The Highlands City Council on Oct. 14 approved its consent agenda by a single motion and a 6-0 vote, adopting routine items that included the city investment policy, budget reports, an IT equipment purchase and two nominations to the Denton County Central Appraisal District board.

Council moved to approve consent items 11 through 15 and 17 as read. The motion carried by voice vote with no recorded opposition; the mayor confirmed the tally as 6-0.

Key items approved:

• Resolution 2025-3214: Annual adoption of the city investment policy for fiscal year 2025–26 (item 12).

• Budget reports: Acceptance of the city’s budget reports for the period ending Aug. 31, 2025 (item 13).

• Resolution 2025-3216: Authorization to purchase a NetApp storage server maintenance agreement and installation services from Soaker Solutions through GSA contract GS-35F-0511T (item 14). City IT staff had presented earlier in the meeting describing the purchase as an all-flash storage array (approximately 110–120 TB) intended to replace an aging hybrid array, reduce power consumption by an estimated 15–20% and provide enhanced ransomware protections. The IT presentation noted the purchase was included in the budget and that the existing array will be repurposed for disaster-recovery storage at the city’s DR site.

• Resolution 2025-3217: Renewal of an interlocal agreement with TML Intergovernmental Risk Pool for insurance coverage (item 15).

• Resolution 2025-3215: Nomination of Ann Pompacall and Mike Hannifer as the city’s candidates for election to places on the Denton County Central Appraisal District Board of Directors (item 17). The city manager reported that both incumbents had indicated willingness to serve again and that no other candidates had responded to the city’s solicitation for interest.

Procedure and vote: A council member moved to approve the consent agenda with the addition of item 17; a second was recorded and the council voted in favor by voice. The mayor called the vote and announced the motion carried 6-0. No items were removed from the consent agenda for separate discussion.

What the approvals mean: The investment policy establishes the city’s fiscal guidelines for managing short-term and long-term investments. The NetApp purchase replaces equipment the city identified as approaching end-of-life and was described by IT as a budgeted upgrade that improves capacity and power efficiency. The nominations to the Denton County Central Appraisal District will be included on the regular meeting agenda for formal submittal as required by the appraisal district process.