Frazier presents public works report to council

Henderson Assistant City Manager Frank Frazier presented a Public Works report to the Henderson City Council during its workshop session on Monday.

The report was compiled by Department of Public Works employees Direction Linda Leyen, Ernest Powell, and Bobby Mitchell. Code Enforcement Director Corey Williams was also involved in authoring the report, as well as Frazier.

Leyen commented that what started as a “litter crew” has grown into landscaping, grass cutting, and pruning as well as litter control.

Frazier then summarized the report for the council by listing some of its major recommendations:

There is a need to do a better job at putting finishing touches on cutting;

Need for clear indications of property boundaries so the crew will know where to do the mowing;

Lots need to be properly leveled so equipment is not damaged;

Need for an anti-littering campaign in the city;

Change the name of the “Litter Crew” to “Grounds Maintenance” to stop engendering the thought that there is a crew that comes by to pick up litter specifically;

Equipment repairs are needed;

Need for a small dump trailer and a new truck to pull it, and;

Blacknall Cemetery needs regulations to protect equipment and document burials.

Council member Garry Daeke added that there is a need to enforce regulations against putting leaves in the street. He said that the leaves are clogging the storm drains and creating the infiltration and inflow (I&I) problem. He said that the council needs to address it and enforce it.

Member Mike Inscoe responded to the report by stressing a need to look at where the root cause of the problem really is. He said that additional training and understanding is needed “get to solving the real problems here”.

Inscoe asked if there is a backup plan if the tractor breaks down so that the process continues.

“We have to look at how we solve the problem,” Inscoe said.

City Manager Ray Griffin responded to Inscoe’s criticisms by characterizing the report as “the beginning of the journey”. He said that Public Works staff would be asking [Inscoe’s] questions as part of the process they use to get to the “better solution”.

Frazier noted there is a problem with employee absences throwing the schedule off. Inscoe asked if there are private people who can be called in to fill in the gaps. Inscoe also asked if people were pulled from cemetery maintenance, and if those people were consistently pulled to work on the grounds maintenance program.

Frazier and Leyen indicated the affirmative.

Inscoe suggested that those workers should be used to pick up roadside trash when there are no urgencies elsewhere.