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Council approves fee schedule, plats and road contract; denies $2,000 Chamber startup grant
Summary
On Sept. 9 the Josephine City Council adopted an updated master fee schedule, approved final plats for Riverfield phases 3 and 4, awarded the Cattle Street rehabilitation contract, passed an ordinance canceling an election for unopposed candidates, and denied a $2,000 JCDC grant for Chamber startup assistance.
What the council voted on and how it turned out:
- Master fee schedule (Resolution 2024‑24/25): Council voted to adopt an updated fee schedule for FY2024–2025 that corrects a commercial building permit fee, raises certain tap and permit fees to cover costs and lists a $3.00 credit‑card processing transparency item. Staff said refuse and sewer changes were benchmarked to neighboring cities and that Collin County will no longer provide fire plan review, requiring pass‑through inspection fees. (Motion and adoption recorded.)
- Cattle Street Rehabilitation Project: Staff recommended WOPAC (listed as the low bidder in the packet) for the Cattle Street Rehab project with a contract amount of $190,931.75. Council moved, seconded and approved awarding the contract after staff confirmed references and prior local work. (Motion and vote recorded.)
- Riverfield final plats (Phase 3 and Phase 4): The city engineer recommended approval of the final plats for Riverfield Phase 3 (inspections and public improvements signed off) and Phase 4 (final phase; public improvements complete). Council approved both final plats by motion and second.
- Ordinance canceling election for unopposed candidates: Council adopted an ordinance declaring the unopposed candidate for mayor and council member Place 5 and canceling the November election for those unopposed seats to save costs.
- Josephine Area Chamber startup grant (JCDC funds): The council considered a JCDC request to provide $2,000 in two $1,000 startup grants administered by the Chamber for businesses in the city and ETJ. Legal counsel noted JCDC’s enabling statutes limit permissible projects; several council members expressed concerns about using public funds to seed private startups and about ETJ eligibility. Council moved to deny the $2,000 expenditure and asked the Chamber to return with a narrower, better‑specified proposal.
Notes on votes and process: Most motions were made, seconded and approved with the standard "all in favor" prompts in the record; where council members requested more detail (for example on fee benchmarking or the JCDC legal authority), staff and legal counsel said they would provide supporting documentation in follow‑up work. Several items (notably the elevated storage discussion) were directed to return to council for formal ordinance or CIP action rather than being decided on Sept. 9.
Next procedural steps: Staff will bring a master‑plan/CIP amendment and impact‑fee updates next month related to the elevated storage discussion; staff also will provide additional cost data for ground storage and respond to council questions about recent change orders and the project waterline issue.
