City Council approves bonds for street repair

By DELANIA TRIGG, City Editor Gainesville Daily Register

Gainesville — Gainesville will be getting some street improvements after the city council approved a resolution and authorization of the publication of a notice of intent to issue certificates of obligation in regard to the city’s street utility maintenance program.

The city identified 401 possible projects. The top ranked projects are the ones that are the most cost-effective for the city, City Manager Barry Sullivan said.

“We did a thorough review of every street in the city,” he said.

Eleven projects have been selected from the list and recommended for funding.

The certificates of obligation will not exceed $4.88 million and will be used for the construction of public works. The projects will include street improvements, drainage, landscaping, curbs, gutters, sidewalks, signs and traffic signalization.

The certificates will also allow the city to make infrastructure improvements without raising taxes since the city is retiring enough debt this year to be able to make the payments on this issuance, Sullivan said.

Councilmembers will consider and take action to authorize sale of the bonds at its Sept. 2 meeting.

In other matters, Oncor officials warned the Gainesville City Council to be ready for a transmission line project that could cut through portions of Cooke County even though the route is nowhere near Gainesville.

Oncor Area Manager Sabrina Taylor was at the meeting to discuss the Krum West to Anna project and to answer questions from the council.

Oncor’s planned project is a line from Wise County to portions of Collin County. The line ranges from 46 to 100 miles long depending on which route is chosen, Taylor said.

The project is part of a competitive renewable wind energy initiative designed to transport wind-generated power from west Texas to the rest of the United States, she said, adding that transmission systems are like highways. They reach their carrying capacity and must be expanded or replaced with larger systems.

She also said Texas is a major player in the wind energy market.

“Texas is the third largest wind energy producer in the world,” Taylor told the council.

Mayor Pro Tem Jim Goldsworthy asked Taylor why Oncor is even considering including parts of Cooke County in the proposed route, pointing out that a direct path from Krum to Anna does not include Cooke County.

Taylor told Goldsworthy that routes which cut through outlying counties such as Cooke are unavoidable due to PUC regulations which restrict transmission lines over certain areas such as lakes, schools and hospitals.

Taylor noted that Oncor expects to submit up to 90 proposed routes to the PUC. The PUC will select just one of the routes.

Residents do have some say in the process.

Property owners and others can contest the proposed routes, but they only have about 30 days from the time the plans are submitted on Sept. 8 to raise their objections.

Oncor has already held several public meetings — one of which was held in Gainesville in June. The meetings are useful to Oncor because the company welcomes input from residents, she said.

Taylor also said the project could be good for Cooke County.

Additional transmission lines would encourage economic development, she said, and higher-capacity lines would bring more of Oncor’s tax dollars to the city.

Prior to the meeting, Municipal Judge Chris Cypert swore in Gainesville’s newest city council member, Philip Neelley. Neelley applied for the Ward 3 seat left vacant when Nathan Dempsey won a place on the board and relinquished the seat before taking the oath of office.

The council also recognized a large group of Frank Buck Zoo staff members during National Zookeeper Week which is July 18-24.

Sullivan announced that the city’s Employee of the Month is Mary Ann Pekinpaugh. Pekinpaugh is a staff member in the zoo’s gift shop.

“(Pekinpaugh) has been a model of customer service for all city employees,” Sullivan said.

Also on hand was North Central Texas College’s Djuna Forrester who spoke about NCTC vocational training programs such as the welding, heating, ventilation and air conditioning and electrical programs.

Forrester reported that the programs, which are taught at the college’s Career Technology Center, continue to attract dedicated students.

“It was my goal to have (the CTC) filled up within a year,” she said.

Forrester is close to reaching her goal.

As of July 2010, the college had approximately 5,400 students enrolled in its non-credit programs.

Of those 5,400 students, “a vast majority are in trades (such as welding),” she noted.

Forrester said the college is also pleased with its high school student programs which allow students to take vocational courses while still attending secondary schools.

“Five students just finished and are already employed...Many (vocational technology) students have jobs the minute they cross the stage,” she said

In other business, the council approved a consent agenda which included the minutes of the July 6 regular city council meeting and the appointments of Richard Lira, Nancy Brannon and Mike McKenzie to the municipal airport advisory board.

The council also voted to erect a stop sign at the intersections of Meadowlark Lane and North Clements Street.

Police Chief Steven Fleming spoke briefly about the need for the new stop sign.

“This was brought to my attention by a resident who lives on Meadowlark Lane,” Fleming said.

He said he drove to the intersection and determined that the resident had a point.

“I do believe it would be a dangerous intersection (especially) when school is in session...I recommend for a stop sign to be placed there,” Fleming told the council.

Next, the council voted to provide for the abandonment of a section of Medal of Honor Boulevard.

Sullivan said the street, located west of Culberson, was originally intended to connect to an Interstate 35 service road. However, he noted that the Texas Department of Transportation has scrapped its plans for the connection to Medal of Honor Boulevard.

Sullivan said the street is unnecessary and that it has become a makeshift parking lot for large trucks, a situation the city is not crazy about.

“The street has no purpose to the city...It’s unsightly,” he said.

Finally, the council voted to approve the issuance of Greater Texoma Utility Authority contract revenue bonds for the Lake Texoma Water Storage Project. The council voted to adopt an ordinance approving the issuance of the bond and the project being financed.

The project is a boon for Gainesville’s future water supply needs, Sullivan noted in a previous Register story.

He also said the bonds are a bargain.

“This is being done through a grant from the Texas Water Development Board,” he said.

The bonds, which are issued through the Water Infrastructure Fund of the TWDB, provide a rate of 1.89 percent.

“This interest rate almost cuts the payment in half,” Sullivan said.

The contract with GTUA provides additional water rights and storage facilities from Lake Texoma to the city of Gainesville.

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