The Levelland City Council had a lengthy meeting Monday evening which took care of a few house keeping items along with selecting a bank depository.
One of the first extensive discussions for the current council focused on the selection of a bank to serve as the primary depository bank for the City of Levelland.
Listed as Resolution No. 2024-11, the city previously issued a request for bank depository proposals based on the city’s investment policy.
The primary objectives in order to importance they city sought in the proposals was safety, liquidity and return on investment or least cost. Other important individual objectives were related to treasury of cash management, banking services, collateral requirements, etc.
All five banks within Levelland were provided with an opportunity to submit a bank depository proposal. The city received proposals from City Bank, First Bank & Trust and Sundown State Bank.
While all options provided were highlighted as competitive, the recommendation made to the council was to approve City Bank to continue to serve as the primary depository for the City of Levelland.
Director of Finance Cynthia Sanchez provided information about the process and fielded any questions from the council.
Mayor Buxkemper and Mayor Pro-Tem Michael Stueart shared that their preference of choice was Sundown State Bank due to the higher interest rate compared to City Bank as both individuals have been vocal about being more attentive to public funds.
While that was one of the criteria sought after within the proposal, Sanchez explained that what was projected as a $1,000 difference between the two banks is not concrete. She added that the interest rate Sundown State Bank follows is called TBIL. Sanchez added that TBIL and its rates fluctuate more than TexPool which is the interest rate that City Bank follows.
Positive Pay has become one of the biggest tools in secure banking. Positive Pay is an automated fraud detection tool offered by the Cash Management Department of most banks. In its simplest form, it is a service that matches the account number, check number and dollar amount of each check presented for payment against a list of checks previously authorized and issued by the company. All three components of the check must match exactly or it will not pay.
Positive Pay requires the company to send (transmit) a file of issued checks to the bank each day checks are written. When those issued checks are presented for payment at the bank, they are compared electronically against the list of transmitted checks. The check-issue file sent to the bank contains the check number, account number, issue date, and dollar amount. Sometimes the payee name is included, but is not part of the matching service.
When a check is presented that does not have a “match” in the file, it becomes an “exception item”. The bank sends a fax or an image of the exception item to the client. The client reviews the image and instructs the bank to pay or return the check.
There is generally a fee charged by the bank for Positive Pay, although some banks now offer the service for free. The fee might well be considered an “insurance premium” to help avoid check fraud losses and liability.
Sanchez highlighted the importance of positive pay in her day-to-day responsibilities and noted that both banks offer Positive Pay, but City Bank is slightly more robust in tools offered compared to Sundown State Bank.
Following Sanchez’s presentation, discussion between council members, the mayor and city staff were held. New to the position Councilwoman Jaime McCabe posed several questions to gain a better grasp of both options. Councilman Max Ledesma was absent from the meeting leaving Stueart, McCabe and Bill Powell to make a decision.
Councilman Powell made the first motion to approve the recommended bank being City Bank. However, the motion fell as more discussion was desired.
Powell explained he was open to more conversation but added that it was important to consider that the city hired an outside company to conduct a detailed analysis of all options. He added that it was a hard decision for him to go against the recommendation of a company that focuses on these choices.
City Manager James Fisher also pointed out that while interest rate does factor into selecting the proper bank, when the city sent Request for Proposals (RFP) the important criteria was listed and the interest rate was only one piece.
“Both banks are amazing and serve the community well,” said Fisher. “However, if we look at the professional recommendation, City Bank checked more boxes overall for the City of Levelland.”
Eventually, Powell made a motion again to go with the recommended City Bank. McCabe second the motion while Stueart voted against it. The resolution was approved 2-1.
Before moving forward, Buxkemper shared her delight in the council having an extensive and constructive discussion.
During Fisher’s City Manager Report, he informed the council that the Disaster Resource Center at the City Park has roughly 1,027 registrations. Additionally, they have visited 827 homes and interacted with over 300 people.
The city is eligible for Public Disaster Assistance and is currently working on compiling the necessary information for submission.
Two big items for the city is the roof at the water department and subsequent interior repair and the animal shelter.
Other items that will need attention will be looked at now and during budget sessions.
Fisher is encouraging community members to utilize the dump or the RailPark as it is a city owned property.
The debris areas are private property and were allowed to be used for a period of time.
Fisher shared his frustration as crews are having to continually haul large loads of dumped debris once it has already been taken care of. In regard to the Red Flour Bettle, Fisher stated the city has been monitoring the traps placed around the Kauffman Addition for a period of 19 weeks and has a total of 16 Red Flour Beetles.
“I am not discounting that we still have them out there,” said Fisher. “We are continuing to spray and I had a meeting with Penny Newman this week. I am not saying they are the source, but they are also beginning to move their commodities.”
The TxDOT start date for the College Avenue project has been moved back to July 15.
Kicking off the meeting, the council has implemented a new caveat to their agenda’s. Within the regular agenda is a “Consent Agenda” which is accumulated of items that are considered noncontroversial and more in the realm of house keeping items.
Introducing agenda items is a regular responsibility for Mayor Buxkemper. She introduces the items within the consent agenda and the council will take a single vote to approve all of those items listed within the consent agenda.
If a council member would like to discuss a certain topic or has questions for a particular item within the consent agenda, it can be moved out into the regular agenda for further discussion.
During this first consent agenda, there were five action items. The first item included action to approve the minutes of the June 17 regular meeting.
The next three items concerned event applications and resolutions for the Chamber of Commerce Cotton & Crude Concert Event and Home Sweet HoCo Event.
The first of the three action items dealt with approving the event application for the Cotton & Crude Concert Event slated for September 7. The next item dealt with Resolution No. 2024-13 approving an agreement with the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) regarding the closing of two blocks of state highway for the concert event.
All events where alcohol will be permitted require approval from the council. The chamber plans to sell cooler passes for event-goers tor bring their own alcohol with the stipulation that there will be no glass containers allowed. Additionally, the TxDOT right-of-way will be cleaned of any debris before re-opening the streets.
A general reminder for community members, when events are held downtown, the City of Levelland and TxDOT close several streets. Normally, Houston Street on the north side of the square and Avenue H on the west side of the square are closed. Those two streets are considered state highways, In order to close them, the state requires the city approve an agreement for a temporary closure of the state right-of-way.
The third item regarding the chamber was the approval of Resolution No. 2024-14 an agreement with TxDOT regarding the closure of two blocks of state highway for the Home Sweet HoCo event.
A new event the chamber is planning for August 24, this event will include a pancake breakfast, parade, “Meet the Lobos”, local non-profit organizations food vendors and games for children. The event has been reviewed by the city’s Special Events Committee, but requires the council approval due to the road closures that are needed.
The final item within the consent agenda focused on the request for the Blue & You Organization seeking a variance in the hours of operation for the Levelland-Oxy Sports Complex for the Blue & You Ragball Softball Tournament.
In the policies, regulations and contract for the complex, the hours of operation are set as follows: Games scheduled on Sunday through Friday nights must be concluded by 11 p.m. and games beginning on Saturday must be completed by 1 a.m. on Sunday morning.
Any deviation from these rules must be granted by the council.
To that end, Blue &You will be hosting an overnight tournament at the complex August 2-4. The council has accommodated several such tournaments in the past few years.
All four items were approved by the council unanimously.
The group considered a funding request from the Chamber of Commerce Tourism and Lodging Committee for the World Series Team Roping event that will be held at the Mallet Event Center & Arena.
The event is set for August 23-25. The request was submitted for $5,000, however, the amount was adjusted to $1,000. The amount was determined by using a formula that was approved by the Tourism and Lodging Committee.
For every room night over 50, the client is eligible for $110 per room night based upon previous years history. If the client does not meet the threshold, there will be no funding for future years. The intent is for the incentives to encourage the event host to drive more overnight stays benefitting both parties.
The Room Night Summary is determined by local hotels. Projected attendance is 1,200.
The council approved the item without much discussion.
The next item dealt with approving an interlocal agreement with Texas Health Benefits Pool. City Manager James Fisher explained to the council that entering into the agreement does not cost the city anything. The program is pushed out by TML Health which allows a retiree to subscribe to medicare supplement coverage at their cost.
The program does not require the city to be a member of TML Health. The city currently has two former employees or retirees who opted into the program years ago and if the agreement is not signed that will require those individuals to go elsewhere for medicare supplemental insurance.
The council also approved this agreement unanimously.