November 2009 Newsletter
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FALL/HOLIDAY 2011 New commercial development has arrived! Check out the Westlake Corners (SH 170 & US 377)! Upcoming Meeting Dates: Town Council: BELOW: Centennial Fine Wine & Spirits is scheduled to open in November Oct 24, Nov 14 & 2011. Dec 12, 2011 Board of Trustees: Nov 7 & Dec 5, 2011 Community Events: Monster Mash-Oct 22 Outdoor Film Night -Oct 28 WHPS Vintage Car Show-Oct 29 ABOVE: QuikTrip is on WHPS Annual schedule to open in Jan 2012. Reception -Nov 11 Residents’ Fall Clean Up -Nov 18 Photos by Jaymi Ford Town Tree Lighting -Dec 1 Westlake Town Council Adopts Fiscal Year View the Town’s 2011-12 Budget & Lowers Effective Tax Rate website for more information. Last month, the Westlake Town Council/Board of Trustees approved the municipal budget of $20,093,931, which included Westlake Academy’s operating budget of $5,384,252 for the 2011-12 fiscal year. Inside this issue: Page(s) In the previous fiscal year 2010-11, the Town’s budget focused on “Securing the Fu- Budget & Tax ture”. This approval was accomplished utilizing a municipal property tax to stabilize 1,3 Rate the Town’s finances. With that important step now taken, the FY 2011-12 Budget was formulated around the theme of “Investing in our Future.” Mayor’s Mes- 2 Overall, the FY 2011-12 Town budget decreased by 12% (including expenditures and transfers out). This is due to large transfers that were made to the Capital Projects Trash Talk and 4 Fund in FY 2010-11 for street projects which were not made in FY 2011-12. Exclud- Water Rates ing the transfers, expenditures alone increased by 16% primarily due to expenditures for capital projects and Westlake Academy. Story continued on Page 3 Survey Results 5,10 Public Works Fall Clean Up 7-8 news The Town has arranged for the delivery of two dumpsters to be placed at the Westlake Academy northwest parking lot, below the gym, for all residents WHPS Events 6, 9 wanting to do a bit of fall cleaning before the holidays arrive. These household bulk item bins will be placed in the lot on Friday, Nov 18 and remain through Sunday, Nov 20. Additionally, a Hazardous A Word from Waste Mobile Collection Unit will be there for two hours on Nov 19, the 10 Police Chief from 9– 11:00 am only, to collect any hazardous waste from resi- dents on Saturday morning. Please read more important details inside on Page 8. Academy news 11-12 Page 2 MAYOR’S MESSAGE Can it really be that we are in the fourth quarter of 2011? My Mother is fond of saying that time has two dimensions – and mothers, as you know, are always right. So, on the one hand, it seems like we just packed away last year’s holiday decorations, but on the other, it seems like all the road construc- tion underway in and around Westlake has been going on forever and will never end! I assure you that it will and I want to give you an update on our progress. FM 1938 (Precinct Line Road): The Texas Department of Transportation is managing this project, with input from the Town staff, and has provided the majority of the funding. Traffic will be redirected to the new road sections sometime in Novermeber, from SH 114, south to the Sabine entrance. That entrance will then be opened back up as well. More information and roadway enhancements along FM 1938 are found on page 7. Mahotea Boone Trail and Aspen Lane Trail Projects: These street projects are included in the MAYOR LAURA WHEAT Town’s Five Year Capital Improvement Plan and are an example of your tax dollars at work. I am happy to share the great news that these two projects were completed within a two month period and you may view a few photos of the finished work on page 7. Comments received from residents have been extremely positive. These streets were reconstructed, not repaired by a quick overlay, as the pavement contained significant failures. Additional drain- age work was also completed along both roads and were greatly needed. Ottinger/Dove Road Projects: Hillwood Properties is funding the $4.6 million of improvements along Dove and J.T. Ottinger Roads pursuant to a Development Agreement with the Town. This agreement includes several phases of road work along portions of J. T. Ottinger and Dove Roads over the next 18 months. The section of J.T. Ottinger Road in front of the school was expanded and turning lanes added. Design work is now in process to add a north entrance and internal road to the school campus with an estimated completion date around the end of December 2011. We are currently conducting traffic studies to determine the most appropriate roadway design for the N. Pearson and Dove Road intersection. The Town is currently working with Hillwood on the remaining portions of the improvements with a completion date of Spring 2013. More updates will be available as the projects pro- gress. State Highway 114 and 170 Interchange: This is also a Texas Department of Transportation funded and managed project. However, this project’s contract contains a performance-based incentive and explains why we are seeing workers out at night and on the weekends. Thus, this project seems to be moving along at a quicker pace. Westlake, along with Trophy Club and Roanoke, have been working together to explore our options, if any, for aesthetic enhancements as allowed to the intersections, bridges and overpasses. While we do not have a role in this project nor receive status updates, we understand they are currently on track for a completion date of Summer 2013. DFW Connector: This, the mother of all construction projects in the area, is expected to be completed by early 2014 with signifi- cant sections completed by the end of 2012. If you haven’t already done so, I encourage you to visit www.dfwconnector.com and sign up for email regarding lane and road closures. Additionally, feel free to call their hotline at (877) 411-4212. As you can imagine, these many and varied projects have kept your Town government incredibly busy these last several months, but it hasn’t been our only focus. I invite you to peruse this newsletter to learn of the many other happenings in the Town of West- lake, especially during the upcoming holidays. Please know that it continues to be an honor to serve you as your Mayor. All the best- Laura Wheat Stagecoach Hills-We still have work to do! Now that Stagecoach has received their new waterline and drainage work on the southern end of the subdivision, it’s time to go in and complete their long over due street reconstruction. More drainage work may also be necessary during this time. Currently, work is being done on the engineering design for the paving and drainage work with construction expected to start in January 2012. Additionally, the Roanoke Road section (north of SH 170) will also be reconstructed; this work is expected to begin around the same time. Yet another pro- ject to complete—Stagecoach Hills Waterline Phase 2; engineering and design work is un- derway with work expected to start in the spring of 2012. This waterline work will com- plete the connection of the Stagecoach Hills neighborhood to the Westlake water system. Hats off to the Stagecoach residents for enduring the mess of construction during this multi-phased project. We know you will be happy when all of the dirt settles—thank you for your continued patience! And we have even more news — the Stagecoach Hills Neighborhood Meeting is now scheduled for 7:00 pm on Tuesday, November 1, at the home of the Biddle Family. Mark your calendars and we’ll see you in a few weeks! Budget; Continued from Page 1 THE WESTLAKE WIRE Three areas of reinvestment targeted by the Town’s FY 2011-12 Budget are: Investment in Service Delivery Sustainability $ 700,000 This includes funding to: Begin building funds to replace our fire pumper truck Purchase a replacement ambulance Purchase a brush fire attack truck Invest in technology Maintain the Town’s public buildings Investment in Core Service Delivery Quality $ 120,927 This includes funding to: Invest in our municipal workforce via a 1% market pay adjustment and one-time performance pay dollars Maintain high quality public safety services due to a cost increase in the annual Keller Police services contract Fund a combined 0.5 positions allocation for a new maintenance worker (0.25) and IT technician (0.25) positions Investment in Infrastructure (Capital Improvements Plan) $ 3,888,542 This includes funding to: Street, drainage, streetscape and trail projects $2,047,545 Water & sewer utility capital improvements 603,603 Hillwood - Dove/Ottinger Road contributions 1,237,394 The Town continued to offer the highest residential property tax homestead exemption allowed by State law (20%). The Town’s FY 2011-12 property rate decreased from FY 10-11 as follows: FY 10-11 FY 11-12 Adopted Adopted Tax Rate Tax Rate Variance M&O $ 0.15620 $ 0.13835 $ (0.01785) I&S $ 0.00390 $ 0.01849 $ 0.01459 Total $ 0.16010 $ 0.15684 $ (0.00326) Below is a comparison of Westlake’s property tax rate to other cities in our area: Page 4 Talking Trash… We understand from reading the survey results, listening to several of your questions and in talking through your concerns that many residents are won- dering why the Town changed our garbage collection schedule earlier this year.