Big Spring council approves nuisance abatement, infrastructure bids and sets May election

Big Spring City Council on a January 2025 meeting unanimously approved a series of routine and capital items, including an abatement order for a derelict property at 206 Northeast Sixth Street, awards for a 2024 water and sewer line replacement project and park paving, and a resolution calling a May 3, 2025, general election.

The actions bring forward capital work on the city’s water and sewer system, new accessible parking for a donated playground, and routine administrative items including vouchers and a joint election agreement with the Big Spring Independent School District.

Votes at a glance

- Nuisance abatement at 206 Northeast Sixth Street: After a public hearing, the council voted to issue an order to abate the property at 206 Northeast Sixth Street, finding two unoccupied, unsecured, weathered structures that present safety and public-health risks. The council approved the abatement unanimously following a motion and second.

- Vouchers: The council approved vouchers presented for January 2025, described in the meeting as $2,692,041.14 and $1,264,901.73 for two voucher batches; the approval passed unanimously.

- 2024 water and sewer line replacement project: The council awarded a construction contract to begin water and sewer line replacements for $971,674.50. The project scope described in the meeting includes replacing a 6-inch water main on Sixth Street from Owens to Birdwell, replacing a 6-inch water line on San Antonio and replacing a sewer line on Lincoln (about one block, behind an easement). The award passed unanimously.

- Fairway mower for Comanche Trail Golf Course: A budgeted purchase to replace a 1999 Toro fairway mower was awarded to Barones of Alvarado, Texas, for $64,370. The council approved the award unanimously.

- ADA-compliant parking lot at Comanche Trail Park: The council awarded a paving, striping and signage contract for an ADA-compliant 24,000-square-foot parking lot to serve a new all-abilities playground. The meeting noted a playground donation of $750,000 toward the project; the paving award was recommended to Permian Paving of Midland for $68,750. The vote to award the contract passed unanimously.

- Election resolution and election agreements: On first reading the council adopted a resolution calling a general election on May 3, 2025, for mayor and District 5 council seats. A separate election-services contract with the Howard County Elections Administrator was discussed but postponed so staff could resolve questions. The council approved a routine joint-election agreement with Big Spring Independent School District to share election costs, and the joint-agreement vote passed unanimously.

- Event funding and board appointment: The council approved a $4,000 event funding request from the Convention & Visitors Bureau for the Desert Athletic Company’s Together Trail Race and reappointed Veronica Zuniga to the Zoning Board of Adjustments (District 5). Both votes passed unanimously.

How the council framed the items

City staff presented the public-works and parks procurements as budgeted capital or grant-adjacent work. The Comanche Trail Park parking lot award was described as a complement to a donated all-abilities playground; staff noted street-department work on base preparation reduced contractor costs. Staff also emphasized outreach on the city’s rollout-container ordinance and described sticker-based notice and public-service announcements to inform residents of a requirement to return containers after pickup (with ADA exceptions handled through a separate placard process).

What the council did not decide

Council members deferred awarding the election services contract to the Howard County Elections Administrator pending staff follow-up; staff said the delay would not interfere with the May election timetable.

Next steps and timing

Approved construction and procurement awards will proceed to contracting and scheduling per staff timelines. The election resolution establishes May 3, 2025, as the date for the general election; detailed execution of election services is pending follow-up on the contract in a future meeting.