Gun Barrel City council approves election call, budget reports, code update and street-material contracts

Gun Barrel City Council approved a slate of routine and administrative actions at its January 2025 regular meeting, including adoption of minutes, acceptance of the first-quarter financial report for fiscal 2025, adoption of a 2025 meeting calendar, an ordinance calling a May 3, 2025 general election, an interlocal agreement with Henderson County to conduct that election, adoption of a supplement to the city code of ordinances, and awards of city street-materials contracts for 2025.

Why it matters: The votes set the administration’s near-term calendar, authorize spending and contracting for road materials, and put the city on a schedule for a May election that will fill three council seats. Several items approved tonight also affect operational transparency (codification of ordinances) and the city’s ability to run a local election with county support if needed.

Highlights and outcomes

- Approval of minutes (consent agenda). Motion to approve the Dec. 17, 2024 meeting minutes carried. (Tally: yes 5; no 0.)

- Financial report (7b). The council approved the fiscal year 2024–25 first-quarter financial report as presented by City Treasurer Mickey Rainey. The treasurer reported sales tax down 1.5% year-over-year and total revenue at 30.74% of the annual budget (should be ~25% at quarter end). (Tally: yes 5; no 0.)

- 2025 meeting schedule (7c). Council approved an annual calendar of regular meeting dates so the body and the public can plan for the year. (Tally: yes 5; no 0.)

- Ordinance O-2025-001: Call for general election (7d). Council adopted an ordinance calling a general election for May 3, 2025, to elect Council Place 1 (east side), Place 3 (west side) and Place 5 (at-large) to three‑year terms; the filing period closes Feb. 14 at 5:00 p.m. (Tally: yes 5; no 0.)

- Interlocal agreement with Henderson County (7e). Council approved an interlocal agreement to have Henderson County conduct the city’s May election; the packet estimated the county cost at about $3,500 (subject to change if a joint election is held or the election is cancelled). The city secretary noted the city-owned voting machines have reduced election costs in recent years. The signed agreement will be forwarded to the Henderson County Commissioners Court. (Tally: yes 5; no 0.)

- Ordinance O-2025-002: Adopt supplement to code of ordinances (7f). The council adopted Supplement 1 Update 2 to the city code, which incorporates ordinances adopted July–December 2024. Staff said the ordinance currently includes a declaration of emergency clause historically used in codification ordinances; staff plans to remove that clause in future supplements. (Tally: yes 5; no 0.)

- Award bids for 2025 street materials (7g). The council awarded the 2025 street-materials contracts to the low bidders identified in staff’s chart and approved estimated not-to-exceed spending levels (chip seal, base rock, crushed granite, hot mix asphalt, etc.). The street superintendent requested $300,000 for chip sealing (approximately 11 miles) and up to $20,000 each for certain base materials vendors. (Tally: yes 5; no 0.)

How the votes were taken and recorded

Throughout the meeting mayoral calls for vote were recorded by roll call (for example, "Burns, yes; Evans, yes; Jacobs, yes; [other councilmembers], yes"). When staff presented reports, council moved and seconded routine approvals and then took roll-call votes. Where cost estimates or deadlines were cited in staff presentations, those numbers were included in the public record (see clarifying details).

What was informational only

Quarterly department reports from the city secretary and city treasurer were presented for council information and tied to the votes above (the financial report was the one item that required formal council approval). City Secretary Janet Dillard described an upcoming candidate filing period and the city’s recruitment for board and commission vacancies. City Treasurer Mickey Rainey presented the budget and monthly reports and noted an upcoming audit fieldwork visit in February.

Next steps

- The ordinance calling the May 3 election and the interlocal agreement will be forwarded to Henderson County as needed for election administration.

- Street work vendors will receive purchase authorization in accordance with the awarded bids and the amounts approved by council.

- Codification supplement updates will be posted to the city’s code as adopted and staff indicated a future cleanup of the emergency clause.

Ending note: All votes in this package passed on voice/roll-call votes with no recorded dissents; specific dollar estimates and deadlines cited in staff presentations are noted in clarifying details below for reference.