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Council shows no partiality to Brook Hill
"My argument is quiet obvious, as Brook Hill grows and we build, it will bring students and families to town, customers to Bullard businesses and residents to Bullard neighborhoods, " Fletcher said. Fletcher showed the council a chart of their growth plan that revealed that ten years ago Brook Hill had 31 students in grades 6, 7 and 8. Three years ago there were 162 students. Today they will start with about 520 students with a goal of 938 in 201l. The new facility in question is the 45,000 square foot, four-story Humanities Building under construction. It will consist of a reading lounge for the students, classrooms, student center, library and the American Freedom Museum. The museum will be a state of the art Smithsonian interactive museum for the students and open to the people of the area. The approximate amount of impact fees that Fletcher asked the council to wave is approximately $12,500. "My opinion on impact fees is I don't like them. The reason I don't like them is I think they discourage growth," said Mayor A.W. Hines. Hines continued to explain that they were going to look at the current impact fees in the near future to see if it was in the best interest for Bullard. He further explained to Fletcher that if they waved them for Brook Hill they would have to do so for anyone else who requested it. "I feel like I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't at least present it, I figured that ya'll would say that. But, I appreciate the fact that you may reconsider it (impact fees) in the future," said Fletcher. Fletcher told the council that he fully understood their position and appreciated the relationship that the school has enjoyed with the city. Reluctantly the council unanimously rejected the request. Chris Thompson made a presentation to the council concerning a proposed skate park for the kids in Bullard. Some of the questions raised were, the need, a desire, if there are any monies available and whether it should be a municipal or private owned park. Other issues raised were finding donated land on which to build, who would be responsible for the park and who would be responsible for liability. The Council appointed city manager, Larry Morgan, to investigate the request and present it at the next meeting. The Bullard Volunteer Fire Department Chief, Keith Newburn, asked the council to add one dollar to the water bill for each water meter in the city to help with their budget. The council approved the department's financial statement including the one dollar increase on water rates. Martha Dinwidde, treasurer for the Bullard Library, presented their financial statement to the council for approval. Since the City includes the library in their budget as a benefit to the citizens they wanted to know how that money was being spent. The financial statement was approved. Other agenda items discussed and acted upon. Approved the Smith County 9-1-1 Communications District proposed FY 2007- 2008 Budget presented by Director William Morales. The Smith County 9-1-1 budget has to be presented to the Smith County Commissioners Court and the municipalities within the District for approval before it can be adopted. Appointed city manager, Larry Morgan, to execute a Standard Utility Agreement between the city and TxDot for the relocating, adjusting, modifying or removing water mains around US 69 and FM 344 for the future interchange. Approved the request from Slack Balser, LLC for the annexation of 39.04 acres known as Artesian Meadows Unit 1 and adopting the resolution for setting dates for public hearings on the proposed annexation. Approved the appointment of the following persons to serve as the initial directors of the Bullard Economic Development Corporation: Clay Thompson, Steve Shaddox, Donnie Barron, Sam Vercher, Eileen Gottschalk, Shirley Coe, and Terry Cowan. Approved the renewal of the City of Bullard Tax Abatement Policy. |
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