WC CWF Hospital Board Minutes - 03/13/2026 WICHITA FALLS-WICHITA COUNTY PUBLIC HEALTH BOARD MINUTES
�oCOUNTYpoBGc March 13, 2026
s Wichita Falls-Wichita County Public Health District
1700 Third Street—Clements Conference Room
Public Health Wichita Falls, Texas
BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT:
Keith Williamson, M.D., Chair Physician —City Appointment
Terri Farabee, RN Registered Nurse— City Appointment
Melissa Plowman Restaurant Association -City Appointment
Rachel Reitan, DNP, FNP-c Citizen At-Large— City Appointment
BOARD MEMBERS EXCUSED ABSENCE:
Ray Forsythe Citizen At-Large — County Appointment
Morgen Gardner, DDS Dentist— County Appointment
OTHERS PRESENT:
Amy Fagan, M.P.A. Director of Health
Mark Beauchamp County Commissioner
Kinley Hegglund City Attorney
Angela Lu Asst. City Attorney
I. CALL TO ORDER
Dr. Williamson, Chair, called the meeting to order at 12:00 pm after a quorum of members was
attained.
II. Approval of Minutes &Absences
Dr. Williamson called for a review and approval of the January 9, 2026 minutes.
Dr. Williamson asked for a motion to approve the minutes. Melissa Plowman made a motion to approve
and Rachel Reitan seconded. The minutes were approved unanimously.
Kinley Hegglund introduced himself and Angela Lu. They are here to give legal advice when we need
it. Kinley said there is a new law that before any vote the Chair needs to ask the members of the public
to comment on items being voted on. Even if there are no members of the public in attendance.
Dr. Williamson asked if there were any comments from members of the public. He noted he heard
none and requested a vote on the minutes. The minutes were approved.
Dr. Williamson stated that Ray Forsythe and Dr. Morgen Gardner are excused from the meeting.
We have a new member that is not here.
III. New Member & Reappointments
Amy stated that Melissa and Rachel are being reappointed and would need to be sworn in.
Commissioner Beauchamp offered to do the swearing in.
They were sworn in and signed the Statement of Officer and Oath of Office.
IV. Election of Positions
Dr. Williamson stated we have Chair, Vice Chair and the Secretary positions.
Rachel Reitan nominated Dr. Williamson for the Chair position.
Dr. Williamson asked for comments from the public, there were none, and no other nominations.
He accepted the nomination.
Dr. Williamson asked for nominations from the floor for Vice Chair. He nominated Rachel Reitan.
No other nominations, comments invited from the public, there was none, Rachel accepted the
nomination for Vice Chair.
Dr. Williamson asked for nominations for the Secretary position. Terri Farabee nominated Melissa
Plowman as Secretary. No other nominations were made and comments invited from the public,
there was none. Melissa was willing to serve a second term. Dr. Williamson thanked her for
serving as Secretary again.
V. Mobile Food Changes
Dr. Williamson introduced Samantha Blair, Environmental Administrator.
Samantha stated the current Mobile Food ordinance is part of our local food ordinance updated
in 2024. In 2025 the fee changed from $345 permit fee to $258 to match the State permit fee.
The Wichita Falls-Wichita County Public Health District permit covers the whole county.
May 26, 2025, the Texas Legislature passed House Bill 2844 (HB 2844) concerning the regulation
of food vendors in Texas. The bill was signed into law by Gov. Abbott on June 10,2025. The
effective date of July 1, 2026. It destroyed the pilot program that the DFW region jurisdictions
were working on.
HB 2844 Section 1 adds language to HSC 437 regarding small-scale food businesses. Small-
scale food businesses are defined as having a Gross Annual Revenue less than $1.5 million. It
restricts the ability of local jurisdictions to require retail permits of small-scale food businesses if
the business already holds a DSHS retail permit or holds a DSHS Food Manufacturer License.
HB 2844 Section 2 creates new Texas Health and Safety Code (HSC) Chapter 437B, devoted
specifically to the licensing and inspection of"mobile food vendors" (MFV's) in Texas.
It preempts local authority to prohibit or regulate MFV's in ways that conflict with HSC 437B.
It requires a MFV to obtain an annual license from DSHS for statewide operation. Local
jurisdictions will no longer be able to issue permits.
Three-tier classification of MFV's based on risk:
Type I — prepackaged, non-TCS (Temperature Control Safety) foods and low risk of harm
to the public. The fee is $300.
Type II —food that requires limited handling and preparation. The fee is $1,400.00.
Type III —complex preparation, cooking, holding, and service. The fee will be $1,850.00.
Annually thereafter it will be reduced by $400 for Type II and by $500 for Type III, because they
will only have the application fees.
Currently, our fees for Type III pays $258 for all the services we provide.
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This authorizes DSHS and contracting local jurisdictions to conduct both pre-licensing and
ongoing, randomized inspections to ensure the compliance of MFV operators with applicable
regulations-particularly those pertaining to food safety.
Authorizes DSHS to charge fees for:
license applications;
pre-licensing inspections; and
routine inspections.
Authorizes DSHS to enter into "collaborative agreements" to reimburse local jurisdictions for
conducting MFV inspections.
Requires DSHS to establish and maintain a statewide database, accessible also to local
jurisdictions, that contains:
names of licensed MFV's;
results of inspections;
public complaints that resulted in disciplinary or corrective action; and
itineraries of MFV's.
State's Obligation — DSHS must:
Adopt rules by May 1, 2026;
Implement a statewide licensing process for MFV's to go into effect on July 1, 2026;
Implement a process for contracts with local jurisdictions and reimbursement for inspections;
Establish and maintain a statewide database for dissemination of information regarding
MFV's to local jurisdictions; and
Work with HHS Legal Services and SOAH to establish a smooth and uniform enforcement
process.
Local Obligation — Local jurisdictions must:
Review local ordinances and processes to ensure they do not conflict with HSC 437B;
Maintain current permitting and inspection procedures until July 1, 2026, including not
pro-rating inspections; and
Decide whether to contract with DSHS to conduct MFV inspections within their respective
jurisdictions.
Where are we now? Samantha said DSHS has their draft rules. We did submit some informal
comments in October, 2025. No changes that we suggested were made.
It is in formal comment period now 2/20/26— 3/23/26.
The state sent all Health Departments a request for a letter of intent if they wanted to contract with
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the state. They also sent a statement of work. The statement of work is their template for their
contract. The letter of intent is non-binding.
Samantha said they have met with our legal team to talk about our concerns and are currently
waiting for the contract. We will revise our food ordinance once things are finalized.
We are participating in work groups to develop standard of operating procedures for local Health
Departments to do the inspections for the state. We are hopefully going to guide things in the right
direction. The best benefit for Public Health is for us to continue to do the inspections.
Samantha answered questions:
Mark asked about reversing the fees of those who have paid for a permit beyond 7/1/26. Amy
said they are working on how they will do this.
Rachel asked about the objective. Melissa spoke and explained what she knew. Amy also spoke
and explained that the intent was good for people not to have so many regulations to their
business. Amy said there is still a need to have control at the local level to protect public health &
safety because no one will do it better.
Melissa asked Samantha for information and Amy asked if she could meet with Melissa to find out
what we can do to work with the Restaurant Association about the food truck issue. Regulating
with food trucks and making sure we can keep people safe.
Samantha stated right know we are making all new vendors or vendors up for renewal aware of
things changing. As of July 1, 2026 the jurisdiction goes to the state and we do not know what
that will look like.
Terri asked how many vendors do we have in this area. Samantha said we have around 95, and
if we go into the contract agreement with the State, she expects things to change because of the
additional fees. Also, our work load and revenue will be impacted.
VI. Next Meeting Date
May 8, 2026
VII. Adjourn
Dr. Williamson adjourned the meeting at 12:50.
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Sig t re
Keith Williamson, MD, Chair, Rachel Reitan, DNP, FNP-c, Vice-Chair,
Melissa Plowman, Secretary
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