Recap of City Issues 8-20-10

Scott Kriston reports that TXDOT states the FM 2499 section 4 project is ahead of it's April 2011 completion schedule.  TXDOT anticipates opening the entire FM 2499 Section 4 project November or December 2010.  The contractor is mowing the r.o.w. as required by their contract as 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

This weekend is the 23rd Annual Balloon Festival. The winds were a little swift this morning, but that didn't stop a few pilots from taking to the sky or dipping in the lake!

      PUBLIC SAFETY (POLICE AND FIRE)

Fire:

Calls for Service: Week of August 13-19

• Medical Emergencies -  7
• Residential Fire Calls  - 4
• Residential Fire Alarms - 2
• Commercial Fire Calls - 1
• Commercial Fire Alarms - 6
• Odor Investigations - 2
• Motor Vehicle Accidents - 2
• Public Service - 2
• Fire Inspections - 3
• Car Seat Installation - 1

Firefighter Paramedic Charles Hinkle and Scott Taylor installed a car seat this week.

Assistant Chief Jason Collier met with a representative from Vial of Life this week. Vial of Life is a program that was started by the American Heart Association. The program includes a magnet, vial and medical reference sheet.  The resident would put their vital medical information onto the reference sheet and attach to their refrigerator to alert Fire Personnel when responding to an emergency.

STREET / UTILITY DIVISIONS PROJECTS

Streets:

The Street Division continues to work on the Spring Oaks Drive turn-a-round.  The street crew is forming up the base of the retaining wall and will be putting in steel to pour the concrete next week.

The Street Division is painting the bike lanes and markings throughout the city and will continue through next week.

Utilities:

Scott Kriston reports that the MSC project is on schedule.  A final walk through was performed by the City & the Architect, 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. 21st.   

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 & installed forms for 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 Doubletree 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 4,000 feet of new water line and made 4 tie-ins.  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 testing phase 3 continued 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 is on schedule.  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.

All Utilities staff attended City Works work order training this week.  This system is anticipated to be implemented in the near future.

Utility Crews:

• Responded to eight after hour call outs and six resident concerns.
• Raised two sewer line cleanouts up to grade on Donna Circle.
• Cleaned, painted and labeled 53 fire hydrants.
• Completed the installation of the Lake Vista well lot LAS scale.  All scales are now online and are monitoring LAS levels.
• TV inspected two sewer lines to locate buried infrastructure and look for areas in need of repair.
• Installed five missing clean out caps.  The caps were found missing during the latest phase II sewer line smoke test.
• Excavated and repaired a water main break on Desiree Lane and a service line curb stop leak on Thistle.
• 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 moss from the curb and gutter in the 900 block of Idlewild Court.
• Met with a resident on ground water issues in the 600 block of Rainer Court.
• Is installing Gabion Baskets & mattresses in the 700 block of Highland Hills to help prevent further creek erosion.

HUMAN RESOURCES / STAFF TRAINING

Human Resources:

• Vanesa Childers and Jana Onstead attended a lunch and learn Summer Series sponsored by Fisher & Phillips Law Firm on Tuesday.  The topic presented was "Strategies for Protecting Your Trade Secrets and Confidential Information from Walking Away".
• On Thursday Human Resources conducted benefit meetings for the 2010 - 2011 plan year.  Representatives with Higginbotham and Associates assisted in presenting benefit changes, along with United Healthcare.  Partners from Compass Professional Health Services presented employees with a new benefit being offered this year, a hotline dedicated to assisting employees with making informed decisions regarding their healthcare needs.  Compass will be assisting employees with locating cost-effective, high-quality healthcare providers and services, as well as dental service providers, and assistance with billing and appointment scheduling.  Anyone who missed the meeting may view it online, please contact Jana Onstead in HR for more information.

Fire:

• Highland Village Fire Department Captains and Firefighters attended EMS continuing education training this week at the Fire Station.
• On Wednesday, Nancy Sharp attended City works Storeroom training.