Municipal Court & Brownfield Fire Dept. Quarterly Reports Discussed at City Council Meeting

by Eric

The Brownfield City Council held a regularly scheduled Council meeting on Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021, at 7:30 a.m. The agenda was a brief one with only three action items discussed. After the call to order, invocation, pledges, and approval of the previous meeting’s minutes, the Council went into the agenda items.

Moving to item #4, the Council would hear from the Brownfield Fire & Rescue Chief Dennis Rowe. Chief Rowe told the Council that from January 1, 2021, to October 31, 2021, the dept. has run a total of 137 calls. The city has had 79 and the county has had 58. During the third quarter, the BFRD was part of two events which were a fire prevention series at Wellman-Union ISD and the BFRD participated in the Halloween activities on the square. Chief Rowe also told the Council the dept. received a grant from the Forest Service for a new set of tools. The requirement for the grant is a maximum cost-share of 75% of actual cost not to exceed $15K.

Chief Rowe also explained to the Council he is working on the bids for the fire truck and radios that were budgeted for the 2021-2022 fiscal year. Chief Rowe said, “Even if we ordered today, they are 15 months out, so we are looking at about a two-year turnaround for the new fire truck.” This situation stems from the national supply chain crisis where businesses that build and fit out fire trucks are having a hard time getting the parts needed to finish the products. Chief Rowe also said he has been in contact with Insurance Offices Service (ISO). The ISO gathers information on municipal fire protection agencies in communities throughout the United States. The ISO then analyzes the relevant data out of each community using their Fire Suppression Rating Schedule (FSRS). They then assign a Public Protection Classification rating from 1 to 10. The lower the rating is, the better the protection class is, which in turn lowers the insurance premium for property owners. About six or seven years ago the City of Brownfield went from a protection class of 5 to 4.

The Council moved on to item #5 which was to hear and consider the quarterly update and report by the Brownfield Municipal Judge Kenneth Cole. Judge Cole showed the comparison of the past three years from July to September. According to Judge Cole, there has been a huge gain in revenue from 2019 to 2021. In July 2019, the total revenue from citations was $10,256. In 2020 there was a total of $4,673 in July. In July 2021, the Municipal Court saw a total revenue of $16,464. In August 2019 the total revenue was $10,133; in 2020 it was $5,206; and in 2021 it was $16,790. The month of September for the past three years was a lot like July and August where in September of 2019 the total revenue was $10,576; in 2020 it was $5,540, and in 2021 it was $12,408. The reason for the low revenue numbers in 2020 was due to the CVID-19 pandemic.

New cases filed in July 2021 was 128, in August 2021 was 103, and in September 2021 there were 107 new cases filed. According to Judge Cole, in July 2021 120 cases were paid or completed. In August 2021 a 101 were paid or completed and in September 2021 there were 83. There was 77 warrant issued in July 2021, none in August 2021, and 90 in September 2021. The Council approved both quarterly reports from the BFRD and Municipal Court.

The Council then went to item #6 and renewed the Declaration of Local Disaster-Mayoral Order due to public health emergency to slow and prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the City of Brownfield. After item #6, the Council went into executive session (closed-door) in accordance with section 551.071 “consultation with attorney of pending or contemplated litigation with the Brownfield Police Dept. The Council returned from the closed-door session and did not take action on the agenda item. The Council adjourned. Councilman Isaiah Bautista was the only Council member absent. The next meeting is slated for Thursday, Dec. 2, 2021, at 7:30 a.m.in the Council Chambers at Brownfield City Hall.

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