The Littlefield City Council held their regular meeting on Tuesday, July 23rd at the City Council Chambers located at 525 Phelps Ave. to discuss the scheduled agenda items.
The meeting was called to order at 6 p.m. by Mayor Eric Turpen and the invocation was given by Mayor Pro tempore Kenny Rucker, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.
Amherst City Director Richard Salazar and Amherst Mayor Clinton Sawyer were on hand to speak during the Public Comment, but waited until item 9 to speak, which was Consider and Approve City of Amherst Landfill Agreement.
City Manager Mitch Grant stated they had one new employee, Gabriel Garcia, but he was not in attendance at the meeting.
Item six, was to consider and approve the minutes from the June 25th meeting.
The motion to approve the minutes as presented was made by Council member Buddy Holmes and seconded by Council Member Michael Rangel. The motion carried.
The next order of business was to consider and approve monthly departmental reports: Police Dept.; Fire Dept.; EMS; Code Enforcement; Animal Control; Landfill; Water/Wastewater; Streets and Parks; Municipal Court; Monthly Financial Reports; Sales Tax Collection; Property Tax Collection reports; LEDC A and B minutes, if Boards met.
The motion to approve the departmental reports was made by Council Member Rangel and seconded by Mayor Pro tempore Rucker. The motion carried.
Item eight on the agenda was to consider and approve the June 2024 expenses.
The motion to approve the June 2024 expenses was made by Mayor Pro tempore Rucker and seconded by Council member Holmes. The motion carried.
The next order of business was to consider and approve the City of Amherst Landfill Agreement.
Mayor Turpen stated, “Keep in mind this is a five-year agreement that is up at the end of this fiscal year.”
Director Salazar spoke first on behalf of the City of Amherst, saying “The City of Amherst has been bringing trash to the landfill in Littlefield for the last 10 years, entering into two previous contracts with the City of Littlefield, with both being very positive. The difference between the City of Lubbock and the City of Amherst is I bet 75% of the people in Amherst eat here, shop here, and five of my full-time employees in Amherst actually live here in Littlefield. Us and the ladies at City Hall probably come and eat here twice a week. We want to be a part of Littlefield and like to add to Littlefield, it has a lot of good things and we want to be a part of that.”
He added, “We had gotten a contract sent to us that said $39, so I just want to throw some considerations out there. We have no sales tax in Amherst really, we have one business, so everything falls back on the water bill, sanitation and the sewer bill. We’re already increasing our water and sewer this year, so that extra nine tons is about a 33% increase in sanitation, which would take about $2 on everyone’s water bill in Amherst to make up that income. That is huge for a little town who is already suffering because we don’t have much there. We’re trying to make it better and clean it up to get more businesses there and more people. It is tough when you don’t really have a sales tax to fall back on. I was thinking something like a $2 increase every year for the next five years, that would put us at $40 at the end of the five years, or maybe cut the $9 in half at $4.50, $5. That would really help us and it would be smaller amount on what we have to pass through to our citizens and it help tell us what we are going to have to budget for every year after.”
Mayor Sawyer echoed the sentiments, saying, “We feel like we have a good relationship within the county. We appreciate what Littlefield has done throughout the years for us, we don’t have a lot of resources to contribute back, but we have a lot skills. We have a lot of people, who have spent a lot of time and have a lot of experience doing different things.”
Mayor Turpen, stated, “We’re definitely in support of everyone in the county, especially Amherst and Sudan, as close as you all are to us. None of us have the resources or equipment, or trained personnel anymore to do the job on our own. One of the differences between you guys and other places is that this is a contractual rate, so y’all have a very scheduled amount of garbage that you bring. We know when you’re coming and how much you’re bringing, versus someone just showing up at the gate. This is a little different circumstance than Lubbock or somebody, because it is another one of our neighbors coming in on a schedule to use us. Does that deserve a discount? I think it does to some extent because we know what we’re getting and how much we’re getting it.”
City Manager Grant, echoed what Salazar and Sawyer said, “They’re great partners, they always do what they say they’re going to do and take care of business and pay us on time. Our rates have gone up just to stay a little bit ahead of neighboring communities that would overwhelm us like Lubbock. One thing to point out is that when an Amherst citizen brings trash over here they already pay the $39 per ton. One of the things that we should take into consideration is that they’re doing their own billing and also the side-loader trucks are already compacted when they get here. So, when they dump it, it is already compacted to a certain point. I think it’s something for us to really consider, in giving them a little bit of a discount.”
The motion was made by Mayor Turpen to approve a five-year agreement at $32 per ton for the first year and a $1.50 per ton every year after the first year. The motion was seconded by Council Member Holmes. The motion carried.
The Council skipped down to item 12, which was to consider and approve a date and time for public hearing and adoption of the 20242025 Fiscal Year Budget. (The Regular Council Meeting is scheduled for August 27, 2024 at 6 p.m.)
Mayor Turpen made a motion to approve August 27, 2024 for the date and time of the public hearing and adoption of the fiscal year budget. It was seconded by Council Member Holmes. The motion carried.
Under Texas Government Code, Section 551.074, the City Council went into Executive Session to discuss Personnel Appointment of Chief of Police. The Council entered into executive session at 6:24 p.m. and returned to regular session at 7:10 p.m.
After returning to regular session, City Manager Grant made the recommendation to appoint Sammy Garcia the new Chief of the Littlefield Police Department. The motion to appoint Sammy Garcia as Littlefield Police Chief was made by Mayor Turpen and seconded by Council Member Eric Saenz. The motion carried.
The Council went back into Executive Session with newly appointed LPD Chief Garcia at 7:11 p.m. and returned to regular session at 7:24 p.m.
No action was taken. The Council returned to items 10 and 11 for a presentation from City Manager Grant on the 20242025 Fiscal Year Budget and Budget Work session.
With no further business to discuss Mayor Turpen adjourned the meeting at 7:57 p.m.