The Whitney City Council met Thursday, July 24, and discussed ongoing citizen concerns regarding street conditions in the city.
Council member Amy Teal introduced the agenda item, saying that a lot of people have been talking about road work in Whitney, and the council didn’t get the chance to discuss the different costs involved at the last meeting. She also asked for clarification on whether the city could accept donations if several property owners wanted to help fix a portion of their roads.
Operations Director Billy Pribble provided some background and numbers on the city’s street conditions, saying that the administration is trying to move the city forward and recently had a professional street analysis performed. Previously, the city had not ever established road specifications.
“We went out and had road specifications engineered because we’re tired of just throwing asphalt in a hole and it washing away,” he said. “Once we had that done, we had something we could send to somebody and say now we need roads engineered to these standards.”
Pribble said that the results of the street analysis were delivered to him a couple of hours before the meeting and will be presented to the council at the August meeting. “You will know the opinion of probable cost for every road in this town and what it’s going to look like,” he said. “I will tell you, based off the bottom line number on that, if we were to bring all these roads back up to standard, their first estimation is just short of $29 million.”
The roads were also prioritized in the study. Pribble presented several estimates for different streets, including one that was about $300,000 for an 800-foot stretch of roadway. Costs of a “band-aid” approach are also high and don’t hold up in the long run, Pribble explained. Both he and council members have expressed in recent meetings that they no longer want to pursue a “band-aid” approach and focus on long-term solutions instead.
“We’ve been putting the pieces in place to build permanent roads in this town and be good stewards of the money instead of throwing gravel down or cold mix that every time it rains, it washes away,” he said. He said that the city’s drainage master plan will also help mitigate flooding and road damage issues.
Teal asked about Bush Drive, which has been an area of concern for local residents, and Pribble said that the city is in talks with Precinct 2 Commissioner Larry Crumpton about an agreement similar to the one used to repair HCR 1240. Because the county is responsible for a portion of these roads, an interlocal agreement between the two entities is an option.
Responding to the question about donations, Pribble said that the city is seeking an attorney general opinion on the matter. As a Type A General Law city, the city is limited in the kinds of donations it can accept, with most falling under the categories of parks and recreation, according to the city attorney.
Addressing a question about speed bumps, Pribble said that the installation of speed bumps legally requires a traffic study. Pribble said that speed bumps have been installed in the past without a required study, but that is not how it is supposed to be done. He said that they are expensive and have also proven to be ineffective, a sentiment echoed by council members and a member of the public in open forum.
Teal presented another agenda item related to brush pickup in the city, asking for an update based on citizen concerns.
Pribble said that at one time when he was in public works, the department ran a chipper every Wednesday and divided the city into quadrants to get everything done within a month. Not only was the process labor intensive and tied up the public works crew, the department’s equipment was not designed to handle the large limbs that were put out for collection.
He explained that the council passed a resolution in 2008 requiring that brush be bundled and brush piles could not be more than 35 pounds, but that was never enforced. With the city’s equipment failing and expensive to maintain, the previous administration negotiated a deal with a local stump grinding company in 2022 to handle brush pickup in the city twice a month at a cost of $24,000 per year.
That contract had to be eliminated in 2023 due to budget cuts, and since then, the city has relied on the brush pickup offered by Republic Services, which is already included in the cost of the city’s waste collection. Republic offers brush and bulk pickup on the last Wednesday of each month, and citizens can schedule pickup by calling at least one day in advance.
Brush must be securely bagged or bundled, and bags or bundles should not weigh more than 35 pounds each. Bundles should also not exceed four feet in length.
Pribble said that city residents also have access to Republic’s Itasca landfill up to four trips per year for a household with a permit from City Hall. The city has attempted to raise awareness of this option and has hardhats and vests, which are required at the landfill, available to borrow at City Hall.
He said that questions have also been raised about using the “city dump,” but he wanted to make it clear that the city does not operate a dump site and would need the state’s permission to burn brush if it did. In the past, a brush dump site has also invited a problem with other trash and bulk items being dumped.
He added that the city has made it clear to the current waste provider that when the contract is up, the city intends to require that the next contracted provider have a claw truck to expand brush pickup capabilities.
A citizen’s agenda item was brought to the council by Dianne Wyatt speaking on behalf of American Dream Industries, which owns 10 downtown businesses, and also as a concerned citizen.
She asked the council for an update on the property the city purchased at 117 West Washington Avenue and alleged that it was taken by threats from code enforcement for $1. She also expressed concerns about what she said were double standards and biased code enforcement, describing code enforcement issues that American Dream Industries has faced with its own downtown buildings.
Pribble laid out the timeline of the property purchase, saying that the issue has been discussed in multiple council meetings. He said that the owner offered the building, which had been sitting vacant, to the city. The city has not yet determined what will be done with the building, although a community center has been discussed. He said that it was made clear to the council that it would be a significant investment due to the repairs needed, and the delays in repair are due to the steps that local governments must legally take to seek bids for work, bring items before the council and meet certain requirements.
In other regular agenda items, the council heard a presentation from Greg Brown of E-Volve Energy, who said that his company works with cities and schools to lower energy costs, and approved special events permits submitted by the Lake Whitney Chamber of Commerce for the Merriweather Circus near Whitney City Park and the 50th annual Pioneer Days festival downtown.
In open forum, Carlos Aguilar of Freeman-Millican engineering firm introduced himself to the council and said that his company works on many local engineering and infrastructure projects. Harrell Wilson spoke to the council about street conditions, saying that taxpayers are being overlooked and better streets are needed. Teresa Wyatt spoke about code enforcement issues, saying that the city gave special consideration to The Lakelander when it owned the building at 109 West Washington but more aggressively pursued American Dream Industries when it purchased the building.
In departmental reports, Pribble said that an unveiling ceremony for HCR 1240, now named Wildcat Drive on the city’s portion of the road, will be held Monday, August 4, at 11 a.m. He said that the city’s budget workshops will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday, August 12, and at 1 p.m. Tuesday, August 26, both at City Hall.
Monthly statistics for Whitney Fire Rescue showed 193 total calls in June, with 67 EMS calls and 126 fire calls. On the EMS side, 60 calls were in the city and seven were in the county as mutual aid for CareFlite. The average EMS response time in the city was 4.5 minutes, and it was 8 minutes in the county. The fire department responded to 13 fire calls in the city and 11 in the county, and firefighters responded to 54 first responder calls in the city and 48 in the county.
The police department responded to 317 total incidents in June, including disturbances, assaults, accidents, alarms and other issues. There were three total arrests made, 170 traffic stops and 202 citations or warnings issued.
There were two animal control calls in June, including an issue with chickens and a welfare concern. One code enforcement call came in regarding tall grass, and code enforcement initiated 29 responses to tall grass and junk.
The library issued 47 new library cards in June and served 1,231 total visitors. There were 27 unique events and programs provided at the library with 277 people participating.
The municipal court report showed 66 citations with $5,085 in collections.
