NEWS
Saint Jo City Council hears land requests, discusses speeding issue
Members of the Saint Jo City Council handled a slate of regular business of land requests and citizen questions when they met on Feb. 8.
Kelly Williamson asked the council if it would be possible to push the 45 mph speed limit further out along U.S. 82 possibly to reduce the noise from large trucks. City Secretary Teresa Fangman said no action was taken, but city staff had contacted the Texas Department of Transportation about the question. There was consensus from TxDOT and the council the noise from the highway is just part of living in that location.
Don Thomas, who requested a discussion about speeding on FM 2382 did not appear.
Two requests for placement of new manufactured homes were approved. Kyle and Krystal Ogden want to place a unit next to 503 E. Meadows after the property is replatted. It was approved pending the replat.
The second request was made by Daniel Hill and Donna Williams to place a home at 501 N. Herndon.
The council also reviewed two requests for certificates of appropriateness from the Saint Jo Historical Advisory Board. The first request for 105 E. Howell, the old Valley Creek Arts building was approved, while the second for 112 S. Broad, Real Estate Station, was tabled as they await more information.
In other topics program goals related to a Texas Community Development Board grant were adopted. This is part of an ongoing process for a grant the city has received to rehab its water tower and for electronic meters, which has been in the works the past two years.
The Texas Municipal Retirement System renewal rate was accepted, along with the police racial profiling report.
Quarterly financial reports from the 4A and 4B economic development corporations were accepted. Eli Casey got approval to host a May chili cook-off on the square.
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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