L-R: Susan Garry, Barbara Piper, Jack Piper, Karen Marosko, Eldridge Tidwell, Susan Schmidt (September 12, 2013)

In the only meeting scheduled for this month, the Coupland City Council had a light agenda. Three citizens attended the meeting. Eldridge Tidwell was out of town. Here are the highlights:

• Instead of acquiring a credit card for certain city expenses, Mayor Piper recommended changing the resolution to acquire a prepaid credit card with no more than a $500 balance. This will be used to pay for the city’s website and other occasional, minor expenses. This revised resolution was unanimously approved.
• There was a discussion regarding the process of making amendments to established city ordinances such as the subdivision ordinance. The Council decided to set a policy of considering amendments to existing ordinances on a quarterly basis beginning with the January meeting. Suggested amendments will be transmitted to the Mayor by the Aldermen. [Publisher’s Note: Presumably, any citizen wanting to suggest an amendment could either bring it up during the Citizen’s Communication portion of the regular Council meetings or persuade one of the Aldermen to submit it to the Mayor.]
• The Council engaged in a discussion about the possibility of official recognition of local citizens and local events. No formal action was taken but it is likely that you will see some things addressed in the form of the Mayor’s article in the Coupland Herald as well as official proclamations just prior to City Council meetings, probably to include the presentation of special certificates.
• During the citizen’s communications portion of the meeting, this reporter addressed the Council on the matter of road maintenance. He suggested that the Council put some pressure on the county to finally decide to take care of some road maintenance before leaving it up to the city to take full responsibility. He especially pointed out the deterioration on North Commerce Street caused by the encroachment of vegetation. He also mentioned potholes on Pflugerville-Berkman Road. He suggested making a formal, written request to the county and suggested that if the county did not address the issues in a timely manner, the city would have to take care of the problem areas as soon as possible, before they turn into more costly repairs.

The next meeting will be on Thursday, November 14 at 7 PM at the fire station.