Recap of City Issues - October 31, 2008

Terrell Police Department has officially adopted our "Value Based Policing" system.  Officers will still be focused on community policing, an approach that incorporates partnering with citizens to help control crime, but now they'll report activity daily instead of monthly with each task carrying a low, medium or high value.

The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) announced that the Highland Village Police Department will receive an award under the Fiscal Year (FY) 2008 Bulletproof Vest Partnership (BVP) solicitation.  The FY 2008 award funds may be used for National Institute of Justice (NIJ) compliant armored vests which were ordered on or after April 1, 2008.

Corporal April Roppolo attended a Dedication ceremony of the Briarhill Middle School Library in memory of Melanie Gillan. 

Last Saturday, Highland Village Fire, Police and Animal Control Departments participated in Capital One Bank's Annual Chili Cook-Off.  Each participant received $100 for the charity of their choice.  Highland Village Fire Department' charity was Muscular Dystrophy Association.  The Animal Control Department chose to put their $100  towards the spaying and neutering of adoptable pets.  Mayor Dianne Costa and Brad Cullum (Wal-Mart) were two of the three judges for the chili cook-off.   Corporal Roppollo, Officer Alicia Bautista and Michelle Burke enjoyed some of the festivities.  Firefighters Charles Hinkle, Tony Sorsby, Adam Parkhurst and Jack Lacy assisted Nancy Sharp with the Fire Department Chili Cook-off area and the Fire Engine and Ambulance were on display to guests of the cook-off. Michelle also said that the Mayor gave her kudos on her spicy chili!

Highland Village Fire Department, along with Flower Mound and Lewisville Fire Departments assisted with a 3-alarm house fire that occurred in Lewisville on Thursday. 

Tarrant County College provided a three-day session on ladder training at the Fire Department this week. This training is part of the firefighter's continuing education requirements.

Chief Tatum and Assistant Chief Collier along with the Fire Captains held their monthly operations meeting this week.

On Monday, Rhoda L. Savage and Cheryl Dudich met with the Senior All Star Board.  The Board prepared a draft of their proposed By Laws.  Rhoda provided a few review comments related to the By Laws for Board consideration.

On Thursday, the bridge was set in the Market Trail area was set in place.  It fit like a glove and many area residents watched the festivities from their front yards.

On Friday, Rhoda L. Savage attended a meeting with the United States Army Corps of Engineers and TXDOT representatives to discuss the mitigation tables for I35E and Copperas Branch Park.  Ingress and egress continues to be an issue that is not clearly addressed in the mitigation documents.  TXDOT is planning to amend their plans to identify traffic patterns within the park and show connectivity to adjacent roadways.  The park entrance from Highland Village Road is approximately 300 feet from the intersection.  Staff expressed concern about the safety of park users exiting the site so close to the I35E intersection and requested TXDOT consider alternate locations for park entry.

On Wednesday, the seniors took their monthly journey to the Choctaw Casino.

Game days continued to be a popular senior activity on Monday and Thursday mornings.

Scott Kriston held a pre-construction meeting on Tuesday for the proposed IHOP to be located at the southeast corner of the Marketplace development.

Scott Kriston, David Clark & Charles Mitchell met with BW2 Engineers this week to discuss the project status report.

Scott Kriston, David Clark & Justin Praesel attended the AWWA annual drinking water seminar located at the Petroleum Club in Ft. Worth.

Scott Kriston attended the TX DOT FM 2499 weekly project meeting.  The TX DOT FM 2499 project status  is as follows:  Currently the installation of the stormwater pipe continues on the south end, retaining wall construction has started on the south end of the project, they have started to install the drill shafts for the proposed bridges on the south end of the project.  Franchise utilities are working on relocating their infrastructure that needs to be relocated inside the TX DOT right-of-way.  TX DOT is verifying drainage easements along the entire project.  Explorer Pipeline has started relocation of their two gas lines that cross the TX DOT right-of-way and anticipate completion in 2 - 3 weeks, weather permitting.  On Monday, November 3rd, TX DOT is proposing to install a 3' x 3' culvert box across the right of way located near Fairland Dr.  Flagmen will control traffic during this process, it is anticipated to take 1 day to install the box culvert across the street, weather permitting.

John Harper, UT Crew Leader and Darren Dodd, UT Tech 1 attended a Valve and Hydrant Maintenance class sponsored by TEEX in Frisco to prepare for their next level of state licensing.

Utility crews are in the process of repairing an air release valve at the Timber Crest wastewater lift Station.  The valve developed a leak and had started to fill up the valve vault.

Utility crews assisted Corrpro with annual checks and services on ground storage tanks equipped with cathodic protection.  All systems checked out good with a few tank caps to replace.

The new SCADA computer arrived this week.  This computer was budgeted for through the current budget and will replace the 4-year old SCADA computer that operates 24/hrs a day 365 days/yr.  Justin Praesel, UT Supervisor and Larry Jeurink, SCADA / Electrician are setting it up and getting it ready for operation.

Utility crews made an emergency water line repair on FM 2499 project due to contractor error.

Utility crews  borrowed a pneumatic missile from the City of Carrollton & used it to replace a water service line on Villa Park. 

Utility crews relocated a section of 12" water line on FM 2499 near Fairland due to a conflict with the proposed storm sewer pipe on the FM 2499 project.

Utility crews repaired a fire hydrant that was damaged by a contractor on FM 2499 project.  

Utility crews unstopped a grease trap that was overflowing in the City's commercial area this week.   

Utility crews assisted Dutton Water Assistance to obtain state required water samples for TCEQ.

Justin Praesel, UT Supervisor met with CoServ Electric to review the possibility of routing three phase power to the lift station located on Hawthorn.

Justin Praesel, UT Supervisor met with Prime Controls to assess SCADA rehab & upgrades for the proposed rehab of Oak St. pump station and 2 wastewater lift stations.

Utility crews performed maintenance on well lots, lift stations, fire hydrants and the water distribution and wastewater collection system. 

The Drainage crew had to build up existing headwall at corner of Catlin & Remington to prevent further erosion of street. 

The Drainage crew is currently working on cleaning out an existing 66" drainage culvert & creek channel, installing rip.rap.rock an covering up graffiti at Silverthorne Park.                                                            

The Street Division had made several concrete street repairs located at Hillside Drive and Highland Shore Boulevard and at Merriman Drive and Sellmeyer Lane.

Street's crews have been cracksealing streets to extend the life of the asphalt streets by sealing cracks in the streets. The sealing of the openings in the street will extend the life of the street by not allowing water to enter to the base of the street.  

Fince Espinoza, Wes Nienhouser and Tommy White field measured areas adjacent to City Hall to start designing holiday lighting for the municipal center.

The Highland Village Fire Department had 37 calls for service the week of Oct 24^th-30th.  This included: 18 medical emergencies, 3 structure fires, 4 public services, 1 welfare check, 2 motor vehicle accidents, 1 vehicle lock-out, 1 fire call, 1 public assist, 3 fire public education (2 at DKH Academy and 1 at Tutor Time), 2 fire alarm calls and the fire department conducted 1 fire inspection.

Congratulations Sam Smith!  Sam, Shop Supervisor of Maintenance, celebrated 20 years with the City this week.  On Thursday morning, after a breakfast with the Maintenance and Street staff, Bill Parsons presented Sam with a plaque for his 20 years of dedicated service to the City. 

Auxiliary Member Steve Jones has been selected as the new Aux Lt to replace Debra Brod who is stepping down to regular auxiliary member status.  Steve will take over Team 1.  We congratulate him on his new duties and look forward to working with him in his new capacity.

Effective November 3, 2008 Jackie Cottongame has been promoted to the position of Communications Manager.  Jackie's duties will include the overall management of the unit and it's personnel.  In addition, Jackie will manage the EOC, write grants and manage the implementation and continuous improvement of new technologies like the CRIMES CAD/RMS system and APS Citation/Form writers.  We congratulate Jackie on his promotion and look forward to working with him in his new capacity.

Chief O'Bara attended the TML conference in San Antonio.

Jana Onstead and Vanesa Childers attended the North Texas Society for Human Resource Management (NTSHRM) program luncheon in Denton.  The topic related to the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

Vanesa Childers attended an Employee Activity Committee meeting.  The committee is finalizing plans for the employee party next month.

Chief Tatum, Assistant Chief Collier, Tim Moehlman, Vince Jones and Travis Nokes attended Fire Engineering Weekend on Saturday and Sunday.  The two-day conference was held at the Hilton in Fort Worth.

Firefighter/Paramedic Chip Willis attended Basic Criminal Investigation that was held at the Denton County Sheriff's office this week.  This class was provided for an update on procedures on processing crime scenes.

Chief Tatum is in San Antonio for part of this week while he attended the TML Conference.                                    

Mayor Costa served as a judge at the Capital One Bank Non-Profit Chili Cook-Off held on Saturday, October 25th.  Also on Saturday, Mayor Pro Tem McDearmont attended the Fall Festival at Unity Park.

Mayor Costa met with two Cub Scout Webelo Dens on Sunday to talk about city government.

On Monday, Mayor Costa and Council member Adams attended the monthly Precinct 3 meeting held in Lewisville.

Mayor Costa, and Council members Adams, Combs, and Fiorenza attended the TML Annual Conference in San Antonio from Tuesday through Friday.