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Record of Proceedings

Watauga City Council Regular Meeting - December 8, 2025

City Council — Monday, December 8, 2025
BodyWatauga, Texas
SessionCity Council
DateMonday, December 8, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record
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Speaker 1

0:00

Wataga City Council regular meeting Monday, December 8th, 2025, City Hall Council Chambers at 6 30 p.m.

0:08

First item of business is roll call.

0:10

Place one.

0:14

Place two.

0:15

Chris Blackburn present.

0:17

Place three.

Speaker 2

0:19

Lovey Downey, present.

Speaker 1

0:21

Place four.

Speaker 3

0:22

Andrew Neil present.

Speaker 1

0:24

Place five is vacant.

0:26

Place six.

0:28

Mark Taylor present.

0:30

Place seven.

Speaker 4

0:32

Jen Hill, present.

Unassigned speaker

0:34

And

Speaker 1

0:34

Mayor Artminer present.

0:38

Next up is invocation, Pastor Tony Loreto of the Victory Tabernacle Church, if you would,

Unassigned speaker

0:45

sir.

Speaker 5

0:50

Heavenly Father, we thank you, Lord, for this opportunity to be here today to minister, Lord.

0:55

We ask you that you would grant Lord wisdom and knowledge here in decision making.

0:59

Lord, that you would bless Lord this committee.

1:02

Lord, in all decisions that are made as their commitment, Lord, to the community.

1:06

We ask you for their uh your blessing on them, Lord, in all decisions.

1:10

Lord, we ask you, Lord, this holiday seatance you would just uh bless them in a special way, Lord, in decision making, and we give you praise, glory, and honor in Jesus' name.

1:19

Amen.

Unassigned speaker

1:20

Thank you, sir.

Unassigned speaker

1:29

And

Speaker 6

1:29

to the republic for which liberty and justice for all.

1:48

One

Unassigned speaker

1:49

individual.

Unassigned speaker

2:04

I wouldn't put the call until it burned.

Speaker 1

2:09

Okay, next up is announcements.

2:12

Place one.

Speaker 7

2:15

None at this time.

2:16

Thank you, sir.

Speaker 1

2:17

Place two.

Speaker 8

2:20

I do have a couple of announcements.

2:22

Um, Watauga Animal Services is having a uh free dog adoption event at Bolaro on Saturday from uh 10 to 3:30.

2:33

Um, also that Saturday that morning at the Watauga Recreational Center, we were having donuts or the pancakes with Santa, breakfast with Santa?

2:41

Breakfast with Santa.

2:44

That was a really blast last year.

2:46

Um, and later on on the 13th, around a five o'clock, they're doing Santa and cookies at the fire department.

2:52

So lots of stuff going on in the city on Saturday's gonna be a very busy day.

2:57

Um, also, Wataga Animal Services has a giving tree at Petco here in Watauga.

3:04

There's a lot of animals who need enrichment, and they have their wish list posted on ornaments in front of the store when you walk in.

3:10

There's a Christmas tree, and each little dog and cat has their little ornament up there, and they could really use some sponsors.

3:17

And they are also doing an extended holiday hour from uh the 15th of December through the 19th.

3:24

They're staying open late because their main mission is to try to get these puppies adopted for the holidays because could you imagine being stuck in a cage through Christmas?

3:35

So they're really trying to get them homes.

3:37

Thank

Unassigned speaker

3:37

you.

Speaker 2

3:41

None at this time, but I'm sure place four has announcements.

Speaker 1

3:46

Let's get that over with place four.

Unassigned speaker

3:49

You

Speaker 3

3:50

know, I'm feeling like a grinch now.

3:52

All my announcements got taken down there by council member Blackburn or Mayor.

3:57

The library, I love the library.

3:59

Everybody loves the library.

4:01

But I do want to say, and I'm gonna steal this from the mayor because I know he's gonna say it, so I'm beating you to

Unassigned speaker

4:05

it.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Procedural███████████████████████████████████████████43%
Personnel Matters██████████████████████████████30%
Pending Litigation█████████████13%
Community Engagement█████████9%
Water And Wastewater Management████4%
Animal Welfare█1%
Summary of Proceedings

Watauga City Council Regular Meeting - December 8, 2025

The Watauga City Council held a regular meeting on December 8, 2025, at 6:30 PM at City Hall Council Chambers. The meeting covered consent agenda approvals, public comment regarding the Tarrant Appraisal District (TAD), nominations and voting for TAD board positions, and a contract award for water meter retrofits.

Consent Calendar

  • Approved minutes from multiple past meetings (July 28, July 30, August 4, August 11, November 10, 2025).
  • Approved monthly financial report for October 2025.
  • Approved amendment to the Watauga Economic Development Corporation's FY2025-2026 budget.
  • Approved Mayor's appointment of Charlie Trotter to the Library Advisory Board, Place 5.
  • Approved resolution to submit grant application (#5639901) for bullet-resistant vehicle components for Police Department.
  • Approved ordinance amending Firefighter classification positions for Watauga Fire Department.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Eric Crow (address stated for record) spoke during public comment about the two TAD agenda items. He provided information about the nomination process for the vacant TAD board position (Alan Blalock's vacancy) and the upcoming election for expiring terms. He noted that only one other candidate (Kezia Ferrara) had been nominated by other entities so far, and discussed the lack of a clear recall mechanism for the vacancy appointment. He offered to answer further questions.

Discussion Items

  • Action Item 1 - Nomination to Fill TAD Board Vacancy: Council debated whether to nominate a candidate to fill the unexpired term (through December 31, 2027) created by Alan Blalock's resignation. Legal counsel clarified that the TAD board must select from submitted nominees. After discussion, a motion to take no action failed (1-5). Subsequently, Councilman Taylor nominated Saida Sayed, seconded by Councilman Shelburn. The motion to approve a resolution nominating Ms. Sayed passed 5-1.
  • Action Item 2 - Cast Watauga's Ballot for TAD Board of Directors (for expiring terms): Council considered a resolution to cast the city's five votes for the TAD board election. Mayor Pro Tem Blackburn nominated Eric Crow. The motion passed unanimously (6-0).
  • Action Item 3 - Contract Award for Water Meter Retrofit to AMI: Finance Director Jennifer Calvert presented the recommendation to award a $307,524 contract to US Bronco Services Inc. for retrofitting water meters with automatic meter infrastructure (AMI). The contract was the highest-scoring RFP response (99.67 score). The project is expected to start in early January 2026 and take about five months, with a liquidated damages clause of $200/day for delays. The motion to approve passed unanimously (6-0).

Key Outcomes

  • Consent agenda approved unanimously (6-0).
  • Saida Sayed nominated for TAD board vacancy (5-1).
  • Resolution passed to cast all five Watauga votes for Eric Crow in the TAD board election (6-0).
  • Contract awarded to US Bronco Services Inc. for AMI retrofit (6-0).
  • Council agreed to place a citizen request regarding garage sale sign limitations on a future agenda for spring consideration.

Meeting Transcript

Wataga City Council regular meeting Monday, December 8th, 2025, City Hall Council Chambers at 6 30 p.m. First item of business is roll call. Place one. Place two. Chris Blackburn present. Place three. Lovey Downey, present. Place four. Andrew Neil present. Place five is vacant. Place six. Mark Taylor present. Place seven. Jen Hill, present. And Mayor Artminer present. Next up is invocation, Pastor Tony Loreto of the Victory Tabernacle Church, if you would, sir. Heavenly Father, we thank you, Lord, for this opportunity to be here today to minister, Lord. We ask you that you would grant Lord wisdom and knowledge here in decision making. Lord, that you would bless Lord this committee. Lord, in all decisions that are made as their commitment, Lord, to the community. We ask you for their uh your blessing on them, Lord, in all decisions. Lord, we ask you, Lord, this holiday seatance you would just uh bless them in a special way, Lord, in decision making, and we give you praise, glory, and honor in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you, sir. And to the republic for which liberty and justice for all. One individual. I wouldn't put the call until it burned. Okay, next up is announcements. Place one. None at this time. Thank you, sir. Place two. I do have a couple of announcements. Um, Watauga Animal Services is having a uh free dog adoption event at Bolaro on Saturday from uh 10 to 3:30. Um, also that Saturday that morning at the Watauga Recreational Center, we were having donuts or the pancakes with Santa, breakfast with Santa? Breakfast with Santa. That was a really blast last year. Um, and later on on the 13th, around a five o'clock, they're doing Santa and cookies at the fire department. So lots of stuff going on in the city on Saturday's gonna be a very busy day. Um, also, Wataga Animal Services has a giving tree at Petco here in Watauga. There's a lot of animals who need enrichment, and they have their wish list posted on ornaments in front of the store when you walk in. There's a Christmas tree, and each little dog and cat has their little ornament up there, and they could really use some sponsors. And they are also doing an extended holiday hour from uh the 15th of December through the 19th. They're staying open late because their main mission is to try to get these puppies adopted for the holidays because could you imagine being stuck in a cage through Christmas? So they're really trying to get them homes. Thank

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