The Messenger Named Official Newspaper of Crockett

Downtown Zoning Addressed by Council

By Will Johnson

Messenger Reporter

CROCKETT – It’s been said if at first you don’t succeed, try again. In June of 2021, The Messenger was named as the official newspaper for the City of Crockett. In July of 2021, however, it was pointed out that the city’s bylaws required a unanimous vote when only three council members were present.

The vote at that time was 2-1 but with all five council members in attendance during the July 2021 meeting, a motion to name The Messenger as the paper of record was voted down.

Flash forward to April 18, 2022 and it was time to try again as the matter of the city’s official newspaper was brought before the council once again.

“Mayor and council,” Councilman Ernest Jackson said, “after some consideration, we have two newspapers here in our county. I think that this time around – in all fairness to the other – I think we should select The Messenger to be the official paper for the city of Crockett for this period of time.”

Mayor Pro Tem Mike Marsh seconded the motion and the motion was unanimously approved by a vote of 4-0.

Prior to the paper of record discussion, a public hearing was held on the planning and zoning commission’s final report for proposed zoning text amendments for the C-3 city center shopping district.  

City Administrator John Angerstein provided a summary of the proposals and said, “In no way do we expect any restrictions on any existing businesses or future businesses that we have come to expect in our downtown area as it relates to historical buildings and things, we as a community would want in our downtown area. The biggest change as it relates to C-3 zoning is affecting the residential aspect of what is currently being restricted, what is being practiced to some degree and how we want to regulate this. We want to open these doors with a little bit of caution and not swing those doors wide open.”

Angerstein explained this would allow for residential occupation as a secondary use but added, “This is a center shopping district. It is the city center shopping district. We want to maintain that along with the historical value of our downtown area but also allow some residential use as secondary in order to spur our micro economy downtown.” 

He went on to say if a person has a commercial front downstairs or in the front of a building, a person could have a secondary mixed use as a residence in the back of the property or upstairs, for up to two residential units. 

After several more minutes of discussion, the council approved the proposed text amendments to the zoning ordinances.

As the meeting continued, Crockett Police Chief Clayton Smith spoke about the storms that ravaged the city in late March.

“I wanted to publicly commend the Fire Department, the Public Works Department and other utility services that responded to the scene. It was quite chaotic and to be quite honest, when I pulled up to the scene in my vehicle, I asked myself what do I even do in a situation like this? IT was the first time I had ever experienced anything like that,” the police chief said.

“Pretty soon after that, I found the Fire Chief (Jason Frizzell) and we went to work, along with a bunch of other people,” he said.

Next, Smith showed video footage from several of the businesses hit by the tornado which showed how rapidly the twister hit and how much devastation was caused. The National Weather Service estimated the tornado was on the ground for 20 minutes, from approximately 10:10 to 10:30 p.m.    

In other matters brought before the City Council:

• Minutes from the Special Meeting held March 28 and the Regular Meeting held on April 4 were approved.
• Crockett Police Chief Clayton Smith reported the police department received 586 calls for service during the month of March which resulted in 54 arrests. There were 209 traffic citations issued and 72 police reports filed.
• Crockett Fire Chief Jason Frizzell reported the fire department responded to 66 total calls during the month of March. Of the 66 calls, Frizzell reported 40 were in the city of Crockett while 26 were in the county. The Fire Chief also reported there were two structure fires within the city limits and two within the county.
• Wade Thomas was appointed as a board member for the Crockett Economic and Industrial Development Corporation.
• A resolution was approved to select the firm of Traylor and Associates as a grant writer/administrator to assist the city in its application and administration of a contract with the Texas Division of Emergency Management Hazard Mitigation Program.
• In a related matter, the engineering firm of Schaumburg & Polk, Inc. was selected as the engineers for the above-mentioned grant provided the city is awarded the grant.
• Police Chief Clayton Smith, Fire Chief Jason Frizzell and City Administrator John Angerstein were all given favorable performance evaluations by the city council.  

Will Johnson may be reached via e-mail at [email protected].