Dayton handles election business, tables zoning issue
Dayton Municipal Judge Alan D. Conner administers the oath of office to new Position 1 Councilman Herry Barnes, Jr and Position 3 Councilman John Headrick. The city ordered a runoff election in the race for Position 2 between Alvin Burress and Sarah Vickery on June 15.
Dayton Mayor Martin Mudd presents former Councilwoman Sherial Lawson with a token of appreciation from the city for her service. The Vindicator | Myria Schubert
DAYTON — Council met Monday night to canvass votes from the May 6 election and handle several pieces of business related to the results.
Once council approved the results, after a motion by outgoing council member Sherial Lawson, the winners were officially sworn in, with incumbent Position 3 Councilman John Headrick and newly elected Position 1 Councilman Harry Barnes, Jr taking the oath from Dayton Municipal Judge Alan D. Conner.
At that point, Barnes took the seat occupied by Lawson, who was then recognized for her service and dedication to the city by Mayor Martin Mudd.
Next up, the council ordered a runoff election for Saturday, June 15, between the top two vote- getters in the May 6 contest, as neither Alvin Burress nor Sarah Vickery were able to secure 50% plus one vote in the race for Position 2.
In that contest, incumbent council member Janette Goulder-Frick was defeated along with Troy Barrett. Frick has not attended the last two council meetings following her defeat in that race.
The meeting was relatively uneventful, save for a conversation on a request to rezone 5.65 acres near the intersection of the Grand Parkway and FM 1413.
The request was to rezone the property from General Commercial to Suburban Residential, endorsed by the city staff and the Planning and Zoning Commission.
The property is already adjacent to a preexisting subdivision between FM 1413 and Texas 146, but the property’s location to the Grand Parkway concerned council members, especially Headrick.
The councilman’s concerns addressed the previous decision to designate the property as commercial, especially regarding its access to the intersection, located near an onramp, with few existing off the roadway through the area.
“I know y’all have looked at it, but we keep changing these zoning things and keeps getting changed, and changed and changed, but the reason why I think they made it commercial was the people in the past saw the future, and I should stay the future with potential commercial,” Headrick said.
In the end, council decided to table the conversation for a later time and adjourned the regular meeting.