MINUTES CITY OF AMES, TEXAS 304 MARTIN DR. - AMES, TEXAS CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING AUGUST 12, 2023 9:30AM The City Council for the City of Ames, Texas met in a workshop in council chambers at the Ames City Hall at 9:30am. Mayor Barbara Domain called the meeting to order at 9:36am. Councilman Eddie White led the prayer, and the Pledge of Allegiance was recited. Mayor Domain made the roll call, at that time the members of the City Council who were present were: Mayor Barbara Domain, Michael Trahan, Liz Hardy, Eddie White and Audrey Harrison. Absent: Alfred Freeman CITIZEN APPREARANCE Mayor Domain thanked the citizens for being here, asked them to silence their phones, and if any of the citizens would like to take three (3) minutes to speak to the council. A list of attending citizens is attached. Workshop Agenda Items 1. CONSIDER AND IF APPROPRIATE TAKE ACTION TO HIRE EMMIT ALBRO FOR $500 MONTHLY TO BE CITY JUDGE, CREATE. A PERMIT DEPARTMENT AND SETUP AN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT BOARD. Mayor Domain addressed the council with the idea of hiring Emmit Albro to represent the as the municipal judge sO that we could enforce some of the current ordinances that we have in place. She also stressed the importance of an economic development board and how it would help with the growth of the city. As well as the permitting department would help generate revenue as the city has approve the county to issue several permits on in the past few weeks. Mr. Albro addressed the council with a presentation ofhow he would be an asset to the City of Ames. Council deliberated an agreed to move forward with the city judge but make sure all proper guidelines were in place before any amount of payment could be agreed upon. Also to move forward with the economic development board and to follow the same guidelines as the municipal judge. Councilman Michael Trahan suggested that the permitting department be operated by the city secretary. 2. CONSIDER AND DISCUSS TO AMEND SOME OF THE ORDINANCES WE HAVE INI PLACE. Mayor Domain called out the names of the ordinances that she thought needed to reconsidered for amendment. As she read off each the council stated which ones that they wanted to amend and which ones that wanted to remain as is. The lawyer(Melody Carrier) advised that we make a good clean list of ordinances we would also like to add to our current ones and she would create the ordinances for us. 3. CONSIDER AND DISCUSS TO INCREASE PROPERTY TAX FOR 2024. Mayor Domain relayed to the council the information that she had received from talking to Chrissy at the local Tax Office. She told them that we would need the current debt that we are paying and the amount of the debt. Councilman Trahan advised that the Mayor should reach out to the USDA to get the information and get it to the tax office SO that we could move forward and adopt a rate before the deadline. 4. CONSIDER AND DISCUSS TO INCREASE SEWER RATES FOR, JANUARY 2024. Mayor Domain reminded the council oft the case study that we had done on the sewer system. She asked if we were going to increase it to $44.00 or $56.00. Councilwoman Audrey Harrison suggested that we wait to see how much the tax rate would increase before setting a number to increase the sewer rate. 3. CONSIDER AND DISCUSS THE BUDGETI FOR 2024. Mayor Domain expressed to the council that the current information that was in the QuickBooks system was incorrect and that they were working diligently to get things correct and caught up. The lawyer(Melody Carrier) advised that we could get the past 2 months of debits and credits, multiply it by 4 and get a ballpark figure together for our budget and when everything was up to date amend the budget sO that it is accurate. 4. MAYOR'S REPORT. The Mayor gave the council and update about the repairs/cost of Friend St. and Organ St. The repairs would cost $25,000 for limestone and $40,000 for chipseal. The work could began in October. The Mayor told the council she was trying to get the Ames Volunteer Fire Dept back in operation. She would keep them posted on updates. A few members on the council suggested we get the following in place: 1. Get word out to the community that there will be an increase in sewer starting in January. 2. Let the county know that we will be formulating our own permit department. 3. Check for a building code inspector. 4. Check to see if we could get a few days designated for heavy trash pickup. 3. With no further business, the meeting adjourned at 1:05 p.m. Barbara Domain Mayor - ullma à - Wellona Godfrey Secretary