City Manager Reports to
Council on Activity
From City Mgr. Marc Maxwell
THE SQUARE – Work is progressing well on the project. I expect to re-open Oak Street this week. I plan to delay the start date on Jefferson Street until March 11. We will be hosting a 3-day music festival (Thirty-East) March 7-9 and there is a good chance we will need to make a couple of street closures on the south and west sides of the square, especially on the 9th. We will need to leave Jefferson and Oak open to detour traffic.
THIRTY-EAST – This is planned to be the first of a recurring event. The three day music festival will feature out-of-town and out-of-country bands traveling on their way to South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin. It will feature local bands as well. It should be a great time. We expect a good turnout in the first year and even better crowds in future years. All bands have been vetted. They have also been warned that if they use any vulgar language the power goes out, and they don’t get paid.
NEW CITY HALL – The foundation for the addition is scheduled to be poured this month. Work continues on the interior of the old post office building.
CLAIMS – We had one workers’ compensation claim for an employee who fell from a ladder. His injuries will require surgery. He will likely return to work in about 6 weeks.
Two liability claims were submitted for sewer back-ups. An additional claim was submitted for a traffic accident. One of our dump truck drivers was involved in an accident on Oak Avenue. Our driver was not injured, but the other driver was. He was treated and released from Hopkins County Memorial Hospital.
PEAVINE PINION POND - You might recall that we were successful in getting a grant from Texas Parks and Wildlife to build a walking trail around Peavine Pinion Pond. The $60,000 grant requires a $20,000 match from the City. Recent changes made by Mark Spencer (the man who designed Coleman Park) would include a boardwalk along the east side of the pond and even crossing the pond from the east bank to the peninsula. The changes would push the cost to over $100,000, but we may have identified a funding source for the additional cost. We will drain the pond after the trout fishing tournament for kids this weekend.
REVENUES AND EXPENDITURES – Finance Director, Peter Karstens will present a year-to-date review of revenues and expenditures.
MISCELLANEOUS – Elsewhere around the City, employees:
- Received Police training on human trafficking, hostage incidents, off-duty conduct, powers of arrest, effective testimony in a courtroom, racial profiling, use of force, supervisory skills, defensive driving.
- Conducted S.W.A.T. training.
- Responded to 48 accidents, made 83 arrests, recorded 75 offenses and wrote 707 tickets.
- Made 6 felony arrests in the Special Crimes Unit.
- Responded to 269 animal control calls, and achieved a 70% adoption rate.
- Responded to 122 fire/rescue calls including 1 structure fire.
- Performed preventative maintenance on 79 fire hydrants.
- Replaced 28 street signs.
- Conducted 35 fire inspections.
- Processed 708 tickets through the Municipal Court.
- Treated 108 million gallons of drinking water.
- Sold 1,322 gallons of AvGas and 3,896 gallons of Jet-A.
- Repaired 24 water main ruptures.
- Replaced 23 water meters.
- Made 15 water taps.
- Unstopped 57 sewer mains.
- Washed 83,000 feet of sewer mains.
- Repaired 5 sewer mains.
- Performed extensive preventative maintenance and repairs at wastewater treatment plant.
- Achieved a daily average total suspended solids count of 5.86 mg/L.
- Patched 242 potholes.
- Made 18 street repairs following utility repairs.
- Replaced 15 stop signs.
- Replaced 37 street signs.
- Swept 42 streets.
- Conducted 5 health inspections and 29 public nuisance inspections.
- Conducted 45 building inspections, 51 electrical inspections, 49 plumbing inspections, 28 mechanical inspections, 5 miscellaneous inspections and issued 12 building permits.
