Council amends food service ordinance

In an effort to ensure all food service businesses in Moulton have a grease trap, the Moulton City Council amended an ordinance at the June 11 meeting.

The new ordinance states that all grease traps must have a minimum size of at least 500 gallons.

“When restaurants cook, they must have a grease trap,” City Administrator LuAnn Rogers said. “When cooks wash dishes, the grease trap collects the grease and allows the water to go through. When it isn’t collected properly, the grease gets in the sewer lines and as it cools down, it can cause blockages in the sewer and distribution lines. It can be very damaging. Most of the restaurants here in town do have a grease trap.”

A grant was also awarded to Langford Community Management Services.

“This is the Department of Energy’s Grid Resilience Grant,” Rogers said. “There’s various things within the grant that one could apply for. The main one we are applying for deals with tree trimming and the trimming of all types of vegetation along our electrical lines.”

In the Moulton Police Department’s report, it was shown that there was a total of 341 calls for service. There was also 37 traffic contacts made with eight citations being issued and 29 warnings given.

MIPD also did a lot of school related activities for the Moulton Independent School District.

“(MIPD) conducted several escorts for our students participating in Regional and State sporting and academic events,” Police Chief Daniel Beyer said in his report. “I believe that this was the most escorts we have ever provided for the school. That speaks volumes about the successful year Moulton ISD students and staff had.”

Also in the report, a request for a raise for all full-time officers will be made for this year’s budget.

Other items on the agenda include:

• A change order in the amount of $176,502.50 was approved. This is a part of the city’s drainage project.

• A document of understanding was approved between the City of Moulton and the Moulton Chamber of Commerce for this year’s Jamboree.

• A placement of an ad in the Lavaca County Discover Magazine was approved for the cost of $1,000. This will be paid from the Hotel Occupancy Tax fund.

• Three other ordinance changes were tabled at the meeting.

• Discussions on the ongoing park improvement grant was made. The council is still researching Texas Parks and Wildlife grants. Council aims to potentially improve the tennis court area and possibly turn that into a basketball court. They also want to look at improving access for handicapped individuals. No action was taken on this item.