2. Departmental Reports

Electric, Water, Sewer, Police, Street, R.O. Plant, Golf Complex,
Economic Development Director and City Secretary.

Electric Department Superintendent Brad Tilley:
Supr. Tilley was unavailable.

Water/WW Operations Superintendent Greg Shumate:
We have only had one notable water leak. We have had a slower month, which is good, so we could catch up with routine items to do at the Wastewater plant. We have flushed fireplugs and lines as needed. We assisted the Street Department demolish the condemned house on N. Tackitt.

Police Chief Tommy Duncan:
Pretty slow month, this is good for us. There were 229 calls for service for the Police Department this month. There were no traffic accidents in a month; this is rare for a month to go by without at least one so this was great. We arrested 18 persons this month for charges including: harassment, theft, criminal trespass, assault, driving while license suspended, resisting arrest and terroristic threats, disorderly conduct and one military desertion. Our K-9 officer answered 4 calls for service. Thirteen detainees were booked into the Holding Facility. Our officers issued 144 citations and warnings this month. We got a Homeland Security Grant that we applied for in 2004. We are also holding our annual ‘Storm Spotting’ school at the Salt Fork Municipal Golf Complex meeting room on Feb. 23rd. This is a free class and we encourage all citizens to attend and learn to spot the signs of dangerous weather. September 30th the City of Seymour will be hosts to the ‘Botchee Ball’ competition for Region 9 Special Olympics. This is the second-largest Special Olympics competition that we hold. We are honored that they are coming here. This will bring 100 to 130 athletes to our City and we are pleased about this opportunity to show off our community.

As for my report on North Cedar Street and West Custer Street, as you know I was charged by Council last month to do an in-depth traffic study of this area. We monitored a several block area and compiled information from more than 1200 vehicles that traveled through this intersection/neighborhood during the study. The speeds varied from 20.1 to 30.5 – so the average speed was 26.9MPH. Several vehicles exceeded this speed by three or four miles an hour. The lowest speed was 14 MPH and the highest was 45 MPH. We had hoped to get a radar trailer but were unable to secure from TXDOT at Wichita Falls. We could purchase one at Council’s direction later down the line. In summary, I must agree with the neighbors represented here, the street is far too narrow at this point for the speeds in which most drivers are going. I believe that a stop sign, as requested by these citizens, is in order. Short of lowering the speed limit, which is not what I would recommend for this area, I would say that continued monitoring and the erection of the stop signs at the ‘T’ shaped intersection is in order. The stop signs can be removed if later down the line they prove ineffective.

Lastly, the Police Department is prepared for the icy weather and cold conditions that are forecast for this weekend. I hope we don’t have seriously dangerous driving conditions, however, we might.

Street Superintendent Ronnie Kolacek:
We are getting ready for paving season. Last year we did approximately 12 blocks from the dirt stage to the paved road stage. We are going to clean those up this year. We hope to pave more blocks this paving season. We hope that we won’t experience the problems we had last year getting paving medium (rock and gravel). We have purchased several loads of medium already. We are starting with 8 loads which we are buying at a discount in Wichita Falls. As Supr. Shumate said, the Water and Street Departments worked together this last month to tear down the condemned house on N. Tackitt. We are keeping up with daily work orders. We will repair potholes in alley behind City Hall, per Council direction.

Water Production Superintendent (R.O. Plant) Rick Garcia:
Supr. Garcia was unavailable.

Salt Fork Municipal Golf Complex Groundskeeper Missie Hargrove:
Supr. Hargrove was unavailable.

Economic Development Department Director John Studer:
Here is the text of the ED Dir. Monthly report.

February, 2006
Economic Development Department
Monthly Report for February, 2006
From: John W. Studer, ED Director, City of Seymour

Dear Mayor and Council,

The projects this office is working on this month are:

Renewable Energy:
On Thursday, January the 26th at 10 AM, at the Salt Fork Municipal Complex’s meeting room; there was an informational meeting with Mike Ferree, and two of his associates from the First Southwest Company of Dallas. They are a very prestigious investment bank, and presented a very impressive meeting. This company was also the ones who set up the financial structure for the Levelland Ethanol Facility. They gave a tremendous amount of material to a crowd of about 45 people representing six counties. One note to the council, since we were the host, was that Myranda Baldwin decorated the golf complex’s meeting room to the best it has ever looked. It took me a couple of days before my brain quick spinning from all the information presented. My logical conclusion is that the ethanol made from the actual grain will be marginally profitable, because of the conversion rate of 2.5 gallons of ethanol from every bushel of wheat. With wheat futures at the $4.30 that makes material cost, in the ethanol, $1.7 per gallon. Presently, it will barely work if oil stays up and grain remains at a low price. This option could become workable if the conversion rate changes due to technological advances. However, ethanol from bio-mass shows a promising future. You can make 80 gallons of ethanol from 2000 pounds of wheat straw which computes to about forty to fifty cents material cost per gallon. The First Southwest people said this technology will not be available to us for three to five years. By that time the distribution systems and the blending systems should be in place for Texas. There are no fuel outlets at this time for ethanol. If we went we the first option of grain ethanol, they said we needed to be on a railroad in order to ship the product to California, which one of the few existing markets now. Hopefully the feasibility requirement of a railroad will diminish as the new bio-fuel markets develop in the state. I am going to a conference in Austin on the 15th and 16th that should reveal when the infrastructure will take place with in our state. I think the second option of the ethanol from bio-mass shows a lot of potential for our wheat growing region of the state. I firmly believe this type of production is going to happen at some point in time. Hopefully, we can control the place where it will occur.

Auditorium:
The benefit concert which was held by the Imitation Stats on January 29th for the City Hall Auditorium Renovation project went really well. There were approximately 400 in attendance and raised $1970. The stats give us one-half of the proceeds less the rent of the High School auditorium. We deposited $910 to this account. We have approximately $1700 at this time because of the “Stats” concert and the donations from the regular country music jamborees. I’m going to see if I can get some estimates on sealing the outside walls of the Auditorium from moisture. We are also waiting for a favorable response from the grant writers, whom are working on the renovation grant for this good community project.

Beautification:
The City received notice that they were award the $5000.00 Beautification grant from the Texas Department of Agriculture. I believe that Ms Bobbie Loving has already ordered six antique lights to be installed in the esplanades, as the first phase of this project. The grant requires the lights to be installed by the end of six months.

Website:
The Economic Development Department, the Police Department, and some of the Chamber of Commerce website should be launched on or before February 20th.

Hunting:
The hunting survey cards have been picked up. There were approximately 160 cards in the boxes. A hunter from Haslet, Texas was picked as the winner. I was pleased with the number of out of town survey responses, which were about 100. Judging from the replies, the hunters really like the hunting in Seymour area. Many of them checked the boxes that they would like to move to Seymour and to also invest here. I will send all who responded a thank you card for spending time and money in our community. Some I will send a more detailed packet on our town, in the hopes they will take a closer look at us.

Miscellaneous:
I will miss the council meeting this month due to being in Austin. I helped the fire department get a little RC&D grant. I have also written several congressional persons about the limitations we face in getting projects to a rural area. (I.e. lack of railroads and infrastructure). AG Day is going to be on Tuesday the 11th of April.

There are always a lot of projects, in progress, that might not be in this report. If you have any questions or advice, I urge you to call, or come by my office, anytime. As always, thanks for your support of the efforts of this office to strengthen our community’s future.

City Secretary Elaine Simpson:
had no report but was ready to field questions. There were no questions.

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