The Lewisville Texan Journal

Lewisville City Council Notes - 6/17/2013

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 13:40:00 -0100

By Raymond Daniels and Steve Southwell

The Lewisville City Council met in its regular scheduled meeting Monday night, June 17th, 2013. The agenda for this meeting may be found here. These are our unofficial (and rough) notes on the proceedings. Minutes are generally posted by the City Secretary after the following meeting. Councilman Leroy Vaughn was absent due to illness.

Workshop
In workshop session the Council heard from Jim Cline, president of Denton County Transportation Authority, who presented slides on the current status and future directions of DCTA service.

Assistant City Manager Steve Bacchus presented the Council with information on the proposed water restrictions.

Regular Meeting

PUBLIC HEARINGS

1.) The is the consideration of an ordinance for a zone change request from single-family residential and office district, to public use on 1.767 acres located between Herod St. and Charles St. on the north side of Church St. This is the property just North of the MCL Grand Theater. The property could be used for events parking, or could eventually be sold by the city for economic development purposes. This was requested by the City of Lewisville, the property owner. Passed unanimously.

2.Consideration of an ordinance for a zone change request from Old Town Mixed Use Two to public use on three tracts totally 0.87 acres located at the northwest corner of Walters St. and Mill St. This property will be used as parking for city staff, freeing up City hall property to be used for parking for public events. This was requested by the City of Lewisville, the property owner. Passed Unanimously.

3.) Consideration of an ordinance amending chapter 17026(a) of the Lewisville city code to reduce the minimum land requirement from 30 to 5 acres for a planned unit development. This was done to help facilitate redevelopment of older properties in the area. Passed unanimously.

VISITORS/CITIZENS FORUM:
Bryan Webb, Flower Mound Councilman wanted to inform Council of an initiative taken by Flower Mound to deal with drugs. Community drug summit - August 10th - Saturday - Trietsch Memorial Methodist Church - 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.

CONSENT AGENDA: The most noteworthy item on the consent agenda was item 9, which is an implementation of stage 2 water restrictions in Lewisville. The City has been in stage 1 voluntary measures since 2006. This stage will be mandatory. It was moved by Councilman Durham, and seconded by Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Gilmore. Passed unanimously.

REGULAR ITEMS

10.) Consideration of a variance to the Lewisville City Code chapter 4, article X. fences, located at 1805 South Valley Parkway, as requested by Bradley and Eloina Compton, the property owners. There was a motion to approve by Councilman Durham, which was seconded by Councilman Ferguson. Approved unanimously.

11.) Second and Final Reading: Consideration of an ordinance of the City Council of the City of Lewisville, Texas extending the term of an ordinance granting a gas franchise to Lone Star Gas Company, an Atmos corporation, providing an effective date.

12.) Consideration of a Brownfields assessment program application for the property at 1725 Lakepoint Dr. Councilman Ferguson made the motion to approve, which was seconded by Councilman Tierney. Approved unanimously. Funding for the program was granted to the City by the EPA. $200,000 was for hazardous materials, and $200,000 was for petroleum based materials. The city expects to use almost all of the hazardous materials funding, but will probably return some of the petroleum-based funding.

13.) Consideration of the addition of two new activities to the 2013 Western Days Festival and rain accumulation insurance and approval of a supplemental appropriation in the amount of $35,922 from the hotel-motel fund. Councilman Gilmore made a motion to approve the rain insurance, and second stage expenditures. Councilman Tierney seconded. Item passed unanimously. Councilman Gilmore then made a motion to table discussion of the Beer Tasting event until the next meeting. This item passed unanimously.

14.) Discussion and consideration of appointments to various City Boards/Commissions/Committees. All of recommendations for appointments were passed unanimously. (List forthcoming)

15.) Consideration of excusing Mayor Pro Tem Vaughn from attendance at the City Council meetings held on May, 21, 2013, June 3, 2013, and June 17, 2013. Mayor Ueckert mentioned that Councilman Vaughn was getting better, and worked with Councilman Gilmore on board appointments. Motion was made to approve his absence, which was seconded by Councilman Durham. Passed unanimously.

Reports
LFD Chief Tim Tittle congratulated the PD on their win at Battle of the Badge. Carrollton ended up beating LFD in the finals.

Gilmore: Donât let off on mosquito prevention. Kealy Operations Center- first Tuesday of every month - free landscaping classes.

King: 2025 Meeting on Wednesday 19th at Senior Center

Ferguson: Was at the Battle of the Badge - very interesting game. Paws in the Park was a big success. Dogs were adopted. Sounds of Lewisville - Hip Hops play tomorrow night. Kildares on June 25th. Lewisville Summer Musicals - Red Skeltonâs American Way - July 5th and 6th at MCL Grand. Yoga in the courtyard at MCL Grand. Wednesday nights at 6 p.m. Visual Arts League - Acoustic Fridays - 7 p.m. Solo exhibit by Dan Lattimore continues. Photography by various members. June 29th - Aug 10th - Fresh Ideas VAL exhibit.

Lewisville Council to Pass Mandatory Water Restrictions Monday Night

Sat, 15 Jun 2013 17:40:00 -0100

With the drought continuing, and area lakes below where they need to be, the Lewisville City Council will vote Monday night on whether to implement mandatory water conservation measures for the city. If approved by the Council, the city would go into Stage 2 water conservation, which calls for mandatory limits on outdoor watering to only twice per week on trash collection days - 5-9 a.m. and 7-11 p.m., with no watering on Sundays.

If the restrictions are approved, the would be in effect from July 1st - August 31st. Enforcement will be performed by city staff from public services, community development, police, fire, and parks department. A first violation would warrant a door tag or letter; and a second violation would result in a warning citation. A third violation would hit the violator with a citation that could cost up to a $500 fine.

The City of Lewisville has no water rights of its own, instead purchasing both treated and untreated water from Dallas Water Utilities, which owns the rights to Lewisville Lake and other local reservoirs. The measures are being considered at the request of Dallas Water Utilities, which is asking all customers to implement mandatory restrictions. The City of Lewisville is limited in the amount of water it can take from DWU each day, and exceeding that amount can have permanent fiscal impacts on ratepayers. The limit for Lewisville is 29 MGD (million gallons per day).

In 2011, Lewisville reached and temporarily exceeded its supply capacity to provide water, hitting a peak in August of 29.9 MGD, which was met partially by drawing down elevated storage. Lewisville's pumping system has a daily capacity of 39 MGD, which is what it could pump with current equipment if supply was increased.

Lewisville has been under voluntary Stage 1 measures since October 2006, and city staff say this would be the first time under the current plan that the city would go to Stage 2. In February of 2012, the city expected to have to go to Stage 2 in the Spring, but storms in late February and early March of last year filled area lakes to the point where it was not necessary.

Other local cities in North Texas belonging to the North Texas Municipal Water District have been under Stage 3 mandatory restrictions since June 1st, limiting to once-a-week outdoor watering. Upper Trinity Regional Water District is under Stage 1 restrictions limiting customers to twice-weekly outdoor watering between 6 p.m. and 10 a.m.

The Council will discuss the measures in a workshop session Monday night at 5:30, and will vote on the measures in open session at 7:00 p.m. Contractual requirements with DWU require that the council approve the measures, so they are included in the consent agenda.

Group Launches Petition Drive to Legalize Liquor Sales in Lewisville

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 00:30:00 -0100

By Steve Southwell

A Petition Could Force a Local-Option Election for November to Allow Liquor Sales in the City

Residents of Lewisville could soon buy packaged liquor from stores in Lewisville instead of driving to Highland Village, if voters approve. A group of Lewisville residents has completed the first step of a process to launch a petition drive calling for a local option liquor election. Since the last local option election in 2005, Lewisville residents have been able to buy beer and wine locally, but residents looking for distilled spirits must still drive to nearby Highland Village.

City Secretary Julie Heinze received the petition request last Friday, and verified that it meets the requirements under Texas law, having been signed by 10 eligible Lewisville voters, and a notice of intent published in a newspaper of general circulation. The petition calls for a measure to legalize âThe legal sales of all alcoholic beverages for off-premise consumption onlyâ. Since beer and wine sales are already allowed, the effect of the petition would be to allow the sale of distilled spirits. Mixed drinks are already allowed to be sold for on-premise consumption in Lewisville bars and restaurants.

The petition is being organized by Eppstein Group, a Dallas-based firm that provides these services on behalf of its clients. We have reached out to Eppstein for more information and have yet to hear back from them, but we understand that liquor retailer Total Wine and More is pushing for the change. We have also attempted to contact Total, but had not yet heard back from them by the time we posted this story. Interestingly, the public notice of intent was published December 7th of 2012 - over six months ago in the Denton Record Chronicle.

The next step in the process is for Heinze to generate the petition forms. The organizers then have 60 days to gather 4,422 signatures in order to get it on the ballot for a special election for the voters. That number is equivalent to 35% of the registered voters in Lewisville (both Dallas and Denton County portions) who voted in the last gubernatorial election. Once the petition is returned, the City Secretary would then verify the signatures as valid voters, and certify whether the requirements had been met.

First Annual SummerFest Draws Decent Attendance at Westlake Park

Sun, 09 Jun 2013 21:30:00 -0100

Organizers could not have asked for better weather for SummerFest, which was held Saturday at Westlake Park on Lewisville Lake in Hickory Creek. The event itself was free, although admission to the park costs $4 per carload. Westlake park is managed jointly by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Our Lands and Waters Foundation. SummerFest was held in conjunction with National Get Outdoors Day.

The event featured live bands, a classic car show, a cardboard boat regatta, a fishing competition, and the North Texas Steak Cook-Off. Dozens of competitors in the steak cooking contest had the area smelling of delicious smokiness, and were sharing appetizers and steak with the public. One volunteer we spoke to said that the parking lot had over 500 cars, but that since there were no admission gates, it was hard to estimate the crowd. Still, for a first-year event, that kind of attendance is laudable.

Nearby, scores of boats were lashed together for a huge party in the water near the old dam.

Our Lands and Waters Foundation PR and Marketing Directory Stephanie Berndt said that the eventâs purpose is to raise awareness of the publicâs parks. âTheyâre your parks, and we want people to know what kind of amenities are available in the parks,â said Berndt. âWe have wonderful picnic sites; we have pavillions for rent; we have the boat launch,â she added.

Berndt explained that the foundation partners with the Corps to co-manage and enhance the parks, repairing and upgrading amenities, as well as trying to open closed parks. The organization hopes to put in a new swim beach in Oakland Park. The organization, a 501(c)(3), offers free membership, with a monthly e-newsletter. For more information check out the Our Lands and Waters Foundationâs Facebook page or website.

Group Offering Free Meals in Lewisville for Kids This Summer

Tue, 04 Jun 2013 04:40:00 -0100

During the school year, kids get nutritious meals at school. But kids are just as busy and just as hungry during the summer break. KIDS EAT FREE.

In an effort to help families in todayâs challenging economic times S.Tracy Howard Project is sponsoring the Summer Food Service Program and meals will be provided to all children 18 years and younger without charge and are the same for all children regardless of race, color, national origin, sex, age or disability, and there will be no discrimination in the course of the meal service. The program kicks off Monday, June 10th and will continue through August 24th, serving Breakfast Monday - Saturday between 10:00 - 11:00 a.m. and Lunch 12:00 - 1:30 p.m. A balanced hot meal and beverage will be provided at the following locations:

Bay Shore / Parc Lake Village 1901 Lakeview Cr Lewisville, TX 75057
Willow Ridge 797 S. Old Orchard Lewisville, TX 7506.
Macon Manor Apts. 2534 Vintage Drive Farmers Branch, TX 75234
St. Charles Place Apartments 1090 S. Charles St Lewisville, TX 75057
Oak Tree Village 1595 Old Orchard Ln. Lewisville, TX 75067

-- More locations to be announced --
Families in need may also visit the Texas Summer Food Program website and search for locations by Zip code.

All meals will be offered in accordance with federal law and USDA policy this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability.

There are no residency restrictions; children from any city are allowed to participate. The program is funded through a grant from the USDA.

Lewisville City Council Notes - 6/3/2013

Tue, 04 Jun 2013 03:18:29 -0100

By Raymond Daniels and Steve Southwell

The Lewisville City Council met in its regular scheduled meeting Monday night, June 3rd, 2013. The agenda for this meeting may be found here. These are the unofficial notes on the proceedings. Minutes are generally posted by the City Secretary after the following meeting. Councilman Leroy Vaughn was absent due to illness.

The Pledge of Allegiance was led by the LHS Lady Farmers Softball Team. The Mayor then introduced the team to the audience, and praised them for bringing home the state championship. Farmers Coach Lori Alexander then presented Mayor Ueckert with a softball signed by the team. Mayor Ueckert presented the team with a proclamation celebrating their victory.

Business
Next, the Council went into closed session to consider the appointments of Mayor Pro Tem, and Deputy Mayor Pro Tem. Back in open session, the Council selected Councilman Leroy Vaughn as Mayor Pro Tem, and Councilman TJ Gilmore as Deputy Mayor Pro Tem. The Mayor Pro Tem serves as a backup to the Mayor. In the Mayorâs absence, the Mayor Pro Tem (or Deputy Mayor Pro Tem) will take over the Mayorâs duties. It is typical for the Council to select these positions each year after elections, and for the positions to rotate among council members.

After a public hearing, the council approved a zone change for 432 Barfknect Ln. - from agricultural to light industrial.

No citizens wished to speak in the citizensâ forum portion of the meeting.

The consent Agenda - Items 1 - 7 passed unanimously without comment. Among these items was the approval of expenditure of $238,193 in consulting, materials, equipment, and installation for an upgrade of the AV and recording equipment in the Council chambers and work room at City Hall, as well as in the video control room. LTJ will explain more about this item in a future post, but what it means is that the city will be able to broadcast Council meetings, including workshop sessions on the cityâs cable channel. The funding comes from a state-mandated 1% charge added to everyoneâs cable bill, and can only be spent on capital equipment such as this.

Item 8: Council approved the preliminary plat of Highpoint Oaks Estates addition, which is a 21.245 acre parcel zoned estate townhouse (ETH) with 86 residential lots and five HOA maintained right-of-way areas located on the southwest quadrant of Vista Ridge Mall Drive and Denton Tap Road With one associated variance, as requested by JBI Partners, Inc., representing the Property Owner. Councilman Gilmore noted the council has approved over 250 single family houses this year.

Item 9: This was the consideration of a Brownfields assessment program application for the property at 1099 West Main St. Gilmore moved approval as presented, and Councilman Ferguson seconded. This item passed unanimously.

Item 10: This was a consideration of waiving the third floor rental fee for Community Services, Inc., to hold their energy assistance program workshop on June 22nd, 2013, as requested by Pauletta Hines, the Executive Director. Gilmore moved approval, with a second by Councilman Tierney. This item passed unanimously.

Item 11: Council approved dates related to the cityâs budget process for next year. Council set the workshop session for Saturday August 3rd, with follow ups on August 5th and 6th if needed. LTJ will post a reminder as the date gets nearer, as well as an update afterwards regarding the proposed tax rates and budgets.

Item 12: Was the discussion and consideration of appointments to various City Boards/Commissions/Committees. The Council decided to take the normal route, which is to split up into three teams of two people each to interview candidates and make recommendations. Gilmore and Vaughn will work together; Ferguson and Tierney will work together; and Ueckert and Durham will work together. The specific committees to be worked on by each team was not formalized as far as we could tell, but Ueckert seemed to indicate in workshop that Fergusonâs team would take on Planning and Zoning.

Announcements:
There will be a public pep rally Wednesday this week in front of City Hall to honor the Lady Farmers, Wednesday, June 5th, at Lewisville City Hall, 6PM.

Police Chief Russ Kerbow reminded everyone that Thursday is early release day for schools - pay attention to school zones.
Battle of the Badge will be held at Toyota of Lewisville Railroad Park this Saturday, June 8th. Admission $5 - Children are free. Proceeds go to Denton County Childrensâ Advocacy Center. Several cities are participating.

Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Gilmore noted that Lewisvilleâs 2025 Plan kick-off is Tuesday night at Medical Center of Lewisville Grand Theater, 4-8 p.m.

Councilman Ferguson urged residents to bring a lawnchair Tuesday night for the Downtown Fever concert right after that event at the MCL Grand. Leave it in your car until the concert. He also noted that on Friday nights, Visual Art League has acoustic jam sessions in the MCL Grandâs art gallery. There is a Dan Lattimore solo exhibit in the gallery. Asked about the Chalk This Way arts festival by Councilman Tierney, Ferguson said it âwas awesomeâ. Ferguson said it was a good turnout, and that the brief rain did not hurt the artwork, and that vendors and the public seemed to be happy.

Mayor Ueckert once again thanked the softball team for representing our city so wonderfully.

Lewisville Police Seek Public Help to ID Bank Robber

Mon, 03 Jun 2013 23:27:28 -0100

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The Lewisville Police Department is asking for the publicâs assistance in identifying a person who robbed the Bank of the West at 329 West Main Street on Friday, May 31.

The unknown suspect entered the bank at approximately 10:00 a.m., displayed a note and demanded cash. The suspect fled the bank in an unknown direction.

Detectives believe the suspect is a black male, 5â00â-5â02â, slim-medium build, with a dark complexion. He was wearing large sunglasses, jeans, and a long-sleeve button up shirt. Please note the unique markings on his cap.

Anyone with any information on this robbery should contact the Lewisville Police Department at 972-219-TIPS (8477) or Denton County Crime Stoppers at 800-388-TIPS (8477).

Here is some surveillance video provided by LPD:

Chalk This Way Art Festival Photos

Mon, 03 Jun 2013 00:43:00 -0100

We're told that yesterday's Chalk This Way art festival in Old Town Lewisville may have had as many as 1,200 visitors over the course of yesterday, which is good for any event's first-year attendance - especially on a day where there were weather concerns. Here are some photos:

Lewisville City Council Notes - 5/20/2013

Tue, 21 May 2013 23:44:24 -0100

By Raymond Daniels

Members sworn in, bonds approved, appointment to water district board made

The Lewisville City Council met in its regular scheduled meeting Monday night, May 20th, 2013. The agenda for this meeting may be found here (223 MB PDF). These are the unofficial notes on the proceedings. Minutes are generally posted by the City Secretary after the following meeting.

The first item was a vote to accept the canvassing for the Lewisville City Council election returns. Councilman Gorena congratulated Greg Tierney on his victory, and the City Staff for all of their hard work for the City. The canvass results passed without objection. Greg Tierney and Rudy Durham were sworn into the offices of Place 4 and Place 5 of Lewisville City Council. I'd like to congratulate both Councilman Durham and Councilma Tierney on their victories.

Next, Mayor Uekert gave a certificate of appreciation to the Teen Court, and they presented a Ron Neiman scholarship. Madeleine Loney was awarded the scholarship.

The consent agenda later passed without any objections.

During item 9 the Council voted unanimously to approve an Ordinance Providing for the Award and Authorizing the Issuance and Sale of City of Lewisville, Texas, General Obligation Refunding and Improvement Bonds. The amount added up to $13,530,000. The purpose of providing funds was for contruction improvements to the City's streets, sidewalks and related drainage improvements. This new money portion of the bonds represents the remaining 2003 authorization approved by the voters.

This was a good idea being that we need to stay on top of our infrastructure, rather than falling behind, which could potentially become more costly if we don't stay on top of needed improvements.

Jason Hughes with First Southwest Company later gave a statement regarding to the City's finaincial success. He applauded the Council and Staff for their fiscal responsibility with financial matters, and stated that we have a four AAA bond ratings. We are only one of nine cities in Texas to recieve this rating.

The Council then went on to unanimously approve another ordinance providing for the award and authorizing the issuance and sale of City of Lewisville, Texas, Waterworks and Sewer System Revenue Refunding and Improvement Bonds. The new bonds in the estimated amount of $5,555,000 are for the purpose of providing funds for constructing, acquiring, and installing improvements, additions, and extensions to the City's waterworks and sewer system and an estimated $2,650,000 for refunding a portion of the Waterworks and Sewer System Revenue Refunding and Improvement Bonds, Series 2005 and Waterworks and Sewer System Revenue Bonds, Series 2006 and costs associated with the issuance of the bonds.

A portion of the new bonds ($2.3M) will be allocated for the transmission main from Trinity River to the Midway pump station behind Fire Station 6 in east Lewisville at FM544 and Midway Road. The remaining portion ($3.255M) will begin funding of an ozone disinfection program for the water plant at 1400 North Cowan. In the five-year capital projects plan, the $3.255M amount was originally slated for the water reuse project. However, the State of Texas has initiated a statewide development program with larger municipality stakeholders, including Lewisville. This study will take several years to complete, so the scheduled water plant improvements were moved forward and the reuse project was moved to 2017. The above purpose of the bonds may be changed or altered for other water and wastewater projects if priorities or needs change.

This is another bond package that needed to be approved. However, where some of the funding may go is in question, being that the State got involved with the water plant. Regardless, we can find good and effective ways to spend this capital on needed improvements.

The last item on the agenda was the consideration of an appointment of a City of Lewisville Representative on the Upper Trinity Regional Water District (UTRWD) Board of Directors. Steve Bacchus currently serves in this position, however he has agreed to work with Lathan Watts, a former Lewisville City Councilman, to take over this position. There was one Nay vote on this item, from Councilman Ferguson. His reasoning was that he believes that Mr. Bacchus should remain at the post, and work with Mr. Watts to eventually take over the position, as opposed to the other way around. The item passed 3-1.

The Council then went into closed session, and the meeting was adjourned.

Local Election Results - Lewisville City Council, LISD Board of Trustees - 5/11/2013

Fri, 10 May 2013 14:20:00 -0100

Stay tuned to the Lewisville Texan Journal this Saturday night for up-to-the-minute election returns coverage in the local municipal elections.

Update #5: 9:00 p.m.:
All precincts for LISD and Lewisville are reporting. The final unofficial results are below. This will be our last update today.

Update #4: 8:50 p.m.:
Now 57 of 67 precincts reporting in LISD. Welding continues to lead Shoven by 51.83% to 48.17%.

Update #3: 8:44 p.m.:
Now 19 of 22 precincts reporting in Lewisville. The missing precicnts are two Dallas county precincts with very few voters, plus one very tiny precinct in far South Lewisville that may also not have any voters. LTJ calls place 4 for Greg Tierney by just 3 points or 46 votes.

Update #2: 8:20 p.m.:
In the LISD Races, 39 of 67 precincts are reporting right now. Dr. Mark Welding maintains a slim lead over Paige Shoven, and Kris Vaughn and Brenda Latham have both won their races.

In Lewisville, 18 of 22 precincts have reported, and we think the other precincts are not going to have voters. Denton County is showing them all as having been counted on its map. Looks like Greg Tierney has beaten John Gorena by about 3 points, and Rudy Durham has beaten Raymond Daniels by 4.7 points.

Update #1: 7:05 p.m.:
With early voting results posted, in Lewisville, Greg Tierney leads John Gorena by 5.5%. Rudy Durham has a healthy lead over newcomer Raymond Daniels with a 9% margin.

In the LISD Trustee race, Mark Welding has a slight lead over Paige Shoven, just 2%. Kris Vaughn has beaten Jared Brueckner with 76.63% of the early vote, allowing us to go ahead and call that one. Trustee Brenda Latham also has beaten her opponent Ryan Collinsworth by 17 points, we predict.

For results from Denton ISD, Argyle, Argyle ISD, and Bartonville, visit Cross Timbers Gazette's election results page.