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The Eagle Lake City Council approved the city’s annual financial audit during its June 9 meeting, a move city officials believe will satisfy state requirements after the Attorney General’s Office froze the city’s property tax rate because of the late fi ling.
Cit y Manager Charles “Tink” Jackson said approval of the audit “should satisfy” the Attorney General’s Office. The Citizen reported June 10 that the state froze Eagle Lake’s ability to raise property taxes above the no-new-revenue rate after the city missed a state-mandated audit deadline.
While the city did see some loss, they do still have reserves described by the auditor as “close but adequate,” and said “everything checks out fine” for them.
The auditor apologized for the delay, citing fami ly issues as the reason for the late audit.
The audit found no deficiencies, and the council unanimously approved the report.
TextMyGovSmart presentation
Council heard a presentation from Josh Anderson with TextMyGovSmart text messaging service. The city is considering a text messaging service to communicate notifications, announcements and events to Eagle Lake residents who enroll to receive messages. Anderson said there is no app download needed for residents to receive the texts, and the service can even be refined to send messages to targeted neighborhoods for specific things like water leaks or interruptions in utilities. Residents can pick and choose what they receive text messages about. The service could cost the city approximately $4,000 annually. Exact costs are generally determined by a city’s population size, service tier, and the allotted annual text message volume. The city expressed interest in the service plan that would include 50,000 text messages, and any unused messages would roll over to the next year. There was no action taken as the city is still researching and comparing costs and companies.
New noise ordinance Council voted to enforce a new city ordinance, Ordinance No. 2026-06, regarding excessive noise. Resident Eloy Gutierrez addressed council members, stating, “I’ve been putting up with [noise] for three years now. What will happen when people break the ordinance?” Jackson said Eagle Lake Police Department will have decibel meters to measure if noises exceed the determined violation levels. Repeat offenders will receive a $500 fine when found in violation of the ordinance.
GFL requests contract rate increase The city’s garbage company GFL requested a onetime four percent equitable adjustment to their contract rate, citing rising fuel costs as the reason for the request. GFL’s contract does allow for the request, and Jackson said he would be okay with granting the request, which would be an increase of approximately $1,200 monthly, as long as the increase is not passed on to the citizens of Eagle Lake.
Jackson went on to say he also plans to ask GFL to agree to “a reasonable stop number” for fuel costs, and when fuel costs go down, then the adjustment rate goes away.
Council agreed and unanimously approved the one-time equitable adjustment to the contract rate.
In other council action: Jackson reported that the site visit at Endeavors facility went well, and they are moving forward with plans to apply for foster care licensing. Endeavors hopes to have that in place by early 2027, and plans to keep a skeleton crew at the facility until then.
Planning for the Freedom Fest to celebrate America’s 250th birthday next month.
Council discussed the creation of a part-time airport manager job position. While council and city manager were in agreement that the airport is an asset to be grown for the city and that the airport could benefit from regular dedicated maintenance, there was not an agreement about how best to solve that. No action was taken.
The budget planning calendar has no changes.
Council approved the renewal of TX Health Employee benefits coverage for city employees.
Council learned Eagle Lake is eligible for a $235,000 grant that could fund flood mitigation efforts and traffic improvements along U.S. Highway 90 while the Interstate 10 expansion project continues The next Eagle Lake City Council meeting will be July 14 at 7 p.m. in the Municipal Building, 100 E. Main St. in Eagle Lake.
