Sealy City Council and Austin County Commissioners Court reached an interlocal agreement concerning plats and related permits in the city’s extraterritorial jurisdiction during a special meeting of the city council April 12 at the Hill Center.

County Judge Tim Lapham spoke to the council and said they approved the interlocal agreement in commissioner’s court earlier that morning.

“The one issue that we talked about was if there is a development that is part of the city, part of the ETJ, that the city retains the authority and we are fine with that,” Lapham said.

Lapham said he brought signed copies that are ready for signatures. Councilmember Jennifer Sullivan made a motion to approve the interlocal agreement.

In other action, the council discussed authorizing the City of Sealy to issue requests for proposals for administrative services and requests for qualifications for professional services for the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.

“For different projects, (like) sewer, water and there are a variety of things. They will become clearer as we go through the process, what can be spent and what cannot. One of the things that is pretty clear is that this money, even though it is from the federal treasury, actually comes from the Texas Department of Emergency Management and there are a variety of things that we have to do,” Interim City Manager Warren Escovy said. “It would be easier or it would be more prudent to make sure that we get every federal dollar to hire an administrator to do that.”

Escovy said the council’s actions would be to authorize the request for qualifications for the position. Sullivan made a motion to authorize the city to issue the requests, which passed unanimously.