2. Discuss, Consider and take Action on the purchase of a 2007, GMC Pickup For the Reverse Osmosis Department for the price amount of
$ 21,868.53, Premier Auto, (Cooper Motor Co.) located at
621 N. Washington Street, Seymour, Texas .


Motion:

Motion made by Councilman David Snyder, 2nd by Council
Member Donald Coltharp to purchase a 2007, GMC Pickup for the Reverse
Osmosis Department for the price amount of $21,868.53.

Vote on Motion:
passed unanimously.

3. Departmental Reports:

Electric, Water, Sewer, Police, Street, R.O. Plant,
Golf Complex, Economic Development Director and City Secretary.

Electric Department Superintendent Brad Tilley:

was unavailable.

Water/Wastewater Superintendent Greg Shumate:

I have been attending the Water Works meetings these past few months. We have been busy with work and service call orders. We’ve also been working on the sewer line on Highway 277 which is part of the sewer grant project. We had a few problems out at the WWTP plant last month, but everything has been corrected and the plant is running good.

Chief of Seymour Police Department Tommy Duncan:

We had 253 calls and investigated 4 traffic accidents this past month. There were several felony and misdemeanor arrests made including assault with bodily injury, driving while intoxicated, criminal mischief, forgery, possession of a controlled substance, possession of marijuana, furnishing alcohol to a minor, theft and warrant service. Several warnings and citations were issued for minor traffic violations, the majority for speeding. The Code Compliance Officer completed 121 grass/weed inspections, 12 house and building inspections and tagged 9 vehicles. Abatements were completed on 3 vehicles and one dilapidated house.

Panther and his handler conducted several vehicle searches this past month resulting in possession charges and still working on the drug program for the secondary students. The school officer program is going well. Officer Priddy has plans to put on a bicycle program for the elementary students in the near future. We had about 300 kids show up at the P.D. Halloween night, it’s always a lot of fun interacting with our youth and are looking forward to next year.

Street Department Superintendent Ronnie Kolacek:

Fall Clean Up is finished and we are now trimming trees in the alley and staying busy with our daily work orders . TCEQ did our yearly inspection out at the Transfer Station and we received a good review. I’m going out to the Airport in the next week or so and mow one more time before winter sets in.

Reverse Osmosis Superintendent Rick Garcia:

was unavailable.

John Studer, Economic Development Director:

Here is the text of Mr. Studer’s written report:

The projects this office is working on this month are:

Beautification and Sidewalks:

I received notification from Carolyn Askin of the Wichita Falls District office of the Texas Department of Transportation that they had postponed the announcement on the awards of the Enhancement Grant to applicants. TxDot said this was due to uncertainty of financing for this program, but a later date would be announced. We applied for an 80/20 cost share grant through this Enhancement Program for new sidewalks on Washington Street. There have been 18 lamps purchased for memorials or just as a donation to the down-town beautification efforts. I anticipate that many more will be purchased as individuals see them installed in the downtown area. The cost of one street light will be $328.00 ($8.00 for the engraved plate)

Auditorium:

Gerald Chandler donated some salvage latches for the windows in the auditorium. Replacement hardware has been very hard to find for the antique windows; and these appear to be an almost perfect match. I just wanted to acknowledge his help.

Highway 277 Corridor:

This area is presenting an exciting opportunity for our community. Since last time I have talked to Mike Stavens of the Dollar General who said that their company had already started discussions about building a new store on the corridor. We sent the company several maps of the highway corridor and an informational letter to the store locator person in Tennessee. Discussions with this group have been very positive. I have also had further discussion with Henry Pickett and Larry Miller about businesses seeking to locate in the area. I found an annexation request form on the Texas Municipal League website. There has been one property owner contacted and has signed this form. It has been sent to Paul Hayers to see if we can utilize this form to save a few steps in the legal process of annexation.

Fossils:

The Houston Museum of Natural Science and the famous Dr. Bakker were in Baylor County at the fossil site from Sunday through Wednesday. They are amazed and excited about what they continue to uncover. They are interested in a store front and accommodations for a planned project to train and educated science teachers from Texas and beyond during the summer months. They are interested in other fossil sites in our county. They are making the effort to help Seymour and I am making every effort to assist them with their needs. On there website, Dr. Bakker is considered one the top icons in the world which is associated with paleontology. The timing seems to be very good for this project. While in Houston visiting my daughter this past weekend, I went through the Museum. It was very impressive. They have one of the most premier facilities in the country.

Big Springs Meeting:

Last month, I attended one of the most worth while meetings I have ever had the privileged to participate in .It was about trying to form a new network of resources for assisting rural communities with community and economic development needs. It basically was about local community colleges and all forms of governmental agencies networking to better help the under served rural areas. This group also brought persons from four small communities in Mississippi, Minnesota, Arkansas, and Alabama which had turned their communities around toward achieving a prosperous future. There is a wealth of helpful information gained from attending. It still emphasized there is no silver bullet for the problems that plague most small towns. In each of these examples it took about ten years of effort to turn these communities around from one of decline to one of prospering. I appreciated the Council giving me the opportunity to attend.

Communication’s Meeting:

There were about thirty-five people which attended the last regular monthly meeting. There were several groups represented that are important to helping Seymour. ORCA (Organization of Rural Community Affairs), Rural Development’s Max Versele out of the Abilene office, and a Vernon College representative . Mark Lundgren was also there from U.S. Representative Mac Thornberry’s office. Mark is one of the better sources of help we have. John Baker has requested my assistance to assemble the Monthly Communications group in a special meeting for November 29th to assist the School District do a question and answer survey assessment of the school. This will be done by an outside firm hired by the district. A meal will be furnished for this two hour meeting.

Miscellaneous:

I purchased two additional “Welcome Hunter” signs with Hotel/Motel funds.
I assisted the hospital request about data on Seymour. You might be interested to know that the larger wind generator group (Florida Power and Light) has put its operations in Hardeman, Foard, and Baylor Counties on hold for six months. This could be due to the scarce supply of generators being diverted to another location. The only information I found out was that the local office said they were serious about locating in the Seymour area; that is the reason they opened an office here was to show people they were serious about developing this area. The other wind generator company, according to Herman Dentler, has already submitted a plan for 133 wind towers to be built in the first phase of development in Baylor County. I feel confident about both company’s future in our community.

There are also a number of projects in progress that might not be in this report. If you have any questions or advice, I urge you to call, or come by my office, anytime. As always, thank you for your support of the efforts of this office to strengthen our community’s future.


Interim City Secretary Conchita Torrez:

Submitted her report in writing:

there were no questions for ICS Torrez.

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