The Alvin City Council convened on December 18, 2025, at Alvin City Hall for a regular business meeting. Mayor Pro tem Meagan DeKeyzer facilitated the meeting. Chris Thomas, Finance Director, began the presentations with a Finance Department report.
He initiated the report by outlining the Finance Department’s mission: to establish and uphold effective financial accounting policies and procedures. Thomas stated, “We strive to ensure the integrity of the city’s finances by using low-risk financial planning, budgeting conservatively, recording all transactions in compliance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, and protecting the city’s and taxpayers’ assets.”
Thomas added, “We represent all that’s supposed to be good in finance, all that’s supposed to be done right with the auditors— we actually maintain and track every cent that goes in and comes out of this place.”
In addition to Director Thomas, the Finance Department is comprised of Controller – Sokheng Thou, Accountant – Darrell Hunting, Accounts Payable Technician – Ester Garay, and Finance Specialist – Kaitlyn Elder.
Duties of the department include internal customer support, preparation of the Annual Budget Document, maintaining compliance with applicable city, state, and federal statutes pertaining to finance, coordinating and assisting third party auditors with midyear and end-of-year auditing procedures/reports, administering the Credit Card Purchasing Program through Wells Fargo, and maintaining Capital Asset Records.
The department also coordinates with Human Resources to manage payroll/ benefit payments for city employees and facilitates investment of city held funds. In addition, the department is responsible for handling payments related to projects, insurance issues, and accounts for purchased items and services.
Thomas reported the city’s General Fund as $24,282,011 for 2025 and $24,442,236 for 2026. He said the Utility Fund is paying bonds, working on projects, and wastewater treatment upgrades; therefore, their revenues and expenditures went from $16,664,576 in 2025 to $18,271,200 in 2026.
Awards earned by the department this year include the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award from the Government Finance Office Association and a Double A rating from S & P.
Thomas continued with an explanation of the Utility Billing Department beginning with the department’s mission statement. He said the department strives to provide the highest level of customer service to past, current, and future water, sewer, and garbage account holders with the city—utilizing advancements in technology that allows for more efficient reads, alerts, and optimize customer service.
Members of the Utility Billing Department are Utility Billing Manager – Amy Sanchez, Utility Billing Specialist – Sarah Browder, Utility Billing Clerks – Shivana Debesingh and Kristen Ruiz, Meter Maintenance Technician – Daniel Gutierrez, and Meter Technician – Rogelio (Troy) Mendoza. Duties of the department include reading meters for over 9,000 water accounts, maintaining the advanced metering infrastructure system, setting up new accounts as well as occupancy changes.
Thomas reported 609 new customer accounts; he added that FY 2025 water revenue was at $7,401,810 and sewer revenue at $8,204,250. Additionally, the department conducted 310 meter re-reads. To improve customer communications, the city has added online connect service requests to its electronic service options and the Waterline Quarterly Newsletter.
Elias Carranza, an Alvin ISD student, came forward during Public Comments to propose a new detention
(Courtesy pond to mitigate flooding. He said, “Alvin has a great flood risk and there are ways to fix it.” Carranza presented his data and maps to the council to illustrate his proposal and explained how flood waters threaten key roads and homes. He noted that “as the city of Alvin industrializes and expands, the problem might worsen.” Carranza suggested that building a detention pond near Mustang Bayou can reduce flooding by storing runoff. He concluded by requesting that the council consider his proposal.
In Other Business, the council approved an ordinance to annex approximately 128.5284 of land into the corporate limits of the city. The approval includes a service plan for the annexed area and will be used for Planned Unit Development. The proposed land use includes the development of 339 single-family residential lots, each with an average lot width of 58.79 feet, as well as the incorporation of an open park and trail system. The developers have requested five variances from the city’s ordinances for the property.
The council also approved SpawGlass Construction Corporation for Construction Manager at Risk for the Alvin City Hall project. City Manager Junru Roland spoke to the council stating the rationale for selecting SpawGlass. He said, “They [Spaw-Glass] provided the best value for the city based on several things—their demonstrated experience, quality control on projects, proposed personnel assigned to our project, the longevity of the firm, history of completing projects under budget, and their positive references from Brazoria County.”
Justin Nowak, Spaw-Glass Project Executive, provided the council with a brief overview of the company’s history, noting that the president of the Houston division has been a lifelong resident of Brazoria County and has served with the company for 41 years. According to the city’s website, “The project will be funded through Certificates of Obligation, a form of municipal bond financing, with a maximum principal amount of $25 million.”
The council also approved amending the city’s 2025/2026 Budget for the State of Texas Opioid Abatement Trust Fund Disbursement to purchase 32 Automated External Defibrillators and 65 Stop the Bleed Kits for the Alvin Police Department, in an amount not to exceed $76,452,63.
In the new year, the Alvin Police Department will host “Coffee with the Cops” on January 13 at Alvin Equipment from 8:00 to 9:00 a.m.