The Buffalo Springs Road bridge repair, property tax exemptions and Senate Bill 2 were just a handful of important items Montgomery City Council discussed during last night’s meeting.

To view the full March 14 agenda, visit www.montgomerytexas.gov.

1. The council unanimously approved the city engineer’s report on Buffalo Springs Road Bridge Repair, including project timeline.
The Buffalo Springs Road Bridge, which was damaged during the Tax Day and Memorial Day floods last spring, has remained unusable for the past 11 months.

Tuesday night the council approved the city engineer’s report, which outlined the bridge repair process, putting the construction start date in late June or early July. The city engineer said it would take roughly two months from the date of report approval for FEMA to grant the funds the project.

After much discussion among council members, who heard from resident Amy Font, the council unanimously approved the report, ensuring that the timeline presented was included in the motion.

“I’d like that timetable included in the motion—let’s get it done,” Councilmember John Champagne Jr. said. “And if we don’t meet the timetable at every faction of this process, we need to evaluate it as to see why.”

2. The council unanimously amended the city’s property tax exemptions.
The council unanimously raise the city’s tax exemptions from $6,000 to $10,000 for residents 65 years of age or older and from $12,000 to $15,000 for residents with disabilities.

City Administrator said Montgomery has 80 residents over the age of 65 and seven residents with disabilities who qualify for the exemptions.

The council voted to raise both exemptions with the hope of mitigating any hardships those residents might be facing on the current exemption amount with a fixed income.

3. The council unanimously adopted a resolution opposition the state Senate Bill 2, regarding taxes.
The council unanimously voted in favor of a resolution opposing state Senate Bill 2 and requesting Sen. Robert Nichols to vote against the measure. The bill at hand would limit the city’s control of tax rates.

“We don’t normally get real involved in taking a stand officially like this on all senate and house bills, but this one hit pretty close to home so we thought we would get it on the agenda and make it an official resolution,” Mayor Kirk Jones said.