May 18, 2026 Regular Council Meeting Minutes
May 18, 2026
The Hamlin City Council met for a regular meeting on May 18, 2026, at 6:00 P.M.
Those present were City Secretary Tonya Harughty, Councilwoman Shelby Teague, Mayor Tucker Teague, City Administrator Brian Weaver, Police Chief Jay Strong, Police Officer Joshua Benavides, Public Works Superintendent Andres Arce, Kenneth Williams, Councilman Caleb Gabriel, Councilman Ronald Crouch, Danielle Morgan, Cynthia Williams, Johnnie Spalding, Gerald Spalding, Lacy Spalding, Xavaxian.
Call meeting to order by Mayor Tucker Teague at 6:02 P.M. Invocation and pledge were led by Mayor Tucker Teague.
Roll call: Councilman Caleb Gabriel, Councilman Ronald Crouch, Councilwoman Shelby Teague, Mayor Tucker Teague.
Councilwoman Brooke Houghton and Councilwoman Phyllis Lewis were absent.
Open Forum-Person who sign in between 5:30 P.M. and 6:00 P.M. will be allowed not more than five minutes each to speak to the Council.
*General comments from visitors who have signed up to address the Council.
Beverly Guerra asked the council to reconsider the one-way street at the school. She stated it should be a simple fix for them to go around the other way instead of by the gym. The kids are coming out at 30 mph and fishtailing. The Council agreed to address this at the next meeting.
Visitors with appointments: No one with an appointment
ACTION ITEMS
Take appropriate action on the minutes from the previous Regular Meeting on April 20, 2026.
Councilwoman Shelby Teague made a motion to accept the minutes as written from the previous regular meeting on April 20, 2026, seconded by Councilman Ronald Crouch. All in favor. Motion carries.
Consider and take any necessary action to adopt Resolution No. 26-004:
RESOLUTION NO. 26-004
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF HAMLIN, TEXAS, CANVASSING THE RETURNS AND DECLARING THE RESULTS OF THE GENERAL ELECTION FOR THE OFFICES OF ONE (1) MAYOR AND TWO (2) COUNCIL MEMBERS AT LARGE, AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
GENERAL ELECTION
Hamlin, Texas
May 2, 2026
CANVASS OF RETURNS AND DECLARATION OF
RESULTS OF ELECTIONS
BE IT REMEMBERED THAT on this the 18th day of May 2026, at a meeting of the City Council of the City of Hamlin, Texas, a quorum being present, the meeting was called to order and the following business was transacted.
Upon motion it was unanimously ordered that the City Council consider the official returns of a General Election held in the City on May 2, 2026, for the election of one (1) Mayor At-large and two (2) Councilmembers At-large for two-year terms.
At that time, all votes were canvassed with the governing body noting in the resolution that a petition for recount had been submitted for the election of one (1) Mayor and two (2) Councilmembers, City of Hamlin. In accordance with the Texas Election Code, Chapter 213, et seq. the governing body continued to canvass the election results. The recount has been completed, and the election results are contained herein.
WHEREUPON said official returns were opened, examined, canvassed and the results declared as follows:
CANVASS OF RETURNS AND DECLARATION OF RESULTS
WHEREAS, heretofore, the City Council of the City of Hamlin, Texas, called a General Election to be held in the City on May 2, 2026, to elect one (1) Mayor and two (2) Councilmembers At-Large for two-year terms; and
WHEREAS, immediately after said election the Presiding Judge and other officials holding said election made their returns of the results thereof to the City Council as follows, and said returns being made according to law, and duly authenticated, and it being shown that written notice of said election was posted for the time and in the manner provided by law, and all other proceedings pertaining to said election having been shown to have been done and performed at and within the manner provided by law, and all papers pertaining thereto having been returned and filed with the City Council and no protest or objection being made to or regarding any matter pertaining to said election.
NOW, THEREFORE, be it resolved by the City Council of the City of Hamlin, Texas, after examining said returns and opening and canvassing the votes of said election, that the results of said election are as follows:
That the following number of votes were cast for the following named candidate for the office of Mayor, to wit:
Number of votes
Tucker Teague 95
It appearing that Tucker Teague having received the most votes, respectively, for the Mayor seat available, are hereby declared to be elected to the office of Mayor, to serve a two-year term after qualifying.
That the following number of votes were cast for the following named candidate for the office of Councilmembers, to wit:
Number of votes
Cory Mandrell 0
Shelby Teague 77
Caleb Gabriel 33
Kenneth Williams 68
Chris Lafler 56
It appearing that Shelby Teague, and Kenneth Williams, having received the most votes, respectively, for the council seats available, are hereby declared to be elected to the offices of Councilmember, to serve a two-year term after qualifying.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that this canvass and declaration of results of said election be entered in the Minutes of the City Council and the Recitals of this Resolution are fully incorporated herein as if fully recited.
This Resolution, declaring the results of the General election, shall become effective immediately after its passage and the City Secretary is hereby directed to send a certified copy of this resolution, along with a map of the municipality clearly showing its boundaries, to the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts by certified or registered mail in accordance with the applicable provisions of the Texas Tax Code.
DULY PASSED by the City Council of the City of Hamlin, Texas, on this the 18th day of May 2026.
APPROVED:
Tucker Teague, Mayor
ATTEST:
______________________________
Tonya Harughty, City Secretary
Councilman Caleb Gabriel made a motion to adopt Resolution No. 26-004. A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF HAMLIN, TEXAS, CANVASSING THE RETURNS AND DECLARING THE RESULTS OF THE GENERAL ELECTION FOR THE OFFICE OF ONE (1) MAYOR AND TWO (2) COUNCILMEMBERS AT LARGE, AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE, seconded by Councilman Ronald Crouch. All in favor. Motion carries.
Recognition of Outgoing Mayor:
Tucker Teague
Recognition of Outgoing Councilmembers:
· Shelby Teague
· Caleb Gabriel
Mayor Tucker Teague thanked Councilman Caleb Gabriel for his service. He stated he was proud of him for stepping up. For serving the community at a time when not a lot or people want to.
Councilman Caleb Gabriel stated, I’m thankful I was able to serve and for everybody that voted for me last time and this time. I was not popular during my tenure but I’m proud of what we got done. I just want to say Brian, Chief, Arce, all of y’all, it was great working with you guys. Y’all get a lot of flack because of your position but y’all just keep doing what’s best for this town, especially for the individuals. You can’t get everything right because nothing is ever one hundred percent. Council, I’ll keep you in my prayers. I recognize the spotlight was not for me. I know y’all do your best, but I’m not supposed to up here.
Administer the Oath of Office to Mayor-Elected – Tucker Teague
City Secretary Tonya Harughty administered the Oath of Office to Mayor Tucker Teague.
Administer the Oath of Office to Councilmembers Elected – Shelby Teague and Kenneth Williams.
City Secretary Tonya Harughty administered the Oath of Office to Councilwoman Shelby Teague and Councilman Kenneth Williams.
Consider and take any necessary action on appointment of Mayor Pro-Tem.
Councilman Kenneth Williams made a motion to table this item until the next meeting, seconded by Councilwoman Shelby Teague. All in favor. Motion carries.
Consider and take any necessary action on allowing Port-O-Fresh to resume dumping into the city sewer.
Councilman Kenneth Williams made a motion to table this item until the next meeting to be able to alleviate the problem, seconded by Councilwoman Shelby Teague. All in favor. Motion carries.
Discuss changing residential speed limits to 20 mph.
Chief Jay Strong handed the council a letter regarding reasons to lower the speed limit to 20 mph for their review. City attorney Michael Halla stated Urban streets that are 30 mph can be lowered to 25 mph with a city ordinance. In order to lower the speed limit to 20 mph the city would have to have a traffic and engineering study done.
The Council agreed to review this item at the next meeting.
Consider and take any necessary action on hiring Nimbus Resilience Solutions to write a FEMA grant to update the cities weather sirens.
Councilwoman Shelby Teague made a motion to hire Nimbus Resilience Solutions to write a FEMA grant to update the cities weather sirens, seconded by Councilman Kenneth Williams. All in favor. Motion carries.
Consider and take any necessary action on encroachment agreement with Jones County Solar.
Councilman Kenneth Williams made a motion to accept the encroachment agreement with Jones County Solar, seconded by Councilwoman Shelby Teague. All in favor. Motion carries.
Consider and take any necessary action on selling the city RV Park.
Councilman Kenneth Williams made a motion to accept sealed bids for the sale of the City RV Park, seconded by Councilwoman Shelby Teague. All in favor. Motion carries.
Consider and take any necessary action on adopting Resolution 26-005, A Resolution to authorize the Hamlin Police Department to enter into an agreement with the Texas Department of Transportation for the temporary closure of State right of way for the 2026 Homecoming Parade to be held on September 19, 2026, at 11:30 A.M.
Councilwoman Shelby Teague made a motion to adopt Resolution 26-005, A Resolution to authorize the Hamlin Police Department to enter into an agreement with the Texas Department of Transportation for the temporary closure of State right of way for the 2026 Homecoming Parade to be held on September 19, 2026, at 11:30 A.M., seconded by Councilman Kenneth Williams. All in favor. Motion carries.
DEPARTMENT REPORTS
City Administrator – Brian Weaver stated we need to start scheduling a couple budget workshops as early as next month. I have the initial evaluations for the City. They are lower than they were last year, but this is the estimated values. Tammy is pretty conservative. For example, last year estimated was seventy-nine million and we ended up with eighty-nine million, actual certified. Right now, we are at eighty-three. There are things we need to start looking at that are priority and how we want to move forward. The goal for this year is August to get it passed. The street repairs that we voted on and funded were supposed to start this week. Unfortunately, they are tied up with funerals so they should start next week. We are finishing up a waterline replacement we used some of our budget money for. There is a line between West Lake Drive and Northwest 1st between I & J we fixed three times since I’ve been hired, so we finally hired a contractor to fix the water line.
Police Chief – Jay Strong stated the police department received their three leased vehicles. We drove to Lubbock Thursday. They look better than what they cost. They are a patrol officers’ safety dream. They have everything and they ride on our roads so much better than a Tahoe. We want to say thank you to the council because that was a big step for us in the right direction. I assure you the maintenance will be kept on them.
City Secretary – Tonya Harughty had nothing at this time.
MDD Director – Dr. Randy Burks was not present.
Fire Chief – Chief Mark Hernandez was not present.
Municipal Court Judge – Judge Don Dennett was not present.
Public Works – Andres Arce was not present at this time.
Council Members – Councilman Kenneth Williams is concerned about lighting around the duplexes and vandalism is bad in that part of town.
Chief Jay Strong stated the builder’s camera system is great. We have that full area on close patrol.
Mayor – Mayor Tucker Teague told Councilman Kenneth Williams he is glad he is here.
ADJOURN
Councilwoman Shelby Teague made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 7:09 P.M., seconded by Councilman Kenneth Williams. All in favor. Motion carries.
ATTEST: __________________________ _________________________
City Secretary Tonya Harughty Mayor Tucker Teague