Recap of City Issues 8-13-10

Scott Kriston reports that the TXDOT FM 2499 section 4 project contractor is mowing the r.o.w. as required by their contract & weather permits.  The contractor is redefining the offsite drainage areas where easements were obtained during the design process.  The contractor is constructing the Northwood / FM 2499 intersection, weather permitting.  The proposed traffic signal for the FM 2499 / Highland Shores / Castlewood intersection is ordered, there is a 2 month lead time for delivery & installation.

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

The Highland Village Business Association luncheon held on Tuesday was well attended. The guest speaker, Bryan Dodge, provided a fast and enjoyable talk on goals and life. Before Mr. Dodge was introduced, it was announced that Sue Thompson would be retiring on September 3 after 22 years with the City and that the luncheon was her last official duty for the HVBA. Sue began the HVBA in 1996 and has been instrumental in its success through the years and the relationships built with the Lewisville and Flower Mound Chambers. Sue was presented with a bouquet of flowers and expressions of appreciation for all she has done for the community.

PUBLIC SAFETY (POLICE AND FIRE)

Police:

This week, the police department responded to 147 calls for service, made 117 traffic contacts, made 9 arrests, responded to no traffic accidents and performed 470 community policing activities.

In the last 8 months the Animal Care Unit (through Petdata) has processed a total of 883 licenses, or 110 per month, which on an annualized basis would result in 1,320 in the first 12 months of the contract. Based on the historical entry Petdata completed, they found that 950 registrations had been sold in the 12 months prior to our contract beginning, or an average of 79 licenses per month. Whether we use the annual comparisons or the average sales per month, PetData has already achieved a 38% increase for Highland Village Animal Care.

Officer Joey Hasten has been tentatively selected to cross train in the Criminal Investigation Unit sometime in November.  Officer Hasten previously selected "Investigations" as his chosen career path and will assist CIU during a time of shortage.  Between now and then, Officer Hasten will be periodically scheduled, as patrol needs allow, to work in some CIU orientation and training days to prepare him for this temporary assignment. 

Officer Jason Lafortune has been released from the Field Training Program and is now on patrol and working day shift.

The Animal Care Unit received a donation of quite a few bags of food and a few other items. We were able to donated some of the food back to other shelters as we have plenty at the moment.

STREET / UTILITY DIVISIONS PROJECTS

Utilities:

Scott Kriston reports that the MSC project is on schedule.  A final walk through was performed by the City & the Architect this week, the GC has his subcontractors working on the punch list items.  Dallas Security is installing the access security on the site.  The communication lines are being installed to allow the fire alarm monitoring system to come online.  Furniture delivery is scheduled for the week of August 23rd.  Anticipated move in is scheduled for the first week of Sept.  The grand opening is currently being planned and is anticipated to be on Sept. 22nd.  

The Oak St. GSR site improvements project GC completed demolition of the old pump house & chemical buildings, installed new water mains from the GSR to the proposed building & started to lay out the foundation of the proposed pump house and chemical facilities. 

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

The manhole restoration project is currently out to bid.  The bid opening is set for August 26th.  This project consists of rehabilitating the manholes for the City's 24" & 27" trunk sanitary sewer main located on the north side of the City along the lake shore from Community Center Blvd. to Lift station #1 at the Double Tree Ranch. 

The Highland Village Road water line replacement project sections 1 & 2.  The City's new message board sign is deployed to warn traffic.  RKM Utility Services, Inc. has installed approximately 3,000 feet of new water line and made one tie-in.  This project consists of replacing approximately 5000 feet of water line along Highland Village Rd. from Brazos Blvd. to Lake Vista.  The contractor will be onsite for 4 months.  You should expect minor traffic delays in the area for the duration of the project. 

Sanitary sewer smoke tesing phase 3 started this week.  This project consists of smoke testing 83,500 linear feet of VCP sewer main located in the south and east portions of the City.  A report will be submitted to the City with all deficiencies listed that require correction.  The smoke testing portion of the project will take approximately 3-weeks to complete. 

Chinn Chapel Road Phase 1 reconstruction contractor set up signage and erosion control & is installing the water line.  This project is a Town of Copper Canyon project funded through Denton County bonds.  It consists of drainage improvements and road reconstruction on Chinn Chapel from approximately 100 feet north of FM 407 to Orchid Hill Lane.  The contract has 500 calendar days to final completion.  There will be traffic detours throughout the duration of the project; you should expect traffic delays in the area.

Oncor Electric completed the upgrades to the existing electric transmission towers located in the TP&L easement & moved out of the City.  They anticipate moving back in this fall to install the new wire. 

Utility Crews:

• Responded to six after hour call outs and seven resident concerns.
• Performed one line locate of utility infrastructure.
• Unstopped three sewer line blockages.
• Successfully installed the new LAS scales at the Justin Rd, Highland Shores and Southwood well lots, and is currently finishing up the last one at the Lake Vista well lot.
• TV inspected six sewer lines to locate buried infrastructure and look for areas in need of repair.
• Flushed 6,195 linear feet of sewer main line as part of the sewer line maintenance program.
• Replaced two old style curb stops in preparation for future AMR project.
• Dressed eight yards that were damaged during infrastructure repairs.
• Made 25 water cut-offs.
• Ran 320' of conduit in front of City Hall for the new Municipal Service Center network fiber connection.
• 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 systems.

Drainage Crews:

• Cleaned  debris out of the existing concrete flume in the 100 block of Baird Circle
• Met with a resident in the 2800 block of Lakeside Drive regarding a drainage issue.
• Started the creek erosion project in the 700 block of Highland Hills.

Streets:

The Street Division painted the street crossings in various locations and will continue with the painting of the markers and striping street crossings.

The Street Division worked on the turn around located at the end of Spring Oaks by cleaning and digging the key way in the bottom of the footing of the retaining wall and will start forming the footing for the retaining wall next week.

PARKS DEPARTMENT

Parks staff met with representatives from the Highland Village Lion's Club to discuss the final plans for the Balloon Festival that's happening next weekend.

Parks staff is in the process of draining the northernmost pond located at the Doubletree Ranch. 

Parks staff installed four (4) new full-sized soccer goals with nets at Unity Park practice fields by Kids Kastle.

Parks staff completed topdressing and sodding of athletic fields at Unity, Victoria and Copperas Branch Park to prepare for the fall baseball and soccer seasons.

The Parks department would like to thank the Drainage and Streets department for helping with the replacement of a washed out drainage culvert at Pilot Knoll Park last week.

Parks staff have been involved in trimming tree limbs and shrubs in park locations.

Pilot Knoll Park has added Michael Sherick as the new Camp Host.

This is the last week of Kids Kamp at Briarhill Middle School. The field trips this week included Hawaiian Falls, BounceU, Texas Rangers Ballpark Tour, and Old Town Swimming Pool.

Senior All Stars 

The Highland Village Senior All Stars met on Monday (24 attendees) and Thursday (21 attendees) for game day. 

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

HUMAN RESOURCES / STAFF TRAINING

Human Resources:

• At Thursday's employee meeting representatives from Medical Center of Lewisville spoke on heat related illnesses.  They provided material on the warning signs and how to prevent it.  Martha Butz gave an overview of the benefit changes for the upcoming budget year.  Benefit meetings next Thursday, August 19th, will provide details in plan changes and cost.  All employees with benefits should attend one of these important meetings.  Open enrollment will be the following week.

Police:

• Chief Ed O'Bara attended the Texas Police Chief's Executive Board meeting this week in San Antonio.
• Dru Moss has returned to the Police Department and is continuing her training in Communications. Welcome back Dru!!