Greetings!
The Public Works employees are busy getting ready for the cheeseburger festival on July 16. Everything looked great around the city during the Fourth of July celebration. Want to thank Kirk Frye and the county employees for helping and letting the city borrow the county’s shredder to mow around the lake for the fireworks display. The city’s shredder was in the shop for repair.
Volunteer Fire Department was very busy in July. They responded to seven emergency calls. There were four calls for fires and three calls for wrecks. Fires reported were a dumpster behind Methodist Church, a combine fire, a wheat field two miles north on CR19 and a grass fire along Highway 86. Wrecks reported were located at 5th Street and Geneva, Hub intersection (8 miles south on Highway 214) and at the intersection of Highway 60 & 5th Street.
Emergency Medical Service responded to 33 calls. There were 13 calls for 911, 10 calls for transfers and 11 calls ended with “no transport”. The payments collected equaled $31,182.36.
Judge Campbell had 53 new cases and 1 new juvenile case filed in June. There were 32 case trials held. Court cost equaled $2,035.09 with $4,096.03 collected in fines. Judge Campbell was sworn in as Municipal Court Judge for a two-year term 2016 to 2018. We are pleased to have Judge Campbell serve two more years. She has done a great job and we want to thank her for her commitment and dedication.
The swimming pool generated $2,767 in June. There were 271 adults and 280 children swimming in June. The city did have an issue with the motor that circulates the chemicals in the pool. There was a need to close the pool until the motor could be ordered and replaced. We apologize for the inconvenience. The cost to replace the motor was approximately $10,000.
The city pumped 21,375,300 gallons of water, sold $19,297,000 gallons of water and collected $83,238.29 on 1441 accounts.
The city accounts payable totaled $144,389.60 for the month of June. The money spent pays our bills and keeps us in good standings.
Chief Jimenez and the police department responded to 282 calls in June. There were a total of 82 stops, 46 warnings issued, 42 citations handed out and 18 arrests (6-no drivers license, 4-warrants, 1-criminal mischief, 1-assault causing bodily injury to a family member, 1-driving while intoxicated, 3-possession of a controlled substance, 1-possession of marijuana and 1-public intoxication). The patrol officers drove a total of 4304 miles protecting our city.
The city will continue to spray for mosquitoes during the calm evenings. The mosquito population has been down due to the lack of rain. Looks like the hot dry weather will continue for several days.
The grant cycle for State CDBG grants has begun. We are applying for two different grants. One grant is to continue the water line replacement towards the Pierce tower and the other grant is for Reeve Lake. We will try to add bathrooms or concrete the walking paths. Not a guarantee that we will receive money for either of the grants, but it is important for us to try. Panhandle Regional Planning Commission will be a assisting us in the application process. The grant application deadline is October 2016.
Your Mayor
Ricky White
