Following a brief closed-door session, Sulphur Springs city council authorized the purchase of a building at 218 Tomlinson St. for $28,000.
The 3,000 square foot building, across the street from the city-owned parking lot on Main Street and adjacent to The Appliance Hospital, will be used to store a stage, seats, barricades and other items that will be used at different events in the new downtown area.
In other business, council members approved an ordinance prohibiting the use of “Jake Brakes” on big trucks in the city.
The “Jake Brake” is an engine compression-release device that is used as a braking assist on the big trucks — and a noisy one at that.
Member Clay Walker said while many trucks have and use “Jake Brakes,” the loud machine gun sound is muffled by the truck's exhaust system. Many other trucks, he said, do not have mufflers, and the “Jake Brake” is noisy.
While the council acknowledged the use of the device can be vital in an emergency, it also recognized the nuisance it creates, especially downtown, and approved the ban.
Representatives from three prospective development businesses also appeared before the council seeking support for their applications for Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs funding for construction of 80-unit apartment properties.
One proposal called for construction of an apartment complex just east of the new middle school on Wildcat Way, another on a 10-acre tract in the 1200 block of College Street and the third on Main Street at Hillcrest Drive.
The three developers are competing for funding that would, primarily, offer housing rentals at prices related to individual income and community-wide income averages.
The council agreed to provide letters of support for each of the applicants.
Approval was also given to a request by city staff to retain Alan Plummer Associates to perform a Treated Wastewater Effluent Reuse Implementation Study for a city plan to pump water from the city's wastewater treatment plant to Lake Sulphur Springs to supplement the city's back-up water supply.
The study would also include exploring the possibility of dredging Lake Sulphur Springs to increase the water storage capacity of the lake.
Council members discussed concerns about the price quoted for the study and instructed the city manager to initiate the contract and to renegotiate the price.
Approval was also given to six ordinances required for the city to receive state grants for sidewalk construction.
The city manager told council members the initial grant amount was $150,000, but the city would probably get about $125,000 because some of the sidewalk work, specifically in front of businesses on Gilmer Street, was completed before the grant was approved.
Show/hide comments
Show/hide comment form
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
