Gonzales City Council discusses holding town hall meetings, DeWitt bicentennial

The Gonzales City Council met for its regularly scheduled meeting Thursday, Aug. 8 at City Hall for discussion of variety of topics.

The council discussed having future town hall meetings and it was an item Mayor Steve Sucher requested to be on that meeting’s agenda.

“I think this is a good time to set up a public venue and meeting for members of the public to come and visit with us and share any compliments or concerns that they may have in their respective districts,” Sucher said.

“What I sort of envisioned is that we would hold two town hall meetings, and that the district one and two would hold a meeting together, and district three and four would hold a meeting together,” Sucher added.

Sucher suggested to the council to hold the meetings in October and November, he said.

In other business, the council heard a presentation about the commemoration of the founding of the Green DeWitt Colony, presented by Glenda Gordon and Thomas Enriquez.

“Thomas and I have spent about a month, maybe a little longer, off and on, doing the research, gathering together all of the information that we can find that talks about the Green DeWitt colony, primarily the capital of Gonzales,” Gordon said.

The recommendation is regarding the gazebo on Market Square and adding interpretive panels on the outside side of the gazebo on the square, Gordon said.

“We have 60 feet panels, two of them on either side of the center star. We were thinking of the things that need to be interpreted at the Market Square. We have the school, we have a former jail, we have the fort across the street, and all of the original DeWitt colony,” Gordon said.

Glenda, Enriquez and many others have been working hard on getting the history of the colony ready for its bicentennial year in 2025.

“Gonzales is a town that is rich in history, and it is the foundation Texas was built on,” Enriquez said. “Our town's history is unique and cannot be replicated. I, along with other members and Glenda, have worked on this project for the better part of the last year, and have reached out to numerous historical scholars at the Bexar County Spanish Archives, the Archdiocese of the San Fernando Cathedral, as well as the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History.”

“Together, we have accumulated an accurate historical timeline of our town's conception and the events that took place that propelled our small town into the history books of Texas Revolution,” Enriquez added.

The council approved the following agenda items:

– approved accepting the no-new-revenue tax rate and scheduled public hearings.

– approved Authorizing the City Manager to Execute an Amended and Restated Agreement with Gudalupe Valley Electric Cooperative for the Electric Utility Operations, Day-to-Day Maintenance Services

– Authorizing the appointments to the Gonzales Convention & Visitors Bureau and Gonzales Main Street Advisory Board.

– approved Authorizing the creation of a mural, as part of the Beautification and Design Advisory Board’s ongoing beautification efforts, to be painted on the north side of the exterior wall of the restroom at Lions Park

– approved the purchase of a 2024 John Deere 6105E Tractor with Samurai Boom and 60” Severe Duty Rotary Cutting Head for the Street Department from United Ag & Turf in the amount of $179,027.45

– approved Authorizing the Purchase of a 2024 John Deere 700L Crawler Dozer from RDO Equipment Co. in the amount of $238,523.00

– approved Amending the Code of Ordinances of the City of Gonzales, Texas, Chapter 6, Health and Sanitation, Article 6.100 Garbage and Trash.