The March meeting of the Lometa City Council took on a shocking tone Monday evening during a tour of the city facilities.
After the council’s approval of minutes and bills, Mayor Derek Talley asked for a brief pause before giving his department head report, and he led the council on a trek through the city’s firehouse.
A tour of the station provided the council a look at the fire engines. The inspection revealed empty side cabinets on the two city-owned fire engines, as well as other missing equipment.
“Last Thursday, we put patrol units in the bays to have radios installed, and Police Chief Ronnie Strain and I discovered that the equipment from the fire engines has been removed, presumably by the Lometa Volunteer Fire Department,” Talley said. “The Lometa Volunteer Fire Department and the city hold the only access to Lometa VFD Station 2.”
Both trucks had been stripped of radios and nozzles. To operate, Talley said, the fire engines require that batteries be charged, however both engines were unplugged from an electrical source.
At present, the fire station houses only a Lampasas County-owned brush truck used for grass fires and two inoperable and unequipped city-owned fire trucks.
According to city staff, the fire engines were purchased and outfitted via a city-obtained grant.
With both of the city-owned fire engines essentially stripped of equipment, Talley voiced concern for Lometa residents living within city limits. The mayor said during the walk-through that, with the exception of grass fires, all medical and fire calls within the Lometa city limits are going unanswered by the volunteer fire department.
“It is an issue the council will be forced to address in the near future,” Talley said.
NEW BUSINESS
With no other departmental reports or old business, the council moved on to new business.
After considering a switch of investment accounts to TexStar/Logic Investment LLC, the council agreed to remain with its current company.
“I think if we are doing well with what we have, I think we need to stay with our current company,” Councilman Duane Sweet said.
An item regarding a bid submission from Miller’s Service Co. to replace all existing outdoor lighting with LED bulbs and a new photocell was tabled.
The council agreed to continue with its citysponsored fundraiser at the Lometa Diamondback Jubilee. All proceeds will go toward the city’s annual Fourth of July fireworks show.
“Last year after paying everything, we made around $3,500 that went toward the fireworks show,” Talley said. “It’s going to take a lot of help. It’s a lot of work and a long day, but it turned out well for us.”
The event will include a crawfish boil, 50/50 raffles and a gun raffle.
Also, the council approved a resolution allowing the Lometa Police Department to apply for a grant to purchase handheld and mobile radios.
“This is a Homeland Security grant,” the police chief said. “We need a resolution from the city that says we have approval to apply for it.
“We have to upgrade our system to connect to the new TxDOT tower,” Strain said, “so we are having to purchase better equipment.”
According to Strain, the tower requires updated radio equipment for law enforcement.
“We already have a grant for $20,000, but the radios are $10,000 each,” he said. “We’re trying to get ahead of this now, because they are going to go to this equipment in the near future.”
Strain also mentioned his goal to utilize the grant as a means of reducing the impact on city coffers.
“A total of $40,000$50,000 is a lot of money out of this city’s budget,” he said. “This is a nomatch grant, so the city does not have to contribute to it.”
In other business, the council OK’d the purchase of an 84-month extended warranty for the city’s newly purchased tractor, loader and shredder. The warranty will pick up at the end of the equipment’s two-year warranty, extending coverage to nine years.
The council is scheduled to meet next in regular session at City Hall on April 6.
