Crockett Council Acknowledges End to CEIDC Lawsuit
By Greg Ritchie
Messenger Reporter
CROCKETT – Crockett City Council met Monday, Oct. 20 to hear updates on special projects, receive as information the rejection of a one-million-dollar lawsuit against the city and get monthly updates from police and fire departments.
While council members can be guaranteed to spar during the meetings, the question is usually how far into the meeting this will occur. In this particular meeting, the fuming began as early as seeking to approve the minutes from the previous meeting.
As Crockett Mayor Dr. Ianthia Fisher read the first item on the agenda — to approve the minutes from the previous meeting — Precinct Four Councilwoman NaTrenia Hicks moved to approve the minutes which was quickly accepted and approved, unanimously.
Seeing Hicks raising her hand as the mayor moved on to the next item, she said, “There’s not an agenda item open.”
“I need to correct some things,” Hicks began.
“We had the motion, the motion passed, and we’re on to the next item,” Fisher explained.
“How do we make corrections?” Hicks asked.
“Corrections should have been made when the item was under discussion,” Fisher replied.
“But you didn’t ask for discussion,” Hicks said.
“You approved the minutes. So, we’re through with that,” Fisher said, moving on to the next item.
Asst. Crockett City Administrator John Angerstein presented updates on some of the city’s special projects. He announced the city’s storm signal system will be installed a little later, in November, after vendor backlogs. He also suggested a committee to be formed between the city and Houston County Water Control & Improvement District No. 1, to work on water infrastructure issues and coordinate capital expenditures.
Angerstein also announced the pause to the groundwater drilling project, but warned this agreement does not cover Houston County, and promised the city will stay vigilant. See related story in today’s edition.
Hicks asked when street projects in her precinct would be placed on the agenda. Crockett City Administrator Lee Stanley said the street repair priority list for each precinct will be on the December agenda. Hicks asked about how the fund for street repairs would be distributed among the precincts.
“Like I explained, every precinct gets an equal share, and if you can get council to say you get a bigger percentage than they get, then that’s council’s choice. That is not my choice,” said Stanley.
“Well, before we go into details, the question was, was it going to be on the agenda,” Fisher said. “He (Stanley) said it will.”
“I was wanting to make sure that it was placed on the agenda because here, lately, we’re not able to place items…” Hicks began, before Fisher tried to steer the discussion back to the item at hand.
“Can I finish?” Hicks asked.
“No, ma’am,” Fisher said, her voice raising slightly.
“Everybody has a right to speak. Can I?” Hicks said.
“At this point, it’s not an agenda item. This wasn’t the place to ask for it because we’re talking about…” Fisher said before again being interrupted by Hicks.
“But it’s a project,” Hicks said.
“Not at this time,” Fisher said.
Addressing Crockett City Attorney Donna Gordon, Hicks asked her how to get an item on the agenda. Gordon explained Stanley had already confirmed the item would be on the December agenda.
The mayor again tried to bring the discussion back to the matter at hand, before Hicks said, “I’m not discussing it, I am asking for it to be discussed. I’m asking for it to be placed on the agenda.”
“It will be on the December agenda,” Fisher said, again raising her voice.
“Okay. That’s what I want to hear,” Hicks said.
“You heard that. Twice,” Fisher answered.
Stanley reported on the recent rejection of a federal court judge in the case of Crockett Economic and Industrial Development Corporation (CEIDC) Executive Director James Gentry. As reported recently in The Messenger, the judge threw Gentry’s claims out, citing lack of evidence and other causes. Stanley noted there were some CEIDC-specific items not resolved in the judge’s ruling, and said he would contact Gentry’s attorney to try and resolve those issues.
“Was that an item that was on the agenda?” Hicks asked.
“It was an update,” said Fisher, now appearing to be out of patience. “He (Stanley) is allowed to do an update.”
“Oh, he can?” Hicks asked, laughing. “Okay.”
Greg Ritchie can be reached at [email protected]
