October 20, 2026 · City of Starbase · Meetings

Friday: Starbase holds its first hearing on annexing 123 acres of Highway 4, and votes on overtime rules for its police

The City of Starbase posted the agenda Monday evening for a special commission meeting Friday, Oct. 23, at 7 p.m. at City Hall, 48491 State Highway 4. It is the agenda only. The meeting packet, with the documents behind each item, is not posted yet.

• The highway: Public Hearing No. 1 on annexing the State Highway 4 right-of-way, 123.17 acres from the city limits about 1.2 miles east of Kingston Avenue to about the road leading to the Brownsville VORTAC. By our measurement that is about 8 miles of highway, heading toward Brownsville. The minutes of the Sept. 21 meeting say the commission's resolution of intent "sets a proposed annexation date of November 18, 2026."
• The new map: the city also posted an updated city limits map Monday evening, revised Oct. 1. Compared with the city's March 24 map, it adds the two areas annexed Sept. 21: the C-4 area of about 7,133 acres, and the 444-acre Garcia Lot near the Port of Brownsville. The Garcia Lot sits apart from the rest of the city. The Highway 4 strip up for its first hearing Friday runs between them. By our measurement, its last half mile runs along the Garcia Lot's highway side and ends at about the lot's southwest corner, where the road to the Brownsville VORTAC meets the highway.
• The 2 acres: Public Hearing No. 1 on the 2.01-acre city-owned tract on the north side of Highway 48, the land SpaceX gave the city for emergency services. Background.
• Police overtime: a resolution would put the city's sworn, TCOLE-licensed police officers on a 14-day work period, with overtime paid after 86 hours worked. If approved, the first period starts Saturday, Oct. 24, at 12:00 a.m. Under federal wage rules, police on a 14-day work period must get overtime after 86 hours, per the U.S. Labor Department. The city's resolution uses that same 86-hour line.
• Where the department stands: at the Sept. 21 meeting, Glenn Bennett, the city's public safety director and future police chief, reported that the department had received approval from TCOLE, the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement, following an on-site inspection, "allowing next steps including DPS filings, onboarding, and officer background processing," the minutes say. The overtime resolution doesn't say how many officers the city has or when patrols start.
• Also on the agenda: the Oct. 7 minutes; removing a member from "the advisory committee" (the agenda doesn't say which committee); naming the Project Support and Automations Coordinator as acting city clerk when the clerk is unavailable; and the city administrator's report on the budget, the police department, Boca Chica Beach and "Signed Agreements." The agenda doesn't name the agreements.

Have your say: anyone can speak at either hearing. Fill out a speaker card and give it to the City Clerk five minutes before the meeting starts. Each speaker gets up to three minutes per hearing. You can also email written comments to the City Clerk at cityclerk@starbase.texas.gov before the day of the meeting. The second hearings are Wednesday, Oct. 28, at 7 p.m., per the city's notice. Oct. 28 is also the city's target date for its police Cybertruck award.

Next: we'll read the packet when the city posts it, and report what the commission does Friday.

Sources: City of Starbase, Oct. 23, 2026 special meeting agenda (posted Oct. 19) · City of Starbase, public hearing notice, 2-acre parcel and SH 4 right-of-way · City of Starbase, Oct. 7 commission packet (Sept. 21 minutes, pp. 6 and 9) · U.S. Department of Labor, Fact Sheet #8, police and firefighters under the FLSA · City of Starbase, city limits map, revised Oct. 1, 2026 (posted Oct. 19) · City of Starbase, city limits map, March 24, 2026 · OpenStreetMap, Kingston Avenue · OpenStreetMap, Brownsville VORTAC