Amid the icy cold conditions, the Brownfield City Council had a regular scheduled meeting on Thursday morning Feb. 18, 2021. After the invocation and pledges, and since there were no public comments on any agenda items the council approved the minutes from the last meeting.
Moving on to item 3 which was to hear and consider the quarterly update and reports from the Brownfield Fire Dept. Chief Dennis Rowe. According to Chief Rowe there were a total of 209 calls from January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020. These calls included fires, wrecks/rescues, and medical assists. The city had a total of 92 calls which there were 74 fires, four wrecks/rescues, and 14 EMS assists. The county had 117 calls which broke down to 85 fires, 31 wrecks/rescues, and one medical assist. Chief Rowe also stated that due to the coronavirus pandemic, the department could only do the minimum of fire prevention training.
The council would move on to item four which was to hear and consider the yearly and quarterly updates and reports from the City of Brownfield Municipal Court Judge Ken Cole. From the Municipal Judge’s office in 2020 there were 650 new cases filed, 684 dispositions, 301 warrants issued, 152 cases reactivated, and 166 magistrate warnings. The total revenue brought in was $91,267.00 and out of that, the city brought in $59,093.00. According to Judge Cole, the total and city revenue is down 35% due to COVID-19. There were 305 violations issued in 2020 with 62 from speeding, 110 for no drivers license, 76 for no insurance, 12 for no seatbelt, 19 for failure to stop at a stop sign or stop light, three for nuisances, and 23 for assaults.
Next was to discuss and consider a Brownfield Centennial Celebration for the Summer of 2021. Although Brownfield was established, in 1903 and in 1904 was made the county seat for Terry County. Brownfield was incorporated in October of 1920, however the city government was not formed until 1921. City Manager Jeff Davis said that he would like see the city have a celebration of some kind, possibly the Fourth of July weekend. Council members Michelle Cooper, Eric Horton and Mayor Tom Hesse will be heading up the celebration. According to Mayor Hesse there will be more information on the celebration to come in the next few weeks.
Item six was next on the agenda and it was to discuss and consider paving certain roads in Brownfield. According to Davis, there is an estimated 13.1 miles of unpaved roads in the City of Brownfield. During the discussion, Davis let the council members decide which roads should be paved with the first round of budgeted funds. There were several suggestions made by each member. The item was then tabled to allow Davis to gather more information on the roads that could possibly be paved. Davis said, “I will come back to our next meeting with the details.”
Moving on to the next item of business, which was to discuss the upgrade and renovation project of the “multi-use” sports field at ColemanPark. The Parks and Recreation Dept. has been working on a multi-use football and soccer field for youth leagues. During the August budget sessions, the council approved $50,000 to set aside to upgrade and renovate a section at Coleman Park which use to be a baseball/softball field. The multi-use field will be located south of the American Legion Amphitheater and it will run north to south. Davis said, “due to the recent weather, they have lost about a week’s worth of work on the project. Also we will be placing sod on the field in April.”
In further business the council extended the Declaration of Local Disaster Mayoral Order due to the public health emergency to slow and prevent the spread of COVID-19 virus in the City of Brownfield. The extension was renewed until March 18, 2021.
The meeting was adjourned and Councilman Chuck Nave was the only member absent. The next meeting is slated for March 4, 2021 at 7:30 a.m. in the Council Chambers at City Hall.