CHRIS EDWARDS | TCB WISD Business Manager Cody Jarrott discusses information for the board members to look at about possible salary schedules for the next school year.

WOODVILLE – The Woodville ISD Board of Trustees had a host of achievements to recognize among the faculty, staff and student body at its regular Monday night meeting.

Prior to moving the meeting to the board room in the WISD Administration Building for the regular agenda items, the meeting began in the community room in the cafeteria to accommodate the large audience of students, parents and well-wishers. The board recognized WISD athletes Kesean Paire and Linus Mannino for their achievements at the UIL State Track and Field Meet. Paire won the gold medal in the wheelchair shot-put event and Mannino took home a bronze medal in the high jump.

Lady Eagle powerlifter Natalli VonEssen was recognized for her achievement of placing eighth in the state in her sport.

Two WISD Speech and Debate competitors, Jaydee Borel and Izzy Narvaez were recognized for qualifying in the State-level Congressional Debate event.

The trustees also recognized Michelle Merchant on being named “3A Girls Assistant Coach of the Year” by the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches.

On to its regular agenda, the WISD trustees approved an interlocal agreement between the district and the board of directors of the Allan Shivers Library and Museum.

Superintendent Lisa Meysembourg spoke about the matter. She and trustee Josh McClure have served on the library board and have worked with the other board members to come up with a new interlocal agreement to help with administrative matters concerning the library, particularly since the death of longtime director Rosemary Bunch last year. The last document was signed in 1985, Meysembourg said. The City of Woodville recently entered into an interlocal with the library, as did the county.

Mask mandate lifted

The board approved a recommendation by Meysembourg to change its district-wide COVID-19 safety protocol of mask wearing.

Meysembourg said she feels “very confident” that it is time to lift the mandate, and make mask-wearing optional. There have been two active cases reported since spring break, and no active cases in the district for several weeks.

“I feel the community and school district have taken all of the necessary actions to prevent and mitigate the spread of COVID,” she said.

The lifting of the mandate was deemed effective immediately after its passage by the board.

Architectural firm chosen for long-range planning

The trustees approved an architectural firm, Goodwin-Lasiter-Strong, for long-range planning. The district went out for proposals earlier in the year from architects and construction managers and combed through them to review and rank the submissions to find the best fit for the district.

At the board’s April meeting, Meysembourg said that gathering the proposals and reviewing them was the first step toward whatever measures the district might need in the future, infrastructure/facilities-wise.

Meysembourg was approved by the board as authorized to negotiate and execute a contract with the firm. The Lufkin-based firm was also selected as the construction manager for the district’s long-range planning concerns, and Meysembourg was given authorization to negotiate and execute a contract with the firm on that front, as well.

Other Business

WISD’s Board of Trustees also approved the following items, or received the following information items:

• Belt, Harris, Pechacek was approved to conduct the annual fiscal year audit for WISD.
• The board authorized a resolution regarding ESSER III policy.
• Meysembourg reported a community-wide meeting scheduled for Monday, May 24 beginning with food at 6 p.m. The public is invited, and it is an open-house for information for the community’s benefit. The meeting will take place in the cafeteria on the elementary campus.
• WISD Business Manager Cody Jarrott reported in his regular report that the district is at 91.53% for its collection of property taxes. Jarrott also presented packets of information for the trustees pertaining to possible salary schedules for the coming 2021-22 school year.

USED COURTESY OF CREATIVE COMMONS The Woodville City Hall

WOODVILLE – At its regular monthly meeting on Monday evening, the Woodville City Council began with a proclamation to honor blind military veterans in Woodville.

Mayor Paula Jones read the proclamation aloud

The date of March 28 is recognized nationwide as Blinded Veterans Day, recognition that is now in its 76th year, enacted by the 111th Congress to aid in rehabilitative efforts for our nation’s blinded veterans.

Such efforts as improving the VA’s vision rehabilitation services, benefits, research and caregiver support for blinded veterans.

Cleanup scheduled

Under the “Items of Community Interest” standing agenda item, City Administrator Mandy Risinger apprised the council on a variety of ongoing projects and events within the city limits.

One such topic is the city’s annual cleanup effort, which begun on Monday and will last through Friday, March 19.

The city will accept heavy waste at its warehouse, located at 200 Wingate Street. Residents can take advantage of this opportunity for disposal of heavy, solid waste items during this time period from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.

There will also be “Be Green – Stay Clean” events on Saturday and on March 20, and Risinger encouraged individuals, as well as organizations to take part in the effort.

On a related topic during her report of community-related items, Risinger said the city will begin sending out letters to property owners of problematic and/or nuisance properties soon to compel them to clean-up said properties. There will also be hearings scheduled over these matters, also with substandard buildings. These issues have been put on hold due to COVID, she said.

Risinger also spoke about the coming Dogwood Festival events, all of which are scheduled to take place as they traditionally do, with Festival of the Arts at Heritage Village; Western Weekend and Queen’s Weekend, scheduled for the third and fourth weekends in March and first weekend in April, respectively.

She referred to the language of Gov. Greg Abbott’s most recent executive order, which ended the mask mandate and reopened occupancy for businesses to 100%, statewide. She said the order does not address public gatherings, and the previous order addressing them allows for localized approval for events of more than 10 people. The festival’s governing board has already approached the city for approval, which was granted, Risinger said.

The city is not planning to issue any vendor permits until May 1, however, which will be after the festival has taken place. “By that time, vaccinations should be readily available, and the summer months will be on,” Risinger said, which are both factors that will further mitigate the spread of the virus, which is in decline locally and nationwide.

Other Business

• The city approved its fiscal year 2019-20 audit, which was conducted by Alexander, Lankford & Heirs. Richard Rudel reported on the audit results to the councilmembers and Jones and said there were no difficulties encountered in conducting the audit.

• Citizens State Bank of Woodville was awarded as the city’s depository bank.

• Risinger reported that the city looked at applying for the $350K CDBG grant cycle, with a match that is to be calculated based on variables such as population. “We are primarily looking at street improvement projects (if funded),” she said. A hearing was held to look at potential projects.

• The city approved the procurement for administration services for CDBG program grant funding to David Waxman and Associates. Risinger said the firm has helped the city obtain millions and millions of dollars throughout the years.