Recap of City Issues - April 23, 2010

Scott Kriston reports that the TXDOT FM 2499 section 4 project contractor is pouring the concrete coping walls, cut outs, sidewalks, added storm water inlets and driveway connections on the north bound outside lane as weather permits.  Most of the work is taking place on the Corinth side of the project now.

                COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

On April 13 the Highland Village Business Association held its quarterly luncheon. The CFO for the North Texas Super Bowl Committee was the guest speaker and he shared the goals of the committee for the 2011 Super Bowl. The Committee is working to raise the bar in terms of community involvement and regional benefits. This event was Mayor Costa's last HVBA luncheon as her term concludes in May. The 80+ in attendance thanked Mayor Costa for her service with a standing ovation.

    PUBLIC SAFETY (POLICE AND FIRE)

Police:

This week, the police department responded to 139 calls for service, made 90 traffic contacts, made 8 arrests, responded to 1 traffic accident and performed 343 community policing activities.

Senior Animal Care Officer Michelle Burke found homes for a number of our shelter residents this week.  We adopted out four little lab mix puppies and found a home for "Sprinkles" after having him for only a few days.  His new "parents" saw a picture of him and fell in love immediately. 

Captain Mark Stewart completed and submitted our application for the Bulletproof Vest Partnership grant offered through the Federal Government.

Please join us a next Tuesday's council meeting to recognize our Auxiliary members that are receiving "Presidential Volunteer Service Awards."  This is the first time that one of our Police Auxiliary members will be receiving the "Gold" service award for contributing over 500 hours of volunteer service.

Officer Tim Henderson attended Bike Officer Training at the COG Academy in Arlington.

Corporal Patrick Finley and Sergeant David Pittinger are going to be competing in the "Terra Ferma Race" at Camp Tsungani this Saturday.

Jason Lafortune is our newest Police Officer addition and he started his training this week.  Officer Lafortune is a much welcomed member of the team! 

The Police Department welcomed a new Auxiliary member this week, Kenneth Weller.  Glad to have you on board Kenneth!

The Police Department held a supervisor meeting for all sworn supervisors including Corporals, Sergeants, Lieutenant, Captains, and the Chief of Police. 

A representative from the NTTA Customer Service Center came to the Police Department this week to conduct a toll tag audit.  All of the police cars have a special toll tag as they are emergency vehicles and those tags must be accounted for and inspected annually.

Fire:

Chief Tatum provided a tour and brief question/answer session for the Fire Chief and City Manager of the City of Joshua  as they consider building a new fire station for their city. 

Highland Village Fire Department Captains and Firefighters attended EMS Continued Education training this week at the fire station.  Training covered procedures for drug overdose and use and technique when using tourniquets.

Nancy Sharp attended the LISD Board of Trustees meeting and dinner on Monday evening as part of the Leadership Lewisville program. 

Fire Department personnel responded to 22 calls for service the week of April 16-22

• Medical Emergencies - 14
• Motor Vehicle Accidents - 3
• Commercial Fire Alarms - 3
• Public Service Calls - 1
• Public Education - 1

STREET / UTILITY DIVISIONS PROJECTS

Scott Kriston reports that the MSC project contractor is pouring the concrete for the parking paving area located on the east side of the lot on Tuesday.  The motor pool & fuel pumps will be closed until the paving 7 day concrete break is in compliance with the spec.   The REC Buliding update:  Floor contractor leveled the floor this week.  The window contractor started to install the store front windows on the REC building. this week.  The flooring contractor started to install the tile floors in the REC building this week.  The dry wall & painting contractors continue to work inside the Parks & Rec building.  The electrical & duct work rough is being installed in the PWB.  The equipment building and the storage building steel is currently being installed as weather permits.

Scott Kriston met with BW2 Engineering , Inc. & discussed the status of all open Public Works projects.

Interviews were held this week for the Fix Network Meter Reading Project.  Two vendors were selected and interviewed.

Public Works staff met with the UTRWD to discuss the City's wastewater flows this week.

Utility Crews:

• Jimmy Brown, Jose Guevara, Charles Ciampi, and Darren Dodd took state TCEQ licensing tests this week to attain their next level of licenses.
• Responded to two after hour call outs and three resident concerns.
• Excavated and repaired; a water service line on Village Estates, a valve stack on Quail Ridge, and a water service leak on Doubletree.
• Located four areas of utility infrastructure.
• Cleared stoppages on two sewer lines.
• Potholed the water line at the Brookdale and Highland Village Rodd intersection to determine pipe size and material for the upcoming AC water line replacement project.
• Flushed over 2,000 feet of sewer lines for sewer line maintenance.
• Performed meter rereads, water turn on/turn offs, and leak checks.
• Perform maintenance on well lots, lift stations, fire hydrants and the water distribution and wastewater collection system.

Drainage Crews:

• Cleaned various Creek Crossings after recent rain events. 
• Surveyed and shot grade on Highland Shores Boulevard's north side and south side bar ditches for future bar ditch maintenance.
• Redefined the bar ditch at 1200 Highland Village Rd to eliminate standing water. 
• Met with a resident in the 3000 block of Whispering Oaks drive about storm water flow and mosquito's.
• Met with a resident in the 3000 block of Fairfield about drainage easements. 
• Cleaned trash and debris from around the detention pond off of Quail cove.

PARKS DEPARTMENT

Crews replaced damaged barbeque grills at Copperas Park this week.

Crews brought in and leveled soil at Victoria Park.

Wes Neinhuser and Frank Furche applied fertilizer to various parks and medians in the city.

Staff removed debris and cleaned up the new property addition that is adjacent to Village Park.

The Trail Crew cleaned up and mowed  property line areas at the Doubletree location.

Pilot Knoll Park has been experiencing full over night campsite rentals on the weekends.

Park staff has offered the Inland Trail Crew Tech One position to Marcos Mejorado.  His first day will be Monday, May 3rd.

The Highland Village Road Sidewalk project is nearing completion.  The split rail fence, three flume plates and sodding have been completed.  The only items left to complete on this portion of the project are general clean up and bollard installation. 

The Lake Vista Trail Trail connection has been completely poured from City Trail to Lake Vista South, the new 8' fence has been constructed and the contractor is in the process of removing the old fence, installing bollards and brick pavers.  The contractor should be nearing completion of the entire project within two weeks.

Senior All Stars

The Highland Village Senior All Stars met on Monday (24 attendees) and Thursday (26 attendees) for game day. 

Twelve Senior All Stars met on Tuesday for open game time.

On Wednesday, 33 Highland Village Senior All Stars went on the Choctaw Casino trip.

On Friday, 15 Highland Village Senior All Stars went to the Denton Arts and Jazz festival.

HUMAN RESOURCES / STAFF TRAINING

Human Resources:

• Martha Butz, Dottie Palumbo, Sandy McCoy, Lori Wright and Vanesa Childers attended a webinar regarding "Organizing Discovery Documents."
•  Employees met for an appreciation luncheon hosted by the Mayor and City Council on Wednesday.  Mayor Costa and Mayor Pro Tem Combs bid their farewell and expressed their gratitude for the great job that the employees do providing service to our citizens.

Fire:

• Assistant Chief Collier, Captain Vince Jones, Firefighter Paramedic Jared Middleton attended Fire Department Instructors Conference (FDIC) that was held in Indianapolis, IN this week.

CITY MANAGER / CITY COUNCIL

Mayor Costa, Mayor Pro Tem Combs and Council Member Wilcox served lunch to City employees at a luncheon hosted by Council on Tuesday.  This luncheon was held to show Council's appreciation for all the service City employees provide to the City of Highland Village.

Deputy Mayor Pro Tem McDearmont attended the Flower Mound Chamber Luncheon on Tuesday.

Mayor Costa met with a resident on Tuesday to address the resident's concerns.

Mayor Costa met with Brownie Troop 8953 and gave them a tour of the Municipal Complex on Tuesday afternoon.

Mayor Costa held the second of four "Evening with the Mayor" events scheduled for this month on Tuesday.  Council Member Wilcox also attended.  This meeting was held for residents who live south of Brazos Boulevard and east of Highland Village Road, who are not represented by a Home Owners Association, to allow for open discussion of city and area issues and concerns.

Mayor Costa held the third of four "Evening with the Mayor" events scheduled for this month on Thursday.  Mayor Pro Tem Combs and Council Member Wilcox also attended.  This meeting was held for residents north of Brazos Boulevard and west of Sellmeyer, who are not represented by a Home Owners Association, to allow for open discussion of city and area issues and concerns.

Council Member Meek attended a Leadership Lewisville event on Friday.