City of Liberty swears in new council members

Candidates elected by Liberty voters took their place on council during the May 14 regular meeting of Liberty City Council. Elected to another term in office are Dennis Beasley, Libby Simonson and Diane Huddleston. Newly-elected councilman Neal Thornton also took his oath of office before starting his one-year term on council, finishing the unexpired term of Paul Glazener who stepped down last year to devote more time to his church.

City Manager Tom Warner announced that Damon Jones is the city’s new Public Works director. He comes to Liberty with 26 years of experience he acquired working with the Texas Department of Transportation and the City of Beaumont.

One of the first challenges for Jones at Public Works will overseeing the repair of a broken sewer line on the west side of Bowie Street from Grand Ave. to the south side of US 90. The original 24-inch corrugated metal pipe has kept wastewater flowing for an estimated 50 years, but the pipe is now corroded and has failed. During recent heavy rains, the break in the drain pipe resulted in a geyser of sewer water erupting from the ground and into the yard of Cam Gilliland, who beseeched the council to authorize emergency repairs.

Warner explained that in order to make the repairs, a contractor must first install another manhole along that section of the street. Currently there are only two. He said the best method of repair will be a cured-in-place pipe that seals using steam, hot water or air pressure. Following Warner’s recommendation to accept a bid of $65,355 from Texas Pride to make the repairs, the council agreed. At the meeting, Warner said he would notify Texas Pride to immediately begin the process of making the repairs.

For weeks, the city has been working on a wastewater project on the south side of US 90. Warner said the project is progressing but has been slowed by recent rains.

“The contractor is continuing to micro-tunnel the sewer line on Highway 90, install the remaining manholes and refurbish the McGuire lift station,” Warner wrote in his report to council. “The installation of the sewer lines behind the middle and high schools has been completed. Work as commenced on the sanitary and storm sewer line repairs on Texas Avenue and the bypass, and the Beaumont Ave. lift stations.”

In other news, the city reset the date for the Shred-It event for May 11 to June 1 due to inclement weather. Council also approved an ordinance to annex property in the Moss Bluff area into its extra-territorial jurisdiction for the purpose of an industrial district.

After an hour-long executive session, council returned to vote on reassigning duties for the city manager and two assistant city managers. Before the vote, the city manager was responsible for overseeing most departments, including the airport, golf course, library, personnel, municipal court, information technology, purchasing and utility billing. Those duties will now fall on two assistant city managers. The city manager’s role will be to supervise both assistant city managers, public works, city secretary, electric, fire and police.