Recap of City Issues 6-18-10

Scott Kriston reports that the TXDOT FM 2499 section 4 project contractor is finishing the concrete coping wall near the Poindexter bridge as weather permits.  The contractor is mowing the r.o.w. as weather permits.  The contractor is preparing to redefine some offsite drainage areas where easements were obtained during the design process.  The contractor is constructing the Northwood / FM2499 intersection, they anticipate approximately 4 weeks to build, weather permitting.  Most of the work is taking place on the Corinth side of the project now.

      COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

Sue Thompson reports a ribbon cutting was held this week to celebrate the opening of The District of Highland Village.  The Grand Opening will be held this Saturday, June 19th from 3 - 5:30 PM featuring fun, food, refreshments, live entertainment and tours of the townhomes. The District of Highland Village is a Landcore Development Company project.

Laurie Mullens and Sue Thompson attended the monthly Lewisville Area Chamber of Commerce Governmental Affairs Committee meeting. They provided updates on Highland Village happenings and received updates from Senator Chris Harris' office and Congressman Michael Burgess' office, as well as information about the upcoming events for the Children's Advocacy Center for Denton County.

Last week Laurie Mullens attended the annual Texas Association of Municipal Information Officers conference in San Marcos. The sessions focused on social media and how local governments are using this new communication tool to engage residents as well as the favorite "Film Festival" showcasing video Public Service Announcements from across the state. The 2010 State of the City - The Even More Amazing Race - received third place in the cable programming category.

      PUBLIC SAFETY (POLICE AND FIRE)

Fire:

Calls for Service the week of June 11-17:

• Medical Emergencies - 13
• Rubbish Fire - 1
• Residential Structure Fire - 1
• Fire Alarm - 1
• Public Service - 1

Other Activities:

• Commercial Business Inspections - 2
• Station Tour - 3

Staff Training:

Chief Lonnie Tatum attended a Careflight conference held in Arlington on Monday, June 7th and Tuesday, June 8th.  The focus of the conference was to provide a deeper understanding for paramedics and nurses regarding the care of the critically ill and injured patients. 

Assistant Chief Collier provided training to Fire Shift personnel regarding First Arriving Unit Considerations. This course provided interactive training among department members as to life-safety considerations and mitigation for various types of emergency incidents.  Participants were afforded the opportunity to develop incident-action plans on numerous Fire, EMS and Hazardous Materials scenarios.

Captain Travis Nokes and ‘B' shift personnel provided tours for the Highland Village Elementary Kindergarten classes on Monday, June 7th as part of their end of the year field trips.

Highland Village Firefighters collected a grand total of $5,221 during this year's Muscular Dystrophy Association fundraiser.  This effort is conducted each year by firefighters across the nation and we appreciate the fact that Highland Village residents are so generous in their giving. Each year, Highland Village ranks in the top percentage for cities our size.

STREET / UTILITY DIVISIONS PROJECTS

Streets:

The Street Division assisted the Parks Department in rerouting a sidewalk for the Inland Trail at 2815 Spring Oaks Drive by removing the existing sidewalk and curving the sidewalk to line up with an existing sidewalk.

The Street Division repaired the sidewalk located south of Christa McAuliffe Elementary and assisted the  Parks Department in the removal of some large cedar elms trees that had to be removed in the Oncor electrical easement.

The Street crew made repairs to the concrete street located in front of 707 Tartan Trail.  This was due to sub grade water that weakened the base beneath the pavement and caused the pavement to fail. This had to be done while schools are out for summer because of the high volume of traffic.

The Street crews are preparing the area of Glen Ridge Drive to make concrete street repairs next week.

Utiltiies:

Scott Kriston reports that the MSC project mason is working on the stone work for the PWB & REC buildings. The window contractor is installing the store front windows on the PWB & REC buildings.  The ceiling grid is being installed inside the REC building.  The millwork contractor is installing the cabinets in the REC building.  The dry wall & painting contractors are working inside the PWB, EQU & STO buildings.  The electrical & duct work installation is nearing completion in the PWB.  The east side of the perimeter concrete flume is scheduled to be poured next week.

The Oak St. GSR site improvements project contractor mobilized this week.  The painter installed the dust control cover around the water tank & will begin sand blasting the tank next week. 

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

Matthew Kite, P.E. & Scott Kriston met with Homeyer Engineering to discuss the Highland Village Town Center detention facilities.

Utility Crews:

• Excavated and replaced a fire hydrant on Lakeland.
• Repaired a 6-inch water line that was hit by a contractor on Oak St.
• Responded to two after hour call outs.
• Flushed 13,580 linear feet of wastewater lines.
• Cleared one sewer line backup.
• Washed, painted and labeled 42 fire hydrants.
• Took delivery of new hydraulic shoring.  This will be deployed on excavations where box shoring is not applicable.
• Performed meter rereads, water turn on/turn offs, and leak checks.
• Performed maintenance on well lots, lift stations, fire hydrants. and the water distribution and wastewater collection system.

Drainage Crews:

• Completed grading the Bar ditch in the 300 block of Whittier.
• Is cleaning the creek crossing (rcp pipes) at Whittier. 

PARKS DEPARTMENT

Staff started installing several new logo signs on the monuments in various parks around the City.

Tony Palesano installed temporary irrigation controllers at Unity Park and Turpin Park to monitor the systems there until the new Calsense controllers arrive. 

Wes Neinhuser made several applications for weed control in the parks, medians and shrub beds on municipal grounds.

Mowing crews are involved in weekly maintenance of all turf areas in parks, medians and municipal grounds.

Pilot Knoll Park and Copperas Park have been at full capacity on weekends during May and June.

Pavilion rental at Kids Kastle has been booked solid during the last couple of weekends.

Parks staff replaced the pole banners from Red, White and Blue Festival to the Balloon Festival along Brazos Boulevard and at City Hall.

This is the first week of Kids Kamp at Briarhill Middle School. The field trips this week included Interskate Roller Rink, Zone Action Park, Going Bonkers and Old Town Swimming Pool in Lewisville.

The Highland Village Senior All Stars met on Monday (23 attendees) and Thursday (37 attendees) for game day. 

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

On Wednesday, 44 Highland Village Senior All Stars went on the Choctaw Casino trip.

HUMAN RESOURCES / STAFF TRAINING

Human Resources:

• On Tuesday Jana Onstead and Vanesa Childers attended a Fisher & Phillips luncheon in Plano.  The topic was Social Media.
• On Wednesday Jana Onstead and Martha Butz met with a representative from Trajectory Health to explore a wellness program.
•  An employee meeting was held on Thursday.  Jana Onstead presented information from the Simply Engaged program with UHC.  Mayor McDearmont also attended the meeting.