Visitors to downtown Edna will soon have something new to grab their attention when they park – curb grab bars.
The Edna City Council approved a request from the Edna Business Association to allow the EBA to install 34 metal curb grab bars along Main Street to help people step up from street level onto the sidewalks.
Kimberly Mercer, representing the EBA, explained to council members and Mayor Lance Smiga that the local merchants had received a grant and wanted to make it easier and safer for people to get from their cars into their businesses.
“We’re going to install curb aides so that it’s easier to step up and down all the steps that are weird and … higher than the normal curb height,” Mercer said. “We’ve gotten a grant to do the work and have talked with TxDOT, and as long as there’s no language or words on the grab bars, they were fine with it.
The bars will be mounted on a pole bolted into the sidewalk, with rounded edges and black powder coating, in the shape of a reversed capital P, and will be placed between parking spaces on Main Street.
The city received a good report from its most recent audit, from Fiscal Year 2024-2025, which covered the 12 months from Oct. 1, 2024 to Sept. 30, 2025.
Auditor Melissa Terry of the firm Harrison, Waldrop & Uherek, LLP, provided an overview of her findings during Thursday’s meeting.
Broz said that the audit’s results represented the amount of teamwork and effort put in by city staff.
“It’s a great audit,” Broz said. “All staff did great trying to keep our audit where we are.”
Now the city needs to boost its reserves, held in the fund balance, to provide a better cushion to deal with unexpected expenses like storms, since costs have risen over the past few years.
In other business, the council:
Awarded the health benefits coverage for city employees for Fiscal Year 2026-2027 to Texas Health Benefits Pool, at the same coverage and cost as the current fiscal year;
Awarded a contract to Traylor and Associates for Resolution 2026-11, for grant administration services related to the application and administration, if awarded, of the city’s Water Supply and Infrastructure Grant (WSIG) from the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB). The city has applied for the grant, to be used for water line replacement, and is awaiting word of the application status;
Awarded a contract to CivilCorp for Resolution 2026-12, for engineering services related to the application and implementation, if awarded, of the city’s WSIG from the TWDB. This is the engineering for the same grant from Resolution 2026-11;
Awarded a contract to Traylor and Associates for Resolution 2026-13, for grant administration services related to the application and administration, if awarded, of the city’s Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds application from the TWDB. This is a separate grant, which would be for a new water well and associated equipment;
Awarded a contract to CivilCorp for Resolution 2026-14, for engineering services related to the application and implementation, if awarded, of the city’s Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds application from the TWDB. This is the engineering for the same grant from Resolution 2026-13;
Approved a correction instrument for a portion of Guadalupe Street;
Agreed to lease a one-ton pickup from Enterprise Fleet Management to be used as a vehicle for Animal Control, a truck heavy enough to hold the animal control equipment and topper;
Awarded the contract for demolition of two properties to White Trash Services;
Agreed to pay current bills of $216,916.72; and
Heard city staff reports.
During the City Staff Reports section, City Manager Gary Broz reported that the Flag City Celebration was a success through great teamwork and was well attended. The grass is growing and the mosquitos are getting larger. The CO project has been on hold with the wet weather but should take off next week with three crews. The Kleas Generator replacement project is in full swing, with the contractor set to remove the old generator tomorrow (Fri., June 19). No news has been received on the status of the Post Oak project, but the city has most of the easements for the Dry Creek project and is working with County-Wide Drainage. The MIT project is still in the design and environmental stage.
In addition, there’s been good attendance at the city pool when it hasn’t been closed by the rain. Brush pickup has been increasing as citizens have been working in their yards. Budget season is here, with one-on-one meetings scheduled for next week with department heads.
City Finance Director Valerie Callaway said the city’s ad valorem tax revenue included a $1,105.40 deposit for the period of May 1-10 and a $3,263.87 deposit for May 11-31. They are working on the 2026-2027 budget calculation for the tax rate that’s due July 17. The city received payment of the city sales and use tax allocation summary from the Texas State Comptroller on June 12 in the amount of $113,308.41 and a mixed beverages tax amount of $656.40. The billing software was recently updated to calculate meter usage based on the most recent 30-day period, providing customers with more current billing information. Previously, usage was calculated using readings from the prior two months, so this billing cycle reflected two months of usage. The billing staff has done an excellent job handling challenging calls and answering questions about the bill increases related to this update.
The city’s first annual Flag City Celebration on June 13 had a wonderful turnout, and Callaway said she was proud of all the employees helping to make it a great success. The city council had approved a $25,000 budget for the event. Total expenses to date are $35,245.59, but the city received $15,000 in sponsorships and merchandise sales (as of Wed., June 17) of $2,969, leaving a balance of $17,276.59 out of city funds.
City Streets Supervisor Andy Brzozowski said that crews have been shredding along city streets until the city received too much rain, and now they are waiting for it to dry up a bit more to resume. Crews have cleared drains of leaves and debris and sprayed for mosquitos as time allows. This year’s stop sign project is nearly completed. All the new stop signs are in place. The street department ordered a few street name signs which they will be attaching to some existing stop signs from last year’s project. Before the wet spell, workers were sealing streets using the patcher truck on N. Kleas Street and are expected to be able to resume on Friday. The department also had a street sweeper delivered and will be sweeping. Sweeping had begun today (Thur., June 18) but it went down with a mechanical problem and is waiting on a mechanic for repairs.
Public Works Director Brad Ryan said that workers picked up a trailer loaded with chairs, backdrops, and the blowup slide from LNRA after the Flag City Celebration. They also repaired the sewer on Rosa Street; repaired a leak on Laura Street; shut valves for contractors; sprayed weeds and mowed at the sewer plant and lift stations; passed out and then picked up lead and copper bottles; and drained fuel out of the tank at the Kleas well for the contractors.
City Police Chief Kenneth Pyle said that the Edna Police Department has conducted 35 traffic stops, written 16 citations and 31 warnings, made nine arrests, responded to 114 calls for service, worked 44 reportable offenses, and taken only two crash reports so far. The 44 cases included three assaults; one theft of motor vehicle parts; one larceny; one unauthorized use of a motor vehicle; four drug/narcotic violations; one disorderly conduct; two trespasses; and 11 other offenses. Nine people were arrested for charges including one assault; six drug/narcotic violations; three trespassing; and two other offenses.
Due to concerns for his well-being, a concerned citizen reported a male subject walking along the roadside. He was later identified as being from Guatemala and was detained by EPD and transported by the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office to the Victoria County Jail for deportation proceedings. The matter was also reported to the Texas Homeland Security Division.
A 23-year-old male from Lockhart, TX, was arrested and charged with online solicitation of a minor – sexual conduct. The subject drove from Lockhart to Edna with intent to have sexual contact with a minor.
A 13-year-old male Edna resident was found deceased. His cause of death is pending an autopsy and toxicology report.
In addition, Pyle met with Broz, Sheriff Rick Boone, Edna ISD Superintendent Mason Briscoe and Jackson County District Attorney Pam Guenther this week. The meeting went well and we will continue working together to improve the community.
City Parks Supervisor/Code Enforcement Jaime Liepe reported that she has sent 40 letters, with two more left, to owners of property previously mowed by the city for them to reach out for their own contractor to mow instead of the city. She has opened five code violation cases with a total of seven violations, in addition to three new cases with six violations last week. She also is working on a case from the end of May that has three animal control violations and one cleanliness of property citation that is probably going to assess more fines before the case is closed, and she is trying to close some older cases from before she took over. The Building and Standards Committee will meet at 5:30 p.m. on June 23 to discuss one property.
The next city council meeting will be at 6 p.m. on Thur., July 2.