Loading...
2015/12/26 City news, features, and updates December 26, 2015 Th i s W e e k i n H u n t s v i l l e In thi s i s s u e . . . Solid Waste schedules - page 3 Wavra named Interim - page 4 Statue news & photos - page 5 There’s a New Mayor in Town! Andy Brauninger wins runoff election The December 12 Mayoral Runoff Election allowed the voters of Huntsville to decide on their new Mayor, and they have chosen Councilmember Andy Brauninger. From November 25 to De- cember 12, 1780 ballots were cast at the Walker County Annex. Mayor Mac Woodward led a Special Session of the City Council on Sunday, December 20, at 2 p.m., to formally canvass the election and hand over the reins. Judge Tracy Sorensen then con- ducted the swearing in of Mayor Brauninger, taking him through the Statement of an Elected Official and his Oath of Office. Mayor Woodward congratulated the new Mayor and presented his Certificate of Election. Judge Janie Farris will conduct the same swearing in procedure at the next regular City Council meeting, on January 5, at 6 p.m. The public is encouraged to come early for a light reception and opportunity to visit with both the old and new Mayors and the Council, beginning at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall, 1212 Avenue M. Holiday Solid Waste Schedules The Solid Waste Disposal and Recycling facility will be open Saturday, December 26, 2015 and Saturday, January 2, 2016, from 7:30 a.m. to 12:00 noon (they will be closed on Jan. 1). For questions about the garbage collection, the Solid Waste Transfer Facility, or the Recycling Drop-Off Center, please call the Solid Waste Division at 936-294-5712. The Streets Division will pick up live Christmas trees (not artificial) at the street’s edge from Monday, January 4, 2016 through Friday, January 8, 2016 . Trees must be on the curb no later than Monday, January 4, 2016 for these pick ups. The Solid Waste Division will make additional pick ups of live Christmas trees (not artificial) at the street’s edge on Wednesday, January 6, 2016, and Wednesday January 20, 2016, only. City residents may also take their Christmas trees (not artificial) to the Solid Waste Disposal Facility, free of charge with their current City of Huntsville residen- tial utility bill, during regular business hours. Live Christmas trees (not artificial) must be unloaded at the brush pile o nly. For questions about garbage collec- tion, the Solid Waste Transfer Facility, or the Recycling Drop-Off Center, please call the Solid Waste Division at 936-294-5712. NEW YEAR’S DAY HOLIDAY RESIDENTIAL SERVICE CHANGES Friday, January 1, 2016 CLOSED Residential Curbside Recycling Collection will be picked up on the following Friday, Janu- ary 8, 2016; Extra recycling on side of blue cart will be picked up NEW YEAR’S DAY HOLIDAY COMMERCIAL SERVICE CHANGES Friday, January 1, 2016 CLOSED Commercial Garbage Collection customers with a scheduled Friday dumpster/rolloff/compactor pickup will be serviced on Thursday, December 31, 2015. JOB WELL DONE! City of Huntsville Aquatic Center Manager Jay Miller shared these shots of a City crew out on a late night repair recently. It is sometimes easy to forget that City employees work all days, all hours, and in all weather conditions. Having just come through an- other holiday season, it’s a good time to thank them all, from maintenance and repair staff and crews to first re- sponders with HPD and Fire. Your City is at work for you! Bill Wavra, Interim IT Director Bill Wavra was recently named Interim IT Director for the City, following former Director Chris Vasquez’ move to the City of The Colony. Wavra is an excellent choice for the role, based on his knowledge and experience. Wavra has been with the City of Huntsville in the IT Department for nine and a half years, serving until this month as the Network Administrator. Primarily self-taught, he worked for several years with Tax Services of America as their Lead Technician, deploying and retrieving 360 computers and 130 printers annually, before entering municipal government. With the City, Wavra has significant experience with project management on infrastructure and fiber projects, and worked with the Huntsville Pub- lic Library expansion from the planning stages. He has also used VMware, creating a virtual environment for servers and allowing the City to remove a number of physical servers. Wavra worked with former Direc- tor Vasquez in evaluating and implementing ways to better protect the City’s information, both on a regular basis and in the case of emergency and disaster, of which the virtual server moves were a part. “Redundancy in case of equipment failure, going virtual to reduce the number of pieces of equipment, and hardening facilities to withstand weather events are all ways in which the IT Department attempts to bet- ter serve the City,” Wavra said. “We want to ensure City staff has the re- sources they need to work efficiently and well every day. IT’s goal is to guarantee our end users are happy and know we’re available, but also that they feel empowered to make things happen themselves.” Wavra said that to meet these needs, his goal has been to have IT at eve- ry meeting that involves infrastructure. “When the ground is open, that’s when we need to be putting conduit in, so we can expand our communica- tions framework,” Wavra noted. “We need to think about what’s required for new sites, and where the fiber will run. It’s not so much the case anymore, but in the past, IT was often an afterthought.” The City of Huntsville, Texas Veterans Affairs Advi- sory Board took a moment after their December meeting to take a holiday picture with the Christ- mas tree at City Hall. The Board usually meets at 5:30 p.m. on the third Thursday of the month at City Hall (but will meet next on January 14, due to the Wounded Warrior dinner scheduled for January 21). The meetings are open to the public and the members welcome anyone who wants to come hear what’s going on with veterans and veteran services throughout the community. Pictured from left are Bill Gibson, Chair Wayne Keen, Bill Butler, Fernando Chavez, Ashley Taylor, Santa, Stephen Bright, Leta Reiner, Johnny Hol- land, and Mark Robinson. Holiday happenings at the Statue! Each December, the Sam Houston Statue Visitor Center invites the public to join them to celebrate the season and help them thank all who have volunteered at the Statue and promoted Tourism in our community. This year was no exception and a festive time was had by all. Some special recognitions were made by Mayor Woodward and City Tourism and Cultural Services Director Kimm Thomas, so read on to learn more! Tourism Partner Award (photo at right) - For always promoting Huntsville to their clients, who come from across the state and nation and around the world, the Center presented Rita Watkins, Executive Director of the SHSU Bill Blackwood Law Enforcement Management Insti- tute of Texas (LEMIT), with this special award. LEMIT regularly hosts groups from Poland and China, and law enforcement officers all over Texas know it well. “While their guests are in town, they create tours to make sure they see all that Huntsville has to offer and take visitors to various events and happenings around town,” said Thomas. “We are very appreciative of the way they consistently help tell our story and let the world know what’s special in our city.” Warm Welcome Award (photo at left) - This year’s award, honoring Nancy Gaertner, was given in recognition of her tireless support of local tourism and cultural events. “Nancy is so deserving,” ex- plained Thomas. “She serves on boards, fund raises and is always willing to lend a hand in any way needed. Linda [Pease, Wynne Home Coordinator] and I are so very thankful for her!” Gaertner al- so served on the City’s Harnessing Huntsville project and is a fre- quent attendee at Wynne home events. Sugar Roberts Walkway (photos below) - A very special surprise was in store for longtime volunteer Sugar Roberts this year. She had em- phasized the need for a sidewalk from the parking lot to the Statue Visitor Center to ensure that visitors, especially children, had a safe place to walk as they made their way to the building. Thus, the Sug- ar Roberts Walkway was initiated and installed in her honor. The unveiling was held on November 25, with pub- lic recognition at the annual Statue Open House. Sugar and her husband Poncho (pictured below with family and friends) have been very special to the Statue for longer than they care to say, and are there on a regular basis, sharing the warm welcome for which Huntsville is known. SHARING THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS! City employees raised $8,400 to donate to charity at this year’s bowling tournament. SAAFE House, the Senior Center of Walker County, the COME Center, and the Rita B. Huff Humane So- ciety each received a check for $2,100 on December 14, during a reception at City Hall. Along with this, staff made a significant donation of non-perishable food items and $250 of meat for the Good Shepherd Mission. The City of Huntsville employees were excited to share their cheer with children during this holi- day season. They have an Angel Tree that allows all to share in the joy of giving and the sur- prise of opening something from Santa on Christmas morning. Nearly two dozen children of City staff received Christmas presents donated by other employees. Left: Presentation to Rita B. Huff Humane Society Below: Presentation to SAAFE House Left: Presentation to the Senior Center of Walker County (Not pictured, COME Center check presentation.) Winter Break at the Library! Holiday closure at 5:00 p.m. on December 31, and closed on New Year’s Day, January 1, 2016 Movie Afternoons: The library will show kid-friendly movies Dec. 28 & 30 at 3:00 p.m. Wii Tournament: Show off your Wii video game skills on December 29 at 3:00 p.m. (The Wii Tournament, and Movie Afternoons above are special Winter Break editions for elementary and junior high students.) Regular Library Events & Classes Mother Goose Lapsit - This new program is designed for parents and infants aged birth to 24 months, and features songs, toys, and stories on Mondays at 10:30 a.m. – Dec. 28; Jan. 4, 11, 18, & 25 Story Time - Every Wednesday and Friday at 10:45 a.m. Parents and their children are invited to enjoy songs, stories, and crafts with a new theme each session. Dec. 30; Jan. 6, 8, 13, 15, 20, 22, 27, & 29 Lego Club - An elementary -aged building program on the 1st & 3rd Thursdays of the month from 5:00-6:00 p.m. Legos are supplied and participants are encouraged to build themed crea- tions. Jan. 7 & 21 Family Movie Night - Doors to the Community Room open at 5:00 p.m., with the movie beginning promptly at 5:30 p.m. Family Movie Night is sponsored by the Texas Children’s Health Plan Pro- gram. Complimentary drinks and popcorn are served and all viewers are encouraged to bring a pillow or blanket. Jan. 8 Wii Friday - An exciting new program for elementary through high school-age students to enjoy the library’s Wii system. From 4:00-6:00 p.m. Jan. 22 & 29 (Tournament on December 29 at 3 - see top of page!) Read with the Dogs - The monthly Read with the Dogs program is held with help from Huntsville Pets Helping People. Children are invited to read to trained therapy dogs in 15-minute seg- ments. Participants also receive a sticker with a picture of the dog they read to. Sign up for a session is available beforehand, but not required. 4:00-5:30 p.m. Jan. 18 For more information about any Children’s programs at the Huntsville Public Library, please con- tact Children’s Coordinator Rachel McPhail at 936-291-5910; for adult programs, contact Adult Services Coordinator Mary Kokot at 936-291-5471; for teen programs, contact Teen Services Co- ordinator Ashley Newsome at 936-291-5912. Yoga Class at the Library Are you looking for a convenient way to try yoga for the first time? Try attending our free Adult Yoga Pro- gram for Beginners at the Huntsville Public Library each Thursday from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. It’s the per- fect opportunity to learn and practice yoga techniques with other enthusiasts. All we ask is for you to bring your own mat or towel. The program will take place in the Library’s Community Room will continue after the holidays on January 7, 14, and 21. Please consult your doctor before starting any new exercise program. Sign up at the library, online at www.myhuntsvillelibrary.com, or call Mary Kokot at 936-291-5471. JOB WELL DONE! The City of Huntsville was pleased to honor employees’ length of service at its annual holiday banquet. These are just some of the people who provide the service and knowledge that keep our community at its best. Thank you all for your hard work and dedication! Five Years of Service Keith Sarraf Richard Roberts Kevin Hammond Mark Jenkins Thomas Dawson Kathryn Comeaux Jamie Matthews Janet Ridley Joe Shepherd Anthony Smith Desmaine Alexander James Ferguson Mike Clouds Y. S. Ram Ramachandra Kimm Thomas Ten or Eleven Years of Service Lance Schulz Kyle Chase Wood Jeff Cross Deven Merchant Keith Merchant John Gaines Flor Santos Rachel Kulhavy Laurie O’Brien Kerri Avritt Donnie Lawson Jay Miller Billy Irwin Wesley Steven Birks Stacy Lawler Anita Bilnoski Fifteen Years of Service Autrey Hamilton, Jr. Alonzo Hightower David Lewis Billy Carrington Twenty Years of Service Mike Legerski Ken Foulch Mark Spivey Twenty-five Years of Service Curt Landrum Greg Mathis David Collins Drum roll, please, for two exemplary and tireless individuals… Marvin Hyvl has served for 35 years Linda Pease has served for 40 years