Bonham, Texas – A regular meeting of the Bonham City Council was held on October 13, 2025. Mayor HL Compton called the meeting to order at 5:30 pm. All council members were present, except Sam Fox. The meeting room was full of spectators at the beginning of the meeting and throughout many of the public hearings.
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Council approved the minutes of the September 8th regular meeting.
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Council accepted the financial report for the month ending September 30, 2025. Sarah Osburn pointed out that this report is for the end of the fiscal year, and this report will likely have some adjustments. She noted that preliminary work has already started for the annual audit and it will be completed in a timely manner this year. Osburn also pointed out that the city ended the year with a 4% increase in sales taxes but had budgeted for a 7% increase in sales taxes.
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Citizens Opportunity to Speak:
Alan McDonald, chair of Bonham Economic Development Corporation (BEDCO) board, introduced new BEDCO Executive Director, William Myers. McDonald reported that the BEDCO board has been going through a search process for the last two months and interviewed five finalists last week. Myers has a degree from Texas Tech and his previous work experience includes marketing, real estate and economic development. Myers has worked in economic development in Bridgeport, Denison and Gainesville. McDonald said that Myers and his wife Kelly plan to move to Bonham within the next year and settle down here.

William Myers spoke briefly and said that Bonham has tons of potential and he loves small towns.

A gentleman representing St. Elizabeth’s Catholic Church spoke next, asking for a crosswalk and a 4 way stop to be added near the church. He noted that now that 10th street is repaired and smoother, speeds increasing to 40-50 mph, which is significantly faster that the 30-mph speed limit. Mayor stated that the city staff is already working on this request. City Manager Sean Pate said the crosswalk will not be a problem, but the four-way stop will require more steps to make possible.

Rusty Deets talked about the recent water bills that had errors. He was appreciative of the help from the mayor to clarify the issues.
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Council presented a Proclamation for Bonham Public Library Day to the Library Director and board members. The Bonham Public Library was started in 1901 and is celebrating 125 years of serving as a cornerstone to education, promoting literacy and preserving community history.
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Council member Allen Sanderson commented that the city cannot afford the taxes to do this development, so this is the way to go.

A question from audience was how much would the assessments be for the future homeowners. Pate said he has seen them run $2,200-$4,000 annually but it will depend on multiple factors. Homeowners will know how much their annual assessment will be before they purchase their lot or home.
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Council adopted a Resolution of the City of Bonham, Texas Authorizing and Creating the Bonham Lakeside Public Improvement District in Accordance with Chapter 372 of the Texas Local Government Code; Providing for Related Matters; and Providing an Effective Date.
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A public hearing was held and the council approved an Ordinance designating a geographic area that is partially within the corporate limits of the City and partially within the extraterritorial jurisdiction of the City as a reinvestment zone, to be known as Reinvestment Zone Number One, City of Bonham; describing the boundaries for the Zone; creating a Board of Directors for the Zone and appointing Directors to the Board; establishing a Tax Increment Fund for the Zone; containing findings related to the creation of the Zone; providing for a date of termination for the Zone; providing that the Zone take effect immediately upon the passage of the Ordinance.
Pate invited Jennifer Sloan, the PID and Tax reinvestment Zone (TRZ) administrator, to speak and provide education about these public financial mechanisms for local municipalities. Sloan explained that for the TRZ, the base value of land at the start would be compared to the assessed value that is expected to grow over time. The city will pledge a percentage of the increased taxes to go to a fund to reinvest in the zone. She explained that the next steps were to approve the project and finance plan, appoint a board and create the fund. The board will then meet and make plans, which will then be brought to the council for approval. Sloans stated that TRZ are flexible and allow for changes over time. For TRZ One, the project includes about 200 acres and the city has pledged 50% city participation to off set PID assessments. This project anticipates being all residential and eventually have about 1000 homes. Sloans said that this $54 million development will have a 45 year term and is expected to bring $806 million increase. Pate explained this development is on the west side of town, south of 82, north of Silo Road and west of Highway 121. Pate also said that the city will eventually annex all parts of the project that are currently outside of city limits.
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A public hearing was held and the council approved an Ordinance designating a geographic area that is partially within the corporate limits of the City and partially within the extraterritorial jurisdiction of the City as a reinvestment zone, to be known as Reinvestment Zone Number Two, City of Bonham; describing the boundaries for the Zone; creating a Board of Directors for the Zone and appointing Directors to the Board; establishing a Tax Increment Fund for the Zone; containing findings related to the creation of the Zone; providing for a date of termination for the Zone; providing that the Zone take effect immediately upon the passage of the Ordinance. Sloan said this TRZ would be for the same project that the PID was created earlier in the meeting. This project includes about 617 acres and the city participation for Single family homes would be 50% and for commercial and multi-family would be 0% participation. The project would be primarily single family homes. The project would be $106 million for street, water, sewer and other infrastructure and generate an estimated $1 billion over 40 years. This project would be annexed into city in phases. This property was called the old Hawthorne Ranch or Bob McCraw’s property. Pate said the developer knows they will have to talk to county to upgrade the county roads in that area.
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Council held a public hearing and approved an ordinance amending Chapter 12 (Traffic and Vehicles) within the Bonham Code of Ordinances to add rules and regulations designating Truck Routes within the city limits. Police Chief Hawkes spoke first and explained that many trucks carrying gravel travel down Center Street. He noted that the trucks pay by load and often go fast through town, through the two school zones. He said the damage to the road at the intersection of 9th and Center where it sunk in ground from the weight of the loads and frequent running of red lights as some of the problems caused by these trucks. This new ordinance will keep 18 wheelers off Center Street between Hwy 82 and Hwy 56 and divert them to Highway 121 in town. City staff will work with TXDOT on signage and the police and city staff will work on public education for the new ordinance. Hawkes noted that there is a clause in the ordinance that if a truck has a legitimate delivery on that Center street, they will be allowed to travel on Center.

Bill Wilson, McCraw Oil President, spoke up and expressed his concerns for the impact to his business. He was most concerned that it is not clear that folks can come get fuel at his facility on north Center Street.

Another citizen said she works from home and sees the gravel trucks travel at high rates of speed by the schools and churches and are tearing up the roads.

Ross Altobelli spoke up to suggest one change to add fuel purchases to the list of exceptions to help McCraw Oil customers. Wilson gave a thumbs up to this change.
There was much discussion about the dangers and difficulties of trucks turning at the intersection of Hwy 78 and 56.
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Council held a public hearing and approved an ordinance amending Chapter 6 “Health and Sanitation” within the Bonham Code of Ordinances for the purpose of adopting ambulance service permit fees. Fire Chief Chris Hughes noted that their department has now gone one year of new staffing plan. He reported that they have adequate staffing now that they no longer are contracted for the county. However, they do not have the resources to address non-emergency transports. This ordinance will allow private providers to get a permit from the city to do these non-emergency transports, which are often between hospitals and nursing homes.

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Council held a public hearing and approved an ordinance creating Appendix B, Consolidated Fee Schedule, within the Bonham Code of Ordinances for the purpose of adopting credit card processing fees and consolidating all fee schedules within the Bonham Code of Ordinances.
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Council held a public hearing and adopted an ordinance amending the City of Bonham Code of Ordinances, Chapter 4 titled “Building Regulations” to add Article 08 titled “Alcoholic Beverages” to regulate the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages in accordance with the Texas Constitution and Statutes, including but not limited to Chapter 105 of the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code.
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Council reappointed four individuals to the Planning and Zoning Commission, including Justina Silwood, Mike Bankston, Curtis Smith and David Kinkade.
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Council reappointed three individuals to the Board of Adjustments, including Joe Dale, Allen Sanderson and Dr. Jerry Hopson.
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Council approved a resolution designating Jason Walker to the Fannin Central Appraisal District Board of Directors.
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Council approved the purchase of a John Deere 620P Motor Grader for the Street Department under a cooperative purchasing agreement (Sourcewell Contract #011723-JDC). Osburn reported that the current one was purchase used in 1990 and it is used daily. She said this vital piece of equipment was not included in the budget for this year, so she will work on financing options. She said that city staff are working on packaging the financing for this with other equipment needed and will come back at future meeting for that approval. There is currently a 6-8 month lead time for this grader and the city is currently renting one. The purchase price will be $362,000.
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Meeting adjourned at 6:58 pm.