Joaquin
City Council renames Street in Honor
of late Mayor -
November 18, 2009
By Mona Brandt
In last night regular meeting of
the Joaquin City Council it was
voted on after a motion by Councilman
Rusty Wilson and a second by Councilwoman
Sheila Posey to rename Water Street
to Steve Hughes Drive. This is in
honor of the late Mayor Steve Hughes.
The entire Council agreed on this.
Also, a new building permit was
issued to Curtis Oilfield Services
for a work shop to be located beside
the building already located at
13271 State Hwy 7 East. This was
done on a motion by Councilman Mike
Atkinson and a second by Councilwoman
Sheila Posey. Welcome to Joaquin
Curtis Oilfield Services.
The Council spent more time than
usual on voting on paying the invoices
and bills. There was much discussion
about the KSA Engineering Firm and
Davis Contractors and about who
was at fault over the fact they
had started building a road to the
new proposed site for the water
tank, in the wrong area. Mrs. Dorothy
Strong sold the land to the city
in 2007 and also marked the easement
for the road on the survey. This
new road is about 30 feet off the
mark. The Council wanted to know
who was going to make up this extra
money to have the road moved. They
had been told that another two to
three thousand dollars would be
needed to complete and move the
road, plus the total that had already
been quoted to the council at $37,000,
from the last meeting. They finally
agreed and voted to go ahead and
pay the difference and just move
ahead with the already, behind the
deadline, project.
Bids were read concerning the painting
of city hall. The Council awarded
this bid to Marvin the Painter,
who had the lowest of the 4 bids
that were turned it to the city.
This work will begin in two weeks
according to Mr. Steyer, who was
in attendance. His bid did not have
a bid for the flooring that needs
to be done. The flooring will be
done at a later date after more
bids come it.
Axley & Rode, LLP were not in
attendance to present the letter
of engagement for Auditing Service
for the year 2008-2009. Councilman
Rusty Wilson commented that he thought
that it was time that the City hired
a new Auditing Service. After some
discussion it was decided that they
would look around and see who they
could find. Councilman Stacy Taylor
stated that there are several types
of audits and that he would like
to see an internal audit conducted
this year.
Amending the current employee handbook
was next on the agenda. This brought
the meeting to a stand still when
Councilman Stacy Taylor made a motion
to hold an executive session. Mayor
Wood spoke up and stated that it
may be illegal to hold an executive
session without notifying employees
that they may be discussed during
the course of the session. All Council
members expressed their interpretation
of the Open Meetings Act. Acting
City Secretary Nikki Arbuckle called
City Secretary Teresa Hughes, who
was at home, on the phone and a
copy of the open meetings act was
presented to the council members.
There was much discussion over the
issue and it was decided to consult
the City Attorney Gary Rhodes for
the legal advice. This was tabled
until the December meeting.
Wendy Gurrely talked to the council
about the possibility of having
drug testing done to the city employees.
This item is in the employee handbook
and has never been started. After
her presentation Councilman Rusty
Wilson stated that this was way
over due and needed to start this.
After some discussion, Councilman
Wilson made a motion to have drug
testing set up with MedDirect, the
Company that Mrs. Gurrely represents.
After this was seconded, the council
agreed that this would be put into
place ASAP.
The Council next voted upon the
representative to the Appraisal
District Board. Since James Allen
Cockrell is the one on this Board
now, they decided to leave him on
it.
In the Public comment session of
the meeting, former Mayor Paul Jackson
stated that he thought that the
city needed a red light at Brookshires
and the New Dollar General. He was
informed that the city had been
trying to get Txdot to do this for
several months now. Txdot, says
that there is no need for one there.
The Former Mayor stated that the
government still had some money
and he thought he could get them
to put one there and also one at
the “Y”. The Council
members were elated to hear this
and the fact that the former Mayor
was willing to try and do this for
the city.
The enforcement of violations of
the no smoking policy inside Joaquin
City Offices was talked about and
the Mayor stated that since no one
has broken this ordinance since
it was put into place that a penalty
did not need to be addressed at
this time. Councilman Rusty Wilson
stated that they could leave like
it is and that if need be they can
always come back and inforce it.