In a meeting that lasted about an hour, Pattison City Council called for a May 1 city council election and adopted multiple ordinances. Council also approved measures to move forward with drainage engineering and pursuing community development block grants from the state of Texas.

“The Texas Community Development Block Grant … is a block grant that we’re looking to apply for,” Mayor Joe Garcia said. “As a little background on this, we’re working with GrantWorks to try and prepare an application for the Community Development Block Grant.”

As a part of that preparation, Garcia said the city needed to hire an engineering firm. Three proposals were received after the city requested quotes from multiple engineering firms.

Respondents included A & S Engineers, Inc. out of Houston, Sherwood Surveying & S.U.E. headquartered in Spring Branch and Jones and Carter Engineering which operates out of the Katy area just off the Grand Parkway, City Secretary Lorene Hartfiel said.

Garcia said the proposals were evaluated by a committee of three city representatives, including Councilmember Robert MacCallum. After discussion and a recommendation from MacCallum, council voted unanimously to enter a contract with Jones and Carter for engineering services.

Garcia said the CDBG application was due in May of this year and the city could see a windfall of $300,000 for a community improvement project, with a portion of those funds having to be matched by the city.

“We will need to work with (Jones and Carter) to identify a viable project and bring it back for (council’s) approval, in which most of their expenses should be covered in the grant that we are working with GrantWorks to follow the recommendations on, on this process,” Garcia said.

Council also approved three ordinances during its Tuesday-night meeting. Ordinance 137 establishes a subdivision ordinance which establishes procedures for filing preliminary and final plats for the development of subdivisions within city limits. A plat is a formal document describing a specific plot of land, its location and its features which is used in city planning.

Ordinance 138 was also passed unanimously to establish a Parks Board for the city. Garcia said the formation of the board would help the city plan as it moves forward and would have synergy with Waller County’s parks plan that it is developing.

Council also adopted Ordinance 139 which replaces Ordinance 128 and establishes the Pattison Planning Commission in accordance with state law. As part of passing the ordinance, council members also confirmed Garcia’s nomination of Randall Flowers as a member of the commission.

City staff stated that the ordinances will be posted online in the next few days for residents to refer to on Pattison's ordinance website. 

Mayor Pro Tem Seth Stokes who holds the position four seat will face reelection in May. Councilmembers MacCallum and Fred Branch are also facing campaigns to retain seats three and five, respectively. Candidates for office could begin registering Jan. 13 and have until Feb. 12 at 5 p.m. to submit their candidacy.

Pattison City Council members also approved a drainage proposal for the Oak Meadows subdivision and accepted a commitment letter from Oak Meadows’ developer to pay half the cost for the drainage improvements. Garcia said the total cost would be about $5,750, leaving the city to only pay less than $3,000 for its portion of the work.

Council also approved a public funds investment policy. A policy has been in place for years and Garcia said there were only minor changes. The policy is required under the Texas Public Funds Investment Act.