The Edna City Council took the first steps to adding a mural amendment to the city’s ordinances during its March meeting Thursday night.
The city held a public hearing at the beginning of the council meeting to explain the reasoning behind the proposed amendment and to allow public comment. No one besides City Manager Gary Broz spoke during the hearing.
Broz explained to the council members that if passed, the amendment would require a permit and city approval of a proposed mural prior to painting.
“Basically, the whole thing is to try to make sure everything that’s put up is in good taste, in good form, good for the public,” Broz said during the hearing.
The council then held the first reading of the proposed amendment to Chapter 3 of the Building Regulations of the Zoning Ordinance. The amendment would provide a sign clause, an effective date, a severity clause, and an open meeting clause.
During the city staff reports portion of the Feb. 20 council meeting, Edna Mayor Lance Smiga had said he thought an ordinance was a good idea.
His wife’s flower shop at the corner of Main Street and Wells Street is the most recent to add a mural, following Flag City Pawn Shop last summer.
“Although I’m a huge fan of the murals that have gone up and the ones that are planned that I know of, my fear is that at some time if we don’t have something in place there could be something painted on the side of a building that none of us want to look at every day,” Smiga said during the Feb. 20 meeting. “I think we need some oversight. I don’t want to hinder art, but I don’t think we should expose our children to anything we wouldn’t want to look at every day.”
The council also canceled its election for May 3 and certified its three unopposed incumbent candidates: Smiga, District 1 representative Cippi Palacios, and District 2 representative Katrina Callis.
In other business, the council: Approved the minutes of the Feb. 20 meeting; Held a public hearing on the addition of a mural amendment to the city ordinances; Discussed the municipal maintenance agreement from the Texas Department of Transportation; Approved the recommendation of the selection review committee to award by resolution the negotiation of a contract for engineering services to Lynn Engineering pertaining to the application implementation, if awarded, of the city’s 2025-2026 Texas Department of Agriculture TXCDBG grant and authorize the execution of a contract; Tabled a request from Amazing Grace Child Care facility for property tax exemption in order to gather more information prior to setting a precedent; Accepted the 2024 racial profile report from the Edna Police Department; Approved changing names on the City of Edna bank accounts at Prosperity Bank; Approved paying current city bills; and Heard reports from city staff.
