This past weekend was a beautiful time to be in Mason and spend some time out of doors.  The temperature was just right, the skies were blue and people seemed to be having a great time everywhere I went.  On Friday evening last week the City had our annual Christmas party and combined it this year with a retirement party for some of our long time employees who are moving on to the next step of not needing to show up for work every day and having some extra time for themselves.  We celebrated the careers of Joe Martinez, Clyde Martin and David Hyden who together have a total of 96 years of service working for the City of Mason.  They will still be around for a few more weeks, but we sincerely appreciate all that they have done through the years to help make our community great, and we wish them each a wonderful and long retirement to enjoy the life they have built.  For the next couple of weeks the City should be operating on our regular schedules, but then with Christmas and New Years in the middle of a week we will have some special days off and changed schedules for some of the services like garbage pickup, office availability, recycling and animal control.  There should be an article in next week’s paper with specifics for City operations during the holidays.  We also continue to provide fall leaf pickup for our residents on an changed arrangement.  We do not have enough employees to run the leaf suction truck, so if you will rake your leaves and bag them, in any type of bag, we will be glad to swing by your house and pick up the bags and take them to the brush pile at the landfill for you.  If you will just call the City office and let us know when you have them ready, our staff will put your address on a list and we will come by and pick them up.  As with many of the requests and expectations this time of year, if may take our crews a little longer to get your concerns dealt with so please be patient and we will deal with all of the City issues as we can.

     The regular business of the City must also be taken care of even through the holidays, and so the City Commission will meet for our regular monthly meeting next Monday, December 16 at 5:30 at the Eckert Civic Center.  There are a few important issues that need to be dealt with, including final consideration of the Historic Property Ordinance that the Mason Historic Commission has worked on and proposed.  This Ordinance only regulates the demolition of historic structures, and does not try to regulate any other aspect of owning or restoring and maintaining one, but it does provide for identification of what constitutes a historic property and procedures for notification and permitting if demolition is considered.  The Commission will also hear a report from the engineers regarding the Water Treatment project and this should provide an clear understanding of the schedule and contractual expectations over the next six months so that we can get this system built and servicing our residents during 2020.  This project has been under consideration and review for several years, but we are nearing the active stages with construction and installation of the equipment so that we can all enjoy water that fully meets all EPA regulations.  The other particularly important issue the Commission will deal with is consideration of how we wish to go about filling the vacancy created when Bonnie Beam resigned to take a job with the City, and who we feel might be best qualified to serve in that position for the next several months.  With the significant projects underway and the decisions that are needed in the coming months, it is good that we have some informed and committed candidates, but this remains an important decision that will affect our community.  There are a few other less critical issues on the agenda, and if you are interested in how your City government runs please make an effort to attend next Monday.  If you cannot get to the Civic Center for the meeting, we are pleased that KHLB 102.5 radio has been broadcasting our meetings for the past several months to try and keep our entire community aware of your local decision making. 

     This time of year is always busy, and there seems to not be enough time to get all of the to-do list taken care of, but I hope that you do have a few extra minutes to pause and enjoy the signs of the Christmas season that are all around us.  The lights and décor in Heritage Park are a tangible symbol of the joy of this time of year, the Nativity on the Courthouse lawn is a reminder of the importance of the season, and the enjoyment and excitement of everyone you meet is a blessing of the benefits of living in a free country and in the heart of Texas.  Mason is truly the best hometown in Texas, and no time during the year shows that more than spending time here during the Christmas holidays.  I hope you have time to stop and enjoy all that your hometown has to offer in the next couple of weeks.