The Levelland city council met on Monday for both a regular and public hearing.
Prior to the meetings, Levelland Police Department and Levelland Fire Department had badge pinning ceremonies for one police officer and three firefighters.
The LFD pinned badges on Tyler Duffy, the new fulltime firefighter who has been with the department parttime since October 2025 and holds a Basic Firefighter certification; Lt. Jake Madewell who started in October 2011 as volunteer, became fulltime in September 2014, and hold certifications as an Advanced Firefighter, Instructor 1 and Fire Officer 1; and Lt. Jeff Pharis who started in December 1998 before moving to fulltime in August 2021, and holds certificates as an Intermediate Firefighter, Intermediate Fire Arson, Intermediate Inspection, Intermediate Fire Inspector, Instructor 1 and Ropes Rescue Technician.
The LPD promoted Det. Miranda to the rank of Detective, who has been promoted to the rank of Detective grew up in Wolfforth and attended South Plains College earning her degree in Law Enforcement Technology and graduated from the SPC Law Enforcement Academy in 2022. She began her career with the LPD and has been with the department for three years.
The public hearing concerned a possible election to combine the current Type 4-A Levelland Economic Develop Corporation and Type-B Levelland Community Development Corporations. City manager Jame Fisher presented information and public comments were allowed regarding combining the two. During the regular meeting, the board approved Resolution 2026-1 to order and establish procedure to the City of Levelland General Election to be held on May 2. The resolution addresses filing dates for candidates, early voting and designated polling location, dates and times. The election is for city council members for District A and District C, both 2-year terms. Applications are being accepted beginning Jan. 14 and ending Feb. 14. Currently, Julian Esparza Jr. has filed for a place on the ballot for city council in District C.
The election location is the Hockley County Tax Office at 624 Ave. H, Suite 103, with early voting at the Hockley County Elections Office. Early voting will begin on April 20 and end on April 28 during the hours of 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Election day hours are from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Qualified voters are within District A and District C.
In other action, the board approved Ordinance 1111 repealing the Construction Advisory & Appeals board. The last time the board met was five years ago. In the future, the city manager shall consider and decide all appeals taken from decisions of the code administration and enforcement officer, as well as establish policies and procedures deemed necessary.
The board approved a request for a donation of fire equipment to the Texas Forest Service Helping Hands Program. The Levelland Fire Department requested that air packs and bottles be donated. Recipients of the equipment include Ropesville VFD, who will receive three Scott Air Packs and three Scott SCBA bottles; Sundown VFD, 10 Scott Air Bottles and six SCA Pack 45; and Whiteface, 10 Scott Air Bottles.
In other business, the council approved the quarterly report for Q4 of 2025 which covered Oct. 1 through Dec. 31.
Concerning an interlocal agreement with the South Plains Association of Governments (SPAG) in February for the preparation of a grant, the grant was received in the amount of $500,000 for pedestrian and street improvement in the downtown area with the city’s grant match at 10% or $50,000. SPAG opened bids on Jan. 8 and two bids were submitted, with the low bid from AAJ Concrete at $530,000 and the high bid at $990,153. The current TDA budget allotment for construction activities, including the city’s match injection is $430,000, putting the lowest bid $100,000 over budget. The city had two choices – to accept the low bid and find an additional $100,000; re-bid which would put the city out of compliance with the grant timeline; or reject the bids and cancel the contract with SPAG and not proceed with the project. The board voted to reject the bids and cancel the contract with SPAG.
In other action, the board voted to approve the request for payment of $198,600 for the Levelland Municipal/Hockley County Airport lighting project and authorize the mayor and/or city manager to execute any necessary documents. The total construction project cost is estimated to be $1,986,600, with the City of Levelland/Hockley County responsible for 10% funding cost to come from the airport oil royalty’s account.