Streets finalized for year’s Street Improvement Plan

City manager Marc Maxwell reported during the Tuesday night city council meeting that city staff has finalized the list of this year’s streets to be paved as part of the Street Improvement Plan, or SIP.

The streets chosen are: Austin, Beckham, Duckworth, Gena, Lee, League, North Davis, Patton, Phyllis Ct., Texas and various sections of Woodbridge Crossing.

Maxwell stated that the street maintenance will be an extensive undertaking with over 19,000 linear feet, or 3.67 miles, of street needing repairs.

The total cost for the SIP is $1,152,098, with $502,000 of that cost being covered by the street maintenance fee revenue. Maintenance is slated to begin over the summer.

Construction on the Grays building is continuing as scheduled. The brick is all installed and walls are painted. The concrete floors are being polished and the large roll up doors will be installed soon. The framing for the doors is being put up so that the building can be secured and the fencing around the building can be taken down. The bathroom and kitchen fixtures are set to be installed soon. Outside concrete work will begin soon followed by landscaping. A dedication ceremony is scheduled for May 28, where the plaque will be set into the building.

The Saputo sewer main project is around 40% complete. This project is funded entirely by a grant from the Texas Department of Agriculture. Work is scheduled to continue as planned.

There were no workers compensation claims in April, however there was one insurance claim where a city worker backed into another vehicle. No injuries occurred during the accident.

Finance director Lesa Smith reported all revenue received was as expected and sales tax is up $138,478 for this year compared to last year. The fire department’s

The fire department’s year-to-date variance in budget was $51,955. Smith sharing that the fire department has been running high all year due to the separate COVID unit, which was disbanded in March.

The city did receive $888,446 of the $890,945 that was allotted in the CARES Act.

The amount the city did not receive was set to go to a business that had closed before the money was received. The business had received a grant from the city in an amount of $2,500 and returned $2,498, so the city did not pursue the funds from the CARES Act.

The airport is also expecting two allocations from the stimulus relief package with one totaling around $3,000.

Elsewhere in the city, staff have performed the following:

The Spring Clean-Up finished up with 74 40-yard roll-off containers hauled off and 819 vehicles served.

Twelve extensive street repairs were done following utility repairs. Over 130 potholes were repaired.

Street sweeping spoils were hauled to the landfill.

Curb and gutter repairs were made on Texas and Peach Streets and Beckham and Beckworth Streets in preparation for the Street Improvement Program.

Spring flowers were planted downtown, and the fountain was prepared for operation. Fences on ballfields were repaired and prepared for the youth leagues.

Over 3,500 meals were served at the Senior Citizens Center.

Animal Control responded to 169 calls while achieving an 81% adoption rate.

The police department made 12 felony arrests in the special crimes unit and responded to 2,223 calls for police service, responded to 37 accidents, wrote 48 citations, recorded 50 offenses and made 60 arrests.

The Fire department responded to 196 calls for fire/ rescue including 4 structure fires and 1 vehicle fire. Preventative maintenance was performed on 82 fire hydrants. Forty fire inspections were made and 40 prefire plans were reviewed. The airport accommo

The airport accommodated 1,595 landings and takeoffs. The airport also sold 4,137 gallons of AvGas and 9,295 gallons of Jet A fuel.

Over 2,700 items were checked out from the library.

Thirty-three building inspections, 16 electrical inspections, 10 plumbing inspections, and 6 mechanical inspections were conducted along with 23 building permits being issued. Two surge suppression

Two surge suppression modules were installed at the wastewater treatment plant. The belt press at the wastewater treatment plant was repaired. Wastewater effluent was treated to a daily average total suspended solids reading of .95 mg which was said to be a very good reading. Over 350 tons of sludge was sent out for composting and another 659 tons of sludge was sent to the landfill. Eight water main ruptures were repaired, and 15 water meters were replaced. Forty-four sewer mains were unclogged, and 80,000 feet of sewer mains were washed. Thirty-six dead-end water mains were flushed, and 137 million gallons of potable water was treated.