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Residents urge clearer code enforcement and more volunteer support for Meals on Wheels; pastor repeats request to name safety building after Chief Coleman
Summary
During public comment, Mary Gilmore asked the city for clearer, mailed code‑enforcement information and suggested adding a pamphlet to water bills; Lisa Deese of Meals on Wheels warned volunteer shortages have left two deliveries weekly instead of daily; Pastor John R. Givens renewed a request to name the new public safety building after the late Chief Raymond Coleman.
During the citizen‑comment portion of the Ennis City Commission meeting, residents urged the city to improve communication about code enforcement and to support senior services.
Mary Gilmore, who identified her address as 906 Woodcrest Drive, said she paid a code‑enforcement fine charged to tenants and found the municipal code difficult for ordinary residents to access. "When you sign up to get your water, you're not handed a copy of the code enforcement," Gilmore said, asking the commission to consider hiring a part‑time code enforcement officer and to mail a code‑enforcement pamphlet with water bills.
Lisa Deese, representing Meals on Wheels North Central Texas, briefed the commission on volunteer shortages in Ennis. Deese said the program has served Ennis seniors since 2000 but still has two routes that are operating as "frozen" (weekly rather than daily) because the program has not recruited enough volunteers since COVID; she asked the commission to advocate for local recruitment.
Pastor John R. Givens of St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church asked the commission to consider naming the new public safety building after the late Chief Raymond Coleman. Givens recounted Chief Coleman’s local roots and service and said the congregation intended to return with a formal agenda request for a naming process.
Commission response: Mayor Rayburn said the commission could not take action on items not on the agenda but asked the city manager to place a future agenda item to develop a process or ordinance for naming public buildings. No formal action was taken on code enforcement or Meals on Wheels at this meeting.
