The following Manager’s Report was presented July 7, 2020, to Sulphur Springs City Council by City Manager Marc Maxwell.
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 reopened.
• 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.
• We are all wearing masks now.
GRAYS BUILDING
The Capital Construction Division has begun preparing the pad site for the Grays building. I expect to hire a construction manager this week. The manager will prepare and receive all bids and manage the day to day construction of the project. Each contract for foundation, structural, HVAC, roof, etc., will be a prime contract with the city. City staff will perform all dirt work, construct all sidewalks and on-street parking. Staff will also perform all plumbing and electrical work.
SENIOR CITIZENS BUILDING
I expect to sign a contract for architectural services later this week.
BELLVIEW STREET
Atmos is still replacing their gas line on this project. I don’t expect Atmos to be finished for 30 days. Suddenlink and Frontier also need to move a
portion of their lines. I expect this to be a problem.
MCCANN STREET – HOLIDAY DRIVE
We have decided to proceed with this project, and staff is currently preparing to begin construction.
CONNALLY STREET
Construction continues on the sidewalk on the south side of Connally Street. We should finish in July!
STREET IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM
The Street Improvement Program (SIP) is completed. Below is a list of streets which were paved this year. Only the north-bound lane of Mockingbird was paved. This was according to plan. Fortunately the SIP came in a bit under budget, so we pave the south-bound lane of Mockingbird later this year. The SIP is funded by a combination of General Fund revenues and the Street Maintenance Fee on the water bill. Streets funded by the Street Maintenance fee are highlighted in yellow.
CLAIMS
We did not receive and liability claims in June.
We had 3 workers compensation claims in June. All 3 claims were from police officers. Thankfully, all 3 injuries were minor.
REVENUES AND EXPENDITURES
Finance Director Lesa Smith will give a year-to-date report of revenues and expenditures.
MISCELLANEOUS
Elsewhere around the city, employees:
- Fertilized all athletic fields.
- Prepared baseball fields for local league play.
- Hosted a 34-team tournament.
- Replaced 17 parking and sidewalk lights at Coleman Park.
- Built stages for two events.
- Performed 12 major street repairs following utility repairs.
- Patched 157 potholes.
- Trimmed South Town Branch.
- Made drainage improvements on CR 2307.
- Installed “No Truck” signs on Whitworth.
- Shredded areas around Lake Sulphur Springs and the Airport.
- Made drainage repairs on Ryan Road and Van Sickle.
- Repaired the beacon light at the airport.
- Responded to 167 calls for fire/rescue including 0 structure fires and 2 vehicle fires and 5 grass fires.
- Performed preventative maintenance on 88 fire hydrants.
- Upgraded lighting in the truck bay at Fire Station #2
- Responded to 164 animal control calls and achieved an 89% adoption rate.
- Made 2 felony arrests in the Special Crimes Unit.
- Responded to 44 accidents, wrote 443 citations, recorded 51 offenses, made 48 arrests, and responded to 2,025 calls for service.
- Treated wastewater to a daily average total suspended solids count of .32 mg/L.
- Repaired 7 water main breaks and replaced 10 water meters.
- Unstopped 13 sewer mains.
- Repaired 5 sewer mains.
- Washed 85,000 feet of sewer mains.
- Treated 166 million gallons of potable water.
- Sold 2,806 gallons of AvGas and 7,017 gallons of JetA fuel.
- Conducted 32 building inspections, 17 electrical inspections, 28 plumbing inspections, and issued 20 building permits.
- Checked out 2,780 items from the library and an additional 755 eBooks.
- Accommodated 522 computer users at the Library.
