Council to seek roof and water well bids
The regular meeting of the Friona city council was held Monday July 8 in council chambers at 619 Main St. All members were present. City manager Patricia Phipps, deputy city secretary Rosa Mendez, and city attorney Slater Elza were also present.
A public hearing for comments on the city’s water quality report was called but no members of the public were present to comment. Mayor Rick White asked city manager Phipps if city water was safe and she assured him and the council it was.
Library Director Darla Bracken gave a report. She said the library was open 19 days in June and had an average of 179 daily visits. The library has both fax and color copy machines available for use by the public. There is a charge for both. There were 464 public uses of the library internet during June. Mrs. Bracken said the library has a $21,000 budget for new book purchases and the library now has almost 40,000 books.
Police Chief Frank Mooney gave a department report. In June he reports police handled two drug abuse cases, two fraud cases, one DWI, one family violence incident and several traffic citations. Police Lt. Isidro Jimenez attended a school in Corpus Christi. Chief Mooney is still waiting on word about a grant to hire a school resource officer.
The council reviewed and approved the June accounts payable, June financial statement, and the April-June 3rd quarter financial statement. City manager Phipps was authorized to solicit bids for a new library roof and for painting and maintenance on the north well field water tank, located about two miles north on Cemetery Road.
Meetings are scheduled with the Panhandle Red Cross group to designate disaster shelter locations within the city that can be used for shelters in the event of a disaster situation. Police Chief Mooney is the local disaster relief coordinator.
Kathy Sandoval and Ann Kelley were appointed to serve on the Friona Library advisory board. Council approved to continue the Texas Municipal League (TML) health insurance plan for city employees. There was a slight increase to $463.50 per month per employee. The city does not pay dependent coverage.
At 7:25 p.m. the council went into executive session to discuss and evaluate city manager Phipps. On returning to open session the council expressed their confidence in her management of the city’s business.
The next meeting of the Friona city council will be at 6:30 p.m. Monday August 12 in council chambers at 619 Main St. All council meetings are open to the public.
