Recap of City Issues - May 15, 2009

The TXDOT FM 2499 project status is as follows:  one span of the Poindexter bridge was poured with concrete this week on the north bound lanes.  It was cut short due to the inclement weather that moved in.  The contractor will perform a concrete pour of the next two bridge spans Monday May 18th starting at 6am.  The pour is expected to last 10 hours.  The contractor is prepping the southbound lanes at the railroad south to FM 407.

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

Sue Thompson and Laurie Mullens attended the monthly merchants meeting at the Shops at Highland Village. This meeting provides the merchants an opportunity to receive updates from Regency Centers, VSE (the outside marketing firm for The Shops), and the City of Highland Village.  Sue provided information on the upcoming Red, White and Blue Festival and Laurie provided information to the merchants about the HVBA Business Directory and how they can be included in this annual publication.  The merchants discussed how to better promote The Shops and draw in more customer traffic during the summer.  Several ideas were mentioned for further research and possible implementation in the coming weeks.

PUBLIC SAFETY (POLICE AND FIRE)

This week the Police Department responded to 149 calls for service, made 81 traffic contacts, made 5 arrests, responded to 5 traffic accidents and performed 747 community policing activities.

The Rotary Dog Walk held Saturday had a good turn out. Seventy-five dog owners registered to walk and about four hundred people attended.  Corporal April Roppolo, Auxiliary Dick and Karen Williams, Auxiliary Debra Birdsall, Auxiliary Myers, Auxiliary Maclean, Senior ACO Michelle Burke and Assistant ACO Haley Whitlock all worked at the event.  Officer Henderson stopped and assisted with the dog walk.  The event was held to assist the Rotary in obtaining matching money for a grant for the ACO unit to purchase a power washer and dog beds.

McAuliffe Elementary student Jocelyn Hurtado was recognized by Chief Tatum, Corporal April Roppolo, and Corporal David Harney for her heroic efforts in making a critical 911 Call to Highland Village Police Dispatch reporting a medical emergency regarding a family member.  She was commended for being able to provide the 911 Operator with vital information on the nature of the emergency, her address, and call back number.  Her efforts resulted in the patient being promptly transported to the appropriate medical facility and making a full recovery from a possible life threatening condition.

The Highland Village Fire Department responded to 21 calls for service May 8-14th.  This included 7 medical emergencies, 2 structure fires, 3 public service calls, 4 motor vehicle accidents, 1 natural gas leak, 2 residential fire alarms, and 2 commercial fire alarms.

On Friday, Fire Department Personnel officially placed the new MICU ( Mobile Intensive Care Unit) Ambulance in service.  This new vehicle, manufactured by Horton Emergency Equipment, represents the highest quality product on the market today, featuring State of the Art life saving equipment and supplies. 

STREET / UTILITY DIVISIONS PROJECTS

Scott Kriston, David Clark and Charles Mitchell held a project status report meeting with BW2 Engineers this week.  All Public Works projects were discussed.

The Public Works Department accepted the Highland Oaks subdivision as complete this week.  A letter of acceptance was sent to the developer.

Richard Skipworth, UT Crew Leader, successfully renewed his Backflow testers licensed issued through the TCEQ.

Utility Crews:

• Responded to one after hour call out and nine resident emergencies.
• Made one excavation to repair a sewer line clean out.
• Jetted 2000-feet of sanitary sewer lines in Lift Station 6 and Lift Station 9 sewer basins.
• TV inspected five sewer lines to check for possible bad spots in need of repair.
• Located water and waste water lines at eight different locations for Infrasource Underground, Inc..
• Raised one manhole to grade and relocated irrigation lines around it for the 2008 I&I project.
• Moved equipment around in preparation for the new 948 Service Center.
• Performed maintenance on well lots, lift stations, fire hydrants and the water distribution and wastewater collection system.

Drainage Crews:

• Moved equipment to a remote location in preparation of the new 948 Service Center.
• Cleaned debris from stormwater inlets and creek crossings after the rain events.
• Began to prepare the Southwood Well lot site to receive the material piles currently located at the Municipal Service Center.

PARKS DEPARTMENT

Park staff was busy this week cleaning up the debris at the Corps Parks from the weekend storms.

The North Crew planted new plants and shrubs at City Hall. All crews planted seasonal color in all shrub beds in parks and entry ways through out the city.

Wes Nienhuser made weed control applications to various parks and medians in the city.

Mowing cycles are in full swing by all parks crews.

Tommy White met with Scott Kriston, Charles Mitchell, and David Clark to discuss plans for relocation of staff and equipment from 948 Service Center before phase I construction begins at that site this summer.

Tony Palesano has been adjusting water cycles on irrigation systems in the parks due to the recent rain patterns. 

The spring soccer season has concluded at Unity Park and will resume in early fall.

Senior All Stars:

The Highland Village Senior All Stars met on Monday (8 attendees) and Thursday (26 attendees) for game day.

Eleven Senior All Stars met on Tuesday for domino lessons.

On Wednesday, twelve Senior All Stars went to TWU for a guided tour including the Texas First Ladies Historical Costume Collection and the Little Chapel-in-the-Woods.

Eight Senior All Stars went to the Ballpark in Arlington to watch the Texas Rangers play ball.

The Senior All Stars met at for a picnic on Friday at the YMCA in Lewisville to celebrate the successful Putt-Putt league. The Highland Village Senior All Stars took 1st place!

HUMAN RESOURCES / STAFF TRAINING

Human Resources:

• The Texas Municipal Retirement System (TMRS) hosted a Regional Pre-Retirement Conference this week for TMRS members currently eligible to retire or within five years of reaching retirement eligibility. Speakers also included a representative from the Social Security Administration.
• Martha Butz attended an IPMA Board Meeting in Dallas on Thursday.
• Vanesa Childers attended an NTMA Board Meeting in Haltom City on Thursday.

Fire:

• Chief Tatum, Assistant Chief Collier and Captain Travis Nokes attended Fire Department Instructors Conference (FDIC). This is one of the largest conferences held in the United States with over 28,000 fire service leaders in attendance.
• Congratulation to Assistant Fire Chief Jason Collier for completion of the Advanced Fire Officer II Certification hosted by the Addison Fire Department and the Texas Commission on Fire Protection. This advanced leadership training provides Fire Department Administrative personnel with the tools necessary to function in today's ever changing personnel and incident management arena.
• On Thursday, Chief Tatum was recognized by the Denco 9-1-1 district.
• Chief Lonnie Tatum was appointed to the Denco Area 9-1-1 District Board of Managers by the Denton County Fire Chiefs Association in June 2004 to replace Carrollton Chief Bruce Varner who relocated to California. He was reappointed in 2005 and 2007 by the association and is up for reappointment later this summer. Chief Tatum currently serves as the secretary to the board and is a strong advocate for the District with both the Fire Chiefs Association and the City of Highland Village.

CITY MANAGER / CITY COUNCIL

Mayor Costa attended the North Texas XLV Super Bowl Host Committee Council of Mayors meeting on Tuesday, May 12th.  At the meeting the Host Committee, NFL and Taste of the NFL announced the regional locations of major venues to host Super Bowl XLV events.

Mayor Pro Tem McDearmont attended the Marcus Football Pancake Supper on Thursday, May 14th.  At the event he flipped pancakes with the coaches.

Saturday, May 9th was election day in Highland Village.  As a result of the election, we would like to welcome three new Council Members - Charlotte Wilcox, Place 3; Pat Davis, Place 5; and Bill Meek, Place 7.  The election results were made official on Friday, May 15th and the new members took their oaths and started their service as Council Members that day.   Voters approved all 24 amendments to the City Charter that were on the ballot.  A binding referendum regarding late hour alcohol sales was not approved by the voters.