Numerous citizens attended the meeting, including many landlords and tenants who were there to express concerns about a proposed ordinance regarding rental properties.
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Council approved the minutes of the July 13th regular meeting and August 5th special meeting.
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Council accepted the financial report for the month ending July 31, 2026. Sarah Osburn, Director of Administrative Service, commented that the sales taxes were trending at 2.5% and not the 4% as budgeted.
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Citizens Opportunity to Speak
Matthew, a landlord from Sherman spoke first and expressed several concerns with the proposed rental housing ordinance. He raised concerns about the 24-hour emergency repair rule and had questions about the costs of the fees. He stated he submitted a letter to the city earlier today which further detailed his concerns. He asked the council to table the issue.
Bob Lee from Bonham spoke about his concerns of debris being dropped into Lake Bonham. He brought this concern before the council a few months ago and was asking for an update on the issue.
The city attorney reminded everyone that the council is not allowed to respond to the comments made by citizens during this portion of the meeting due to Open Meeting Laws.
Jason Egan of Ladonia started to speak, but then decided to wait until public hearing about proposed rental ordinance.
Jade Custer of Bonham submitted handouts to the council and spoke about the proposed rental ordinance. He stated he supports safe rental housing and effective enforcement and asked the council to have workshops on this matter and revise the proposed ordinance and clean up discrepancies within it.
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Council appointed Cody Nelson and reappointed Edward Ray to the Board of Adjustments. The council also appointed Lorie Clark and Charles Fisher to be alternates to this board.
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Council tabled an Ordinance to amend Chapter 3 (Building Regulations) by adding new regulations, standards, and fees for Rental Housing registration and inspections within the Bonham Code of Ordinances. Altobelli said that the ultimate goal of this ordinance was for protecting the health and safety of tenants of rental properties in the city and to hold landlords accountable.
Altobelli pointed out that there are requirements for rental properties according to state laws. He stated that city inspections would focus on security, utilities, health and safety. He stated that inspections would address issues such as visible mold, holes in floors, holes in ceilings, fire safety issues, sanitation problems and structural issues. Altobelli said that this ordinance would call for inspections only when there is a change of occupancy.
The ordinance proposed requiring an annual registration of rental properties and that one proposed option was a $60 fee, while the second proposed option was no fee. The proposed $60 inspection fee would only be necessary when there is a change of tenants, before the new renter moves in.
Altobelli said that the city estimates there are over 300 rental units in Bonham, but there could be more than that. This registration process would give the city valuable information that would help with planning and development processes. Altobelli noted that he gave the council a list of what other cities charge for these fees and that the proposed fees for Bonham are in the middle to lower end of the range.
Altobelli also pointed out that the proposed inspection fee of $60 would include the first re-inspection as well, but any additional re-inspections would incur a fee of $15 per visit, according to the proposed ordinance. Altobelli stated that if this ordinance was approved, that when tenants call the city with a complaint about their landlord, the city would first encourage the tenant to try to work out the problem with their landlord and the city would only get involved when the tenant reported that they were unable to work out the issue with their landlord. Altobelli also noted that the 24-hour response time was only when the problem was an imminent threat to life.
Spanky Carter of Ravenna spoke and said that safe, well-maintained housing is important to the community, as is holding landlords accountable. He urged the council to reject this new ordinance as it would bring on new costs and administrative work for landlords, which would get passed on to renters. Carter questioned if this new ordinance was needed, as there are already laws and processes in place to address problem properties. He urged the city to focus their resources on the problem properties instead of creating a broad system for all rentals and to consider the long-term impact of this proposed ordinance.
Jason Egan of Ladonia is landlord who has single-family homes. He said he supports safe housing but expressed concern for the fees. He questioned what problem was the city trying to target and urged the council to consider a risk-based approach. He proposed making the process simpler for those landlords who are doing the right thing.
Contessa Essary of Trenton was another landlord in Bonham to speak. She said she takes pride in her properties and strives to keep them affordable. She said she has 30 houses in Bonham and many long-term tenants. She expressed concern about the proposed fees. Essary also talked about sometimes having tenants who destroy things before moving out and questioned how to hold these people accountable. Essary said she wants Bonham to be safe and beautiful and hopes that maybe a happy medium with no extra fees could be worked out.
Kathy Fontana said she has 24 multi-family properties in Texas and said she has no fees like this for any of her properties in other towns. She said that in other communities, the police department and rental places have worked together to share information with one another and it has been a mutually beneficial thing.
Mike Bankston of Bonham said he echoed many of the concerns and experiences as the other landlords had mentioned. He cautioned the council to not punish the good landlords. Bankston stated that if the purpose of the ordinance is to protect the tenants from bad landlords, then the city should deal with it on an complaint report basis.
Regina Jones of Bonham said she has been a tenant in Bonham for 16 years at one house. She encouraged the council to consider a complaint basis and questioned what the city was trying to fix. She said she understands both sides of the issue and appreciates those who are trying to help the renters.
Dale Sterzer of Bonham said he has been a landlord in Bonham since 1995 and now has nearly one hundred rental properties. He noted that there is a great need for good rental properties in the city. He said he has a staff of 8 people who take care of problems when his tenants report things. He notes that his rental fees are at the ceiling of what can be afforded in Bonham and expressed concern that more fees will raise rents. He echoed all that has been said and urged the city establish a small working group with city staff and some local landlords. He also requested that the landlords in the room stay after and exchange names and phone numbers.
Melody Michaud of Bonham works at the Texoma Housing Partners. She said they are a private landlord, but have Section 8 funding. She asked if the ordinance would distinguish between subsidized housing and non-subsidized housing and Altobelli said the ordinance does not distinguish between them.
Custer spoke again and noted that while he supported the 24-hour rule in life-threatening situations, he once had a situation when a tree fell and ripped out electrical lines. He got it fixed within 24 hours, but it was on a Friday and they had to wait until Monday for city staff to come inspect. He urged the council to table the proposal to allow more work to be done on the proposed ordinance.
Mohammad from McKinney said he sent a presentation ahead of time to the council. He expressed concern that rents will go up if this ordinance is passed. He said that there are already systems in place to report problems and fix problems and questioned why this new ordinance was needed. He stated that the City of Garland tried something like this and it was determined to be unconstitutional.
Altobelli said that many other cities have this type of ordinance. He noted that many property owners are listed as LLC and the city does not know who to call when there is a problem.
Fontana said that every unit of hers is inspected annually for lenders. She was concerned that the proposed inspections would slow her business down and delay renters moving in while waiting for the city inspector to come out. She said she agreed that they city needed information about who owns the properties.
Richard Brooks of Bonham encouraged the city to do this on a complaint basis and he noted that tenants should know who to call for problems at their rentals.
Altobelli stated that if the council wanted to go with a complaint-based system, they should consider what types of fees there would be for a first report and for subsequent reports.
Jason Egan stated he thought this ordinance is treating good and bad landlords the same.
Tammy Mize of Bonham said she has been a tenant for 11 years. She praised her landlord for responding quickly to reports of problems and proposed a grading system of landlords and proposed charging only the landlords who get numerous complaints.
Council member Ernie Quintana expressed concern for the tenants who fear reporting problems to the city for fear of getting kicked out of their rental home. He said there was a need for a workshop and thanked everyone who attended the meeting and spoke.
Mayor Sanderson said he appreciated the comments and input. He said that the city’s goal is to have safe places to live and noted that rental properties are important to this community. He said that the rentals need to be up to code. Sanderson noted that he had quite a few calls about this issue and pointed out that he and the other council members are here to serve this community. He urged everyone to get information accurate on social media and remember that the council will always work with the citizens of Bonham.
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Council held a brief Public Hearing on the proposed City of Bonham PACE Program. City manager Sean Pate said the council heard about the PACE program at last month’s council meeting. He said it is a voluntary program and a financing tool for improving energy efficiency that will have no impact to city taxes.
Sanderson said that he sees this as a beneficial program, especially given the many older homes and buildings in the town. Sanderson pointed out that any lender can make these loans and participation is voluntary.
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Council approved a Resolution to Establish the City of Bonham PACE Program.
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Council approved a Services Agreement with Texas PACE Authority to administer the City of Bonham PACE Program.
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Council approved an Ordinance to amend Chapter 6 (Health and Sanitation) of the Bonham Code of Ordinances by adding new regulations allowing for the adoption of fees to defray costs of collecting certain unpaid municipal liens within the Bonham Code of Ordinances. Altobelli said that this ordinance would help the city collect unpaid liens. The city of Bonham currently has about $130,000 in unpaid liens. This ordinance will allow the city to partner with a collection agency and add 20% fee to cover costs to collect.
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Council approved a Resolution to approve a contingent fee contract with Perdue Brandon Fielder Collins & Mott LLP for the collection of delinquent municipal liens owed to the City of Bonham and notice of said contract is posted with the agenda in accordance with Section 2254 of the Government Code.
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Council approved a Resolution to approve a Site Plan, Horse Apple Addition, Block A, Lot 4. Portion of Property ID# 119761. Altobelli said that this property is on Highway 121, across from Starbucks and will be a drive-through coffee shop. He noted that it meets all codes, was approved by the Planning and Zoning Commission and included no variances.
City manager Sean Pate said that Aldi’s is not coming to Bonham.
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Council was given an opportunity to give staff additional direction and feedback on proposed fiscal year 2026-2027 annual budget, but they had no comments at this time.
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Meeting adjourned at 7:10 p.m.
