Members of the Houston City Council received updates Monday on several projects, a hiring and decided to move its tornado activation system to the Texas County 911 office.
Bennie Cook, the city’s emergency management director, received authorization to relocate a tornado siren switch from the Texas County Sheriff’s Department to the 911 office on Main Street in Houston. That office recently took over communication responsibilities for the city.
Members:
•Gave final approval to a measure that requires employee comp time to exceed no more than 120 hours by Jan. 1, 2017. The policy is now 240 hours.
•Authorized seeking funding for the city’s bus transit system through a MoDOT program that administered federal funds. The city’s contribution is $74,663. The federal share is $117,035.
•Made a $100 contribution toward candy for the trick or treat program Oct. 31 in downtown Houston.
•Learned that Rolla Asphalt will add curbing to new sidewalks under construction near the Houston School District campus.
•Heard that the Friend family of Licking has started construction of 12 apartment units at Holder Drive and Thomasville Road.
•Learned that Drew Jordan has been hired as city parks director. The position became open with the retirement of Jim Root. The city opened the interview process twice to hire a candidate.Â
•Heard that Larry Sutton, city administrator; and Ron Reed, city economic developer, are attending a state economic development conference in Columbia this week.
•Learned from Sutton that he will work to facilitate a meeting between various firms and the MoDOT related to a timetable for improvements to U.S. 63 through Houston. Additional lanes will be added in some locations.