The Denver City City Council met in regular session on Monday, May 6, where they addressed their agenda.
After the invocation was led by Councilman Keith Mensch the Council moved on to the visitors’ portion of the meeting. Criminal District Attorney Bill Helwig, representing the Economic Development Corporation, updated the Council on the housing development at the location where the former Elementary School was located. He noted new homes at the location should begin construction in the near future. He said a meeting had been held with J Ferg Pro concerning the development of that area. Branden McFadden will be the builder and they were looking at constructing one model home along with at least three spec homes.
These new homes will be joining the two just completed homes on the northeast corner of the lot. There is also a curb and gutter project currently underway on the north side of the lot.
When all the projects have been finished the EDC is looking at 20 new homes in that area.
City Manager Stan David informed the Council that the Literacy Center will be conducting graduation for their students on Tuesday, May 7, at the Community Building.
Following these two items a motion was made to approve the minutes from the previous meeting.
In the first item on the agenda the Council unanimously approved a motion to canvass the votes from the May 4 election at a special meeting on Monday, May 13, starting at 12:30. On the next regularly scheduled meeting which will be held on May 20, the three incumbent City Council members along with Mayor Tommy Hicks will be sworn in for another term of office. This included Joan Breith, Ronald Weir, and Robert Hanneman. Hanneman informed the Council he will be starting his 22nd year of serving on the Council.
DCISD school superintendent Gary Davis along with Chief of Police David Hennigan addressed the Council concerning the possibility of hiring two resource officers for the school district. Davis presented figures and a proposed list of duties for each officer. One officer will serve the campuses of the high school and junior high while the second officer would serve Kelley Elementary and Dodson Primary.
DCISD and the City of Denver City would share expenses and equipment. The school district would cover 87% of the expenses and the City would cover the remaining 13%. The salary would be based on the City pay scale for officers which could be up to an estimated $53,000. The equipment cost would be an estimated $12,250 that would include uniforms, equipment, and other required items.
Other terms of the agreement would include the School Resource Officer (SRO) will be an employee of the Denver City Police Department under the direct supervision of Denver City Police Department Chief of Police and will comply with all policies and procedures of both the City of Denver City and the Denver City Police Department.
The work hours would be 7:30am to 4pm Monday-Friday. During the summer months the officer would be a regular officer with the Denver City PD. The City of DC would also provide the vehicles and gas for each officer.
After more discussions a motion was made and unanimously approved to move forward with this project. Davis wants everything in place by the beginning of the next school year.
In the last item the Council considered property given to South Plains Community Action in Palmwood Estates Subdivision. This is the area off of East Fir street that was divided into 10 lots. There are currently seven homes on these lots.
After several issues the SPCA would like to give the unused lots back to the City of Denver City. The lots included are 5, 6, and 7. Several minutes were spent discussing the possible action that could be taken.
The Council then went into a short Executive Session and came out 15 minutes later. Following this Executive Session, the Council then unanimously approved the payment of bills that totaled $89,304.85.
Councilmembers in attendance included Joan Breith, Ronald Weir, Robert Hanneman, Clinton Bowman, Mark Sherman, and Keith Mensch along with Mayor Tommy Hicks.
The next meeting will be on May 13 at 12:30pm in the City Hall chambers to canvass the votes from the May 4 election. This will be followed by the monthly meeting on May 20 starting at 7pm in the City Hall chambers. The highlight of that meeting will be the swearing in of the three council members along with Mayor Tommy Hicks.
