[0:33] But you know

[0:40] passed me by

[0:45] passed me by laughed at me.

[0:49] All right, guys. It's 6 6 pm on August 27th. Let's like to call this meeting of

[0:56] Rome City Council to order. Uh we have a quorum of council members at this time.

[1:01] So, if you don't mind, let's rise for the invocation and the pledges.

[1:07] Father, we thank you again for this day, for chance to self-governance. We ask

[1:11] your leadership, your guidance and direction, and make sure we do what is

[1:15] good in your sight. Father, we ask this in Jesus name.

[1:18] » Amen. Amen. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the

[1:23] United States of America to the republic which it stands. One nation under God,

[1:29] indivisible, with liberty and justice for all

[1:34] the Texas flagged

[1:38] state.

[1:43] » Thank you both.

[1:47] » All right. At this time, do we have any public comments?

[1:50] » No, sir. >> All right. Moving on. Announcements from

[1:53] the mayor and city council. Uh, the only announcement I got so far will be the

[1:57] next council meeting will be September the 10th, 6 p.m. Uh, if there any

[2:03] announcements from council. All right, moving on to the consent

[2:08] agenda. At this time, unless there's any question, do I have a motion to approve

[2:13] the consent agenda?

[2:20] I'll make a motion to approve the consent agenda.

[2:23] » Do I have a second? >> Second.

[2:25] » All in favor? >> I I

[2:29] » Thank you. Uh do we have any other than what we

[2:34] have? >> No, sir.

[2:36] » All right. At this time, we will conduct a public hearing for the Rome City

[2:41] Council is to conduct a public hearing to consider request for a change in

[2:44] zoning of legal description being acres A743 Smith CSL 5.666 acres as is located

[2:52] in Ellis Homestead. What this uh public hearing will address will be to change

[2:59] the zoning of some property donated to the city in Ellis Homestead and to to

[3:04] change it to park status so that it could if any changes ever come or it

[3:08] cannot be sold without a public vote. So the time is now 602. We'll open the

[3:13] floor for any public comments. >> Yes, ma'am.

[3:16] » I just wanted to know a little bit about the uh park. I live right across from

[3:21] the property and for us to say, "Yeah, let's zone in a park."

[3:29] What's to say you're not going to come in and put a city park there? I don't

[3:32] want a bunch of people coming into my small neighborhood.

[3:37] » So, one of the things the council has talked about with that particular piece

[3:40] of property is it was donated to us as a dedicated land from when that

[3:46] development was originally put together back in I think it's 1980 somewhere in

[3:52] there. And the owner of said property was either looking to develop it

[3:57] potentially into some additional housing lots if at all possible or to sell it

[4:01] for development and or donate it to the city. By donating it to the city and us

[4:06] marking it as parkland doesn't necessarily mean that the city's looking

[4:09] to put a park like we have over here with the family park, but we are trying

[4:13] to keep it so that it's not developable in the future. So by donating it as

[4:18] parkland or zoning it as such, it has to be voted on by the entirety of the city

[4:22] residents for it to ever be sold or used for any other purpose than that. Right

[4:27] now with the amount of drainage that goes along that particular area, it's

[4:31] not really suited for a park of any size. And I I can't tell you in 20 years

[4:38] that a council won't decide to put a walking trail through there or something

[4:42] to that end. I can't tell you that. But there are no immediate plans to do

[4:45] anything other than maintain it and mow it as it currently sits and then try and

[4:50] protect it from future development. So if we vote

[4:54] yes, reszone it, do we have any power down the line to say no, no, no, I don't

[5:01] want a parking lot in front of my house and a city at some point in time.

[5:05] Absolutely. >> Will we get to you'll present the plans

[5:08] and we can vote on that part? >> Yes, ma'am. It has to come through

[5:11] council just like anything else if if they decide to change it from the use

[5:15] that is currently in. You'll see it on an agenda or you'll see it in some of

[5:19] the posts that the city puts out. I don't know if I'll be here at that time.

[5:23] So, I don't know what a previous or next city manager might do. Um, but I would

[5:27] hope they'd send out notice to the residents to say, especially of the ones

[5:30] that have bounded. If there was a zoning change, then you do get a notification

[5:36] if you live within 200 feet. That's required by law. If not, it's not a

[5:41] zoning change, then it will depend upon the council at that particular juncture.

[5:46] This council cannot bind future councils for what they do, which is why we're

[5:50] trying to preserve it as best we can in its current state.

[5:53] » Okay. So, basically, it's probably costing you too much money as uh just

[6:00] and then paying taxes on. >> This was apparently the widow of the man

[6:05] who developed that area. This was part of the original plan when the city

[6:08] agreed to the development agreement back in the 80s or 90s whenever that was

[6:12] inked. I don't have it with me. And this was always meant to be donated to the

[6:16] city in some form or fashion, but she realized that she was still paying the

[6:22] taxes on that property and no longer wanted to do so. So, she donated it to

[6:26] the city and we'd accepted said donation earlier this year or later last year and

[6:31] now we're just trying to protect it so that it's not in the future sold off for

[6:36] something and a a 7-Eleven or a two or three houses are put in there. That's

[6:41] what we're trying to avoid. >> Trying to keep it the way it is. I live

[6:44] there, too. So, [laughter] so we're we're trying to keep that land

[6:49] because that's about all it's good for right now. It's just for it's mostly

[6:53] drainage land. But I just wondered if we've not seen

[6:58] any plans. I know that premature to want us to vote on

[7:04] something. We don't know what you're going to do with it.

[7:06] » The reason to put it in land is because then it it kind of restricts the usage

[7:12] and you cannot take it out of parkland and zone it as commercial or residential

[7:16] without a formal vote of the residents. That's

[7:23] » it. It's zoned. I'd have to look at the zoning map that I

[7:26] » I believe it is. >> It's in Homestead.

[7:29] » Yes. I don't know if that part was ever zoned differently.

[7:34] » It looked like it was. >> It's possible, but we would prefer even

[7:38] not to have residential put through there. From that angle, we'd like to

[7:40] keep it in its current state, which is to put it as parkland is the best way

[7:45] for the city to protect. >> I hadn't heard anything about it. Then I

[7:50] got that vote in the mail. >> I sure don't want public.

[7:54] » There are any plans for that at this time.

[7:58] » Okay. Thank you so much. >> Yes, ma'am. Thank you. Do I have any

[8:02] other public comments?

[8:06] Unheard. We'll close this public hearing at 6:07.

[8:10] Moving on. uh the Rome city council to conduct a

[8:14] public hearing to consider request for change of zoning of legal frontage or

[8:18] legal acres being lot five and six block for original town Rome and is located

[8:25] 101 South Front Street in Rome Texas. I believe this is a the vacant lots by the

[8:31] city park that is two separate lots and wants to change it wants to combine it

[8:36] into one lot. It is now 608. We will open this to the

[8:42] floor to the public for any comments.

[8:49] Uh nothing heard. So I'll close the public hearing 608.

[8:54] All right. Moving on to the regular agenda. Uh we will discuss the reszoning

[8:59] of Acres Lots 5 and 6 original Oldtown Rome and is located 101 Front Street in

[9:05] Rome, Texas. Uh do I have discussion from council?

[9:09] I do have the map up if anyone wants to see kind of the general area of where

[9:13] these lots are. And just to refresh council's memory, if you can see the the

[9:17] little cursor moving. It wasn't too many months ago that we combined lots in this

[9:21] area which were uh lots in block 19 and 20 so that the person who owned those

[9:26] could build on it. We do have a certain square footage requirement in these in

[9:30] the Oldtown overlay for someone to come in and put a residential structure.

[9:35] There are several four or five very very thin and rectangular lots in this area.

[9:41] Uh structure builder group is under contract with another developer to

[9:46] combine those and build a residential unit on that. They are going to look for

[9:50] zoning also in the 6,000 foot size versus what we currently have at

[9:57] 7.2 two for Oldtown Overlay because it's just you're not going to get enough

[10:03] critical mass on a lot or three of these in order to buy. So that's what we're

[10:08] looking to do is combine these into two which will give them about 6,400 square

[10:12] ft and that does meet the threshold for our yellow or excuse me our orange

[10:17] colored zoning which is single family residential at 6,000 square feet.

[10:25] Uh, questions from council.

[10:29] If not, I will enter open the floor for a motion to approve the re the zoning

[10:34] change.

[10:39] » If you're looking for any documentation behind 7A in your packet is where you

[10:44] will find all of those documents there. I move that we approve the zoning

[10:51] request change on the front street for the two lots mentioned to combine them.

[10:59] This is future construction site. >> Do I have a second?

[11:05] » Second. >> All in favor?

[11:07] » I I thank you. Moving to our next item on

[11:12] the agenda. Reszoning of acres A 743 Smith CSL P 666 acres and is located

[11:19] Nellis Homestead. Uh this is the one we just talked about from our public

[11:23] comments. Do I have any questions for council

[11:29] questions? I'll open the floor for a motion to approve or disapprove.

[11:40] I move that we approve the zoning change request uh for Ellis Homestead

[11:48] to public park area.

[11:56] » All right. [clears throat] Do I have a second?

[11:58] » Second. >> All in favor?

[12:00] » I I >> All right. Thank you. On item number C.

[12:06] Uh uh council member Loftus has agreed to table this till we have the full

[12:10] council seated. >> Yeah, I did have a few comments. So

[12:13] » uh go ahead. >> Yeah, and this is about topic of vacant

[12:17] a vacant structure registry and uh I just want to let the public

[12:23] know how this came about. Um, apparently in Paris, Texas several years ago, they

[12:29] had suddenly had a an established family business in their downtown area that

[12:35] just up and left. And then they came back uh to the city council at a later

[12:41] time and told them why they left, which was because they had vacant and

[12:47] abandoned buildings where all sorts of things were going on right

[12:51] next to their business and they just couldn't uh exist like that. So, as a

[12:57] result, Paris, Texas has an abandoned property program and uh that's we have

[13:06] vacant and abandoned properties in our in our midst here in Rome. So, um I

[13:11] thought it was appropriate that we possibly take similar action, but we'll

[13:15] talk about it next meeting. >> All right. Thank you.

[13:19] Anybody else? Okay. All right. Let's move to item D on

[13:24] the agenda. budget amendment to purchase or replace trucks for public works

[13:29] department. >> Thank you, mayor.

[13:33] » This over to you. >> Mr. Dominguez is going to move over to

[13:35] the microphone and I'll let him update council.

[13:43] » Good evening, Mayor and Council. >> Everybody's doing good. So, um I'm up

[13:49] here on a topic we've had before with uh public works equipment that we have had

[13:54] for a long time and um recently two of the vehicles we have discussed in the

[14:00] past, a 2013 Chevy 2500 and a Chevy 1500, a 2018,

[14:06] the 2013 Chevy has a electrical issue of some sort and it has become to it has

[14:13] come to the point where it's no longer safe to drive. you hit the brakes, the

[14:17] AC goes off and you have other power issues inside which concerns me for for

[14:22] the safety of our employees. So, I parked it to the side. I had a F250, but

[14:28] in the fleet it's more important, more productive and efficient. Um, the 2018

[14:34] Chevy, Mr. Johnson brought this up last time. Uh, we could use it for other

[14:38] stuff and it has transmission issues. It still runs fine. short-term uh decater

[14:45] void, you know, the local area to appear to hassle it maybe. But the concern is

[14:51] on the fleet ground with the guys when we haul trailers, when we haul heavy

[14:55] equipment, it's not rated for the stuff we're doing. So, I have came tonight to

[15:00] ask for a F-150. The sense of for my vehicle as I do a

[15:08] lot of public engagement and I have been using my personal car and uh I get some

[15:13] stairs and some some frowns and uh I understand it's not a marked vehicle.

[15:17] So, I think it's it's proper to show up in a vehicle that's um that's you know

[15:23] some uh has the right emblems and everything from the city. And then the

[15:26] F3 uh a 350 or one ton doesn't matter what brand would be the replacement of

[15:34] one of the vehicles in public works which is the 2013 that's having

[15:38] electrical. So that would leave in the in the work field it would leave three

[15:44] F250s a F350 and then the admin for mine which would be a F-150. I'm not going to

[15:52] I don't tow trailers. I don't tow truck or, you know, heavy equipment. When I

[15:56] do, I'm going to borrow one of their trucks. It's not an everyday thing. It's

[16:00] an emergency. So, I have came forward to ask for uh for two trucks, and I have

[16:07] looked around, got pricings, and I have came up with the price of

[16:15] if you'll look behind 7D, you'll find the documents that serve me. This is

[16:20] referencing

[16:23] it would be not to exceed $131,000 some odd dollars.

[16:26] » 675. Yeah. >> Yeah.

[16:28] » And I will still go out and try to negotiate to prices down because that's

[16:34] just how we do it. It's got to work our prices down and uh I have came up with

[16:38] the the highest quotes so far have added to that. But I do not expect to to get

[16:43] to that price range. I want to stay under that.

[16:46] The other thing that we're hoping to do with this

[16:50] modification to the current fleet that we have, you'll recall that council

[16:53] approved code enforcement duties for one of our internal department heads. Right

[16:59] now, that person does not have a vehicle from which to go out and do said code

[17:04] enforcement. It's certainly not safe for them to go in their own personal car to

[17:08] do that because we have had folks in the community not as receptive as you would

[17:13] want for code enforcement type discussions. So, they need to be

[17:17] officially marked and branded as a city of Rome employee so that they're not

[17:20] mistaken for some other person coming up to someone's personal home. So the the

[17:26] vehicle that we're talking about, the 2018 truck that has the transmission

[17:29] issues, we feel like that that is still serviceable to the point that we could

[17:33] use that for the code enforcement position so that we don't necessarily

[17:38] need to sell that one. We could just move it down and then sell the other one

[17:43] and then purchase two for public works. So just giving you a rounded picture of

[17:47] how we're hoping to kind of maximize our return on those

[17:56] going to trade in those other trucks. >> We're going to auction off the 2013 uh

[18:02] Chevy just cuz we're I've noticed we get a lot more money on

[18:08] the auction side than versus the dealer. And then the 20 the 2018 is just going

[18:12] to get pushed into admin for code enforcement or even the other staff up

[18:17] front. They run to the post office and their vehicle. they run to the bank in

[18:21] their vehicle that gives them a vehicle where they're not paying the gas and

[18:25] they're not they're technically not getting reimbursed in a sense it's their

[18:30] mileage their vehicle and I think it's it's a good way to approach of of being

[18:35] efficient across the board for everybody.

[18:37] » Yeah, I'm assuming that these u the admin folks that are using their

[18:42] personal cars, what kind of insurance issues does that create?

[18:46] Well, if if we had a problem, then I think the city is going to be liable for

[18:50] anything if they're in an accident that is because it would be considered

[18:54] workrelated and that could put us at some risk. Um, the other issue I think

[18:59] that Mr. Dominguez is alluding to is that a lot of these people will run said

[19:03] errands and not claim for any mileage or anything which would kind of admify

[19:07] further the city because they would have turned in for said mileage.

[19:11] for a mile back and forth to the post office, it the paperwork is not worth

[19:15] it. So, they just don't do it. Uh we also have folks who will run down to

[19:19] Sam's and buy things in bulk if somebody needs that. So, to use an older vehicle

[19:25] that's still serviceable for code enforcement and then secondarily for

[19:30] administration is just a much better uh bang for our buck, if you will, on what

[19:35] we're trying to do for the city and the services we're trying to provide.

[19:45] Have you looked into a lease on these? I did not look into a lease. Um I kind

[19:52] of got the pricing for the the purchase because

[19:56] I don't I don't know the full details of a lease

[20:00] and I didn't want to we're kind of in the middle. We have

[20:04] three already. Do we wait to do five way down the road and make it a thing or?

[20:10] » So some of that, Mr. Johnson, when we run into a lease, we like to get them on

[20:14] a rotational basis where we've got maybe two a year that's coming out of service

[20:18] and two new ones because in the past we have bought in bulk. That puts us at a

[20:24] disadvantage at the moment. We're going to have a conversation about this with

[20:27] police vehicles in a few months because most of the police fleet needs to be

[20:31] replaced at this juncture and we still have one payment to make on those. I'd

[20:36] like to get us on some sort of a vehicle replacement policy that council has

[20:40] given for staff to follow that we can plug into the budget so that we have

[20:44] some predictable numbers into the future. And I'd love to get us on a

[20:47] lease concept where we're rotating them out and we don't have this issue. But

[20:52] right now, we're not mature enough as a city and we've kind of gotten oursel

[20:57] into some locked in purchases that I need a couple more years to phase that

[21:01] in. Does that make sense?

[21:05] » Yes and no. I mean, you've got to start at some point.

[21:08] » You do. We just haven't looked. Now we can certainly check for leases and if it

[21:12] doesn't exceed this then we can certainly look at that from

[21:17] that particular approach and see if we can just look into it.

[21:21] » It might not even be feasible. Please look into

[21:28] » we can do that. Absolutely.

[21:35] Actually, if we could get a vote on this that gives us some direction not to

[21:38] exceed this number as shown here in the motion, then we would have the leeway to

[21:43] either execute a lease or we would have the leeway to make a purchase. And

[21:47] because it the lead time sometimes on getting these vehicles can be a few

[21:51] months, >> I make a motion to approve the purchase

[21:55] or lease of two new trucks for public works not to exceed $131,675.

[22:03] » Is there a second? Second. >> All in favor?

[22:07] » I >> I I thank you, council.

[22:10] » We will certainly we're pretty good at negotiating down and and getting as much

[22:15] out of a dollar as we can. So, we will certainly look for every avenue.

[22:18] » Yeah. You know, I understand you might not be able to lease it right now, but

[22:23] just got to start somewhere. If you look now, you know what kind of direct

[22:28] letter? >> Maybe this is the first two in that

[22:31] particular rotation. So, we can certainly take a look.

[22:34] Thank you, mayor and council. >> Thank you much. On item number E, the

[22:40] FY2526 and FY 2627 budget. >> Thank you, mayor. I don't have much to

[22:45] update you all on the budget for the coming fiscal year. As the mayor has

[22:49] stated at our previous meeting, but we're we're pretty much holding steady

[22:52] on the numbers for the coming fiscal year that we had for the previous fiscal

[22:56] year. Until we get the 25 audit completed, we are not in a position to

[23:02] make a recommendation on any salary changes or colas or any particular cost

[23:07] escalations other than those that are mandated by law. So, we are going to

[23:11] hold off on anything until probably the December time frame for that discussion

[23:14] once we get the 25 audit done. We've done an internal audit in 25, but I want

[23:19] to make sure that all is verified and I have accurate numbers from which to

[23:23] discuss this with council before you all make a decision that may not have all

[23:26] the information that you need. Uh, we do need the motions that I have listed in

[23:31] your agenda commentaries read into the record. I received direction at the last

[23:35] meeting as to which way to go. So, we have posted said items in the paper, but

[23:40] we need to go ahead and make a formal motion to set the tax rate and set the

[23:44] public hearing for September 10th. So, this is a little bit of housekeeping for

[23:48] this evening,

[23:52] sir.

[23:56] » Got one.

[24:05] If you'll look behind tab E, you'll see the agenda commentary that I put for

[24:09] there. You can also see the notice that we're required legally to publish that

[24:14] was created in conjunction with the Wise County Appraisal District. We have a

[24:17] fantastic partner in Laura Vaughn who has been very helpful to the city to

[24:21] understand all of these numbers and these different tables. And so if you

[24:24] need to see that, that is what was posted in the paper from the standpoint

[24:28] or used to post in the paper for our notification to our residents.

[24:36] Is there any more discussion from council?

[24:43] I'll open the floor for a motion. I make a motion set the tax rate for the 2026

[24:50] 20227 fiscal year at the vote approval rate of.781147

[24:57] per 100 valuation and hold the public hearing and vote for the next council

[25:03] meeting on September 10th 2026 at 6 p.m. at 261 school road Texas

[25:10] » a second.

[25:14] All in favor? >> I I

[25:17] » Thank you. I know that's a mouthful. It's just sadly required by law. So, we

[25:21] have to make sure we get all of our tees crossed and our eyes dotted.

[25:26] » Item F is the FY 2627 adorum tax rate. >> Yes, sir. And this is the same issue

[25:32] that we had with the budget. I just need a motion to formalize the public hearing

[25:36] and get all of our um legal requirements met.

[25:44] Make a motion to schedule the public hearing for September 10th, 2026 at 6 PM

[25:49] at 261 School Road, Hope, Texas. >> Do I have a second?

[25:56] » I a second.

[25:59] » Yes. Sorry. >> Got it. Motion to second. All in favor?

[26:03] » I I >> I.

[26:05] » Thank you. Appreciate it. All right. I believe that. Do we have any uh topics

[26:11] for further or future agenda items?

[26:17] Nothing hurt. So at this point, I believe we completed what we need. At

[26:22] this point, I'll take a motion to adjurnn.

[26:25] » I make the motion to adjurnn. >> Second. Second.

[26:29] » All in favor? I I >> Thank you.journed.

City Council Meeting 08 27 2026

Transcript