UPDATE

Linden City Council held their regular monthly meeting on March 13 at the Senior Center on South Kaufman Street at 6 p.m. to discuss new business to pass last month’s consent agenda.

First up, was the approval of minutes for the council’s February meetings: Their regular one on Feb. 13; A special Feb. 17 meeting; as well as a work session on February 27 that primarily dealt with updates to the city’s employment policy handbook and internal matters regarding city employees that are available for public view on the city’s website.

Linden Mayor Lynn Reynolds went over current bills and bank statements accrued by the city, as well as donations made to the town for February–of which none had been recorded.

Reynolds asked the council if they had questions or wanted to have a discussion regarding the agenda–which passed unanimously after a motion to accept made by Councilwoman Mary Dowd was seconded by Councilman Frank Lanier.

The first business item up for consideration by the council was acting on an appointment of a joint committee with the non-profit Linden Heritage Foundation to explore options for a monument interpreting the history of the site of the former brickworks near Block number 33. Mayor Reynolds and Councilwoman Dowd were placed in the position as ad hoc committee members and city staff liaison to work in tandem with Linden Heritage Foundation members Sandra Skoog, Jack Crawford and Sam Higdon in helping give input on the project.

“Linden heritage foundation will be providing the money for a historical monument, sort of like what they did with the water tower lights,” said City Manager Lee Ellion. “Linden Heritage wanted to place a historical marker near the brickworks to commemorate the slave labor that went into building the courthouse and other buildings.”

Elliot said he and other city employees are excited to be getting that part of history recorded.

“You know, so much of history is whitewashed and it’s good to see the recognition being given here and brought to the forefront of Linden’s history,” he said.

Elliot said while Rush street is done, he is also excited to announce that Kaufman will be overlaid Monday, March 27th.

“We are opening USDA bids with construction companies to fix faulty water lines,” Elliot said, estimating the cost to be about 4 ½ million. “Limited funds make it more challenging and we’ve done everything we can with grants. We waited nine years for this so this is a big day for our community and we should be able to repair about 60 percent of our city lines.”

Elliot said in the next 4-5 weeks the city’s engineer will start advertising for the bids.

As far as fixing the streets go, however, Elliot said they are trying to keep fixing streets that are in close proximity to one another– and for good reason.

“That keeps cost of mobilization down…less equipment having to be moved,” Elliot said. “This is a wellthought-out process, but I sympathize with everyone feeling inconvenienced.”

The city council approved the CODE RED alert system used in many other area cities and surrounding states to help alert citizens on their mobile and house phones of boil water notices, burn bans, tornado warnings and more.

Elliot said the city was pleased to save $10,000 by canceling upcoming elections, as Mayor Lynn Reynolds ran unopposed, while Bill Thomas and Codi Grubbs also took over council positions that were unopposed. Thomas and Grubbs will replace council member retirees Frank Lanier and Mike Berry, though Lanier has opted to stay on the Linden Economic Development Committee board, according to Elliot.

The council also appointed Butch Dunbar for prosecutorial services for the City of Linden and is planning to act on the eradication of substandard structures like the one on North Taylor Street.

Not to be forgotten, the 47th Annual Wildflower Trails of Texas in Linden is slated for the end of April, kicking off with a 5k course in downtown Linden Texas that begins at 8:30 a.m. at Linden Masonic Lodge on East Frazier Street.

“Run through the wildflowers on our beautiful 5k course to kick off the Wildflower Trials festival in downtown Linden, TX,” the event page posted. “Come for the race and stay for the vendors, live music, car show, quilt show, art show, flower show, wild west shoot out at DD’s Saloon, and much much more” The entry fee for the race is 25 dollars before race day and 30 dollars on the day of the race. Online registration is open until April 28th at noon. Those who can’t register online can register at City Hall, according to reports.

Runners will be served pancakes free of charge on race day, and 100 dollars will be awarded to the top male and female finishers. 1st -3rd place male and female will receive awards in 10-year age groups up to Masters at age 60+. 1st place age group will get a tumbler and 2nd & the 3rd will get a sweat towel.

Linden reports that participants who register for the April 29 race by April 21st will be guaranteed swag—a DRI FIT running shirt-gender specific sizing available.

“All runners will receive a swag bag from Healthcare Express,” the event page on Facebook states.

For more information on signing up to race, contact Linden City Hall. The money raised from the charity race will be donated to a student from Linden- Kildare High School for the Fred Wilbanks Memorial 5k Scholarship.