NEWS
Council must fill precinct 1 seat by June 23; applications now being accepted
By BARBARA GREEN
[email protected]
The Bowie City Council will accept applications until June 12 from persons interested in filling out the unexpired term of precinct one councilor with plans to fill the vacancy on June 22.
During Monday’s council session the resignation of Precinct One Councilor Thomas Kent was accepted. Councilor Tami Buckmaster cast the lone no vote. Per the city charter, the council has 30 days to fill a vacancy or call a special election in November for the mayor’s position or any council position.
Kent resigned on May 15 noting in his resignation his effort to create a double-vacancy for mayor and a councilor forcing a special election. A few weeks earlier, Bill Miller resigned as mayor after less than six months on the job.
City officials obtained legal opinions on the issue and with Kent’s resignation not formally accepted until Monday, the 30-day clock had not started, therefore, there was no double vacancy. Burris was named to fill the unexpired term of mayor on May 18.
During items of community interest, Burris commented about social media posts that said the council broke the law and did not have a quorum at the May 18 meeting.
Kent resigned and Tami Buckmaster did not attend, which left four councilors present.
Burris said people are being told the council broke the law and there was no quorum, but that is wrong. She stated City Attorney Che Rotramble was in attendance that night and stated there was a quorum. Legal opinions from the Texas Municipal League also agreed.
The Bowie City Council approved a lease with Sean Reno for the development of a BMX Race Park on city-owned property next to the Haggar Baseball Complex. The land is the former site of sludge ponds that were closed many years ago. The lease will be year-to-year at $1 per year.
Read the full story in the mid-week Bowie News.
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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