During Tuesday morning’s meeting, the Brownwood City Council approved a budget amendment in the amount of $25,400 to Corine T Smith Animal Shelter for a new HVAC system in the adoption building.
The HVAC unit that services the adoption building at the animal shelter is in need of replacement and upgrade. The current unit is not sufficient in size and capacity to properly condition the square footage of the building. Shelter staff obtained three quotes for the replacement and upgrade of the insufficient unit. Heart of Texas Mechanical came in as the low bid at $35,411.15. The City had allocated $10,000 in the current budget for a new HVAC at the Animal Shelter. After receiving quotes, an additional $25,400 would be needed in order to secure a mechanical contractor for the purchase and installation of a sufficient HVAC system.
City Council on Tuesday also approved a budget amendment in the amount of $9,000 to Greenleaf Cemetery for tree trimming.
The Greenleaf Cemetery Board has requested assistance in removing dead tree limbs and trimming trees at the Cemetery. Neither the Cemetery nor the City has staff, equipment, or expertise to reach the taller branches and remove limbs without damaging gravestones and monuments. The Cemetery solicited quotes, and the low quote was from H&H Tree Services for $9,000. Tt\he City will provide the funds to Greenleaf Cemetery to engage the contractor and the City will remove the limbs from the Cemetery, once trimmed.
The City Council also approved a lease in the amount of $664.65 per year to Rodney Woodard for 1 year expiring June 30, 2024.
The City currently has two agricultural leases at the airport, one containing 834 acres (expiring August 2024) and one that has 66 acres (expiring June 2023). Due to receiving a bid that amounts to $10.07 per acre, Staff recommended that the 66-acre lease be awarded to Woodard for 1 year expiring June 2024. This will allow the two leases to be combined into one lease of 900 acres that will go out for bid in July 2024.
City Council also approved a resolution denying the Oncor Electric Delivery Company’s Application for approval of a distribution cost recovery factor and updated Generation Riders to increase distribution rates with the City.
The City is a member of the Steering Committee of Cities served by Oncor (“OCSC”), and OCSC has engaged the services of a consultant, Mr. Karl Nalepa, to review the Company’s filing. Mr. Nalepa will review the filing and identify adjustments that should be made to the Company’s request. The OCSC recommended that Cities deny the requested relief.
The selection of Riverside Park for the grant follows the City’s Parks Master Plan that was recently completed. The $1.5M grant project scope will be for park amenities, pavilion reconstruction, bathroom remodeling, signage, potential boat ramp improvements, picnic shelters, and other permissible amenities and improvements. This TPWD grant will essentially be Phase II of the Riverside Park project, to fund park amenities outside of the road reconstruction project through ARPA.
Council approved a resolution to apply for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Non-Urban Outdoor Grant for the Riverside Park project.
Dion White also provided a report on the Center for Life Resources and informed the City Council that Texas ranks 50th in the nation in funding for mental health per capita. CLR serves nine counties and more than 5,000 individuals – up from 3,000 when White took over in 2010 – including 1,748 within the Brownwood city limits alone, which is 11% of the population.