Recap of City Issues - February 12, 2010

Scott Kriston reports that the TXDOT FM 2499 section 4 project contractor is excavating & pouring concrete on the south bound lanes at FM 2499 & Castlewood and is preparing a barricade removal plan at the FM 2499 connection at FM 407.  TXDOT anticipates opening the FM 2499 / FM 407 intersection to traffic in 3-weeks, weather permitting.

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 last week.   Contractor is working on the punch list.  

The City will be providing a drop off area for residents desiring to dispose of large tree limbs broken by the recent snowfall. You can bring broken branches to Copperas Park starting Saturday and dispose of them in the southwest corner of the parking lot. Your alternative is to cut them to 4 foot lengths and bundle them for pickup by the City's solid waste contractor on brush and bundle day (Mondays).

PUBLIC SAFETY (POLICE AND FIRE)

Captain Chip Willis attended Fire Instructor 1 classes held at Tarrant County College this week as part of his Officer Development certification.

Chief Tatum attended a Emergency Task Force meeting on Monday in Lewisville.

Captain Travis Nokes provided updated training on RIT (Rapid Intervention Team) which teaches safety for a standby emergency team in the event that a firefighter calls a Mayday or needs emergency assistance while in a structure.

Fire Calls for Service:

• Fire Department personnel responded to 22 calls for service the week of February 5-11.
• Medical Emergencies - 8
• Fire Alarm Residential - 4
• Motor Vehicle Accident - 1
• Structure Fire - 3
• Public Service - 4
• Gas Leak - 1
• Commercial Fire Alarm - 1

Police:

This week, the police department responded to 122 calls for service, made 74 traffic contacts, made 7 arrests, responded to 2 traffic accidents and performed 403 community policing activities.

Corporal April Roppolo brought a family visiting from France to tour the City Hall, Fire Station, Heritage and CME. They went into the Sky Watch and saw the Store Front, then she took them to lunch at New China. They could not get over how clean the jail and fire station were. They said everything was so big in Texas. They were very impressed to see how everyone they met was so friendly.  They loved our CID and called them "CSI".

The Police Department worked an accident involving two vehicles at the intersection of Justin Road and Highland Village Road.  Although the accident involved a rollover vehicle, there were only very minor injuries and no one was transported to seek medical attention.

On Friday, February 12th, Rambling Oaks held their Valentine's Day dinner for the residents.  Officer Tim Henderson helps with these events at Rambling Oaks.

The switchover to the new Animal Care vehicle began this week.  The old unit was taken to our vendor and the equipment removed and prepared to place into the new vehicle.  We also have received several proofs for our "wrap" and are working on finalizing that portion of the vehicle.

Rob Wachal met with Captain Mark Stewart, Lieutenant Karl Schlichter, and Sergeant Sheri Morrison about more detail for the new Cityworks software.

Officer Patrick Finley stopped by and took a few pictures of the kiddos and the "not so" kiddos having fun by the school playing in the snow.  The snow seems to have brought out the kid in most folks this week.  (FYI - The news reported that this is the most snow that Texas has received in one day since they have been reporting snowfall.  Wow!)

Captain Corry Blount secured a Federal Grant for $60,000 towards the purchase of three Automated License Plate Recognition Systems for the patrol cars.  The systems automatically read license plates from all four sides of the patrol cars.  This system helps identify stolen vehicles, stolen license plates, wanted persons and also helps identify the locations of vehicles used by known criminals.

STREET / UTILITY DIVISIONS PROJECTS

Utilities:

Scott Kriston reports that the MSC project contractor has mixed in the lime stabilization for the front & south side 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 met with BW2 Engineering, Inc. and discussed the status of all open Public Works projects.

Utility Crews:

• Responded to four after hour call outs and three resident concerns.
• Excavated and repaired one sewer line and one water line.  Sewer line excavation was made on La Mesa to repair root intrusion.  The water line was excavated on Village Estates.
• Unstopped one sewer line backup.
• Located one area of utility infrastructure.
• 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:

• Cleaned debris from inlets throughout the City caused from the rain events.

Streets:

WIth the heavy snow that fell in the City on Thursday, a skeletal crew, who stayed the night at Doubletree Ranch,  was dispatched early Friday morning to remove snow from the Fire Department drive, provide local sanding on hot spots for the Police Department and remove fallen tree limbs from Highland Village Road and various streets around the City. A big "thank you"  to Darrell Richardson, Odie Benitez, Mark Rudder, Crisanto Perez and Ron Knox for their hard work.

PARKS DEPARTMENT

Staff is installing new partitions and fixtures in the restrooms at Copperas Branch Park.

Park staff is repairing the boat dock and walk way ramp at Pilot Knoll Park.

Staff has been painting inside buildings at Copperas Branch Park. 

Park Staff has been cleaning sidewalks and parking areas at City Hall due to the heavy snow fall this week.

Staff has been winterizing facilities in several Parks for protection against freezing weather conditions.

Tommy White met with Chief O'Bara and other Police staff on Thursday regarding possible implementation of an automated self pay system at Copperas Branch Park.

The 10th annual Father / Daughter Dance scheduled for this Friday has SOLD OUT!  If you have a ticket, we'll see you at Celebrations Grand Ballroom this Friday night from 6:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.  We will have music, food, drinks, desert, door prizes, pictures, balloons and a rose with a keepsake for every daughter. 

Parks' South crew has prepared the soccer game fields at Unity Park for opening day of games.  Due to the weather, the opening day of GLASA has been rescheduled for next Saturday.

Senior All-Stars

The Highland Village Senior All Stars met on Monday (17 attendees) and Thursday (8 attendees) for game day.

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

This Saturday is the Valentines potluck and games at Highland Shores Community Center.

HUMAN RESOURCES / STAFF TRAINING

I'm happy to inform everyone that we have new Parks & Recreation Director, Linda Cornelius.  Linda is currently with the City of Boerne as their Parks Director.  I anticipate Linda starting with us in early March.

Human Resources:

• Martha Butz attended the TMHRA Board meeting and the TxPELRA Workshops in San Antonio this week.
• Heather Miller, Bobby Salmon and Jackie Cottongame attended the Employment Law and Supervisory Practices class on Wednesday.
• Jana Onstead and Jane Ponder held employee orientation on Wednesday for three of our newest employees, Candice Stinnett and Dru Moss, Police Communications Officers, and Alain Stephens, Police Officer.
• The Employee Activity Committee met on Tuesday to review the by laws and to debrief on the last event held in January.

Police:

• Officer Jose Diaz and Officer Joey Hasten attended Intermediate Spanish training at Tarrant County Junior College.  This is one of the courses they are required to take to receive their Intermediate Police Officer Certification.
•  Corporal David Harney and Officer Chris Carver attended Intermediate Arrest, Search and Seizure training sponsored by Lewisville Police Department.  This is also a class required to attain an Intermediate Police Officer Certification.
• Officer Alain Stephens was sworn in as our newest police officer and started his training on Monday.  Dru Anne Moss, our newest Communications Officer, also started her training on Monday.

CITY MANAGER / CITY COUNCIL

Council member Wilcox attended the ribbon cutting ceremony for Phase III of FM 2499 (FM 1171 to FM 407). 

Mayor Costa, Michael Leavitt and Dorothy Palumbo met with DCTA representatives to discuss DCTA's new member policy.

Council member Meek, a member of the 2010 Leadership Lewisville class, visited Austin on Monday and Tuesday as part of their curriculum.