Thegfeart ofilake Palestine  COFFEE CITY, TEXAS  7019 Pleasant Ridge Road CR 4217 * Coffee City, TX 75763 Phone: (903) 876-3414 * Fax: (903/873-2433  CITY OF COFFEE CITY Town Hall Meeting Minutes October 23, 2023 @ 6pm 7019 Pleasant Ridge Rd Coffee City, TX 75763  NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN OF A COUNCIL MEETING OF THE CITY COUNICL OF COFFEE CITY. TOBEI HELDON MONDAY.October. 23, 2023, at 6:00 PM ATTHE COFFE CITY COMMUNITY CENTER, 7019 PLEASANT RIDGE RD, COFFEE CITY, TEXAS. FOR THE PURPOSE OF CONSIDERATION OF THEI FOLLOWING AGENDA ITEMS. THE CITY COUNCIL RESERVES THE RIGHTTO MEET IN A CLOSED SESSION ON ANY AGENDA ITEM SHOULD THE1 NEED ARISE AND APPLICABLE PURSANTTO AUTHORIZATION BY TITLE5, CHAPTER 551, OF THE TEXAS GOVERNMENT CODE.  Council Members  Jeff Blackstone - Mayor (P)  Carrie Ousley - Place 3( (P) Keith Skender - Place 4 (P) Ollie Harmon - Place 5 (P)  Ruthie Seward - Place 1 (P) arrived at 6:15 Marquis Castleberry - Mayor Pro-Tem (P)  1. Call Meeting to Order:  Jeff Blackstone called the meeting to order at 6:07 PM. 2. Roll Call and Announce ifq quorum is present:  Mary McDonald announced: roll call and a quorum was, present.  3. Opening remarks:  Mr. Blackstone stated this meeting was intended to bring the community together to speak on the police department, where the city. stands at the moment with the department and ifwe get a new department. how the department will look and be affordable. He updated the community that the chiefwas terminated land they deactivated the police department, for the time being and now trying to re-established. the department and looking at the budget. He stated that he wanted toj put it out to the citizens and. see how important it is to them to have a department and ifit is come up with ways toj fund the department. He stated, grants could be an option but would need to be one that does not require a matching amount at the end of the grant. He stated the other possibility its property tax, something the city does not have. Mr. Blackstone asked ifthe council wanted to. speak on the matter. Ollie Harmon spoke and: stated that she was inj favor ofl having a department, for the safety of the citizens. Carrie Ousley spoke and. stated. she agreed with. Ms. Harmon and a department was needed even ifit was just two officers. Mr. Blackstone opened the meeting to the citizens  to speak.  4. Discussion: Coffee City Police Department  a. Open to the public to speak on the rebuilding of the police department.  Mr. Wagley spoke and. stated Tyler was heading this way and many developers were looking to expand south on 155 but what was killing the developers was the police force we had on the highway. He stated that he would recommend. not to go back down that road but he does support a police department    for safety reason. He asked what the city receives from sales tax. Mr. Blackstone stated 1% goes to the city but also funds that go to the EDC and Roads account. He asked how much would be brought in ifa property tax was implemented. Mr. Blackstone stated that he did not know at the moment and it would be something we look into with the tax appraisal office. Mr. Wagley stated he was supportive ofa police department ifit could be funded in a reasonable way without putting a black eye on Coffee City. Next, Mr. Harbert spoke and. stated that he was opposed to having a department, just because ofwhat the city has been through the last 20 years. He stated. he would be supportive ofl or 2 officers ifthe city coulda afford it without aj property tax. He asked ifthere was a way that they could hire an officer from another department to drive around for security reascns and asked ifit had to be someone that was going to have to issues citations. Mr. Blackstone stated that he wasn'tsure ifthat was possible and he asked Sheriff Hillhouse ifthat was something that even legal to do. Mr. Hillhouse spoke ands stated that his department doesn'ti issue many citations but make several stops. He stated that ifthe city) had an officer patrolling the ared, it would be at their discretion to issue a citation or not. Mr. Harbert asked Mr. Hillhouse how many officers he had in our ared. Mr. Hillhouse stated that the shifis consist of6p people and they use HWY 191 to divide the county and it' 's usually. 3 on each. side oft the county. Mr. Vrba spoke and asked. Mr. Hillhouse what would be the response time ifsomeone had called for an emergency. Mr. Hillhouse stated the response time is estimated. at 17 minutes. Mr. Hillhouse stated they will respond in accordance to priority. Keith Skender asked how many called they have received for Coffee City. since the deactivation. Mr. Hillhouse stated that they have had 38 calls and that DPS has been covering any wrecks and that there had been aj few ofthose. He stated. that DPS has also been out patrolling the area as well. Mr. Vrba asked about code enforcement and who would be handling that now. Mr. Hillhouse stated that Henderson County could not enforce a city ordinance violation. Mr. McBride spoke and asked how the property tax and ifthat information would come from Henderson County appraisal. Mr. Blackstone stated that it would and it would. be based on whatever the yearly appraisal is of property that people receive in the mail. Mr. Blackstone stated that the city council would have to approve and adopt a city ordinance for property tax and it would have to be submitted to Henderson County no later than September 29th ofeach) year sO it would take almost another year before that would even be implemented. Mr. McBride asked Sheriff Hillhouse ifhe had guysjust responding to calls or actually patrolling our area. since the department 's deactivation. Mr. Hillhouse stated that they get out this way as ofien as possible and that he hasn'ta asked them to come this way and just. stay here because he doesn ' have the manpower to do that. Mr. McBride stated that he was concerned about HWY. 155 and the speed that people come through town at. He asked. Mr. Hillhouse if the city was to provide equipment needed and was in agreement with the county ifit would he possible tol have someone with his department in our area controlling the traffic. Mr. Hillhouse stated that he guys that have the equipment but can only come out ifthey are not working on something else of high priority. Mr. McBride asked about the response time and ifthat was since the deactivation or prior and ifitwas for Coffee City or the entire county. Mr. Hillhouse stated that it was as ofJanuary 1, 2023 and was) for the entire county. He stated he doesn' 't have the response time for just Coffee City as he is having to cover several different cities right now as there is a shortage ofo officers and even with his Mr. Blackstone asked Sheriff Hillhouse ifhe knew what could be done about reducing the speed between the two bridges on 155 as the city council had already voted and approved for the reduction of it. SherifHillhouse, stated that was. something that he would need to ask Senator. Nichols or As gentleman in the audience asked about the citations that have been issued and ifpeople were still required toj pay them and asked about the drug arrest that have been made are those still going to be taken to court. Mr. Blackstone stated that we still have court set up and people still paying their citations but as far as the arrest cases he wasn'tsure as that would be with the county. Sheriff Hillhouse spoke and. said that it would be up to District Attorney, Jenny. Palmer to decide and that ifit  department.  Representative Harrison.    was a case that a person has been indicated on, it was not likelyf for her to, just dismiss the case due to the office no longer being employed with Coffee City and she couldjust subpoena that officer and they Mr. Blackstone stated that ifno one else had anything to speak on that they could adjourn the meeting. He stated that a. survey was passed out and they could turn them in at the end oft the meeting or drop them off at City Hall on a later date but just would like to have them to, get the opinions about having a  are required by law to show up.  department. 5. Adjournment:  Carrie Ousley made ai motion to adjourn the meeting. Ollie Harmon seconds the motion. Motion carries  and meeting adjourned at 6:43 PM.  The City Council of the City ofCoffee City reserves the right to adjourn into Executive Session at any time during the course ofthis meeting to discuss any matters listed on the agenda, as authorized by the Texas Government Code, including, but not limited to, Section 551.071 (Deliberation about Gifts and Donations), 551.074 (Personnel Matters), 551.076 (Deliberations about Security Devices), 551.087 (Economic Development), 418.175-183 (Deliberations about Homeland Security Issues) and as authorized by the Texas Tax Cod, including, but not limited to, Section 321.3022 (Sales Tax Information). ICERTIFY THAT A COPY OF THE MONDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2023, CITY TOWN HALL MEETING AGENDA BY THE COFFEE CITY, CITY COUNCIL WAS POSTED ATTHE CITY HALLI PUBLIC NOTICE BOARD. ANDTHE  CERTIFICATION  CITY WEBSITE ONI FRIDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2023 BY 5:00PM.  hhne MARYMCDONALD CITYSECRETARY  MAYOR  pi