NEWS
Councilors hurl illegality accusations at CM, mayor
By BARBARA GREEN
[email protected]
Monday’s Bowie City Council lapsed into complete chaos as council members hurled accusations of illegalities and threatened to have each other removed from the meeting. It appeared to be a total downward spiral of city leadership.
This debacle of a meeting revolved around three topics: Remodeling of the new customer service center, denial of a councilor’s request to have an item on the agenda and changing the city attorney.
Illegal remodel
City Manager Bert Cunningham was asked about the final cost to remodel the new customer service center. He said it was $61,847.50, which was above the original bid of $49,985 because they ran into some unexpected problems including a small amount of asbestos abatement. He said it was not bid because they had a quote come in under the $50,000 limit.
Councilor Tami Buckmaster said once they surpassed that $50,000, work should have stopped and additional work be put out for bid.
Councilor Arlene Bishop then asked why they did not have an architect or engineer, which is required by state law if it is more than $50,000 and walls are moved.
Cunningham said they obtained three quotes for work and went with the lowest which was under $50,000, adding if anyone has ever remodeled they know there is always something unexpected. As for the architect, he said the wall was not load bearing and the roof is made of steel trusses, so they felt it was not necessary.
Buckmaster declared they have an illegal building asking Code Officer David Rainey if it is going to be closed down?
Rainey asked closed for what, and Mayor Gaylynn Burris asked if Buckmaster wanted to see it closed.
“I am just asking the question. I don’t know if we are subject to liability because we have people in that building. Should we get them out?” said Buckmaster.
The second community meeting on needs for an emergency room or hospital in Bowie is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Nov. 19 at the Bowie Community Center.
This is the second meeting to discuss these needs following the closure of the Faith Community Health Center emergency room on Oct. 6, just shy of a year of operation. More than 200 people attended that first meeting, where discussion centered on the creation of a taxing district to support any sort of medical facility.
Citizens in the Bowie area are encouraged to attend and take part in these discussions.
The Bowie City Council has moved its Nov. 18 meeting to 6 p.m. on Nov. 19 where three new council members will take the oath of office.
Councilors include Laura Sproles, precinct two, Brandon Walker, precinct one and Laramie Truax, precinct two. After the votes are canvassed and the oaths given, a mayor pro tem will be selected.
The new members will jump right into training as City Attorney Courtney Goodman-Morris provides an orientation and discussion of duties for council members.
City Manager Bert Cunningham will make his monthly report on the following topics: Nelson Street, which opened last Thursday, update on the sewer line replacement project, substation transformer placement and information on medical companies.
A closed executive session on the Laura McCarn vs. City of Bowie lawsuit is scheduled. The suit arose in November 2022 when the city broached selling some 25 acres it owns on Lake Amon G. Carter, originally part of the land purchased for the 500-acre Bowie Reservoir completed in 1985.
McCarn challenges the ownership of the property stating it should revert to the original owners since it was not used for the lake.
This 24.35 acre tract is located at the end of Indian Trail Road surrounded by the lake and the Silver Lakes Ranch subdivision.
One of Bowie’s major thoroughfares, Nelson Street, was reopened Thursday after one busy block has been closed since August 2021 when a section of the street failed.
Construction finally came to an end on Thursday when the street, including the Nelson and Mill intersection were reopened. Mayor Gaylynn Burris, City Manager Bert Cunningham, Councilors TJay McEwen and Stephanie Post, Engineer Mike Tibbetts and Public Works Director Stony Lowrance met at the site Thursday morning and removed the barricades. It only took a few minutes for vehicles to start arriving and drivers were excited to go through on the new roadway.
This section of Bowie has endured flooding and drainage problems for many years and in the summer of 2023 the city council finally bit the bullet and sought bids for the repair work expected to top $3 million. In August 2021 a one block section of Nelson was closed when a large sinkhole appeared on the north side of the street. Traffic had to be diverted including all the school traffic flowing from the nearby junior high and intermediate.
Read the full story in the weekend Bowie News.
Top photo – (Left) Mike Tibbetts, engineer with Hayter Engineering, talks with Bowie City Manager Bert Cunningham as they look over the massive drainage project on Nelson Street.
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