Recap of City Issues - January 29, 2010

Scott Kriston reports that the TXDOT FM 2499 section 4 project contractor is wrapping up the installation of the Pedestrian tunnel north of the KCS Railroad, excavating & pouring concrete on the south bound lanes at FM 2499 & Castlewood and is excavating the FM 2499 connection at FM 407.

The Finance Department received a check for $3,759.21 from Texas Political Subdivision (Worker's Compensation). This was a dividend payment for The City's continued support and loss prevention efforts.

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

Sue Thompson attended the monthly Precinct 3 Task Force meeting hosted by Denton County Commissioner Bobbie Mitchell to receive updates on the transportation projects in this area.  Sue reports the bid was awarded for the next phase of FM 407 improvements which will begin approximately 600' west of Briarhill Blvd. to just west of Chinn Chapel Rd. 

Construction is expected to begin in early spring.  Updates were provided also for FM 2499.  It is anticipated that FM 2499 from FM 407 to Highland Shores Blvd. will be complete and ready to open by the end of February (weather permitting).   

PUBLIC SAFETY (POLICE AND FIRE)

Police:

This week, the police department responded to 141 calls for service, made 137 traffic contacts, made 7 arrests, responded to no traffic accidents and performed 346 community policing activities.

Senior Animal Care Officer Michelle Burke adopted out several kitties this week and received a donation of $150 dollars for the care of future animals.  She also adopted out this sweet little puppy to a new forever home!

Captain Corry Blount and Sergeant Sheri Morrison met with "360 Graphics" this week.  "360 Graphics" is going to be completing the graphic wrap for our new Animal Care vehicle which also arrived recently.  The Police Department also received the new stainless steel unit for the back of the ACO truck and it's even better than we expected!

The Police Department made a conditional offer to Dru Anne Moss for our last open Communications Officer position.

The Police Department made a conditional offer to Alain Stephens for our last open Police Officer position.

Chief O'Bara and the Police Department hosted an organizational committee meeting for the upcoming TPCA State Conference.

Senior Sergeant Ken Farr (Lakeway Police Department) asked for an electronic copy of our Shift Supervisor Daily Activity Report to use as a template for their department's use.

Fire:

FF/Paramedic Chip Willis conducted specialized training for Fire Personnel regarding Building Construction and Structural Collapse.  They also reviewed the National Institute Science Technology (NIST) updates.

Fire Calls for Service

Fire Department personnel responded to 16 calls for service the week of January 22-27.

• Medical Emergencies - 10
• Fire Alarm Residential - 2
• Motor Vehicle Accident - 3
• Structure Fire - 1

Chip Willis, Randy McCurley, Mel Harper, Stan Halfmann, Tim Moehlman conducted training at the District of Highland Village. The Fire Department members performed pre-incident planning throughout the different structures. The training was to determine the techniques and best deployment for fire attach line into the structures in the event of a fire.

Boy Scout Troop 163 stopped by for a visit and overview of the Fire Station this week.

STREET / UTILITY DIVISIONS PROJECTS

Streets:

The Street Division made a asphalt utility street repair on Meadowbrook Drive and a asphalt street repair on Highland Shores Boulevard along edge at Remington West.

The Street Division crew replaced various missing street signs and installed new street signs throughout the city.

Utilities:

Scott Kriston reports that the Highland Shores Paving project contractor is cleaning up the site & working on sprinkler repairs.  A final walk through was performed this week.   Contractor is working on the punch list.  

Scott Kriston reports that the MSC project contractor poured the concrete slab for the Parks & Rec building and a portion of the Public Works building. 
They mixed in lime stabilization for the front parking lot.  The framing and dry wall contractor continues to work inside the Parks & Rec building.  The fence contractor is excavating & setting steel for the concrete footer for the perimeter fence along the north side of the lot.  The footer is being poured as they complete a section and it passes inspection. 

Scott Kriston attended the UTRWD CAC meeting this week.  Items discussed were the northern section plant upgrades and proposed expansions and the southern section plant repairs and future expansion plans.

Scott Kriston met with BW2 Engineering, Inc. and discussed the status of all open Public Works projects.

Utility Crews:

• Responded to one after hour call out and five resident concerns.
• Excavated and repaired two lines.  One excavation was made to replace a bad fire hydrant on Lakewood Court and the other was a sewer line repair on Bierstadt.
• Unstopped three sewer line backups.
• Performed two line locates.  One for CoServ who had to remove a downguy in the way of a proposed slab and the other was for Time Warner to replace a bad cable.
• TV inspected one sewer line to identify the source of a back up.
• Sealed a leaking manhole on Winston to prevent I&I from flowing into system.
• Performed several meter rereads, water turn on/turn offs, and leak checks.
• Continue to perform maintenance on well lots, lift stations, fire hydrants and the water distribution and wastewater collection system.

Drainage Crews:

• Worked on material bins at 5001 Village Parkway.
• Met with resident about standing water in the 100 block of Villa Park Drive.
• Cleaned various inlet boxes and grates of debris to continue proper flow, during latest rain event.

PARKS DEPARTMENT

Parks staff met with the Medical Center of Lewisville, Highland Village Parks Foundation, Terra Firma Promotions, and Lake Cities Cross Country to debrief on last year's Highland Village Resolution Run and to plan for this year's run.  January 2009 was our first year to host the event and we had 325 registrants.  This past run, January 2010, we had 415 registrants, hopefully we'll hit 600 in 2011. 

Parks and Recreation staff met with BW2 Engineers to discuss the plans for the near future Highland Village Road sidewalk and Lake Vista Trail connection.

Terry Golden and Andra Boxberger attended a city-wide administrative coordination program.

Pedro Miranda has been assisting Laurie Mullens in the making of The State of the City video.

Parks staff at Unity Park installed safety fencing around the pitcher's warm up area. 

Parks staff at Copperas Branch Park are in the process of remodeling the restroom facilities.

Parks staff at Pilot Knoll Park are involved in installing new roofing at several picnic shelter sites in the day use area.

Tony Palesano is involved in installing the Calsense irrigation hardware.

Tommy White met with Pilot Knoll Park gate attendants on Tuesday regarding enforcement of new campsite rules.

Senior All-Stars

The Highland Village Senior All Stars met on Monday (24 attendees) and Thursday (29 attendees) for game day. 

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

On Wednesday, 13 Highland Village Senior All Stars went on a mystery trip. The mystery location was the Kimball Art Museum in Fort Worth.

HUMAN RESOURCES / STAFF TRAINING

Human Resources:

• Preliminary phone interviews with candidates for the Director of Parks and Recreation were conducted this week by Martha Butz and Michael Leavitt.  Panel interviews with finalists will be next week.
• An administrative support team staff meeting was held on Wednesday.  Present at the meeting were Andra Boxberger, Autumn Aman, Gay Durden, Jannie Baughman, Karen Bradley, Lori Wright, Nancy Sharp, Sandy McCoy, Terry Golden and Vanesa Childers.  The team discussed cross-training and coverage of departments over the next few weeks.  Several training sessions were set up as a result of the meeting.
• Supervisors Jackie Cottongame in the Police Department, Heather Miller in the Finance Department and Bobby Salmon in the Drainage Department attended the "Principles of Public Service" class on Wednesday in Keller.  This class is part of the Supervisory Series training.

Police:

• Sergeant Bobby Doyle and Sergeant Dennis Oliver attended Freeway Incident Management training at COG in Arlington.  Sergeant Bobby Doyle and Officer Tim Henderson attended Standardized Field Sobriety Testing Update training that was also held at COG in Arlington.  Corporal Clint Webb attended Search Warrant Writing and Preparation training at Texoma Police Academy in Grayson County.  Officer Leticia Bustamante attended Report Writing training (also held at Texoma Police Academy) and Corporal Greg Arrington attended on the job LETS training with Corporal April Roppolo, Corporal David Harney, and Corporal Patrick Finley. 
• LETS classes were conducted all week at Briarhill Middle School by Corporal April Roppolo, Corporal David Harney, Corporal Patrick Finley, and Corporal Greg Arrington.

CITY MANAGER / CITY COUNCIL

Council member Meek attended the Precinct 3 meeting held on January 25, 2010.  The Town of Flower Mound hosted the meeting. 

The City of Highland Village sponsored a table at the Lewisville Area Chamber Awards Luncheon.  Those in attendance representing the City were Mayor Costa, Deputy Mayor Pro Tem McDearmont, Council member Meek, Council member Wilcox, City Secretary Alicia Richardson, Public Affairs Manager Laurie Mullens and Community Development Manager Sue Thompson.

Council member Meek and Council Member Wilcox joined City Secretary Alicia Richardson at the "Meet and Greet" reception for the new Denton County Elections Administrator Frank Phillips.  Mr. Phillips is currently working with municipalities and school districts to finalize details for the upcoming elections in May.  The Denton County Elections office will administer elections for entities that enter into a joint contract with the County, which reduces cost and provides additional early voting polling locations for the public.