Recap of City Issues - January 11, 2008

A status report from OPUS on the installation of the traffic signal on FM 407 was received on Thursday. The signal plans have gone back to Town of Flower Mound for their approval.  Dunaway & Associates have responded to all comments made by the Town of Flower Mound and they are anticipating having a permit within about two weeks.  Once they have the permit, a meeting will be held with the property owners to obtain their signature/approval to move forward.  They have released the signal purchase and anticipate delivery in late February.  OPUS will begin the reconstruction of the entrances (across the street) once we have all the approvals necessary from the Town of Flower Mound and the property owners, which should begin by the end of January.

Sue Thompson reports that on Tuesday, January 8th, the first HVBA luncheon of 2008 was held at Celebrations.  The speaker was Dave Lieber, an award winning columnist for the last 30 years with the Star Telegram, who shared a story about when he first came to Texas and tried to "fit in".  There were approximately 60 in attendance that enjoyed the program.  The next HVBA luncheon will be held in April.  Also, the first-ever HVBA brochure was provided for attendees.  Thanks to Sandy McCoy for putting the brochure information and pictures together.  This was done in-house and can be updated as needed.

On Wednesday Laurie Mullens met with PIO's from Flower Mound, Lewisville and Denton to discuss a multi-city communication/media relations training for City employees. The intent of the workshop is to help city employees market their departmental projects and learn how to talk with the media. The workshop is still in the planning stages, however potential dates being considered are in late February with the option to open the training to area cities as well. 

Upgrades were completed to the camera and recording equipment in the Council Chambers. The cameras were relocated from the A/V room wall to the side walls of Council Chambers. The previous location experienced "shake" and made it difficult to shoot close ups of Board members. The new location will allow the system to be used to it's fullest ability.

The GIS Administrator continues to work on the GovQA® project. In order to complete Phase I of this project Marikka Williams compiled a database of 327 FAQs; 216 Service Requests with their associated workflow and created links between the GovQA® Portal and information on the existing website.  The 'Frequently Asked Questions' are designed to provide answers to questions asked of all of the departments in the city while the 'Service Requests' are all related to Public Works and Code Enforcement activity.  Another component involved gathering all of the documents (i.e. ordinances, letters, and work order forms) that are associated with these questions or requests so that staff could access these resources through a centralized web workspace that is categorically related to the particular topic of concern.  In relation to the work order component, she has been working with the WebQA developers on the design of the staff web portal so that the work orders related to the service requests replicate the forms that staff currently uses.   She recently completed Phase I of the design process.  

This week Marikka Williams and IT staff (Melanie Lewis and Tom Rollins) participated in an online administrative training session with a WebQA consultant so that they will be able to provide support for this system and facilitate future customizations.  The next phase is the customization of automated reports that will be delivered to staff on a weekly basis and facilitate quarterly reporting followed by the design of an interactive GIS mapping component for citizens to access in this web environment.  Marikka plans to have a fully working product for staff to work with and test internally by February 1.  Due to the dynamic links that will be connecting this web solution to the city website the 'Citizen Action Center' component of this web product will be delivered to the citizens in concert with the release of the new City Website that IT, Public Affairs and the Media Committee are currently working on.  The GovQA® portal will be tailored to visually flow with the design of the new City site so that it appears to be the same website.  The two websites will interact with each other seamlessly in order to provide a quality resource for the delivery of information and services to our citizens.

A bid advertisement was published in the local paper for Victoria, Market and Village Park Trails.  Bids will be opened on January 29, 2008.

A 60% complete set of construction drawings for the FM 2499 tunnel was received from HNTB.  This document was included in the submittal to TxDOT requesting approval of the tunnel design and location to be added to their contract for construction of FM 2499 via change order.

Rhoda Savage and Fince Espinoza met with GLASA representatives to discuss contract renewal. 

On Monday the Senior All-Stars met at Highland Shores Community Center for game day.  (25 Residents and 13 Non-Residents attended.)

Rhoda Savage, Fince Espinoza, Shelly Clark and Cheryl Dudich attended the City Council Meeting on Tuesday night.  At the Council meeting, the All-Stars presented Council with a flag that was flown over Bagdad in their honor.  One of the many soldiers who received care packages and his family blessed us with their presence at the Council Meeting as well.   It was very fulfilling to the All-Stars to meet one of the soldiers that benefited from all of their hard work.  The flag will be displayed in the rotunda of City Hall until the Interim Senior Center meeting facility is completed.  

Shelly Clark and Cheryl Dudich met with the Flower Mound Chamber of Commerce Senior Resource on Wednesday morning.  It turned out to be a very beneficial meeting for our department. Thanks  to Sue Thompson for informing us of this opportunity. 

On Wednesday afternoon our All-Stars met at the new Barnes and Noble in The Shops at Highland Village Shopping Center for a book club.  Barnes and Noble provided a cozy meeting place with a few snacks and refreshments for our All-Stars.  We appreciate Barnes and Noble for accommodating and welcoming our Seniors. 

On Thursday the Senior All-Stars met at the Pinewood Hills for game day and a wonderful lunch.  (13 Residents and 9 Non-Residents attended.)

The tickets for the 8th annual Father and Daughter Valentine’s Dance are officially on sale for residents. 

The Father and Daughter dance flyers have been printed for delivery to the local schools and the road signs were printed and are ready to be displayed. Thanks to Laurie Mullens for her advice and assistance with all of our signs and flyers.

The seniors have been regular visitors to the Parks and Recreation department this week to reserve their seat on the bus to Choctaw.  The seniors are going to Choctaw Casino on Friday, January 18, 2008 for only $5.  They’re all very excited.     

This week Parks crews are replacing landscape timbers at campsites at Pilot Knoll, as well as spreading gravel and flex base rock on roadside areas in the Park. 

The drainage Department is assisting in removal of the old and damaged timbers with the trackhoe.

Crews are also preparing baseball fields at Unity Park for the upcoming season.

Crews have completed putting flagstone rock on the concrete border around the play ground at Lower Sellmeyer Park.

Park staff changed out the pole banners this week.

The annual gate entry passes for Copperas Branch Park and Pilot Knoll are now officially on SALE until January 31, 2008 for only $35.00.  They’re selling fast!   

This week, the police department responded to 149 calls for service, made 78 traffic contacts, made 7 arrests, responded to 4 traffic accidents and performed 532 community policing activities.

On Saturday, January 05, 2008 Jimmy Helfinstien was married.  Congratulations and best wishes Mr. and Mrs. Helfinstien!

The Parks Department is excited to announce that we have a new gate attendant/camp host at Pilot Knoll.  Welcome Charlie McCaskill!

Sgt. Paul Kimberlin began his training at the Institute for Law Enforcement Administration in Arlington.  This class will last most of the month and is designed to meet the basic requirements established by TCLEOSE for the preparation of new supervisors for success in their new roles.  All of the PD Sergeants attend this class as part of their training.

Martha Butz attended the monthly meeting for the Society of Human Resources Management - Dallas Chapter on Tuesday.

Martha Butz attended the monthly Board meeting for the North Texas Municipal Alliance on Thursday.  The Alliance works to provide affordable training opportunities for area cities.

Jana Onstead, Martha Butz, and Jane Ponder conducted Employee Orientation on Thursday for Assistant Fire Chief Jason Collier and Police Officer Alan Oldaker.

The Human Resources Department kicked off their wellness initiative at the employee meeting on Thursday.  Full Time employees who complete a health assessment will receive an incentive and get a chance in a drawing for a 32" flatscreen television.  Once the Health Assessment phase is completed, Human Resources, with the assistance of the Employee Advisory Committee, will begin offering wellness-related programs based on areas where the employee population shows a specific need.

Mayor Costa, Mayor Pro Tem Fiorenza and Council member Adams and Calvin attended the first HVBA luncheon for the year.  The luncheon was held at Celebrations and the audience was entertained by guest speaker Dave Lieber.

Michael Leavitt, City Manager                                                
01/11/08