1. Brandon Grumbles sworn into Celina City Council
Celina resident Brandon Grumbles was formally sworn into his position on Celina City Council during a Jan. 9 meeting—his first as an official member.
Grumbles was the only candidate to file for the council seat left open when his Place 6 predecessor, Tony Griggs, resigned in September 2023. Griggs was originally elected in 2022 after serving as Celina’s chief of police from 2016-20.
2. Celina Fire Station No. 3 opens, marks ‘significant milestone’ in city history
City leaders, members of the Celina Fire Department and representatives from neighboring cities and the state government gathered to celebrate the official opening of Celina’s third fire station on April 4.
“It is both a state-of-the-art facility for our first responders and a testament to our unwavering commitment to public safety,” Mayor Ryan Tubbs said.
Fire Station No. 3 is the city’s first to be built west of the Dallas North Tollway, something that should cut response times to west Celina emergencies in half, Fire Chief Mark Metdker told Community Impact.
3. Eddie Cawlfield wins Celina City Council, Place 2 seat
With all precincts reporting, unofficial voting results for the Celina City Council Place 2 race show Eddie Cawlfield won the seat with 1,072 votes, or 67.72%. David Hogue secured 511 votes, or 32.28%.
4. Celina releases storm timeline, further recovery plans
Celina officials at an early June meeting released a nearly minute-by-minute breakdown of the city’s response to a series of tornados and severe weather that swept through Celina on May 25.
While city leaders, city staff and first responders worked around the clock during the late May storms, there was still more to do, Celina Fire Chief Mark Metdker said.
“Recovery is truly a marathon, not a sprint,” he said.
5. Celina council asks economic development corporation board to reapply for positions
The Celina Economic Development Corporation board could soon see a change following a City Council request that all members reapply for their positions.
Council member Eddie Cawlfield suggested the change during a July 9 council meeting. He said he wanted to reset the board in some way. After some discussion, council decided to ask the EDC’s seven-member board to reapply, regardless of if their term is expiring or not.
Celina’s EDC has seen other disruptions in the past year, including the removal of former Director Alexis Jackson in December.
Anthony Satarino was appointed as the new director in May and has since officially moved into the role.
6. Celina appoints new fire chief
Celina officials announced Shawn White would be the city’s next fire chief in an Aug. 15 city news release.
White, who was one of three candidates added to the city’s months-long fire chief search in late July, moved into his new role in early October, according to the release. He replaced former Fire Chief Mark Medtker, who served the city in various public safety roles for 17 years before retiring in June.
7. Celina officials add Safety Town to Public Safety Campus master plan
A Safety Town, an education facility with scaled-down city streets, interactive safety house and a fire engine to teach fire and pedestrian safety, is now included in the plans for Celina’s 24-acre Public Safety Campus.
An updated version of the city’s master plan for the campus was presented to Celina City Council members during an Aug. 13 meeting.
Plans for the Public Safety Campus now include:
- Police station headquarters
- Indoor shooting range
- Academy training building
- Detention center
- Fire Station No. 4
- Fire administration building
- Safety Town
- Shared fire and police department fueling center
8. GALLERY: Celina Police Department looks to future of city’s safety with new headquarters
The new Celina Police Department offers a space for both its officers and community members inside its new campus.
It is one piece of Celina’s Public Safety Campus, a nearly 30-acre space that will include the city’s fourth fire station and an emergency dispatch center. Creating a space where the city’s fire and police departments’ buildings can coexist will play a part in the future growth of Celina, Celina Police Chief John Cullison said.
“Our goal is to be the premier law enforcement agency in [Dallas-Fort Worth] and the state of Texas,” he said.
9. Celina’s FY 2024-25 budget plans for growth, lowers property tax rate
Celina City Council approved additional funding for public safety and other city departments in its fiscal year 2023-24 budget.
Council members approved a $54.32 million general fund budget and a roughly $0.60 per $100 valuation tax rate for fiscal year 2024-25 during a Sept. 10 meeting.
Included in the budget is a new $0.598168 per $100 valuation property tax rate, a roughly $0.01 drop from last year’s $0.612154 per $100 valuation.
10. Celina forms city charter committee, members to present amendment recommendations in 2025
Members of a new city commission will comb through Celina’s city charter over the next several months and identify changes that could make their way to the ballot for consideration by residents in May 2025.
Celina City Council members formed a 17-member city charter commission during an Oct. 8 meeting, officially kicking off a months-long process the city has been discussing since March.
The commission will hold meetings until December 4 to go through the document and identify any amendments before they present potential ballot language to council members in January, according to meeting documents.
City officials will then have until February 2025 to approve and add the amendments to the May 3, 2025 election day ballot.
11. Celina adds inconvenience fees, new requirements to city’s right of way policy
Celina City Council members updated a city ordinance dealing with right of way agreements, which allows one entity to use another's property for transportation purposes, during a Nov. 12 meeting.
The city’s right of way, or ROW, policies had been outlined in two separate sections of the same ordinance. Before Nov. 12, the ordinance was last updated in 2017, according to a meeting presentation.
