Council approves forward motion with bond project

By LPR Staff

Editor/POST-REGISTER

The Lockhart City Council held a brief business meeting on Tuesday evening, taking care of several items of “housekeeping” during their final meeting in March.

Of particular note, the Council approved the ordinance that will allow the city’s financial directors and advisors to begin seeking i

nformation about a Certificate of Obligation, which will allow the city to fund millions of dollars worth of long- and short-term improvement projects.

The certificate of obligation was initially approved in February, after the council spent weeks in workshops discussing projects that needed to move forward, including drainage and infrastructure projects, as well as several “quality of life” items.

In preparation for the upcoming special called election, the Council approved an interlocal agreement with the Caldwell County Election Administrator to oversee the election.

Early voting in the election will be held from April 27 – May 5, 2015, at the Election Office at the LW Scott Annex. On Election Day, voters will have four assigned polling locations: St. Mark’s Methodist Church, St. Mary’s Catholic Church, First Lockhart Baptist Church and Lockhart City Hall.

At the request of City Manager Vance Rodgers, the City will apply for a Transporation Alternatives Program (TAP) grant to extend the Town Branch Greenbelt Parkway.

The Greenbelt trail currently ends at the Commerce Street Park, and the $460,000 grant, if funded, would allow the City to extend that walking trail under the Highway 183 overpass, and to Carver Kindergarten and Plum Creek Elementary.

The main purpose of the project, Rodgers said, is to allow the children a safer way to walk to the schools on the east side of Highway 183.

An earlier grant project linked the schools on the west side of Highway 183 under a “Safe Routes to School” program.

After research and discussion, the Council chose to appoint an ad-hoc committee to review certain provisions of the City’s sign ordinance – particularly those which prohibit permanent balloons, inflatables of other signage “designed to attract attention.”

Councilmember Jeffry Michelson requested the committee be formed earlier this month, expressing concern that business owners should be allowed to do what they deem necessary, within reason, to attract attention to their business locations.

The committee is expected to begin meeting later this month.

The Lockhart City Council routinely meets on the first and third Tuesday of each month at 7:30 p.m. in the third floor council chambers at the Dr. Eugene Clark Library Complex. The meetings are open to the public and are televised on Time Warner Digital Channel 10.