Meadowlakes awards Honor Flight duo

Meadowlakes Mayor Mark Bentley presented a Citizenship Award on Nov. 15 to Jess and May Lofgreen for their support of the recent Honor Flight to Washington D.C. Many thanks go out to Jess and May for supporting our veterans. Contributed photo

Meadowlakes Mayor Mark Bentley presented a Citizenship Award at the last city council meeting to Jess and May Lofgreen for their support of the recent Honor Flight to Washington D.C.

Honor Flight involved 28 Vietnam veterans, 8 Korean War veterans and three WWII veterans, one of which was 93 years old, who took a sponsored trip in April to tour monuments. Many thanks go out to Jess and May for supporting our veterans.

The council met at 6 p.m. Nov. 15 at City Hall for its regular scheduled November meeting, and the following items were discussed and acted upon:

• Staff briefed the council on the city’s financial condition at the end of the fiscal year that ended on September 31, 2022. Overall, Funds of the city performed better than anticipated (budgeted).

The combined net anticipated gain for all funds is just over $120,000, with both the General Fund and the Utility Fund recording anticipated gains in excess of $50,000 for the fiscal year.

It is to be noted that for the first time in recent history, the Recreation Fund recorded a net gain of around $11,500. A more detailed review of fiscal year 2022 can be found here.

• Staff and the city’s engineer are investigating options to renovate the city’s wastewater treatment plant with available funds. Last month the council rejected the two bids received. The lowest bid received was over three times higher than the available funds bud- geted for the project.

• Mayor Bentley briefed the council on the possible lease of the tennis facility to a third party. The draft agreement was recently received back from legal counsel but was not received in time for a complete review by the mayor, city manager and the possible lessee. It is anticipated that this will be placed on the council's December meeting agenda for discussion and possible action.

The council was addressed by a represen-

tative from Waste Man -

agement of Texas, the

city's solid waste (garbage) collection contractor, and discussed the effects of the rather significant inflationary pressures and the impact on their operation, which has affected just about every portion of their operation. They

have seen a rather dras tic increase in fuel, labor, and equipment costs. The city will enter the third year of a threeyear contract with Waste Management the first of 2023. Per the contract's terms and conditions, solid waste collection fees will increase by 3% effective January 1, 2023 (this increase will be reflected in the January 2023 billing). In addition, the contract allows the contrac-

tor to request an addi -

tional rate adjustment

to cover unforeseen expenses, just as those brought on by recent inflation. The council, after due consideration, approved an additional 3% increase in Waste Management fees effective January 1, 2023. The new rate will be approx-

imately 6% more than

we are currently paying and will increase by about $1.35 per month,

bringing your solid

waste billing, effective

January 1, 2023, to $24

per month. Bulk Leaf Collec-

tion to Begin Tuesday,

November 29. With the first freeze of the fall/ winter having come and

gone, and the outlook

to have cooler weather in the coming weeks,

the leaves should begin

to fall shortly. The rate at which leaves fall is based on cool and dry temperatures.

As the weather be comes cooler, more leaves will begin to fall. We have scheduled the first leaf pickup of

the season for Tues day, November 29. Leaf pickup within the

City is not a small task

and is exceptionally

labor-intensive.

It requires utilizing the vast majority of the

public works and golf course employees. We

will be utilizing two

vacuum units this year, and pickup should be accomplished considerably faster than in prior years. Please remember that the crew will not

return until the next reg ularly scheduled pickup once the equipment has passed your residence.

Your leaves must be

wind rowed within five (5) feet of your curb by 7 a.m. the morning of the pickup. Do not rake

or blow leaves onto the street; this violates City

Ordinances.

The first of two planned bulk leaf pickup cycles will begin on

Tuesday, November 29,

followed by a second pick up on Tuesday, December 13. These dates are subject to change based on weather conditions. Also, note that once crews have passed your residence, they will

not return until the next

scheduled pickup date.

Important Note About Brush Pickup Due to the upcoming

Thanksgiving holiday,

brush pickup will take place on Wednesday the

23rd, instead of the usu al Thursday. In addition,

there will be no brush

pickup on the week of November 28th and December 12th due to leaf pickup. Upcoming Holiday

Closures – City Hall will

be closed the following days; however, on-call personnel will take your emergency calls.

- November 24th and 25th - Thanksgiving - December 23rd and

26th – Christmas