March 2006 City ConnectionOn November 21, 2005, the original contractor
on the Fire Station No. 1 Project turned the
project over to the Surety (i.e., the bond com-
pany). The Surety is Travelers Casualty and
Surety Company of America, which after a
merger became known as St. Paul Travelers.
“The bond written by the Surety is an insur-
ance policy under which the Surety is responsi-
ble to arrange completion of the project, and it
must pay any additional construction cost for
the project. The City is the beneficiary of the
insurance policy.
The attorney for St. Paul Travelers informed
the City on March 7, 2006, that the Surety has
completed accepting bids and has identified an
apparent low bidder to become the completion
contractor. Once the Surety’s home office has
finalized its arrangements with this contractor,
it will present information and a proposed
agreement to the City for our consideration.
Once that agreement is finalized, we expect
construction activity to resume. We are hope-
ful this will occur in the coming few weeks.
tleeper@huntsvilletx.gov
vices and calculating land use de-
mands. Information regarding our
topography, floodplains, drainage,
soils, habitats and other natural re-
sources will be compiled. Also a range
of population projections will be pre-
pared to derive a consensus on the
most likely future population scenario,
and, a report identifying the key and
essential issues and specific aspects of
the work required to address them will
be presented.
The necessary work in the areas of
Community Visioning, Land Use and
Character, Transportation, Growth Ca-
pacity, Parks and Recreation, Economic
Development and Implementation can
then proceed in a focused manner.
Over the next few weeks we hope to
develop our schedule of work for the
first task and get the information out to
the public regarding the various com-
munity meetings. We hope citizens will
attend and provide their input to this
very important beginning of the pro-
ject.
msevans@cox.net
kevans@huntsvilletx.gov
There is a new face at the Hunts-
ville Police Department along
with a new position for the de-
partment. Michael Clarke has
been named the new Animal
Control Officer that is now under
the supervision of the Police De-
partment.
Michael was selected after interviews of several
candidates by members of the HPD and the Rita
B. Huff Humane Society. All were impressed by
his calm demeanor, communication skills, and
positive attitude.
Michael came to the City from the Houston area
where for the past 32 years he worked as a
supervisor in the commercial contracting busi-
ness. Michael was looking for something differ-
ent to do when he saw the listing for the ACO
position on our website. Michael says he has
been around animals all his life and feels this
job will be a natural for him.
Michael lives in the Riverside area and is mar-
ried with four grown children. Welcome aboard,
Michael!
The new number to call to report animal com-
plaints will be 936-291-5480. After 5:00 pm
Monday-Friday, on weekends and holidays, citi-
zens can call dispatch at 936-435-8001 to re-
port EMERGENCY animal related calls.
jsanders@huntsvilletx.gov
Last month the City Council author-
ized the Comprehensive Plan Advisory
Committee (CPAC) to begin negotia-
tions with Lane Kendig, Inc., (LKI) to
develop the scope of services neces-
sary to develop The Huntsville Com-
prehensive Plan (THCP).
Once that is done and a price for
those services is proposed by LKI, the
CPAC will ask the City Council to au-
thorize the city manager to enter into
a contract with LKI for those profes-
sional services.
We anticipate that the first task to be
performed will be that of Discovery
and Reconnaissance (D&R) that will
be intended to harvest the thoughts
and feelings of public officials and
residents and to gather data from
various other sources about the City
of Huntsville. This task will be vital to
develop the key and essential issues
that need our attention over the next
20 years or so.
Task activities will probably start with
a kick-off meeting with key staff
members. Meetings with citizens in
each of the four wards will follow.
Next, existing demographic and socio-
economic data will be compiled to
analyze future capacity needs of pub-
lic facilities, and infrastructure ser-
City Connection March 2006
Volume 2, Number 6
www.huntsvilletx.gov
Huntsville Police Department
After serv-
ing the
City of
Huntsville
at the
Police
Depart-
ment for a
total of 24 years, 18 of
which as a Sergeant,
and serving as interim
Lieutenant on two occa-
sions, Kevin Lunsford
has been officially pro-
moted to the position of
Lieutenant. He fills the
position previously held
by Bobby Sanders who
retired in June of 2005.
Kevin, along with 4
other Sergeants, par-
ticipated in the Lieuten-
ant’s promotional proc-
ess February 10-11.
both patrol and criminal
investigation divisions,
and has supervised
several different sec-
tions.
Kevin was born and
raised in the New Wav-
erly area where his
mother and stepfather
still reside. Kevin has
been married to his
wife, Renee for 2 years
and they have two
grown children, Don
Michael and Cari.
Congratulations to
Kevin on his well de-
served promotion!
jsanders@huntsvilletx.gov
The process involved a
150 question written
exam and an eight
hour assessment cen-
ter. The three citizen
assessors narrowed
the candidates to
three from which Chief
Jean Sanders made
her final selection.
“Kevin has the experi-
ence, knowledge and
positive attitude
needed to do the job
of a Lieutenant. I look
forward to having him
as a permanent part of
our command staff
team.”
Kevin began his law
enforcement career
with the HPD in 1982
at the young age of
19. He has served in
Comprehensive Plan Project Update
Update: Fire Station #1
New Animal Control Officer
MARCH 2006 CITY CONNECTION PAGE 2
Get To Know Your Water Meter!
Reading a water meter is more diffi-
cult than reading the odometer on
your vehicle (which you read from left
to right). Of course, since your water
meter is located below ground in the
meter box by the street, it can pose
some hazards quite unlike what you
would find when trying to read electric
and gas meters. The water meter box
is home to many insects, spiders,
frogs, and yes, even snakes. When
looking in the meter box, you may
run across one or more of these crea-
tures. While dealing with those in-
habitants, you may also have to move
some dirt from around the meter be-
fore you can read it. Though we try
to keep the meter box free of excess
dirt, infiltration and burrowing crea-
tures contribute to this particular
problem.
Needless to say, these types of obsta-
cles add to the difficulty in obtaining
meter readings, but meter readers
are trained to overcome these prob-
lems while maintaining an overall
99.62% accuracy rate.
The City of Huntsville Water Utilities
uses several different brands of me-
ters, all of which meet strict AWWA
(American Water Works Association)
standards for construction and accu-
racy. Your water meter registers us-
age in gallons. Your consumption is
read in hundreds of gallons. There
are five or six wheels (three or four
with white background and two with
black background) located across the
register face. The white background
numbers are the ones the water meter
reader records on the hand-held com-
puter when he/she reads your meter.
You may check your water usage by
taking your most recent utility bill and
locating the “present” reading. By
subtracting the “present” reading
noted on your most recent bill from
your current reading on your meter,
you can determine your consumption
(in hundreds of gallons) since the me-
ter was read last. If the current read-
ing is less than the “present” reading
noted on your bill, a reading error has
been made by the meter reader and
should be reported to the Customer
Service Office at 936-291-5431 for
further investigation. While most
errors are corrected prior to billing,
some do slip by. Corrections will be
made the following month when the
meter is read again.
The meter can also assist in deter-
mining the presence of “problems”
in your plumbing system. Your me-
ter is equipped with a “test hand”
which revolves around the face of
the meter when usage is taking
place. The meter is designed to
detect very low flows, frequently
associated with most small leaks.
To check for leaks, turn off all fau-
cets and equipment which use wa-
ter. Watch the “test hand” very
closely. If any movement is noted
and you are sure everything has
been turned off, it could indicate a
problem somewhere in your sys-
tem. It’s important that all sources
of water loss are quickly located
and repaired. Failure to do so will
result in increased consumption and
with it, a higher utility bill.
If you should have questions about
your water meter and how it func-
tions, please call the Customer Ser-
vice Office at 936-291-5431.
tthornton@huntsvilletx.gov
Another One Bites (or creates) the Dust
As drivers along 11th
Street are no doubt
aware, the water line
replacement project on
Avenue Q is still under-
way and creating plenty
of dust and rock debris.
The Avenue Q line re-
placement is the 7th of
16 waterlines scheduled
for replacement as part
of a project that began in
the 2003-2004 fiscal
year. These lines have
experienced frequent
maintenance problems in
the past which have often
caused service interrup-
tions to residents. Once
completed, the areas
served by these new
lines should not experi-
ence any water line re-
lated problems for many
years to come. The
City’s Capital Improve-
ments crew constructs
the lines and, once the
line is installed, is fol-
lowed by a mainte-
nance crew which re-
connects all the cus-
tomers to the new wa-
ter line. The street
department will then
either patch or overlay
the street to repair the
damage caused by the
construction. Other
lines scheduled for in-
stallation this year in-
clude Dogwood, Pines,
Dairy Farm Road, and
Mesquite.
tthorn-
ton@huntsvilletx.gov
The Huntsville Fire Department re-
sponds to around 1600 calls a year,
over 400 of those responses are ve-
hicle accidents. Each year, vehicle
accidents claim over 3,700 lives in
Texas. With these statistics in mind,
the Huntsville Fire Department
searched for and received a grant
from FEMA to obtain new JAWS res-
cue tools. This equipment is invalu-
able when we find that there are
people trapped inside a vehicle.
Costing over $40,000, the City of
Huntsville’s share was only a little
over $4,000 for these tools, with
FEMA picking up the remainder of
the bill.
jjanuary@huntsvilletx.gov
Huntsville Fire Department
MARCH 2006 CITY CONNECTION PAGE 3
Musical Concert Benefits Rita B. Huff Animal Shelter
“A Musical Journey from Vienna to Texas” is a benefit concert performed by internationally
acclaimed soprano Melanie Holiday, accompanied on piano by Huntsville’s own Jerry Lynn
Foster.
The “Journey” will include some of the most beloved works from Opera and Broad-
way. All proceeds will be donated to the Rita B. Huff Animal Shelter.
Ms. Holiday is a world famous opera singer who makes her home in Huntsville.
She is also an Alumna of Sam Houston State University.
“A Musical Journey from Vienna to Texas”
March 24, 2006
7:30pm
The Old Town Theater
Tickets may be purchased at Elkins Lake Real Estate, the Main Street Office
(Mon., Wed., Fri., 2-5pm), and the Rita B. Huff Animal Shelter (11am-3pm).
Tickets will be on sale until March 24, 2006. Ticket Prices: Main Level--- $30.00;
Balcony Level-- $20.00; Students-- $10 off any ticket amount.
hhutcheson@huntsvilletx.gov
Huntsville Arbor Day
April 20th
This year, the City will celebrate Arbor
Day on April 20th with the program
starting at 9:30 a.m. at the Wynne
Home located at 1428 11th Street.
Huntsville’s Arbor Day is a yearly cele-
bration with participation from the
Huntsville Garden Club, TFWC – The
Women’s Forum, Keep Huntsville Beau-
tiful, and Huntsville Parks and Recrea-
tion. This year’s tree will be planted in
memory of Mary Frances Park for the
many contributions she gave to the
community.
Officially, National Arbor Day, as well as
Texas Arbor Day, are both celebrated on
the last Friday in April (the 28th this
year) but some local entities choose
different dates for various reasons.
Some states have changed from a day,
to an entire Arbor Month. It all started
134 years ago with newspaper editor J.
Sterling Morton calling for a day where
Nebraskans would plant trees through-
out the state. It is estimated that over
1 million trees were planted on the first
Arbor Day. Morton’s calls for conserva-
tion and education led to President
Grover Cleveland appointing him as Sec-
retary of Agriculture. As April is the
month of national observances for sev-
eral problems that plague our society:
Stress Awareness Month and Anxiety
Month. This is the month that also
brings us: Garden Month, Keep America
Beautiful Month, and National Arbor
Day. It is nice that the month that
raises awareness for these problems
also brings a cure.
In closing, I would like to share what
some others have thought about trees.
“To exist as a nation, to prosper as a
state, and to live as a people, we must
have trees.” -Theodore Roosevelt
"He planted a lot of trees in the ghetto
and it doesn't look like a ghetto any-
more." Author and Carnegie-Mellon Pro-
fessor of Regional Economic Develop-
ment Richard Florida referring to Chi-
cago’s Mayor Richard Daley (the Mayor
was actually born on Arbor Day)
Mayor Richard Daley of Chicago, proudly
claims to have planted more trees than
any other mayor in history (more than
1,000,000 at his last count), as part of
the economic development campaign
that landed the coveted corporate head-
quarters of the Boeing Company.
For any questions regarding our city’s
natural resources (including trees)
please contact the urban forester Jeff
Lester – treeguy@huntsvilletx.gov
the grant match, has pledged a me-
morial rose garden which will be situ-
ated on the east side of the house
according to the master landscape
plan. Interested
persons have con-
tributed individual
roses in memory of
friends and family
members. An out-
door plaque will
identify the garden
with the memorial
listings inside the
home. Another
significant compo-
nent of the
match has been the donation
of 70 cubic yards (bulk) of
mulch by Landscapers Pride.
And finally, a windfall of addi-
tional plants were donated by
a local nursery during the
landscaping process.
The landscape design inte-
grates the old, historic and
heirloom plants with new
plantings that reflect and en-
hance the character of the home, the
Landscape Grant from the National Garden Club/Principal Financial Group
natural beauty of the site and the new
purpose for which the facility is in-
tended. The historic gardens will
benefit the community as a link be-
tween the past and the present, as a
learning tool for classes and projects,
and, not in the least, as an oasis of
quiet beauty in a busy and fast-paced
downtown area.
The City is grateful to all who have
contributed. For additional informa-
tion, please contact the Cultural Ser-
vices office at 936-291-5422.
lpease@huntsvilletx.gov
The Huntsville Garden Club was a
successful candidate in the 2004
competition for grants through the
National Garden Clubs and the
Principal Financial
Group Historic Gar-
dens Grant program.
The local club devel-
oped the application
for historic gardens
at the Wynne Home
in cooperation with
the City Cultural Ser-
vices Division and
the City Parks Divi-
sion, and has re-
mained active in es-
tablishing the landscaping at the
Wynne Home.
A range of plants including camel-
lia, hydrangea, mahonia, needle-
point holly, saucer magnolia, blue-
point juniper and other traditional
plants are now in place at the
Wynne Home Arts Center and
ready for the upcoming opening.
But this is not all.
The local garden club, as part of
PAGE 4 CITY CONNECTION MARCH 2006
As of October 5, 2005, the City of
Huntsville Residential Solid Waste
Division began collecting yard
waste by call-in requests only.
This change is due to the increas-
ing price of fuel, which has more
than doubled in the past year.
In order to allow for route plan-
ning, please call no later than the
preceding Tuesday at 3:00 p.m.
for collection on Wednesday of
the same week. All other yard
waste call-in requests after 3:00
p.m. the preceding Tuesday will
be placed on the list for the fol-
lowing week for collection on
Wednesday. The number of call-in
requests will determine the num-
ber of residential trucks that will
be collecting residential yard
waste per Wednesdays, so the
time of day for pick ups may vary
from week to week.
Please call 936-294-5796 for call-
in requests and any questions or
concerns pertaining to the City’s
new yard waste collection sched-
ule. cblaylock@huntsvilletx.gov
This publication is brought to you by the City of Huntsville Communications Committee. If you have any questions, com-
ments, or suggestions regarding this newsletter, please contact the City Secretary’s Office at 291-5413 or City Hall, 1212 Ave
M, Huntsville, TX 77340.
Yard Waste Collection
Schedule
Standardized Pedestrian Signs for
Downtown
A new twist on an old idea
The Huntsville Main Street District merchants and
building owners have created a new signage pro-
gram that will help pedestrians locate their busi-
nesses in the downtown area.
The new signs will hang from the business or
shop’s front awning making it easy for anyone
walking along the sidewalk to spot their business
name. Businesses in buildings without an awning
may use an attractive black wrought iron hanger
bolted to the outside wall beside or over the shop
entrance.
By using a uniform format, the signs make busi-
nesses easier to spot because they "train" the
pedestrians’ eyes as to what to look for. Also by
using a uniform color pallet and type style, they
help to "brand" downtown as a single shopping
destination, a trick shopping malls have used for
years. Most of all, they help tie all the downtown
businesses together as a team while helping to
enhance the uniqueness of Huntsville's Down-
town Historical District.
Each sign is handmade and hand lettered, just
like in the old days, and though they look like
old-fashioned wooden signs, they are carved of a
modern sign material that will not warp or rot.
hhutcheson@huntsvilletx.gov
City Calendar
March
21 City Council Meeting @ 6:00
p.m. at City hall
April
03 City Council Meeting @ 6:00
p.m. at City hall
18 City Council Meeting @ 6:00
p.m. at City hall
20 Arbor Day Celebration @ 9:30 a.m.
at the Wynne Home
May
01-05 Early Voting @ City Hall from 8:00
a.m.—5:00 p.m.
06 (SAT) Early Voting @ City Hall from 8:00
a.m.— 12:00 p.m.
07 (SUN) Early Voting @ City Hall from 1:00
p.m.— 5:00 p.m.
08-09 Early Voting @ City Hall 7:00
a.m.— 7:00 p.m.
05 Observe Cinco De Mayo—City
Offices Closed (Open For Early
Voting Only)
13 Election Day—City/School Joint
Election—polling places open
7:am—7:pm
Please visit www.huntsvilletx.gov for
a complete/current schedule of
events