News Editor During last week’s Lexington City Council meeting, Engineer Jim Ross of

multi-million dollar improvements within the city’s wastewater system.

Ross said phase 1 of the plan will involve immediate system needs, while phase 2 will focus on crucial upgrades at the wastewater treatment plant, including a new headworks facility and UV disinfection system. Installation of an automated biological treatment system is slated for phase 3.

Ross explained that the phase 2 and 3 upgrades will modernize the treatment facility, making it much easier to operate and maintain while increasing employee safety. Ross said many tasks that are currently being done by hand will be automated with the planned upgrades.

Ross said plans also call for the hiring of two additional wastewater workers, adding the wastewater department has been understaffed for many years, putting a lot of strain on current workers.

In other matters:

• Councilman Thomas Rowland said the recently formed Historic Downtown Commission is going after a Historic Preservation Fund Grant that if approved would bring in an outside consultant who would re-evaluate buildings in the downtown historic district.

Rowland said the result could be an expansion of the historic district, while the city could use the grant as a tool for economic development.

Rowland stated the district has not been

evaluated in such a fashion since the 1970s.

• After Elks Lodge members complained about unfairly high water bills at the last meeting, the Council approved granting an $1,849 credit to the lodge’s account.

• Mayor Tom Hughes said that mapping of gas lines in the city by Magnolia River and Liberty Utilities is expected to continue until mid-March. Hughes said city officials met recently with United Fiber representatives to review the city’s new underground boring ordinance (the recently passed Right of Way Ordinance), which is 23 pages long.

The city’s moratorium on underground directional boring — put in place last fall due to concerns over multiple gas line strikes — expired Dec. 31, 2025.

• City Administrator Shawnna Funderburk said Tourism has rolled out a new Facebook page, which has begun promoting upcoming events in Lexington, including a Minnie Mae Talbott Day in June and a catfish tournament in July.