It’s been 12 years since a fire prompted a rebuild of the playground at Godwin Park. The age of the wood plus general wear and tear has caused the current playground to need much repair.
In January of this year, Penny Renfroe, Parks and Recreation Department (PARD) Director, said she received an estimate of $93K to repair the current playground. After much discussion and consideration, Renfroe and members of the City Council agreed that instead of repairing the current playground, reconstruction with completely new equipment would be a smarter move.
Renfroe has presented the City Council with estimates and options for a new playground. She said the new playground would have a 100-year warranty for the steel and a 15-year warranty for the plastic. During the meeting, Renfroe made it clear she was simply seeking direction as to what option to move forward with -- whether the City Council wanted to move forward with repairing the current playground or completely replacing it.
PARD and the City Council acknowledged the immense amount of repairs needed on the playground and the danger it can cause if anyone got hurt. Alderman Su Welch asked Renfroe to come back with estimates on how much it would cost for demolition of the current playground.
“I don’t think there’s any doubt that that’s going to have to be replaced,” Welch said.
Moving forward, there was a discussion about the approval of an estimate for the installation of pickleball courts at Whitecotton Park.
Renfroe said the ultimate solution would be to turn both of the tennis courts into pickleball courts. During the discussion, Arrington confirmed that Whitesboro residents are allowed to use the Whitesboro ISD tennis courts.
During the time allowed for local citizen presentations, a Whitesboro resident spoke to the City Council about the speeding occurring at Highway 377 and Union Street. She said she witnessed the need of patrolling in the area. According to the resident, truckers are bypassing the scales on 75 and 35 and passing through Whitesboro. She said she has counted a minimum of 250 trucks passing within an hour. The resident wanted to bring this to council to see if there could be a resolution for this problem.
Next, alderman Carla Woolsey mentioned her gratitude to Police Chief Alex Coss for getting in front of the community and interviewing with radio station 102.5 during National Police Week. Additionally, the Whitesboro Police Department (WPD) won first place in this year’s Chili Fest. Dispatcher Janelle Vannoy celebrated one year working with the Whitesboro Dispatch Department.
The City Council voted to maintain their regular scheduled council meetings on the first Tuesday of every month at 6 p.m. and the third Tuesday of every month at 4 p.m. The public is encouraged to attend. All meetings are held at City Hall located at 111 West Main Street. Meeting agendas are posted 72 hours prior to each meeting on the bulletin board at City Hall and the city’s website.
A motion was made and vote taken on making Alderman Ronnie Fielder the authorized check signer. All were in favor. Alderman Mike Pack was voted as the second authorized council member to sign checks. Carla Woolsey was appointed Mayor Pro-Tem; all were in favor. Aldermen Mike Pack and Su Welch were appointed to be ex-officio on the Economic Development boards; all were in favor.
The City Council took a vote and all were in favor to accept the petition for Hughes Lumber, LLC to annex into the Whitesboro city limits. The council also gave authorization to City Administrator Julie Arrington to enter into a development agreement for said annexation. Arrington confirmed this agreement would pay for a portion of the lift station that the city would be required to build for that project.
After a quick consideration, the City Council also approved the Economic Development agreement by and between the WEDCO and WIDCO for Project #76. More to come about this project.
Next, after discussion and Arrington’s recommendation for approval, the City Council approved a contract for the City of Whitesboro Comprehensive Plan’s proposal from Dunaway.
Dunaway is a civil and structural engineering firm who offers planning and inspection services to public and private clients throughout the state of Texas. The comprehensive plan will serve as a roadmap to help the city attain long-term goals for its future.
After much discussion, Arrington received approval to move forward with O3 Concrete Contractors, LLC DBA Mustang Excavation for the Texoma Drive Paving & Water Line Improvement Project. O3 Concrete Contractors were the lowest bidders received for the project at $1,229,049.66. Moving forward with this approval allows staff to sit with the engineer and contractor to build a timeline of construction and a traffic plan during construction.
Arrington also discussed with the City Council that she believes it would be wiser to finance city projects for more money.
Arrington said she has calculated several projects that add up to over $3 million. These only include current ongoing street projects, building a lift station and the ongoing Texoma Street project.
The amount Arrington would like to finance is $5 million due to the amount of ongoing City projects currently underway and future projects that may need funding. The City Council agreed to have Arrington bring back several options to consider and discuss to fund these projects.
Then, the City Council discussed with Police Chief Alex Coss about a contract with Clear for the purpose of providing investigative and legal research to the WPD. The discussion also included speaking about a contract with Leads Online for the purpose of providing investigative tools for the department. No action was necessary during the meeting to move forward.
Arrington and City Building Inspector Dalton Fallaw discussed with council that the city has been using Encode software for the past couple of months. Fallaw said customer service with Encode has been very poor and the software has been very slow. They presented Mygov to the City Council as an option to use for the purpose of providing community development software instead of Encode. The City Council approved the contract with Mygov.
Next, Arrington asked for direction from the council on whether to spray for bugs or not. She said when the truck usually passes every year, the pesticide only reaches from the truck to a certain area of the residents’ properties. The spray does not reach bushes or standing water. According to Arrington, other cities in Grayson County do not spray anymore due to ineffectiveness. The City Council directed Arrington not to spray for mosquitoes this year.
Next up with ongoing city projects, the Water Tower project is underway. The engineer will make a decision if the water line will be a 12-inch or 15-inch line. Arrington said there may be a program that can possibly help fund the 4th Street extension project. She will be in contact with the program and bring more details to the council in the future.
Arrington confirmed the closing of a 4th Street property on May 31, for future city projects.
Expenditures exceeding the City Administrator’s authority were approved in the amount of $23,176.60 for the Elevated Water Tower.