The Tyler City Council approves new contract for improvements at Noble E. Young Park.

Renovations to Noble E. Young Park continue with the approval of a contract for the construction of the new trail.

The Tyler City Council approved a $539,010 contract with Civil Crown Construction to furnish all necessary equipment, materials, superintendent and labor for the construction of the new trail at Noble E. Young Park during a city council meeting Wednesday.

The skate park located at Noble E. Young has already been demolished, so this contract is for the trail only, said Leanne Robinette, Tyler Parks and Recreation’s director.

The trails are expected to be completed by July 31, said Arthur Reilly, senior vice president of Civil Crown Construction.

Noble E. Young Park updates were originally approved by the council in December and in January, the city entered into a design contract with Halff Associates for $77,000.

In all, the park will be receiving a new pavilion, restrooms, a walking trail, playground equipment and outdoor exercise equipment that includes some ADA-compliant pieces.

Noble E. Young park “is a huge gem a lot of people don’t know about,” said McGee. “It’s a beautiful park.”

Revisions to Noble E. Young Park are being paid for through the Community Development Block Grant Program, which specifically helps parks or locations in lower-income neighborhoods, Robinette previously said.

To comply with the terms of the grant, Noble E. Young Park should be completed by August, according to the city.

Also at the meeting, the council approved construction bids for traditional mainline and traditional manhole projects, which are a part of Group 4 in work being done to Tyler’s sewer system.

The traditional mainline rehabilitation will include 373 sanitary sewer gravity mains. These will be improved through internal point repairs, group repairs, open cut point repairs, section/line replacements and reconnecting existing services, said Tyler Water Utilities Project Engineer Tiffany Currie.

A contract with C&A Construction was approved at $4,796,350.95 for this project.

The traditional manhole work will consist of 387 sanitary sewer manholes. The rehabilitation to these will include raising, realigning and replacing rings and covers; replacing cleanouts and manholes to stop inflow and infiltration, Currie said.

A contract with Lopez Utilities Contractor for $469,815 was approved.

At the previous meeting a contract was approved for the rehabilitation of 978 manholes. Other items in Group 4 that will be brought to council for contract approvals in the coming weeks include two specialty mainline projects for pipe bursting, Currie said.

These sewer rehabilitation projects are required by an agreement the city entered into with the Environmental Protection Agency and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality in April 2017. The purpose of the projects is to prevent problems such as sanitary sewer overflows caused by the aging sewer system.

An ordinance regarding wildlife hazard management at the Tyler Pounds Regional Airport was also approved during the meeting.

The section amended has to do with the use of firearms and hunting at the airport.

Airport staff are responsible for managing wildlife activity on the airport land, said Airport Manager Stephen Thompson. Staff minimizes wildlife attractants that may attract birds or other animals through the use of numerous methods, he said.

“At the end of the day if the hazard remains or it’s a time critical emergency type of event, we do need the ability to remove that wildlife,” Thompson said. “We do currently have a permit that allows us to do that.”

While the airport does have a depredation permit with ““very strict guidelines” allowing them to use a firearm to remove said wildlife, Thompson said he feels the rules in the current ordinance kind of “contradicts our ability to be able to exercise that permit.”

The current ordinance says the hunting and the discharge of any weapon is not allowed at the airport, Thompson said. His request was to allow the discharge of a firearm and hunting to be allowed only with airport manager approval and following the guidelines put in place by the permit from the United States Department of Agriculture.

During his years of service Thompson said this permit has not been put to the use of firearms.

“We do everything we can, so this would only be as a last resort,” Thompson said.

A contract with Reynolds and Kay for pavement improvements was also approved by the council for $3,301,084.71.

The asphalt enhancement project will improve 52 city streets. This equates to improving 25 lane miles of roadways, curbs, gutters, restriping and placing reflective markings.

Construction is expected to begin in June and be completed by March of 2023.