After canvassing votes from the recent City Council election, City of Fairfield swore in their newest, and returning council members during their Tuesday, May 13, 2025, monthly meeting.

Place 3, which was previously unoccupied, was filled by Mr. Rick Edgett; Mr. Josh Bayless ousted incumbent Roger Keeton for Place 4; and Angela Oglesbee returns as the unopposed incumbent for Place 5. All three were sworn in and gave their oaths to serve the city.

Also at this meeting, prior to the swearing in of new council members, the previous council approved the following:

–Meeting Minutes from April 8th meeting

–Bill Register

–Mayor and Department Head Reports

–Agreement for professional services between Hayter Engineering and the City for Mims Creek Sludge Processing Improvements in the amount of $49,000 for Engineering Services in order to get a plan submitted to TECQ for the updating project. The project planning has been in the works for the past 3 years to make the 20-year-old plant more efficient.

–Change Order in the amount of $2,940 for County Road 606 Waterline Extension for the cost of having to lay line under the driveway leading to Marathon Oil.

–Amendment to professional services contract with SAFEbuilt Texas, LLC for their services review and updating City codes and ordinances. The amendment had to do with a small typo in the contract that was corrected.

–The hiring of James Smith and Nicholas Iaasacks to the Street Department.

–The hiring of Scott Leatherman to the Fairfield Police Department. Leatherman was previously working as a Reserve for the department.

–Purchase Order to WheeCo Controls for SCADA upgrades to the Watson and Clark Wells. SCADA is the system used by the City to control the water and wastewater. It helps the computer system stay connected from well to well and to the control center. It sends notices and updates to the phone of the Public Works Director so the system can be maintained consistently.

–Resolution 2025-05-13 Catalytic. This resolution would accept at grant of 80/20 for Panasonic Tough Books to be placed in PD vehicles. This system helps police to combat catalytic converter theft. The PD is waiting to receive notification if the grant will be awarded. The resolution allows the PD to accept the grant and states that the City will pay 20 percent of the cost while the grant will cover the other 80%.

–Authorization to the City Attorney to look into the acquisition of real estate for the public purpose of the City’s waterline project.
The City of Fairfield Council meets on the second Tuesday of each month, beginning at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall, located at 527 E. Commerce Street.

For more information, they may be contacted at 903-389-2633.

(Photo by Nicole Schaefer)