June 19 City Council Meeting

In a very open forum with sound ideas on a variety of measures, Thursday night's city council meeting ran a little longer and hotter (the AC wasn't working) than usual. But presenters and council members braved the elements to complete another ambitious agenda Click Here to View the Agenda.

Eugene Lowe led the invocation. Consent items were unanimously approved.
First item on the agenda was a contract with the BWR engineering firm for civil engineering services and planning management, which was approved unanimously. Next, BWR proposed a project to prepare a new comprehensive master plan in an anticipated year-long project. The city approved a measure for an updated comprehensive plan.

Effective Environmental presented their plan for a new corporate facility off Malloy Bridge Road at Roberts with a 25,000 square foot indoor HAZMAT storage warehouse and 6,000 square foot office space. Effective Environmental conducts HAZMAT cleanup operations and would enhance the area's HAZMAT response capabilities. No discussion raised the issue of how much outdoor storage of HAZMAT waste was anticipated at the facility.

Chief Wells introduced the next agenda item regarding wi-fi access for the city and the residents. A number of discussion points were raised by Councilman Lowe and others about the speed and vulnerability of the network for city use. Past history of problems using the city's water tower for wireless antennae was mentioned. The provider said basic service at $20 a month would include up to 1.5MB down load bandwidth. The proposal was unanimously accepted.

Public Hearing on community development block grant funding was almost uneventful, providing more a forum for council discussion than public comment. In the end, the majority of funds ($130,000) were allocated to road improvements and the remainder allocated to water department projects - (on comment that improvements to Cottonwood Creek Park for sports facilities would require city water services).

Employee Insurance Open Enrollment was re-awarded to the existing provider by unanimous consent. New Rates were closely in line with the previous year.

In the final open session item, Ciy Secretary Crystol Birdwell was reaffirmed as the designated Public Information Officer for the City of Wilmer by unanimous consent.

The meeting then convened in executive session to consider hiring two full time employees in the fire department and library. Executive Session lasted longer than we anticipated, but we expect the working AC unit may have promoted a more congenial atmosphere for the participants.