Recap of City Issues 7-30-10

Scott Kriston reports that the TX DOT FM2499 section 4 project contractor is mowing the right-of-way as weather permits. The contractor is redefining the offsite drainage areas where easements were obtained during the design process. The contractor is constructing the Northwood / FM2499 intersection, weather permitting.  The proposed traffic signal for the FM2499 / Highland Shores / Castlewood intersection is ordered, there is a two month lead time for delivery & installation.

A special thank you to our Highland Village Parks Foundation and Charlie Turner.  At the Saint James subdivision the Foundation worked with the developer to donate the pond and approximately 2 acres of future park land. For the last month the Foundation has been under brushing and cleaning up the property on the south side of the pond so that City staff can start maintaining the site going forward.  We will bring forward an agreement between the Foundation and the City for the maintenance and upkeep the future Park Land for council consideration at a future meeting.

PUBLIC SAFETY (POLICE AND FIRE)

Fire:

Calls for Service:

• Medical Emergencies - 8
• Motor Vehicle Accidents - 2
• Public Assist - 1
• Mutual Aid - 1
• Commercial Fire Alarm - 1
• Hydro Inspection - 3
• Sprinkler Inspection - 1
• Fire Protection Inspection - 1
• Final Inspection - 2

Highland Village Rotary Corporal April Roppolo hosted an exchange teacher from Mexico during the month of July.  She provided a basic 3-hour Spanish Language class to the firefighters on Monday - Wednesday of this week.

Police:

This week, the police department responded to 151 calls for service, made 83 traffic contacts, made 4 arrests, responded to 3 traffic accidents and performed 486 community policing activities.

The Police Department has been selected as one of the ten finalists for the 2010 Webber Seavey Award for Quality in Law Enforcement. The third panel of judges in now in the process of evaluating the top 10 projects to determine the three winners. The three winning projects will be announced no later than August 27, 2010.

The Highland Village Wal-Mart donated a number of items to the Animal Care Unit this week, including several bags of food.

The local Target also donated several bags of food for our use at the shelter.

Corporal April Roppolo presented our visitor from Mexico with an HVPD Merit certificate at the Thursday Rotary  meeting. She loved her visit to the police department and said how different the police and fire department were from the ones in Mexico. She said that there is  no police involvement in her schools.

Chief Ed O'Bara and Corporal April Roppolo accepted a check from the Highland Village Rotary for the Texas Police Chief Association Survivor Fund for two-thousand and twenty dollars.

STREET / UTILITY DIVISIONS PROJECTS

Utilities:

Scott Kriston reports that the MSC project GC performed a walk through with their subcontractors this week.  They are working on their punch lists.  A final walk through with FNI and the City is scheduled for August 4th.  Dallas Security is installing the access security on the site.   

The Oak St. GSR site improvements project painting contractor moved out this week.  The GC mobilized and started demolition of the old pump house & chemical buildings. 

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

The Highland Village Road water line replacement project sections 1 & 2.  The City's new message board sign is deployed to warn traffic.  RKM Utility Services, Inc. has installed approximately 2,000 feet of new water line and made one tie-in.  This project consists of replacing approximately 5000 feet of water line along Highland Village Rd. from Brazos Blvd. to Lake Vista.  The contractor will be onsite for 4 months.  You should expect minor traffic delays in the area for the duration of the project. 

Chinn Chapel Rd phase 1 reconstruction contractor set up signage and erosion control & is installing the water line.  This project is a Town of Copper Canyon project funded through Denton County bonds.  It consists of drainage improvements and road reconstruction on Chinn Chapel from approximately 100 feet north of FM 407 to Orchid Hill Lane.  The contract has 500 calendar days to final completion.  There will be traffic detours throughout the duration of the project; you should expect traffic delays in the area.

Oncor Electric mobilized in the City to upgrade the existing electric transmission towers located in the TP&L easement to be able to install new wires this fall.  They will be in the City for approximately 4 weeks performing the tower upgrades.

Utility Crews:

• Responded to four after hour call outs and seven resident concerns.
• Performed five line locates of utility infrastructure.
• Unstopped two sewer line blockages.
• Replaced three old style curb stops for preparation for future AMR installation.
• Replaced one missing sewer clean out cap.
• TV inspected seven sewer lines to locate buried infrastructure and look for areas in need of repair.
• Flushed 1,645 linear feet of sewer line as part of the sewer line maintenance program.
• Cleaned up and dressed six areas that were excavated for line repairs.
• Isolated the water line at the Oak Street well lot for upcoming demolition of the pump room and chemical rooms.
• Assisted Diversified Power with quarterly generator maintenance of our Southwood well lot and Lift Station 7 generators.
• Excavated and repaired a water main leak on Lakeland and a leaking blow-off on Sunny Point.
• Cleaned, painted and labeled 62 fire hydrants.
• Assisted the Parks Dept with the new logo sign installation at Southwood well lot.
• 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:

• Finished the drainage conversion in the 400 block of Moran.
• Deployed mosquito larva treatment at various locations throughout the City.
• Met with a resident in the 2400 block of Glen Ridge on a ground water issue.
• Cleaned a clogged driveway culvert in the 100 block of Highland Lake.
• Backfilled the eroded drainage easement & planted grass to prevent future erosion in the 4000 block of Abigail.

Streets:

The Street Division purchased a new street painting machine and the crews are painting the school zones on Briarhill Blvd. The crew will continue painting the school zones until completed and all other markings throughout the city.

The Street Division started building a concrete street turn around on Spring Oaks Drive this week. Street Division is in the process of building a retaining wall at end of the turn around and building up the area with dirt so to build a concrete street turn around.

The Street Division started painting the school zones and just finished the Briarhill Blvd. area and will be painting the rest of the school zones through the next week until completed.

PARKS DEPARTMENT

Local Boy Scout Troop 709 completed a volunteer project on Saturday July 17th at Wichita Forest. This project involved building and placing trail markers on the natural surface trails in the park. They were assisted by a Highland Village resident. Materials were supplied by the Parks Department. The City appreciates the service of these young men with this successful project! 

Park staff is in the process of athletic field maintenance at Unity Park, Victoria and Copperas Park. This involves topdressing the fields, aeration, leveling and replacing sod where needed.

Tommy White met with a contractor from Hunter Knepshield Co. concerning replacement of the restroom at the Kids Kastle Unity Soccer field area.

This is the seventh week of Kids Kamp at Briarhill Middle School. The field trips this week included Bounce U, Skating, Going Bonkers, and Old Town Swimming Pool.

Senior All Stars:

The Highland Village Senior All Stars met on Monday (22 attendees) and Thursday (attendees) for game day. 

Twenty-two Senior All Stars met on Monday for open game time.

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

Twenty-three Senior All Stars met on Thursday for open game time.

HUMAN RESOURCES / STAFF TRAINING

Human Resources:

• Jana Onstead and Vanesa Childers attended a Fisher & Phillips training luncheon on Tuesday in Dallas.
• Jana Onstead, Martha Butz, and Ken Heerman met with insurance carrier representatives and Higginbotham & Associates on Tuesday.
• The Lead Worker Series training concluded on Thursday in Colleyville.  This training is designed for crew leaders and comparable positions who are likely candidates for future promotion to supervisor.  The courses were "Effective Communication Processes" and "Building a Respectful Workplace."  Employees that attended were Larry Jeurink from the Utilities Department and Pedro Miranda, Wes Nienhuser,  Joey Hardin and Jon Richardson from the Parks Department.  Martha Butz also attended the "Building a Respectful Workplace" session.
• Martha Butz and Ray and Associates met with staff in the Parks and Recreation Department to review/update job descriptions and duties.
• Vanesa Childers attended an Employee Activity Committee meeting on Thursday.

Fire:

• Fire Department Captains and Fire Personnel attended Emergency Medical Service Skills Review continuing education training this past week.

Parks:

• Parks staff Jon Richardson, Joey Hardin, Wes Nienhuser and Pedro Miranda attended the Lead Worker Series Classes on Thursday in Colleyville.

Community Services

• Laurie Mullens and Andrew Boyd attended the annual Texas Association of Telecommunication Officers and Advisors (TATOA) conference on Thursday and Friday in Dallas. The conference focused on video programming with a half-day session on storytelling conducted by a producer of the Texas Parks and Wildlife programs shown on PBS.