STORY OF BURTON PEACOCKS TO CONTINUE TUESDAY IN CITY COUNCIL

  

The Burton City Council could potentially decide the fate of the town’s two resident peacocks at its meeting this (Tuesday) afternoon.

The council will continue discussion on Percy and Chester, and consider making a statement on the city’s peacock population. It could also decide to create a plan to control or eradicate the peacock population.

At the council’s meeting last month, it tabled action on the matter after hearing from citizens who spoke for and against having the birds. Some stated the birds were a tourist attraction, while others said they were too noisy and could damage personal property.  The council said it would consider trying to limit the areas the birds could roam, or look into training them.

Percy and Chester arrived in Burton in 2016, replacing another peacock that had wandered the city for 28 years.

Also at tonight’s meeting, the council will hold public hearing on and potentially approve a property tax rate of 50 cents per $100 valuation. While the overall rate is the same as last year, the maintenance and operations (M&O) and interest and sinking (I&S) portions of the rate are slightly changed from last year.

This year’s rate will be made up of 10 cents for M&O and 40 cents for I&S, while last year’s M&O was 10.68 cents and I&S was 39.32 cents.

The 50 cent rate is the maximum amount a small municipality can charge in Texas, and is expected to increase the total taxes for the city by .42 percent.

The council will also receive a presentation of the 2018-19 Fiscal Year audit. Back in February, the council agreed with Medack and Oltmann, LLP to perform the annual audit of the fiscal year ending March 31, 2019. At that meeting, City Secretary Angela Harrington said the city last had an audit done in 2010.

The council will also:

• Hear a request from the owner of Burton Roadhouse, who objects to a decision made at last month’s meeting regarding a right-of-way infringement.  The owner plans to address the council, and seeks a different decision.
• Consider closure of the streets around the fire department, including North Brazos, North Colorado, Washington and Texas Streets, on September 15th from noon to 4 p.m.  The closure is to accommodate for the Central Texas District meeting of the State Firefighter and Fire Marshall Association of Texas.
• Consider selling a seized vehicle.  The city has a seized vehicle to dispose of through auction, and has been advised by Washington County to use the website Govdeals.com.

The council will meet this afternoon at 5:30 p.m., at Burton City Hall.