Pearland City Council on Monday voted 4-1, with Felicia Harris opposed, to authorize the submission of a grant application to the Criminal Justice Division of the Texas Governor’s Office for $107,000 to purchase a mobile command trailer for the Pearland Police Department.

The police department currently utilizes a 1995 model GMC school bus, which was converted into a command center.  The bus has required repeated maintenance during the past years, and a command trailer is proposed to replace the bus.

“The decision to seek funding for a trailer instead of a vehicle was twofold: first, in the event that a self-propelled command vehicle suffers a mechanical breakdown or requires engine repair, the entire unit would be taken out of service,” Lieutenant Onesimo Lopez said.  “If the towing vehicle for a command trailer suffers the same breakdown, the department need only secure another vehicle to tow the trailer to the command site with little to no down time for repair. The second consideration was cost. A mobile command trailer may be configured to the department’s specifications at a cost of less than $110,000.”

The city council voted 4-1, with Harris opposed, to amend a Planned Development District for the Stonebridge Planned Development.

The property in the zone includes 123.24 acres east and west of Pearland Parkway, north of Barry Rose.  Under the amendment, residential lots not yet developed to the east of Pearland Parkway would be removed from the plan, and replaced with various medical uses, including a hospital use, assisted living facility, emergency medical clinic, hospice and related incidental uses.

The city council voted unanimously to appoint Charles McMurrey to the Civil Service Commission to fill an unexpired term.  The term ends on November 1, 2014.

The city council took no action regarding the renewal of a unit supply bid for water meter supply services.  The item was pulled from the agenda to be considered at a future meeting. The bid had originally been awarded to two companies, with HD Supply providing small meters and Park Environmental Equipment providing large meters. 

The city council voted unanimously to approve the payment of a bonus to City Manager Bill Eisen.  The item was discussed during an executive session.

All other items were approved by unanimous vote.  All members were present. Agenda