Equipment Needs List

The City is working on a wish list of items that will help us to better maintain our small town. These items do not come cheap and we have a plan to put money back so that we can afford them without having to dip into your pocket at this time. We will be applying collected money from delinquent taxes and water bills into an equipment fund. If we are able to collect enough, we will not have to raise utility bills and taxes for this purpose. We may still, however have to raise money to repair the streets!

I learned many years ago that being self-sufficient is a powerful position. To be self-sufficient, we must have the equipment, time, and money to maintain roads, streets, and insect control to name a few. I dislike depending on Hockley County for road and street maintenance. If we can take care of more of these needs, we can go to the County for help with more pressing issues when these issues present themselves.

We have a chipper shredder and will be chipping tree branches starting next week. Our backhoe is currently being diagnosed and we should be able to have it repaired much cheaper than the cost of purchasing a new one, at least for now.

Our equipment needs list is as follows:
1. Mosquito fogger. We should be able to purchase one from the Texas Boll Weevil Program this fall for pennies on the dollar rather than the $4,000 to $6,000 price tag. Having one this summer would be nice, but we do not have time to get someone licensed to operate the fogger until the season is almost over. Remember that if you have standing water, you probably have mosquitoes breeding there. Dump the water or find a way to drain it if it is standing in your yard or alley. If it is standing in the street, notify City Hall.

2. Small Maintainer. The County does not put a large priority on maintaining our streets and ditches. With maintainer, we could not only smooth our rough roads while there is moisture in the dirt, but we could work the ditches and keep them maintained and flowing water so that they are not breeding grounds for mosquitoes and other disease carrying rodents and insects. Having better drainage will also keep the asphalt from deteriorating where the water stands.

3. Backhoe. We are currently on the third transmission in our backhoe. Though we have rebuilt the engine and some of the hydraulics this piece of equipment has close to 6,500 hours on it and it is just tired and difficult to keep from breaking.

4. Security Cameras for City Barn. If we are to provide a place to dump large items such as couches and other items that will not fit in the dumpsters, we have to have positive control of the collection point. In just the past three weeks, we have had people dump items over the fence, pile items in front of the fence, and take large items in and place them in front of almost full dumpsters rather than communicating with the City to find out when they can dump. The City must have a way to maintain positive control on the collection point and have a way to prosecute those violate state dumping laws. In a perfect world, this would not be a problem, but.....

If you have ideas, I want to hear them. Getting our city in shape will take a team effort and I want everyone in the community on the team! Try to take care of yours and one more if possible.

Karl
mayor@cityofanton.org