City manager updates: water-main work, bids on CDBG project, Amazon/Pilot activity and potential $12 million public-safety funding

City Manager Nate Reed told the council the city’s main replacement project is moving steadily, crews have moved from Holly Street to Ivanho, and planned outages for residents have averaged about "3 to 4 hours," with instructions for residents to notify city staff if service is out longer than four hours.

Reed gave a series of project updates. Bids for the Sledgebox project funded by Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) are open and a recommendation for award is expected at an upcoming meeting. Work at the Pilot site has advanced to pouring a concrete slab and Amazon remains on track for a fall opening, while the city has scheduled paving for John Wayne and Gloria Brown streets in May.

Airport improvements were reported as two months ahead of schedule; staff are updating lease language and anticipate marketing airport hangars at $500 per month. On the dam project, Reed said four agreements are needed to proceed; two are signed and the remaining two are under review with the rural water district. A related gas-line agreement (transcript references a vendor name that staff clarified during discussion) also is under review.

Reed told the council staff submitted a budget request to Congressman Frank Lucas’s office for a public safety facility. "If we're approved, they'll give us the full 12 million to do that project," Reed said; he added the request is effectively all-or-nothing, and a decision could come in June. The council and staff discussed next steps should funding be approved.

Other items included a replatting update on a 25th Street parcel and planned P3 financing to address a roughly $4 million infrastructure barrier on the Locust Street parcel; the city aims to submit a P3 proposal in June that would tie that project to broader housing efforts. Reed also reminded the public of an upcoming citywide cleanup day scheduled for the 18th and that the budget season and related fee-schedule discussions are forthcoming.

Councilors asked staff to follow up with developers on a deteriorated detour road and requested additional detail on project timelines, permitting, and contract awards before the next council meeting.