Sachse councilmembers took a moment before regular business at the Monday, Dec. 5, meeting to recognize Public Works and Capital Improvement Projects Director Corey Nesbit as the recipient of the 2022 Utility Partner of the Year by Dallas County.

During the regular meeting, Nesbit presented updates on two projects — a screening wall for Hudson Crossing and an update on the Merritt Road realignment. 

The Merritt Road project has a budget of around $28.9 million and runs between Sachse Road and Pleasant Valley Road. Nesbit said there has been a slight increase in costs for the project, which necessitates a change order of $177,000 to bring the city contract total to $2.49 million. Council approved the changes.

Additionally, council received updates on the first phase of J.K. Sachse Park, Heritage Park and the new animal shelter. The plan is to have a grand opening for Sachse Park around March or April 2023, begin construction on Heritage Park in March 2023 and finalize the construction plans for the new animal shelter around the same time.

All three items were informational and did not require any action.

In other business, council approved the acquisition of property for the Merritt Road project not to exceed slightly over $831,872 for several land parcels, authorized eminent domain for right-of-way acquisitions for the same project for other parcels and greenlit a 10% raise for City Manager Gina Nash.