Fairfield’s new Mayor, Bobby Nichols, has wasted no time jumping into his new role, as he reports at the February 11, 2025, City Council meeting that he has met with many city officials, department heads, and members of the police department to get to know them individually and learn more about how things work within the city and those departments.
“I’m looking forward to speaking with the rest of the police officers and city employees as soon as possible, so we can know each other on a personal level,” says Mayor Nichols.
He made quick work of the Council Meeting, efficiently moving through the agenda items while making sure all comments and questions were heard and addressed.
During this meeting, the following items were approved:
–Bill Pay
–Minutes from the January meeting
–Department Head Reports
–Ordinance 2025-11-02 Public Information Act Time Limit which adopts the provisions of Section 552.275 of the Texas Government Code, establishing a reasonable limit on the amount of time that City personnel is required to spend producing public information for inspection or duplication by a requestor, or providing copies of public information to a requestor without recovering costs attributable to that personnel time, providing a savings clause.
The time limits established for inspection or duplication, or for providing copies of public information, are 36 hours in a 12-month period that corresponds to the fiscal year of the City and 15 hours in a one-month period. The City will begin tracking these time limits and providing the required notices to each individual requestor after the City has spent approximately two hours of personnel time producing public information for inspection or duplication to said requestor without recovering its costs attributable to that personnel time.
In determining whether the time limits apply, any time spent complying with a request for public information submitted in the name of a minor, as defined by section 101.003(a) of the Texas Family Code, is to be included in the calculation of the cumulative amount of time spent complying with a request for public information by a parent, guardian, or other person who has control of the minor under a court order and with whom the minor resides, unless that parent, guardian, or other person establishes that another person submitted that request in the name of the minor.
In determining whether a requestor has reached either threshold time limit established in Section 2, the City may request photo identification from a requestor for the sole purpose of establishing whether the requestor has exceeded such limit and concealed their identity, pursuant to subsection 552.275(n) of the Government Code. The City must include with the request for identification a statement with a written estimate of the total cost, including materials, personnel time, and overhead expenses, necessary to comply with the request.
Any requestor may decline to provide the identification and obtain the requested information by paying the charge assessed in the statement, otherwise the request will be considered withdrawn.
The City will follow the provisions of section 552.275 of the Texas Government Code regarding written estimates about time expended and costs.
a) The City will follow the provisions of section 552.275 of the Texas Government Code regarding written estimates about time expended and costs.
b) To continue ensuring city residents remain encouraged to request documents and encourage efficient use of staff time and resources, the City will not begin tracking the 36 hour and 15 hour time limits and providing the required notices reported to each individual requestor until after the City has spent approximately two hours of personnel time producing public information for inspection or duplication to said requestor without recovering its costs attributable to that personnel time.
Any requestor who has exceeded a time limit and has not paid each statement issued to them under this Section 5 may not inspect public information on behalf of another requestor until all such statements are paid in full.
The time limits do not apply if the requestor is an elected official of the United States, this state, or a political subdivision of this state. They also do not apply if the requestor is a representative of a publicly funded legal services organization that is exempt from federal income taxation under section 50 I (a), Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, by being listed as an exempt entity under section 501 (c)(3) of that Code.
City ordinances may be found online at https://www.fairfieldtexas.com/.
–Annual Racial Profiling Report – A total of 706 motor vehicle stops were made last year, of which only 10 was the race of the individual being stopped known prior to the stop. Of those 706 stops, 355 were White, 157 were Black, 153 were Hispanic or Latino, 36 were Asian or Pacific Islander, and only 5 were Alasa Native or American Indian.
–Resolution 2025-02-11 which allows for the City to apply for a grant with the Office of the Governor to supply the Fairfield Police Department with additional Patrol Vehicles to be operated for the 2026 fiscal year.
–Bids for the sale of ‘Personal Property.’ Nine old and unused vehicles were sold, split between two bidders: Teddy B Services and Dustin Dodge.
–Repairs of the Thousand Oaks lift station from Smith Pump in the amount of $12,550. This is the third pump repaired due to the age of the lift pumps. This is a preventative measure to keep the obsolete pumps working for as long as possible. A new pump would be upwards of $37,867.00.
–Upgrade to the chlorination system to accommodate TDCJ water well. According to Director of Public Works, Clyde Woods, this system update is needed for the water well to function properly. Cost to the City will be approximately $28,000.00 and the additional $70,000.00 will be covered by TDCJ.
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 in Fairfield. They may be reached by calling 903-389-2633.
