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.

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.

The Lewisville Police Department reported Thursday that they became aware of a phone scam where someone calls Lewisville residents and purports themselves to be a representative of CoServ Electric demanding the resident send payment or risk having their service be interrupted. The phony representative instructs the resident to go to his closest pharmacy to purchase a Green Dot MoneyPak and call him back with the payment information.

If the public questions the authenticity of a business representative, they should call the business phone number listed on their bill. Most legitimate businesses do not request payment in this manner. CoServ is working closely with the police department in this matter.

If you have been a victim of this or a similar crime, contact the Lewisville Police Department at 972-219-3600, or your local police agency.

Last night, Lewisville police responded to a shots-fired call at an apartment complex on Lakeview Circle, near Lewisville Lake. Two suspects barricaded themselves into an apartment, and Lewisville police brought the SWAT team out to get them out. The incident was concluded without injury.

Denton Record Chronicle has more.

You can listen to the police scanner audio from the incident at this link. (Call starts about 18:57:00 in the list)

Municipal elections will be held Saturday, May 11th, 2013 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Election Day Voting

On The Ballot

Recommendations and Thoughts

Mosquito samples test positive for West Nile Virus

Two trap locations set overnight Tuesday, April 30, captured mosquitoes that tested positive for the presence of West Nile Virus. Locations were the 800 block of College Street and the 1700 block of South Edmonds Ln. (behind Renaissance Village Retirement Center). Follow-up traps set overnight Wednesday did not capture enough mosquitoes for accurate testing.

Based on those test results, and the fact that cases of human infection did occur near both locations during 2012, the City has decided to treat both areas with a combination of ground-level spraying to kill adult mosquitoes and aggressive larvicide treatment to kill eggs and larva.

Spraying has been scheduled for two consecutive nights in both target areas – Tuesday, May 7, and Wednesday, May 8 – starting after 10 p.m. each night and lasting most of the night. Maps of the two spraying target areas are available on the city website.

Fire fighters will be out on the streets of the Lewisville asking motorists to help “Fill the Boot” for the Muscular Dystrophy Association on Monday, April 29th, through Saturday, May 4th. Every dollar that passing motorists can pitch into the fire fighters’ boots helps Local 3606 fire fighters provide medical treatment and support services to individuals and their families living with neuromuscular diseases in the Lewisville area.

The International Association of Fire Fighters has been a national MDA partner for more than 50 years and remains committed to the fight to end neuromuscular diseases.
“Fire fighters are American heroes who make such a difference for the people and families we serve,” said MDA Executive Director, Hilda Avila “The funds they raise are used for health care services and equipment support, and to help send kids to free MDA summer camps. We are grateful for everything they do.”

Fill the Boot funds also are used to support some of the 250 worldwide research projects seeking better treatments and cures for the more than 40 neuromuscular diseases covered by MDA, including Duchenne muscular dystrophy, spinal muscular atrophy and ALS.

“We know the money we raise definitely makes a difference in the lives of people affected by neuromuscular diseases, and that it helps them get the care they need,” said Lewisville Firefighter and Assistant Chief, Brian Freed. “Fill the Boot is a proud tradition for us, and it’s a great way for fire fighters to be out in the community reminding residents that we are here, always ready to help.”

IAFF became the first national sponsor for MDA in 1954, and over the years, fire fighters have raised millions of dollars to help improve and enhance the lives of those living with neuromuscular disease. Fire fighters have raised money for MDA through their participation in the annual Fill the Boot campaign, as well as by sponsoring golf and softball tournaments. Many also contribute some of their vacation time each year to volunteer at MDA summer camps across the country.

As we've mentioned before here, and here, the City of Lewisville is putting together a long-range strategic plan for where we all want to go as a city.

Here is a 29 minute video of a presentation at a recent Chamber of Commerce meeting, where Councilman TJ Gilmore and the city's planning consultant explained the planning process, and have asked citizens to participate in various ways:



Please, if you have not yet done so, set aside some time to watch the video, visit the Lewisville Vision 2025 Plan website and then take about 30 minutes to go work on the surveys:

Survey #1 - Multiple choice

Survey #2 - Open-ended questions

The first campaign finance reporting deadline for City Council candidates has passed, and all four candidates for Lewisville have reported. Reports cover the period from 1/1/2013 to 3/31/2013, so candidates have no-doubt raised and spent other money since then.

Place 4:
Councilman John Gorena reported receiving $2,266.50 in contributions from 22 donors, and spending $589.75. He reports $2,160 in cash on hand.

Challenger and former councilman Greg Tierney raised $6,700 from 11 donors, and spent $2,997.36. He reports $3,702.64 in cash on-hand.

Place 5:
Councilman Rudy Durham reported no contributions or expenditures, and cash on-hand of $1,039.28

Challenger Raymond Daniels reported $80, all in contributions under $50, and total expenses of $382.72, with $80 cash on-hand.