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2015/07/10 HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Huntsville, at 180, you look mahvelous! City History page (http://www.huntsvilletx.gov/396/History) on the new website to reminisce. City news, where we do - features, Huntsville, Texas, USA! and updates The City remembered special years all over the community for the Demi- Semi-Sept-Centennial in 2010. e l l i v s t n u H Left: From The Huntsville Item, July 13, 1985, 150th birthday wishes and Resolution of celebration from n the City of Huntsville, Alabama i k e e W Above: Descendants of Pleasant Gray in 2010. Right: Historic marker about the original trading post. (Photos cour- s tesy of Candy Dixon) i . . . e h u s Genealogy weekend - page 2 s i s i h t n T I Fur, fangs, & fun at HPL - Page 5 July 10, articles - pages 6-7 2015 - the new City and Department of Tourism and Cultural Services websites went live on June 25! Come see the new layouts, test special feature buttons on the home pages, and subscribe for news, events, and publications! Frances Sprott Goforth Memorial Genealogy Weekend, July 31-August 1 Huntsville Public Library and the Walker County Genealogical Society (WCGS) will host the annual Frances Sprott Goforth Memorial Genealogy Weekend on 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. - tion Records, African-American Research, Spanish and Mexican Archives, Czech Heritage, and Hints on Writing Your Family History. A light supper will be served on Friday by WCGS members. There will also be a silent auction beginning on Thursday, July 30 at 10:00 a.m. and ending on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. Pre-registration is encouraged, but not required. For more information or to register online go to www.huntsvilletx.gov, or contact Mary Kokot, Adult Ser- vices Coordinator, at 936-291-5471. 9-1-1 is ONLY for Emergencies Please remember, and teach children and others, to only con- tact 9-1-1 for in-progress emer- gencies. There may be an increased num- ber of phone calls at all 9-1-1 centers during times of severe weather or disaster. If you have an emergency: 1) Call 9-1-1, stay on the line and don't hang up until your call is answered. 2) Answer all questions 3) Follow all instructions It is important not to overload the phone systems at the emergency call centers with non-emergency calls, especially during times of emergency and disaster. Do not contact 9-1-1 to check on the status of the weather, power outages, or for other non- emergency inquiries. It is best to stay tuned to local media for weather, flooding, and traffic updates. For non-emergency assistance, call the Walker County Public Safety Communications Center at936-435-8000. They will take your information and dispatch Check out news from your library! The library publication Be- the appropriate services. tween the Pages website. Visit www.huntsvilletx.gov and click on the Stay Noti- fied button to subscribe. Call 9-1-1 only When Between the Pages offers news about library programming, a Life is On the Line - technology and online applications available with your library card, new staff and services from the Huntsville Public Library, for emergency assis- volunteering, and more! tance from police, under the Publications tab, archives of back issues are on the fire, or medical emer- website at http://bit.ly/1HDKsbX. gency services. Darmesha Evans is a library fan and was in the May issue! Photo Call! Photo Call! Photo Call! Here at the City, we hope you have one of the 2014-2015 City calendars and are enjoying it! - Please submit photos taken in City parks, at City events, or of groups working with the City on oc- casions such as All Paws In or the Spring Clean - anything City-related. Maybe you attended the Fourth of July celebration or E-Recycling Day, or took the kids to an Outdoor Explorer class and have a great pic- ture. Or perhaps your group received a proclamation or made a donation or participated in Local Government Day. ss owners and organizations to submit their best photos for use in the calendar, on our Facebook and Twitter accounts, in our digital newsletter, and maybe even for upcoming special projects. Please submit original photography along with the name of the photographer for photo credit. The City requests participants send the highest resolution copies available, and that only material suitable for all ages be submitted. Digitalphotos smaller than 20 MB may be emailed to lwoodward@huntsvilletx.gov (please make contact with us before trying to send larger files). The City requests any hard copies be brought to City Hall, located at 1212 Avenue M. If necessary, hard copies will be scanned and returned to the provider. For more information, contact Woodward at (936) 291-5403. For the fourth year in a row, the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association held a public reading of the Declaration of Independence at the Courthouse gazebo. The reading is a reminder of the precious liberties our nation's founders fought and died for. The reading is held in the morning on the last business day before July 4 each year. Members of the public of all ages are invited to attend and partic- ipate in the reading, and many City and County officials have joined in annu- ally (photos below and right). The reading has spread to more and more counties across the state, and last year there was also a reading in London on the steps of Parliament. The 2016 reading is expected on Friday, July 1. City Employee Recognized by United Way of the Piney Woods Dr. Sherry McKibben, Neighborhood Resources Director for the City of Huntsville, was recently awarded a Certificate of Gratitude by the United Way of the Piney Woods. The or- Local Disaster Recovery Center Opens time, gift of talent and passion for improving lives and for Texas Flood Survivors UWPW Director Sheila Cannon expressed her appreciation A State/FEMA Disaster Recovery Center (DRC) is now open in Walker County for homeowners, renters and business owners who sustained and for her work as a UWPW Board Member. damage as a result of the severe storms, tornadoes and flooding from May 4 to June 19. Specialists from the State of Texas, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the U.S. Small Business Ad- ministration (SBA), nongovernmental organizations and the local com- munity are on hand to answer questions and provide information on the types of assistance available to survivors. Services are provided in English and Spanish. The recovery center serves survivors from any of the 36 counties desig- nated for Individual Assistance who need one-on-one help. State and federal professionals will be available to assist eligible survivors get help as quickly as possible. Location and hours of operation: Walker County Annex , Early Voting Room 1301 Sam Houston Ave.nue Huntsville, TX 77340 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, closed Sunday The DRC will cease operations at 6 p.m. on Friday, July 17 Summer Fantasy and Silliness Those who had storm damage can register for FEMA assistance online at the Wynne Home Arts Center at www.DisasterAssistance.gov or call 800-621-3362 toll free from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily until further notice. Multilingual operators are available. Come join us for movie night on Mondays July 13, July 20, and Disaster assistance applicants who have a speech disability or hearing July 27 at 7:00 p.m. Adults and families with children 10 years loss and use TTY should call 800-462-7585 directly; for those who use and older are welcome. Chilled drinks and popcorn will be pro- 711 or Video Relay Service (VRS), call 800-621-3362. The toll-free vided for these free events! telephone numbers will operate from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. (local time) seven days a week until further notice. Featured films are: Some of the services may include: Guidance regarding disaster recovery July 13, Spoof - The Court Jester starring Danny Kaye Clarification of any written correspondence received July 20, Fantasy - The Princess Bride by William Goldman July 27, Slapstick - Why Worry starring Harold Lloyd Housing Assistance and Rental Resources information Answers to questions, resolutions to problems and referrals For more information, please call 936-291-5424 or email us at to agencies that may provide further assistance wynneintern@huntsvilletx.gov. Status of applications being processed by FEMA For more information on Texas recovery, visit the disaster web page at www.fema.gov/disaster/4223. Twitter at https://www.twitter.com/femaregion6 Visit www.thewynnehome.com or like us on our Facebook page andtheTexasDivisionofEmergencyManagement at WynneHomeArtsCenter for photos and news. The Wynne website, https://www.txdps.state.tx.us/dem . Home Arts Center is located at 1428 Eleventh Street. Recently, The Huntsville Item asked the City to begin a series called City Spotlight, which will highlight projects and pro- vide information on staff, services, and more. City Spotlight is expected to run every other Sunday. Below and opposite are two articles from June and July. If you happened to miss them in the Item we hope you enjoy reading them here! Defining Good Governance Good governance is a catchphrase these days, perhaps it always has been, but defining it clearly can be difficult. One could start with an idea of governance as "all processes of governing, whether undertaken by a government, market or network, whether over a family, tribe, formal or infor- mal organization or territory and whether through laws, norms, power or language." (Bevir, Mark (2013). Governance: A very short introduction. Ox- ford, UK: Oxford University Press.) Then add the weighty and possibly endless chain of argument over how to clarify lengthy and passionate discussion brewing. At the City of Huntsville, how to define good governance, and how many words in which documents are required to explain it, has an ongoing focus of importance to all. A primary reference is the City Charter, adopted by the voters of the City of Huntsville in 1968 (available on the City web site at http://tx- ed society, laying out the authority by which the City as an entity exists, and its primary structure and functions. Like the U.S. Constitution, it is only amended by the elec- torate, with any proposed changes on an election ballot. The Charter was last amended in November of 2013. It cannot be brought before the voters more frequently than every two years, and the City of itself, and can be amended by its vote, as it sees fit. Often revised on an annual basis, the Rules were last updated in May of 2014. The Rules of Procedure covers such topics as conduct, order of business on Council agendas, and standing Council Committees, and other adminis- , as its parliamentary authority. Under such, as a board of fewer than a dozen, the Council is provided with flexibility and the ability to adapt to its own cus- toms. The main idea behind using parliamentary procedure in a meeting is to preserve the rights of all (the majority, the minority, and absentees) while conducting business as efficiently as possible, even when feelings run high and participants have strong opinions on the matters at hand. This en- sures that everyone has an opportunity to be heard and participate and has an equal vote in each matter. City Councils generally attract opinionated but thoughtful individuals who are charged with setting policy for their city, and seek to do so in the most beneficial way possible for their community. Some of the decisions Councilmembers have to make are tough, but when a variety of outlooks collide, the Rules of Procedure help the Council remain unified in their approach to find solutions. The City Council Rules of Procedure also cover the ways in which citizens can address the Council. The 2014 Rules amendments included a way for members of the public can place items on the Council agenda. The process allows Councilmembers to be provided background on the item and to deliberate it with the citizen at the meeting. Prior to the 2014 changes, discussion of this sort was not possible, because citizens could only bring up new topics under the old general public ons or make statements of face. The inability to have a dialogue with the resident bringing the issue forward was frustrating to both parties. This provides a perfect example of why the Rules of Procedure is reviewed so regularly. It may be that a real or perceived flaw in the way things are done exists and needs correction. After legislative session changes, or after learning of a way to handle something differently, the Rules may need updating to stay current. Above all, though, are state laws that provide the guidelines under which Huntsville exists as a home rule city, which permit it to make the decisions provided for in the Charter, and also outline how much of the business of the City is conducted, from purchasing to law enforcement to record keep- ing. Two that are often mentioned are found in the Texas Government Code, Chapter 551, known familiarly as the Open Meetings Act, and Chapter 552, called the Public Information Act. The Open Meetings Act provides for timely posting of assemblies of governing bodies, including the date, time, place, and items to be discussed, so that members of the public can decide whether they would like to attend or observe these deliberations and possible actions. Cities can choose to permit public comment at these meetings, as the Huntsville City Council does, and by what procedures. The Public Information Act (which used to be commonly referred to as the Open Records Act) directs the ways in which public records can be request- ed of and produced by an entity such as a municipality, school district, or state agency, among others. Effective, efficient, transparent, transaction of business is the reason the employees of the City of Huntsville come to work each day, and the mem- bers of the City Council gather on the first and third Tuesday evenings of the month. Local government is where citizens can have the most impact on what affects their lives daily, and local control means that cities can make the decisions that fit their residents best, wherever they are located in the great state of Texas. Street Condition Assessment The city has approximately 150 linear miles of streets of various pavement types, although most are asphalt paved streets. The Street Division in the Public Works Department annually evaluates street conditions to prioritize maintenance issues including subsurface failure repair, crack sealing, chip sealing and asphalt overlays. However, a comprehensive street condition assessment to prioritize and plan maintenance on a long-range but timely and economically prudent basis has long been overdue, the last such assessment being done about thirty years ago, in the mid 1980s (when there were about half as many miles). As a result, the City contracted with Infrastructure Management Services (IMS) to perform the work. The firm was selected on the basis of their ex- perience and positive references, and has provided services in a number of Texas cities such as Carrollton, Farmers Branch, Pearland, Beaumont, Denton, Keller, Euless and Weatherford. Matt Benoit, City Manager, noted that the main goal in achieving a valuable street condition assessment is to gather large amounts of quality data to determine the disposition of the street network. He explained the two primary purposes in conducting a street study, the first being to maximize and enhance existing street maintenance activities and the second to ensure and justify large capital investments. From cost/square foot and inconvenience to residents standpoints, reconstruction and rebuild are to be avoided at all costs. Whenever possible, maintenance efforts nd avoid reconstruc- tion. Such a goal is possible in this era, with available technologies such as Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), instrumented rollers, and High Resolu- tion 3D. The primary service IMS will provide the City is a Pavement Condition Index (PCI) reading for every City street in the network. This will be done using automated technology utilizing eleven lasers capable of identifying and collecting instances of street deterioration and loca- tions including: wheel path rutting, transverse cracking, block cracking, alligator cracking and texture. The information collected will be assembled ranging from 1 (worst street) to 100 (essentially a brand new street). With the PCI condition, IMS will: Provide Modeling PCI and funding levels illustrate the estimated costs of elevating and maintaining streets at a given PCI level (of 75, 80 a nd 85). Provide multi-year rehabilitation and prioritized paving plans for the funding and service levels selected by the City. Two additional services that may be requested include dynaflect testing and assigning a PCI for the State roads. Dynaflect testing is used to assess s placed on it. It is the most realistic simulation of how traffic affects a pavement surface, but it is non-destructive to the surface. Dynaflect testing will likely be used on The City may also request a PCI for the state-maintained roads if there is a desire to assess their condition in relation to the This information may be helpful as TxDOT occasionally requests the City take responsibility for State-owned road assets and/or if the City wishes to request specific attention to TxDOT roads in Huntsville. In all likelihood, through this study, the City will discover some streets that meet the reconstruction or rebuild conditions. The City may be well served to set those aside (to the degree possible) and consider them for a possible bond issuance in the 2018-2019 time frame. As part of the City to issue somewhere between $16 and $18.5 million worth of General Obligation debt without raising the tax rate that will occur as early as 2018. As a result, City staff discussed with the Council during FY 14- major infrastructure components to ensure all possibilities are considered if and when the decision is made to request voter consent to issue replacement debt. The street condition assessment will answer several questions about the condition and estimated costs to repair and/or replace porti street infrastructure. At the conclusion of this study, the City will know conclusively which streets are candidates for continued and/or enhanced maintenance practices and which streets will be candidates for consideration of a bond package (including cost estimates). Benoit explained other potential benefits of a complete street condition assessment. ,000 annually just by tailoring our maintenance efforts to the known street conditions. Second, if there is even a 10% reduction in scope identified with better infor- The IMS truck was out driving the streets at approximately 15 miles per hour, gathering the data needed. As an unexpected plus, the project was completed in fewer days than expected, so City staff can begin sooner to know what the future holds for connectivity throughout the community. Thank you, Huntsville Garden Club! Each year, the Huntsville Public Library receives generous donations from the Huntsville Garden Club, and celebrates Na- tional Garden Week with a display. The Huntsville Garden Club was established in 1933 and seeks among its aims to stimulate the knowledge and satisfaction of gardening, encourage civic planning and beautification, promote responsible recycling, and work on conservation projects. Their donations and efforts throughout the community are greatly appreciated! Members pictured above from left are Gloria Graves, Shirley Belanger, and Nan O'Leary. Outdoor Explorer Water Aerobics Join the City of Huntsville at the Huntsville Frank D. Park as they partner with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department to learn basic safety for biking, hiking and kayaking. Then enjoy Aerobics. Classes will be Monday through Wednesday the rest of the day exploring the State Park with backpacks, bikes mornings from 8 - 9 a.m., and Monday through Thursday and kayaks provided for use. Class size is limited to twenty partic- evenings from 8 - 9 p.m. Participants must be 18 years or ipants andpre-registration is required. Classes are from 9 a.m. to older and are required to complete a registration form and 1 p.m. Youth ages 12 - 17 can register with an attending parent pay a fee of $55.00 for the year or purchase a day pass for or guardian. $4. Upcoming program dates are June 20 , July 18 , August 15, ththth and September 19. There is no charge for the program but there th Registration is available at the City of Huntsville Service is a $5 admission fee into the park for each participating adult (no Center or before class at the Huntsville Aquatic Center. For cost for those 12 and under). For more information call 936-294- more information, call 936-294-5725 or visit the website at 5725 or visit the website at http://www.huntsvilletx.gov/departments/community_servi http://www.huntsvilletx.gov/category/subcategory.php?categoryid ces/recreation.htm. =12or on Facebook at COHrecservices.