The Levelland City Council held a brief regular meeting Monday evening at the Levelland City Hall Council Chambers which featured several department updates.
City Manager James Fisher provided a small update regarding the Red Flour Beetles within the Kauffman Addition. Fisher explained that the colder weather has been an aid to the city limiting the beetle numbers.
Monitoring of the beetle numbers is still on-going as there have been a few commodities that have been brought into the city. Additionally, Fisher added that Spring time is around the corner which would provide better conditions for the beetle. However, the city is preparing to begin spraying for the beetle and with the community clean-up day slated for the Spring, Fisher added that moving dumpsters within the Kauffman and washing them out may be a project for the city to tackle while the event is happening.
“We are looking for things that we can be proactive about once the spring comes around, but as of right now there are no new updates,” said Fisher.
In regard to the talks of the new ordinance regarding the storage of agricultural commodities, the city attorney and city manager are trying to bring an ordinance to the council in February. The original draft contained a six month compliance period, but are looking to shorten the time period since the draft of the ordinance has been circulating for a prolonged period of time.
One area of concern Fisher spoke about to the council concerns the impervious cover that must be implemented will have to be made out of concrete. Fisher added that responses for that certain item would be extremely cost prohibitive. Additional talks are planned to be had to address that concern.
City Attorney Matt Wade explained to council that he has had several ordinance conversations multiple agricultural companies and is planning to consolidate the various talking points to present to staff for an internal discussion. Following the staff discussion, Wade will present what was discussed to those mentioned companies for additional companies.
Once February rolls around, Fisher is hopeful a draft will be presented to council for more communication. Then the city will discuss the draft with citizens and the businesses within the area.
Moving forward, Main Street Director Tania Moody discussed a vacant position on the Main Street Advisory Board. Moody explained that member Carrie DeArmond would be stepping down from her position. In turn, the board recommended Amanda Chapa to fill the position. The council unanimously approved the appointment.
Rounding out the meeting, Fisher provided several city updates regarding various departments. Fisher stated the new animal control vehicle Friday that was approved in July. The funds were provided through ARPA with a price of $48,000. The LPD will be moving forward with pricing out a box to be placed on the vehicle to contain animals.
The Levelland Housing Standard Commission met Tuesday evening discussing several structures around the City of Levelland.
For the upcoming February 5 council meeting, the city will be presenting to council the TxDot Municipal Maintenance Agreement will need to be adopted with a new landscape agreement as well.