Citizens hold Point Blank accountable
San Jacinto Newstimes , October 2007

POINT BLANK – More than 60 citizens attended a meeting of the Point Blank City Council Monday night wanting questions answered on a variety of things but their main concerns were on annexation.
Opening the floor up to questions from the audience, Point Blank Mayor Lillian Bratton said, “We are here to answer your questions and they will be answered truthfully.”
Sam Gordon of Lookout Estates said they are against annexation.
“What’s in it for us to annex?” he asked.
“It will make things better. Onalaska wants to come across the Lake Livingston Bridge and take our property. That’s one reason,” Bratton said.
Citizens wanted to know where the city gets its money for street maintenance and asked about city equipment.
Bratton explained that the city gets its money from sales taxes, franchise taxes and grants.
“We don’t have a city property tax,” she said.
Bratton said the city has an inter-local agreement with San Jacinto County Pct. 4 Commissioner Mark Nettuno for city road maintenance.
“He uses county equipment and we pay him to maintain the city roads. When you can’t get your city road work done it’s because your commissioner can’t get to it. He’ll get to it when he can,” Bratton said.
Bratton said the city can only annex one and one-half miles at this time.
On Monday night’s agenda were the discussion, consideration and possible vote to approve the resurvey of the city. That item, along with all other agenda items was tabled with the exception of giving the city secretary a $50 per month pay raise.
Answering a question from the audience, Bratton said, “The last survey of the City of Point Blank was done in June of 1975.”
 She was referring to a June 26, 1975 edition of the San Jacinto News-Times which she had on the table in front of her and other council members. The newspaper had a hand drawn map of the incorporated boundaries of the city when it originally incorporated in 1975 setting out the proposed limits for the new city. Point Blank resident Thomas Walters prepared the map and field notes of the incorporated area.
“We need to find out exactly where our boundaries are. We do want to move toward the Lake because we would like to be the ones to gain the benefits of a hotel that is on the Bratton said.
At first council members said they had a bid of $2,000 to do the survey.
Citizens had a number of questions concerning the number of bids the city had from surveyors interested in doing the job and who the surveyor is that will be doing the job.
“We didn’t have any other bids,” Bratton said. “This was the only bid and we didn’t actually go out and get any.” She said the surveyor, who was never named, has already researched metes and bound.
During last month’s meeting of the city council, Pct. 4 Constable Lou Rogers told the council that he knew of a new surveyor in the county and would contact him to see how much he would charge.
Taking another look at the bid, a council member corrected the earlier statement about the bid being $2,000 and said it is actually $5,000.
Another citizen asked council members where the money would come from to pay for the survey since it is not included in the city’s 2007 city budget.
At that point a motion was made and passed to table the survey until the next meeting.
Several citizens wanted to know how many signatures would be needed on a petition to de-annex the city.
“I don’t know the number needed. I couldn’t answer that,” Bratton said.