Beautifying Navasota with Brad Stafford
The city of Navasota revived their “Pretty City Committee” and they have been beautifying the city on Fridays. Navasota City Manager Brad Stafford shares all about the committee with Navasota Examiner Publisher Ana Cosino and Willy 98.7 FM Radio Personality Kenny Graves.
Stafford also addresses other issues including hazardous traffic crossings and Neal Street renovations in this week’s edition of Grilling Stafford.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM GRILLING STAFFORD – EPISODE 57
Can something please be done? A flyover, a traffic signal, something? There was another major accident at Highway 6 and FM 2, this has to be the most dangerous intersection in Navasota. When traveling east on FM 2 and need to cross, you’re not just trying to get across two lanes of traffic traveling 75mph (or faster), but there are right and left turning lanes, plus the Shell station on the corner makes you cross four lanes. I don’t know about anyone else, but I’ve sat at the stop sign and see an approaching vehicle with their turn signal on only to see them have a sudden change in plans and whip back into the main lanes! “First off that’s not in the city limit so it’s not the city’s responsibility however, it is the city’s responsibility when responding to those accidents. Our fire department takes a lot of calls out there, so we understand, and it’s very concerning to us. The good news is there will be a bridge built there soon. Some of us at the city had had a meeting with TxDOT two weeks ago. As a side note they said they’re going to be leading that project very soon to start construction out there.”
When are you going to fix Neal Street? “That is one of our Capital improvement projects. It’s in the engineering phase right now. Of course, that is a large project, so it’s taking a little while and there is a lot of work that’s going into it including replacing utility mains. We have our street crew trying to keep up with patching until we get that taken care of. I know that’s not what everybody wants to hear. We talked to Jose Coronilla our director of streets and sanitation - he’s trying to stay ahead of potholes but the rain we’ve encountered this spring has really taken a toll on the streets. His crew has a lot of work to do.”
Tell us about the Pretty City Committee. “The city staff formed the pretty city committee a few years back, but several involved with it left. We revived it and got it going last week for their first project. I believe we had six or seven staff members that went out and planted flowers in the planting boxes, they ran out of time and didn’t get to finish, but we’re going to do it again this Friday. I think we have a much larger crew this time. If we can get enough plants we’re going to finish up those planter boxes. We also have several other projects. This is an effort that the staff is making to continue to improve the look of our city. I think it’s very important that our city looks good for all the people who come here to visit, those who are looking to move here, and those of us who have lived here for a long time. We eventually hope other businesses and citizens that would love to be a part of it contact us. We’re working about three to four hours on a Friday putting a lot of effort in making the city look good. We would love for you to get involved with us, contact Madison Brooks at the city of Navasota, 936-825-6475.”
To view the full video of Grilling Stafford – Episode 57, or to watch archived episodes, visit The Examiner website, www.navasotaexaminer.com. If you would like to submit a question for Grilling Stafford, email news@navasota examiner.com. New episodes of Grilling Stafford are released every Thursday.