TRINITY — The Trinity City Council opted to pony up $111,288.50 to go along with grant funds to build a new ground storage tank for its water system.
At the Thursday meeting, Council Member Bubba Smith said that while he does not like to spend money indiscriminately, it makes better sense to stop patching the worn-out tank and build it right.
The tank will replace the current tank at the Rockdale booster station and will be built across the street, which also will help improve the esthetics of the city. The total cost of the project is $590,000.
In a related matter, Jed Morris of Goodwin Lasiter Strong, the city’s grant administrator, said there will be a delay on construction of the new elevated water storage tank, pushing the completion date back about 9 months.
Morris said that the firm hired to build the tank is experiencing weather problems, supply chain issues and a lack of available workforce in the area.
The new tank was expected to be completed in November but now may not be done until July 2026.
In a separate matter, Larry Grant of Trinity County Crime Stoppers said that given the arrest of the county’s animal control officer, Crime Stoppers has been teaming up with law enforcement in the county to help with pet adoptions and animal control.
He requested that the city revise its outdated animal control ordinance as well as rehab the structure housing the animals. Grant also presented the council with a $1,000 check to purchase dog kennels.
Also separately, Mayor Billy Goodin asked for council members to come up with ideas to restructure the city’s Economic Development Corporation.
Change is needed, he said, because the board should not be working on saving funds but actively looking for opportunities to promote the city, not waiting for one to “drop out of the sky.”
Currently, the ED has $2.2 million in certificates of deposit, but Goodin said that the council, which ultimately is responsible for everything the ED does, does not get regular financial reports.
“Processes need to be changed,” he said. “My goal is not to leave this city in the way it was when I got it.”
In other business, council members:
