City administrator details sidewalks, water, fiber and pool plans as council hears project updates

City staff briefed Crockett's council on a suite of capital projects and grant applications, giving council a rundown of near-term expectations for infrastructure and community facilities.

Streets and state projects: The administrator (Unidentified Speaker 1) said preliminary engineering is complete for Goliad and East Houston street work and that TxDOT review remains the final approval step. The city also has a State Infrastructure Bank (SIB) application covering water-main and street construction for eight designated streets; if SIB moves forward, those streets will be removed from the city's in-house construction budget.

Sidewalks: Staff said the downtown sidewalk application was re-submitted after an earlier denial; East Goliad was funded through a Safe Routes to School program, while Houston and Gray were not funded in the same round. Staff encouraged council to nominate other eligible projects for future rounds.

Utilities and repairs: Staff said the USDA water-main project on South Fourth requires completion of fiber-optic conduit work and discussed replacement of larger meters that remain to be installed; clarifiers and lift-station pump repairs were identified as urgent items after TCEQ inspections.

Pool and facilities: The swimming pool design came back from engineering with revisions to reduce cost; staff hopes to bid construction during winter months to save on summer surge costs, with a target opening in summer 2023. The city has purchased an animal shelter facility and expects relocation of the shelter in approximately five to six months so the city can use the vacated site for park operations.

Staff also reminded council that CDBG and home program applications have been submitted and that the city closed out an operations-park grant and is eligible to reapply for park projects. Councilists asked questions about sidewalk locations and street priorities, and staff said the SIB-funded segments are likely to start construction in the second quarter of 2023 pending engineering and bidding.