The Houston City Council heard updates Monday on a Thomasville Road extension, hopes for a federal reimbursement after a February ice storm and problems with a water test.
Members of the council learn that while work will halt for about two weeks on the road project, city crews will install casing across the new road so that it excavation won’t be necessary if further development occurs in the area.
Other work also is planned in the area that extends from near East Highway 17 to Holder Drive and further south. An estimated 100 loads of topsoil will be removed for use by the city on other projects. Fiber optic lines also need relocating.
City Administrator Larry Sutton reported that he has been told that reimbursement should arrive soon from the federal government after a February ice storm in the community. Houston was earlier approved for about $86,000 after the storm that left parts of the town without electricity for as long as two days. The city’s reimbursement is 85 percent of the cost of the cleanup and damage.
In other matters, members:
-Discussed the need to update an ordinance that governs the park board’s operation. The law was passed in 1982, 17 years before a park director was hired. The park board is expected to make recommendations as part of its 2009 budget process.
-Learned that work easements are being sought to begin another leg of the Village Trail, a walking venue.
-Heard that city residents will soon receive letters outlining a poor water quality sample. Subsequent tests showed everything was okay, and the city believes the first sample’s result may have been sparked by dirty test equipment.
-Will meet with the park board concerning the layout and surface of a walking trail segment in the park. Several heavy periods of rain have left some areas with damage. Most of the stretch uses fine gravel that is rolled. Some trouble spots have been replaced with concrete.