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5-13 Connection CITY CONNECTION Visit us online at Visit us online at Visit us online at Visit us online at www.huntsvilletx.gov for www.huntsvilletx.gov for www.huntsvilletx.gov for www.huntsvilletx.gov for more information!more information!more information!more information! Volume 9, Issue 8 May 2013May 2013May 2013May 2013 Calendar May 2013May 2013May 2013May 2013 1 Yard Waste Trimming Collection 2 Planning & Zoning Commission - City Hall at 12 p.m. 7 City Council Meeting at 6:00 p.m. 8 Heavy Trash & Large Yard Waste 15 Yard Waste Trimming Collection 16 Planning & Zoning Commission - City Hall at 5:30 p.m. 21 City Council Meeting at 6:00 p.m. 22 Heavy Trash & Large Yard Waste 29 Yard Waste Trimming Collection June 2013June 2013June 2013June 2013 4 City Council Meeting at 6:00 p.m. 5 Yard Waste Trimming Collection 6 Planning & Zoning Commission - City Hall at 12 p.m. 12 Heavy Trash & Large Yard Waste 18 City Council Meeting at 6:00 p.m. 19 Yard Waste Trimming Collection 20 Planning & Zoning Commission - City Hall at 5:30 p.m. 26 Heavy Trash & Large Yard Waste Submit requests for Heavy Trash pick-up before noon on Monday, the week of the pick- up at (936) 294-5796. The City of Huntsville will proudly celebrate Public Works Week from May 19 through 25, with special events to include the reading of a proclamation at the May 21 City Council meeting and an employee luncheon. According to Public Works Director Carol Reed, the recognition acknowledg- es employees in the Water, Wastewater, Solid Waste, Streets, Drainage, Fleet, Environmental Services, and Engineering departments, as well as those individuals assigned to capital improvement projects. “I believe it is extremely important that we celebrate Public Works Week and acknowledge the work of these departments,” Reed said. “The individu- als in our Public Works Department are responsible for the infrastructure of our City – working to repair concerns behind the scenes, beneath the streets, and under the ground. Unlike employees in the public eye, Reed said many employees in Public Works perform their duties while remaining largely unseen. “Many times, these employees address problems that most citizens don’t even think about but are critical to public health and quality of life in Hunts- ville,” she said. “They’re the employees who repair the water and wastewater systems, or drive 18-wheelers of solid waste to our landfill. “How many people have been to or thought about a wastewater plant or a landfill? While it’s probably a small number, our basic services would be impossible without the employees who operate those facilities.” Director of Community and Economic Development Aron Kulhavy, who served as Public Works Director for several years, echoed the importance of celebrating Public Works Week. “While the individuals in Public Works don’t have glamorous or high-profile positions, the work they do is very important to the welfare of our City and the lives of our citizens,” he said For more information about any of the Public Works departments, visit the City’s Web site, www.huntsvilletx.gov. City to celebrate Public Works Week City to celebrate Public Works Week City to celebrate Public Works Week City to celebrate Public Works Week State Highway 19 ceremonyState Highway 19 ceremonyState Highway 19 ceremonyState Highway 19 ceremony A ribbon cutting ceremony was held in honor of the recently completed improvements to State Highway 19 on Friday, April 26. The ceremony included brief addresses from Mayor Mac Woodward, for- mer Mayor J. Turner, Walker County Judge Danny Pierce, Texas Depart- ment of Transportation District Engineer Catherine Hejl and more. The ribbon cutting took place on the east side of the highway between High- way 190 and Old Colony Road. Stats for March 2013Stats for March 2013Stats for March 2013Stats for March 2013 Fire:Fire:Fire:Fire: Police:Police:Police:Police: Calls for service: 3896 Accidents investigated: 83 Animal Control complaints investigated:57 Calls for service: 116 Main alarm calls: 19 Police/Police/Police/Police/Fire: Fire: Fire: Fire: Library volunteers receive national recognitionLibrary volunteers receive national recognitionLibrary volunteers receive national recognitionLibrary volunteers receive national recognition Huntsville Memorial Hospital, with assistance from the City of Huntsville, Walker County and several oth- er local entities and businesses, held a successful “Are you ready, Walker County?” Emergency Prepar- edness Workshop on April 23 at the Walker County Storm Shelter. Pictured above, Toi Lovell, Chief Execu- tive Officer for the Walker County Federal Credit Un- ion, speaks to a group of attendees. According to Karen Bilsing, HMH Manager of Commu- nity Relations, there were close to 200 attendees at the event, including dozens of unique vendors and speakers. A group of 11 Huntsville Public Library volunteers received special recogni- tion in April for their continued efforts to serve the community. According to Kimberly Francisco, Assistant Librarian, the 11 volunteers received President’s Volunteer Service Award certificates for putting in over 100 hours of volunteer work at the library during 2012. The awards were issued to George Gresham, Diane Harris, Linda Evans, Janet Miller, Jessie Grant, J.D. Dickenson, Janice Adams, June Smith, LaDean Sapp, Beth Williamson, Johnnie Jo Dickenson and Janet Gardner. While all of the volunteers worked tirelessly in different areas of the library, clocking anywhere between 107 and 512 volunteer hours, one volunteer truly went above and beyond. “Janet Gardner gave 1,751.5 hours of her time to the library in the 2012 calendar year,” Francisco said. “She started by scanning mountains of fu- neral records from Cox Funeral Home, and has also been working on or- ganizing loose genealogy papers stored in the archive closet, organizing the archive closet, and other Genealogy-related tasks. She won the Gold award, for individuals who volunteer at least 500 hours in a year.” Francisco said the facility’s volunteers are dedicated to promoting the li- brary’s mission of educational and cultural enrichment for all Huntsville citizens. “One look at the library’s Volunteer page will give you an idea of what the volunteers help us with,” she said. “We have volunteers who serve as tu- tors for our adult literacy program, help us at the circulation desk with checking out, taking fines, providing general customer service, perform shelving and cataloging, and work in our Children’s and Genealogy Depart- ments. We also use volunteers for special projects, such as the Book Sale. Without our volunteers, what we do would not be possible.” Photo by Kimberly Francisco, Assistant Librarian Huntsville Public Library volunteer Janet Gardner is pictured above with her Presi- dent’s Volunteer Service Award. Gardner gave over 1,750 hours of her time to the library in 2012. Every Saturday through July 27Every Saturday through July 27Every Saturday through July 27Every Saturday through July 27 Huntsville Downtown Huntsville Downtown Huntsville Downtown Huntsville Downtown Farmers Market is back!Farmers Market is back!Farmers Market is back!Farmers Market is back! Following the extreme drought conditions of 2011, the City of Huntsville Parks Department began the extensive task of removing dead trees from City property and pub- lic rights-of-way, and their efforts continue today. According to Matt Lumpkins, Community Services Direc- tor, the Parks Department – with assistance from the Streets Department and Texas Department of Criminal Justice work crews – have removed thousands of dead trees throughout the City limits. The department has also carried out tree removal at the Bruce Brothers Huntsville Regional Airport, in order to prepare for the construction of a safety fence. “Between October 2012 and April 4, 2013, we’ve got- ten 2,238 removed, and we’ve probably taken down another thousand since then,” Lumpkins said. “Before October 2012, we removed an additional 1,246 trees from around the City. The bulk of that amount was re- moved after the trees died and posed a threat to citi- zens and property. “Of that total number, approximately 1,500 trees were removed as part of a 100-foot perimeter clearing around the airport to make room for a deer and hog re- sistant fence. The fence is being installed to keep live- stock and wild animals off of the runway, and we have to clear enough of a perimeter to build and protect the fence from trees that may fall in the future.” With respect to the removal of dead trees, Lumpkins said City departments have focused on taking trees out as they die to prevent harm to citizens or damage to infrastructure. “As soon as we see that a tree is dead anywhere on City property near houses, fence lines, trails, sidewalks, buildings and other infrastructure elements, we remove it,” he said. “We also make sure to check around park- ing areas so we don’t have dead trees falling on citizen or City vehicles.” Lumpkins said the removal of dead trees will be an on- going focus for the Parks and Streets Departments. “We will continue having trees die from recent drought conditions for another three or four years, and we’re just hoping we don’t have another drought this year,” he said. “We’re currently focusing on tree removal at the airport, but our next focus area will be the City’s parks and open areas. “I would estimate we have several thousand dead trees left in our parks which still have to be removed.” Some of the trees being removed did not die purely from drought conditions, but from being weakened enough to let other stresses consume them. “With many of the trees we have had to remove, drought didn’t kill them, but it weakened them enough to let disease and insect activity do the rest,” he said. “Unfortunately, it looks like drought condi- tions stressed them to the point that disease took over.” Due to prolonged drought conditions, Lumpkins said the Parks department has planted very few trees since the summer 2011. “Last year was better than 2011, but it was still very dry, and this year we’re heading into the dry season around four inches behind our average rainfall,” he said. “The few places that we have started replacing trees are where we have access to water, such as the cemeteries and Emancipation Park. We also planted about 30 trees in our orchard in Emancipation Park through a grant that included a sprinkler system. “With the completion of the construction projects on Interstate 45 and Highway 30, we’ll resume plantings in those areas as weather permits. As long as drought conditions persist, plantings away from water access would be futile.” While Lumpkins said citizens are responsible for the removal of dead trees on personal property, he said the City should be notified if residents notice a dead tree on City property or right-of-way. According to Entergy Texas Customer Service Manag- er Stan Foley, residents should call 1-800-ENTERGY to report dead trees near power lines for removal. For more information, contact Lumpkins at (936) 294 -5720 or via email at mlumpkins@huntsvilletx.gov. For more information, call Main Street at (936) 291-5920 or visit huntsvilledown- townfarmersmarket.weebly.com. City departments remove thousands of dead treesCity departments remove thousands of dead treesCity departments remove thousands of dead treesCity departments remove thousands of dead trees Page 4 CITY CONNECTION May May May May 2013 National Crime Victims’ National Crime Victims’ National Crime Victims’ National Crime Victims’ Rights breakfast Rights breakfast Rights breakfast Rights breakfast A full house of local law enforcement and victims service providers in a variety of fields attended the National Crime Victims’ Rights breakfast in April, organized by Lisa Anderson, City of Huntsville Victims Services Coordinator . During the event, held at the Huntsville Public Library Community Room, Mayor Mac Woodward presented Proc- lamation 2013-32, declaring April 21-27 “National Crime Victims’ Rights Week.” Guest speaker Stephanie Frogge with the Institute for Restorative Justice & Restorative Dialogue at the Universi- ty of Texas at Austin spoke on the importance of victims’ service providers and first responders and the future of victims’ rights. The City of Huntsville Victim Services Program is a free service offering information, practical assistance and re- ferrals to victims of crime. Anderson works to provide vic- tims with information on the status of their case, offer assistance with crisis intervention and criminal justice system information, and get victims in touch with commu- nity agencies when needed or desired. She also provides assistance with safety plans for the victim, filing for restitution, and advocacy needs both dur- ing hospital or courtroom visits. Photos by Kristin Edwards The Trinity River Authority surface water plant expansion is on schedule and approximately thirty percent complete with sig- nificant strides made on the construction of a new, one million gallon clearwell and a 36-inch raw water line. The expansion, which was approved by voters in 2011, is scheduled for completion by August 2014. According to Joyce Hubbard, City of Huntsville water superin- tendent, the new clearwell will be a vital asset to the City, in- creasing the capacity from 8 million gallons daily to 12 MGD. “Since the Notice to Proceed on the TRA plant was issued in August, we’ve had monthly meetings that have kept us up to date on the progress of the construction,” she said. “At this point, there are 479 days left of the 720-day project. The focus so far has been on the addition of a one million gallon clear- well, where chlorination takes place. “To date, they have poured the concrete floor for the new clearwell and begun work on the exterior walls. Eventually, we’ll also have dividers in the clearwell to keep water in the purification system for the required time. “When construction is completed, we’ll have two clearwells including our original 400,000 gallon clearwell plus the new 1,000,000 gallon clearwell will give us 1.4 million gallons of clearwell capacity .” The other major components of the TRA plant expansion include the addition of four nitrate filters, four new service pumps on the clearwell, 2,000 feet of raw water line, back- wash pumps and expanded chemical feed facilities. “At this point, we have just started excavation for the slab where the filters will be placed, and we have also installed and tested 1,050 feet of the raw water line,” Hubbard said. “When all of the new components are operational, the completed expansion will enable the plant as a whole to produce 12 million gallons daily.” According to City of Huntsville Public Works Director Carol Reed, significant strides have also been made in other areas of water infrastructure. The construction of Well 21, which began in June 2012, is near completion and will produce an additional 1.3 million gallons of water daily. For more information, contact Reed at (936) 294-5768. Pictured left are Mayor Mac Woodward and Anderson. Above, Huntsville Police Chief Kevin Lunsford addresses approximately 60 representatives from the Walker County Sheriff’s Department, SAAFE House, Texas Department of Criminal Justice Victims’ Ser- vices, Huntsville Police Department, Safe Harbor, Juvenile Proba- tion Services, Montgomery County Victim Services and Womens’ Shelter, MADD Victims Services, Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, as well as City Chaplain Jerry Phillips. Update: TRA water plant expansionUpdate: TRA water plant expansionUpdate: TRA water plant expansionUpdate: TRA water plant expansion