The Brownfield City Council had its regularly scheduled meeting on Thursday morning, November 3, 2022. The Council got together to speak about a couple of things on the agenda one of them being the discussion from Brownfield ISD to reduce or waive the landfill charges for demolishing the old middle school. After a lengthy closed-door session, the Council offered BISD a proposal.
In the previous meeting, BISD Superintendent Chris Smith stated, “The estimation that we have from our engineers and architects is that that facility is going to require between 12,000 and 15,000 tons for dumping, and at the current rate the estimation for us at the current rate of 24$ a ton for the city is anywhere from anywhere $288,000 to $366,000 dollars at the current rate”. The Council discussed the item in the previous meeting but chose to table it and add it to the agenda for this meeting.
Smith addressed the Council saying, “Thank you for letting me be heard by such fine people but I am here to check in and see if there is an update. After our last meeting, we met with the City Manager and Mayor to discuss a couple of options, and the district has been working on other alternatives just in case… you know just for our due diligence and to do what’s best for the district and try to save as much money as we can for the betterment of our district and students. So we are exploring a couple of options outside of this just to kind of not put all our eggs in one basket. I just wanted to update you guys and kinda maybe offer a counter a point of a flat-out dumping fee something that would satisfy the law something like 50,000 dollars or 75,000 dollars just a flat-out rate and just something that we could budget for”.
The Council decided to take it into the executive session and discussed it more behind closed doors. The Council came out of the Executive Session and Councilwoman Michelle Cooper said, “Mr. Smith we have come to the decision that we think is in the best interest of the school and the city that we propose a $150,000 dollar cap on the tipping fees for the demolition and construction and disposal of waste from the school in exchange for the real property located at 1001 E. Broadway (old Brownfield Middle School) and with the details to be worked out with the attorneys and the individual entities between the school board and the city. If that is something that you take back to your board and discuss then that’s our proposal”.
Mr. Smith replied, ” Just for clarity are you saying you would only charge us up to 150,000 dollars So what if it was 300,000″?
Councilwoman Cooper replied, “Then that’s on you”.
City Attorney Matt Wade also added, ” I think what the offer is… is that the city will not charge any more than $150,000 dollars for the disposal of the debris at the landfill as long as they get the real property (old Brownfield Middle School)”.
Smith said, “ok thank you for your consideration and I will talk with my board and get back with you.”
A motion was made from Cooper to extend the offer of only charging BISD up to $150,000 to dispose of the debris in exchange for the “real” property located at 1001 E. Broadway. Councilman Michael Tackitt seconded the motion, with six in favor (including Mayor Tom Hesse), and Councilman Eric Horton opposed.
Another Item on the Agenda was the recognization of the employee of the month which was awarded to Jacob Mendez. Mayor Tom Hesse had this to say,” November’s employee of the month has been employed with the City of Brownfield since 2020. he began his career in the sanitation department as a service worker and quickly became a garbage truck driver and was soon promoted to lead driver. If you haven’t figured it out November’s employee of the month is Jacob Mendez and it is well deserved”.
Also on the agenda was to discuss and appoint a temporary Municipal Court Judge. On October 31, 2022, the City of Brownfield Municipal Court Judge retired, so until the appointment of the new municipal court judge staff recommended appointing a temporary municipal court judge to help with the magistrate duties of the city and county. Former Municipal Judge Kenneth Cole offered to serve in that capacity on a contractual basis, the Council agreed and authorized Judge Cole to serve as a municipal judge if needed until a Municipal Judge is appointed by the City Council.
The last item on the agenda came from Jeremy Franco. Franco is looking to get funding from the hotel-motel occupancy tax (HOT funds) funds for hosting the 2nd Annual Turkey Trot Softball Tournament that will be going on 12-13th November at the Brownfield Sports Complex. Jeremy Franco has requested funding in the amount of $3,000.00 to host the 2nd Annual Turkey Trot Softball Tournament on. In the 2022-2023 FY budget, there are funds available for 2 sporting events
in the amount of $6,000.00 total.
All Council members were present, except Councilman Celso Duran. The next meeting is slated for Thursday, November 17, 2022, at 7:30 am in the Council Chambers at City Hall.
