In a marathon Tuesday night meeting that didn’t adjourn until 10:30 p.m., the Midlothian City Council authorized an annual contract with Motorola Solutions for a comprehensive multiagency system, and set rental fees for meeting rooms inside the new City Hall.
Councilmembers were divided over how to apply the new fees for the two meeting rooms, known as Community A and Community B. A motion to match the price of the Midlothian Conference Center failed by a 4-3 vote. A second motion for a tiered rate passed by a 4-3 vote.
City Manager Chris Dick proposed the tiered rate based on time of day and type of organization. Rooms would be rented only when staff is present, he said.
Councilmembers, however, had lots of questions regarding rates that should be charged and the type of organization that would be permitted to rent the City Hall rooms.
Councilmember Mike Rodgers said the rooms should be rented only to nonprofit community groups, such as Girl Scouts and church organizations; but councilmember Allen Moorman argued that there is a broad range of nonprofits and therefore no clear-cut way to define what type of group should be allowed.
Mayor Pro Tem Clark Wickliffe warned that making the meeting space free would put other spaces in town, such as the Midlothian Civic Center, out of business. Wickliffe and councilmember Ross Weaver both favored matching the rate schedule that the much-larger Midlothian Conference Center uses.
Councilmember Anna Hammonds noted that private meeting space is available in town, but that space is limited.
The Motorola agreement, meanwhile, is in the amount of about $3 million, paid over a five-year period. The initial payment of $821,000 will come from funds set aside by the department for such a purpose, Police Chief Carl Smith told the council. Dick added that for future payments, the city has a number of budgetary options.
The system will provide computer-aided dispatch, records management and jail management. Smith said Ellis County uses a similar system, and the city system would streamline communication with county authorities. Annual maintenance would start at about $55,000 and would increase to $117,000 by the 2026-2027 fiscal year, Commander Nick Harp added.
Smith said the city police department, which also does dispatch for the cities of Red Oak and Ovilla, has outgrown the capabilities of the current system in use. The Motorola system streamlines dispatch using an algorithm to determine what units need to respond. Smith said that Red Oak is on board with the new system and will reimburse Midlothian for its portion of the cost, but that discussions with Ovilla are ongoing.
Harp said there will be 210 users of the system initially, and it has the capacity to handle up to 500 as the community grows.
Also during Tuesday night’s meeting, councilmembers approved a recommendation from Midlothian Economic Development to approve a promotional program for MED,
Following an executive session, the council agreed to authorize the purchase of a pair of tracts of land for right-of-way for the McAlpin Road expansion project in a total combined amount of $90,000.
All members of the City Council were present.
