Robin Ruff had plenty to tell the Granite Shoals city council Monday and it was mostly good.
Ruff, chairman of the newly-formed property maintenance group, had just come from that group’s eighth meeting. It’s charged with revamping the city ordinance that governs what people can and can’t do with their property, including such things as mowing and keeping property neat.
Ruff’s report sprang from a document the group put together after its seventh meeting, summarizing the changes it had decided on so far. They include, among other things: Simplifying the defi -
nition of a building
•Adding a list of na- tive wildflowers that will be exempted from the mowing requirement
•Removing language in the ordinance that was based on judgment Defining a swimming pool
•Adding references to zoning ordinances and state law where relevant.
Virtually all the recommended changes so far have been under the ordinance sections on definitions and exterior grounds.
Ruff noted that he had been on several city committees and boards in the past and found the maintenance group to be one of the best.
“These people have been a real pleasure to work with,” he told the council. “Emotions don’t enter into it. We talk it through and we come to solutions, and it’s been a real pleasure to work with them.”
Council organized the advisory group several weeks ago after work on revising the ordinance virtually stalled. The city staff reported complaints that language was vague and depended too much on an inspector’s judgment.
The council gave the group three months to work things out. That means they’ll have to wrap up their job by mid-September. Between now and then, members have said, they want to drive through the city to see and discuss actual instances.
One potential problem was that the group didn’t intend to open its meetings to public input, an action allowed under the Texas Open Meetings las because the group doesn’t make policy.
That led to a council discussion of whether boards and commissions should livestream their meetings. At its July 23 meeting the council voted to discontinue using the Zoom app for council meetings and to livestream the meetings instead. While allowing citizens to see the meeting as it occurs and to view the video afterward, it allows for no participation by anyone who isn’t at the meeting itself.
Tuesday, the council took a step further and told city committees to livestream their meetings also.
City Secretary Dawn Wright said the cost to do that would be $140 a year because of the increased video storage requirements; the council voted to accept that.
Wright said meetings are held in the council chambers, which provides livestream facilities. She said the video is preserved on Youtube for 90 days in case anyone wants to review the meetings.
