The Wagner City Council held their regular meeting this month on August 5th at 6 p.m. There was a lot on the agenda for this month’s meeting. After all the formalities such as roll call, the pledge of allegiance, public comments, etc., the meeting really began with City Administrator, Debbie Houseman, giving her reports on several items. One of the biggest being the meeting with the pool fundraising committee along with the architects and project engineers. The estimated costs of the ideal pool with a bath house was seven million dollars, but could be scaled back to approximately four million dollars if it was a smaller size. The possibility of renovating the pool was discussed, but Houseman felt that the pool committee was set on a new pool as that is what they had been fundraising for the past several years. If the city decides to wait much longer then the project will be so expensive that it will be out of reach for Wagner. Houseman is in the process of applying for a grant which would cover 3/4ths of the $1,000,000 bath house. The building of a new bath house is a priority for the city due to safety and security concerns. If Wagner was to be awarded that grant, the city would only have to cover a maximum of $250,000 of the one million estimated. She also told the council members about several possible resources to generate more revenue for the pool project including a property tax opt out and/or a BB&B tax which she was more than willing to find more information for the council members.

Another topic of interest that was discussed at the meeting was the possibility of a pickle ball court built in place of one of the city’s already existing tennis courts. There were several aspects of this possibility discussed such as the total cost of the project potentially totaling $12,000 depending on whether or not the court would be repaved, or just pickle ball court lines would be marked on it as well as the cost for nets. Mayor Tammy Thornton had put some feelers out on social media asking what Wagner residents thought about adding a pickle ball court. Of the 30-35 replies it was about a 50/50 outcome. It was also pointed out to the council members that Pad 71 is in the process of building a pickle ball court that will be free and available to anyone wishing to use it.

Nathan Kafka was on the agenda about potentially purchasing the old Fischer Farms dairy and feedlot property. He is well aware that the property lies within the ETJ zone. The property has been a part of the Wagner area for the past 35 years, with it being empty for the past 15. When Nathan came to the council previously about purchasing the feedlot, they had three issues of smell, sound and a snowball effect. Nathan addressed all three with very reasonable answers. One of the biggest issues facing Nathan right now is the time. He has the purchase agreement from the Farm Service Agency with a time constraint of September 24th. He came to the meeting to ask for variant or conditional use of the property. There was discussion across the council about whether a conditional use could be attempted. They were advised that this could possibly open doors to other requests that may not be favorable to the Wagner community. It was suggested that he apply to amend the ETJ boundary for this particular property and the process and steps needed to achieve this.

One of the other interesting topics discussed at the meeting was the Neighborhood Watch. For starters the Police Chief, Damon Griffith, was present and advised that although the neighborhood watch sounds like a great investment into the community, it also has the potential for liability issues. There have been past instances not in Wagner but with neighborhood watches throughout the country where the watchers go too far and take the job of the police officers into their own hands. There was also some discussion about trying to come up with a program that would work with the local court system to implement a community service aspect to their sentencing that would involve doing very simple tasks that would help improve our city. It was a just a conversation of ideas on what could be done with regards to some of Wagner’s juveniles destroying property.

ETJ Board Public Hearing will be held Monday, August 26 starting at 5:30 p.m.