The year of 2018 may be forever known as the year after Harvey in the City of Pinehurst. Most of the year was spent cleaning up, repairing, and recovering from the storm that devastated parts of Pinehurst.
The City of Pinehurst is looking to do some major infrastructure improvements in the near future. Pinehurst received $6.8 million in a Hurricane Harvey Community Development Block Grant.
Mayor Pete Runnels and the Pinehurst City Council awarded Waxman and Associates the contract to administer the grant funds. David Waxman explained that Pinehurst has a unique opportunity to address infrastructure problems that were considered too expensive to fix previously.
An advantage for Pinehurst is it has already done a survey to show the city qualifies as 51 percent low to moderate income to do citywide projects. “Things that pose the greatest problem to the city like inflow and infiltration problems in the sewer and water lines things that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality lands on your head about we want to try to work with those as closely as we can,” Waxman emphasized.
Nestor Barroeta with Schaumburg and Polk said they have identified and applied for approval of three main projects to do with the grant. Barroeta indicated the first project will address drainage issues in the city. This would include clearing large outfalls and side ditches on many of the streets. Barroeta said, “It looks like the drainage project is a viable project for funding.”
Another project is the electrical service for the waste water treatment plant according to Barroeta. The current facility housing the electrical service for the plant is actually built below natural ground and floods every time it rains. Barroeta stated, “We’ll build a new building to put all the electrical equipment in, and it’s a project that would be worthwhile for the entire city.”
The flooding in Pinehurst from Harvey lasted several days. Barroeta pointed out that will have a long-term negative effect on streets and roads in Pinehurst. The base for those roads is damaged meaning down the road potholes will develop and edges of the streets will fail. “With this money we can do a lot of roads,” Barroeta concluded.
Lower property values were a result of Harvey. This caused the City of Pinehurst to raise the ad valorem tax rate for the first time in several years. The council approved a three-cent increase in the tax rate for Pinehurst citizens and a budget which included only a two percent pay increase for Pinehurst employees instead of the normal three percent raise.
Alderman Dan Mohon voiced the concern of the whole City Council about the smaller raise for the city’s employees and thanked them for their outstanding service to Pinehurst. Mohon stated Pinehurst is the cleanest and best run city in the area and the employees are the reason for it.
Spring saw new businesses popping up in Pinehurst. The Boogie’s Car Wash opened for business the second week of April. Boogie’s is located at MacArthur Drive and 28th Street.
Harry Vine with the City of Pinehurst was excited to see a new Burger King restaurant open in Pinehurst also on MacArthur. “We’re very happy and looking forward to more businesses coming to Pinehurst,” Vine exclaimed.
Vine indicated he has no definite information on when HEB will break ground on its signature store planned for the old Sears location on MacArthur Drive. He believes it will be sometime in 2019 before any construction starts on that much anticipated business.
Vine added that the City of Pinehurst has a sales tax rebate agreement with HEB that covers several years and stipulates the company notify the city when the construction is going to start. Vine anticipates hearing from HEB early next year of the company’s intentions to begin building their new store here.
Another new prospect is a business relocating to the old Conn’s location in the shopping center on Strickland Drive. Vine would not reveal the company’s name, but said they are definitely interested.
Pinehurst has created a re-investment zone to allow for tax abatements to businesses interested in the city. The re-investment zone runs from Adams Bayou on MacArthur Drive to Strickland Drive including the shopping center adjacent to the old Baptist Hospital.
The sale of alcohol in the city is being studied. Pinehurst has implemented a moratorium on the issuing of licenses for the sale of alcoholic beverages. City Administrator Robbie Hood indicated the city’s current Alcoholic Beverage Ordinance which was updated in 2010 needs revision to be in line with policies of the Texas Alcohol Beverage Commission and called for a six-month moratorium on any new alcohol licenses being issued. The moratorium is due to expire in early 2019, but may be extended for further study according to Hood.
An improvement project that has been going on since before Harvey is the upgrading of the municipal park on West Park Avenue. Public Works Director John Toney said some of the new projects at the park are a walking track around the park, a beach volleyball court, and two horse shoe pitching pits. The swing sets will be painted and improved.
The park will also get a new name in the near future. Mohon said he spoke with Lewis Sims who donated the land for the park years ago. Sims would like to have the park renamed the Junius Sims and Virginia Sims Memorial Park to honor his parents who have passed away.
-Dan Perrine, KOGT-
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