During Tuesday morning’s meeting, the Brownwood City Council approved updating the salary, longevity pay, and certification pay for all Civil Service – firefighters and police officers.

“Agreements were approved with both fire and police that includes a pay structure for the next three years,” said Brownwood City Manager Emily Crawford. “It is a fairly aggressive pay structure and that is so we can ensure we are keeping our emergency services pay within the marketable rate. As you know, there’s a shortage of emergency services responders, fire and police, and we want to make sure we’re doing what we can to recruit and retain our emergency services.”

The approved City of Brownwood and the Brownwood Professional Firefighters Association’s three-year term runs from October 1, 2023 – September 30, 2026. That new agreement includes a Base Pay Year 1 increase of 10% raise, Year 2 increase of 4% raise, and Year 3 raise of 3%.

Also Tuesday, the City Council:

* Authorized a budget amendment for the 2022-23 fiscal year to move $88,000 from personnel to services in Planning and Development Department. The money was budgeted in personnel for salary and benefits for a project manager position in the Planning and Development Department. This position was never filled during the last fiscal year. Staff will expense the $88,000 towards engineering and planning services that are being completed by EHT for the Riverside Park project, allowing the City to maximize ARPA funding towards construction.

* Authorized a budget amendment for the 2022-23 fiscal year to move $350,000 from Landfill building and grounds to Community Facility building and grounds to be used for Event Center construction. The money was budgeted for fuel costs to help offset the amount of debt the City acquired for the construction of the new Landfill cells 14 and 16. Construction is now complete, and the City is expected to finish the project with surplus bond funds of around $2.2 million dollars. Because these bond proceeds may only be spent on Landfill improvements, staff is recommending a budget amendment to move the $350,000 budgeted funds from the Landfill building and grounds account to the Community Facility buildings and grounds

* Passed a resolution approving seven new capital leases with Citizens National Bank and assigning a property tax pledge. Those leases are: Fire Department – Ram Brush Truck $78,158; Water Department – JD Wheel Loader $156,505; Sanitation Department – Peterbilt Crane Truck $220,993; Landfill Department – Bomag Compactor $742,207; Landfill Department – Caterpillar D4 Dozer $222,245; Landfill Department – Automatic Tarp Machine $75,946; Information Technology – Computer Hardware & Software $164,966; Total $1,661,020

*Awarded a bid of the airport rehab to Covington Contracting in the amount of $104,790 and authorized the City Manager to sign the contract and any subsequent documents as needed

*Approved the Mayoral appointment of Jon Oplotnik, Plant Manager at Performance Pipe, to the Brownwood Municipal Development District Board of Trustees, replacing Marisha Stidom, who has served the maximum number of years on the BMDD Board.

* Rejected the bids for the Landfill litter fence due to the bids not conforming to specifications, and authorized City Staff to solicit new proposals.

Following executive session, the Council took action to sell a property located at 506 West Baker.

“It’s a very small lot that the City does not use,” Crawford said. “It’s a just a piece of property we’d rather put back on the tax roll. We will be going through a sealed bid process to sell that property.”