Council meeting 2025-04-21
Agenda · Packet · Minutes · YouTube · 26:40 long
0:03living
0:05there next Tuesday. I like them though.
0:09I like miss
0:11Miss Like I said
0:14and I didn't realize that you I never
0:17knew I have a hard time separ
0:26comment. I'll do that. Great. Great.
0:28Great. you know, uh, at 6:00. Is it six?
0:31Yes, ma'am. Oh, well, I can't be having
0:33this side conversation then. Okay.
0:37Good evening, everyone. We're about to
0:39call our council meeting to order. At
0:42this time, we will have an
0:45invocation and a pledge.
0:49Heavenly Father, we come before you this
0:51afternoon, thanking you for the
0:52opportunity to gather here at city hall.
0:55Uh we seek your leading and your
0:57guidance and your wisdom for this time
0:59uh pertaining to all of the issues of
1:01our city. And we just ask for your for
1:04your blessings upon it all. And we thank
1:06you for the opportunity to serve you.
1:08And may we serve you in a way that would
1:10bring glory and honor to you. And we
1:13thank you and give you all the praise.
1:14In Christ Jesus name we pray. Amen.
1:17Amen.
1:19I pledge algiance to the flag of the
1:22United States of America and to the
1:25republic for which it stands. One nation
1:29under God, indivisible, with liberty and
1:32justice for all.
1:39Good evening everyone. We're so glad
1:40that you chose to join us today. We've
1:42we've had such an exciting weekend. We
1:45were so proud of the number of Easter
1:48egg hunts and Easter activity that was
1:51open and it was a bunch of children at
1:53every one of them and they and I don't
1:56know who had the greatest time, the moms
1:58or the children and then they left. It's
2:01kind of hard pressed to tell who was it.
2:03The kids liked them, but the mother was
2:05driving them and the dad sitting up
2:07there clapping. So, it it worked out
2:09very well. And also, we would like to
2:11thank our community. Thank our
2:12community. We had Holy Week last week
2:15and we had the evening services and then
2:17we had night services one by the Houston
2:20County Ministerial Alliance and then the
2:23Crockett area ministerial alliance had
2:25them but the word went out and we're I
2:28was surely in I was really inspired that
2:31we have such a community that has a
2:34heart for God. I don't know if you get
2:35to say that publicly, but I will
2:37announce it publicly that I think it
2:40does a lot of direction, give a lot of
2:41direction to our city. And it also tells
2:44you what you're working with. The final
2:46base when you have a heart like that,
2:48you know that you're in good safe
2:50waters. So, thank everybody in the
2:52community for all that they did, all of
2:54the ones that did the sponsorship
2:56because we know it's never cheap. They
2:58spare no expense. And once again, we're
3:01glad that our counselor is here. We had
3:03our our
3:05um we recognize the vis we did recognize
3:08the visitors right before we get in this
3:10conversation.
3:12Visitor they looking at each other.
3:14Thank you. Our twins.
3:20Okay. Like like a piece of furniture,
3:21huh? Yeah.
3:23And so with that being said, at this
3:25time we we didn't have any comments from
3:27the audience. Uh, I had a couple
3:29comments. I mean, I'm sorry from from
3:31the audience, but we also have now we
3:33have comments from those that are on on
3:35the table.
3:39Yeah, you may go first. I just wanted to
3:42make a couple um announcements. We have
3:44early voting starting tomorrow at the um
3:46senior citizen center in the park and it
3:49so it starts tomorrow and it runs
3:51through next Tuesday. So, they'll have a
3:53uh Saturday we'll be voting early voting
3:56as well. So, take advantage of the early
3:58voting um at the senior citizen center.
4:01Um and I also have in front of y'all and
4:05I we're putting it on our website and
4:07we'll be sending out uh links on our uh
4:09water bills. We have our water quality
4:12report that's uh for uh
4:152024. And so, we're sending that out on
4:18our website, water bills, and we have
4:21paper copies here at city hall for
4:23pickup if you want a paper copy.
4:27Okay. Does anyone else have any comments
4:31from the council?
4:35No. Okay. With that being said, uh that
4:39brings us up to item number one, a
4:43regular session, April 7, 2025. Approval
4:46of minutes.
4:49I'll make a motion we approve the
4:50minutes from April 7th session.
4:55I'll second it. Okay, it's been moved
4:56and second. All in
4:58favor? Motion
5:00carries. And that brings us to item
5:04number two, reports from the police
5:06department, manpower and criminal
5:08incident report for March 2025. Chief,
5:16good evening. Mayor, council, city
5:18administrator. Police Department's
5:20manpower criminal activity report for
5:22March of 2025. We have 16 officers,
5:26worked
5:272,95 hours, responded to 412 calls for
5:31service, responded to 11 traffic
5:34accidents, made 50 arrests, issued 372
5:38traffic citations, completed 80 reports,
5:42and responded to 24 alarm calls. Below
5:45that, you'll see a breakdown of our
5:47criminal incident report, and I'll
5:48entertain any questions you may have
5:49about that report.
5:55Any comments? I don't I see that our
5:58loop is a very busy place for everybody.
6:02It is, especially during lunchtime and
6:04at Quinton time. It's It's very busy. I
6:07have a couple other things I'd like to
6:09address.
6:10Um, obviously, as y'all can tell, I'm
6:13still here and I have not resigned. U,
6:16as y'all know, there were some group put
6:19some rumors out that I had resigned and
6:22then another rumor was that the council
6:24had met and voted me out. Obviously, we
6:27see that's not true. So, um, maybe that
6:30maybe that rumor will will shut down.
6:33Um, also, there was some questions about
6:36the police department giving our monthly
6:38report. Um that's something that this
6:40police department's always done even
6:42before me. Um we do that to maintain
6:45transparency. Uh to give each of you
6:48council members a qu an opportunity to
6:50ask us any questions if you have. Uh so
6:54um for people out there that are
6:56wondering why we do that, that's why we
6:58do that is to uh maintain transparency
7:02and and for the record that that hasn't
7:04come from any member of the council. U
7:06it it's something that surfaced from the
7:08community. So, I wanted to uh to address
7:10that. The last thing I'll address, and
7:13uh y'all may have already seen this, but
7:15I'll read through it real quick. Um I
7:18put a letter in the uh the newspaper
7:20regarding the Crockett Economic and
7:21Industrial Development Corporation
7:23investigation. Uh there was a lot of
7:26comments floating around, a lot of
7:27accusations. So, uh this this is my
7:30belief of it and this is the statement
7:32from the police department. In April of
7:342021, the Crockett Police Department
7:36received a criminal complaint from a
7:38member of the Crockett City Council. The
7:40complaint was based on findings from a
7:42forensic audit conducted by Axle and
7:44Road LLP. Due to the complexity of the
7:46allegations, I initially consulted with
7:48the Texas Rangers. Following that
7:50discussion, it was recommended that I
7:52contact the office, the Texas Attorney
7:54General, which maintains a specialized
7:56division focused on financial and white
7:58collar crimes. In my formal request to
8:01the attorney general's office, I
8:02specifically ask that they assume
8:04primary responsibility for the
8:06investigation. The financial nature and
8:08scale of the allegations require
8:10resources and expertise beyond the
8:12capabilities of our
8:13department. Given our limited staff
8:16undertaking an investigation of this
8:17scope would place considerable strain on
8:20our administrative personnel.
8:22Additionally, such an in-depth financial
8:24investigation was unprecedented for a
8:26department our size. During discussions
8:28with Attorney General's office, I was
8:30informed that the Houston County
8:31District Attorney's Office had also
8:33submitted a request for an investigation
8:35into the same matter. On May 3rd of
8:382021, I submitted our department's
8:40request to the Attorney General's
8:41office. Several days later, I was
8:43contacted by an investigator from their
8:45office and informed that a criminal
8:46investigation had been officially open.
8:50Several months later, upon completion of
8:51their investigation, the attorney
8:53general's office turned their findings
8:54over to the Houston County District
8:56Attorney's Office for presentation to a
8:58grand jury. Concurrently, the city of
9:00Crockett retained retained the firm
9:02Weaver and Tidwell to conduct a forensic
9:04audit of the Crockett Economic and
9:07Industrial Development Corporation. The
9:09audit was completed and submitted to the
9:11city on January 5th of 2023. During a
9:14city council meeting held on January 9th
9:16of 2023, a motion was passed to
9:19temporarily suspend all activities of
9:21the Crockett Economic and Industrial
9:23Development. As part of that motion, the
9:25police department was directed to open
9:26an investigation into the audit
9:28findings, identify any responsible
9:30parties, and request external support if
9:33necessary. That same evening, the
9:35Crockett Police Department opened a
9:37preliminary investigation. The following
9:39day, I notified the AG's office
9:41investigator of the new request by the
9:43city council and the findings of the
9:45Weaver and Tidwell audit. During that
9:47conversation, we discussed the potential
9:49for the attorney general's office to
9:51take the lead given their prior
9:53involvement and the likelihood of
9:55overlapping evidence. On January 11th,
9:582023, I met with the Houston County
10:00District Attorney to discuss the newly
10:01completed forensic audit and the
10:04possibility of the attorney general's
10:05office assuming both investigative and
10:07prosecutorial
10:09duties. It was agreed that the district
10:11attorney's office would formally request
10:13request that the attorney general to
10:15oversee prosecution both related related
10:17to both the initial and subsequent
10:19investigations into the EDC. On April
10:2319th, the Attorney General's office
10:24confirmed they would assume
10:25prosecutorial duties for the CEIDC case
10:29previously submitted by the Houston
10:30County District Attorney. It was also
10:32determined that their office would
10:34obtain a copy of the Weaver and Tidwell
10:36audit as well as any related documents
10:38or evidence collected by the Crockett
10:40Police Department and they would handle
10:41the investigation initiated by the
10:43January 9th, 2023 city council request.
10:48At around the same time, we met with
10:49agents from the Federal Bureau of
10:51Investigation to discuss potential
10:53federal violations that may have
10:54occurred. We also provided them with a
10:57copy of the forensic audit for their
10:58review. Shortly after, I was informed
11:01that the FBI would not be opening a
11:02case. Instead, any potential violations
11:05identified would be referred to the
11:07Attorney General's office for further
11:09consideration. In May of 2024, I was
11:12informed the Attorney General's office
11:13had concluded its investigation. I was
11:16also notified that the assigned
11:17prosecutor had declined to present the
11:19case to a grand jury. No specific
11:21reasoning was provided beyond the
11:23prosecutor's determination that the case
11:25would not proceed to the grand jury
11:27review. To my knowledge, as of this
11:29date, the case has not been formally
11:31closed by the attorney general's office.
11:33Regarding comments, concerns expressed
11:35indicating corruption, political
11:37pressure, incompetence related to the
11:40Crockett Police Department and/or the
11:41city of Crockett. Everyone has a right
11:43to their own opinions and beliefs, which
11:45I respect. It's my considered opinion
11:48that a larger agency possessing
11:50possessing no political affiliations and
11:53staffed with highly personnel
11:54specialized in financial investigations
11:56would far better be equipped to conduct
11:58a comprehensive and impartial inquiry.
12:01Once that decision is made and acted
12:03upon, control over the outcome is no
12:05longer within our hands. If the result
12:07of that decision later becomes
12:09unpopular, I cannot and will not
12:12undermine or contradict the
12:13determination of the agency I requested
12:15assistance from. Seeking to overturn
12:18their findings or reopen the same
12:20investigation in so solely in pursuit of
12:22a different outcome const constitutes
12:25what is commonly referred to as
12:27lawfare. It is to be expected that some
12:29will agree with the decisions made and
12:31some will disagree and that's their
12:33right. At this time, we're unable to
12:35provide any further information. As many
12:38of you are aware, I maintain an open
12:40door policy and welcome the opportunity
12:42to engage in constructive conversation
12:44with any member of our community. Thank
12:47you.
12:51Thank you.
12:53We appreciate the update and I and what
12:56we do appreciate even further than that
12:58is that if you have question unresolved
13:01he's available to discuss them with you
13:04but I do respect even from start one
13:07before that the process was done because
13:10as the council we lacked the expertise
13:13and we were seeking to make sure it was
13:15as partially done so that nobody could
13:18set favor in a small town. We all know
13:21each other. We know all our history. And
13:23so I think it was best that the route
13:25was taken. And we appreciate your
13:27diligence and getting it done.
13:31Um so basically chief, you basically
13:33said that we're completed with with that
13:37u that incident. I mean um there's no
13:41other questions there. No, I mean it's
13:44done. One and done. Is that related to
13:46that particular investigation? Yes.
13:49It has not been closed.
13:53So that's what you said. It has the
13:55attorney general's office when I spoke
13:56to them said they have not closed the
13:58case out um from I I don't know what
14:02their processes are for for the city of
14:05Crockett for your completion. You're
14:08you're done. So So my involvement get
14:11further instruction from the attorney
14:12general. So, my involvement in that
14:14particular investigation ended once I
14:16sent it to the attorney general's
14:18office. As far as what they do from
14:20here, Yes, sir. I I cannot control that.
14:23That's that's the decision they make.
14:25Um, regarding the case is still being
14:28open or closed. Uh, that depends on each
14:31agency. They may leave it open um until
14:34they determine that it needs to be
14:36closed. It doesn't specifically mean
14:38that anything will or will not come out
14:40of it, but it but far as as your invest
14:45is your involvement from that particular
14:48investigation for that not not involving
14:50any other any other investigation phases
14:53of different things. Okay.
14:56Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Take care.
14:58And at this time, if nothing else, oh,
15:02we have our fire department monthly
15:04activity status report.
15:07Good evening, mayor, council members.
15:09Good evening. Our uh uh March monthly
15:12report, we had a total of 31 calls. 19
15:15of those being in the city limits and 12
15:17of them being in our county response
15:19area. Um there's a breakdown in front of
15:22y'all of our that breaks the calls down
15:24to each individual call. If y'all have
15:26any questions about those, I'll be more
15:28than happy to answer.
15:30Uh Chief, I I just didn't want you to be
15:32left out. didn't think I was picking on
15:35any specific department, but I was want
15:38also to ask you as well to see
15:41um what area would you where you
15:44receiving the most calls or uh or having
15:47to give the most response to uh in the
15:50in calls for
15:54Yeah. Let me overall for through the
15:56year is it's at the just a report at the
15:59end of the year. I'd appreciate that.
16:01But you doing by precinct or um well I
16:03guess you answer county calls as well or
16:06how does that work? Yeah, we got a
16:08contract with the ESD. We cover county
16:11response. We fire department combined we
16:14cover 218 square miles.
16:18So but so uh far as the calls that you
16:22receive, are you receiving uh in one
16:24particular area? They're just sporadic.
16:28It's never like one set area. I don't
16:30know. Wherever they call, we go. And I
16:33don't see a see a trend that we're
16:35having more fires on one side of town
16:38versus another side of town or anything
16:40like that. So, and that's something our
16:43software we can our current software
16:45don't break it up into precinct. It just
16:47breaks it breaks it up into city or
16:49county response. Okay. So that might be
16:52software. Um, just remember me remember
16:55me in a budget workshop because we're
16:56seeking new software. It's just going to
16:59cost new software, but we're seeking it.
17:01Our old software used to break it up
17:03into precinct, but our new software that
17:06we currently use does not. It just
17:08breaks up to a city call or a county
17:10call. But um, I am looking into a new
17:13software which I'm going to bring when
17:15we start working our budgets workshop.
17:17Okay. And I'm glad you mentioned budget
17:19workshop real quick. um because I'm
17:21going to ask all the departments to try
17:23to at least uh get what they're going to
17:25present to the council to look over for
17:27budget so we'll be prepared to respond
17:30and review and be prepared to respond at
17:33the budget workshop. So I appreciate if
17:35we can get that I would say me for
17:37myself at least a week a week and a half
17:40uh before the workshop. Yeah, we
17:41normally before we got if we're putting
17:43in a request for something we we fill in
17:45our form and we'll get that to you. I
17:48appreciate it. Thank you. Any other
17:50questions? Thank you, Chief. Thank you.
17:55Okay, then that brings us that down to
17:58uh up to item business. Uh item four,
18:03award bid sewer repair at East Houston
18:06Avenue and South Grey Street to be paid
18:09with funding from utility funds reserves
18:12if necessary.
18:14Mayor and council, we have um some work
18:17that's being done on Grey Street where
18:19we're uh rebuilding that road, that
18:21portion of road. We've replaced most of
18:23the water lines on South and North
18:25Grace. They're completing uh North Grace
18:28currently. Over the past few weeks u or
18:31the past week, we began to have
18:35um some uh sewer blockages and stopups
18:39that we have not been able to break
18:41loose. We went down into the storm or
18:44into the manholes and ran our jet roers
18:47and we found basically when you start
18:50pulling back um a lot of dirt and mud um
18:54the the line has collapsed. So all the
18:57dirt has fallen into the sewer sewer
18:59line. Um that being said, we have two
19:02manholes um just with the work that's
19:04being done in and around that area
19:07um that also need to be replaced. Um if
19:10we're going to have to tie new lines
19:12into it on both sides, uh the current
19:15manholes are brick. One of them is brick
19:19um where we can't go in and reconstruct
19:22a new line into the um bottom of it and
19:24the other one has no bottom. So, we're
19:27needing to rebuild that section of line
19:31and install two new manholes with new uh
19:34service lines to that area. So, it's the
19:37first segment of sewer of manholes and
19:40sewer line off of East Houston going
19:43down South Grace. We did check the rest
19:46of the sewer lines. Um, you know, we
19:48service them regularly. We respond and
19:51anytime there's backups, we clean it out
19:53[segment omitted]
19:56We found a couple areas that we're going
19:58to go ahead and go in and replace
19:59ourselves. Um there's some areas that we
20:02can fix on our own. Um but this one due
20:05to the the the nature and the magnitude
20:08of it, we're not able to to go in and
20:11replace it like it should. That being
20:13said, um I did request an um an opinion
20:17to ensure that we could uh expedite this
20:21repair. Uh, one, we have sewer packages
20:25on on uh South Grace that need to be
20:28repaired right away. We can't wait. Um,
20:31and I did get an opinion that we uh meet
20:34uh the exemption uh due to
20:37uh it's a procurement necessary to
20:39preserve or protect the public health or
20:41safety and a procurement necessary
20:43because of unforeseen damage uh to
20:45property. And that being said, uh we
20:49reached out. We found four contractors
20:51that could um respond out there over the
20:53weekend. Today I began getting uh uh
20:56quotes in. And these are the four quotes
20:59that we received
21:02um to repair it. Uh due to the amount of
21:06two of those, they do not even meet the
21:08competitive bidding necessity anyway.
21:11But I went ahead and put that on there
21:12just in case the bids came in higher. So
21:15thankfully they came in lower. Um and
21:18this is an amount that we'll be able to
21:19fund out of our existing budget. I'm not
21:22asking for additional funds. However,
21:24moving forward, I'll keep you
21:27updated. We believe we're okay on South
21:30Grace. The water lines will all be
21:32replaced. We've identified the the worst
21:34section or the section of sewer line
21:36that needs to be replaced. The rest of
21:37it um the integrity of it appears to be
21:41in good good enough shape to maintain.
21:44um and not have to replace all of that,
21:47all the the rest of the sewer lines.
21:50Um, Crockett Construction is currently
21:53waiting on the water line project to
21:56finish before they can move in and do
21:57construction on the road. So, they said
22:00they actually had people
22:02u probably one of the reasons that he
22:04was a little bit more competitive on the
22:06bid. Um cuz he had people that was
22:08available to start on it immediately.
22:11um and he's the one doing the road
22:14construction on top of it. So if the
22:17road is not rebuilt and that ditch is
22:18not filled up properly and compacted
22:21um it'd be two different
22:23contractors looking at each other. So in
22:26this case it's all in one accountable.
22:28So I would recommend that we move move
22:30with uh the lowest uh bid which is
22:32Crockett Construction. What are they
22:34doing right now to end the Grayson
22:36Golad?
22:39They're on golad side. They're tying in
22:43off of our We have another 8 inch line.
22:47Our main feed on that goes down golad.
22:49We're doing that tie in to run our new
22:52water line down Grace. So, all the water
22:54line is run, but the tie-ins and the
22:56valving and everything that construction
22:59had not taken place until now.
23:02Um, on the other end, they're boring
23:03underneath East Houston and tying in
23:05North Grace to South Grace and making
23:07all that tie in.
23:12Okay. Okay. Any questions?
23:18And so you you recommend the Croc
23:20Construction for for what reason? Uh,
23:23they're the they're the local um they're
23:25the only local bidder. The other ones
23:27are in the area, but the Croc
23:29Construction is the lowest bid and
23:30they're the local bidder and they're
23:32well equipped to do the work and they're
23:34already in a process. So, of the same
23:37every is like part two. They began the
23:39work out there and Terry Black uh the
23:41construction the contractor that's doing
23:43the water lines um he's has additional
23:46parts that are coming in that's taking
23:48some time. So, it kind of pushed their
23:50schedule back. of Crockett Construction
23:51has um normally they would not bid on a
23:55a sewer line project. They they do road
23:57construction primarily, but um they'll
24:00they bid on this uh due to their they
24:03have time that they can do the work.
24:08I'd make a motion we'll go with Crockett
24:09Construction to uh I second. Okay, it's
24:12been moved and second. All in
24:15favor? Motion carries.
24:19Okay. If there's nothing else,
24:22I will say that I'm amazed at how big of
24:25a hole they can dig and fill it back up
24:27so quick. That's a Those are enormous. I
24:30had to get out and look and see how deep
24:32it was. They really are enormous holes
24:34that they're doing. But they're doing a
24:36we're getting roads done that have never
24:37been done in years. So, I'm I'm really
24:40excited about the construction and it's
24:42and it's on some higher profile roads
24:45because when they said make sure we
24:47might have to put a speed bump on on
24:49Grace Street once it's fixed. It's a
24:51good shortcut. You can beat a lot of
24:54livestock. But anyway, I think I we
24:56appreciate the work and the people are
24:58being real patient and and it's going to
25:01make a difference for everybody. So, we
25:03thank you for all of those that are
25:05involved, our whole construction crew
25:07and the council for making sure that
25:09it's getting done. I use Bill Bell
25:12Street a lot and it's such a pleasure
25:15going down Bell Street.
25:17I'm telling you.
25:20Anyone else have anything? Just um just
25:23want to make sure um Mr. [name] that I I
25:26was approached the other day about MLK.
25:29So when we have my have the round table
25:32in precinct 3, I would like you to kind
25:34of review MLK with uh with the with that
25:38with those residents cuz I still been uh
25:42approached about it not being complete.
25:44Now I need to know what's not complete
25:46about it. So and I want you to be able
25:48to explain that to the residents. Sure.
25:51Okay. Any what's not complete? It's a
25:54whole road not complete. Uh the other
25:58the old
25:59commerce the portion of commerce between
26:02Bell and uh West Golad and that was on
26:05this. Mm- it's not a it wasn't approved.
26:08There's no that Well, I can talk about
26:10it when we have it on the agenda. I
26:13better not talk about it now. No, it's
26:14not an agenda. But yeah, I explained it
26:16before, but I'll explain it. I'll I'll
26:18send out an email and explain it again.
26:20Okay. Any other If not motion to
26:23adjourn. Thank you. Motion.
26:29Thank y'all for coming,
26:37huh? You,
26:40too, sir.