The City of Navasota has joined many other cities around the State in asking Governor Gregg Abbott to veto House Bill 2439. City Manager Brad Stafford gave a run down of what the bill means for the city at last night’s (Monday) meeting of City Council.
“It would basically eliminate our city codes and ordinances that require specific building materials. For instance, our central business district is a fire district, created many, many years ago, because our city burned on quite a couple of occasions. So, our forefathers decided that we should try to prevent that, so they required that all downtown buildings would be constructed with masonry walls,” Stafford said.
Stafford mentioned there are other areas in the city that require specific building materials as well.
The city council was presented a resolution on Monday night that would have the city request to Abbott that the bill be vetoed. If Abbott does not veto or sign, it will go into effect anyway.
Stafford urged council to take action on the resolution if they want to keep the town the way it looks.
“if you like the way your downtown looks, then you need to push this,” said Stafford. “If not, then our downtown can be constructed out of just about anything the building code allows.”
The council unanimously approved the resolution and will join other cities in asking the governor to veto the bill.