This has been a busy week for all departments.
We had a Council Meeting Monday night, as well as a Friends of the Animal Shelter meeting on Tuesday evening. The Friends of the Shelter are continuing fundraising for the planned Dog Park. We are also evaluating options to add additional signage on the highway for the Shelter. A few of us also attended the Jacksboro Sesquicentennial planning meeting on Tuesday.
The Fire Department responded to fourteen (14) calls for service. Eight (8) of the calls were in the City, and six (6) calls were in the County. The calls included ten (10) EMS calls and four (4) calls that were canceled in route. Chief Jennings' new command truck will also be on display at the Fire Training Academy at Texas A&M this weekend.
Parks and Recreation mowed areas around the lake and the airport, as well as drainage ditches. They also cleared large trees out of a drainage ditch area on South 2nd Street as part of our effort to clear all the drainage ditches to improve storm water drainage. Additionally they sprayed for mosquitoes Thursday night.
The Police Chief, Chief Penny, attended a two day Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training (ALERRT) in Bridgeport. He has also scheduled testing for seventeen applicants for police officers on Monday. The testing will include both a written test and a physical test. Pending the results of the test, he will begin scheduling interviews.
We attended two Commissioners Court Meetings. On Thursday we discussed with the Commissioners and the Director of the Clothes Closet our continued commitment to help them dispose of trash that people routinely dump in front of their building. The City will continue to provide trash dumpsters to assist the County when they clean up the building. This has been an ongoing issue, and the Sheriff's Department committed to do all they can to prevent people from illegal dumping at that location.
The Distribution and Collection Crew responded to twenty-four (24) calls for service. They also continued to install a new water line on Depot Street. Additionally they finished all meter re-reads for any meters that had other than normal high or low water usage.
The Building Inspector conducted nine (9) inspections. He also continued the abatement process for three (3) properties.
The Street Department hauled multiple loads of asphalt and began repaving South Jack Street.
Our Employee Spotlight of the Week is Joshua Richardson. Joshua typically works in Distribution and Collection, however for the past several weeks he has taken on the responsibilities of meter reading and Service Calls while another employee is out of the office. Joshua is one of our newest employees and has already proven himself to be an extremely valuable employee.
Our next Council Meeting is Monday, July 28, at 5:30 PM.
Respectfully,
Mike S.
MICHAEL R. SMITH, Lt Col, USAF (ret)
City Manager