With Hoedown, Houston’s yearly celebration, coming soon, Houston’s City Council concerned itself with readying the town for guests, at its July 10 meeting. The condition of the park bathrooms was a concern of Jeanne Tippery as well as the Mission 66 group.
Tippery reported to the council that she’d obtained information on painting the bathrooms with a commercial grade epoxy. The process would include power washing both bathrooms, grinding the floor surface to make it not slippery, priming and sealing, and then painting with the epoxy. She also found vandal resistant soap dispensers with a 10-year warranty and suggested that trail cameras might be less expensive than regular security cameras for the area.
The Mission 66 group informed the council that they had two donors who were willing to donate funding to pay for the updates if the council approved them. The money would be given by the donors directly to the city for the expenses.
PWD Randy Thesing commented that he was not in favor of the project. He pointed out that every few years the bathrooms get trashed and the epoxy might make it more difficult to clean up.
Steve Westby opined that he felt the commercial grade epoxy would be a good idea and that the council should accept the offer.
After consideration, the council approved the project conditionally providing the funding came in.
In other preparation for Hoedown, the council approved the fireworks permit and the application from Cross of Christ to conduct excluded bingo, and accepted the donation of a light pole and its installation near the staging area for the tractor pull. The council approved street closures during Hoedown near the city park the same as last year.
Mission 66 representatives asked that more engineered mulch be ordered for the park to provide a better surface for wheelchairs. According to Mission 66, on completion of the playground in 2019, they had turned over to the city about $9,000 and added another $1,000 in donations after that. Some areas of the park have lost all the mulch and the liner is showing.
City Administrator Michelle Quinn responded that some mulch had already been added earlier, swings had needed repair, and the playground had been treated for bees.
Cody Mathers asked that the city check into how much money remained for maintenance and how much mulch would be needed. Steve Westby suggested checking into the cost of mats for under the swings as well.
Employee appreciation
The council formally recognized several employees for their years of service to the city of Houston. PWD Randy Thesing has served the city for 20 years; PWD assistant Edward Jacobs for 15 years; Police Chief Brett Hurley for 10 years; accountant Suzanne Peterson for five years; and library assistant Bethany Peterson-Lee for five years.
DNR response on OHV
In an email, the DNR responded to the most recent letter from the City of Houston. According to the DNR, nothing will be moving forward until the city deals with the deed restrictions on the purchased property. The city cannot sell the land with the deed restrictions in place; it would take legal action in order to sell the property.
Cody Mathers commented, “Everything is at an impasse. I’m cognizant of that (removing the deed restrictions) coming at a price to the city.”
The DNR says more environmental review will need to be done at the city’s expense if the trail moves forward. Mayor Wallace felt the city needed to research if legal action is “the way to go.”
The deed restrictions had been put in the contracts by the sellers at the time of the sales. Quinn noted that it was possible it was a condition of receiving grants.
Both Cody Mathers and Emily Krage were hesitant to incur more legal expenses at this time for the city. The item was tabled until the August meeting.
Other business
In other business, the council:
• Approved acceptance of the $104,740.53 sewer lining quote from low bidder Hydro-Kleen, LLC;
• Approved a variance to split two properties owned by Nick Holty in two with under 10,000 square feet area in each;
• Revised the position description for the assistant librarian;
• Authorized a competitive search for Summer Rec Director for 2024;
• Authorized staff to discuss possible collaboration between Hokah and Houston for policing;
• Approved the request of the International Owl Center to move forward with wetland delineation for the property in the Trailhead Park;
• Approved paying $1,000 toward the training of an additional ambulance member this fall.
The next meeting of the Houston City Council will be at 6 p.m. August 14 at the city hall in the council chambers; the public is welcome to attend.
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