City of Kress Council Meeting September 23rd 2025 
Kress Senior Citizen Center 
306 Skipworth Kress, TX  79052

Mayor Johnny Taylor called the meeting to order at 6:33pm followed by a moment of silence.

Mayor Johnny Taylor moved to public comments from the community. 
Lupe Reyes was first to speak commenting on how the city workers was cleaning the ditches and questioning who was paying them, if it was the city, Swisher county or state. Mayor Johnny Taylor reminded  Lupe Reyes that she has 3 minutes to speak and the council could not answer any questions during public comments. Lupe Reyes continued speaking and questioning why the city workers could not clean alleys around the trash,  questions about financial audits and stating the city roads need to be fixed. 
Sam Noriega was called to speak, he handed the council a document which he had other citizens signed. There were no other comments from Sam Noriega.
Kress Fire Chief David Hughes spoke about possibly putting a City of Kress, Texas sign as you enter the city with documents and possible cost for the council. 

 Mayor Johnny Taylor moved to council roll call. Council Member Deelane Buske was absent 

Approval of City Council Minutes from July 15th and August 25th. After reviewing Johnny Taylor called for a motion to approve with a motion by Council Member Dane Sisemore with a 2nd by Council Member SaraLee Vuittonet. City Council approved with no nays.

City of Kress Fire Chief David Hughes had a presentation from the Fire Department to the city council. Fire Chief David Hughes discussed  Fire Department calls and updates on the new building with documents for city council which included estimates and plans.  Mayor Johnny Taylor reminded the council that there needs to be an official bid for any work.  Fire Chief David Hughes stated this was just to get an idea of possible cost. 

Mayor Johnny Taylor discussed that he reached out with TxDOT for assistant to maintain the culverts south of town to help with flooding. Mayor Johnny Taylor stated how the state could not come out to clean it up but gave the city permission which is what the city maintenance workers have been doing. 

Mayor Johnny Taylor gave a shout-out to the county commissioners and county judge for passing no new revenue tax rate and explained how property taxes could possibly go up due to the school buying new houses. Mayor Johnny Taylor continued explaining how audits are not up-to-date and are being worked on to be caught up from 2016, also stating no audits can be seen due to a ongoing criminal investigation.

Mayor Johnny Taylor asked the community if there were any public comments on the public hearing for the $75.00 water credit. There were no public comments. Mayor Johnny Taylor moved on to the ordinance  #20250923C for a $75.00 water bill credit. Mayor Johnny Taylor explained how there was a surplus and proposed he would like to provide the community with a $75.00 credit with it. Mayor Johnny Taylor explained the details on how the credit would work and is outlined in the Ordinance. Mayor Johnny Taylor stopped the discussion due to accidentally jumping forward and did not discuss the city financial updates first. Mayor Johnny Taylor continued to discuss the city financials with the city council. Mayor Johnny Taylor requested a motion to approve the financials with the motion made by Council Member SareLee Vuittonet and a 2nd by Council Member Dane Sisemore.

Mayor Johnny Taylor continued the discussion for the proposal of ordnance #20250923C $75.00 water bill credit. Mayor Johnny Taylor requested a motion to approve the ordnance with a motion by Council Member Glenda Davis and a 2nd by Council Member Kelly Durham. The City Council voted to approve with no nays.

Mayor Johnny Taylor moved on to discuss city ordnance #20250923 to adopt 0.3890 per 100 tax rate. Mayor Johnny Taylor stated the city has chosen to do a no new tax rate over other options which would increase the tax rate. Mayor Johnny Taylor requested a motion to approve with motion by Council Member Kelly Durham and 2nd by Council Member  SareLee Vuittonet. City Council approved with no nays.

Mayor Johnny Taylor moved on to discuss paying off a land loan roughly of $24,000 from the Kress National Bank. The loan was setup years ago at a unknown exact date for land near the sewer ponds. Mayor Johnny Taylor discussed the details of the loan and the land. Mayor Johnny Taylor requested a motion to approve paying off the loan with a motion made by Council Member  Glenda Davis with a 2nd by Council Member  SareLee Vuittonet. City Council approved with no nays.

Mayor Johnny Taylor moved on to consider to approve iWorQ to help run all citations, pet registers and other documents which would be done on a tablet. It would also assist in workflow for city projects and maps all on one platform. Mayor Johnny Taylor stated this would help future administrations for many years.  Mayor Johnny Taylor requested a motion to approve with motion by Council Member Glenda Davis and 2nd by Council Member  Dane Sisemore. City Council approved with no nays.

Mayor Johnny Taylor moved to approving the city's budget for the upcoming fiscal year. Mayor Johnny Taylor discussed future spending plans the city has to fix roads, repairing the sidewalk in front of city hall, and many other projects which were all included in the budget. Mayor Taylor discussed certified appraisals and city income stating how there were no late fees or reconnect fee collected during the last year but that will change with the new systems in place. Mayor Johnny Taylor asked the council if there were any questions on the budget, Council Member Glenda Davis questioned what the $5,000 for animal control was for, Mayor Johnny Taylor stated it was to cover cost of dogs that the city picks up to feed and care for. There were no other questions relating to the city budget. Fire Chief David Hughes approached the City Council to discussed the Fire Department Budget with Mayor Johnny Taylor agreeing to discuss the Fire Department and approve first before the city's. Fire Chief David Hughes contained discussing grant updates and Fire Department needs. Fire Chief David Hughes asked the City Council if there was a surplus in the budget if the city could possibly consider assisting with the building funds when it is time and how the Fire Department is in need of more money. Mayor Johnny Taylor questioned Fire Chief David Hughes if in the past has the Fire Department ever received as much as the currently have, Fire Chief David Hughes stated it has not. Mayor Johnny Taylor continued to discuss the Fire Department funds and asked if there were any other questions, there were none. Mayor Johnny Taylor requested motion to approve the Fire Department budget with motion by Council Member Keylly Durham and 2nd by Dane Sisemore. City Council approved with no nays. Mayor Johnny Taylor asked the council if there were any questions on the city's budget, there were none and moved to requesting a motion to approve with a motion by Council Member Dane Sisemore and 2nd by Council Member Glenda Davis. City Council approved with no nays.





Mayor Johnny Taylor moved on to consider and approve updated fines and fine ordinances stating the city judge needed a guideline for guilty pleas and fines. Mayor Johnny Taylor discussed how fines work and stated he did not want to make money from fines but to encourage the community to be good neighbors. Mayor Johnny Taylor asked the city council if there were any questions, there were none. Mayor Johnny Taylor requested a motion to approve ordinance #20250923B.  Council Member Dane Sisemore asked about who would be enforcing parking, Mayor Johnny Taylor stated Randy and Amber with Amber handling more of the animal citations. A motion to approve ordinance #20250923B was made by  Council Member SareLee Vuittonet with a 2nd by  Council Member Kelly Durham.

Mayor Johnny Taylor discussed resolution to adopt a Swisher County News as the official newspaper for the city. Motion to approve was made by  Council Member Kelly Durham and 2nd by  Council Member Dane Sisemore. City Council approved with no nays.

Mayor Johnny Taylor moved to discuss approving the holiday and pay calendar for the city. Motion to approve was made by Council Member Glenda Davis with a 2nd by Dane Sisemore.

Mayor Johnny Taylor discussed new laws about posting meeting agendas stating holidays, weekends and day of posting does not count for the 72 hours explaining why the city meeting agenda was posted so early. 

Mayor Johnny Taylor discussed there is a old junk car ordinance which is posted online to review, how the Council Member emails are changing, and date for the next city meeting of October 21st   Council Member Dane Sisemore added comments about the Fire Department budget.  Council Member Kelly Durham questioned how to sign up for the emails which Mayor Johnny Taylor explained. 

Mayor Johnny Taylor requested a motion to adjourn with motion by Council Member SareLee Vuittonet and 2nd by Council Member Dane Sisemore. City Council approved with no nays. 



 Signed:
Johnny Taylor

Dane Sisemore