Permit Required
City of Brownsboro amends Solicitation Ordinance

In an effort to discourage transient solicitors for the safety and welfare of the citizens of Brownsboro, the Brownsboro city council approved amending the existing Chapter 15 entitled "Peddlers, Solicitors, and Itinerant Vendors" of city's solicitation ordinance, during their regularly scheduled meeting, Thursday, May 10.

According to Chapter 15 of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Brownsboro, Section 1.2, a permit must be obtained from the City before anyone can peddle, hawk, sell, solicit, or take orders for, offer to take orders for any services, wares, merchandise or goods, including magazines and photographs, on the streets and sidewalks, or from doorto door within the city.

All applicants are required to submit in writing under oath, their name, date of birth, permanent address, name and address of firm or persons the applicant represents, a description of the goods or services proposed to offer for sale, five references, and how often the applicant will solicit during the year.

Also required are the names of the cities where the applicant has worked within the previous 30 days of the appli- cation, state whether or not applicant has ever been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor, involving moral turpitude.

Additionally, the applicant must provide a photo identification.

An investigation fee of $20 per year for investigation will be charged and will not be returned regardless of whether a permit is issued or denied.

Before issuance of a permit the Brownsboro police department will investigate each applicant.

"The amendment allots us time to do an investigation," Brownsboro Police Chief Ron Shields said. "The earliest we can issue a permit is two days, and the longest we can delay issuing a permit is two weeks."

The amendment also restricts the hours in which solicitation can be conducted in the city.

Solicitation activities may be conducted Monday through Saturday only, 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., or sunset, whichever is earlier.

Other conditions apply. The ordinance regulating solicitation activities can be viewed at Brownsboro City Hall during business hours.

In other business in reviewing of the city's financial status, Brownsboro Mayor Ronny Harris said the city is right where it should be in relation to its fiscal budget.

"We're in good shape on our budget overall," he said. "We're going to come out pretty good."

Also saving the city money is the use of Henderson County trustees, for general maintenance and repair, Harris said.

"Because everybody is working together is why we're doing so well," Harris said. "I'm very pleased with the budget."

Brownsboro City Utility Superintendent J.D. Jones reported Tx Dot should begin installing the No Parking signs on Highway 31 as stated in the resolution passed by the city council during their October 19, 2006 meeting. Due to safety issues, the resolution was approved to establish no parking zones on the entire south side of State Highway 31, within the city limits, from The Tire Shop across from Willow Street, west to the end of the shoulder on the north side of Highway 31.

Harris thanked Jones and Brownsboro Police Chief Ron Shields for their diligence in their work for the city.

The Brownsboro City Council meets the second Thursday, of the month at 5:00 p.m., in City Hall.