Goliad council delays engineering decisions, approves employee health plan renewal

GOLIAD – The Goliad City Council postponed decisions on engineering and building official services on Tuesday, June 23, while approving the city's employee health insurance renewal, budget amendments and several administrative items.

The council also delayed action on a splash pad policy pending revisions and discussion.

Council members approved renewing the city's current Texas Health Benefits plan for employees, accepted a budget amendment for the Main Street Department, updated bank account signatories and authorized changes to the code enforcement officer's work schedule. The council also reviewed requests for qualifications for city engineering and building official services but deferred both items until its next meeting for additional evaluation.

Conditional use permit delayed

The council took no action on scheduling a public hearing for a conditional use permit at 205 S. Duval Street after learning the applicant was not present.

City Administrator Julia Post explained the request involved rebuilding a house that would not meet the city's current minimum size requirement.

"So he wants to build exactly what was there, which I know it's under 1,000 square feet," Post said. "And that's what our ordinance states is that it has to be at least 1,000 feet or larger."

Rather than scheduling a hearing immediately, the council directed staff to contact the applicant to determine whether the proposal remained unchanged.

Splash pad policy tabled

Council members reviewed a proposed policy governing use of the city's future splash pad but postponed action until July after requesting a condensed version suitable for display on signage.

Post said the draft was based largely on rules used by the City of Victoria.

City staff recommended shortening the document by eliminating repetitive provisions before bringing it back for possible approval.

Council unanimously voted to postpone the item until its next meeting.

Bank signatories updated

The council unanimously approved a resolution updating authorized signers on the city's bank accounts following staffing changes.

Post said the resolution removed former City Secretary Veronica Garza and added new City Secretary Vicki Flores while leaving the mayor and mayor pro tem as existing signatories.

Main Street budget amended

Council approved amending the 2025-26 Main Street budget to support this year's Night in Ol' Goliad celebration.

Main Street Director Elly Boone explained the amendment would move $7,000 to the Night in Ol' Goliad budget to help fund a Taylor Swift tribute band while allocating the remaining $5,155 toward advertising.

Engineering, building services postponed

The council reviewed submissions from two firms seeking to provide city engineering services but delayed a decision until the next meeting to allow additional review.

Post said only two responses were received.

Similarly, council members postponed consideration of responses for building official services after receiving those proposals shortly before the meeting.

Code enforcement schedule changed

Council unanimously approved modifying the code enforcement officer's work schedule to four 10-hour days, Monday through Thursday, with staff planning to evaluate the arrangement after 90 days.

Post said the change would allow flexibility while maintaining a 40-hour work week.

Splash pad funding discussed

Finance Officer Shana Windham briefed the council on a potential future budget amendment to help pay for the city's splash pad project if grant funding is not awarded.

She said the city may need to increase capital outlay within the water department by $163,652 and transfer money from TexPool investments if necessary.

No action was taken.

Health insurance renewed

The council unanimously voted to continue the city's current employee health insurance plan and continue paying the full cost of employee-only coverage.

Post told council the city's monthly cost would increase by $83.42 per employee under the renewal.

Sponsorship accounting explained

Windham also provided an overview of how Main Street sponsorships and donations are handled under governmental accounting standards after questions raised at a previous meeting.

She explained that sponsorship revenue is deposited into the city's miscellaneous income account within the general fund while event expenses are tracked separately through Main Street budget accounts.

To improve transparency, Windham recommended creating a dedicated general ledger revenue line specifically for Main Street sponsorships and donations, allowing the city to better track fundraising for future budgeting.

The council expressed support for the change, although no formal action was required.