Preston council approves wastewater hire, community donations and East Enclave plat; denies small rezone

Preston — The Preston City Council on Nov. 24 approved multiple routine and substantive items, including hiring a new wastewater treatment operator, confirming budgeted donations to local nonprofits and authorizing a development agreement and conditioned final plat for the East Enclave subdivision.

Council unanimously approved the hire of Daniel Taylor to a wastewater-plant operator position after staff said Taylor holds a Class 2 operator designation, a commercial driver’s license and previously worked supervising at FedEx. Staff and council members said Taylor is expected to progress to Class 3 within about six months and aim for Class 4 within a year or two; John Balz will supervise the hire. “I felt like he had confidence and motivation,” a councilmember said during the interview summary.

The council also approved a budgeted $3,000 donation to CAPSA, a local nonprofit that requested a full-time presence in Preston, and voted to provide council/ mayor discretionary funds to support the Elks Lodge Christmas-basket program (last year reported serving about 746 families). Both donations were described as already budgeted or available from the mayor-and-council budget.

On land-use matters, Planning & Zoning staff reported a rezone petition from Eric Beechel for a 1.3-acre parcel at the northwest corner of 1100 North and 1st East to change from Residential B to Residential A-1. Planning & Zoning unanimously recommended denial, citing concerns about spot zoning and preserving the area’s rural edge; council moved to deny the rezoning request and the motion carried unanimously.

Separately, the council authorized the mayor to sign a development agreement for the East Enclave subdivision and approved the final plat on the condition that the development agreement be signed, the agreed open-space buyout ($63,000) be paid prior to final plat signature, and the required improvement bond be in place. Staff described additional requirements: delivery of 52 secondary-water shares to the homeowners association and required sewer-line cameraing and repairs at the developer’s expense prior to recording. Council emphasized that engineers will hold surety until required work is completed.

Votes at a glance

- Consent calendar (excluding minutes): approved (motion carried). Items included consultant agreement amendment, airport procurement participation (city share described as ~7.5%), bond refunds and a $250,000 letter-of-credit release. - Minutes for Nov. 10, 2025: approved; Terry Larson abstained because he was excused from that meeting. - Hire — Daniel Taylor, wastewater operator: approved unanimously. - CAPSA donation ($3,000 budgeted): approved unanimously. - Elks Lodge Christmas-basket contribution (from mayor/council budget): approved unanimously. - Rezone — Eric Beechel (1.3 acres): motion to deny approved unanimously. - East Enclave development agreement: approved; final plat approved conditioned on payment of open-space funds, signed development agreement and bond being in place.

What comes next

Planning staff will confirm required developer payments and bond documentation before the city signs and records the final plat. The council discussed continued monitoring of wastewater staffing and confirmed the operator will be supervised by John Balz while pursuing higher certifications.