The City of Commerce held its first public in-person city council meeting for the new year Jan. 19. 

The global pandemic struck many cities, states and countries bringing them to a sudden halt. But with all the uncertainty of the virus, city council members still managed to meet virtually over Zoom during this time. 

While this was the first time meeting in person, all members, as well as public guests who attended, stayed safe and maintained social distancing. Howdy Lisenbee, city manager, was just one of the city’s staff in attendance. Many of the guests on the agenda were unable to make the meeting. The meetings can be seen online for those unable to attend in person. 

“Meetings can be viewed on our website, under the video tabs. And, as we conduct more

meetings we will start populating that and we’ll try to see if we can upload our recorded Zoom

meetings at some point to our YouTube Channel,” Lisenbee said.

While Covid-19 is putting a stop to many things, subjects such as creating a local

dog park, gifting two streets to Texas A&M University-Commerce and the 2021 general

elections were discussed at the meeting. 

 Logistics and money seemed to table quite a few items on the agenda,

while others did not get approved. The gifting of W. Neal St., located near

Whitley Hall, was approved. As for the SH 24 frontage road, that issue will still need some

time. There was also a motion to open and fill places two and four on the council during the May general elections.

“The city is open for business and we are committed to providing a high level of service,” Lisenbee said. “We recognize the reality of Covid, but we cannot let it shut us down,” 

For more information on when the next city council meeting is or inquires on the May

general election visit CommerceTx.org.