.png)
BASTROP — City Council last week approved several major initiatives, including formal recognition of a resident-favorite dog park and long-requested wastewater plant repairs.
WASTEWATER CONTRACT APPROVED
Council members approved a $2.4 million contract with Emerson Construction Company June 24 to begin rehabilitation work at Wastewater Treatment Plants No. 1 and No. 2, both located at 300 Water St.
“I didn’t put a presentation together because I started it, and the pictures of the plant were too embarrassing. It’s well long overdue to rehab,” said Curtis Hancock, director of water and wastewater. “You’ve heard this spiel several times — we’re just losing such capacity.”
Built in 1988 and 1975, the two facilities are the oldest of the city’s three treatment plants and are permitted to treat 1.04 million and 0.36 million gallons of wastewater per day, respectively.
Accumulated grit and debris in the aeration basins have significantly reduced treatment capacity, according to Hancock.
The contract will focus on restoring Plant No. 1 and preparing Plant No. 2 for future upgrades. Work is expected to take about one year, officials said.
Nearly $2.3 million of the cost will be covered by an American Rescue Plan Act grant. The remaining $112,699 will come from the city’s wastewater capital improvement fund, according to the council.
WAGGING TAILS
Council members unanimously approved designating a one-acre city-owned parcel at 101 Grady Tuck Lane — known informally as the Bark Park — as official parkland.
The change allows the city to fund improvements to the popular dog park, which has operated for 16 years through volunteer support, according to Parks and Recreation Director Terry Moore.
“Most of the amenities that have been down there have been donated by residents and the folks that actually use the facility,” Moore said. “To make it a designated park gives us the opportunity to do a little more there.”
City Manager Sylvia Carrillo-Trevino said she would return to the council with a proposal for modest upgrades.
“I don’t think it would take but about $25,000 to make some pretty doggone awesome improvements,” she said.
The council plans to seek public input on an official name for the park, Carrillo-Trevino added.
Councilwoman Kerry Fossler suggested naming it after Jane Travis, a longtime Bastrop resident and retired teacher who helped start and maintain the park. Moore said formalizing the land’s designation protects its use as a public park.
“If anything changes, it has to go to the voters to give permission to do something besides have a park there,” Moore said.
RETREAT REPORT
City officials also discussed the council’s recent strategic planning retreat in Rockport, a sister city that Bastrop assisted after Hurricane Harvey.
The event, which cost $11,730, focused on improving council communication and decision- making. It was funded through the council’s individual travel budgets and not the city’s general fund, according to officials.
The retreat was the council’s first since 2016 and was streamed live for public viewing on the city’s Facebook page.
“My hope is you’re going to end up with better information about how to interact with each other and also how to interact with the public,” Carrillo- Trevino told the council.
While there, council members attended the ribbon cutting for the new $11.7 million Rockport City Hall, which replaced a courthouse severely damaged by the hurricane in 2017.
