The Early City Council opened their meeting with a prayer and the pledge of allegiance. The first thing they did was approve the minutes of the last meeting on March 28, 2023. There were no citizens’ comments.
Mayor Mangrum gave the proclamation for National 9-1-1 education month. This is the number to receive emergency services from police, fire, and EMS. People can both call and text 911.
The Early City Council then listened to the first reading of Resolution 2023-EDR01. This was a funding request from Winston Water Cooler, LTD to work on their parking lot not to exceed $10,415.58. This was a first reading only, so no council action was taken.
Moving to matters of new business, the Early City Council let the first agenda item die from a lack of motion. They were discussing possibly changing the zoning designation from Single-Family to General Residence for approximately 3.16 acres of Jacob Duckworth, Survey 56, Abstract 240, known as 720 Longhorn Drive. The City Administrator researched and considered if they needed to rezone that area. Citizens spoke out about rezoning and warned against it. After being tabled for the last two meetings, the Early city staff recommended that the item die for lack of motion or that the city not rezone the property. The Early City Council let the agenda item die for lack of motion.
Next, the City Council approved the continuation of the variance granted for the privacy fence at 305 Sunrise Drive. This is a fence over a drainage area. The owners must keep the area where the flow of water drains free of debris.
There was no awarding bid for Autumn Drive construction and the city will go back out for bids on the construction. There are other prospective bidders and the City of Early needs to reevaluate certain constraints.
The Early City Council moved to approve a Hotel Occupancy Tax Fund Grant application for The Hideout Golf Club and Resort for $2,500. The Hideout Golf Club and Resort will host The Women’s Pro-am Tour on June 13th-16th. There are expected to be 750 people coming for the tournament.
Lastly, the Early City Council approved an Application for Participation in the Local Government Investment Cooperative (LOGIC) and an Application for Participation in the Texas Short-Term Asset Reserve Program (TexSTAR). Lance Flores with Hilltop Securities explained the two different programs and their investment potentials to the Early City Council.
These programs are investment pools. They are very liquid pools that are used for government funds for investment based on a daily interest rate percentage earned. They meet all state and federal requirements.
These pools are meant to be used by local entities in Texas. Their main priorities are principal stability and daily liquidity, meaning that the city can have better access to them, and a competitive return especially as rates are going up. TexSTAR is a government-only investment pool. That means it will hold U.S. treasury, U.S. agencies, and repurchase agreements collateralized at 102% by those treasuries and agencies.
LOGIC will hold the same securities as TexSTAR, but it will primarily have commercial paper, thus short-term commercial debt.
Both pools are rated AAA by S&P, provide liquidity, and can be used for bond proceeds, operating expenses, and reserve funds. The fee for TexSTAR is .06 of 1% annually. The fee for LOGIC is .0975 of 1%. After hearing the details for the investment pools, the Early City Council approved both.
Concluding the meeting was an announcement that the Early State of the City will be at 11:45 am at the Early Visitors and Event Center. Click this link to RSVP.