A Letter From Mayor Melissa Northern

2121 Cross Timbers Road
Flower Mound, Texas 75028
972.874.6000

For service requests or questions, email
townhall@flower-mound.com
or call 972.539.SERV. After hours, please call 972.539.0525.

News

A Letter From Mayor Melissa Northern

Mayor Melissa Northern

While busy and a bit unpredictable, December is one of my favorite times in Flower Mound. The town is bustling with activity as we welcome visiting family members to our community, our local retailers and restaurants are active with shoppers and diners, and holiday events are happening almost nightly. The Town Council and staff continue to work and serve the community during this time as we conduct day-to-day operations, complete projects, and plan for the future.

Good News

The Dallas Regional Chamber recently honored Flower Mound’s Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital with a 2010 Corporate Location Momentum Award. The Momentum Awards recognize companies that have made a positive impact on the economy through job growth, location, and expansion. Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital was chosen for its employment of more than 300 people and generation of additional medical-related development.

The Dallas Business Journal recently honored two Flower Mound businesses on its Annual 100 Fastest-Growing North Texas Companies list. First Choice Emergency Room was recognized at #57 and Titan Corrugated was listed at #77. First Choice Emergency Room provides convenient access and an alternative to conventional hospital-based emergency services, and Titan relocated their entire operations to Flower Mound in 2008. Congratulations to both of these excellent businesses. We are proud to have you in our community!

I recently had the honor of participating in a groundbreaking ceremony for the River Walk Medical Park on November 30. Under development by Rainier Medical Investments, the project will consist of at least two phases and several buildings that will create a comprehensive medical office campus designed to provide state-of-the-art, advanced medical services once complete. In addition, the careful thought and planning that went into creating synergy between the River Walk Medical Park and the new hospital demonstrates RMI’s commitment to providing convenient access to a complete array of medical treatment including testing, diagnostic, emergency, and surgical services.

The Town hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Nov. 15 to officially open the Spinks Road connector. The completion of this new corridor is significant for many reasons. For those who work outside of Flower Mound, Spinks will provide an alternative east-west route to FM 2499 and FM 3040, and for residents who utilize our parks and athletic facilities, the new road will provide a direct route from the Community Activity Center and Gerault Park to Bakersfield Park. In addition, it will also provide immediate access to southeast Flower Mound for the firefighters and paramedics working out of our newest facility, Fire Station #5.

In Progress

The Town Council approved a 25-year lease with the Army Corps of Engineers for Twin Coves Park on Nov. 15. Located on the North Shore of Lake Grapevine, the 243-acre park was leased to the Town at no charge. Preliminary improvement plans include cabins, a fishing pier, and picnic tables. The park is projected to be open to the public for daytime use by late summer and overnight camping could be available by spring 2012.

The quick completion of transportation improvement projects also remains a priority for the Town Council. Staff is working closely with contractors to prioritize the Flower Mound Road Reconstruction project and complete it ahead of schedule. All lanes of traffic from FM 2499 to Old Settler’s are now projected to be open to traffic by February. In addition, at the request of the Town, the TxDOT contractor working on the FM 1171 project agreed to accelerate construction on several key intersections. The initiative is projected to significantly improve traffic congestion issues for the duration of the construction.

Did You Know?

Mayor Pro Tem Filidoro and I testified in front of the Texas House of Representatives Energy Resources Committee regarding the Barnett Shale on Nov 18. We were joined by several other elected officials including the Mayors of Copper Canyon, Denton, Dish, and Fort Worth. I addressed a need for increased regulation, increased enforcement, and a balance between mineral right owners and surface right owners in the Barnett Shale. Mayor Pro Tem Filidoro discussed a need for increased municipal authority and for regulations in unincorporated Denton County areas.

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s (TCEQ) new, state-of-the-art Automated Gas Chromatograph (AutoGC) air monitoring station is now operational in Flower Mound. The monitor will test for 46 different volatile organic compounds (VOC), including benzene. It will also provide total non-methane VOC concentrations and meteorological data, which are important in analyzing air quality readings. The AutoGC, located at 4401 Shiloh Road near Fire Station #2, will generate hourly air quality monitoring results. Near real-time air quality readings and hourly averages from the station are available at www.tceq.state.tx.us.

TCEQ also recently launched the Barnett Shale Viewer, an interactive mapping tool that displays that agency’s air sampling results throughout the Barnett Shale Geographical Area. Updated monthly by the fifth business day of the month, the viewer illustrates specific locations and the type of air quality monitoring that has been completed. Detailed monitoring reports from the samples and the Barnett Shale viewer are available at www.tceq.state.tx.us.

The Texas Department of Transportation recently launched a new “Report a Pothole” Program to provide motorists with a convenient way to report maintenance issues on Texas highways. Residents can visit www.dot.state.tx.us/contact_us/potholes/ or call 888.885.8248 to report a pothole or road damage on a TxDOT thoroughfare, including FM 407, FM 1171, FM 2499, and FM 3040.

Our town is home to many holiday events in December:

Dec. 4              Breakfast with Santa (CAC)
Dec. 7              Flower Mound Community Orchestra Preparatory / Progressive Concert
Dec. 11            Christmas Parade (Morriss Road)
Dec. 11-12      Flower Mound Community Orchestra - Christmas Concerts
Dec. 12            Gingerbread House Decorating (CAC)
Dec. 17            Grinch Scramble (Gerault Park)
Dec. 17            Voices of Flower Mound - Everywhere Christmas Tonight
Dec. 20-22      Flower Mound Performing Arts Theater’s - It’s A Wonderful Night
Dec. 28   Lewisville Lake Symphony - Roberto Verastegui jazz piano concert

More information on all Town of Flower Mound events can be obtained by visiting www.flower-mound.com and updates on Flower Mound’s local arts organizations are available at http://www.flower-mound.com/community/support.php. The Flower Mound Police Department offers free vacation house checks as a service to Flower Mound residents. House check forms are available at the Police Department, 4150 Kirkpatrick Lane. For more information and a complete list of requirements, please visit www.flower-mound.com or call 972.539.0525.

Please have a safe holiday season, enjoy your time with friends and family, and take advantage of the shopping, dining, and entertainment opportunities our town offers during December. As a community, we can also take this time to reflect with pride on the progress we made in 2010 and look forward to a productive 2011.

Posted 12/02/2010.