Meetings
- Second Monday of each month
- Meetings start at 7:00 p.m.
- Plum Grove CITY HALL, 9485 PLUM GROVE RD, Cleveland, Texas 77327
Due to special circumstances the start time and date of the council meeting may be adjusted. Check the Calendar for actual time and place.
Notice: The members of the Plum Grove City Council are elected officials. State law states that all correspondence sent to the members is a public record. Certain records such as personal information may be exempt from disclosure. Therefore, any correspondence relating to city business sent to the council by anyone will be disclosed to any person who makes a request, unless exempt from disclosure under state law.
Email the council members by using the email addresses listed on the Members page. Please include your name and address when sending correspondence to the City Council.
Contacting the Council
The Mayor and council members can be contacted privately or the entire council can be addressed during the meetings. To address the council during a meeting, you must provide your name, address, and item of discussion on the sign-in sheet located on the council table prior to the opening of the meeting.
Those signed up to speak will be called upon by the Mayor in the order in which they appear on the sign-in sheet. Before beginning their remarks, the person will state their name and address for the record. Remarks are limited to three minutes.
Council Responsibilities
Per the TML Handbook for Mayors and Councilmembers:
The City Councilmembers are the city’s legislators. Their primary duty is policy making, which includes identifying the needs of residents, formulating programs to meet the changing requirements of the community, and measuring the effectiveness of ongoing municipal services.
Unless restricted by state law, each council member is entitled to vote or abstain on every question decided at a council meeting, and has full parliamentary privileges in council meetings—including the right to speak and make motions when recognized by the chair and the right to introduce new ordinances and amendments to existing ones. Though foremost in importance, lawmaking is just one of many functions councilmembers perform. They also wear several other hats, which one writer describes as follows:
- Regulator—The council exercises regulatory powers over the conduct and property of its citizens. It has the power to declare certain conduct to be criminal, to require that certain businesses and activities be licensed, and to tell property owners how and for what purposes they may use their property.
- Financier—The council may levy taxes, assess fees and charges, and sell bonds in order to finance the many functions of the city government. The council also has to budget the expenditure of the city’s funds, and then explain to the people why municipal government is a bargain compared to the price of rampant crime, fires, disease, and all of the other problems that would flourish without proper city services.
- Employer—The council is responsible for all of the city’s employees, and must see that they are adequately paid and provided with decent working conditions and fringe benefits.
- Buyer—The council is one of the biggest purchasers in the community, and must see to it that the city gets the best value possible for dollars spent.
Even this is not a complete description of all the challenges that confront councilmembers. The real task is in providing leadership and direction for the city, in deciding what needs to be done, and in helping plan what the city will be for future generations.