Burleson’s mayor pro tem calls for reversing bond vote, saying it’s premature
Burleson Mayor Pro Tem Dan McClendon wants to reverse a previous vote to call an $86.5 million bond election after it passed by a slim margin earlier this month.
The City Council will consider McClendon’s request during a specially called meeting 9 a.m Friday at City Hall, 141 W. Renfro St.
The council voted 4-3 on Feb. 7 to ask voters to pay for street improvements, the renovation and expansion of the police station and the construction of a fourth fire station in the rapidly developing Chisholm Summit area.
The council voted to use general obligation bonds, which don’t involve property tax rate increases, but McClendon said he wants to take a unified message to voters.
McClendon said he initially voted in favor of the bond, but he is rethinking his decision after the vote passed with a “slight majority.”
“When the vote was 4-3, that isn’t the kind of message the council wants to send to the community,” he said.
“My thought was not to cancel the bond issue indefinitely, but to go back and look at initiatives and other options, specifically the ‘big ticket’ items such as the police station,” he said.
Also, city councils that hold general obligation bond elections must wait three years before calling another election if any of the items on the ballot don’t pass, McClendon said.
McClendon said the Chisholm Summit development will bring 3,500 new homes to Burleson, and will have direct access to the Chisholm Trail Parkway.
Building should be completed in approximately seven years, he said.
Chisholm Summit will also feature commercial development and amenities such as equestrian trails and large ponds for fishing, according to the web site.
A fire station is needed in that area because of the growth and so that residents won’t have long response times, McClendon said.