Recap of City Issues - August 14, 2009

On Thursday myself and Rhoda Savage had the pleasure of meeting with Sean Stone, Director of Development for Ducks Unlimited and Jeff Potter, President of the Lewisville Chapter for DU.  Ducks Unlimited is very much interested in partnering with us on the development of our conservation area on Doubletree Ranch, Mr. Stone emphasizes the need for such areas to help with over 68 different species of migratory birds and insects that call their winter home North Texas.  Rhoda and Mr. Stone will be working together on this project and feel we have a new partner that is going to be an asset in developing a true conservation area in Highland Village.

Scott Kriston attended the TXDOT FM 2499 project meeting this week.  The project status is as follows:  The contractor is working on the bridges.  The contractor is working on the intersections and will continue to form and pour concrete cut outs, intersections and entrances.  The cut outs and intersections are anticipated to be completed over the next few weeks.  Traffic is anticipated to be moved to the new concrete intersection at the Highland Shores / Castlewood intersection next week.

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

Sue Thompson reports the summer Highland Village Business Association luncheon was held on Tuesday, August 14th at Celebrations.  Mayor Dianne Costa welcomed the approximate 65 in attendance and Mayor Pro Tem Don Combs gave the invocation.  Mayor Costa introduced our speaker, WFAA (Channel 8) Chief Meteorologist Pete Delkus.  Mr. Delkus provided a great overview of his background and some interesting facts about his colleagues at Channel 8, especially the ongoing fun between he and Dale Hansen.  Sue exchanged some fun moments with Mr. Delkus too!  Sue announced the next HVBA luncheon will be the annual "Salute Our Veterans" luncheon on Tuesday, November 10th.  Mark your Calendars.

Sue Thompson and Laurie Mullens attended the monthly Merchant meeting for the Shops at Highland Village.  They provided updates on various upcoming events such as the HV Lion's Club Balloon Festival this weekend and the Our Village Glows to be held on Tuesday, December 1st at the Shops.  This will be the 2nd year the annual Our Village Glows event which kicks off the holiday season is to be held at the Shops.  Sue and the representative from VSE, marketing firm for the Shops, met with the Highland Village Women's Club this week to begin planning for the event.  Laurie Mullens provided the new 2009 Business Directory to all the merchants in attendance and explained some of the new features in the Directory this year.  Regency Centers was provided with a number of directories to share as well.  The group discussed the upcoming Tailgate Party and Fashion Show to be held on August 22nd.

PUBLIC SAFETY (POLICE AND FIRE)

Highland Village Fire Department responded to 18 calls for service the week of Aug 7 - 12.  Included are: 14 medical emergencies, 2 motor vehicle accidents, 1 landing zone coordination for Careflight, and 1 odor investigation.   Fire personnel conducted 1 new business inspection this week.

Chad Tye with Specialty Rescue and Fire Services trains fire department personnel on their new TNT rescue tools (Jaws of Life).  The new state of the art rescue tools replace an old set which were originally purchased by the Volunteer Association over 17 years ago.

This week the Police Department responded to 185 calls for service, made 123 traffic contacts, made 2 arrests, responded to 5 traffic accidents and performed 651 community policing activities.

On August 10, 2009, the Highland Village Police Department received the award of "Recognized Law Enforcement Agency" from the Texas Police Chiefs Association Law Enforcement Recognition Program.  Begun in 2007, the Recognition Program evaluates a Police Department's compliance with over 150 Best Practices for Texas Law Enforcement.  These Best Practices were carefully developed by Texas Law Enforcement professionals to assist agencies in the efficient and effective delivery of service and the protection of individual's rights. These Best Practices cover all aspects of law enforcement operations including use of force, protection of citizen rights, vehicle pursuits, property and evidence management, and patrol and investigative operations.

This voluntary process required the Highland Village Police Department to conduct a critical self-review of the agency's policies, procedures, facilities and operations.  Beginning in 2008, the department begin the lengthy process to become a "Recognized" Law Enforcement Agency" by preparing proofs of compliance for each of the Texas Law Enforcement Best Business Practices. Upon completion of the internal review, an outside audit and review was requested.  This final on-site review took place on July 23, 2009.  The on-site review is conducted by trained Police Chiefs from other areas of our state.  The result of this review was then sent to the Texas Police Chiefs Association's Recognition Committee for final analysis and decision to award "Recognized" status. 

On August 10, 2009, the department was notified that it had been awarded the coveted "Recognized Law Enforcement Agency" award.  The Highland Village Police Department becomes only the 17th agency in the state to be so recognized.  The Highland Village Police Department has always considered itself to be one of the best in the state.  This process provided for an independent review of the department's operations and should assure the citizens of Highland Village that its Police Department is conforming to the current state of the art in law enforcement.

STREET / UTILITY DIVISIONS PROJECTS

The Street Division started painting all the school zones by striping the crosswalks and stop bars.

The Street crew cracksealed cracks in the Central Fire Station's parking lot.

The Street crew painted parking areas along the street next to soccer fields on Millington Drive.

The Street Division made some asphalt street repairs to Clearwater Drive North at Rockland Drive and made concrete street repairs on Barnett Boulevard.

Scott Kriston attended the UTRWD Lift Station rehab project progress meeting this week.  The contractor has took delivery of the stainless steel pipe that will be installed inside the wet well and will be installing it next week.

Matthew Kite, Scott Kriston & David Clark met with BW2 Engineers this week to discuss the status of Public Works projects.

Utility Crews:

• Repaired one sewer tap.
• Issued door hanger warnings of phase two water conservation.
• Replaced three broken manhole lids.
• Replaced bad coax and antenna at the Southwood well lot.
• Responded two after hour call outs and six resident concerns.
• Performed meter rereads, water turn on/turn offs, and leak checks.
• Located four areas of utility infrastructure for proposed franchise utility work.
• Excavated & repaired 2 water main breaks - one on Sellmeyer Lane and one on Highland Village Road.
• Installed 418 linear feet of 6-inch sewer line, manholes and taps for the new 948 Service Center.
• Flushed and TV inspected six sewer lines.
• Performed maintenance on well lots, lift stations, fire hydrants and the water distribution and wastewater collection system.

PARKS DEPARTMENT

Staff has been preparing the Balloon Festival site at Copperas Park for this weekends activities.

Joey Hardin and Frank Furche installed the fountain at Village Park.

Wes Neinhuser applied weed control treatment to various parks.

South Crew started preparations on athletic fields for the upcoming fall seasons.

This is the final week of Kids Kamp at Briarhill Middle School. The field trips this week included Hawaiian Falls on Monday, Night at The Museum movie on Tuesday, Boomerangs on Thursday, and swimming at the Old Town Aquatic Center on Friday.

The Highland Village Senior All Stars met on Monday (20 attendees) and Thursday (20 attendees) for game day.

Two Senior All Stars met on Tuesday for Bridge and Domino games.

On Wednesday, 13 Highland Village Senior All Stars took a trip to Granbury.

HUMAN RESOURCES / STAFF TRAINING

Jana Onstead and Vanesa Childers attended the Fisher & Phillips Lunch n Learn on Wednesday.  Topics covered were effective hiring and disciplinary counseling practices.

CITY MANAGER / CITY COUNCIL

Mayor Pro Tem Combs and Councilmember Meek attended the 12th Annual Transportation & Infrastructure Summit in Irving, Texas.

On Tuesday, Mayor Costa met with Ramon Padilla of the U.S. Census Bureau.