Breckenridge Texan

By Carla McKeown/Breckenridge Texan

Following the advice of Interim City Manager Scott Dixon, the Breckenridge City Commissioners approved an agreement with Public Works 1, a subsidiary of iWorQ Systems, for a street condition survey.

“Basically, they have a Google-type car that drives the entire city; it assesses the road pavement conditions,” Dixon said at the Dec. 1 meeting. “It will also capture (images of) manholes, inlets, fire hydrants, other assets that will be GPS-located, and we can tie that back into our GIS mapping system.”

The information and images will be compiled to give the city officials a complete picture of Breckenridge’s streets and their current conditions.

“The real effort here is to make sure that when we start developing a community investment plan that involves things like streets and parks, that you’re able to do it with the information that you need to make sure those dollars are being invested where they should be invested, where it’s wise to invest them, and you’ll get a return,” Dixon explained.

The program will help the City of Breckenridge identify not only the streets that are in bad condition and need immediate repair but also those streets that only need a little bit of work. “In some cases, you might take a street that’s really not in that bad a shape, but if you go ahead and do some work to it. Because, if you do that work now and spend a couple of dollars, it saves having to re-do the whole street. We have a couple of those in the city, as well, that just need a single-course overlay. It’s a lot less expensive to do that kind of work and to do it now. Then, we’ve got a bunch of others that have to just be rebuilt; there’s virtually no street there.”

The streets assessment is one of the processes to developing what Dixon calls a community investment plan.

Dixon was hired as the interim city manager in September through Strategic Government Resources to assess the city’s departments, personnel, budget, etc. and look at ways the city can be improved and operate more efficiently. The cost of the contract is being funded by the Breckenridge Industrial Foundation through an agreement with the city. Dixon’s employment is scheduled to be between 3 and 6 months.

The commissioners also authorized Dixon to work with NewGen Strategies & Solutions to conduct a cost of service study on the City of Breckenridge’s water and wastewater utility rates.

“At the end of the day, they’ll produce a cost to service analysis, but they’ll also help us establish new rates,” Dixon said.

Swearing in and honors

Breckenridge Mayor Bob Sims was sworn in for his second term and three employees were honored with service pins at last week’s City Commission meeting.

Karen Roberson

Sims was reelected to the position in the November election and was sworn in by Breckenridge Municipal Judge Kim Baggett. Also re-elected in November were Commissioner, Place 2, Rob Durham and Commissioner, Place 1, Russell Blue; neither of the commissioners were in attendance at the meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 1.

At the meeting, Baggett was reappointed to her position as Municipal Judge for two years, and Durham was appointed to the position of Mayor Pro Tem, which has been filled by Commissioner Tom Cyprian for several years. Cyprian has said that he does not intend to run for re-election when his term is up.

Recognized for their years of service to the City of Breckenridge and receiving service pins at the meeting were Bret Chaney, 10 years, and Karen Roberson, 5 years. Jose Garcia also was honored for his 10 years of service, but he was unable to attend the meeting.

The commissioners approved the canvasing of the election results. The City election usually takes place in May, but it was postponed this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Breckenridge Fire Chief Calvin Chaney recognizes firefighter Bret Chaney for his 10 years of service with the City of Breckenridge. Jose Garcia also was honored for 10 years of service but was not able to attend the ceremony. (Photo by Carla McKeown/Breckenridge Texan)

Other business

The commissioners also approved the following items:

• An agreement to contribute funds to relocate, remove and/or adjust utilities on FM 3099 from .2 miles south of U.S. Highway 180 to U.S. Highway 180 with the Texas Department of Transportation.
• An agreement with RCI for records management for City of Breckenridge stored documents.
• Texas Water Development Board contracts to Enprotec / Hibbs & Todd (engineering), Hilltop Securities (financial adviser), and McCall, Parkhurst and Horton (bond counsel).

Cutline, top photo: Breckenridge Mayor Bob Sims was sworn in for his second term by Breckenridge Municipal Judge Kim Baggett at the Dec. 1 City Commission meeting. (Photo by Carla McKeown/Breckenridge Texan)

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