Citizens in West Orange will continue to be allowed to have temporary housing permits and a waiver on fees for building permits. The City Council approved Monday extending permits issued for temporary housing in West Orange and waiving fees on all building permits for another 90 days.
West Orange initially approved issuing temporary housing permits and waiving the fees on building permits for six months following Tropical Storm Harvey. The six months expired in March, and the 90-day extensions will be starting from that point.
The City Council approved engaging Schaumburg & Polk for their engineering services and Traylor & Associates for grant administration services. Both will work for the city in the Texas Hazard Mitigation Assistance Grant program.
Mayor Roy McDonald was authorized by the council to negotiate in-lieu of tax agreements with industries in the city’s extra territorial jurisdiction. Previous such agreements have been for five or seven-year periods. The industries pay a portion of the property tax other businesses in the city limits pay while the city provides some services to them like police and fire protection. “Industrial agreements are really, really good for the City of West Orange, and they really help us keep our taxes down,” McDonald stated.
Larry’s Sanitation and Rolloff Services were granted a franchise to allow them to have their roll off dumpsters used in West Orange.
The City Council proclaimed April as “Fair Housing Month” in West Orange. A public hearing was held during the council meeting to hear citizen’s comments related to fair housing. There were no citizen comments.
April was also proclaimed “National Child Abuse Prevention Month” in the city. Tammy Fenton (left) with CASA thanked the council and received the proclamation.
“Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month” is in May. A proclamation was approved by the City Council and presented to Chad West with a local motorcycle club consisting of military veterans.
The City of West Orange will be conducting its annual Spring Clean-Up the weekend of April 20-21. Ironically, Sandra Cash and Sandra Hoke (above) spoke on behalf of Keep Orange County Beautiful during the time for public comments criticizing the city for having an antiquated litter ordinance. They suggested increasing the fine for littering to $500 to be more of an incentive to prevent people from littering.
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