NEWS
Emotions run high at meeting - code enforcer job on the line
By Roseanne Espino
rose@glenrosenewspaper.com
The City of Glen Rose held its regular meeting on Monday, June 14. There was standing room only as the Mayor called the meeting to order.
The issues that were to be discussed in Executive Session was asked by City Fire Marshal, Darrell Webb, to be aired in open session. After checking with the City’s attorney, Mr. Lucus, it was agreed to have discussions in view of the audience.
Emotions flared as Darrell Webb, who is also in charge of enforcing city codes, confronted Councilman Chris Bryant concerning his (Webb) job status. Bryant stated that for some time Webb’s competency on the job has suffered especially concerning code enforcement on a new shopping facility. After heated banter back and forth between Webb and Bryant, Bryant then made a motion to terminate Darrell Webb as City Fire Marshal and Code Enforcer.
Before the motion could be seconded, Mayor Miller asked to read a letter from a citizen who has known Darrell for many years. After the reading, although Bryant seemed to empathize with Webb’s personal hardships he reaffirmed his wish to make a motion to
terminate Webb.
Newly elected councilman, Johnny Martin, recommended placing Darrell Webb on one year probation, be issued a formal reprimand and also have Webb report directly to Ronald Bruce, who will now be his immediate supervisor. This recommendation was accepted, allowing Webb to remain in
his position.
Other topics discussed in the meeting included adding electrical plugs to the bid for the proposed lights along the River Walk which edges along Heritage Park. The amount of the current bid would have to be raised to accommodate the needed plugs so it was voted on and passed, that new bids for the complete lighting project would be required.
Another issue was the cost of daily entrance into Oakdale Park. It was discussed that the current price of $5.95 for adults and $4.95 for children may be too high, according to some citizens who expressed that it wasn’t affordable for them, especially if there are a number of children in the family. Motion was passed to decrease the entrance fee to $4.00 per person, tax included.
Councilman Bryant also expressed that one person needed to be available to answer general questions and problems that arise with the running of Oakdale Park in order to, “simplify and have more organization”. It was then motioned and seconded that Ronald Bruce be placed in that role.
Mr. Sabonis presented information on refinancing the City’s bond issue and recommended, with interest rates being low at this point, to refinance. An additional million dollars was discussed for future projects but a motion to add the additional monies was not made by the Council. Motion was made to refinance the bond as it currently stands with all council
in favor.
City receives $250,000 grant
Submitted
The City of Glen Rose was recently recognized with a ceremonial check in the amount of $250,000. This check is to recognize the community for its hard work in securing a grant from the Rural State Agency’s Texas Community Development Block Grant program. Agency staff presented the check on June 8, 2010 in Arlington, Texas.
“We are very pleased to present this ceremonial check to the community,” said Charles S. Stone, executive director of TDRA. “Community development grants such as this help Texans in rural communities improve their quality of life significantly.”
The City of Glen Rose will use the $250,000 grant to replace sewer service lines for 115 households throughout the city.
The grant comes from the Texas Community Development Block Grant program, the largest CDBG program in the nation. Rural cities with populations less than 50,000 and counties that have a non-metropolitan population under 200,000 and are not eligible for direct funding from HUD may apply for the agency’s TxCDBG program. This program serves approximately 1,017 eligible rural communities, 245 rural counties, and provides services to over 375,000 low-to moderate-income beneficiaries each year.
Other North Central Texas communities who received grant checks were Alvarado, Blooming Grove, Blue Ridge, Campbell, Chico, Corsicana, Farmersville, Frost, Godley, Hackberry, Hunt County, Josephine, Kaufman, Kerens, Lone Oak, Mabank, Milford, Palmer, Pilot Point, Reno, Stephenville, Strawn, West Tawakoni and Wise county. TDRA awarded more than $88 million to rural communities in Texas for the 2009 funding cycle.
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