City approves Transfer Station change of hours, outdoor recreation grant
Yoakum City Council approved changes in hours to the Municipal Solid Waste Transfer Station at the June 13 meeting.
The new hours are 6 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. for residents. It started on June 26 and continues through August 26. On the collection side, commercial runs will start at 7 a.m. instead of the usual side at 8 a.m.
“We’re doing this just to give the folks at MSWTS one more hour out of the heat,” City Manager Kevin Coleman said.
Council also continued its discussion for an outdoor recreation grant of $750,000 from Texas Parks and Wildlife to renovate and improve parks in Yoakum. The deadline for this grant is the end of July.
“The next step is to try to turn that plan into a project and that project into a request for funding,” City Manager Kevin Coleman said. “The plan itself has been submitted to the parks department and it’s under review.”
The top three priorities in the plan included pool renovation, improvements in hike and bike walking trails, and baseball and volleyball courts renovations. An estimated amount from the group showed that 40% of the $750,000 funding will be going towards the use of a splash pad at the pool, while 10% will go towards renovations of the bathrooms
A Yoakum public survey from MRB Group of 373 responses showed 15.5% automatically said yes for parks and recreation improvements, 54.7% would support a bond depending on the project and 13.7% said yes depending on the amount, 11.3% had no opinion, and 4.8% declined.
The council also approved the use of the American Recovery Plan Act to fund use of small capital of $7,000 to the completion cost of little league facility restrooms.
Two citizens of Yoakum made proposed changes to animal ordinance, including feral cat population and shelter for animals residing outside.
“I just want to bring this to light about animal cruelty I see in the area,” Yoakum citizen Kathleen Amyx said.“You have three things to give an animal; food, water, and shelter. When you’re not doing that, it’s considered animal cruelty and I think more can be done on the agenda.”
A proposed change for noise ordinance was also brought forward by Amyx. Currently, 85 decibels is the sound limit for Yoakum.
The city opened a public hearing to assess compliance to abate junked vehicle violations of the Chapter 683 in the Texas Transportation Code. Five junked vehicles were assessed and one junked vehicle was given a deadline of 60 days to comply with TTC
Councilwoman Tanya Wenzel was elected mayor pro-team and will be filling an unexpired term on the Yoakum Volunteer Fire Department Pension Board.
Looking forward, the Yoakum Economic Development Committee and the City Council will hold a joint meeting scheduled for July 24.
The City Hall will be closed July 4 in observance of Independence Day.
