Recap of City Issues - February 20, 2009

Sue Thompson reports that on Tuesday, February 17th the 6th Annual Mayor's Address of the Cities luncheon was held.  The annual luncheon was hosted by the Lewisville Area and Flower Mound Chambers of Commerce and the HVBA.  The Lewisville Fire Department Pipes and Drums performed for the approximately 300 in attendance.  Mayors Jody Smith of Flower Mound, Gene Carey of Lewisville and Dianne Costa of Highland Village addressed the crowd and presented overviews of their respective city's.  A "friendly" competition between cities entertained everyone with interesting and fun videos about the three cities.  Beginning the week of February 23rd, there will be a link on the City's website for everyone to be able to view and enjoy our video, State of the City 2009. Thank you to everyone who participated in the making of our video, what fun it was, and a special thank you to Shawn Griffith and Laurie Mullens for all their hard work on a great tool for the City.

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

Sue Thompson attended the monthly Governmental Affairs Committee meeting sponsored by the Lewisville Area Chamber of Commerce.  Denton County Commissioner Bobbie Mitchell provided a information on Denton County TRIP 08 projects, Dee Leggett provided an update on the DCTA rail projects and facilities, the group recapped the recent visit to Denton County Days in Austin, updates were provided by Flower Mound and Lewisville, and Sue provided an update on Highland Village. 

PUBLIC SAFETY (POLICE AND FIRE)

The Police Department went "live" with the new CAD system and mobile software on Monday.  Representatives from SHSU were on site all week for both technical problems and user training issues for both patrol and dispatch.

David Robinson with Kirkpatrick Studios conducted an initial warranty walk-through of the fire station on Thursday with Chief Tatum Asst. Chief Collier and Matthew Kite. 

The Highland Village Fire Department responded to 17 calls for service the week of Feb 13-19. This included: 11 medical emergencies, 3 structure fires, 1 public service, 1 home inspection and 1 residential fire alarm.  The Fire Department also conducted 5 fire inspections for new businesses.

STREET / UTILITY DIVISIONS PROJECTS

The Street Division is making concrete street repairs on Hilldale caused by ground water that has weakened the sub-grade to the street.

Street Division started striping the line on Willow Creek Estates along the side of the street.

Street Division is cracksealing on Lake Vista, Cedar St. and Oak St. by sealing the street to extend it's life.

Scott Kriston attended the TXDOT FM 2499 phase 4 weekly project meeting this week.  The TXDOT FM 2499 project status  is as follows:  The contractor is installing the pillar cross members for the proposed bridges at Poindexter Branch & installed some drill shafts on the Hickory Creek Branch of Lake Lewisville.  The contractor is installing stormwater pipe along the right of way at various locations.  The contractor is installing retaining walls along the entire project.  The contractor completed the asphalt base on the north bound lanes from the KCS Railroad to FM407.  They are installing the steel, concrete pavement will start within the next 2 weeks.  As of January 12, there are 405 construction workers working on the jobsite. 

The Highland Oaks subdivision started to pour the concrete streets this week.  All of the water, wastewater & stormwater utilities are installed and passed inspections.

Scott Kriston attended the UTRWD 60" water line project status meeting this week.  The project status is as follows:  The contractor has completed the tunnels from the District property to the west side of the Captain D's property and the tunnel that runs under Briarhill Blvd.  The contractor is currently threading the pipe through the tunnels and installing the open cut portion of the water line in the same areas.

Utility crews:

• Performed an excavation to repair a water drain line at our Lake Vista well lot.
• Repaired 2 water main leaks this week.
• Replaced concrete sidewalks and driveways along the Windy Ct. sewer line replacement project.
• Performed maintenance on well lots, lift stations, fire hydrants and the water distribution and wastewater collection system.
• Repaired a water leak on Brazos Boulevard in front of the fire station and replaced the concrete sidewalk.
• Replaced concrete sidewalks from a water line repair on Thistle this week.

Drainage crews:

• Graded the Bar ditches at Unity park around tennis courts to re-establish proper flow.
• Helped Utilities pour concrete on Windy Court.
• Hauled off spoils from 5001 Village Parkway.
• Replaced sod that was washed away in the 800 block of Lake Haven.
• Removed tree limbs from box culvert at the Village Park pond. This was due to recent beaver activity.

PARKS DEPARTMENT

On Tuesday, Rhoda Savage, Tim Bruedigam and Fince Espinoza met with representatives from BW2 Engineers and Pipeworks LLC and performed a preliminary walkthrough for Village, Market and Victoria Trails.

On Wednesday, Rhoda Savage met with representatives from BW2 Engineers and Army Corps of Engineers to discuss the construction of Copperas Trail.

Tommy White met with a vendor about Park Rules sign replacement last week.

Twenty five Seniors met for game day on Monday and ten met on Thursday, and also participated in a Pot Luck lunch.  On Tuesday, 35 met for card making and chair exercise.

 Pilot Knoll Crew is nearing completion on the re-roofing project of 11 picnic shelters at the Day use park.

Tony Palesano repaired broken irrigation valves at Murray Park.

Wes Neinhuser applied pre-emergent fertilizer to all parks and municipal grounds this week.

Parks staff removed a dead oak tree from Municipal grounds on Tuesday. 

Parks staff planted six trees at Murray Park on Thursday. 

Staff replaced damaged wood at the fishing dock at Village Park this week and continued baseball field preparation at all athletic fields.

Parks Crew Leaders attended supervisor training at City Hall on Tuesday.

Parks Gate Attendant Sandy Eubanks celebrated a Birthday with other staff on Thursday.

HUMAN RESOURCES / STAFF TRAINING

Human Resources:

• Refresher training for Supervisors was held by Human Resources on Tuesday. Topics covered were recent changes at the federal level, personnel policy/administrative regulations, online applications, performance assessments and safety. Martha Butz, Jana Onstead and Vanesa Childers did a powerpoint presentation covering the topics.
• On Wednesday Jana Onstead attended a Federal and State Wage Hour Seminar in Dallas. Speakers covered provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act as it pertains to public agencies.

Police:

• Corporal April Roppolo was recognized at the PTA's Founder's Day Dinner held at the Marriott DFW Airport North. This annual event is to honor and recognize the Texas PTA Life Members who have received their award in the Lewisville Independent School District.

Fire:

• FF/EMT Mel Harper conducted CPR/1st Aid training on Thursday evening for 9 Girl Scout Troop Leaders.
• Chief Lonnie Tatum and Asst. Chief Jason Collier attended mandatory Supervisory training this week.
• Asst. Chief Jason Collier attended a radio banding meeting on Wednesday at Lewisville Police Department.

Utilities:

• Larry Jeurink and Darren Dodd attended a TEEX Basic Wastewater Operator class this week in Corinth to work towards their Wastewater Collections 2 license.
• Scott Kriston and Bobby Salmon attended a culvert cleaning demo sponsored by Aventura Const. in the City of Lewisville this week. They cleaned a 30" culvert pipe for the City of Lewisville with their patented operation.

CITY MANAGER / CITY COUNCIL

Mayor Costa was joined by Council Members Combs, Adams, and Calvin at the annual "State of the Cities" luncheon sponsored by the Lewisville Chamber, Flower Mound Chamber and the Highland Village Business Association on Tuesday.