On Tuesday, September 5, the city commission of the City of Pampa held a public hearing and special meeting. The public hearing was opened at 4:00 pm to receive comments from the public, but no one was present to speak. Once the public hearing was closed, recognition was given to Byron Williamson for his dedicated years of service as the City Commission Chaplain.
The first item on the agenda was the consideration of the minutes from the Regular Commission Meeting of August 28, which were approved. Following the approval of the minutes the second item on the agenda was consideration to appoint Jamisen Hancock, Pastor of Briarwood Church, as the new Commission Chaplain. The motion carried and the new Chaplain was approved for appointment.
The primary focus of this meeting was the consideration of the second and final reading on several ordinance amendments. Among these were Ordinance No. 1787 regarding amending solid waste disposal rates for residential and other customers within and outside corporate limits of the City of Pampa; Ordinance No. 1788 regarding amending the monthly sewer rates to be charged for sewer service within and outside the corporate limits of the city of pampa; Ordinance No. 1789 regarding amending the monthly water rates to be charged for water within and outside the corporate limits of the City of Pampa; and Ordinance No. 1790 regarding amending the tonnage fees at the City of Pampa’s Landfill. All of the readings were approved.
Item number seven was to consider adopting the second and final reading regarding Ordinance No. 1791, approving a negotiated settlement between the Executive Committee of Cities served by Atmos West Texas and Atmos Energy Corporation, West Texas Division regarding the company’s 2023 rate Review Mechanism filing. The existing rate was declared to be unreasonable and a new tariff that reflects rate adjustments consistent with the negotiated settlement was adopted. Atmos original proposed increase was in the twelve million dollar range. After discovery and negotiation, it was settled at 8.4 million dollars. This motion was approved.
Item number 8 was a first reading of Ordinance No. 1792, adopting the City of Pampa’s 2023-2024 operating budget. The first reading was approved in a roll call vote.
The next item on the docket was the consideration of the first reading of Ordinance No. 1793, repealing Article 8.04 of the Code of Ordinances regarding the curfew for minors. As such, the City of Pampa can no longer enforce a curfew for minors with regards to Legislative House Bill 1819 which made it unlawful for local governments to adopt or enforce a curfew ordinance for minors. This reading was approved.
The tenth item on the docket was consideration to authorize the City manager to enter into Solid Waste Agreements with several entities, including but not limited to, Allied Waste, City of Canadian, City of Lefors, City of McLean, City of Skellytown, City of Wheeler, City of White Deer, Hempjill County, Wasteco Inc., and Waste Wranglers. This reading was approved and is in line with the standard annual agreements with outside customers and will reflect rates based on the new tonnage fees.
The final item for consideration was the approval of a three-year modified Farm Lease Agreement with Red River Dairy dba DeVuyst Farms.
“Another three years will take us to almost twenty years total, but we’re happy with them,” said City manager, Shane Stokes. “They take care of the property well and they’re happy with the lease as well.”
The farm Lease Agreement was approved. With no further items remaining on the agenda, the meeting was adjourned at 4:17 pm by Mayor DeFever.
