[0:00] Okay, I'm going to look at the right
page here.
[0:04] That's the next thing on the agenda.
>> Okay, consent to the agenda items.
[0:08] Maybe approved by council member.
Motion.
[0:12] » Second.
>> All in favor.
[0:14] » Aye.
>> Aye. Nice.
[0:20] » Yeah, that was included in the packet.
And
[0:24] any detailed financial report will be
provided by Andrew at that.
[0:28] » Okay. All right.
Uh
[0:30] any uh community interest items anybody
wants to talk about?
[0:35] Coming up.
Want to know about.
[0:39] Thanks.
All right. Uh-oh.
[0:42] Yes.
[0:48] » Why don't you do that at citizen
participation in just a minute? Yeah,
[0:52] that's coming up right now.
>> That's That's right now. So, we're going
[0:55] to be any uh community interest items to
speak about, so we'll go straight to
[0:59] citizen participation.
So, if you'd like to come up
[1:03] and
>> Yeah, you do.
[1:06] » Yeah, you do.
>> And then, please give your name.
[1:11] » My name's Jack Brooks.
I'm the new
[1:14] Republican Party Chairman, Franklin
County.
[1:17] And the 25th of August, we're going to
have two state representatives
[1:21] and a lady named Krista Shields, who is
a expert on this Islamic movement,
[1:26] coming to give a speech and give a
program
[1:29] at 7:00 at the airport here in Franklin
County.
[1:32] Would love to see some of y'all there.
Good citizen participation.
[1:37] » [clears throat]
>> Thank y'all.
[1:38] » Thanks, sir.
[1:41] Anyone else?
[1:44] All right.
So, we'll move on to be
[1:47] items to be considered.
Uh number four here is consider request
[1:53] for re-plat of property located at 811
Miller Street,
[1:57] Mount Vernon, Texas
0.465
[2:02] AC Gabriel Keith Survey A-
261 Mount Vernon
[2:09] City of Mount Vernon, Texas.
>> Mr. Lester?
[2:12] » Mr. Lester, you want to talk about?
>> Would you please come up?
[2:20] » Yeah, so
My name is Alex Lester. So, basically I
[2:24] need to replat
uh piece of property to two lots and
[2:27] we're going to build some single home
families here
[2:30] um for starter homes.
[2:34] » Okay, on on this replat, the zoning will
not need to be changed. It'll still
[2:40] remain um
um R2 zoning and and it meets all the
[2:45] minimum uh
setback requirements and meets the
[2:49] minimum square footage. He's taking a
lot that is basically 19,000 square foot
[2:54] and cutting cutting it in half.
And on R2, you have to have a minimum of
[2:59] 5,000 square foot to the lot.
So, it
[3:03] you won't need to come back to change
the zoning is what I'm telling you.
[3:06] » Okay.
>> Okay.
[3:08] » Yeah.
>> All right.
[3:10] » Um that's all.
Is that about it?
[3:15] You know.
>> Yeah, I need that or that for a motion
[3:17] on that.
>> For motion.
[3:19] » Second.
>> I'll second.
[3:21] » All right.
Mayor seconds.
[3:25] On to the next. Uh number five, in
accordance with Texas Tax Code.
[3:30] » Uh so, we've had new numbers which y'all
have been provided and the new uh
[3:37] uh
voter approved rate is 0.58
[3:42] um
Help me there. 102,
[3:46] correct?
Which is 0.000014
[3:53] um since less than
what was originally published.
[4:00] The net effect of that is about $2,800.
But given that this document has been
[4:08] put out there
according to uh we need to go ahead and
[4:12] redo this next week. And
and the council doesn't take any action
[4:17] on this.
They will uh they will propose a rate
[4:21] next week after we have had this just
out in the public again. Okay? So, I'm
[4:26] grateful for all the work that Melissa's
done on this and Andrew's done on this.
[4:33] And folks, this is a very complicated
calculation. It's very time-consuming.
[4:38] And um you know,
I I wish everything could be perfect
[4:42] when
when
[4:44] we put it out there, but sometimes it's
just not. So, um Melissa gave us the new
[4:48] numbers or the correct numbers today at
about 4:00. So, they're out there.
[4:53] The good news is is that they the tax
rate has actually dropped.
[4:59] So, that's always that's always a good
thing.
[5:03] Anybody have any questions on that?
[5:13] » We have a motion on that one there?
>> No No action.
[5:16] » No action needed. Okay. I didn't hear
it.
[5:19] I apologize.
Uh
[5:22] Six from six. Yes.
Uh number six, consider contract for the
[5:27] municipal judge uh I believe Mr. Sears.
That's you.
[5:32] » That's me.
>> Would you mind giving us a little
[5:33] background about yourself and
kind of let us know
[5:38] » I know a lot of people
My name is Stacy Sears. Uh
[5:41] I grew up here in Mount Vernon.
Went to East Texas State University,
[5:46] graduated with a bachelor's degree there
at Texas A&M
[5:49] Commerce now.
I was working for the Sheriff's Office.
[5:53] I spent about 5 years working at the
Sheriff's Office.
[5:57] Got employed by Texas Department of
Public Safety. Was a state trooper there
[6:00] for about 25 years and then
after retiring from there
[6:06] managed the Preifert Logistics safety
department for them for about 10 years.
[6:12] Been retired for about 5 months now from
that and of course we
[6:18] my wife and I own a real estate company
here
[6:21] in Mount Vernon.
They approached me about doing this and
[6:25] I thought it might be a good fit for me
and be able to help
[6:29] the city
of Mount Vernon also, so
[6:34] that's kind of where we are today.
I'll answer any questions if anybody has
[6:37] any that I can answer.
>> I I have a a couple things that I want
[6:43] to say. We searched for months to find
somebody that we felt would be a good
[6:47] fit for this or was qualified for this
and I'm just very grateful that Stacy
[6:53] stepped up with his experience as DPS
trooper
[6:58] experience in law enforcement and his
connection
[7:01] with the community. I just felt like he
is a great great fit for us and we
[7:06] really look forward to
working with him.
[7:10] We met with him, Christie has met with
him and we're you know, got a plan ahead
[7:14] of us and we're looking forward to
having you
[7:18] calling you your honor, okay?
>> [laughter]
[7:24] » Leanne's going to do that now, too.
>> Yeah, yeah.
[7:27] » You know how far that'll go.
>> [laughter]
[7:30] » That ain't happening.
[7:34] So, yeah, so
Council, do you have any questions on
[7:38] the agreement?
[7:41] » I'll make a motion to approve that.
>> I'll do a motion to approve.
[7:46] » I'll second.
>> Motion approved.
[7:49] All right, on to number seven. Consider
suggested ordinance amendment. Ordinance
[7:54] number
2026-03
[7:58] regarding officers appointed by council.
In order to make day-to-day operations
[8:02] more efficient, this amendment does not
create any entitlement
[8:07] or take away from any existing roles.
[8:12] » Uh
if you look at the proposed changes to
[8:16] the ordinance, you'll see that um the
appointed officers of the city um
[8:23] will include a municipal judge, a city
administrator, city attorney, chief of
[8:28] police, and other officers that the city
council deem necessary.
[8:32] The big change here is that it has
removed the city secretary from being
[8:37] appointed by the council
uh and placed her uh
[8:41] uh
in the organizational chart under the
[8:44] city administrator.
And that is the only change on this on
[8:48] this ordinance.
[8:52] » Anybody got any questions about it?
Motion to approve.
[8:57] Motion.
>> I'll second.
[9:00] » That's two motions
All right, number eight. Uh
[9:05] Consider the ordinance amendment
amendments ordinance number
[9:09] 2026
-04 regard regarding defining and
[9:14] clarifying the role of city
administrator.
[9:16] This role has been a job held in the
city for at least 20 years. This
[9:20] ordinance serves to memorialize and
codify those roles.
[9:27] So, it kind of goes to the same thing,
right?
[9:28] » Right. The
The city has budgeted and paid for a
[9:32] city administrator for at least 20
years, but it's never been in the
[9:36] ordinance to have a city administrator.
This actually officially creates the
[9:41] position of city administrator. And as
you saw by the ordinance that was just
[9:46] that y'all just passed, the council has
the authority to appoint whoever they
[9:51] want to to that position. Uh if you've
read through this, you'll you'll see
[9:56] that the city administrator serves at
the will of the council. And uh the
[10:02] ordinance also describes the the duties
and authority and responsibilities of
[10:08] the city administrator. So it it
basically codifies the position. It
[10:12] makes it legit. So
Um once this is done, I will actually be
[10:17] legitimate instead of being
illegitimate. So
[10:22] » I should motion to approve that.
>> I'll make a motion to approve that.
[10:25] » I'll second.
>> Second. All right. Motion approved.
[10:28] » Thank you. I feel so much better.
>> You're official.
[10:36] » That's it.
Um yeah, I will bring up I'll I
[10:40] Council, I wanted to bring you up to
speed on where we are with the Little
[10:43] Creek Park project. Um I want to get a
little background out there in the
[10:48] public about this. Um just to kind of
maybe clarify any any concerns or
[10:54] questions that that folks may have about
this. Uh those of you that have been
[10:59] serving on the council for a while uh
know that uh back in 2024
[11:05] uh we applied for a grant for what was
phase one of the Little Creek Park uh
[11:10] project. And that basically was some
straight shade structures, new
[11:14] playground equipment. And that was
pretty much it uh on that. Um the grant
[11:20] was approved. Um we actually uh got
notification of the uh approval of the
[11:26] grant. We had applied for this probably
in September
[11:31] of 2024.
That's when the application was
[11:34] submitted. It was
we were notified that there would be a
[11:38] forthcoming award in January or February
of 25. We got the award notification,
[11:44] the official award notification where we
actually it said an award date of 9 15
[11:52] 25.
That's when it was actually awarded to
[11:55] the city.
The performance period for the phase one
[11:59] project began
starts on 10 1 2025
[12:04] and runs through 9 30 2028.
During that period around October of
[12:10] 2025, we were approached by the
representative of the Texas Parks and
[12:16] Wildlife program
and encouraged to apply for phase two of
[12:21] Little Creek Park project during the
2025
[12:25] consideration
of applications. We submitted that. We
[12:31] were not awarded phase two. Our plans We
didn't begin construction in 2025
[12:37] because we were told go ahead and apply
and then you do construction at one
[12:40] time.
Get better bids. Everything's done at
[12:43] once. Save on engineering costs and
everything.
[12:46] We submitted that. We were notified in
earlier this year that we were not
[12:51] awarded phase two.
So, that kind of went out the window and
[12:58] so we got back with the grant
and decided to go ahead and start
[13:03] planning just to do phase one. Good news
is is that they have actually started on
[13:10] the design on phase one. They were here
Saturday doing surveying at the park.
[13:15] Identifying where everything was going
to be.
[13:18] The design period will be approximately
four to six months. At which time once
[13:24] that's done, um,
they will bring the preliminary design
[13:29] to council and we'll have a public
meeting and everybody give their public
[13:33] comment about that. If y'all want
anything changed, you can tell them,
[13:37] they'll change that. Um, they'll take
that back. Two months later, they will
[13:42] start going out for bid on the actual,
uh, construction of of the park project.
[13:50] Uh, I've got a map for y'all's purposes
here to kind of take a look at what has
[13:55] actually been going to be done and what
is actually going to be cut. Um,
[14:02] and as you can kind of see that that
we've gone back basically just to some
[14:07] shade structures and to relocating
the, um, playground equipment from, um,
[14:15] uh, down by the tennis courts to up by
the splash pad, which makes a whole lot
[14:20] more sense.
And, um,
[14:23] that will be, uh, um,
you know, they kids can run from the
[14:27] playground to the splash pad. That just
makes it a lot of sense.
[14:31] Um, and then they'll be adding a couple
of shade structures, but that'll be all
[14:35] that's in phase one. Now, we've been
encouraged to reapply possibly this next
[14:41] year for phase two. Phase two included
the, uh, resurfacing of the basketball
[14:47] courts, resurfacing of the tennis
courts, and also, um,
[14:53] um, the amphitheater.
Um,
[14:57] we'll we'll see how that goes. We'll
apply and see see how that goes out, but
[15:01] we're not going to slow down the
construction on these,
[15:04] uh, and wait another, um,
you know, period of time. Um, we're
[15:09] going to go ahead and get this
playground built as rapidly as possible.
[15:14] So, that's kind of where we're at, um,
with grants, I think it's important for
[15:18] the public to understand that it is not
unusual to write a grant
[15:23] and uh,
and then finally see the money 3 years
[15:28] later.
Cartel and Arrington is a perfect
[15:31] example of that.
We actually wrote the grant for car that
[15:35] was actually submitted in September of
2021.
[15:39] We finished the project, completed the
project. Um
[15:45] and that's everything. All the finances
going back in in March of 2026.
[15:51] So, that's the that's federal grant
money and this is federal grant money
[15:56] and this is it just it doesn't happen
fast. I'm sorry. I wish it yeah, I wish
[16:00] it did, but there's a whole lot of hoops
to jump through and it just takes time.
[16:05] The the the thing to know here is that
on the Little Creek Park, we have until
[16:10] 9:30 2028 to finish this project.
This will be finished sometime in 2027.
[16:19] So,
I want to bring everybody up to speed on
[16:22] that.
Anybody have any questions on it?
[16:26] » Not on that. I got a I got a separate
question. You probably answer this
[16:29] pretty quick. Um
I got a the email from the TDA go about
[16:33] the Oscar.
About that
[16:35] that
What was that grant for? Did we get that
[16:39] or did we not get that?
>> That that was a that was a C that was
[16:43] still working on that CDBG project.
>> Well, it said something about how
[16:47] you had to fill out the Oscar in order
to get the Oscar or something or
[16:51] » The Oscar
close out documentation. That was about
[16:54] our audit.
>> Okay.
[16:56] » And the Oscar has to do with if you
receive more than $500,000 in 1 year
[17:02] uh of federal funds, it has to it has to
be audited. We didn't receive more than
[17:07] $500,000, so we're exempt from that.
But you you you
[17:11] » I didn't read into it. It just said
something about it was going to be on
[17:13] hold. I I hardly we read through those,
but that one just kind of struck down. I
[17:18] didn't know if
>> And if your funding would be on hold.
[17:21] But I think we've received all the
payments on that grant already.
[17:25] But future funding would be on hold, but
that's been taken care of.
[17:28] » That's a perfect example though. The
closeout was
[17:33] » March.
Yeah.
[17:36] Yeah.
And it's you're dealing
[17:39] with federal money, you're dealing
not just with the feds, but you're also
[17:43] dealing with the state agency that
handles the money for the feds. So, it's
[17:47] triple layer of bureaucracy.
And it's just jumping through a whole
[17:51] lot of hoops.
So, um
[17:54] and even on our criminal justice grants,
it takes a while.
[17:59] And there's a lot of paperwork, Leah. Is
that not correct?
[18:03] Even if it's a $10,000 grant.
[18:14] Can't think of anything.
[18:18] We'll call it in.
>> Motion to adjourn.
[18:20] » Motion to adjourn?
>> Second.
[18:24] » 6:21.
Motion
[18:27] to adjourn.
[18:54] » Thanks, Mark.
>> Okay.
[18:56] » We'll see you.