The Rotary Club of Livingston heard a comprehensive update on the City of Livingston during a recent meeting. Rotarian Judy Cochran, who also serves as the mayor of Livingston, invited City Manager Bill S. Wiggins and Police Chief Matt Parrish to present the program. Wiggins has served as city manager for seven years and Parrish has served as police chief for four and a half years, having spent 32½ years with the department.
Reviewing a lengthy list of accomplishments, Wiggins said one of the biggest was surviving two major weather events – the spring flood and then Hurricane Beryl.
“We were three weeks away from a complete rehab of our wastewater system when the flood came and everything we had done was wiped out. Matthews Street Park was completely destroyed, and we had to replace all of the playground equipment. The golf course suffered major damage, and the swimming pool suffered minor damage. The fences at the soccer fields at Pedigo Park were damaged. Numerous streets around the city were heavily damaged,” Wiggins said.
“Several sinkholes and washouts occurred around the city, most notably at LifeVineChurch. Fifty or 60 years ago there was an open creek that ran through there and previous owners put in galvanized culverts. After a number of years those galvanized pipes started rusting and deteriorating and the present owners were going to lose property, and the city was going to lose streets if we didn’t do something. That project is presently underway and getting fixed,” Wiggins said.
“Additionally, the flood caused a huge sinkhole in a drainage ditch in Enchanted Forest subdivision, in the Hacienda Palomas Mexican Restaurant parking lot. We put up barriers, but emergency management looked at it and said this needs to be fixed immediately. We were able to expedite things and contacted Danny Moseley and he came out and erected the barriers. That project is not quite finished, but the engineer said the ground needs to settle before it can be completed.
“Then came Hurricane Beryl and that storm did a lot of major damage to our city. It was more wind issues than rain, with many trees coming down. There were power outages all over Southeast Texas including the City of Livingston, so once it was safe to get our crews out, we analyzed the situation and immediately started clearing the streets and power lines from downed trees and limbs. We brought in two crews from Seguin, Texas to assist our electric department guys in getting our electric poles replaced and power lines hooked up. They worked long into the night but by the end of the following day all of our lines were in place and we were ready to put the juice back on but unfortunately, we had some transmission issues with Entergy. We had 95% of the power back on by Wednesday. I can’t take credit for that though. It’s all my guys. They do a really good job,” Wiggins said.
“Matthews Street Park and the golf course took another hit with fallen trees. Our public works guys worked tirelessly over the next few weeks going around the city picking up all of the vegetative debris and hauling it all in dump trucks out to Pedigo Park where we plan on having a rather large bonfire in mid-November. We housed FEMA and SBA in our library for both disasters and they just left last week. During both storms, our lift stations worked. Our commodes flushed and we had water,” he said.
Reviewing the 2024 accomplishments of the Livingston Police Department, Wiggins said they completed extensive training with other law enforcement officers on school safety and active shooter protocols.
“Through grants, they now have two canine units in the force. Officer Jack Mueller will be the designated trainer with Officer Bear, the LPD dog, and School Resource Officer Kendall Benfer will be the trainer/handler for Officer Hinu, the LISD dog. We held our first ‘Drug Take Back Day’ partnering with ADAC to collect old prescriptions that are not supposed to be thrown away or flushed. We also purchased an incinerator to dispose of these drugs,” Wiggins said.
“The number of major crimes in our city – murder, sexual assault, robbery, theft, burglary and motor vehicle theft – was lowered by 31.75% during the first 10 months of the fiscal year. We purchased new upgraded Axon body cameras for all patrol and school officers, and we had new radio equipment installed in all patrol units and dispatch for all police, fire, electric department and public works personnel which will give us much needed range and coverage. Our police department will be able to communicate with other agencies such as the sheriff’s department, DPS, etc.,” he said.
“Our fire department had a record number of calls in 2024, and we purchased another pumper truck for the department.
“As for our parks department, we had a record year for swim lessons at the pool (470). The Livingston Youth Baseball Association hosted six regional and state baseball tournaments this summer which brought in quite a few visitors to our city, staying in our hotels, eating at our restaurants and cafes and shopping.
“We replaced our fuel tank out at the airport and are in the process of finishing up our pilot’s lounge out there. This project got set back with the two storms. We have constructed four pickleball courts in Matthews Street Park which are now open. The golf course opened last week through a new five-year lease with Dustin Lowery.
“Something that really pulls on my heartstrings … Main Street is doing some great work with revitalizing our downtown area. They are working with the downtown merchants and have monthly events scheduled which is exciting to see. There are a lot of really good things happening. We are in the process of applying for a TxDOT sidewalk grant this fall to finally get our downtown sidewalks repaired. We have our holiday events coming up and Dec. 14 is Hometown Christmas and lighted parade,” Wiggins said.
Following Wiggins’ presentation, Cochran said a few words in closing.
“We’ve updated our sewer plant and built two new water storage tanks. We’ve installed digital water meters and are in the process of installing digital electric meters. And no, nobody is losing their job. Our meter readers have other responsibilities that they will continue. We have put generators on all of our lift stations.
“For the past 35 consecutive years we have received an award for our financial reporting. The city is debt-free and does not have an ad valorem tax.
“I don’t know how many of you have heard ‘The city fathers don’t want the city to grow.’ Well, I’m known as the city mother and I do want the city to grow,” she said.
