COVID hospitalizations in Texarkana are on rise,

TEXARKANA, Texas — City and Bowie County officials have noted a recent rise in local COVID19 hospitalizations, Fire Chief and Emergency Management Coordinator Eric Schlotter told the City Council during its meeting Monday.

“We do watch the hospital numbers each day, and they’ve steadily risen over the last week or week and a half. They’ve been fairly steady before that for over a month. But now we’re seeing a rise,” he said.

Schlotter said County Health Authority Dr. Matt Young had told him he has seen an increase in tests needed and positive test results, some of which can be attributed to the delta variant of the virus thought to be more contagious than the original strain. “Several” city employees are COVID-positive, he said.

“It clearly isn’t over. You still need to be safe, whatever that means for each individual. If that means getting a vaccine, continuing to wash your hands, avoiding crowded locations, monitoring yourself for symptoms and seeking medical treatment if you start to develop symptoms. All of those things are important,” Schlotter said.

The city and Texas Department of State Health Services will hold a vaccination clinic from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. July 22 at the Texarkana Bowie County Family Health Center. All three types of vaccine — Johnson and Johnson, Moderna and Pfizer — will be available, and those getting vaccinated will have their choice. Transportation to the clinic will be available.

In other business, the Council voted unanimously to fund a Texarkana Water Utilities rate study.

The city’s portion of the $125,138 cost will be $79,012, with Texarkana, Arkansas, paying the remainder. The Arkansas-side Board of Directors approved its portion of the funding during a meeting July 6.

The last such study took place in 2001, TWU Executive Director J.D. Phillips told the Council.

“During the budgeting process, the Budget Advisory Committee suggested that we do a rate study to determine how much it actually costs us to treat and distribute water and then collect and treat wastewater,” he said. “The cities have grown due to annexations. Personnel costs have gone up. Equipment has aged. So we really need to get a good handle on what it costs.”

NewGen Strategies and Solutions of Richardson, Texas, will conduct the study.

The Council also conducted public hearings and voted unanimously to approve several measures concerning federal Community Development Block Grants.

One amends the city budget to account for more than $293,000 in CDBG funding received as a result of the COVID-relief CARES Act. The second reallocates $163,000 from an inactive loan fund to another fund from which CDBGguaranteed loans are repaid. And the third approves the city’s 2021 action plan for CDBG funds.

Also on the agenda were a number of first briefings on zoning and permitting matters. Public hearings and votes will follow during the Council’s next meeting, on Aug. 9

The Council was briefed on rezoning and specific use permit requests to allow a manufactured home at 2617 Findley St.

Another rezoning request would allow the owners of land at the southwest corner of Cooks Lane, Clear Creek Drive and Skyline Boulevard to build a pair of single-family homes there.

The final briefing was on a request for a special use permit to allow a tattoo studio at 803 College Drive.