CITY CORNER by Mayor Brent Hinckley

 

      It was a wonderful weekend for the Round-up activities with the rain ending Friday evening and the temperatures staying very pleasant most of Saturday.  I hope everyone had a good time and it was great to see the town looking so cleaned up and full of people.  The next few weeks have considerably fewer activities scheduled, but there is still a number of issues that the City will be dealing with.   We are currently working on the budget for the coming fiscal year that starts in November, and an important decision is coming on July 28 when LCRA presents to the PUC their preferred route for the electric transmission line that might negatively impact Mason County.  Your elected officials will continue to do all we can to fight the possibility of this transmission route in Mason and there is some significant actions that are being considered in addressing that issue for the coming weeks or months.

     As we go about the daily operations of the many City services during the next few weeks, we hope to deal with several problems that have been moving toward completion for some time.  I expect the final work in converting our electric distribution system to higher voltage will be complete before the end of summer.  We are making some changes at the landfill and the sewer plant that should help those to function much better.  Some new equipment is being ordered for the Recycling Center to expand our capabilities to take and recycle fluorescent light tubes.  Our street crews are working to repair the damage the spring rains did to our streets, and also are aiming to improve the drainage capabilities and street maintenance so that future problems are not as great.  But, even with all of this work going on around town, we still need your help to keep up with problems we are not always aware need attention.

      Have you seen something that needs doing around town and just not known who to contact to try and get it improved?  We at the City do not always see all of the problems that come up around town, and we need your help to identify them.  If you notice a problem, or just have an idea of something that would improve the community for everyone’s benefit, please call us at the City Office at 347-6449 and we will see what can be done.  In recent weeks we have been told about vehicles that needed to be moved off the street, lots that were overgrown with weeds, and street problems in out of the way places.  If possible we have worked with citizens or sent city crews out to try and resolve the problems within days of being notified.  One reason that the rodeo and Round-up activities seemed to go so very well this year is that the Rodeo Association, the Chamber and others working to arrange the events regularly contacted the City office with concerns, and we worked hand-in-hand with them to solve the problems.  I want to thank everyone who calls and lets us know of a problem rather than just complaining to their neighbor and letting the problem only get worse.  We cannot solve everything immediately, but if we work together we will find better ways to address the concerns, and when the work is done our community will be a better place.  Please take a moment to give us a call at the City if we can help, and we will see what we can do, and together we will make this the very best hometown in Texas.

Your friend and neighbor, Brent Hinckley