Willis City Council Meeting

Willis City Council Meeting

August 18, 1009 -6:30 pm

The Willis City Council considered city business in their August meeting at the Willis City Hall. Mayor Leonard Reed and council members Josey Billnoske, John Lovelady, Anna Ross, Bill Van Alstyne, and Tamara Young and new City Manager Hector Forester considered the following items:

1. Held a first reading on an ordinance to prohibit solicitation of any drugs prohibited under the Texas safety code.
2. Approved the Willis Community Development Corporation plan and budget.
3. Appointed Mike Davis and Hector Forester to the Wills Community Development Board.
4. Appointed Thomas Billnoske, Sherman Griffin, Anna Ross, Josey Billnoske, and Paul Henderson to the Citizen’s Advisory Committee for City Traffic Signal Enforcement.
5. Increased contractor fees for the City of Willis from $24 to $40 per year.
6. Referred a recommendation to demolish a structure at 601 Young to the Building Standards Commission.
7. Changed the signatories to the city deposit account from the old city manager to the new city manager, Hector Forester.
8. Considered a request by CenterPoint Energy to increase utility rates by 8.3%

The CenterPoint Energy proposal elicited the most interest from the Council. CenterPoint staff presented their justification for the increase to Council and said they had three options.

1. Do nothing, in which case the rate increase would be automatic.
2. Approve the rate increase.
3. Deny the rate increase, in which case CenterPoint would appeal their decision to the State Railroad Commission.

Josey Billnoske said she didn’t want a rate increase. Council chose to suspend consideration of the CenterPoint proposal for 90 days.