Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Members of the Port Arthur Library Board will see their terms increase from two years to three.

The Port Arthur City Council on Tuesday granted the request made by the board members. The board includes seven residents nominated by the mayor and two elected by the Friends of the Port Arthur Public Library.

The terms will be staggered, as those in Positions 1, 3, 5 and 7 and Position 1 of the Friends will serve a limited purpose term that expires March 1, 2021, and begin three-year terms afterward. Those in Positions 2, 4 and 6 of the board and Position 2 of the Friends have begin three-year terms that expire March 1, 2023.

Also Tuesday, the city agreed unanimously to:

• accept $14,732 from Allstate Insurance as a settlement after police vehicle No. 1945 was hit by a speeding motorist who struck the left quarter panel of the unit on Oct. 25;
• accept a $7,975 settlement from the Texas Municipal League Intergovernmental Risk Pool, less a $2,500 deductible, after a water meter unit and a 2008 Ford F250 sustained damaged when citizens attacked an employee and caused the unit to strike a tree;
• authorize the transfer of properties it purchased through the Neighborhood Stabilization Program of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and assist Legacy CDC in selling newly constructed houses to qualified homebuyers eligible to participate in the Downtown Revitalization Affordable Housing Program; three houses are located on 5th Street and four more are on 6th Street; and
• extend contracts with Port Arthur American Little League for the use of U.G. Gibson Field, Senior Field and Roy O’Neal Field at Staff Sgt. Lucian Adams Park and for the use of Virginia and Sal Grado Field at Pioneer Park.

Councilmembers Raymond Scott Jr. and Cal Jones appointed Stacy Matthews and Mary Touchet to the Beautification Commission.