Recap of City Issues - November 13, 2009

Sue Thompson reports the 7th annual HVBA Salute Our Veterans lunch was held on November 10th at Celebrations.  There was a total of 293 in attendance including 132 veterans.  Mayor Dianne Costa welcomed everyone and introduced Jack Milligan to give the invocation prior to the Marcus HS AFJROTC presenting the colors and the Vocal Magic group singing the national anthem.  Mayor also recognized the families of fallen soldiers and introduced the video greeting from Congressman Michael Burgess.  Dr. Burgess could not attend the luncheon this year, he was attending the memorial held in Ft. Hood, Texas.  General Hamm presented the Congressional Recognition awards to deserving veterans within the 26th Congressional District.  Sue passed the microphone around the room so veterans could introduce themselves and provide a brief story along with their rank and branch of service.  The Vocal Magic performed one more appropriate song to bring another wonderful "Salute Our Veterans" luncheon to a close.

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

On Thursday Sue Thompson and Laurie Mullens visited businesses in the Shops at Highland Village and the Marketplace at Highland Village to provide them the poster for the Holiday Pass Program. With this being the second year of the program, more businesses were either signed up to participate or aware of the opportunity and interested in participating. The police department Business AOR officers will help distribute more of the posters to Highland Village businesses. The postcards announcing the Holiday Pass Program will be sent to all Highland Village residents and 10,000 households to the west next week. A complete list of participating businesses is available on the city web site by clicking on the Holiday Pass button on the left banner of the site.

PUBLIC SAFETY (POLICE AND FIRE)

Fire:

Training/Meetings:

• Fire Personnel attended fire training provided by Tarrant County College

Fire Calls for Service

• 18 Fire & EMS Calls for week of Nov. 6-12
• 8 Medical Emergency calls
• 4 Motor Vehicle Accidents
• 3 Odor Investigations
• 1 Public Service call
• 2 Commercial Fire Alarms
• Fire Personnel conducted 4 commercial and residential inspections

Public Relations:

• Chief Tatum attended Denco 911 Board Meeting.
• Assistant Chief Collier, Captain Travis Nokes, and FF/Paramedic Jared Middleton attended the Medical Control meeting held in Lewisville.
• Mayor Costa, Chief Tatum and Chief Collier presented LA Fitness Manager Shaun McEvoy with a Life Saving Award for his heroic actions regarding a recent emergency at the Highland Village LA Fitness. Mr. McEvoy, who had recently completed CPR and AED Training, was able to use the AED in the facility to revive an individual who had suffered a massive heart attack. Physicians who treated the victim after the incident verified that the quick and decisive actions of Mr. McEvoy saved the victims life and prevented further damage to the heart muscle.

Police:

• This week, the police department responded to 165 calls for service, made 116 traffic contacts, made 4 arrests, responded to 1 traffic accidents and performed 500 community policing activities.
• There were 50 Veterans honored at McAuliffe Elementary this week. Two of the honored veterans were HVPD's own Corporal Clint Webb and Officer Jose Diaz.

STREET / UTILITY DIVISIONS PROJECTS

Streets:

The Street Division made repairs to the sidewalk at 832 Silverthorne Trail due to a tripping hazard.

• The Street Division remove all unnecessary signage at all entrances of the City of Highland Village.
• The Street Division prepared area at Doubletree Ranch for temporary off site offices complex for the construction of the new service center.

Utilities:

Utility Crews:

• Responded to six after hour call outs and ten resident concerns.
• Removed the old generator security fence from the 948 Highland Village Rd Service Center.
• Raised one sewer clean out up to grade.
• Located three areas of utility infrastructure for proposed franchise utility work.
• Assisted a contractor with installation of the 948 gas line.
• TV inspected 310 feet of sewer lines to locate buried infrastructure and areas in need of repair.
• Performed a radio frequency path evaluation study of the Double Tree facility to confirm relocating SCADA to the new office trailer would operate correctly.
• Cleared one sewer backup and repaired a water service line.
• Made I&I defect repairs by sealing off water from seeping into four sanitary manholes.
• 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:

• Removed 522 yards of dirt for the road contractor in the 2700 block of hillside.
• Are building material bins at Southwood Well lot.
• Hauled concrete from the 2700 block of Hillside.

PARKS DEPARTMENT

Park Staff at Pilot Knoll has been mulching leaves around the over night camping area.

Wes Neinhuser has been involved in making weed control applications to all parks.

Tony Palesano has been making irrigation repairs in various park locations.

Staff installed Veterans Day banners last week.

The South crew staff has been preparing game fields at Unity Park for the last week of fall base ball and soccer season.

The Highland Village Senior All Stars met on Monday (15 attendees) and Thursday (30 attendees) for game day.

On Monday, 12 Highland Village Senior All Stars went to have lunch at The Club at Gateway on the UNT campus.

ourteen Highland Village Senior All Stars took a trip on Tuesday to the Thanksgiving Square and The Old Red Museum in Dallas.

Twenty Senior All Stars met on Friday for putt-putt at Zone Action Park.

HUMAN RESOURCES / STAFF TRAINING

Human Resources:

• Martha Butz attended the North Texas Municipal Alliance board meeting in Southlake on Thursday.

CITY MANAGER / CITY COUNCIL

Councilmember Wilcox attended Leadership Flower Mound on Tuesday.  The topic was Town Government.

Mayor Costa, Mayor Pro Tem Combs, and Councilmembers Davis, Meek and Wilcox attended the HVBA "Salute Our Veterans" luncheon at Celebrations on Tuesday.

Councilmember Meek attended Leadership Lewisville on Thursday.  The topic was County Day.

Mayor Costa attended a Transportation Crossroads Conference hosted by the North Dallas Chamber of Commerce at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas on Friday.

Councilmembers Meek and Wilcox attended the UCB Hot Dog Cookout on Friday.  Proceeds from the event supported Southern Denton County Neighbor to Neighbor.