The governing body of the City of Littlefield, met at 6 p.m. Aug. 24, 2021, in the City Council Chambers, 525 Phelps Avenue, for the purpoe of considering all matters and related incidents to the City of Littlefield.
Council members present were Eric Turpen, Mayor; Eric Sawnz, District 1; Michael Rangel, District 2; Buddy Holmes, District 3; and Kenny Rucker, Mayor Pro tempore, District 4.
Others present were: City Manager Mitch Grant; City Secretary Janine Butler; and Treasurer Andrew Eisenwine, along with two in the audience and three city staff members.
1. Mayor Eric Turpen called the meeting to order at 6 p.m., then gave the invocation, before leading the Pledge to the U.S. flag.
4. No one requested to make a public comment about any of the agenda items
5. There were no new city employees to be introduced.
6. A motion to approve the minutes from the July 27th and Aug. 10th meetings was made by Mayor Pro tempore Kenny Rucker, and seconded by Council Member Eric Saenz. The motion passed unanimously.
7. The motion to approve the 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, was made by Mayor Pro tempore Kenny Rucker, and seconded by Council Member Buddy Holmes. The motion passed unanimously.
8. A motion was made by Mayor Pro tempore Kenny Rucker, and seconded by Council Member Buddy Holmes, to approve July expenses. The motion passed unanimously.
9. A motion to approve an ordinance of the City of Littlefield, adopting Amendment No. 5 to the original budget of the City of Littlefield, Texas, for the fiscal year 2020-2021, funding ac counts in budget due to unforeseen situations; containing findings; providing for severability; and providing other details relating to the subject; and declare an emergency, was made by Mayor Pro tempore Kenny Rucker, and seconded by Council Member Buddy Holmes. The motion passed unanimously.
10. The City Manager pointed out some of the changes that were made in the Preliminary Budget for Fiscal Year 2021-2022.
11. Mayor Turpen closed the regular session and opened the Public Hearing at 6:13 p.m., regarding the Budget for Fiscal Year 2021-2022. No one requested to speak, so Mayor Turpen closed the public hearing and re-opened the regular session at 6:14 p.m.
12. A motion to approve an Ordinance Approving the Budget and 5-year Capital Improvement Plan for fiscal year beginning Oct. 1, 2021 and ending Sept. 30, 2022, and making appropriations for each department, project, account, and debt and declaring an emergency, was made by Mayor Pro tempore Kenny Rucker, and seconded by Council Member Eric Saenz. The motion passed unanimously.
13. The motion to propose the No-New-Revenue Tax Rate of $0.6884 per $100 valuation was made by Mayor Eric Turpen, and seconded by Council Member Eric Saenz. The motion passed unanimously.
14. A motion to approve a resolution of the City Council of the City of Littlefield, Texas, approving a negotiated settlement between the Executive Committee of Cities served by Atmos West Texas (“cities”) and Atmos Energy Corp., West Texas Division regarding the company’s 2021 rate review mechanism filing; declaring existing rates to be unreasonable; adopting tariffs that reflect rate adjustments consistent with the negotiated settlement; finding the rates to be set by the attached settlement tariffs to be just and reasonable and in the public interest; approving an attached exhibit establishing a benchmark for pensions and retiree medical benefits; approving an attached exhibit regarding amortization of regulatory liability; requiring the company to reimburse cities’ reasonable ratemaking expenses; determining that this resolution was passed in accordance with the requirements of the Texas Open Meetings Act; adopting a savings clause; declaring an effective date; and requiring delivery of this resolution to the company and the Cities’ Legal Counsel, was made by Mayor Eric Turpen, and seconded by Council Member Buddy Holmes. The motion passed uananimously. 15.
Following some discussion with Littlefield Police Chief Ross Hester, a motion to approve a resolution of the Littlefield City Council authorizing the filing of a grant application with the USDA Texas Community Facilities Direct Loan and Grant Program for First Responder Police cruisers and authorizing the Mayor to act on behalf of the City of Littlefield in all matters related to the application; and pledging that if a grant is received, the City of Littlefield will comply with the grant requirements and commit funding for the purchase, was made by Mayor Eric Turpen and seconded by Council Member Buddy Holmes. The motion passed unanimously.
16. Mayor Eric Turpen adjourned the meeting at 6:41 p.m.