The Fredericksburg City Council made fast work of the nine items on the board’s agenda during their first meeting of 2025 on Tuesday, and the Fredericksburg Police Department got the go-ahead to purchase equipment and remodel its facility.

In two separate agenda items, the Fredericksburg Police Department received unanimous approval from the council to purchase vehicle equipment and to remodel the Law Enforcement Center meeting room, where city council meetings used to be held.

The vehicle equipment included lights, sirens, cages, back seats, consoles, storage boxes, MDT mounts, gun racks, radars and vehicle graphics for seven marked patrol units, not to exceed $200,000. The amount of the contract totaled $189,426.

Northstar Elite Construction and Consulting, LLC, of Spring Branch, received the contract to remodel the meeting room for an amount not to exceed $200,000. The total amount of the bid was $184,800.

“The last remodel of the Law Enforcement Center was in 1994-95 and the current floor plans do not reflect what is currently in the building, so we expect there may be some issues we run into,” Chief Brian Vorauer said. “The additional $15,200 would be for contingency.”

The former council chamber room will take six to eight weeks to convert into office space.

This acquired office space will move employees out of converted storage closets and add offices, storage space, a briefing room, a report room, a break room and a receptionist, according to city reports.

Leadership program

Four city employees were recognized before the meeting for graduating from the Texas Tech University-Highland Lakes Leadership class.

Amy Burrier, Michael Erwin, Sgt. Wesley Rheinhardt and Thomas Rivera completed nine sessions focused on leadership skills, finance, organization, communication and decision-making.

Burrier, who works as a paramedic, told the council she wants to take what she learned from the sessions to collect visitor information data to track how tourists use city services.

“I wanted to take the Texas Tech course that we were in and implement that at the city level,” said Erwin, with the building department. “All the employees will get together once a month, and the goal is to take them to each department and learn about each department in the city.”

Erwin’s goal would be to help new employees learn what the city does and understand the scope of the operation.

Rheinhardt, with the police department, said he wants to establish an inhouse police training program that is targeted to Fredericksburg’s needs rather than outsource the training to other entities that are not aware of the challenges faced locally.

Annexation

The council held the first public hearing for the annexation of a portion of Post Oak Road between West Live Oak Street and Smith Road that is owned by Gillespie County and took no action.

The annexation request was for rightof- way only and will not increase or extend the city’s extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ).

Steve and Beverly Allen, owners of One Quilt Place, requested annexation so the property can be purchased by the Golden Hub; however, Post Oak Road is a Gillespie County property and the city limits does not extend across the road, according to city records.

Gillespie County submitted a request for the city to take over the section of road between Live Oak Street and Smith Road.

Two public hearings are required for annexation of the right-of-way, then a separate public hearing for the annexation of the property is required, according to city records.

The council also:

• Unanimously approved Resolution 2025-01 that provided for writing-off $443.03 in property taxes that was deemed uncollectable by the Gillespie County Tax Assessor-Collector.

• Unanimously approved tabling hearing an appeal of a denial of the short-term rental permit for property on 502 Eagle St.

• Heard from Council Member Randy Briley that World War II veteran Tyndal Royce Fricks, who celebrated his 100th birthday on Friday, Jan. 3 at the Fredericksburg Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 7105, donated $10,000 toward the VFW’s building campaign.