Recap of City Issues 3-4-11

On Monday Mayor McDearmont and I attended the Precinct 3 Task Force meeting held by Denton County Commissioner Bobbie Mitchell.  Status reports were given on the following transportation projects:

• FM 407 Barnett to West of Chinn Chapel Road - All franchise utility issues have been resolved, along with Bartonville Water Supply, and the contractor is expected to remobilize by March 7th, with work commencing on the west end of the project.  It was also reported that the new temporary traffic signal on FM 407 at the spine road (Live Oak) will be installed and operational by the end of March and the permanent signal will be installed at the end of the reconstruction of FM 407. 
• FM 2499 Section 4 - All additional screening wall designs have been approved by TXDOT and contractor has been told to start construction, it's anticipated the contractor should be on site by the end of March to construct the additional walls and to cut/remove the top section of wall at the northwest corner of Castlewood & FM 2499 to help with site distance issues at the intersection with south bound traffic.  On Friday, the traffic signal at Highland Shores Boulevard and FM 2499 became active and is fully operational. Our Denton County Commissioner will be forwarding to city staff an interlocal agreement for Landscape enhancements for FM 2499 within one to two weeks, which will take authorization by the City Council and Denton County Commissioners Court. 
• Interstate I-35E - The FONSI (Finding of No Significant impact) has been granted to TXDOT for the middle section of I-35E, which is from FM 2181 to the George Bush Turnpike.  TXDOT still does not have authorization to let the project, but it was reported that the legislation will be filed within the next 7 to 10 days to allow Public, Private, Partnerships on the financing for the construction of I-35E.
• Highland Village Road reconstruction at the Boat Docks - all fill dirt for Highland Village Road and the flood storage balance excavation at Doubletree Ranch is complete.  The 6 inch rock base will start on the week of March 7th with asphalt the following week with no anticipated delays. With good weather, the contractor is hoping to have Highland Village Road reopened between the week of April 4th or by the week of April 11th.  

This week Public Works GIS brought online a mobile application for the Police field officers to use in the field. Along with the initial set up, training was conducted with each individual field officer on the use of the application. This application will allow the officers in the field to pull up-to-date information on various datasets (information), identify hazardous locations, access aerial photography of the city, and search for multiple features such as addresses, streets, parks and trails within the city. This new application is a valuable tool that the officers have available in the vehicle. This application will result in many time saving uses, one example is allowing officers to import area maps and other critical data into their accident reports. According to field officers this alone will save the Police Department approximately 20 minutes on each accident report, with approximately 251 accident reports per year.

TXDOT FM 2499 section 4 project is still an active construction zone. The outer driving lane is closed to traffic; delays and detouring during working hours are to be expected. The posted speed limit is 40 miles per hour and will be enforced.  No parking is allowed in the construction zone.  The signal at the intersection of FM 2499 and Highland Shores Boulevard / Castlewood Boulevard is fully operational. 

      COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

We held the HVBA Community Breakfast with the Mayor on Thursday, March 3 at IHOP. Mayor McDearmont spoke about the success of the economic development in Highland Village, particularly along the FM 407 and FM 2499 corridor. I briefed everyone on transportation issues, including the traffic signals at 407/Wal-Mart spine road and FM 2499/Highland Shores, FM 407 widening and I-35 expansion. We had over 50 people in attendance. Moving these events to our local restaurants has been a positive in that more people are attending and we're raising awareness of Highland Village eateries. We also announced that Sandy McCoy has taken the Deputy City Secretary position and will no longer be working with the HVBA and introduced Lori Wright as the new liaison along with Laurie Mullens.

PUBLIC SAFETY (POLICE AND FIRE)

Fire:

Calls for Service: Week of Feb 25 - March 3

• Medical Emergencies - 8
• Motor Vehicle Accident - 1
• Public Service Calls - 4
• Fire Calls - 5
• Residential Fire Alarms  - 2
• Fill In - 2
• Commercial Plan Review - 1
• Commercial Inspections -  7

Assistant Chief Collier attended the special events meeting for Running Moms Rock event.

STREET / UTILITY DIVISIONS PROJECTS

The MSC site improvements project subcontractors are working on minor punch list items.  The City & FNI are working on closing out the project.  Staff is reviewing a pay estimate submitted by FNI. 

The Oak St well lot fence replacement project consists of removing and replacing approximately 400 ft. of perimeter fence at the well lot site.  The project is awarded to Hardy Fence.  A pre-construction meeting was held this week.  Contractor completed the wood portion of the fence this week.  The wrought iron portion is anticipated to be delivered for install on March 21st. 

The 24" / 27" manhole restoration project phase 1.  This project consists of rehabilitating 50 manholes on the City's 24-inch SS trunk main along the lake to restore integrity of the manholes and stop the I&I.   The contractor washed down all manholes.  The contractor has plugged all I&I and is applying the cementitious lining.  Staff is reviewing the lining material submittal.  

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

The AC Water Line Replacement project is awarded to Macval & Associates.  This project consists of replacing approximately 14,000 ft. of water line in the east side of the City.  The Village Estates, Villa Park, Merriman Dr., Mosswood, Sellmeyer, Desiree, Perro Pl. & Medina Dr. areas are the water lines to be replaced.  The contractor is working on Merriman and Mosswood.  You should expect traffic delays in the areas the contractor is working in.

Chinn Chapel Rd 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 through April 2011.

Utility Crews:

• Attended the monthly Utility Safety meeting.  Topic was Confined Space entry.  Staff viewed a video and discussed various safety topics.
• Flushed a section of water line on Sellmeyer.
• TV inspected three sewer lines for problem areas and to locate a tap for the Parks Dept...
• Removed a submersible pump from lift station #3 & took it to ITT Flygt for repairs.
• Performed upgrades, changes and repairs to the new 948 MSC.
• 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:

• Poured the curb, gutter and throat on the new inlet box at the Spring Oaks Turn Around project.
• Performed line locates for culvert replacement at the corner of Spring Way & Post Oak.

Street Crews:

• Made an asphalt street repair in the 400 block of Louis Ln. due to a water leak excavation by Utilities.
• Hauled off spoil to the landfill from Southwood Materials Storage Site to clean up the area.
• Painted road striping, glued down reflective pavement markers and painted stop bars along Harlington Dr.

PARKS DEPARTMENT

Parks staff is in the process of trenching and installing conduit for the Calsense irrigation system at Unity Park. 

Parks staff has applied pre-emergent at City Hall in order to prevent spring season weeds from growing.

Linda Cornelius, Fince Espinoza and a representative from BW2 Engineers attended a webinar hosted by LightGuard Systems to discuss illuminated crosswalk enhancements.

Parks staff attended the Certified Playground Safety Inspector (CPSI) course hosted by the NRPA to gain their Playground Inspector's certification.

A special event meeting was held on Tuesday with Fire and Police to discuss the Running Moms Rock 5K event that will take place on April 23.

Fince Espinoza and Andra Boxberger met with Concert Production Services for the Red, White and Blue Festival.

Highland Village Senior All-Stars

2/28/11: Game Day, Texas Hold'em and Pickleball: 35 attendees

3/1/11:   Game Day and Pickleball:20 attendees

3/2/11:   Texas Hold'em: 9 attendees

3/3/11:   Game Day and Pickleball: 34 attendees

HUMAN RESOURCES / STAFF TRAINING

Human Resources:

• Jana Onstead attended a meeting with the Metroplex HR Alliance in Euless on Thursday, the group viewed a demo on Neogov, which is a selection and the appraisal software tool.  The group also discussed an interlocal agreement for possible reduction in costs.
• Martha Butz and Jana Onstead met on Wednesday with a representative of See Clearly Consulting for recruitment guidance and assistance.

City Secretary:

• After conducting interviews with internal applicants, a decision has been made regarding the deputy city secretary position.  Effective Monday, March 7th, Sandy McCoy, former Public Works Administrative Assistant, will be starting her new job as Deputy City Secretary.  Sandy has been with the City for ten years and she received her Texas Registered Municipal Clerk certification in 2009.