ever again. We'll have it
[18:02] 247
>> 247
[18:05] until we decide we don't want it to be
that way, but there's no reason for it
[18:08] not to be that way.
[18:12] » Um,
what's going on with the filter? I know
[18:16] you said something about a filter
project as well. I mean, obviously, we
[18:18] need disposition because no one's
manning that that facility. Just
[18:22] curious.
>> So, the the the filters we have on the
[18:25] the old plant from the 70s, we were
going to upgrade to an air scour system.
[18:31] The base of it cracked a couple weeks
ago. So now it has to be 100% rebuilt on
[18:37] at least one of the filters to even do
the project. But we lost the whole
[18:41] filter itself because of
>> No, that's fine. Just make sure we kind
[18:45] of touched on it then we talked about
just folks paying attention to making
[18:49] sure we kind of heard
>> the project actually hasn't come in
[18:51] front of the public. It was it was just
discussed but it hasn't actually been
[18:56] finalized.
>> I know. I'm just marrying the the
[18:58] position. Yeah,
>> that's all. You're good. Thanks, sir.
[19:02] » And that is a project that will be
funded by a bond and it's about to go
[19:05] out for RFB
>> next month.
[19:07] » It should be just the filter breaking
kind of put a little snag in it. So, we
[19:12] have to see what
>> it forward a little bit.
[19:16] I talked to Rob about this last week and
when you see what we can say and we
[19:23] always wondered when it was built well
we didn't open it up 24 hours a day
[19:28] seven days a week just like the one here
but anyway I was impressed with the
[19:32] numbers and I appreciate what you've
done with it to show the the need for it
[19:37] and I'm I'm all
>> Yes ma'am.
[19:41] » All right have a motion. I'll make a
motion to approve adding another water
[19:45] plant operator to the approved position
list. Second.
[19:49] » I second that motion.
>> Madam Secretary, can you get a vote,
[19:51] please?
>> I
[19:56] » I
>> Yes.
[20:00] » I
motion was unanimous. Let's go ahead and
[20:04] move on down to number three. hold a
public hearing per the city unsafe
[20:08] building abatement code found in chapter
150 of the code of ordinances and to
[20:13] consider order 26-002
a declaration of dilapidated structure
[20:18] at 1007 west pan street within the city
of Mount Pleasant Texas find it to be
[20:24] dilapidated and or deteriorated and
damaged so as to require repair
[20:30] rehabilitation or demolition providing a
time within which the owner should
[20:34] rehabilitate repair or demolish the
structure and to consider ordering a
[20:39] city abatement and subsequent lean on
dilapidated structure at uh 107 West
[20:46] Bonan Oakan Edition block 4 lot one and
start Mr.
[20:53] Good evening, mayor, uh, council
members. So, I got a couple substandard
[20:57] structures I want to bring before you
tonight. Um, just to kind of let
[20:59] everybody know the process that we go
through. It's, uh, dictated by our city
[21:03] ordinance, chapter 150, as well as state
statute 214. Properties are identified
[21:08] by staff as unsafe, dilapidated,
dangerous. Owners are notified. If we
[21:12] don't receive any kind of response from
the not owners, then it does come before
[21:16] city council hearing. Um at this time
then we do ask council to make a
[21:21] decision to either grant us permission
to demolish the structure or agreed upon
[21:25] plan by the property owner and if it's
not demolished in 30 days the city has
[21:29] the right to do so and we will recoup
the money through a lean if the bill is
[21:32] not paid. And so the first two actually
I just want to kind of bring to your
[21:37] attention. This is 1206 Rambo. I know
Debbiey's really familiar with this
[21:40] property, but um we sent out notices to
them kind of to go through the same
[21:44] process, but it actually transferred
ownership and the new owner demolished
[21:47] it. So, that property is now gone. Um we
also had another issue here at 111
[21:51] Hoverard actually police chief brought
this one to me. They were having issue
[21:54] with vagrants and uh trespassers and
that sort of thing. And uh we ended up
[21:58] send them a notice, they sold it and
also to demolish that property. So, I
[22:02] just wanted to kind of bring those to
your attention. Um as far as this goes,
[22:05] 107 West PCON um actually this morning.
I just found out about 10:00 that the
[22:11] owner of the property sold the property
um to a new owner. She came in and met
[22:16] with me this morning. Um they did pull a
permit to put in new windows and they
[22:20] are going to rehabilitate the property.
And so she's here if you want to talk to
[22:24] her as well as the existing uh uh the
owner that was that had sold her the
[22:28] property. And so if you guys want to
give it an extension or um order
[22:35] demolish, that's up to you. but she's
here um to explain her situation.
[22:39] » All right. Any more discussion?
>> We'll go ahead and open the hearing.
[23:02] » Hello, I'm Magna. I will be
Sorry, I'm going to be her translator.
[23:07] » Uh, she's saying that she's only coming
here alone cuz her husband is a truck
[23:11] driver. He couldn't come, but she's the
one she's the new owner and she's going
[23:16] to be um starting to work on the house.
>> Okay. And so, y'all are the one in the
[23:21] extension?
>> Yes, we
[23:23] » All right. Any discussion? H
>> how much time uh can can you ask her how
[23:29] much time is she planning to need to get
it up to to standard?
[23:35] » [laughter]
[23:40] » What's the maximum amount y'all can give
her?
[23:43] » What's the normal amount you'll give?
>> Typically, so far we've given 90 days.
[23:46] » Do and that's to at least get the
exterior up. Obviously, they can take
[23:49] longer, but to get the exterior cleaned
up, new windows put in, roof if need be,
[23:52] and get it painted and and then they can
work on the interior as as they have
[23:56] time.
>> Yeah. And I just I think if if we see
[23:58] progress on all of that stuff, then
everybody's going to be reasonable to
[24:03] Right.
[24:11] » So, is that is that possible for her to
be able to get that much done?
[24:26] » She said she's going to do it in 90
days. She'll do it in 90 days.
[24:31] » Well, yeah, that's
[24:35] the interior. I She didn't speak
English, so she probably didn't hear all
[24:38] that.
>> Well, she was here with her and I
[24:54] » So, you you want to do 90 days and then
have them come back after 90 days?
[24:59] » Just ask John and as long as she's
working on it, you know, within a
[25:09] longer than 90 days. So, we would love
to see it brought it's a beautiful house
[25:16] and so we would love to see it done
right and so
[25:33] So I think report back to Mr. John.
[25:41] » Yeah. Thank you.
[26:00] All right. So, we'll go ahead and close
the hearing and uh make a motion.
[26:06] I make a motion uh to extend
um by 90 days uh for the new owner to
[26:15] make put work on 0007 West Pan Street.
We would circle back in 90 days, see on
[26:21] progress. We get a second.
>> A second. And I want to say um good luck
[26:26] and I can't wait to see new pictures.
>> All right, Madam Secretary, can you get
[26:32] a vote, please?
>> I
[26:37] » I
>> Yes.
[26:40] » I
modem. Uh the motion passed
[26:45] unanimously. We'll go ahead and move on
to item number four. hold a public
[26:49] hearing for the city unsafe building
abatement code found in chapter 150 of
[26:55] the code of ordinances and to consider
order 26-003
[27:00] declaration of dilapidated structures at
702 circle drive within the city of
[27:05] Mount Pleasant, Texas finded dilapidated
and/or deteriorated and damaged so as to
[27:09] require repair rehabilitation or del
uh demolition providing a time within
[27:15] which the owner should rehabilitate,
repair or dem demolish such structure
[27:19] and to consider ordering city abatement
and subsequent lean of the dilapidated
[27:24] structure at 702
Circle Drive, Mineral Springs Edition,
[27:30] aka Red Springs block 15, lot 8.
>> All right. On this particular property,
[27:36] um I don't know how long it's been
vacant. One of our code officers,
[27:39] Daniel, has been here a long time. He
says it's been vacant as long as he can
[27:41] remember. But I know they haven't had
water service since 2022, and they're
[27:45] about 5 years behind on taxes. And so I
sent out letters. It's in an estate. Um
[27:49] it was in um Wy Roy C. Junior or senior
estate. Um I didn't get a response from
[27:55] anybody. Um but as you can see, the
house is pretty much dilapidated. The
[27:58] windows are all busted out. That's how I
got a picture of the uh interior of the
[28:01] house. Um but um I don't think it's
worth saving or even possible to
[28:06] possibly save this one. So I'm asking
the council allow us to demolish the
[28:10] house in 30 days if not done so by the
property owner.
[28:13] » Any discussion?
>> All right. Have you been in touch with
[28:17] the property owners? They know we're
doing this or
[28:19] » No, nobody reached out to me. I It's in
an estate and so I don't know if it was
[28:22] deceased and there's no next to kin. I
mean, I tried to get a hold of I didn't
[28:26] see anybody. I went down to the uh tax
roles. There's nobody on the tax roles
[28:29] and so I just it ended up going to the
same address which obviously nobody's
[28:33] been there for a decade or so.
>> All right. Thanks.
[28:36] » So with that, John is like does it take
um a longer period of time for us to
[28:41] actually be able to move on that
property?
[28:43] » No. If if you guys go ahead and issue
the demo demo, I'll send the notice out
[28:46] today saying that you've issued the demo
that they need to do it in 30 days. If
[28:49] they don't, then we'll go ahead and move
forward in 30 days and get it cleaned
[28:52] up. All right.
Anything else? Go ahead and close the
[28:58] hearing. I get a motion.
I'll make a motion that we declare uh
[29:04] the structure at 702 circle substandard
and order it to be demolished by the
[29:09] owner within 30 days and to authorize
abatement by the city after that time
[29:14] according to procedures in the city
ordinance and state.
[29:18] » Second.
>> Madam secretary, can you get a vote,
[29:21] please?
>> I
[29:25] I
>> Yes.
[29:30] I
>> motion passed unanimously. Let's go
[29:33] ahead and move on to item number five.
Discuss and consider approving a
[29:36] government lease purchase agreement
between the city of Mount Pleasant and
[29:39] American National Leasing Company for
lease purchase of vehicles. And this is
[29:43] our police chief.
>> Evening council, mayor, Mr. Vine. So,
[29:49] I'll introduce you to uh Eric Reid who
is vice president with American National
[29:54] Leasing Company.
We have been looking for several months
[29:57] now a way to improve our um fleet
situation and an affordable option and
[30:04] we believe we have found a good good
option for you. In your packet there is
[30:07] a copy of a brochure from American
National Leasing as well as a a contract
[30:12] that we enter into upon purchase of
vehicles. And that contract just as a
[30:16] side note can either be entered into for
a particular vehicle or or multiple
[30:21] vehicles at once. So I'll let Mr. read
give you a good brief rundown.
[30:27] » Good evening.
Uh again, I'm with American National
[30:30] Leasing. We are based out of Witchaw
Falls. Uh for right around 30 years, uh
[30:36] we have primarily dealt with
governmental agencies. Um and so our
[30:41] primary focus is cities, counties,
school districts, hospital districts,
[30:45] things of that nature. Um working with
vehicles, heavy equipment. Uh so with
[30:50] cities we do public works, we do police,
fire uh and then city vehicles as well
[30:56] as heavy equipment. Um our program is
very very simple I would like to say. Um
[31:03] and so we don't have uh a lot of the uh
allocart charges a lot of the different
[31:08] uh stipulations. And so with us it is
what we call a lease purchase a
[31:12] governmental lease purchase. Um and so
because of that the city is on the title
[31:18] from day one as the owner. Uh we are
simply a lean holder. Um therefore there
[31:22] are no mileage restrictions. Uh there
are no maintenance requirements. Um you
[31:28] you only have the dock fee and the
interest is all that there is. Uh so at
[31:33] the end of the term we typically on a
vehicle will do three, four or five
[31:36] years. Uh at the end of the term there's
just a $1 buyout and then it's yours.
[31:41] It's an asset to the city. Uh it's
something that you can keep for a few
[31:45] years especially if it's got low hours,
low miles. Um, and then we can help you
[31:50] with an exit strategy to unload it if
you wanted to trade it in uh down the
[31:54] road on something else. Uh, and I just
made a couple of notes here. Um, some of
[31:59] the agencies that we work with in the
area, uh, Mount Vernon ISD, Hopkins
[32:04] County, Cass County, uh, City of
Pittsburgh, and City of Jefferson. And
[32:09] that's just right here in the local
area. We help agencies across the state
[32:12] of Texas, like I say, have for 30 years.
So, just wanted to come in and introduce
[32:17] myself to you. Um, again, in your
packet, there is a brochure uh a blank
[32:22] contract so you have kind of how the
verbiage and language uh is read and
[32:27] then also be able to answer any
questions that you may have.
[32:32] » I have one.
>> Go ahead. Just a couple tidbits real
[32:35] quick. So, um so in listening to Mr.
Reid, a couple things. It's a leasing
[32:44] company, but it's really a purchase uh
is what it is. It's a purchase with a
[32:48] we're about two points lower than our
current lease program, that interest
[32:52] rate, and like he mentioned, uh that
dock fee is $150, I think, um which
[32:57] covers the initial dock fee. Um the fees
are much lower than we currently are
[33:00] under. Um as as he said, they can sell
the car using their um I guess pool of
[33:07] resources, but we because we're the
owners, we can also sell the car upon
[33:10] when we decide we're done with that. uh
equipment or vehicle, I guess. Um and so
[33:17] um we did have Lee review the contract.
Um there was one piece of language. She
[33:23] just had a question about they very
quickly sent me a memo clarifying that
[33:27] the intent and um so she has been
satisfied with with it. So
[33:33] » go ahead, Mr.
>> Okay. You said at the end of five years
[33:36] there's a $1 buyout.
>> Yes, sir.
[33:38] » That means $1 and it belongs to us. We
pay you no more money. That's correct.
[33:42] » Yep.
>> Yeah, we could do three, four, or five
[33:46] on vehicles. And also, it's important to
note um if the city wanted to pay them
[33:51] off early, that is an option and there's
no repayment early repayment penalty.
[33:55] So, uh you know, sometimes we'll have
cities, especially if they're
[33:59] anticipating uh revenue from a project,
um they can go ahead and do say a
[34:04] four-year deal uh and then year two go
in and just pay it off. Um and so one
[34:09] other is in the contract um that you'll
see. But um let's say that you don't
[34:15] have it in the budget right now, but
you're needing a vehicle, needing
[34:18] equipment, you've added an officer,
whatever the case may be. We can go
[34:22] ahead and get that vehicle in service,
get it upfitted, and then the first our
[34:26] first payments are always 12 months to
first. So, you have a year to get that
[34:30] first payment.
>> Yeah. So, we're going to own more of our
[34:35] vehicles. And uh something Rob mentioned
to me that I thought was really nice is
[34:38] we're actually going to be able to keep
these vehicles around that with the low
[34:42] mileage, low hours or low use, we can we
can move a department that you know
[34:46] aren't aren't critical response or
anything like that. So we'll be able
[34:49] hopefully be able to keep some around
for you know seven 10 years or whatever.
[34:53] » Rob,
>> so I have a question.
[34:55] » Yes, ma'am.
>> Um I'm assuming Mark is sitting behind.
[35:00] » Yeah.
>> Okay. I can't see. I'm so sorry. I can't
[35:03] see. So my The question is because um
I've been concerned about this fleet
[35:08] that we've had leased and so I'm not
that person. So
[35:14] » So are you going to buy our lease
agreement that I wasn't sure how
[35:20] » No. So those vehicles under that
contract with the current lease program
[35:24] actually belong to the lease company. Um
even if we pay them off, we continue to
[35:28] pay a management fee. Um and they
eventually go back and they sell them at
[35:33] their through their dealership pool. We
cannot sell them. They are not our
[35:37] vehicle. So, um we will make a plan to
slowly back out.
[35:49] » I'll defer to Mr.
>> If it pleases the council, but staff
[35:52] recommends that we do.
>> Okay. Rob and Mark, what's your interest
[35:58] rate?
>> 5.3.
[36:00] » 5.3. Have we shopped the interest rates?
We went to our local banks and we tried
[36:04] to keep it local to see if we can get as
good a deal.
[36:07] » So, they base their rates on um the
current rates under the federal
[36:13] government. Um and I have not shoed
local banks to see what those rates, but
[36:18] this program is a little bit different
where they're uh we we we look for a
[36:23] line of they they grant us a line of
credit to purchase vehicles and it's a
[36:28] program where we continue to do that. So
they already have the contract written
[36:31] up that they do with government
agencies. Okay.
[36:33] » And so it's kind of their specialty. Um
and I can tell you that points lower
[36:38] than what we're currently paying.
>> I'm not trying to to derail your
[36:42] project. I just
>> just want to know.
[36:45] » One of the one of the things I'll bring
up too, and you may just be about to
[36:48] mention it, Mr. Reed, correct me if I'm
wrong, but there is a one-time
[36:52] opportunity to refinance.
>> That's correct.
[36:54] » If the interest rate drops.
>> Yeah. So, if the if the interest rate,
[36:57] let's say that you're in the middle of a
five-year term, you do have a one-time
[37:01] option to refinance to a lower term. Uh,
we do want to repric everything that we
[37:07] have with the city. Instead of doing one
thing at a time, we do want to repric it
[37:11] across the board, but that's at no
charge as well. Just the 15.
[37:15] » If we if we elect to use the one-year
deferred, does that increase our
[37:18] interest rate?
>> It doesn't change. In fact, most I would
[37:21] say 95% of the deals that we do, say if
we we contract something in June, the
[37:26] first payment is due in June of next
year. U you have the ability to put
[37:31] money down if you want to. It's not a
requirement. Um for instance, on law
[37:36] enforcement, fire department, things
that do require an upfit. Uh let's say a
[37:40] public works truck needs a bed uh or
something like that, we we will allow
[37:45] all of the upfit uh into the deal. um
crazy, but we've seen upfits be more
[37:51] than the vehicles. Yeah, it can happen.
>> Um and so one other thing when we talk
[37:56] keeping things local, uh we obviously
have a large uh fleet dealers that we a
[38:02] large amount of those that we work with,
but we're happy to work with any dealer.
[38:06] So if you have a local dealership, you
have a local upfitter, uh anybody that
[38:10] you want to work with, we're happy to do
that. So
[38:12] » is this a tax exempt loan?
>> It is. It is. Okay.
[38:18] Yeah. So, just looking at the contract,
curious,
[38:23] is this going to be set up like a master
service agreement and then you have
[38:26] multiple contracts underneath? I'm just
I'm asking that because you're going to
[38:30] have multiple cars or
>> we typically do and and chief referenced
[38:34] that I can go in and get more or less
what we call pre-approval because we're
[38:37] owned by a bank. We're located in a
bank.
[38:40] » Um
>> we want to get preapproval before we
[38:43] move forward. Um, and so essentially
what we did is kind of got a ballpark
[38:47] idea of the number of vehicles that we
were looking at for the first wave and
[38:51] it was right around that 500 mark, a
little lower. So I just went in and got
[38:56] a pre-approval for 500, but we can
contract per vehicle. So, and typically
[39:03] it's it's obviously easier if we put
multiple vehicles on a contract, but if
[39:07] one's totaled,
>> something happens, you decide you want
[39:10] to sell one of those,
>> then we just have to go in and get a
[39:14] payoff and divide it amongst the number
of units that are remaining. So, I
[39:18] typically will get with the auditor uh
or whoever I need to to make sure
[39:22] everybody's on the same page, but each
VIN can have its own contract, and
[39:26] that's that's very easily done. Um,
typically we will uh get the paperwork
[39:31] done on however many vehicles we're
looking at at that time uh and then send
[39:35] it for docy sign whatever we need to do
on that but it's not a big deal at all.
[39:40] We don't do like one master service
agreement for for all of them. Um but
[39:44] like for instance if the chief was
wanting three vehicles that were similar
[39:48] in price uh similar in vehicle we could
put those three on one contract that
[39:53] that can
>> Yeah. Yeah. I'm following you. I was
[39:55] just you kind of explained it out. I was
like, "Well, if we're doing this long
[39:58] term, at some point it's going to, you
know, which contract do we have car 12
[40:03] on?" You know,
>> that's kind of where my head was at.
[40:05] » So, like I say, we do have some that
want one contract per vehicle so they
[40:09] can reference that particular lease
number
[40:12] » and and that
>> I'm not getting in the weeds on that.
[40:14] I'll let I'll let Chief do do what he
needs to do there. I just was curious on
[40:18] on the management side. Uh the other
thing and you and it's really on us here
[40:25] um not y'all on the maintenance of these
vehicles like we just going to go to the
[40:29] dealerships until because I know we have
a maintenance department. So how are we
[40:32] managing that?
>> So to see warranty
[40:34] » the way we kind of currently stuff is
your your oil changes and stuff is all
[40:38] done in house. Any warranty work we take
to the dealership while those vehicles
[40:41] are under warranty. after they're under
warranty. Um, we have a couple mechanics
[40:46] and we and and they may repair some of
it. Um, depending on their how busy they
[40:51] are and if they're comfortable with it
or they may send it to a dealership as
[40:54] well for repairs after the warranty is
up. But so a lot of it's done in house
[40:59] but not when they're under warranty.
They usually send them out for warranty
[41:02] or repair.
>> Yeah, that Yeah. So we're on the same
[41:04] page. Okay, cool. Thanks, Mark.
>> Is our interest rate based on our bond
[41:09] rating?
>> No, it is not. No, it's the same rate
[41:11] for all of our governmental agencies.
>> Okay. Any more discussion,
[41:17] Chief? I appreciate the effort.
>> All right. We had a motion.
[41:27] » I'll make a motion that we approve the
leasing contract with American National
[41:31] Leasing Company.
>> I second the motion. Madam Secretary,
[41:35] you vote, please.
I
[41:41] » I
>> I
[41:45] » Yes.
>> All right. Motion passed unanimously.
[41:49] Move on to
item number six. Discuss and consider an
[41:54] interlocal agreement for the city of
Mount Pleasant to operate, maintain, and
[41:58] train for use of self-contained
breathing apparatus bill station
[42:03] provided by Titus County, Texas. And
this is going to be our attorney and our
[42:06] fire chief. Actually,
mayor, I'll go ahead and jump in on
[42:12] this. Okay. There. Uh, we are going to
ask that that council tables this
[42:18] particular item. And the reason being is
that the agreement that is in our packet
[42:23] that is signed by the judge is a
different agreement that we had sent to
[42:27] them. So, we're going to make sure that
we have the correct agreement, send it
[42:30] back to the comm, ask them to approve
it, send it back to us, and we will have
[42:34] this on the very next agenda item as
quickly as we can. But it would be our
[42:39] recommendation table.
>> You get a motion. I'll make a motion
[42:44] that we table the um SCBA fill station
at this time.
[42:50] » I'll second that. Madam Secretary, we
got a vote, please.
[42:55] » Yes.
I
[43:00] » I
>> I
[43:03] » All right. Motion passed unanimously.
Let's go ahead and move on to item
[43:07] number seven. And this is the city
manager report.
[43:09] » Mayor, council, uh just a few quick
things. Uh budget meetings and
[43:13] preparation efforts continue as we move
closer into the budget season. Uh if you
[43:17] notice, I might have a little bit more
gray hair than I had last week. We are
[43:20] getting down into the weeds. I think one
of the things I will acknowledge Chief
[43:25] and his efforts tonight and and Aaron
also played a part in bringing that
[43:29] agreement with with with our the
vehicles. We are changing things for the
[43:35] better as as we can. So, um I've sent to
each of you department heads and council
[43:40] members a five-year horizon strategic
planning survey. As soon as I get all
[43:45] those back, I will compile information
and I'll be presenting that to you at an
[43:50] upcoming budget workshop. Um, a few of
you and a few staff members over the
[43:54] weekend received some emails about a
dog. Um, I just wanted to touch base on
[44:00] that. The information uh, information
that is false travels very quickly. This
[44:04] information made it all the way to
Norway. Uh, the email came back said
[44:08] that we had a dog in our shelter. No
effort was taken to uh, rescue this dog
[44:13] or adopt the dog and was put down
basically because that's the only option
[44:19] we gave and that's not accurate. staff,
Dr. Chief. Um, the dog, a picture was
[44:24] posted on our Facebook page as was as we
do with all of our animals. Uh, the dog
[44:29] was dog aggressive. It wasn't adopted.
Rescue efforts or rescue efforts were
[44:35] made to be uh with rescue organizations
once they learned the dog was dog
[44:39] aggressive, which means not play well
with other dogs, they decided not to
[44:44] rescue the animal. So, unfortunately,
because of the time that we did have
[44:49] that was
staff did make every effort they could
[44:54] to adopt the dog. So, I just wanted to
address that
[44:58] » false information with accurate
information.
[45:00] » Rob, and the one thing you told me right
before we came out here. Yeah. I just
[45:04] want to make sure that everybody
understands where did they get the
[45:06] picture from?
>> From our Facebook page.
[45:08] » Okay. Yeah, from the Facebook page. So,
it was put out there and I'm
[45:13] we're we're looking into other things
making sure that we're doing everything
[45:16] right. And it is. I mean, for Rob and
for all of us, we're we're making sure
[45:21] we're doing the right things for the
community and for the animals. So, we're
[45:25] some stuff and make sure everything's
being done right.
[45:29] » Okay. No, you're fine. Uh, lastly, I
would say congratulations to the Mount
[45:33] Pleasant Rodeo Association and to
Prefforts. They had two very successful
[45:37] events this last weekend. The 62nd
annual Mount Pleasant Rodeo and the
[45:41] Preffort Ranch Open. uh the economic
impact that both of these events have on
[45:45] our community. And not only that, but it
brings people here. Uh and then when
[45:50] they leave, they talk about how great we
are, how how much Pleasant is uh
[45:54] welcoming to them. You see uh trucks,
you see horse trailers everywhere for
[45:59] for a full week. Uh it's in both events.
I was able to go to both some of both
[46:03] events. Really enjoyed it. But well, the
city is already talking to the rodeo
[46:08] association about how we can help make
the rodeo even better.
[46:13] Just wanted to say that those events
event coordinators thank you for what
[46:18] you do
>> and for the rodeo that 250th anniversary
[46:24] there is I believe there is something
planned but it's not cool
[46:28] » that's all I have
>> all right so council comments limited uh
[46:35] council actually we're moving uh we're
moving the executive discussion
[46:42] Um
the one thing we had in executive
[46:45] session, we're going to go ahead and
move it out to the public meeting and
[46:49] that is uh
discussion and actions on ethic
[46:53] complaint filed against Mayor Wesley
line the second. So u basically I put
[47:00] this item in here because I wanted to
make sure that there weren't you know
[47:03] what do I need to do? I know I divulged
close session uh details felt like it
[47:10] was necessary and I'm ready to accept
whatever
[47:15] whatever there is whatever repercussions
are. So discussion.
[47:19] » I disagree, mayor. You did not break any
ethics.
[47:25] Ethics was already broken. You went in
and defended the truth.
[47:31] So I say we dropped it right now. Over
and done with. You did nothing wrong.
[47:39] I wasn't here for for that meeting. So,
but I'll just kind of refer to Lee uh
[47:44] based on the information and you I'm
assuming we're part of that meeting. Uh
[47:50] you know, what does that look like from
your perspective?
[47:54] » Uh council. So, two things. First, um
the the mayor does have the right to
[48:00] have the discussion of the deliberation
about this in uh open session, but the
[48:06] council has the right to have legal
advice in close session. So he that
[48:12] piece is still available to you if you
decide to exercise that. In terms of the
[48:18] uh provision that's an issue, um it
would concern section 34.03C 03C
[48:26] which is uh disclose disclose
information that could adversely affect
[48:30] the property, government or affairs of
the city or directly or indirectly use
[48:35] any information gained by reason of his
or her official position or employment
[48:40] for his or her her own personal gain or
benefit or for the private interest of
[48:46] others. And so it's really for council
to decide whether or not you believe
[48:51] that um the mayor's I believe we're
talking about his uh his uh public post
[48:59] on Facebook. Is that correct?
>> That's correct.
[49:02] » That's really for council to decide is
whether or not you believe uh or you
[49:07] consider that that disclosure uh
violated that section of the ethics
[49:12] ethics code. And it's so it's really for
you to decide um how you see that.
[49:21] » Thank you.
[49:25] » I would like to say that um
[49:31] our mayor um did not divulge things from
our executive meeting first.
[49:40] Um
it h it seems like that was like it
[49:44] happened once and we did it again.
So um according to our charter I'm
[49:52] looking at Miss Lee. There wasn't
anything that we could do. We couldn't
[49:56] find, we couldn't do anything when we
were finding um Miss U
[50:04] Melanie Knight Deoya uh that she had
been um guilty.
[50:10] And so I'm kind of like Carl. It's like
let's just drop it. Let's go on. There's
[50:16] not anything else that can be done. And
I think as I look at my cohorts up here,
[50:22] let's just not let's just keep our mouth
shut and not do it again and just try to
[50:28] try to live by the rules that they've
given us to live by.
[50:34] I agree. But I want to thank Wesley Lion
for standing up. You can only get kicked
[50:41] so many times before you want to fight
back. But I will say what he did was uh
[50:50] it was understandable. He defended his
council and he didn't speak the truth.
[50:55] And u as far as benefit, no one
benefited from anything during all of
[51:01] that. The mayor certainly didn't
benefit, but I admire anyone who will
[51:05] stand up and say, "Yep, I did it and
here I am. You you deal with me." And I
[51:10] appreciate that very much. And as far as
I'm concerned, I'm done with it.
[51:19] » All right.
Is there a motion that we need to make?
[51:24] » I make a motion that we don't take any
action.
[51:30] » Second.
[51:34] » A second. Madam Secretary, take a vote,
please.
[51:40] » Yes.
I
[51:43] » I
>> So, because I wasn't here for any of
[51:47] this, I'm going to abstain from this
vote. So, I just don't know.
[51:53] All right. It was 3 to one and motion
passed.
[51:57] So, we don't have to go into executive
session. And we do want to do the
[52:02] council comments, limited announcements
of upcoming events, recent council
[52:05] member activities or requests to agenda
items for upcoming meeting. Two minutes
[52:10] for council.
I've got two comments. Uh neither one
[52:15] are going to be popular, I'm sure,
but uh I would like us to uh I know
[52:21] we've talked about this for the last
couple of years about charter
[52:24] amendments. I would like in the next uh
maybe month or two that we make a
[52:29] decision, bring it before the council as
to how we're going to do that, if we're
[52:33] going to uh have a group or whatever.
But uh we do need to address that. And
[52:40] uh the second thing is um as Kelly and I
have met with the finance people and
[52:45] we've met with directors and everybody
else over the new budget. It's not going
[52:50] to be an easy sale one way or the other.
It's going to be a difficult budget. But
[52:54] we did look at things and we asked
questions about what the benefits are
[52:58] that we have here in the city that maybe
not all the other cities have. And we
[53:03] talked about insurance, we talked about
the benefits, we talked about TML, we've
[53:08] talked about everything. One thing that
we didn't bring up that I would like to
[53:12] have the council and the manager and
directors kind of chew on a little bit
[53:19] is possibly
maybe looking at alternative ways of
[53:24] work if it's a I know that we've done it
before. I know it was done when I was
[53:29] here. I know that one of the departments
are doing it now is maybe a four and a
[53:34] half day work week or maybe moving hours
around or rotating schedules so that it
[53:40] will be at least one incentive that we
can use if if it's agreeable to
[53:46] everybody and uh I'm sure some people be
happy about it but maybe not everybody
[53:51] but even if we give it a test run uh
pull the facts from other cities just
[53:56] see if it's a viable solution to at
least help in
[53:59] to help the employees and to help the
city.
[54:04] It's
>> a good idea. We used to have um summer
[54:07] summer hours at a couple of different
companies that we would that I worked
[54:10] at. So, and basically that's what it
was. I think half day Friday
[54:15] and then another one you actually would
in the summertime you would work your
[54:19] extra hours through the week to make up
for your time and then you would have
[54:22] every other Friday off. That was that I
thought was pretty cool.
[54:28] » Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that's what we did.
So, yeah, pretty good.
[54:34] All right. Anybody else?
>> Yes. I would like to say um I said this
[54:38] before. We had a a budget workshop
and uh because this is a light uh
[54:47] agenda, I wanted to say it
from here. Two years ago, well, I'm
[54:53] fixing to start my sec my second term.
So, two years ago when I got elected,
[54:58] uh, Jonathan and Carl and I, we had a
mass exodus.
[55:04] And when we had this mass exodus, we
found ourselves literally within the
[55:09] first two weeks of our term, missing
five directors, no city manager, and um,
[55:16] we were looking at each other saying,
"Okay, we're going to have to learn
[55:21] quick."
And in the last two years or a year and
[55:26] a half, I've watched you guys step up.
Um, most of you guys were uh working in
[55:34] other departments or maybe you were not
in a director position and you were
[55:40] given that opportunity to step up
[55:44] and you guys knew as we knew the mess
that it was in.
[55:51] And so when I see people that are
willing and have the backbone to step
[55:56] into a situation that it's a mess,
it is so admirable this day and age for
[56:04] people to say, "I can take that on." And
I'm so proud of all of our directors for
[56:10] doing that. It has been hard for us as
council people to take it on. And I know
[56:17] that it's been hard for you guys taking
it on and learning as you go. So I know
[56:25] a lot of you when you stepped into these
positions might not have had tenure.
[56:30] Y'all might not have had years and years
of all this training and stuff. But what
[56:35] I'm seeing and I'm hearing is that you
guys are getting the training. You guys
[56:40] are trying to step into those positions
and be the best you can be. And because
[56:46] because we all went through it together
two years ago.
[56:51] Now, y'all might not feel this way, but
I really feel akin to you guys. And the
[56:55] reason I do is because we all pulled
together.
[56:59] My team up here, I'll add Debbie. She
came later. But I mean, it's been um
[57:07] it's been rocky and we've learned a lot.
and knowing what you guys are doing and
[57:14] we've all done it together. I really
think that Mount Pleasant has an amazing
[57:20] team. I think the citizens of Mount
Pleasant are so so fortunate to have you
[57:26] guys here as part of family that we are.
I think every one of you dig in and take
[57:32] care of each other. And I I'm serious. I
just want to know you rock and um we are
[57:40] fortunate to have you and keep going and
I look forward to the next two years
[57:44] working with you all.
[57:48] » All right. Uh well, looks like somebody
did a lot of work uh putting this nice
[57:54] summer fun 2026 uh pamphlet together for
the public library. So, if you don't
[57:59] know what's going on at our library, I
would recommend you get one of these.
[58:03] Um, looks like there's a lot of fun
planned uh for all ages. So, just great
[58:09] job.
>> Thanks, Lupe. I was That's what I was
[58:12] going to say is that I hear a lot of
stuff on Facebook that the kids don't
[58:15] have anything to do, don't anybody
anywhere to go and this this is just
[58:19] it's just filled with stuff. So, as a
community, I want to say thank you. It's
[58:25] awesome.
>> All right, we have anything else?
[58:27] » And just to add, I did believe I read
something in there about celebratory.
[58:31] Y'all are doing something trying to
celebrate the 2000 or 250 year
[58:36] anniversary of America. You want to add
to that because all I saw one line.
[58:41] » Um so we are partnering with D. So
Daughters American Revolution. They're
[58:46] going to be doing a um a program for us
about talking about the women in from
[58:53] Titus County or that have ties to Titus
County with this chapter um for America
[58:58] 250. So, that's our and we're going to
do a couple other little things, but
[59:02] that's going to be the highlight of what
we're doing at the library for America
[59:05] 250.
>> Hey, how's the the participation been
[59:08] with?
>> Great. Uh, we had this past Saturday was
[59:11] our summer kickoff at Caldwell Park. So,
we had Bubble Mania and we handed out
[59:16] over um 200 uh dilly bars from Dairy
Queen. Um, and we had a great turnout.
[59:24] So, it it's been it kicked off well and
we've been feeling it the rest of this
[59:28] week. So,
>> great. That is awesome. Thank you.
[59:31] » Thank you.
>> Anything else?
[59:34] » I have a shout out to the police
department.
[59:39] » Yesterday evening, my wife had me going
to a house she has listed to check some
[59:43] breaker boxes. It's a house that's been
vacant for a year. Open the door, I go
[59:48] in, there's a window open in the house.
I close the window going through the
[59:53] house. the breaker box. I come out the
back to the patio and the window is
[59:59] open.
Somebody's in that house, right? And
[1:00:02] I've been in houses before. I didn't
spend money there and it's not pleasant.
[1:00:06] So, we called the police and we had
Officer Palma, Burns, Vendia, and
[1:00:12] Marilyn.
They came. They were very polite. They
[1:00:16] were very nice. They checked the house
out. They were very professional. They
[1:00:20] even helped me find the breaker box. All
right. So, a blanket was uh Officer
[1:00:28] Palma
went and closed the door, the window,
[1:00:34] and we were in the kitchen and she saw
the window coming up.
[1:00:39] So, we put it down. We all stood there
and that window opened all by itself.
[1:00:44] Can't explain it, but anyway, I called
the police over a ghost apparently last
[1:00:49] night and they they were great and and
they were very helpful. So anyway, Mark,
[1:00:54] you got some great officers.
>> Yeah, you do.
[1:01:00] » All right, boogeyman.
[1:01:05] » All right,
I appreciate the light meeting. Thank
[1:01:09] y'all. We'll go ahead and adjourn
650.