On Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2020, Sulphur Springs City Council received from City Manager Marc Maxwell the following monthly Manager’s Report:
COVID-19 Response
The number of active cases in Hopkins County increased 17% in November with a total of 169 active cases as of November 30. The state has tested 2,476 people at the Hopkins County testing site since the November council meeting. We have had 1,577 cumulative recoveries and 52 fatalities in Hopkins County. The hospital has 23 patients in the COVID-19 unit as of today (Dec. 1).
As a part of the City’s response to Covid-19 the City suspended the practice of cutting off water service for non-payment. Some of the balances are growing quite high. The total arrearage is $137,000 with 576 accounts (8.6% of all accounts) in arrears. I do not plan on reinstituting cut offs until after a vaccine is available. At that point we will have to decide how to bring the delinquent accounts up to a current status. I will likely propose requiring
residents to pay their current bill along with 1/6th or 1/12th of their arrearage to avoid being cut off. In this way their accounts would be brought current in either 6 months or 12 months.
Grays Building
Hawk Construction began erecting the steel yesterday.
Senior Citizens Building
Construction drawings are still being prepared by REES Associates. We have hired Tandem Consulting to oversee the construction just like the Grays Building.
Bellview Street
The street was just paved, and this project is now complete.
McCann Street
Texana Land and Asphalt plans to pave McCann Street late next week.
Woodlawn Street
The Capital Construction Division has replaced 75% of the sewer main. When the sewer main is completed they will replace the water main. After that they will replace portions of curb and gutter. Texana Land and Asphalt will then cement-stabilize the road base and pave the street with asphalt.
Claims
We did not have any workers compensation claims or liability claims in November.
Revenues and Expenditures
Finance Director Lesa Smith will present a report of revenues and expenditures.
Miscellaneous
Elsewhere around the city, employees:
- Installed Christmas decorations downtown.
- Swept the streets around town (contractor).
- Cut vegetation around Coleman Lake.
- Repaired sidewalks and parking lot lights at Coleman Park.
- Trimmed trees and undergrowth at Buford Park.
- Made 8 extensive street repairs following utility repairs.
- Repaired 802 potholes.
- Conducted 22 building inspections, 24 electrical inspections, 23 plumbing
inspections, 4 mechanical inspections and issued 17 building permits. - Sold 4,644 gallons of Jet A fuel and 3,066 gallons of AvGas.
- Responded to 221 fire/rescue calls including 1 structure fire, 2 vehicle fires and 5 grass fires.
- Performed preventative maintenance on 72 fire hydrants.
- Performed 5 fire inspections.
- Checked out 2,592 library materials and an additional 625 e-books.
- Responded to 186 calls for animal control, while achieving a 67% adoption rate.
- Made 4 felony arrests on the Special Crimes Unit.
- Responded to 28 accidents, wrote 618 citations, recorded 51 offenses and made 30 arrests in the patrol division.
- Ordered a generator for the new Grays Building.
- Treated wastewater effluent to a daily average total suspended solids reading of 0.47mg/L.
- Repaired 7 water main ruptures.
- Replaced 11 water meters.
- Unstopped 26 sewer mains.
- Repaired 6 sewer mains.
- Washed 78,000 feet of sewer mains.
- Flushed 36 dead-end water mains.
- Treated 140 million gallons of potable water.
