Board approves sidewalk widening

Board members from Lantana’s Fresh Water Supply District #6 at their November meeting approved modifying the Branch Crossing bridge to better serve pedestrians.

Plans call for expanding the sidewalk on the north side of the bridge to a width of 6-feet, similar to the sidewalk modifications made on the Stacee Lane bridge in 2008.

“The current sidewalk is very narrow and there are a lot of walkers and strollers that utilize that route on a daily basis from Magnolia and Bellaire,” said Kevin Mercer, Lantana General Manager.

The cost of the modification is included in the sidewalk and street repairs project that is expected to be underway by mid-December.

The board awarded the contract to Gilco, who submitted a low bid of $49,946. Fresh Water Supply District #7 board members are expected to approve the bid at their December 9th meeting.

Gilco is also building a new phase of the Madison addition along with the first section of Kendall and second section of Bandera.

In other business, board president Ross Ferguson provided an update at the meeting on his project to have the district build and maintain recreational fields behind Blanton Elementary School. 

Ferguson said that he has a meeting scheduled with the Blanton PTA on Dec. 6 to discuss the proposed project and will likely present his plans to the Denton ISD board of trustees at their Dec. 14 meeting.

Preliminary costs to build the multi-use fields were estimated at between $600 and $750 thousand, with annual maintenance costs of $100,000, according to Mercer.

Ferguson said that some of the money could be raised by the community along with business sponsorships and that Lantana’s developer is offering a matching grant for a portion of the costs.

Board member Adrian Weaver assisted with an online presentation by CivicPlus, a company that makes government websites, to build and maintain a website for the district at a cost of $4,800, plus $2,160 per year for maintenance and support.  The board took no action, but suggested that Weaver arrange for District #7 members to also review the presentation.

Board members also voted to change the regular District #6 monthly meeting start time from 6:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.