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Buouie council updates procurement thresholds, adopts pickleball fees, bans drilling in parks and authorizes park grant application
Summary
Council approved purchasing-policy amendments to reflect a $100,000 competitive-bid threshold, adopted a pickleball court reservation fee schedule, passed an ordinance prohibiting drilling/mining in city parks as part of a parks-grant prerequisite, and authorized submission of a 2027 Texas Parks and Wildlife local park grant application.
At its meeting the Buouie City Council approved several ordinances and policy amendments the council said are designed to align city rules with state law and to prepare for a parks grant application.
Procurement changes: The council adopted amendments to the finance department's purchasing policy to update competitive-bid thresholds to match changes in state law; the threshold referenced in the presentation rose from $50,000 to $100,000. A presenter explained the change is intended to give the city more flexibility under the current statutory threshold.
Pickleball reservation fee: The council considered ordinance 20265 to add a pickleball court reservation fee to the Buouie fee schedule. Sandy and Amber described research on other Texas facilities and proposed a reservation fee of $20 for a half day and $40 for a full day per court, with reservations limited (minimum 10 days before a reservation and restrictions to prevent permanent weekly monopolization of courts). The council approved the ordinance and discussed online reservation, payment at booking and publishing a reservation calendar on the city's website.
Parks ordinance and grant authorization: The council adopted ordinance 2026, which prohibits drilling, mining or reopening an abandoned well or mine in any public park within city limits. Staff said the prohibition is required by Texas Parks and Wildlife as a condition for a local park grant application. The council then approved resolution 2026-16 authorizing submission of the city's application for the 2027 local park grant; staff said the final grant materials will be completed later in the year.
Tax appraisal district budget: The council also reviewed and approved the Monte County Tax Appraisal District proposed 2027 budgets after a brief discussion that the appraisal board operates efficiently.
What happens next: staff will post the new fee schedule and reservation process online and will submit the parks grant application; procurement policy updates take effect immediately to align with state thresholds.
Representative quote: On reservations, a council member said, “If there's no—it's still first come, first serve...but to reserve it, you're going to and you've got to pay for it when you reserve it.”
