Grapeland City Council Appoints McGill as Municipal Judge
Parker Selected as Mayor Pro-Tem
By Will Johnson
Messenger Reporter
GRAPELAND – Following a budget workshop, a public hearing on the status of Texas Community Development Block Grant 7218054 was held at Grapeland City Hall on Tuesday, June 11 by GrantWorks.
The grant discussion primarily focused on the planning and future development for the city of Grapeland. GrantWorks is a company “… dedicated principally to managing state and federal development programs,” according to the company’s website.
Once the public hearing concluded, the Grapeland City Council convened in a regular scheduled meeting highlighted by the appointment of a new municipal judge and the selection of a mayor pro-tem.
The first order of business addressed by the council was the selection of a mayor pro-tem.
“When a new council is seated, we have an opportunity to select a new mayor pro-tem. We have had a good one with Velda (Parker). So, if you will, take a sheet of paper and write a name on it about who you want to be mayor pro-tem,” Mayor Balis Dailey said.
The vote showed three votes in favor of Parker and one in favor of Councilman Justin Lumbreraz, who was not present at the meeting.
“I want to tell you as the mayor pro-tem, she has been invaluable working with FEMA. I don’t know how she has kept her mind. Velda thank you for all your hard work and we’re not even half-way done,” Dailey said.
As the meeting continued, it was reported the water department pumped 7.921 million gallons of water, sold 7.342 million gallons and water loss was down to 3.52%. The department treated 8.020 million gallons with a daily average of 259,000 gallons.
It was also reported rags had clogged up the system twice in the month of May and the lift stations on EL Lago and Lakeview Streets had been repaired.
The next report given to the council concerned the fire department.
“We had 12 alarms for the month (of May). There were no grass fires. We had 21 EMS calls which brings it up to 119 for the year,” Fire Chief Roger Dickey said.
Following the reports, the council moved into the area of new business.
Under this category, Dailey said Dale Caskey had resigned his position as Municipal Court Judge.
“We sure thank Mr. Caskey. Dale was a great asset. We were fortunate to have him. He wasn’t paid and the second thing is he was a joy to work with when we started using this new system. He helped us through some really tough times,” Dailey said.
A motion was made to accept the resignation of Caskey which was approved. That was followed by a motion to appoint CL McGIll as the city’s new municipal judge.
“This came about rather suddenly,” McGill said, “but I will accept it. I plan on continuing with what Judge Caskey has done. It seems like he has done a good job in establishing some new systems that we needed.”
McGill had recently served on the Grapeland Economic Development Corporation and was instrumental in helping to bring Darling Ingredients to Grapeland.
A motion was made, seconded and unanimously approved to appoint McGill as the municipal judge of Grapeland. Once the vote was taken, the mayor administered the oath of office to the new judge.
In other matters brought before the city council:
- Consent agenda items were approved.
- An agenda item concerning horses on public streets was tabled for further consideration.
- The council approved the purchase of snacks for every council meeting.
- The selection of a company responding to requests for proposal concerning solid waste/garbage contract with the city was tabled for further consideration.
- A lengthy discussion concerning vendor permit fees was held but no action was taken by the council.
Will Johnson may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].
