Council accepts contract for impoundment services
By DAVID LOWE Staff Writer

In about a 30-minute meeting Monday night, the Lampasas City Council approved a contract for temporary housing of impounded animals in Kempner.

The city's impoundment agreement with Lampasas Veterinary Clinic expires May 31, so the council unanimously OK'd a contract with Shirl Wangler, owner of Kempner Impound Facility, to house stray animals until the city and county build a new animal control center.

The contract, which will take effect June 1, includes a $500 monthly fee for use of the facility, along with other charges. Impoundment in Kempner will cost about $5,500 through the end of the fiscal year, city officials said.

When the city and county build a new animal facility, the two entities will split the cost of operation and employee salaries.

In other business, the council voted 7-0 to amend a section of a truck route ordinance by replacing the name "State Department of Highways and Public Transportation" with "Texas Department of Transportation."

City staff last year asked TxDOT to install truck route signs at each end of Loop 257, which is not included on the city's list of approved trucking routes. TxDOT officials agreed to install the signs to discourage through truck traffic in the downtown area if the ordinance referred to the department by its current name.

The council also unanimously approved $9,200 for metal walls to enclose a 20x40-foot bay at the city's wastewater plant. OMI will park a vactor track in the bay during freezing weather. The truck has been parked in the center bay at the Public Works facility, but the ve- hicle has been leaking on the floor.

Public Works Director Randy Clark said he and OMI Project Manager Roger Bothof had contracted with 3 Dangling S Welding and Erecting, because Clark thought the $12,000 capital line item in the 2007-08 Wastewater Department budget was intended to pay for the enclosure.

The line item already has been used for a flow meter and a sampler. Enough funds remain in the capital budget to enclose the portion of the wastewater plant building, however. Clark apologized for the misunderstanding.

In another item, the City Council voted unanimously to approve the first reading of an ordinance for the sixacre Whitetail Crossing townhouse subdivision off West Sixth Street. The council also OK'd a list of changes, most relating to yard setbacks, to the subdivision's plat and detailed site plan, which the council acceped at its April 14 meeting.

Developed by Karl and Brenda Oestreich of KOBO Inc., Whitetail Crossing will feature 25 townhome units ranging from 1,492 to 2,306 square feet, and will have a homeowners association.

In other business the council: • approved Clark, Mayor Judy Hetherly, City Manager Michael Stoldt and City Secretary Cherry Hargrove as signatories for contractual documents associated with a Community Development Block Grant to be used to stabilize a sewer line and the south bank of Sulphur Creek.

• OK'd an agreement, not to exceed $9,000, for sealcoat rock from Marble Falls-based Delta Materials at $20.64 per ton.

• approved the purchase, for not more than $10,000, of one tanker load of asphalt emulsion -- about 5,500 gallons -- from Ergon Inc. of Waco.

• authorized the reappointment of Ken Wiginton and Bonnie Daugherty to the Golf Course Advisory Board.

During the public hearing portion of the meeting, Alex Wittenburg gave council members a Texas Farm Bureau survey on eminent domain.

Farm Bureau is trying to gauge entities' acceptance of the Trans-Texas Corridor, Wittenburg said. The organization has disputed Gov. Rick Perry's claim that most town leaders support plans to acquire property through eminent domain and build a toll-supported superhighway from the Mexican border to northeast Texas.

The council will hold its next regular meeting May 12 at 7 p.m., following a 5:30 p.m. workshop session. The City Council voted Monday to reschedule its May 26 meeting to May 27 at 7 p.m. because of Memorial Day.