Tomball council approves consent agenda unanimously, announces executive session under Texas Open Meetings Act

The Tomball City Council approved its consent agenda by unanimous voice vote and announced it would go into executive session under the Texas Open Meetings Act to consult with the city attorney.

A meeting official read the executive-session item aloud: “The city council will meet in executive session as authorized by title 5, chapter 551, government code, for the following purposes, consultation with the city attorney regarding a matter with the attorney's duties required to be discussed as closed session.” The official also stated the council would return to the public meeting afterward and that no votes would be taken while in closed session.

Council members then called for and recorded a motion on the consent agenda; a council member later said, “Motion carries unanimously.” The meeting clerk or presiding official recorded the start time for the executive session at 6:11 p.m. and indicated procedures for documenting attendees — asking who was present and instructing that the list be sealed in an envelope when the session began.

The public-comment period produced no speakers; the meeting also noted that Mayor Laurie was out of town and attending the presidential inauguration in Washington, D.C. The council returned from the closed session and adjourned later in the meeting.

The agenda item cited Title 5, Chapter 551 of the Texas Government Code (the Open Meetings Act) as the authority for holding a closed-session consultation with the city attorney. The council did not take any formal votes while in executive session, and no ordinance or resolution was adopted as part of the closed-session item.