City addresses citizens’ concerns at town hall

The Clarendon City County held a town hall meeting at the Mulkey Theatre Monday night to address several concerns and questions raised by citizens on social media.

More than 60 people attended the meeting in person, and as many as 115 were watching a live stream of the event on the Enterprise’s Facebook feed.

Mayor Sandy Skelton called the meeting to order and read introductory comments designed to address most of the concerns or comments that had been raised online. The text of the mayor’s statement can be found here.

The mayor also read a statement from Citizens Cemetery Association Board President Chuck Robertson about improvements that have been made to the cemetery.

Questions and comments from citizens then occupied about two hours of evening with Donley County Judge John Howard serving as the moderator. A video of that portion of the meeting is available for viewing at Facebook.com/TheEnterprise.

Some of the topics covered Monday evening included several questions about the Clarendon Economic Development Board, and city official largely differed those to the CEDC board and encouraged those questions to be asked directly to that body. The CEDC meets the first Tuesday of the month at 6 p.m. at the Mulkey, and agendas are posted 72 hours in advance at City Hall and online at ClarendonTX.com/cedcagendas.

Handicapped ramps downtown and particularly near the ice cream parlor were brought up several times. Skelton said the CEDC had proposed and approved money for a ramp in that particular location, but a property owner where the ramp would be located had objected to the design. The owner said she felt it would harm her ability to sell her building. Skelton assured those in attendance that ramp improvements would be placed on a city council agenda in the near future for action.

Residents also asked several questions about the USDA-funded water system improvement project, which has fallen behind schedule and taken a toll on city streets. Skelton said the contractor believes they will be done by October 1, but the mayor thinks it will be more likely December.
City officials assured those in attendance that bricks taken from the streets for the water connections would be put back and said a street improvement plan would follow the USDA project and that voters would have a chance to approve that project. When future paving is done, it will likely be a two-course chip seal process, the city officials said. City Administrator David Dockery also said for long street improvements to be made it was important to take care of the deepest and worst water line projects first.

One question was asked as to why Clarendon doesn’t have a paid fire department, and city officials simply declined to answer that since none of them were volunteer firemen. Howard said that he was blessed as the emergency management coordinator to work with the Clarendon Volunteer Fire Department as well as local EMS and law enforcement.

Questions also centered on the Clarendon Aquatics Center, including the cost and management of the project. Mayor Skelton reminded those present that the city bid the project three times and that tariffs had been to blame for the higher than expected costs of concrete. One gentleman spoke out about putting general funds into the pool project when the city had originally said they would not do so.

On question focused on insurance for the pool. Dockery said he had been working on the city’s insurance and said the pool portion of the insurance would be $5,380 per year. He also said that with several adjustments, including shifting the insurance for the Mulkey to the CEDC budget, the city’s overall insurance bill next year is actually expected to be $661 lower than this year.

One resident asked about how many jobs the pool and Mulkey were providing. The mayor said the pool would require at least a dozen lifeguards and a pool manager, and it was stated that the Mulkey has three part-time employees.

One citizen asked if the public had a say in purchasing the new City Hall, and the answer was that it been a decision of the city council.
Former alderman Tommy Hill raised concerns about city employees reportedly treating customers rudely and said it needed to be addressed immediately.

Business owner Virginia Patten said she had nothing against members of the council but voiced her concerns about pool users potentially parking on her property nearby, damage done to her property by the water line project, and the state of the cemetery. She also asked specifically when a ramp would be installed for her business.

Business owner Keith Floyd spoke out on several issues including the need to protect the brick streets and vowed to become the city’s Brick Nazi.
Other topics covered included grants for sidewalks, the need for a community storm shelter, and managing public funds as carefully as if it were personal funds.

Johnny Floyd was one of the last attendees to speak and encouraged people to go to public meetings and make their voices heard, noting that he has a son on the city council and a brother who is passionate about serving the community.

“If you haven’t been on a board, the sometimes you don’t know how hard it is,” Floyd said. “If you’re not showing up for a board meeting, how are you going to get something done? We need to be patting some people on the back.”