At its regularly scheduled meeting, Whitesboro’s City Council moved to begin the process for an interlocal agreement between the Whitesboro Fire Department (WFD) and the Collinsville Fire Department (CFD). Whitesboro Fire Chief Steve Pinkston said that two months ago, an engine went down at the CFD. The WFD was able to help by allowing the CFD to use one of Whitesboro’s reserve engines. The agreement would allow this kind of loan to continue going forward.
After Mayor Pro-Tem Carla Woolsey motioned and Alderman Ronnie Fielder seconded, Alderman John Moore consulted with the city attorney and asked to include legality wording in the agreement to make it reciprocal. Therefore, the agreement would work both ways for the cities. Fielder motioned and Moore seconded. The motion carried.
Then, two separate public hearings were held with no comments from citizens. After consulting with the City Building Inspector, a request for a special use permit for the property located at 414 Depot Street in Whitesboro, allowing a manufactured home to be moved onto the lot, was approved. After much discussion and consideration, another request was approved for a special use permit for the property located at 106 McFall Street in Whitesboro, also allowing a manufactured home to be moved onto the lot in accordance with Chapter 1201 of the occupations code-manufactured housing (Section 1201.008(f)).
In other news, Resolution 8715 was approved. This resolution was on selecting Grant Works administration/project delivery services/construction management service provider to complete project implementation for the Homeowner Reconstruction Assistance Program through the Home Investment Partnerships Program fund from the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA). Woolsey made the motion and Alderman Mike Pack seconded. The motion carried. Moore asked if all the services would be completely free to Whitesboro, and the Grant Works representative at the meeting confirmed the City of Whitesboro would not be financing any of this project.
After much discussion and consideration, Ordinance 1228, ordering the May 3, 2025 election, was approved. Next, a contract with Grayson County Election Administration for Election Management of City of Whitesboro and Whitesboro Independent School District joint election on May 3, 2025 was approved.
Then, a pay request in the amount of $120, 940.12 payable to Mustang Excavation was approved. Whitesboro City Administrator Phil Harris said they will be starting asphalt on the 300 block of Texoma Drive. He said the City will be sending out an explanation to residents of the block in March. Moving forward, an Ad Valorem Assessment and Collection contract between Grayson County and the City of Whitesboro was approved.
After much discussion given by Harris, the Council approved the agreement to proceed with discussion on the sale of land along the creek behind Dennards located on Highway 377.
Next, Chris Dobbs was reappointed to the Board of Adjustments. Pack abstained from the voting. Then, Jerry Patterson, John Young and Cladene Belcher were all reappointed to the Planning and Zoning Board. The council moved and approved to reappoint Jo Stow and Karen Brannan to the Library Board. After much discussion, the Council moved to approve a surplus of equipment.
In ongoing City projects, Harris discussed signage to be posted at the site of the new water tower. In addition to reading “City of Whitesboro,” the sign will include council members’ names and that of the mayor. Harris said the signage would be put up this month and a ceremony would be performed. He also said there would be two cameras on the signage at all times.
The city is moving forward with the Water Line project. Next, Harris said there will be drone footage that will cover from Highway 377 to 4th Street all the way around, displaying the progress of the construction into what 4th Street will be. Harris said it will not be a 20-year project.
Next, Harris said the City continues to move forward with the Comprehensive Plan. He said the Whitesboro High School will benefit so much from the Comprehensive plan for about the next 40-50 years.
At the start of the meeting Harris gave out his new business cards with ‘Code Red’ and a QR code for a survey on the back of his card. Harris said ‘Code Red’ is a big deal for him to communicate to the community about anything happening with the City. If each citizen is able to log onto the City’s website then they can sign up to receive notifications via text, email and phone call of any emergencies happening within the City of Whitesboro.
For those interested in signing up for notifications from the City, simply go to the city website at www.whitesboro.org and scroll to the bottom of the page, and click on the icon located on the bottom left hand corner labeled ‘Code Red’.
Lastly, after much discussion, expenditures exceeding the City Administrator’s authority in the amount of $302, 823.08 were approved. The largest items on the expenditures were $18, 645.06 to All American Towing for Hazmat cleanup from a most recent incident at the Parks and Recreation Department (PARD) building, $28,790.95 to MB Electric for PARD building emergency services, $73,500 to AV Water Tech for ¾ meters and $64,955 to Winsupply for meter boxes.
Lisa Whitten, long-time employee for the Whitesboro Police Department dispatch retired and wrote a thank-you letter to the City Council and Mayor which was included in the agenda. Then, Mayor Dave Blaylock announced the Whitesboro Fire Banquet to celebrate the accomplishments of 2024 was scheduled to be held on Feb. 15 at the Mustang Creek Event Center in Sherman.