Saltillo names public works director, OKs drainage project
Apr. 22—SALTILLO — The Saltillo Board of Aldermen hired Dustin Hathcock as the public works director and approved a drainage project during a called special meeting Thursday.
Hathcock, 31, is currently the assistant manager of the North Lee Water District and has worked for the city in the past. He will replace former director Tommy Hood.
The drainage project will replace a pair of damaged culverts at the intersection of Knight Drive and Rogers Drive.
Hathcock will be a department head and oversee the day to day operation of public works, including the sewer, water and street departments, said Mayor Rex Smith.
Alderman Craig Sanders said Hathcock knows all aspects of the job, from budgeting to billing to working on pumps. Hathcock has both his water operator and sewer operator certifications. He will remain the North Lee water operator of record until they hire a new person.
"We need to have someone to get us back running the way it should be running and I think he can do it," Smith said.
The $53,000 annual salary will be split between the sewer and water departments.
The drainage project is a joint effort between the city, Lee County and the Tombigbee River Water Management District and should give residents of the area some relief from drainage issues.
Smith said the project is more complicated than just replacing a culvert. There are city water and sewer lines squeezed into the space above the culverts and the road bed. Work should begin in about three weeks and could take a month or more to complete, depending on what is found underground.
A grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency will pay for the bulk of the cost of the culvert. The water district will install the culverts as well as clean up ditches on the west side of Knight Drive. City crews will be on hand to deal with the water and sewer lines.
Saltillo planning director Brian Grissom said engineers looked at putting two culverts side by side to increase the amount of water that could be moved under the streets. That idea was scrapped because it would not only more than double the costs, it would cause flooding downstream.