BANGS — Bangs City Council approved $634,381.41 in budget amendments during its Monday night meeting, while also adopting a new fee structure for construction permits and inspections that could involve inspectors from Brownwood.
The amendments include $398,493.71 for the general fund and $235,897.70 for the water and sewer fund. They were recommended by McGee, Davis & Pond’s fractional controller services ahead of the city’s January audit by Merritt, McLane & Hamby.
Mayor Pro Tem Carrol Wells and council members Eric Bishop and Danny Marney attended the meeting and voted unanimously on the budget amendments. A breakdown of the amendments and additional details were scheduled to be posted on the City of Bangs website Tuesday. The city also made a video of the meeting available online.
New construction permit fees approved
The council approved a system similar to one Bangs previously used for building, electrical, plumbing, mechanical, structural, plan-review and related inspection services. The change follows the termination of the city’s contract with Bureau Veritas.
Under the approved structure, a $400 fee covers four basic permits, the initial inspection and one re-inspection if the first inspection does not pass. Individual permits will cost $75, including an inspection.
Bangs is also proposing to contact the City of Brownwood for information about local inspectors who could work on Bangs projects. The proposed cost is $50 per inspection, paid in advance.
“I want to get to the positive impact this Council has on the City, and I think is a big step toward that,” Wells said.
Utility cutoffs, billing transition and grants
The council approved suspending utility service cutoffs during November and December. Cutoffs normally occur around the 20th of each month, but under the approved arrangement, bills must be paid by the third day of the following month or service will be disconnected.
Council members also authorized City Administrator Stephanie Jester to coordinate with FundView and Tyler Technologies on data extraction connected to Bangs’ FundView billing transition.
Changes were approved to e-grant access used to apply for, administer and manage police department dash-camera funding opportunities. Names of former city officials were replaced with the titles Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, City Administrator, City Secretary and Police Chief.
Other items discussed
The council approved a variance request for a carport at a residence in the 300 block of Spann. Members also discussed bagged-leaf collection. County Waste Service will pick up five additional bags of trash or leaves during its once-a-month curbside collection for excessive items, scheduled for the first Wednesday of each month.
Updates to the personnel policy were tabled for consideration at a future meeting.