Thank you Highland Village! It is an honor to sit in the Mayor’s seat again and to have the opportunity to work with our amazing council and this great community. Council members Jon Kixmiller, Shawn Nelson, Robert Feister and I officially began our duties at the Council meeting on May 14. I know I can speak for all of us when I say thank you to our residents for your confidence in our ability and desire to serve the best interests of our City.
At the May 14 meeting, Council received the recent resident satisfaction survey presentation. Residents had the opportunity to participate in the survey from February 21 through March 31. The goal of the survey was to measure residents’ perceptions of life in Highland Village, their satisfaction level of the services provided by each department, and evaluated experiences with City staff and the level of satisfaction with the results of the interaction. The survey showed Highland Village residents have high expectations and a specific segment of residents has significantly higher expectations. Department ratings showed police, fire and EMS are rated extremely high and residents who interacted with those departments rated the experience exceptionally high. Residents rank safety and security followed by outdoor activities, trails and parks as their most positive experience in living in Highland Village. Only 13% of respondents said they experienced a problem or had a formal complaint, which is very close to the leadership benchmark of keeping complaints below 10%. Recommendations provided by Newway Insight include maintaining the current high performance within City departments, enhancing interaction with residents and communicating improvements and performance metrics. A big thank you to all the residents who participated in the survey. These responses help Council and staff best determine budget and service priorities and what needs to be done to continue Highland Village as the City we all know and love. The survey presentation and summary document can be found on the City website at highlandvillage.org/survey.
This summer our Parks and Recreation Department is offering Summer Camp through KidVenture. This eight-week camp takes place at Doubletree Ranch Park and includes athletics, art, team building, rock climbing, archery, field trips, special guests, fine and gross motor skills and more. Kidventure’s mission is to foster meaningful character traits and strong values – valuable training for our kids!
The Public Works Department has several projects in the works. The asphalt overlay of Highland Shores Boulevard from Briarhill Boulevard to Highland Village Road is well underway. The asphalt overlay is complete and the contractor is working on drainage improvements and road striping. We have received a few questions about the new striping for that section of the road. The striping plan will provide for traffic calming by providing a lane width at a consistent 12-foot traffic lane throughout the corridor as well as adding a minimum 7-foot variable width bike lane to support pedestrian mobility.
Phase 2 of the 2022 Street Bond project will begin soon. Phase 2 streets to receive asphalt reconstruction include Sandero Dr., Bexar Dr., Victoria Dr., Malibu Dr., Inca Pl., Cuero Pl., Savanna Dr., Edgewood Dr., Medina (150 ft. north of Sandero Dr. to Malibu Dr.) You can stay up to date on all the street projects in the City at the Capital Improvement Program Map, which shows where the projects are in the City, gives an explanation and provides pictures of the progress. A big shout out and thank you to the City’s Geographical Information System (GIS) department for providing us with this great tool.
We have also received questions about construction at FM 407 and Briarhill Boulevard. That project is not a City project. Spectrum Communications is installing a new line from that area into The Bowery. Easement restrictions within The Bowery and the permit submitted to TxDOT to cross FM 407 have caused a longer review process. Spectrum’s contractor has traffic control deployed in the area and, unfortunately, the City does not have jurisdiction over the communication company or the state road. It is our hope this project will wrap up soon.
The beginning of summer also marks the beginning of the budget process for the City. The City budget goes into effect on October 1, and because of required public hearing dates, the budget is nearly complete by mid-August. City staff, the city manager, council members and I meet in June to receive and review the proposed budget for each department. I have participated in this process before and find it extremely beneficial to understand what is needed to provide the high level of service expected by our residents. Highland Village city staff look for every way they can provide our residents with the best service at the lowest cost.
If you would like to become involved in the City, consider applying to serve on a board or commission. We are currently taking applications from residents interested in volunteering their time to the City. All the details and the application are available on the City website under Boards and Commissions. I hope you will consider serving our City; I can tell you it is a rewarding experience!
Thank you again for your confidence in me to serve as your Mayor. I look forward to seeing you around this summer!
