Friday, February 08, 2008

New Police Chief and Roads...

http://www.suburbianews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=612&Itemid=2
Combine Road Project Hits Bump in The Road

Written by Jerry Pugh
Thursday, 07 February 2008
At the February 4, 2008 Combine City Council Meeting, the council addressed many issues that are of great concern to their residents.
Combine Police Department:
The Council announced that Gary O’Pry, the new Police Chief, has passed all the required background and ethical investigations and is already working, however he will not officially assume the full time duties of the office until March 5, 2008. An introduction of Chief O’Pry to the community of Combine will be published in an upcoming issue of The Suburbia News.

Combine Fire Department:
The Combine Fire Department notified the Council that they are in need of at least two new volunteers. The Volunteer Firemen meet at the Fire Station on the second and forth Tuesday of each month at 7:00 PM.
The Council encourages those citizens of Combine who wish to become part of the Department to apply at the stated meeting of the Volunteer Firemen.
The Council was also reminded that the City of Combine is still under a burn ban and that the fire hazards are still with us. Citizens are reminded that burning in barrels require that a screen over the barrel be in place and that a water hose be on site prior to burning.

Agreement with Dallas County:
The Council proposed an agreement with Dallas County that would address nuisance and environmental problems in the City of Combine. This agreement would permit the city to contact Dallas County to enforce the State of Texas Civil Environmental and Nuisance Laws for the City of Combine.
Approval of this action was deferred to the March meeting to allow the council members the opportunity to review the agreement.

Combine Road Project:
Road Repair dominated the meeting of the Combine City Council this month. The council had planed to review the cost estimates for resurfacing Davis Road and Lanier Road this month, a portion of Harlan Road scheduled for the spring, and doing a chip seal on Circle Drive and Loren Boyd Road later in the spring.
Some members of the Council expressed their dissatisfaction with the work on the roads that had been done in the past, and ask if it would be possible to find a contractor who would be willing to resurface the roads in such a way that they would last for five or ten years.
The concern of money quickly came into the conversation and the best use of the road funds for the citizens of Combine. There were two approaches to the spending of the road funds, one) resurface as many of the roads as possible, two) go beyond just a resurface and construct a road that will not need repair every few months. This second approach would take into consideration and repair road base and drainage problems.
The Council decided to hold this agenda item until the next meeting; during that time they will contact professional road contractors to get some guidance on the cost and scope of such an undertaking.