Recap of City Issues 10-8-10

The value of owning the Doubletree Ranch is coming to light again with the ability to mitigate the Highland Village Road project with the Corps of Engineers on the southeast portion of the Doubletree Ranch property in the area of the Upper Trinity's lift station. We have a large area below the 537 foot elevation contour that can be used as a barrow area and to offset the additional fill placed on Highland Village Road.  The design of the road adds an amount of fill to elevate the roadway, approximately three feet, for a distance of several hundred feet. The loss of available water storage by the Corps, during times of high lake levels, must be mitigated by the removal of an equivalent amount of earth within fairly close proximity to the road project and within the same basin/lake area.  Halff & Associates is working with the Corps of Engineers to design the project within the existing easement of Highland Village Road, which is being required by the Corps.  The Corps will verify the cut and fill calculations provided by Halff & Associates to demonstrate the equilibrium of flood storage area. All work being done is below the 537 and will be approved prior to commencement of any and all activities in this area. This is a huge savings to the City to have this area of land to mitigate the loss of flood storage and potentially for any future projects and balances if needed. Saber Development the contractor will begin the clearing , grubbing and demolition this week with the grading portion of the project scheduled to begin in mid-December.  Doubletree will also be used for minimal material storage for the project. 

        PUBLIC AFFAIRS

On Thursday Mayor McDearmont and the Highland Village Business Association hosted the first HVBA Community Coffee. Rockfish Seafood Grill was the host with over 50 people in attendance, including Congressman Michael Burgess. Mayor McDearmont and I informed those in attendance of the opening of FM 2499 and the Ribbon Cutting event scheduled for 10 a.m. October 30. We discussed the ways in which we plan to market the opening of the road and our businesses to those north of Highland Village. Police Chief Ed O'Bara also provided an update on the departments preparation for the new traffic this roadway will bring. Laurie Mullens also discussed the social marketing efforts of the HVBA - specifically the HVBA Facebook Page and the plans for the City's holiday marketing campaign. Sandy McCoy shared information about the upcoming 9th Annual Salute Our Veterans Lunch and explained how to sponsor a Veterans lunch and encouraged attendance to the event. This was a great turnout for this event with lots of good information shared amongst the members. The future HVBA Community Coffees will be held at Highland Village eateries to help promote our local restaurants.

Laurie Mullens attended The Shops at Highland Village marketing meeting on Tuesday. Kelly Smith, marketing manager for the Shops, shared information on the opening of FM 2499 and the Haunts and Hounds event planned for the afternoon of October 30. The Shops announced that Mt. Fuji is close to opening, Buffalo Wild Wings will begin construction soon and two new businesses coming to the center are Jack's House (previously located in Parker Square) and a Sprint store.

Sandy McCoy and Laurie Mullens attended the Lewisville Area Chamber of Commerce ribbon cutting for McAlister's Deli in Highland Village.

PUBLIC SAFETY (POLICE AND FIRE)

Fire:

Calls for Service: Week of Oct 1 - 7

• Medical Emergencies -  5
• Commercial Fire Alarms - 1
• Public Service / Pub Education - 3
• Fire Calls - 1
• Commercial Fire Inspections - 3
• Commercial Plan Review - 1
• Station Tour - 2

Chief Tatum conducted the citywide siren testing on Wednesday assisted by fire personnel and dispatch.

Highland Village Fire personnel conducted the annual Fire Prevention Program for Primrose School on Wednesday.  The purpose of the program is to update children on fire safety in their homes and to show them what a firefighter looks like if they were to enter their home for a fire.

Police:

This week, the police department responded to 131 calls for service, made 103 traffic contacts, made 6 arrests, responded to no traffic accidents and performed 463 community policing activities.

It is with a great deal of pleasure that I am able to announce the appointment of Captain Mark Stewart to the new position of "Assistant Chief of Police" for the Highland Village Police Department.  I'm sure that you will all agree that Asst. Chief Stewart's 25 years of service to the profession of policing and lengthy service to our community have prepared him well for the challenges of this new responsibility. In this new capacity, Asst. Chief Stewart will remain as Commander of the Field Operations Division and will also have the additional task of "staff" authority and responsibility for the Support Services Division. Please join me in congratulating Asst. Chief Stewart on this well deserved achievement.

On Oct 6,2010 nine students at Briarhill Middle School received the HVPD Recognizing Student certificate for making good choices. In attendance where Lieutenant Karl Schlichter, Sergeant Dennis Oliver,Corporal David Harney and Corporal April Roppolo.

The city has installed signs before and after Poindexter Bridge.  This sign restricts parking on the bridge itself as well as the entire road right-of-way.  Hopefully this will also prevent people from parking just off the road in the grassy area (roadside right-of-way) and walking down to the lake.

The Northlake Police Department adopted our "E-Watch" program recently and announced it on their website.

HVPD Supports "National Night Out" October 5th. National Night Out this year was observed on Tuesday, October 5, 2010. National Night Out is sponsored by the National Association of Town Watch. That evening residents were encouraged to get out and meet with their neighbors. Good neighbors looking out for each other is a proven crime prevention strategy. HVPD police officers were out that evening and stopped by  neighborhoods and block parties.

As part of National Night Out, HVPD conducted an "Open House" at the HVPD Storefront located at 3196 Justin Road. "McGruff" the Crime Dog, Officer "Pat" and "Rosie" the Robot were on hand with safety and crime prevention information and hot dogs and light refreshments were available to visitors. 

Target donated quite a few bags of food to the shelter recently. They give us donations on a regular basis. Thanks Target!!

We received a lovely note from one of our recent pet adopters recently. She wrote, "We absolutely LOVE her! She is so perfect for us! Thank you so much for getting her to Noah's Ark for us, we really appreciate it! We ended up changing her name and naming her Nala! She is in heaven at our house, she was such a good puppy throughout the whole night!

Corporal Roppolo recently set up an informational table at Walgreens for the day to hand out goodies and sell some of our annual bike race t-shirts.

PARKS DEPARTMENT

Parks staffs are involved in mowing and turf maintenance cycles. All crews are planting fall color and replacing various seasonal plants and shrubs in bedding areas .Tony Palesano has been meeting with Calsense irrigation and the irrigation contractor at the Duvall Service Center. Wes Nienhuser has been making Pre-emergent fertilizer applications in all parks and medians. Fince Espinoza, Tommy White and Wes Nienhuser met with contractors at the Duvall Service Center to go over operations of the wash bay, irrigation system and other mechanical features. The trail crew has been busy adding mulch and organic material to all amenity stations, as well as distributing wild flower seeds in designated locations next to the trail

Senior All Stars:

The Highland Village Senior All Stars met on Monday (20 attendees) and Thursday (27 attendees) for game day.

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

This Saturday Home Health Service will be at The Highland Shores Community Center from 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. to give flu shots. The cost for the shot is $25.

This Saturday night, the Highland Village Senior All Stars will meet at the Highland Shores Community Center at 6:00 p.m. for pot luck and game night.

Recreation:

On Tuesday, recreation staff met with Laurie Mullens to discuss the FM 2499 ribbon cutting that will take place on October 30th.

On Tuesday, Andra Boxberger met with a representative of the Highland Village Rotary Club to discuss a special event they'd like to have this holiday season.

On Wednesday, Fince Espinoza met with representatives from the City of Lewisville, the Town of Double Oak and Goodwill Industries of Dallas, Inc. to discuss the possibility of Goodwill Industries of Dallas, Inc. setting up a monthly E-Waste collection in each of our cities at no cost the any city or their residents.  It was decided that November 20th will be the "Kick-Off" E-Waste day from 9:00 a.m. to noon at city hall.  Goodwill Industries will be accepting everything electronic EXCEPT for televisions.  The City of Highland Village will be accepting televisions at our bi-annual clean up scheduled for October 16th from 9:00 a.m. to noon.  You can keep up with our events on our website, www.hvparks.com .

HUMAN RESOURCES / STAFF TRAINING

Human Resources:

• Flu shots were available this week for employees.  Fifty-four employees received vaccinations.
• On Tuesday Michael Leavitt, Jana Onstead and the Safety Committee met to discuss safety training and the importance of being aware of safety issues in day to day operations.
• Martha Butz attended a UnitedHealthcare of North Texas event in Grapevine on "Health Care's New Landscape Under Federal Reform."

Fire:

• Captain Chip Willis, Firefighter/Paramedics Tony Sorsby, Jared Middleton, Charles Hinkle, Mel Harper and Rhett Rimmer attended Compressed Air Foam System (CAFS) training, which was held at the Fire Station on Monday. 
• Chief Tatum, Assistant Chief Collier and Captains Travis Nokes, Chip Willis and Vince Jones held their monthly officer's meeting on Tuesday.
• On Wednesday, Assistant Chief Collier attended the Fire Instructors of North Texas (FIANT) meeting which was held in Grapevine.
• Assistant Chief Collier and Captain Chip Willis attended a Medical Control Meeting in Lewisville on Thursday.
• Chief Tatum and Assistant Chief Collier attended the Texas Fire Chief's meeting held at Denton County Emergency Mgmt offices on Thursday.