Drainage issues being addressed
Sulphur Springs Marc Maxwell presented his report to the council Tuesday, detailing the current active COVID cases, an update on capital improvement projects, an update on overdue utility accounts and the street improvement plan.
The number of active COVID-19 cases in Hopkins County increased 219% since the last city council meeting with 373 active cases as of September 2. The COVID unit at the hospital had 25 patients that day, up from 17 last month.
The Grays Building at Pacific Park has been completed, and Freddie Taylor and Harold Nash expressed their gratitude to Maxwell, the city council and city staff for the hard work that went into the Grays Building being completed.
There were no worker’s compensation or liability claims in August.
The council is still waiting for the steel market to normalize before construction can begin on the Senior Citizen’s Center.
The Saputo Sewer Main is nearing completion with the contractor expected to bore under Interstate 30 and connect the existing system to the new system this month, completing the project.
College Street is the next part of the reconstruction project with the council accepting an $82,250 bid on water main materials later that evening.
The runway project at the airport is 33% complete, and the project is expected to be finished by mid-November. This project consists of all concrete and asphalt surfaces on the operations side are being completely rehabilitated and the ramp is being significantly enlarged.
Progress on the Street Improvement Plan resumed in August with the contractor, Texana Land and Asphalt, expecting to be finished by Sept. 30. Streets included in the project are Austin, Beckham, Duckworth, Gena, N. Davis, Patton, Phyllis Court, and Texas Street. The total cost of the project is $1,152,098 and consists of 3.67 miles.
A little over $500,000 of the cost is covered by the street maintenance fee, which is only used for streets. It is not a part of the general fund.
New LED fixtures were installed in parking lots and along the pathways at Coleman Park.
Finance Director Lesa Smith presented an update on utility accounts sharing that notices were sent out in April to overdue accounts and cut offs started July. Most customers set up payment plans and had their accounts reconnected.
Maxwell shared that the capital construction crew had worked on correcting drainage issues along Camp Street, Live Oak, Easy Street, Davis Street and MLK Drive. Maxwell shared that some of these drainage ditches had not been addressed in years and some had a build up of silt that needed to be dug out.