Burn Ban in Effect. All outdoor burning is prohibited in Franklin County.
Design work on the playground for Little Creek Park is nearing completion. We have been informed that the swimming pool which was buried beneath the future site of the playground will need to be excavated and demolished. This is necessary for the structural integrity of the playground. The good news is that this will not add additional cost to the project, because the utilities/maintenance crew can complete the demolition and backfilling. We plan to start this project in the next few weeks.
Contractors will begin removing the sludge from the water treatment plant settling lagoons this month. This is a project which is required by TCEQ and is usually completed annually. The sludge consists of solids which settle out of raw water during the treatment process. The project typically costs between $40 - $60k depending on volume. Denali is the contractor.
The switch which automatically starts the generator in the event of a power loss was damaged by lighting a few months ago. It will be repaired when we receive parts. The generator is fully operational, but it now requires a manual start by staff in the event of a power outage. Staff is notified by our SCADA system when power is lost.
The plant is operating well, but as stated before the primary pumps which bring wastewater into the plant for treatment need to be replaced. They are included in the budget for the upcoming year.
The crew had to address a water main break on Sunday. The attached picture provides you an idea of what is involved in this type of repair.
Rodney Caudle our code officer has completed training and will be scheduled for certification testing in the next few weeks. He is actively addressing code violations in the city. Rodney will make a presentation at the September 14 council meeting.
We are on schedule to vote on approval of the FY 26-27 budget on September 14. A budget heating will be held on September 8. The deadline for approving the budget is September 29. Staff will be working through the holiday weekend on the budget.
Staff is working with the Key Club in their preparation for CountryFest. We are working with TXDOT for the requested closure of N. Kaufman/Business 37 for the event. Plans are to have the road closed to through traffic at the intersection of the intersection of N. Kaufman and SH 37.