Rodeo arena will soon sport $195K cover supplied by HEDC
Rodeo participants at Hallettsville’s storied rodeo grounds out at the Expo Center will soon be able to enjoy their respective sports without concerns about rain, snow or, far more likely, the sun beating down on their backs.
That’s after city officials signed off on a plan presented by the Hallettsville Economic Development Corp. to cover the outdoor arena at a cost of $195,000, fulfilling a grant request made by the Lavaca Exposition Association last year.
The funds were made available entirely from the Hallettsville ED’s funding, but state law requires that the council approve the measure whenever the amount approved exceeds the $100,000 mark.
This particular expense was discussed in two public hearings before the councilmembers signed off on it. No members of the public spoke on the topic any of the times it went before council during said hearings.
It was approved unanimously at the January meeting of the council.
In other business:
• Council approved the order calling for its own May 3 general election and the associated agreements tied to said election. The terms of Mayor Alice Jo Summers, Place 2 Councilwoman Audrey Barrera and Place 3 Councilman Trent Skelton will all be expiring in May of 2025.
Those interested in filing for their own candidacy in any one of those seats is urged to pick up an application packet from City Hall and return it, completed, prior to the Friday, Feb. 14, filing deadline.
Other seats up for election in May will include any expiring terms on the Hallettsville ISD board as well as the Lavaca Flood Control District. Similar filing deadlines apply with each local entity.
Election day, should any seat face a challenger, will be the first Saturday in May, with early voting falling the two weeks prior to that date.
• City leaders selected Patriot Fuels as the low bidder in its request for bulk fuel bids in 2025.
• Council approved the newly updated Lavaca County Hazard Mitigation Action Plan.
• The council approved several policy items for the Friench Simpson Memorial Library and its advisory board, most notably, a policy for nightly closing procedures, so that local librarians have a policy in place to handle customers who hold out until last minute before the library is about to close to dash in and delay that process.
• Council member discussed but took no action on a possible pole attachment agreement with RISE broadband, which will soon enter Hallettsville as a potential fiber internet supplier, part of the Comptrollers plan to broaden statewide availability of that service. Such an agreement would place certain limits on the number of lines poles can hold, how close those lines may get to power transmission lines and sets certain limits on how high they must be placed over roadways and such.
City administrator Grace Ward vowed to have such an agreement ready for review at the next council meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 18 (a day late because of President’s Day on the typical Monday meeting date).
Ward also said she would also have information collected on another discussion council members took up about various possibilities that might exist to better protect the public at events held at place like the courthouse square. For instance, to prevent the sort of attacks seen during the holidays in New Orleans, where a single driver in a pickup actually killed several people when it intentionally plowed into a crowded street area.