Volume 13, Issue 1
2018 Riley Fletcher Basic Municipal Law Seminar Registration Now Available
The 2018 Riley Fletcher Basic Municipal Law Seminar will take place on February 8-9 in Dallas, Texas. We hope you can join us in Dallas but, if you can’t, the seminar will also be available by live videocast. For more information or to register, please click here.
Small Cell Nodes: Understanding City Authority Workshop
Senate Bill 1004, passed during the 2017 legislative session, imposes strict limitations on cities’ regulation of “small cell nodes” (cellular antennae and related equipment). The law requires a city to allow access for small cell nodes in city rights-of-way, and it entitles cell companies and others to place equipment on city light poles, traffic poles, street signs, and other poles. The amount of compensation cities can demand from the providers of wireless services using these facilities is also capped by the law.
Join TML, the Texas City Attorneys Association, Texas Coalition of Cities for Utility Issues, and CPS Energy for a full-day workshop on February 9 in Austin where our experts will help you make sense of the law and prepare for this new technology.
For additional information, visit the website. (Note: This workshop is sold out, but it will be video-recorded and placed on the TML website as a paid online event shortly afterwards.)
FEMA Training Webinar
FEMA’s Office of the Chief Counsel established the Procurement Disaster Assistance Team (PDAT) in 2014 to help disaster assistance applicants with federal procurement standards and FEMA policies associated with FEMA’s Public Assistance Grants. PDAT’s mission is to ensure that FEMA personnel and nonprofit, local, state, tribal, regional, and national emergency management personnel are familiar with procurement processes to reduce the likelihood of disallowance for failure to adhere to the requirements.
PDAT is conducting a two-and-a-half hour webinar on January 30 at 1:00 p.m. To attend, go to https://fema.connectsolutions.com/r458h0bbvxf/ at that time. To hear the audio portion of the conference, dial 800-320-4330 and enter participant code 173935. Additional instructions include:
- Participants should sign in to the meeting as guests. Please enter your name, a dash, and city or firm name.
- Please join the audio conference at least FIVE minutes in advance to avoid late entry interruptions.
- Mute your phone after logging on to minimize background noise.
- Please stay on the line for the duration of the presentation so that the facilitator is not interrupted by the “beeps” when participants hang up early.
- Additional information about PDAT is available at https://www.fema.gov/procurement-disaster-assistance-team.
The Texas City Attorneys Association is also planning to conduct a live, all-day seminar with the Texas Division of Emergency Management and FEMA staff attorneys this spring. Look for more details on that seminar in the coming weeks.
Legal Library Materials Available
The Texas Municipal League legal department has several book collections that are in good shape (but haven’t been updated for some time) and would like to make them available to the TCAA membership. The collections include, but are not limited to: Vernon’s Texas Codes, American Jurisprudence (2nd edition), and West’s Texas Cases (3rd edition). If you, or someone you know, would be interested in acquiring some for office décor, etc., please contact Heather Ford at ford@tml.org for more information.
City of Austin 2018 Open Government Symposium
The City of Austin’s 2018 Open Government Symposium will take place on March 21 at the Austin Central Library. This free one-day event will feature legal experts, journalists, and open government advocates discussing hot topics in open government and transparency. Attorneys may be able to receive CLE credit – accreditation pending. More details, including how to register and reserve your seat, can be found online here.
SAVE THE DATE – UPCOMING TCAA EVENT!
The 2018 Summer Conference at the Hyatt Lost Pines Resort in Bastrop, will take place on June 13-15, 2018.
TCAA Online Membership Directory
Looking to find the contact information for a fellow TCAA member? You can find it using the TCAA membership directory, available here:
http://members.tml.org/Web/Online/Directories/TCAA_Directory.aspx
IMLA Membership
Membership with IMLA doesn’t just mean discounts to their events. It’s much more than that. Click here to view a quick video about IMLA membership.
FREE CLE!
2017 TCAA Fall and Summer Conference Sessions are Available Online
The TCAA Online Seminars are FREE, allowing TCAA members who are city attorneys, assistant city attorneys, or attorneys who regularly practice municipal law to view videos of past seminars in a single−session format. Viewing of the session allows attorneys to receive participatory CLE credit with the State Bar. To view available seminars, please visit www.tcaaonlineseminars.org. (Use the case-sensitive password “FreeCLE” to gain access to the sessions.)
If you would like to have an article considered for publication in the TCAA newsletter, please send your request to Christy Drake-Adams at christy@tml.org.