Nixon council names new mayor pro tem, reimburses tourism efforts

The Nixon City Council named a new mayor pro tem and agreed to pay $5,200 in budgeted funds to the Rancho-Nixon Historic Association during its regular meeting Monday, June 17, at City Hall.

Newly elected City Councilmember Jack Rogers was selected unanimously by his colleagues to be the next mayor pro tem, succeeding Ellie Dominguez, who was elected mayor last month. Dominguez told Rogers not to worry as “I haven’t missed a meeting in the past two years,” meaning it would be unlikely he would have to preside in her absence — a comment that appeared to give Rogers some visible relief.

The council also heard a presentation from Donald Hoffman of the Rancho-Nixon Historic Association asking for the city to pay a batch of invoices from the organization for work performed in accordance with how the city previously required RNHA to get reimbursed for its efforts to promote history and tourism.

Hoffman told council members he wrote a book two years ago about history of the area which led to his taking part in budgeting with the council regarding historical markers in town, a museum, entrance monuments and several other items.

“To help me with these projects, the council during this budget workshop awarded me $15,000 to work with and promote the history of Nixon, Texas, and this area,” Hoffman said. “I accepted those funds with the stipulation that the city wanted to be sure that I spent the money on history and history projects. Therefore they required me to submit an invoice to prove whatever I was doing was to preserve and present the history.”

Hoffman also got a $10,000 grant from Gonzales County and got the salt water disposal company to give $10,000 and he raised about “$30,000 to $40,000 from private individuals.” He said the council was a catalyst to promoting these projects.

“Everything went fine the first year,” Hoffman said. “I submitted invoices and was paid by the city for their part of it and the $15,000 was spent.”

Hoffman said the second year, he asked the city for $15,000 again and was granted the money. He submitted invoices again but at some point, they stopped being paid. He said the invoices submitted included the installation and manufacturing of the entrance monuments that were constructed on the outskirts of town, as well as $2,500 for a video on John Wesley Hardin, with the last $5,200 remaining unpaid.

Interim City Manager Darryl Becker said his concern is that the monuments were built on private property that is not owned by the city.

“You have to understand these monuments are not in the city of Nixon. They are on private property,” Becker said. “If that is where you want to spend your tax dollars, that’s your choice. That’s what I am talking about being correct invoices.”

Hoffman suggested he could withdraw the monument invoice and instead submit one for repair of the roof at the old fire department building and ask that be paid instead.

Justin La Fleur said the original allocation of funds was from hotel and motel tax the city collects in order to promote tourism.

“If that’s the case, it’s not necessarily going to these itemized invoices he gave us,” La Fleur said. “It is going to his society to prosper and influence tourism. I tend to agree if it is itemized like this, it is hard to do it, but if we pull out of our hotel and motel to disburse those funds to the Rancho-Nixon Historic Association. Instead of approving itemized invoices it needs to be for an amount that he says promoted our tourism.”

La Fleur made the motion to reimburse the organization the $5,200 as a result of promoting tourism rather than repaying the invoices. The money is not in a line item for hotel and motel tax, so it will have to come from the general fund, La Fleur said.

The motion was approved 4-1 with Councilmember Pat Dingler opposing it after bringing up that the city was not included among a list of sponsors for the entrance monuments, which she said was of concern to some of her constituents.

Council members also asked to table action on the use of the Lion’s Club conference room at the Aphne Patillo Library as a screening room for the documentary on John Wesley Hardin and the use of a library employee to collect fees charged for those screenings. Concerns raised included making sure the Lion’s Club approved of the use of the room and concerns about having a city employee doing work for a private organization.

They also tabled an item regarding subleasing of the private land on which the entrance monuments sit until the city attorney could have a chance to review the matter and give an opinion on how the city should proceed.

Chad Emmel of BEFCO Engineering discussed bids the city received for a 2017 Hurricane Harvey General Land Office (GLO) project for channel improvements within the city limits.

Emmel said bids were sent via email to 77 construction companies, posted to CivCast and advertised in the Gonzales Inquirer. Bid documents were downloaded by 20 construction companies. The city received five bids that were opened Friday, May 24, with base bids ranging from $518,517.40 to $958,525.

Emmel said the lowest bidder was Staff Concrete Construction of Victoria and he encouraged the council to waive two informalities — a statement of materials and other charges as well as an incomplete non-collusion affidavit filled out but not notarized.

Emmel said the original planned scope of work created in 2017 included improvements to the library channel along Fifth Street and improvements to North Lee Avenue channel from East Tenth to East Fourth. The grant budget for construction was $618,790, but was originally for more than just the base bid. By adding alternate bid  A, which is an East Sixth Street culvert crossing, it brings the Staff Concrete bid to $618,869.40, less than $100 over the grant construction budget. Council members unanimously approved the bid.

Council members also agreed to allow a variance at 609 W. Holmes St. to Rosa Valerio and Felix Hernandez for a driveway entrance.