Police Department – this week, a number of hand-crafted items were donated to the Police Department by the Oak Cliff Women’s Club Charitable Crafts Group. The items were made by the Oak Cliff Women’s Club and donated to the Duncanville Police Department to provide to victims of crime and to those less fortunate. A big “thank you” to Mary Jo Cooley, Marsha Griffin, and Sharon Keltner and many others who were not able to come when they dropped off the handmade bears, dolls and blankets! Ms. Keltner and her husband are graduates of the Citizens Police Academy.
Fire Department – The Department did not have any major fire or EMS events in Duncanville this week.
EMS Chief Mike Ryan has been providing CPR and First Aid training to employees of the Recreation Center this week. This training is extremely beneficial in that recognition of a cardiac arrest and immediately calling 911 and administering CPR, provides the best chances for a cardiac arrest victim to survive with minimal deprivation of oxygen to the brain. Our goal is for every employee to receive CPR training. Normally, the cost of this training can be as much as $100 per person, but Chief Ryan is providing the training at no cost to the city.
Public Works – Water usage was 25.607 MG last week, up slightly from 25.439 MG the prior week. The weekly peak water demand occurred on Wednesday, May 25, when 3.839 MG was pumped from ground and elevated storage.
The Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee will meet on Monday, June 6, 2016 at 7:00p in the Briefing Room. The committee will review and select the revised Comprehensive Plan logo and tagline. The committee chose “Destination Duncanville: A Path for Our Future” as the tagline to be used for the plan. The consultant has modified the logo, with multiple options, based on feedback from the committee. The committee will also discuss the schedule of upcoming meetings.
There were no positive mosquito traps reported by Dallas County this week. Dallas County continues to forward updates to us regarding the Zika virus. There have been no reported cases in Duncanville.
Code Enforcement – Congratulations to Code Enforcement Officer Nicole McKeon who wrote a “Before and After” contest article for the American Association of Code Enforcement (AACE) newsletter. Her submission, published in last month’s issue of the AACE newsletter, was about Code’s efforts to abate a used car lot that had turned into a junkyard. For her published article, she earned free admission to the AACE Annual Conference!
Construction Update:
Curtco, the crack sealing contractor, has completed 46,319 linear feet of crack sealing and 1,048 linear feet of crack routing on Lodema Lane, Tampico Circle, La Plata Drive, Wren Street, Emporia Lane, Bayless Lane, South Cockrell Hill Road, and Frank Keasler Boulevard. This project has been delayed due to rainy weather.
Barson Utilities has completed the transfer of water service lines to the water main for residents along the Roma Drive Water and Sewer Improvements Project. Miscellaneous curb, gutter and sidewalk repairs are ongoing.
Excel 4 Construction completed work on all service laterals under the approved change order and began working on the next main line for the current pipe bursting project.
Parks and Recreation – Due to the rainy weather, it has been a tough week for mowing. The weather forecast for next week looks good so we are confident we can start the catch-up process on Monday. This will include mowing I-20 and Hwy 67 as soon as possible. These areas have not been mowed yet in order to wait for the wildflowers to go to seed, ensuring next year’s crop of wildflowers. We are also proactively working with the contractor to minimize, as best we can, an expected trash issue for these two roadways for the first mow cycle.
The installation of the two new playgrounds has also been slowed by the wet weather. With good weather, we expect Willow Run to be completed next week and installation at Lakeside Park to commence next week as well.
Recreation — The individual television monitors on the cardio equipment at the Recreation Center are currently not operational due to Charter Communications change to digital cable service. We have installed HDTV antennas on the wall-mounted televisions so they are operating normally. We are working with both DiSH and DirectTV to get quotes for service. Under Charter Communications new pricing and the requirement for a box to receive digital service, it would cost the city $800 per month to continue with their service. We will work to get service restored as soon as possible.
Summer Day Camp begins at the Recreation Center and Fieldhouse next Monday, June 6. Both locations will also host summer feeding programs for youth in our community who are dependent on free or reduced lunches through the school district. Kudos to Recreation Superintendent Veronica Williams and the rest of the Parks and Recreation staff for the outstanding Memorial Day event on Monday. It was well attended and many thanks were shared by the citizens and veterans afterwards.
Economic Development — ED staff is providing assistance on the following potential projects:
Continues to work with the Italian restaurant that is interested in the old Texas Tux location — formerly located at the Quality Inn and Suites Property;
Working with a brokerage firm that represents a number of sit-down restaurants and various retail;
Continuing to work with DeFord’s on expansion options;
The Medical/Professional Office complex building B located at 407 Danieldale Road is complete. RPG Capital is waiting on their final CO to move their offices into the building. Once the CO is issued, the DCEDC will present their $75,000 infrastructure rebate grant to them.
Certificate of Occupancy (CO) Permits Issued:
None this week
CO Permits Applied For:
Personal Storage; 402 W. Wheatland Rd., Unit 160-D
Jay & Ben Automotive Repair; 706 E. Red Bird Ln. (Automotive Repair Shop)
BoBo Event Center; 626 Oriole Blvd (General Event Center)
Castro Auto Servicio; 706 E Red Bird Ln., Unit 114 (Auto Mechanic and Repair Shop)
Bakari Images; 111 S. Cedar Ridge Dr., Unit 114 (Photography Studio)
Rachel’s Furniture; 251 W. Camp Wisdom Rd. (Furniture)
Patrick Harvey 