Groves council approves Lions Park event, amends fire-access rules and OKs three grant applications

The Groves City Council on Feb. 10 approved multiple items including a Chamber of Commerce request to use Lions Park from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. on May 26, 2025, for a "Fallen, Not Forgotten" family event with a residential-grade fireworks display; amended the city’s fire-prevention ordinance to add three sections addressing obstruction of fire-apparatus access, removal of unlawfully parked vehicles and open-burning presumption; and authorized three grant applications to buy handheld radios, rifle-resistant body armor and automated license-plate readers.

The chamber’s request, approved by the council, calls for a daytime community event and a short fireworks program at dusk. The organizer said planners would set fireworks inside a fenced pee-wee field with Little League board approval, station a fire truck nearby and have fire department staff present. "We’ll put a safe zone out into the little park where people stay away from the Little League Park or the pee wee field," the organizer said, and added the display would be residential grade and last about 20–30 minutes. City staff said additional event insurance would likely be required and that staff would wet and monitor used materials; the council approved the request.

The council also unanimously approved an amendment to Ordinance 2024-26, adding sections 10-3 (obstruction of fire apparatus access road), 10-4 (removal of unlawfully parked vehicle) and 10-5 (open burning presumption). Fire department staff told the council the change clarifies enforcement tools: a vehicle blocking a fire lane may be ticketed to the owner without an officer seeing the driver and vehicles may be towed at the owner’s expense; unattended open residential burning found and extinguished by staff can be charged to the homeowner without having to identify the specific person who started it.

On grants, the council approved three resolutions authorizing submittal of fiscal-year 2025 grant applications and designating the city marshal as the authorized official: - Resolution 2025-01: continuation criminal-justice grant to buy Motorola-compatible handheld radios (no city match). Staff said radios are Motorola models compatible with the regional system and will be serviceable through about 2030. - Resolution 2025-02: rifle-resistant body-armor grant to purchase 23 Level IV plates intended as supplemental armor for officers (no city match); equipment would be carried in vehicles and used as needed in higher-risk incidents. - Resolution 2025-03: State Homeland Security grant to lease and install automated license-plate readers (LPRs); staff said the recommended package requests six stationary LPR units with subscription-based software and pole mounting, integrated with a regional real-time crime center for interagency information sharing.

Council also approved routine business items including the minutes of the Jan. 27 meeting, a mandatory volunteer-application form for several city boards, and the Feb. 10 invoice list. Several items on the agenda were deferred to executive session as allowed under Chapter 551 of the Texas Government Code; no final actions on those matters were taken during the open meeting. The council adjourned at 6:55 p.m.