Two of the historical buildings in downtown were among the agenda items discussed by the Wallis City Council June 15. The building located at 6423 Commerce Street is currently being renovated and will become the catering kitchen for an empanada food truck company. The stand-alone building at 6503 Commerce Street will be turned into an event venue.

Mr. Marini, of Marini’s Empanada House, was not present to discuss the renovations currently taking place at 6423 Commerce Street, so no action was taken by council, but it was stated that once the building is ready for occupancy the location will begin operations as a catering kitchen for preparation of empanadas to be sold out of food trucks.

Council approved a request from Joshua and Natalie DeJong, who joined the meeting via Zoom, to remove four trees situated along South First and Commerce streets near the front of the building at 6503 Commerce Street, which was previously the Brandt Mercantile and is known for the Coca-Cola mural on its side. The DeJongs will be opening an event venue in the building, and the trees are being removed to prevent masonry issues. It was stated in the meeting that there will be no need to remove part of the sidewalk to get to the tree roots.

In other agenda items, the council heard EDC updates and approved the EDC’s newly elected board officers. During the updates, Marti Frost-Turner explained to the council that progress is moving forward on the possible USDA grant, and she was authorized by the council to obtain the two “letters of support” needed from the county judge and the Houston-Galveston Area Council of Governments to continue that process. She also advised the council that work on the Downtown Revitalization Grant will again be occurring now that a change in Grant Works personnel has finished taking place.

There was some debate in the council chambers on the topic of approving the newly elected EDC Board Officers, but Mayor Pro-Tem Clark Main, Jr. reminded those present that no discussion or action on any topic other than approving the officers elected by the group was listed on the agenda, so discussion on actions being taken by the EDC and other matters would need to be placed on a future agenda in order to be discussed. The elected officers approved by council were President Cecilia Allice, Vice President Marti Frost-Turner, Treasurer Belinda Halfin, and Secretary Gloria Long. This action passed with a vote of three to two.

Debate again took place regarding the city going out for bids to have Smart water meters installed for the residences throughout the city with the allotted American Recue Act (COVID) funds received by the city. The USDA grant the EDC is currently working on could also potentially be used for these smart meters and improving streets is another project which might be considered as a use for the COVID funds, but representatives from Grant Works assured the council that going out for bids to determine the cost of the smart meter project did not obligate them to accept one of the bids and use the COVID funds. According to the representatives, the projects involving the COVID grand need to be under contract by 2024 and the money must be spent by 2026. This item also passed three to two.

Allowing public works employees to go back to using city vehicles during lunch and to take home after work was another agenda topic on which there was some debate, but that action also passed with council voting three to two.

In other actions, council:

• Voted to move forward with property abatements being performed by the city’s new code enforcement firm, BBG Consulting, at $110 per hour. The company estimated it would take less than ten hours per project for the two projects.

• Set new inspection fees rates at 20% above what the new contractor is charging to perform inspections to cover the city’s administrative costs.

• Set the date for their first budget workshop for Thursday, July 7, at 6 p.m.

• Approved a representative from the council to the Houston-Galveston Area Council 2022 General Assembly. Councilmember Melissa McFarland, who was previously the alternate, moved up into the position, and the new alternate is Councilmember Joell Prado.

• Discussed the bids for the parking lot project at Mynarik Park. There is an apparent low bidder with a complete bid, but the council agreed work should not start before the city’s July 4 ^th Celebration and tabled any action until the next meeting.

• Heard mostly positive comments about the presence of Sheepfold Men’s Home in the community.

• Approved removing Daniel Martinez and adding Prado to the signature cards at First National Bank.