Earlier this month, the Texas Water Development Board approved financial assistance of almost $2.8 million for the City of Gladewater for planning, design and construction a local water system improvements.
On Thursday, Gladewater City Council members unanimously-approved the selection of three firms to move the project forward.
Seeking proposals, “We only received one for bond counsel, one engineering firm and one financial advisor,” Gladewater City Manager Charlie Smith said. “We only received three, in that order, and that’s what we chose.
“We’ve done business with all of these guys before.”
The council’s unanimous vote chose McCall Parkhurst & Horton LLP as Bond Counsel, Schaumburg & Polk for Engineering Services and Specialized Public Finance Inc. for Financial Advisory through the course of the project.
The council also rubber-stamped a rezoning request during their Dec. 21 meeting and updated the roster of the city’s Charter Review Committee.
In a public hearing on the residential-to-commercial rezoning of 426 S. Tyler, City Hall’s Al Harrison noted the spot is adjacent to Gladewater’s Public Works Department.
As for the property, “Currently the front half of it is zoned commercial, the back half is zoned single-family,” and owner Hank Pavlovsky of Valkyrie Holdings wants to build two quad-plexes in the rear section. “Seeing as how it’s already commercial, which allows him to do multi-family,” Harrison said, “we figured it was a better option, and for resale in the future, to have the whole lot commercial.”
Pavlovsky will maintain his electrical business on the front portion of the space and intends for a property management company to oversee tenants.
“That’s going to be good,” council member Rocky Hawkins said. “It’ll be more tax revenue.”
The city’s Planning & Zoning Board unanimously-approved the request before it reached council, and the city’s elected officials gave unanimous 7-0 approval as well.
The council opted to postpone choosing a law firm to collect delinquent taxes, aiming to put it on their January agenda after an outstanding legal question is addressed.
After a brief discussion, the group unanimously-approved Gladewater Mirror Publisher Jim Bardwell to replace Leon Word on the charter review committee. The group includes Mayor Scott Owens in an ex-officio role as well as former Gladewater Mayor J.D. Shipp, Gladewater ISD Superintendent Dr. Sedric Clark and Sam Cloud.
Already, Owens told the council, the committee has identified 12 charter issues: “We’ll have others to come and bring to you in January or February for consideration,” he said. Several council members said they’ll also be submitting notes on proposed charter updates.
– By James Draper