Clifton City Council okayed contract for future street repavement with TxDOT

• The City of Clifton’s Public Works Department is currently replacing the playgrounds at Cockrell-Thiele Park as well as Olsen Park. Work started on Wednesday, March 13, and should be completed in a month’s time. Photo Courtesy By City of Clifton

The Clifton City Council approved a contract with the Texas Department of Transportation for a traffic detour for FM 219 during an upcoming project at the council’s regular meeting at the Clifton Civic Center on Tuesday, March 12.

The contract stipulates that TxDOT will re-pave the streets on a specific route, starting from FM 219 to North Avenue B, East Second Street, CR 3312 (Riverside Drive), and CR 3265, terminating at FM 1991.

The repaving project will commence after TxDOT completes the replacement of the two bridges over the Bosque River on FM 219 outside the Clifton city limits.

Clifton City Administrator David McDowell recommended the contract with TxDOT due to future wear on the streets from truck traffic along the route during the bridge replacement process that will take several months to complete.

Community unit plan

The council approved an amendment to the city ordinance 159.05 concerning residential development within the city limits.

The modification to the community unit plan (CUP) will give property developers more flexibility and clearer guidelines for planning and building single family and multi-family residential housing.

The new guidelines cover height regulations, lot sizes, minimum lot depth, minimum dwelling sizes, and minimum yard sizes.

In addition, the amended ordinance reduced the tract of land that a property owner can seek development under the CUP from 10 acres to three acres.

The modified ordinance also specified that developers must supply city hall’s building inspector with a proposed development plan, which must include a flood mitigation plan.

Under the ordinance, the city’s P&Z commission must still study the plan, hold a public hearing on it, and give recommendations to Clifton City Council within 30 days for consideration and action.

City elections

The council approved cancelling the general elections for Clifton City Council for May 2024.

The cancellation was done because no one contested the three seats on the city council.

Contract

The council approved extending the contract with Mark Kaiser as certified public accountant to assist with the accounting work for the City of Clifton. The contract extension amounts to $10,000 from the city to Kaiser.

Grants

The council approved several requests for grants from the city’s hotel / motel occupancy tax account. The grants went to:

• Bosque Arts Center for the Big Event on April 5-6 ($5,000).

• Clifton Chamber of Commerce for the Bosque Tour De Norway on Saturday, May 18 ($4,000).

• Clifton Chamber of Commerce for the 73rd Clifton Rodeo on June 7-8 ($6,000).

Checking accounts

The council approved closing three of the city’s checking accounts for consolidation. The funds will move as follows:

• from a Commercial Checking account “Clifton Main Street” at Citizens State Bank to a Public Funds Now Checking account “Clifton Main Street” ($611.41).

• from a Public Funds Now Checking account “American Rescue Plan Act” at Citizens State Bank to TexPool Grants account ($1,000.90).

• from “The City of Clifton Meter Fund CD” at Citizens State Bank to TexPool Revenue Funds Account ($58,993.95).

Change order

The council approved a change order at $3,729.15 for the flooring replacement at Clifton City Hall, Nellie Pederson Civic Library, and the Clifton Police Department.

Request

The council approved Bosque Spay / Neuter’s request to host a disc golf and cornhole tournament in Clifton City Park on Saturday, May 18.

April meeting

The council approved moving up its regular April meeting from Tuesday, April 9, to Tuesday, April 2.

The move was to avoid traffic caused by the total solar eclipse on Monday, April 8.