City of Richland Springs Minutes of City Council Meeting on. July 10th, 2023 Meeting: Discussion of the ongoing projects and regular business of the city Council Members: Aaron Bessett, Franky Soto, Frank Pearcelarry Crump, and Jessica Called to Order/Location: 07:00 PM at the RS Community Center  Scales  Note Taker: Jessica Scales  City Officials present: Mayor Pro-tem Frank Pearce; Treasurer, Franky Soto; Secretary, Jessica Scales; Larry Crump; Aaron Bessett; City Water Manager, Chris Perry via Guests present: Ronald Moore, Reagan Mckinnerney, w/ S.S.S.D.: Chief Reid Daly, Sheriff  speakerphone, City Clerk Kristy Perry.  David Jenkins  7:00pm 1. We opened the meeting with a prayer.  7:01pm 2. We had Guest and Citizen Participation: there were no comments; Reagan is 7:01pm 3. We discussed and approved the previous two meetings worth of minutes(one regular and one special meeting). A motion to approve the minutes was made by Aaron 7:09pm 4. We discussed the bills and payments; all were normal except one repair on the garbage truck. A motion to approve the bills was made by Jessica Scales, 2nd by 7:18pm 5. We discussed the monthly reports for the city and the water sewer and garbage dept. All are normal. The sewer pond enzyme clean is still working and in progress, the pond is currently emerald green. A motion to approve the reports was made by. Jessica Scales, 2nd by Aaron Bessett, and passed by unanimous vote. 7:22pm 6. Agenda item being skipped due to change in information, to be discussed at 7:22pm 7. We discussed what action to be taken for the Richland Springs Youth Sports Association/RSYSA). Reagan is here on behalf of RSYSA to hear decision. They have provided a revised and updated special warranty deed showing the editing requests we made. A motion was made to grant the deed over as written, to the Richland Springs Youth Sports Association. That motion was made by Franky Soto, 2nd by Aaron Bessett, and passed by unanimous vote. We advised Reagan of new status now in effect, just 7:26pm 8. We discussed what actions to be taken, if any, on the old water office. In follow up from previous meeting, Aaron spoke with Nick Taylor, who isi interested in  here to discuss agenda item #7.  Bessett, 2nd by Franky Soto, and passed by unanimous vote.  Aaron Bessett, and passed by unanimous vote.  later date.  needs to be notarized. He thanked the city for their support.    doing an engineer report for us and will speak with Chris, the city manager, once hei is back ini town. The contractor will be adding a beam deemed necessary for support; also discussed the load bearing walls. Plans are: still ongoing in the reconstruction of the building. The city has been approached to see ifi it is willing to sell the old water office to a private party as is before repairs are completed. We discussed our plans for the space and the pros and cons of selling as is. Discussed other small towns selling property to those who have not improved it and it diminishing the area further and also losing access to a public spot downtown. We will ask the interested party about plans fori the 7:32pm 9. We discussed the cost of the two tinhorns needed for a few areas of town. After furtheri inspection, one of the tinhorns could be repaired; only one needs to be replaced now. The price will be around $2600 total including the concrete, to install. We will still check with TXDOT one last time to see if they can offer assistance due to proximity to railroad tracks, and if not, we will purchase and install the tin horn ourselves. A motion was made to purchase and replace the culvert tinhorn on East Commerce Street. The motion was made by Aaron Bessett, 2nd by Franky Soto, passed by 7:36pm 10. We have the rolling agenda item for the Eclipse 2024, with no new  space before taking action. No action taken at this time.  unanimous vote.  information at this time. No action taken.  7:37pm 11. We discussed the law enforcement payf for city only patrols. Sheriff Jenkins and Chief Deputy Daly were here, and answered questions in regards to current patrols fori the county versus the city only patrols. We currently pay $30 per hour to the deputies who patrol, on their own volunteered time. This pay matches the county pay rate. Unfortunately the deputies still have very little free time to pick up extra shifts around already scheduled county shifts. We discussed needing to incentivize deputies into volunteering by making the pay higher than what they already make during their normal shifts for the county. Sheriff. Jenkins advised us of number of deputies versus county size. He also discussed hiring more deputies once more funds are available, types of deputies and equipment needed. Discussed incoming funding for law enforcement from the state. We discussed the areas covered the most or least in the county at this time. Chief Daly advised us the deputies are currently split evenly amongst the county in an effort to provide even response times to all areas and cities, as increased crime is currently a problem all over Texas and we are trying to handle widespread county issues. They are currently tracking problem areas by call volume and it is currently evenly spread around the county. We discussed adding $5 per hour, increasing the hourly rate to $35 per hour. Chief Daly believes this may be enough to encourage more shift pickups, as witnessed in other areas before who did something similar. We discussed the best times for shifts and what types of crimes happen and when they happen and what periods we prefer. We discussed allowing full or partial shifts on any days for small to large periods of time based on deputy availability to allow weekly coverage and to randomize the patrol schedule sO its unknown when they are patrolling for the city only.    We discussed if we could provide bonuses to deputies should they patrol a certain number of hours monthly, but the Sheriff advised us that is not allowed. We decided to increase the pay to $35 per hour, for ai trial period of 90 days, to seei if deputies are more inclined to volunteer. A motion was made to increase the pay rate toi the San Saba County Sheriffs Department deputies to $35 per hour, effective going forward, fora a 90-day trial period, to bei followed up on and discussed at the September 2023 meeting. The motion was made by Aaron Bessett, 2nd by. Jessica Scales, and was passed by 7:53pm 12. Mayor Reports (currently done by Protem Frank Pearce): He will schedule time and date with Chris, to be completed ASAP. -sewer pond cleanup still in progress as already mentioned  unanimous vote.  -All members except Larry Crump completed the OMA/PIA training for council members.  - No new updates for water grant project no other items at this time  7:54pm 13. We discussed a mayoral appointment. No one in town is interested ini the position. Discussed Chris, current city manager, being able to handle most city tasks at this time and council members trying to make themselves available in case of needed assistance. Frank Pearce has decided to submit himself, on the condition that in an anonymous blind vote, if he receives any 'no' votes, he will not accept appointment. The current 4 council members cast their votes on pieces of paper submitted to a hat. Reviewed votes, all 4 votes were 'yes' votes. We will schedule the official appointment of the position on the agenda at next meeting, and advise the city new council seati is  available if anyone interested.  8:00pm 14. There was no executive session needed at this time.  8:00pm 15. There was no further discussions or actions needed. A motion was made to adjourn the meeting, by. Jessica Scales, 2nd by Franky Soto, passed by unanimous vote.  Scales  4h bw  #R