Council receives project updates, approves contract for golf course concessions

By BRITTANY FHOLER

Cove Leader-Press 

The Copperas Cove City Council heard from City Manager Ryan Haverlah regarding several topics during the City Manager Report during its regular meeting on Tuesday. Among them were roadway projects, both current and future, as well as the Utility Administration transition to its own facility on Main Street.  

Regarding Transportation and Roadway Projects, the Narrows Sidewalk Project is complete, with a ribbon cutting planned for later this month. The Business US 190 Project is on track. “There have been a few really, relatively minor concerns that the contractor has come across and we’ve been able to work those out with TXDOT and the engineer,” Haverlah said. “So, we continue to work through that process. As you have probably noticed, half of the cones or barricades were removed on the eastern end of the project, and those barricades will eventually be put back as they move down in that direction, and once all the sidewalks and curbing are done, then they will move to the median portion of the project and after that it will be the overlay portion.”

The Killeen-Temple-Metropolitan Planning Organization (KTMPO) projects include the State Highway 9 ramps project, according to Haverlah. 

“KTMPO is in the process of reviewing and finalizing scoring for projects as well as beginning the consideration of how to allocated funding to scored projects,” Haverlah said. “That’s not a very simple process where project #1 is funded immediately because there are other consequences or other factors that go into whether a project actually receives funding even if it is scored in the top tiers, so we will continue that scoring process and then once that is actually done and adopted, I will have a report to council with where our projects fell in with all the scored projects.”

The Utilities Administration has officially moved back to 305 S. Main Street after the renovation of the building, including a paint job on the outside. 

“It has been a great benefit to staff as well as the customers that have been in the facility,” Haverlah said. “We will have a grand opening later this month after we get things a little bit settled down. It was a very quick move, and so not everything is in its place that it needs to be in, but staff is definitely working on making that happen so that we can eventually have that grand opening.”

Haverlah also touched on some complaints made regarding residents’ utility bills. 

“We did have an incident with utility administration lately where a customer reported that they had their water turned off, and they did and they actually admitted that the reason they had their water turned off was because they were late in paying their bill,” Haverlah said. “They also went on to explain that even though their water was turned off for several days, they shortly after that received another bill which actually was pretty high. It was almost $300, and this customer posted this information online. There were quite a few additional customers that were very supportive of that customer and asking questions and saying that they really need to communicate with the city to find out what was going on or see if they had a leak or something like that. 

“After a little bit of investigation on that account, that account was past due for several months once that customer was disconnected for several days. That customer addressed their bill, did not address the full amount, but that’s part of our customer service is that we’re trying to work with them to make sure they have the services they need. Shortly after that, since they didn’t address their full amount, they received another bill, and so it included past due amounts that they hadn’t taken care of as well as the current amount plus other penalties because that customer ended up turning their water on by themselves, even though it was disconnected for nonpayment. 

“I only say this because there are several things that are posted throughout the time while we’ve been through this transition which are partially factual but not entirely factual, and the city has messed up, and we have really tried to be fully transparent about those mess ups and we try to address those issues as quickly as possible, and so just be cautious about the information that is presented even online forums because it may not have the full information.”

Regarding the Winter Storm Uri After Action Review, Haverlah said he would be providing the city council a written report by the end of this week and then will have a presentation and discussion item at the next council meeting for the Winter Stor Uri After Action. 

Regarding the Financial Status and Budget Planning Update, Haverlah shared that city staff have gone through the process of internal budget reviews and will be working on balancing the budget over the next several weeks before they come to council for discussion next month. 

Along with receiving a report from the city manager, the council also approved a contract with Brothers J&J, LLC for the operation of concessions at the Hills of Cove Golf Course. 

The Hills of Cove Golf Course has had seven agreements to provide concessions at the Pro Shop.

The city received one response for proposals earlier this year from Brothers J&J, LLC (The Reef), owned by Cliff “Bob” Jericho, who owns The Reef food truck. The Reef offers smoothies and grilled cheese and steak sandwiches, and also partnered with Camp Caylor to offer brunch every weekend in addition to lunch and dinner options during the week. 

The city council also approved the appointment of Oezlem Gant to the Cemetery Advisory Board. The board had one vacancy which expired February 21.  The position vacancy was advertised through the city’s advisory board application process and generated two applicants: Gant and Lorianne Valois. Both applicants were nominated and then randomly selected for a vote by council, with the council voting on Gant’s nomination first. 

The council took no action taken after convening in executive session regarding the status of the Allin House, located at 401 North Main St.