Sulphur Springs City Manager Marc Maxwell’s Report To City Council

COVID-19 RESPONSE

The number of active cases in Hopkins County decreased since our last meeting, with 141 active as of April 5. There are zero patients in the COVID unit at the hospital as of Monday.

GRAYS BUILDING –They finished the framing and the plumbing top-out, the electrical rough-in is complete, installed the HVAC and sheetrock, and brick is going up now. The roof is completed on the building, but not the covered area on the north side. Stainless steel furnishings for the kitchen are beginning to arrive. They will paint the walls soon. The Grays building will be open by Juneteenth.

Senior citizens building: REES Associates are still preparing construction drawings. We have hired Tandem Consulting to oversee the construction, just like the Grays Building.

WOODLAWN STREET – Completed.

Saputo sewer main: Construction has finally begun. This $750,000 sewer project is funded entirely by a grant from the Texas Department of Agriculture.

The new main will supplement an older undersized one. The path of the new main begins at Saputo and continues under the interstate. It then continues South for 3,500 feet before connecting to an existing trunk line. The new main has a 15-inch inch diameter.

This grant is made possible because of a $50 million plant upgrade at Saputo and their cooperation with the Texas Department of Agriculture. Without their cooperation, this project would not have been possible.

College Street: This will be the next project after the Saputo Sewer Line Project. The concrete crushing operation that will provide much of the road base for College Street – completed. They crushed 15,098 tons of concrete.

Claims: We did not have any liability claims or workers’ compensation claims in March. We did file a claim on a towing company’s insurer. They towed our new tow truck when it decoupled, causing damage to the truck frame, bed, and body.

Revenues and expenditures: Finance Director Lesa Smith will present a report of revenues and expenditures.

OTHER REPORTS – Elsewhere around the city, employees:

• Responded to 222 fire/rescue calls, including two structure fires, five grass fires, and one vehicle fire.

• Performed preventative maintenance on 82 fire hydrants.

• Pressure washed sidewalks downtown.

• Cleaned Hopkins County Veterans Memorial waterfall wall.

• Repaired multiple leaks in park facilities due to the freeze.

• Served 3,658 meals at the Senior Citizens Center.

• Hosted a 53-team baseball tournament.

• Conducted 42 building inspections, 17 electrical inspections, 11 plumbing inspections, two mechanical inspections and issued 37 building permits.

• Repaired 27 streets following utility repairs.

• Repaired 684 potholes.

• Replaced a stop sign and three street signs.

• Swept the streets (contractor).

• Repaired a drainage problem on Carter Street.

• Dug out the ditch between Carter and Lamar.

• Installed 840′ of drainage pipe in Pacific Park.

• Replaced curb & gutter at WA & Beckham, Weaver & Patton, 211 Beckham, and Beckham & Beckworth in preparation for the Street Improvement Program (Summer Paving Program).

• Cement-stabilized and replaced part of Reservoir Street after the freeze (contractor).

• Ordered a new generator for PD (grant-funded)

• Designed installation for a generator at City Hall.

• Repaired raw water pump at Cooper Lake pump station.

• Repaired scoreboard on field #2 at Coleman Park.

• Installed a fuel pump at the airport.

• Repaired water leaks at the Police Department and the animal shelter.

• Performed preventative maintenance on various items at the wastewater treatment plant.

• Treater wastewater to a daily average total suspended solids reading of .51 mg/L.

• Repaired eight water-main ruptures.

• Replaced 21 water meters.

• Unstopped 37 sewer mains.

• Repaired eight sewer mains.

• Treated 137 million gallons of potable water.

• Flushed 36 dead-end water mains.

• Made repairs to 1-million-gallon Clearwell.

• Installed a variable frequency drive on the air compressor at the water treatment plant.

• Sold 3,752 gallons of AvGas and 14,436 gallons of JetA fuel.

• Accommodated 1,811 airport operations (landings or takeoffs).