The City of Cedar Hill, Texas January 2010 Savage to direct Parks & Recreation he City of Cedar Hill has named RhodaT L. Savage as the City’s new Director of Parks and Recreation. She replaces former Director Steve Meadors who retired after 16 years with the City. While a graduate Audubon Texas to start construction of student at Texas A&M University, Savage be- Dogwood Canyon Educational Center gan working for the the Dallas/Fort Worth In February, Audu- in a major metropolitan Audubon’s mission to City of College Station metroplex.” bon Texas will begin area is incredible.” conserve and restore in the Parks and Rec- Cedar Hill is blessed construction of a 6,000 “Dogwood Canyon natural ecosystems, reation Dept. In addi- with some of the most sq. ft. education center will unveil a world focusing on birds, tion to a B.S. degree in beautiful topography, in Dogwood Canyon, a many people in the area other wildlife, and their Biology, she earned her spectacular views and 270-acre conservation have never seen, an un- habitats for the benefit M.S. degree in Exercise open spaces. As a result, area in Cedar Hill. rivaled classroom where of humanity and the Physiology at A&M. the City has made it a The Dogwood Can- people of all ages and earth’s biological diver- She also holds an M.S. priority to maintain, yon Audubon Center backgrounds can come sity. degree in Architecture protect and preserve project involves public to experience, under- Once the center from the University of these precious resources and private partners, stand, and care for the opens, citizens from Texas at Arlington. for generations to come. including the City of natural world.” Cedar Hill and visitors Savage brings 20 The City of Cedar Cedar Hill, for the Dogwood Canyon is from near and far will years of experience in Hill maintains over 750 purpose of preserving a named for the flower- be able to hike the can- municipal parks and acres of parks, green- very special place. ing dogwoods that are yon, enjoy a nature-re- recreation manage- ways, special facilities The site is within found in the canyon, lated class or participate ment. Most recently, and open space for the easy access of 6.2 mil- though they are gener- in a variety of volunteer she served as Parks and enjoyment of residents lion people. When the ally absent from shal- related opportunities. Recreation Director in and visitors. In part- center opens in 2011 it low clay soils. Dogwood For more information Highland Village, Texas nership with Audubon is expected to serve up Canyon is home to a please visit http://www. and has also served as Texas, the City has to 40,000 visitors an- unique combination of tx.audubon.org/Dog- P&R Director for the set aside 270 acres of nually. flora and fauna. wood.html City of Allen, Texas. unique habitat, for con- Dogwood Canyon, The center will serve Her background servation, recreation which contains habitat in P&R management and education. for threatened bird spe- includes working with The western border cies and rare plants, is Library offers amnesty boards, councils, eco- of Cedar Hill includes nomic development the 1,826-acre Cedar located in an environ- The Zula B. Wylie Library is forgiving any out- mentally sensitive area corporations and spe- Hill State Park on Lake standing fines for patrons who return late items cial project teams. Joe Pool. The park of- near the Northwood in January. Bring in the items, speak with a cus- University campus, off “I look forward to fers over 300 camp tomer service representative and your slate will being a part of the City sites, biking and hiking FM 1382. be wiped clean. During a visit to the of Cedar Hill manage- trails, and a histori- Lost a book or DVD? You can replace an item ment team,” Savage cal site that celebrates site last year, John Flick- with a new or slightly used one and your rights at er, President of the Na- said, “and helping set Texas’farming heritage. the Library will be restored. the stage for a world- For more about tional Audubon Society Don’t delay. Library amnesty ends Jan. 30. said, “To be able to con- class park system in the Cedar Hill Parks & Your contact is Winfred Thompkins at most beautiful part of Recreation, visit www. serve 270 acres of im- 972.291.7323. portant wildlife habitat cedarhilltx.com/parks Transit Oriented Development Committee looks at the future of the City Center The Transit Oriented Devel- opment Com- mittee held its third meeting in December and decided that, of the available loca- tions for a com- Police Officer Logan Forbess receives a plaque and muter rail stop, a Life-Saving bar from Chief Steve Rhodes. The com- Midtown location mendation said swift action by Officer Forbess saved the life of an injured young woman when he pulled is the best. her from a burning automobile after an accident. The TOD Com- mittee consists of 15 residents, in- cluding two mem- bers of the City Council. Their assignment from Map showing the the City Council area included in the is to prepare a TOD Committee framework for future study development of the City Center. A large part citizen involvement to through Cedar Hill dai- of that development is realize a mixed use, ly. The committee is in- planning for rail-based walkable City Center. terested in development mass transit along the The Planning Depart- around the proposed existing railway that ment is coordinating rail station to attract Assistant City Manager Paulette Owens-Holmes runs through the city. the meetings, with workers and visitors to holds the plaque she received from the International Three public meet- City-County Manager’s Association (ICMA) honoring assistance from HDR Cedar Hill in addition her for 20 years of service in local government. She ings have been held so Engineering Inc. con- to providing trips into is joined by Mayor Rob Franke, former Denton City far, starting in August, sultants. Dallas for residents. Manager Chris Hartung and Cedar Hill City Manager 2009. Research shown to For more information Alan Sims. The City is building the committee indicates on the TOD Commit- upon its strong tradi- that commuter-serving tee, visit http://www. tions of community- regional rail service will cedarhilltx.com/index. based planning and bring up to nine trains aspx?nid=1173. Pleasant Run Public Meeting set for Jan. 28 The second Public discussed at the upcom- An additional con- Planning Session for ing meeting. sideration is where the the expansion of Pleas- Ruth Antebi-Guten, road intersects with ant Run from US67 to Pubic Works Director Duncanville Road. The Duncanville Road has for Cedar Hill said “It is City of DeSoto’s partici- been set for Jan. 28 and very important to in- pation will be required Justin Tigner points out family members who at- all interested residents clude input from all the to adequately address tended the swearing in ceremony for him as a Fire- are invited. stakeholders along the that high-traffic inter- fighter/Paramedic. Also sworn in during the Dec. 14 This project, to widen roadway and from those section. event was Robert Burleson, center, who was been Pleasant Run to four who use it.” Walkways/bikeways promoted to Driver/Engineer. Chief Steve Pollock lanes with turn lanes, is This portion of are in the proposed plan officiated and City Secretary Lyn Hill administered the oath. a joint project between roadway involves sev- along with landscap- the City and Dallas eral challenging issues ing and unique lighting County. including pedestrian ideas. Free wi-fi Engineers and Public crossings for apartment For more informa- Wireless internet connection is avail- Works officials met ear- developments, neigh- tion about the location lier with residents and borhoods, public and and time of the meeting able at the Zula B. Wylie Library and have collected sugges- private schools and the visit www.cedarhilltx. at the Cedar Hill Recreation Center. tions. Those, along with Tri-City Animal shelter. com/prr. other solutions, will be Yep, That’s the Word By Chris Parvin, City Councilmember For several years now, if you asked almost any January city official what the vision for Cedar Hill is, 12 City Council Meeting almost robotically you might hear the City’s Government Center, 285 Uptown Blvd. official and oft-cited vision statement: “We T.W. ‘Turk’ Cannady/Cedar Hill Room on the first floor envision Cedar Hill as a Premier City; where Briefing Session begins at 6 p.m. City CouncilMeeting starts at 7 p.m. families and businesses flourish in a safe and To receive information and agendas for upcoming City Council meetings, please clean environment.” visit the Notify Me page on the City website at http://www.cedarhilltx.com/list. Since being elected to aspx. the City Council in June, 16 Cedar Hill Star Party I have had to spend some Sunset, J.W. Williams Park, 1065 High Pointe Ln. by West Intermediate School. time learning about that Free opportunity to view stars and planets. Bring your own telescope or use one vision. After all, it was set provided by the Texas Astronomical Society of Dallas. Call to confirm meeting for our City years ago by status, 214.800.6000 other people (some still on 18 Library Remembers Martin Luther King, Jr. the Council, some not). As a 6:30 p.m. Library Meeting Room, Zula B. Wylie Library, 225 Cedar St. new Councilman, I knew I Celebrate the life of Martin Luther King, Jr.