During Tuesday night’s meeting, the Early City Council unanimously approved the reallocation of budget funds to upgrade Police Department handguns.

The $10,478.59 was originally earmarked for a system that would electronically write tickets, but now will be used to purchase 10 Sig Sauer P320 9mm handguns to place the GLOCK 19 9mms.

Early Police Chief David Mercer told the council, “It has military specs, the military uses it, special forces uses it, it’s a better built gun. We did a bunch of testing and let a lot of different officers shoot with them, especially those who have trouble due to their hand size. They have interchangeable grips to fit in person.”

The guns that will be replace could either be sold back and that money would be put into the general fund. Or, Mercer proposed waiting and selling the handguns and rifles next year at the same time. Mercer estimated the collection of 8- to 10-year-old handguns to be worth $6,000.

Also Tuesday, the Council approved a supplement agreement with Stantec Consulting Services expanding the scope of work for the cultural assessment for the Early Town Center Project.

City Administrator Tony Aaron told the Council, “This is the consulting firm we’ve been working with that has been doing the environmental assessment of the property on the east side of the Town Center. They’ve completed their field work, they wrote their report and submitted that to the Texas Historical Commission. The Texas Historical Commission came back and had some clarifying questions to deal with any previous disturbances on the land before we bought it. That was not part of the original agreement with Stantec, to have these follow-up questions, so they’ve sent the supplement agreement and that dollar amount is $10,008. It would be my recommendation we approve that supplement agreement so we can get that process finalized.”

The Council also approved an updated Water Conversation and Drought Contingency Plan, which mirrors that of the Brown County Water Improvement District.

Aaron also provided an updated on Professional Services, noting that the City is still attempting to hire a new auditor as well as a new IT services provider.