Council approves zoning changes

By Jan White
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CROCKETT – During the meeting of the Crockett City Council on Monday, April 18, members voted to approve the proposed zoning amendments submitted by the Planning and Zoning Commission of Crockett for the C-3 City Center Shopping District.

The amendments help to redefine the purpose of the district allowing, with certain restrictions and permits, the use of buildings for retail purposes, some multi-family dwellings, and additional downtown-area parking. The council first held a public hearing for citizens to voice their approval or objections, but there were only positive comments on the proposal. After the public hearing portion of the meeting closed, a motion was made by the council to approve the amendments. The vote was unanimous.

The two comments from the audience addressed the CEIDC audit, and concerns regarding debt incurred by the CEIDC, respectively.

The council also heard the monthly police department and fire department reports. During his presentation of the police department reports, Police Chief Clayton Smith showed a video obtained from security cameras at the site of the storage buildings affected by the March tornado. 

City Manager John Angerstein presented a graph created to address selected streets targeted for repair and a proposed budget for the state infrastructure bank loan to be applied to those water, sewer, and road repairs.

The council also approved an updated rental form and rates for the pavilion and the splash-pad party room.

Mayor Ianthia Fisher was authorized to act on behalf of the City in matters related to the purchase of property on Houston Avenue, across from the City Hall, which, along with the parking lot adjacent to the Moosehead Café, will be used for downtown-area parking. The lot will be purchased for $40k plus closing costs. 

Councilman Ernest Jackson made the motion to designate the Messenger as the official newspaper of the City of Crockett. Jackson said “After some consideration, we have two newspapers here in our county and I think that this time around, in all fairness, to the other, me personally, I think we should select the Messenger to be the official paper for the City of Crockett for this period of time.” The motion was seconded by Mike Marsh and passed unanimously. 

The council voted to move ex-officio board member Wade Thomas from his current position to that of an actual Board member of the Crockett Economic and Industrial Development Corporation. Also approved was the appointment of Traylor & Associates as Grant Writer/Administrator to assist the city in its application and administration of a possible contract award from the Texas Division of Emergency Management Hazard Mitigation Grant Program. 

Additionally, the council voted to select Shaumberg & Polk as engineers in conjunction with submittal of the aforementioned application for funding.