Recap of City Issues 9-10-10

On Wednesday evening, due to the failure of Highland Village Road, Mayor McDearmont issued a Disaster of Declaration for the City of Highland Village and on Thursday, Denton County provided a similar declaration.  Highland Village Road is closed, and will remain so, until a permanent fix and total reconstruction is completed, which could be a minimum of six months.  We are currently by-pass pumping and have plugged an 18-inch sanitary sewer line, which was compromised at the drainage culvert, when the road collapsed due to significant rain fall. At this time, we have been able to stop all infiltration from the damage.  On Thursday we met with the Army Corps of Engineers and Denton County Transportation Consultant on moving forward with our proposed $1.7 million dollar bond program, that was voter approved, as a design build project to expedite construction.  We are still working through the details on the exact process to initiate the project. Everyone did an outstanding job on Wednesday. All field service crews assisted throughout Highland Village during this storm event and our Utility and Drainage crews remained on site throughout the night to address the setup and man the by-pass pumping.

PUBLIC SAFETY (POLICE AND FIRE)

Fire:

Calls for Service: Week of Sept 3 - 9

• Medical Emergencies -  8
• Residential Fire Alarms  - 2
• Commercial Fire Alarms - 2
• Smoke/Odor Investigations - 1
• Public Service Calls - 2
• Motor Vehicle Accident - 2
• Mutual Aid/Structure Fire - 1
• Fire Inspections - 1
• Commercial Plan Review - 2
• CPR Certifications - 30

Chief Tatum met with the Denton County Emergency Management Coordinator to evaluate possible infrastructure damage caused by Wednesday's heavy rains.  Chief Tatum, along with City Manager Michael Leavitt, Public Works Director Matthew Kite and staff have provided needed information to the Denton County Emergency Management Office regarding the possibility of assistance in the mitigation of damage. 

FF-Paramedics Mel Harper, Jared Middleton, Rich Caudle and Stanton Halfmann provided CPR Training to thirty Marcus High School students as part of their Training for Teachers program. 

On Thursday, Chief Lonnie Tatum attended the Denco Area 9-1-1 Board Meeting.

On Thursday Chief Collier met with the Director of UNT Survey Research Center.  He and his staff have been retained to study the feasibility of providing vaccines to first responders deployed to a disaster area under Senate Bill 1328.  Chief Collier has been asked to provide technical assistance to the Research Center in their study.

Even though next month is Fire Prevention month the Fire Department has been busy performing home inspections. Residents throughout our city have called requesting a home fire inspection for various reasons. However, the most requested are from individuals wishing to provide Foster Care. Those individuals involved in foster care, or wishing to participate in foster care, have specific fire prevention requirements they must meet. These requirements are set by the State but all of us could benefit from these requirements. These items include  working smoke detectors, a 5 lb fire extinguisher in or near the kitchen, proper electrical wiring, labeled electrical breaker switches, the outside of the house clear of overgrown brush or shrubs, the yard clear of debris, emergency communication and an evacuation plan in the event of an emergency. These are just a few of the items we should have for our Fire Prevention Plan at home. They can also be adapted for your business or place of employment.  Not only do we support these inspections but we are enthusiastic about them as well. These inspections provide a great outreach to our community. First of all we are able to provide a service to our citizens in fire prevention making our community a safer place to live. Secondly, home inspections provide us an opportunity to introduce ourselves on a personal level as well as to meet our citizen's specific fire prevention needs

Police:

Cpl Harney to Assist with Marcus HS SRO Duties: Based on patrol staffing needs, Corporal David Harney will again be returning to Marcus High School on a half-day basis to assist the new Flower Mound SRO with his duties and transition to the new job. A few of Cpl Harney's specific tasks will be to identify LISD's expectations and support for the SRO program and identify those HV students that may have slipped into patterns of behavior that may limit their potential as students (absenteeism, conduct issues, etc.) Our challenge is to do everything possible to influence these students to succeed and be as successful as they possibly can during these formative years. Secondly to identify mechanisms to reach-out to students and student leaders through informal pizza lunches and meetings regarding problems and issues they feel may be limiting the potential of Marcus students. Cpl Harney will also have the opportunity to invite these student leaders to participate in the government process.

This week, the police department responded to 120 calls for service, made 90 traffic contacts, made 6 arrests, responded to 3 traffic accidents and performed 475 community policing activities.

HVPD will be hosting its 3rd Annual Benefit Bike Race this Saturday, September 11, 2010 from 9am-12pm.  The event will start and end at McAuliffe Elementary School, utilizing the inland trail system.  Residents are invited to attend and watch the event.  Although the inland trail will not be closed to the public during the event, residents are asked to avoid trail usage during these times. Event T-Shirts, as shown below, are available for $10.00.  Donations and T-Shirt purchases can be made at the event or the police department.  The TPCA Officer Survivors Fund provides a $1000 check to the surviving family members of any sworn Texas peace officer killed in the line of duty.  Cash or check donations should be made payable to TPCA OSF. Come out and support your officers!  For further information contact Sgt David Pittinger or Cpl David Harney at 972-317-6551.

STREET / UTILITY DIVISIONS PROJECTS

Streets:

The Street Division responded to the storm event by closing off streets that were flooding due to high water. The I-35E service road was closed due to high water and Highland Village Road was closed due to water washing out the road.

The Street Division crew poured the base for the retaining wall on Spring Oaks and will be going up with the wall next week.

PARKS DEPARTMENT

The Parks Department moved into their new offices on Friday.  There is still some packing and unpacking to do, but all operations, scheduling, reservations, etc. are now being handled at 948 Highland Village Road.

HUMAN RESOURCES / STAFF TRAINING

City Secretary:

• City Secretary Alicia Richardson attended the North Texas Municipal Clerks Association business luncheon on Wednesday.  Ms. Richardson was sworn into office and will serve as secretary for the association.