Seymour City Council Meeting - March, 2006 Page 3

2. Departmental Reports

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

Electric Department Superintendent Brad Tilley:
Superintendent Tilley was unavailable.

Water/WW Operations Superintendent Greg Shumate:
The department has been busy with work orders and service calls. The number of leaks has been down. The Fireplugs are still getting routinely flushed out. We have had no significant problems at the Wastewater plant. We also knocked down another of those dangerous structures, along with the Street Department. There will be a Waterworks Association meeting in April and all Council members are invited. It is Seymour’s turn to host the regional meeting and we would like you to join us for a dinner meeting and see what our Association does.

Police Chief Tommy Duncan:
Our department answered 332 calls for service this past month and investigated one minor traffic accident. There were 25 persons arrested for various charges that included family violence assault, driving while intoxicated, possession of marijuana, carrying a prohibited weapon and endangering a child. There were six persons arrested on outstanding warrants issued out of various courts. Our animal control officer responded to 34 calls for service this past month. Our K-9 officer conducted several searches and approximately five arrests resulted. Our K-9 Handler and K-9 ‘Panther’ went to Dallas for additional training last month and we believe that this will be very beneficial for them. There were approximately 21 persons detained in the Holding Cell Facility.

Tonight on the Consent agenda you received the ‘Racial Profiling Report’ which is done annually. We have never had any problems conforming to the regulations which prohibit Racial Profiling.

It has been a relatively quiet month for which we are thankful. Our Department received our new computer software and we like it very much.

At the end of February, we held ‘Storm Spotter’ training at the Salt Fork Municipal Golf Complex dining room and it was very successful with approximately 24 attendees. Storm season is approaching fast. We plan to have a small bit of electrical repair work done to one of the storm sirens in the system, other than that the alert system is fine.

My wife, Mary Lou and I were honored to be named to our regional ‘Special Olympics’ Planning Board. It has truly been an honor to work with the Region 9 Special Olympics and our own local team for these last years. Coincidently, Seymour was chosen to be the location for the Fall Special Olympics competition. We will host the ‘Botchee Ball’ competition and we are thrilled. This will be September 30th, at the high school football stadium. We would like volunteers from the community to step forward to assist us with various tasks as we ‘host’.

Mayor Craighead noted that at Storm Spotter training the new weather service repeater tower in Throckmorton was mentioned. That frequency is 162.400. Street Superintendent Ronnie Kolacek: Our department has been working hard and been busy with numerous smaller projects. We have been working at the Ag. Barn to ready it for Ag. Day. We’ve been mowing and cleaning and painting pipe railing at the Municipal Airport. We’ve been assisting Brad Tilley and the Electric Department as they needed expanded room in their ‘Pole Yard’ for electric pole storage. We helped knock down the house on East McLain. We are also grating some streets and preparing some streets for paving.

Water Production Superintendent (R.O. Plant) Rick Garcia:
The new wells were approved by the State. Brenda Burns, the Sr. Utility Clerk has been assisting me as I complete a new ‘Water Audit report’ for the State. The RO Plant has been producing 400-500 thousand gallons a day. We are preparing, of course, for this figure to increase during this summer. We appreciate the rain that we got. The water levels in the wells are good, this is typical because they normally do rise a little over the winter months.

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

Economic Development Department Director John Studer:
Here is an excerpt of the text of the ED Dir. Monthly report.
March 23, 2006

The projects this office is working on this month are:

Renewable Energy:
I sent several letters to our congressional leaders about our lack of rail infrastructure when we were looking into processing ethanol from wheat grain grown regionally. The only reply received was from Kay Bailey Hutchison’s office. Her energy expert said we needed to consider bio-mass production of ethanol since it did not require rail service. That was good to hear since that confirms my conclusions. The potential is there for bio-mass, but the technology is 3 to 5 years away. I made a contact who will be helpful in keeping us updated on bio-mass technology.

There is a great deal of competition between two wind energy companies for wind rights in Baylor and Knox Counties. It looks good, as far as building up our tax base and also providing the City with a source of cheaper energy. I have several good web sites for wind energy and bio-fuels, if any of you are interested.

Beautification:
I received some information from the Texas Department of Transportation on a program we might use for the needed sidewalk improvement project down Washington Street. I turned it over to our grant consultant to review since it involved environmental studies and the like.

Website:
The new website looks impressive. We would be interested in your feedback and what you might also hear about it.
The website is www.cityofseymour.org

Hunting:
I was very pleased with the survey results from my “Hunters’ Survey”. Generally, the remarks indicated people really like the hunting in the Seymour area. They are very satisfied that their necessities are being met. There were 16 individuals from other cities who checked the box indicating they would be interested in providing investment capital for our community. About that many more would like to move to Seymour. There were about 30 who would like to help Seymour grow in other ways. A hunter’s “Thank You” card will be sent to the almost 200 hundred individuals who completed the cards around town at the various locations. The survey ’Raffle’ winner was from Haslet, Texas.

Fossils:
I have changed directions on this project somewhat. The University of Texas Chief Paleontologist has not worked out. Hopefully, I have made a better contact with the Museum of Natural History in Dallas. My contacts there assure me, that they are strongly interested in developing this fossil site. I have scheduled a meeting for May 1st.

ARCIT:
I have been working with the Association of Rural Communities in Texas to promote having a regional conference here on April 30th. It is targeted at regional City and County officials. We will provide the Portwood facilities and a hospitality table for the event.

OU/ EDI:
This is the Economic Development Institute at the University of Oklahoma.
I have taken the first session of the Economic Development Course and am scheduled to take the second in April. This is a professional school which provides requirements for certification as an Economic Developer.

City Pride Sign:
I contacted Danny Brown of the Wichita Falls TXDOT office about installing these signs at entrance locations to our City. There is not a current policy at the Wichita Falls district office since we are the first City to qualify for such signs. In the Childress District, the local TXDOT office had a policy of providing free installation for City Pride signs.

US Highway 277:
This is about to get exciting. I am working on one piece of property in the vicinity of FM 422 and trying to position the City where it can annex the land. The arbitration process for land owners who have not settled with TXDOT on right-of-way parcels, started their hearings on the tenth of March. It will take weeks, if not months, before final settlements are made. John also noted that a recent article in the Wichita Falls Times Record News cited our own Rick Garcia as an expert on Reverse Osmosis plants and municipal Reverse Osmosis plants in general. This is a great promotion for us at the City of Seymour.

Mayor Craighead stated that a citizen had requested that the City investigate purchasing one of those moveable electronic signs that tell travelers about upcoming events in the City.

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	2. Departmental Reports (Electric, Water, Sewer, Police, Street, R.O. Plant, Golf Complex, Economic Development Director and City Secretary). Electric Department Superintendent Brad Tilley: Superintendent Tilley was unavailable. Water/WW Operations Superintendent Greg Shumate: The department has been busy with work orders and service calls. The number of leaks has been down. The Fireplugs are still getting routinely flushed out. We have had no significant problems at the Wastewater plant. We also knocked down another of those dangerous structures, along with the Street Department. There will be a Waterworks Association meeting in April and all Council members are invited. It is Seymour’s turn to host the regional meeting and we would like you to join us for a dinner meeting and see what our Association does. Police Chief Tommy Duncan: Our department answered 332 calls for service this past month and investigated one minor traffic accident. There were 25 persons arrested for various charges that included family violence assault, driving while intoxicated, possession of marijuana, carrying a prohibited weapon and endangering a child. There were six persons arrested on outstanding warrants issued out of various courts. Our animal control officer responded to 34 calls for service this past month. Our K-9 officer conducted several searches and approximately five arrests resulted. Our K-9 Handler and K-9 ‘Panther’ went to Dallas for additional training last month and we believe that this will be very beneficial for them. There were approximately 21 persons detained in the Holding Cell Facility. Tonight on the Consent agenda you received the ‘Racial Profiling Report’ which is done annually. We have never had any problems conforming to the regulations which prohibit Racial Profiling. It has been a relatively quiet month for which we are thankful. Our Department received our new computer software and we like it very much. At the end of February, we held ‘Storm Spotter’ training at the Salt Fork Municipal Golf Complex dining room and it was very successful with approximately 24 attendees. Storm season is approaching fast. We plan to have a small bit of electrical repair work done to one of the storm sirens in the system, other than that the alert system is fine. My wife, Mary Lou and I were honored to be named to our regional ‘Special Olympics’ Planning Board. It has truly been an honor to work with the Region 9 Special Olympics and our own local team for these last years. Coincidently, Seymour was chosen to be the location for the Fall Special Olympics competition. We will host the ‘Botchee Ball’ competition and we are thrilled. This will be September 30th, at the high school football stadium. We would like volunteers from the community to step forward to assist us with various tasks as we ‘host’. Mayor Craighead noted that at Storm Spotter training the new weather service repeater tower in Throckmorton was mentioned. That frequency is 162.400. Street Superintendent Ronnie Kolacek: Our department has been working hard and been busy with numerous smaller projects. We have been working at the Ag. Barn to ready it for Ag. Day. We’ve been mowing and cleaning and painting pipe railing at the Municipal Airport. We’ve been assisting Brad Tilley and the Electric Department as they needed expanded room in their ‘Pole Yard’ for electric pole storage. We helped knock down the house on East McLain. We are also grating some streets and preparing some streets for paving. Water Production Superintendent (R.O. Plant) Rick Garcia: The new wells were approved by the State. Brenda Burns, the Sr. Utility Clerk has been assisting me as I complete a new ‘Water Audit report’ for the State. The RO Plant has been producing 400-500 thousand gallons a day. We are preparing, of course, for this figure to increase during this summer. We appreciate the rain that we got. The water levels in the wells are good, this is typical because they normally do rise a little over the winter months. Salt Fork Municipal Golf Complex Groundskeeper Missie Hargrove: Supr. Hargrove was unavailable. Economic Development Department Director John Studer: Here is an excerpt of the text of the ED Dir. Monthly report. March 23, 2006 The projects this office is working on this month are: Renewable Energy: I sent several letters to our congressional leaders about our lack of rail infrastructure when we were looking into processing ethanol from wheat grain grown regionally. The only reply received was from Kay Bailey Hutchison’s office. Her energy expert said we needed to consider bio-mass production of ethanol since it did not require rail service. That was good to hear since that confirms my conclusions. The potential is there for bio-mass, but the technology is 3 to 5 years away. I made a contact who will be helpful in keeping us updated on bio-mass technology. There is a great deal of competition between two wind energy companies for wind rights in Baylor and Knox Counties. It looks good, as far as building up our tax base and also providing the City with a source of cheaper energy. I have several good web sites for wind energy and bio-fuels, if any of you are interested. Beautification: I received some information from the Texas Department of Transportation on a program we might use for the needed sidewalk improvement project down Washington Street. I turned it over to our grant consultant to review since it involved environmental studies and the like. Website: The new website looks impressive. We would be interested in your feedback and what you might also hear about it. The website is www.cityofseymour.org Hunting: I was very pleased with the survey results from my “Hunters’ Survey”. Generally, the remarks indicated people really like the hunting in the Seymour area. They are very satisfied that their necessities are being met. There were 16 individuals from other cities who checked the box indicating they would be interested in providing investment capital for our community. About that many more would like to move to Seymour. There were about 30 who would like to help Seymour grow in other ways. A hunter’s “Thank You” card will be sent to the almost 200 hundred individuals who completed the cards around town at the various locations. The survey ’Raffle’ winner was from Haslet, Texas. Fossils: I have changed directions on this project somewhat. The University of Texas Chief Paleontologist has not worked out. Hopefully, I have made a better contact with the Museum of Natural History in Dallas. My contacts there assure me, that they are strongly interested in developing this fossil site. I have scheduled a meeting for May 1st. ARCIT: I have been working with the Association of Rural Communities in Texas to promote having a regional conference here on April 30th. It is targeted at regional City and County officials. We will provide the Portwood facilities and a hospitality table for the event. OU/ EDI: This is the Economic Development Institute at the University of Oklahoma. I have taken the first session of the Economic Development Course and am scheduled to take the second in April. This is a professional school which provides requirements for certification as an Economic Developer. City Pride Sign: I contacted Danny Brown of the Wichita Falls TXDOT office about installing these signs at entrance locations to our City. There is not a current policy at the Wichita Falls district office since we are the first City to qualify for such signs. In the Childress District, the local TXDOT office had a policy of providing free installation for City Pride signs. US Highway 277: This is about to get exciting. I am working on one piece of property in the vicinity of FM 422 and trying to position the City where it can annex the land. The arbitration process for land owners who have not settled with TXDOT on right-of-way parcels, started their hearings on the tenth of March. It will take weeks, if not months, before final settlements are made. John also noted that a recent article in the Wichita Falls Times Record News cited our own Rick Garcia as an expert on Reverse Osmosis plants and municipal Reverse Osmosis plants in general. This is a great promotion for us at the City of Seymour. Mayor Craighead stated that a citizen had requested that the City investigate purchasing one of those moveable electronic signs that tell travelers about upcoming events in the City. 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