Recap of City Issues - September 25, 2009

Congratulations to Corporal April Roppolo for being the recipient of the Hero's of Denton County Lifetime Achievement Award Thursday night at the annual banquet.  This is the first of this type award authorized by the organization and was based on the department's nomination.  The award recognizes Cpl Roppolo's achievements during her long tenure as a police officer and the positive impact she has made in the lives of children in Highland Village.  Be sure to recognize Cpl Roppolo on her achievement. 

The TXDOT FM 2499 project status is as follows:  The contractor is pouring concrete north of the Northwood Castlewood intersection to the Hickory Creek bridge.  The contractor continues to pour the cut outs and driveways on the south end of the project.  The contractor is addressing drainage issues that have surfaced from the final grade of the new road.  The contractor continues to build the pedestrian tunnel.  The contractor is final dressing the southern end of the project.

The City opened the bids for the Service Center/Senior Activity Center project Thursday September 24th. Eight bids were received with the apparent low bidder being Ratcliff Construction at $3,395,000. There were four bidders clustered around the $3.5 million range. The project was bid as a competitive sealed proposal so we will be evaluating the other parts of the proposals over the course of the next two weeks and will then bring a recommendation to Council.

PUBLIC SAFETY (POLICE AND FIRE)

Corporal April Roppolo and Barb Ross welcomed an exchange student from France.  He did a great job at Highland Village Elementary.

This week, the police department responded to 108 calls for service, made 114 traffic contacts, made 2 arrests, responded to 0 traffic accidents and performed 549 community policing activities.

STREET / UTILITY DIVISIONS PROJECTS

Utilities:

Scott Kriston met with a representative of Tailored Adjustment Services regarding a drainage claim filed against the City.

Sott Kriston & Tim Bruedigam attended the final walk through for the UTRWD 60-inch water line project located along FM 407 this week.  The contractor is working on the punch list.

Matthew Kite, Scott Kriston & David Clark met with HD Water Works and the Neptune meter representatives for a presentation on the Neptune meter AMI system.

Scott Kriston & David Clark met with Aqua Metrics to supply information for a propagation study for the Sensus meter AMI system.

Utility Crews:

• Raised three manholes up to grade.
• Made repairs to two meter boxes.
• In progress of making repairs to the Southwood 600KVA generator, and Lift Station 9 after they were struck by lightening earlier this month.
• Finished repairing the Idlewild pumping facility after it was hit by lightening earlier this month.
• Responded to one after hour call out.
• Located two areas of utility infrastructure for proposed franchise utility work.
• Excavated a 30-inch water main for the UTRWD near the 3300 block of Castlewood that ruptured due to contractor error.
• Repaired a collapsed sewer main on Oak Forest.
• Flushed eight sewer lines and TV inspected four sewer lines as part of the sewer line maintenance program.
• Performed a test kill of the water line on Villa Park.
• Performed several 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:

• Installed a drainage pipe and swale at the entrance of 5001 Village Parkway to detour storm water flow from material bins lot to the existing storm water piping.
• Regraded material bins lot to dress up a few eroded areas.
• Is cleaning curb inlet boxes, whye inlet boxes, and grate inlet boxes for the upcoming rainy season.

Streets:

• The Street Division made asphalt street repairs on Mosswood Drive due to failure was caused by heavy vehicles driving along the curb line.
• The Street Division repaired the concrete curb at 2175 Tartan Trail, which was damaged by the movement of the soil in that location.
• The Street Division cracksealed opening cracks that were showing up in the Baird Estate subdivision.

PARKS DEPARTMENT

On Tuesday, Parks performed a walkthrough for the Brazos Project which produced a very small punch list.

All Parks crews are involved in mowing cycles throughout the City.

Wes Neinhuser has been treating various Parks and Municipal grounds for Fire Ants which have been bad due to the recent heavy rains.

VMC landscape crews have been clearing out brush and trimming trees on the property line on the west side of the Double Tree Ranch property.

Tony Palesano has cut down watering cycles on all Parks irrigation systems due to wet weather the last few weeks

The Highland Village Senior All Stars met on Monday (19 attendees) and Thursday (26 attendees) for game day.

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

On Wednesday, 17 Highland Village Senior All Stars toured the Fort Worth Mint.

HUMAN RESOURCES / STAFF TRAINING

Human Resources:

• Several staff members attended training at the fire station on Wednesday and Thursday. The emergency management training prepares personnel to implement the Incident Command System when necessary for a disaster or event.

CITY MANAGER / CITY COUNCIL

Mayor Costa attended the North Texas Super Bowl XLV Host Committee Council of Mayors Regional News Conference held at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington on Monday.

Councilmember Meek attended a reception at the Oakmont County Club in Denton on Monday.  This reception was held for State Senator Florence Shapiro for the purpose of announcing that Senator Shapiro is very interested in running for United States Senator, currently held by Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson, if she vacates this office to run for Texas State Governor.

Mayor Costa and members of Council attended the Lewisville Chamber Luncheon on Tuesday.

Wednesday Mayor Costa participated in the Marcus High School Homecoming parade.

Mayor Costa attended the Heroes of Denton County dinner held at Texas Motor Speedway on Thursday evening.