Sulphur Springs City Manager Marc Maxwell Report To City Council

COVID-19 RESPONSE – 

• Most City offices have reopened. Police Department, Fire Department, Water Treatment Plant, and Wastewater Treatment Plant remain closed. The Municipal Library has partially opened.
• Police and Fire continue to implement new procedures for dealing with persons suspected of COVID-19.
• Police and Fire employees still have their temperature taken when arriving at work.
• Department Heads, the City Manager, and the Mayor meet each week (virtually) to coordinate our efforts.
• Mayor, City Manager, Police Chief, and Fire Chief attend weekly EOC briefings. 

WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT – The Wastewater Treatment Plant is completed. It is a few months late, but it is $256,000 under budget. We had several change orders during construction, but most reduced the project’s cost rather than increase it. Congratulations to Utilities Director James Jordan for a job well done! 

GRAYS BUILDING – Staff is still fine-tuning the specifications for this project to keep costs down and quality up. We are leaning toward utilizing the construction manager method of construction. 

BELLVIEW STREET – Atmos is still replacing their gas line on this project. I don’t expect Atmos to finish for 60 days. 

MCCANN STREET – HOLIDAY DRIVE – We still haven’t done much on these two streets since we are still trying to understand the extent of the economic impact of COVID. 

CONNALLY STREET – Construction continues on the sidewalk on the south side of Connally Street. The Capital Construction Division poured 102 cubic yards of concrete on Connally Street in May.

STREET IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM –The Street Improvement Program (SIP) is in full swing. Below is a list of the streets to be paved this year. The streets completed in May are struck through. I expect the completion of the remainder in June. A combination of General Fund revenues and the Street Maintenance Fee on the water bill funds the SIP. Streets funded by the Street Maintenance fee are in yellow. 

Street

Between

Length

Asphalt Repair

Various soft spot repairs

1000

Barbara

Tate to Camp

649

Cedar Springs

Hollie and Cedar Spring

s

3364

CMH Rd.

Hwy 67 to I-30

2535

Debord

Park to Cemetery

570

Graham

Gilmer to Oak

338

Harred

Alabama to College

470

Lake Shore

Jill to Lewis

1362

Linda

Fisher to Gilmer

1410

Longino

Middle to Park

1452

Lou and Jonas

2650

Middle

Jackson to Church

1140

Mockingbird

Shannon to Posey

3560

Myndi

Helm to dead-end

898

Nicholson

Locust to Moore

1072

Oak Grove

Jefferson to End

702

Park Cir.

Bill Bradford to all

1563

Plano/Pampa

Texas to Brinker

1362

Rosemont

Jefferson to Houston

1072

Seventh

RR to Park

1584

CLAIMS – We had two minor worker’s compensation claims in May. Both were minor. One was in the Police Department, and the other was in the Fire Department.

We received two liability claims in May for a person who injured her knee in Buford Park, and that TML denied. Another person is claiming the vibrations from a house demolition performed by the City caused their floor to buckle. The City submitted that claim to TML.

Another citizen reported damages from a sewer overflow, and they were paid $1,670 for costs by TML.

REVENUES AND EXPENDITURES – Finance Director Lesa Smith will give a year-to-date report of revenues and expenditures.

Elsewhere around the City, employees: 

• Prepared downtown for another summer season.
• Fertilized all athletic fields.
• Removed all weeds from Kids Kingdom
• Burned the brush pile at Coleman Park; actually, an arsonist beat us to it.
• Trimmed up trees at Buford Park to a minimum 10’ clearance.
• Trimmed shrubs at the library and the senior citizens center.
• Made major street repairs following seven utility repairs.
• Repaired 247 potholes
• Cleaned storm drains three times.
• Replaced a downtown streetlight and a seat wall after a wreck
• Replaced a stop sign that someone ran over.
• Hauled 7,600 tons of broken concrete from Thermo to Hilltop.
• Replaced one washed-out culvert on CR 2307.
• Removed concrete at the site of the proposed senior citizen center.
• Conducted 24 building inspections, 29 electrical inspections, 15 plumbing inspections, seven mechanical inspections and issued 24 building permits,
• Responded to 182 fire/rescue calls including four structure fires, two vehicle fires, and six grass fires
• Sent out 42 notices for weed violations.
• Performed preventative maintenance on 80 fire hydrants.
• Sold 1,360 gallons of AvGas and 4,480 gallons of JetA fuel
• Checked out 2,236 books from the library
• Replaced the lamps on the Peavine Pinion boardwalk
• Treated Wastewater to a daily average total suspended solids reading of .21 mg/L. our limit this time of year is 12 mg/L. It is a new record for the plant. Once the new plant has been in service for a year, we should re-rate for a flow higher than 5.4 MGD.
• Repaired ten main water ruptures and replaced ten water meters.
• Unstopped 17 sewer mains.
• Repaired four sewer mains.
• Washed 75,000 feet of sewer mains.
• Treated 143 million gallons of potable water
• Flushed 36 dead-end water mains.
• Responded to 26 accidents including, two deaths, wrote 469 citations, recorded 78 offenses, made 55 arrests, and responded to 2,221 calls for police service.
• Made eight felony arrests on the Special Crimes Unit.
• Responded to 192 animal control calls and achieved an 84% adoption rate.