City departments give updates at Lunch and Learn, including comics at library

The city of Amarillo hosted its monthly Lunch and Learn Wednesday to give updates on some of its departments.

Coming back to the Amarillo Public Library will be Comics Plus, an online library of digital comics, graphic novels and manga. This service can be accessed via a computer or tablet. Offerings from the service started May 1 and can be accessed at amarillolibrary.org.

Stacy Clopton, coordinator of PR and programming for the Amarillo Library, spoke about bringing that service back to its customers.

"What this means for families is the ability to give their children something to read on car trips; they can give them comic books,” she said. “There is no waiting period, how many can be checked out and no limit to how many people can check out a comic at a time. With this, there is no need to wait to read the comics that one wants to read."

Clopton stressed that there is a rating system to differentiate between different age groups. If parents are concerned about comic access, they can opt-in to give specific access to certain age groups or opt-out altogether.

“Reading comic books is good for you. When you read comics, you have to make inferences on the artwork," she said. "When you read comics, you have to draw conclusions. It encourages critical thinking skills. This is good for you as a reader at any age, whether you are a young child or an older adult.”

Lawrence Lake maintenance work underway

Donny Hooper, managing director of public works, gave an update on the work on the pumps at Lawrence Lake, which should be completed by May 6.

Hooper said that the work on the pumps and clearing out the screens was necessary due to drainage issues and potential clogging of pump screens. The pumps had to be removed to clear them of debris.

“These intake pipes were put in the '80s, so being submerged beneath water will cause damage over time,” Hooper said. “Getting in there and doing an annual inspection is already something that we have added to our list, to bring a dive team back to make sure we are looking at those intakes, and making sure that there is no debris entering our wet well area that could cause damage to our pumps.”

Hooper stressed that while uptime efficiency should be increased due to this maintenance, it still would not be able to deal with the amount of water that last year’s flooding brought that overflowed the lake.

“In a 500-year rain event like what occurred last year, it's really difficult to put that toward any type of maintenance issue,” Hooper said. "That's just a lot of rain, and it is something that our playa lakes were not able to handle. It is something that it would be unable to handle when this is complete.”

With the city's new operating procedures, the drainage utility team is testing the pumping systems and looking at infrastructure that may be a problem in the near future.

“This maintenance will keep our pumps in service because we now have a clean wet well and intake pipe and have no debris that could damage the pumps,” he said. “To replace or repair a pump takes the longest amount of time for us to wait on parts. There is security in knowing exactly what our system can do. This gives us a lot more confidence in the system.”

The amount of runtime on the pumps, Hooper says, is a significant factor that comes into play in the long-term effectiveness of the ability to drain the lake when needed.

New payment options for Amarillo City Transit, other city items

An update was also given on Amarillo City Transit (ACT), with new online digital payment offerings for ACT-ConnectTM and fixed route passes available on the PayAMA payment portal at https://ipn4.paymentus.com/rotp/catt .

In a news release, the city outlined the pay options.

The PayAMA payment portal allows riders to use digital payment options, including credit card, debit card, PayPal, Venmo, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. All purchased tickets will be mailed directly to customers via the U.S. Postal Service.

“These are exciting new options for customers taking advantage of public transportation in Amarillo,” ACT Director Chris Quigley said. “The new payment portal provides a quick, easy and convenient way for customers to get anywhere they need to go in Amarillo.”

Amarillo Animal Management and Welfare also recently announced that it has now shifted to summer hours:

• 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Friday.
• 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. (Normal hours of operation).
• AAMW is closed Sunday and Monday

Laura Storrs, assistant city manager, spoke about the City of Amarillo Popular Annual Financial Report, which is a condensed yearly account of city public spending for the fiscal year.

“The Popular Annual Financial Report highlights the city’s commitment to transparency and demonstrates unwavering dedication to responsible fiscal management," she said. “We take immense pride in providing our citizens and city council with accessible and understandable information about how their tax dollars are utilized."

The report is available online at www.amarillo.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/37246  .

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: City departments give updates at Lunch and Learn, including comics at library