City focuses on southeast side for next street work

The Clarendon City Council focused attention on streets in the southeast part of town during their regular meeting January 12 as preliminary plans were made for the next paving project.

City Administrator David Dockery said the streets prioritized for improvement are all east of State Highway 70 South and include Third, Fourth, Montgomery, Barcus, Davis, Hartzell, and Wells. The city is asking OJD Engineering perform on cost analysis on those specific blocks to determine what improvements can be made for a maximum of $500,000.

Dockery said the city has that much money on hand through COVID relief funds and through capital improvement funds.

Figuring out how to deal with water drainage in that area will be a challenge, Dockery said, and so engineers will start with a boundary and topographic study of the area in order to address significant erosion issues on the streets in question.

The council’s discussion on future street improvements came after aldermen took no action on proposals for broadband infrastructure improvements. COVID relief money can be spent on broadband improvements, but Dockery said the council wants to see what the state government will do about connectivity issues in the near future.

Last week, the Texas Comptroller’s office released a map showing Donley County as an underserved area for broadband internet service. The map will reportedly help guide the state’s broadband development efforts.

In other city business, the council reviewed applications from candidate for city administrator to replace Dockery, who plans to retire this spring. Interviews of potential candidates are scheduled for January 25 at the Bairfield Activity Center starting at 1 p.m.

The city also contracted with PRPC for future grant applciations