City hall hours to change slightly
In a brief regular meeting on Tuesday, June 16, Groesbeck city council received good news on multiple fronts from City Administrator Chris Henson, including reports of steady business at the city pool, record-high sales tax collection for June 2020, and the complete recovery of a Groesbeck family of five who had contracted COVID-19, bringing the number of active cases in the city back down to zero at time of press. Henson also addressed a recent social media post that put words in the mouth of Municipal Judge Michelle Nance and went viral, but has since been exposed as untrue.
“What I want to convey to the council and your constituents is that FaceBook is not the gospel, so just because somebody wrote it, doesn’t mean it’s true, and we’ve proven that last week with this episode; it was completely baseless. The City stood behind Judge Nance the entire time because we knew that that was not something that would come out of her mouth,” Henson said. “Anytime there is an accusation like that, you are more than welcome to call me; I will tell you exactly what I know, when I know it. I just want to caution the council and the citizens of Groesbeck, don’t believe everything you read on FaceBook.”
After approving the consent agenda and re-appointing council members Tamika Jackson and Michael Thompson to the Economic Development Corporation (EDC) board, council considered a request by Henson to change the hours that City Hall is open to the public from 8 a.m. - 5 p.m., to 8 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. This change, Henson explained, would not reduce the number of hours worked by city employees, but would allow them half an hour at the end of the day to complete their closing procedures and leave work at or shortly after 5 p.m. Currently, employees may be required to stay over for half an hour or more, at no additional pay, when customers come in with only a moment til scheduled closing time to pay a bill or request water service reconnections. Water bills could continue to be paid online, over the phone, or dropped through the mail slot. The requested change was unanimously approved.
Henson went on to share details about various city topics with the Council, including the reported sales tax allocations in June, which he explained actually reflected taxes on April sales that had been collected in May.
“In June of 2019, last year, the City of Groesbeck collected $55,540 dollars. For June 2020 of this year, the city collected $75,452, so we’re $20,000 over last year’s collections, even in the midst of the COVID crisis,” Henson said. “Groesbeck did have a lot of shut-downs as it relates to businesses, so I’m happy to see that our numbers are where they are, and June is a record on the books for the City.”
He shared that the library is once again open, and that the newest member of Groesbeck Police Department, K9 Java, will begin work with Officer Brad Martin Wednesday. Henson also reiterated that the July 4 Fireworks show will still be taking place, but the parade has been canceled in order to maintain compliance with COVID-19 social distancing requirements.
Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Kim Harris inquired about a couple of code enforcement details, one question regarding the reported cost of a specific residential remodel was not addressed, and another question pertained to the usage of RVs parked in driveways. Henson responded that while normal circumstances allowed RVs to be on property, people were not allowed to live in them; however, enforcement on that had loosened during this COVID-19 pandemic, because some individuals have been using RVs for temporary quarantining purposes.
The meeting adjourned at 6:17 p.m. The next scheduled council meeting is set for July 21, 2020 at 6 p.m.