From busted streetlights to curbside trash to bumpy roadways, Grenada City Councilmen expressed their concerns at last Monday evening’s City Council meeting during department reports.
Ward 5 Councilman Eric Harris was the first to speak up. His concern is the number of streetlights currently not shining in the areas of town that he represents.
“In my Ward, I have noticed there have been a lot of streetlights out,” he said. “I have called Entergy to get them to come out and repair the lights, but I haven’t got any results. I wanted to see if somebody could get on that and take care of that for me.”
City Manager Stanford Amos spoke up and asked for specific addresses.
“I’ll get with you with those addresses,” Harris responded.
“It’s kind of a lengthy process,” Ward 1 Councilman Warren B. Cox added.
“That it is,” Amos responded.
Ward 4 Councilman Michael D. Smith then suggested having Entergy representatives attend a future Council meeting.
“Can we ask them to be at the next City Council meeting,” he asked.
Amos said he would contact Entergy to request a representative be present at the November City Council meeting.
Trash Talks
Councilman Smith was next to speak up, but before getting to business, he first commended the employees of the Lewis Johnson Senior Citizen Complex for their work on the Breast Cancer Awareness parade and event held on Oct. 5.
“Great job on the Breast Cancer Awareness program that you had,” he said. “Great turnout on the walk. Ms. Cassandra (Liddell), you did a marvelous job. You had great vendors there with a lot of good information. If you missed it, you missed a lot of good information on not only breast cancer, but other cancers as well.”
The council and those in attendance then gave a round of applause for the efforts.
Smith then requested that Code Enforcement Officer Tommie Caldwell Jr. step to the podium to follow-up on the topic of non-household trash being placed at the streets by city residents. During last month’s meeting, Smith spoke out about the trash not being the responsibility of city employees to pick up and mentioned possibly charging residents for disposal.
“I know we have done a good job lately of putting stickers on abandoned cars because I received a ton of calls about that, so we’ve done a good job of getting those abandoned cars moved because people have been calling me right and left,” Smith said. “But as far as like bedroom suites and living room suites.”
Caldwell then explained that he has been in contact with the Waste Pro representative over the Grenada area regarding the issue.
“So whenever there is something out at a street that the city is not going to pick up, I’ve usually been getting in contact with her and they’ve been coming out and getting it,” he said. “Now, if there’s anything that I haven’t done, I haven’t been aware of it.”
Smith added that he had noticed some non-household trash at the roadway on South Street on the way to the meeting that night. However, he commended Caldwell for Hwy. 51 being cleaned.
“Just make sure that we’re staying on top of that to keep the neighborhoods clean,” Smith said. “To make sure people are taking pride. I appreciate all of your help.”
Amos then asked if Caldwell had talked to Brandy Dowdle with Waste Pro. Caldwell responded in the affirmative.
“She did say that the second day of the two days per week that they pick up are the days that they get those extra things,” Amos explained to the Council. “So the first day, they’re simply going to get trash from the cans, but they will do that second day – and I’ve had residents to call and say that theirs has been missed and if they call in real time – say they usually get picked up at 10 o’clock or so and it’s 11 o’clock and they’ve seen them come through picking up, they’ve called and they’ve been able to go back and pick them up on the same day. So, it’s just a matter of us being informed that something isn’t picked up, but the second day is dedicated for that non-trashcan trash.”
Ward 6 Councilman Larry Vance then spoke up.
“I did see Waste Pro this past Wednesday making a loop through my Ward – I was home sick – so, I saw it, but I am aware that they are doing it on Wednesday,” he said.
Roadway Repairs
Smith then moved on to the water/sewer and street departments, asking that Interim Water/Sewer Superintendent Fred Chapman and Street Department Superintendent Robert Booker Sr., step to the podium.
“I know we’ve had a ton of leaks lately,” Smith said. “I want to applaud you all for the leak that we had over by the Police Department that had half of the town shutdown. You all did a great job getting it back up as quick as possible – going to get the parts, bringing them back, getting everybody back online OK – great job on that.”
Smith’s concerns, however, were how the two departments are working together following repairs.
“Once we have to tear up a street or break up a sidewalk or whatever the case may be, we need to put a plan in place, so that once you all tear it up, then Mr. Booker and them can try to get that area repaired as soon as possible,” Smith said. “I’ve got some areas in my Ward like by (City Clerk) Ms. Lois Freelon’s house, that area has been there for about a year now; a year and a half. So if we could put some type of plan or communication in place, so that he knows what street you’ve torn up – I know that we’ve got to take a couple of days for the dirt to settle –that way he can get a plan in place to try to get those streets repaired.”
“We’ll try to coordinate that and keep that in mind,” Chapman responded.
Amos then offered an explanation.
“For the long term – you say a year – that should have been taken care of,” he admitted. “But the short-term fixes, we try to make sure the fix was taken, so that we won’t have to re-tear up a road from the pavement down, but a year is not acceptable. But the short-term, that’s the explanation for why it’s not paved immediately after it is repaired.”
Ward 2 Councilman Fredreick “Pete” Wilson then inquired if Townes Construction was still patching city roadways with hot mix asphalt. While Wilson spoke, Townes Construction owner Armstead Townes entered City Hall.
“Do we still have you under contract to fix spots that you would throw that hot patch on,” Wilson asked as Townes made his way to a seat.
“I would like to be doing it,” Townes responded.
Wilson suggested to the Council that they “talk” about having Townes Construction back on contract for patching.
“That was a very effective thing because it wasn’t putting that cold patch in there and we didn’t have to worry about every four or five months going back and putting that cold mix in there (again),” Wilson said. “I think it would be cost effective to do that. We need to get with Mr. Townes to discuss doing that again.”
Ward 3 Councilman Lewis Johnson then entered the conversation.
“I’m glad you brought that up because it is a major problem with our streets,” he said. “We have utility lines and everything that cuts on the streets and streets getting busted up for repairs, but that brings up another question: When the gas company and folks come out and tear up our streets, who pays for it? Looks like we do, but they tear it up.”
“The need to be paying for it,” Smith interjected.
Johnson agreed.
“Somehow, there needs to be something in place to deal with that,” Johnson added. “Even from the Water Department budget. You put down a new street and they come out the next week and tear it up trying to fix somebody’s line. Somehow, you’ve got to have a way of doing that and I appreciate Councilman Wilson bringing that up because I know there on Pearl Street right in front of Battle Temple Church – Pearl Street has been torn up and they put that gravel mix in it and it doesn’t do anything, but make the street look bad – scatter stuff up and down the street – somebody comes along riding and throws a rock into somebody’s windshield. Then, the next thing you know, they are up here looking at us. So, I agree, we need to address those problems.”
Johnson then addressed Project Engineer Kyle Grubb of Willis Engineering, Inc.
“I want to say, I thank you for getting back on our street projects, I know that we had talked about that at the last meeting,” Johnson said. “I know on Goodwin Drive, you did that, excellent job, I appreciate it. I know that we’ve got some more streets to be done and my understanding is that we will have people back in here very soon.”
Grubb, who had made his way to the front of the room, informed Johnson that paving would continue the Week of Oct. 24.
“So, if there are any other paving projects that y’all are interested in, get with me sometime soon and let’s get it set up before they move back in, so we can get it done before the end of the year,” Grubb concluded.
